Midnight Howl by Clare Hutton Page B

the window.
    We were all quiet for a bit, while the noise of the other kids in the van and the radio playing country music made a comfortable babble around us. On either side of me, Hailey and Lily relaxed, and I saw Hailey’s eyes flutter shut as she dozed off.
    Like mine, her hair and clothes smelled of wood smoke and pine. I liked Hailey. Couldn’t I just let thisgo? Couldn’t I just
decide
that there was no such thing as a werewolf and forget about these crazy suspicions?
    For some reason, I felt confident Jack wasn’t a werewolf. The horses hadn’t been afraid of
him
near the full moon.
He
hadn’t had any trouble crossing water, and I hadn’t seen any evidence that he’d been outside at the full moon either. The only thing that had made me suspect him was that he was Hailey’s twin. And I prided myself on being scientific; I knew fraternal twins didn’t share all their genes.
    But I couldn’t seem to get over my suspicions about Hailey. What if she was a werewolf? What could I do about it? The idea of exposing her secret, of people with guns and dogs hunting her down or of doctors and scientists trying to figure out what she was, crossed my mind, and I shivered.
    No,
I thought, sitting up straight, I could never do that to Hailey. Not to anybody, really, but definitely not to shy, openhearted Hailey, who dreamed of seeing seals in the wild. Never. Even if there was something different about her, I was sure she wasn’t a monster.
    Could I just let this whole thing go?
    I would. I would forget about this crazy idea.
    The full moon was coming. It would be here tomorrow night.
    It meant nothing. I would forget about the full moon and the wolf howls, and make myself believe that Hailey was an ordinary girl.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
    The next day, I was totally on edge. By the time my alarm clock went off, I had already been lying awake in bed for an hour, staring at the ceiling and trying to breathe slowly. It was the day of the full moon.
    It was easy to tell myself to forget something, but it was much harder to actually do it.
    At breakfast, I couldn’t help watching Hailey. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were glowing, and her hair shone. She looked excited. And that made me nervous.
    “Marisol.”
From the tone of Jack’s voice, I could tell it wasn’t the first time he’d said my name.
    “What?” I asked, making myself turn away from Hailey.
    “Pass the milk, please,” he said. “Jeez, are you okay? You’ve been staring blankly across the table for, like, ten minutes.”
    “Sorry,” I said, and passed him the milk. “I’m fine. Just a little tired.” Jack was looking at me curiously, and I smiled weakly at him.
    “It’s a beautiful day,” Hailey said cheerfully. “It’s the kind of day when it feels good to be alive.”
    Whenever I saw Hailey during the day, she looked alert and intense. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn’t help being aware of her.
    At lunch, I was sitting and talking with Amber and Lily when Hailey appeared, smiling.
    “Have you seen?” she asked, setting her lunch tray down on the table.
    “What?” asked Amber. “I haven’t seen anything except today’s mystery-meat special.”
    “Look!” said Hailey, pointing across the cafeteria. We’d been expecting Bonnie to show up eventually — she had gym right before lunch, so she had to change — but there she was, sitting at a table with one other person: Anderson. They were totally focused on each other, smiling and laughing as they gazed into each other’s eyes.
    “Holy cow,” said Amber. “Do you think they’re, like … a couple?”
    “She said she thought he was cute,” I remembered aloud. I looked at Bonnie’s smile. I couldn’t imagine
liking
Anderson — he was so high-strung and hyper — but she looked happy.
    “That’s Bonnie,” said Hailey. “If she wants something, she makes it happen.” She nodded. “That’s the only thing to do, I’ve realized. You can’t wait around for things to