over my feelings. I couldn’t trust him to be there
for me now, since I was at least ten times more hideous than I was when he
broke up with me.
“Adeline?” he whispered.
I faked sleep.
“Adeline? Are you awake?” he
said, his voice rising a little.
“Hmm?” I mumbled.
“Sorry, I just thought I saw you
jump,” he explained. “Would you like to sleep longer?”
“No!” I said harshly.
“Okay…” he said, “What’s wrong?”
“Bad dreams, that’s all,” I said,
hoping that he wouldn’t ask for details. I turned over to face him and sat up
on the bed.
“Why did you leave?” he asked.
“Oh, I just woke up before you
and thought that I would entertain myself by reading one of my two books, but I
just got really tired again and fell back asleep over here,” I explained.
“Did I do anything wrong?” he
asked, “because I’m really sorry if I did.”
“No,” I said, “I promise.”
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in
my head.
“Ahh!” I moaned, holding my head
with both of my hands.
“What’s wrong?” he asked,
crawling across the space between us.
“I don’t know,” I said, gritting
my teeth in pain.
It was the worst pain I ever
experienced, like someone was beating on my head with a hammer repeatedly, and
then, just as it came, it went away.
I opened my eyes to see Daniel’s
face, full of concern, staring at me.
“I have no idea what that was,” I
said, dumbfounded. I kind of wished that I had some kind of noticeable physical
side effect so that he would know that someone was really wrong and that I
wasn’t crazy.
He put his hand on my knee, “Are
you okay now? Is there still pain?”
“No,” I said, “there’s actually
no pain at all. It’s so strange.”
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “Is
there anything that I can do?”
“I’ll take some painkillers,” I
said. “In all of that excitement, I forgot to go get me some food. I need to go
do that. Maybe that’ll make me feel better?”
“Good idea,” he said. “Are you
sure that you’re okay to go off by yourself? I can’t come save you if something
happens.”
I smiled, “I know, but I’ll be
okay. Don’t worry about me.”
I got up, took some pain killers,
and headed out the door.
Daniel scrambled back to his bed,
“Adeline?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m really glad that you saved
me,” he said.
“Oh, no problem,” I said,
brushing it off.
“No,” he said. “I mean, I’m
really glad that it was you that saved me.”
I smiled and went out to kill my
supper.
Chapter
Twenty-Five: Jasper
I couldn’t stand Zoey anymore.
Yeah, she was attractive, but that didn’t make up for the level of annoying
that she was. I was also quite certain that she was crazy, and I really didn’t
have the patience for crazy.
“Jasper, are you even listening
to me?” she asked, angry that I had zoned out yet again.
I looked up from the steering
wheel and finally glanced in her direction. We were sitting in her driveway
“talking,” which was my second-to-the-least favorite thing in the world to do.
My least favorite was listening, and she wanted me to do both.
“Say something!” she demanded,
throwing up both of her hands in anger.
“Zoey,” I said, “no offense,
okay? But that never happened. I think you might be insane. Maybe someone
slipped something else into your drink or something. For one, you didn’t see
some kind of mythological creature. Two, I was most definitely not with you.”
She fumed, “I am not insane.
There was a wolf-man, or woman, in the woods Friday night. Why won’t you
believe me?”
“You were really, really drunk
that night,” I explained, “and it was two days ago. There’s just no way that it
could be possible, no matter what you believe. There are just some things that
you have to accept aren’t real and will never be real. You didn’t see a
wolf-man.”
“Yes, I did, and you saw her too.
It wasn’t a man, it was a woman. You thought it was Adeline,”
for me now, since I was at least ten times more hideous than I was when he
broke up with me.
“Adeline?” he whispered.
I faked sleep.
“Adeline? Are you awake?” he
said, his voice rising a little.
“Hmm?” I mumbled.
“Sorry, I just thought I saw you
jump,” he explained. “Would you like to sleep longer?”
“No!” I said harshly.
“Okay…” he said, “What’s wrong?”
“Bad dreams, that’s all,” I said,
hoping that he wouldn’t ask for details. I turned over to face him and sat up
on the bed.
“Why did you leave?” he asked.
“Oh, I just woke up before you
and thought that I would entertain myself by reading one of my two books, but I
just got really tired again and fell back asleep over here,” I explained.
“Did I do anything wrong?” he
asked, “because I’m really sorry if I did.”
“No,” I said, “I promise.”
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in
my head.
“Ahh!” I moaned, holding my head
with both of my hands.
“What’s wrong?” he asked,
crawling across the space between us.
“I don’t know,” I said, gritting
my teeth in pain.
It was the worst pain I ever
experienced, like someone was beating on my head with a hammer repeatedly, and
then, just as it came, it went away.
I opened my eyes to see Daniel’s
face, full of concern, staring at me.
“I have no idea what that was,” I
said, dumbfounded. I kind of wished that I had some kind of noticeable physical
side effect so that he would know that someone was really wrong and that I
wasn’t crazy.
He put his hand on my knee, “Are
you okay now? Is there still pain?”
“No,” I said, “there’s actually
no pain at all. It’s so strange.”
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “Is
there anything that I can do?”
“I’ll take some painkillers,” I
said. “In all of that excitement, I forgot to go get me some food. I need to go
do that. Maybe that’ll make me feel better?”
“Good idea,” he said. “Are you
sure that you’re okay to go off by yourself? I can’t come save you if something
happens.”
I smiled, “I know, but I’ll be
okay. Don’t worry about me.”
I got up, took some pain killers,
and headed out the door.
Daniel scrambled back to his bed,
“Adeline?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m really glad that you saved
me,” he said.
“Oh, no problem,” I said,
brushing it off.
“No,” he said. “I mean, I’m
really glad that it was you that saved me.”
I smiled and went out to kill my
supper.
Chapter
Twenty-Five: Jasper
I couldn’t stand Zoey anymore.
Yeah, she was attractive, but that didn’t make up for the level of annoying
that she was. I was also quite certain that she was crazy, and I really didn’t
have the patience for crazy.
“Jasper, are you even listening
to me?” she asked, angry that I had zoned out yet again.
I looked up from the steering
wheel and finally glanced in her direction. We were sitting in her driveway
“talking,” which was my second-to-the-least favorite thing in the world to do.
My least favorite was listening, and she wanted me to do both.
“Say something!” she demanded,
throwing up both of her hands in anger.
“Zoey,” I said, “no offense,
okay? But that never happened. I think you might be insane. Maybe someone
slipped something else into your drink or something. For one, you didn’t see
some kind of mythological creature. Two, I was most definitely not with you.”
She fumed, “I am not insane.
There was a wolf-man, or woman, in the woods Friday night. Why won’t you
believe me?”
“You were really, really drunk
that night,” I explained, “and it was two days ago. There’s just no way that it
could be possible, no matter what you believe. There are just some things that
you have to accept aren’t real and will never be real. You didn’t see a
wolf-man.”
“Yes, I did, and you saw her too.
It wasn’t a man, it was a woman. You thought it was Adeline,”
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