CALL OF THE MOON

Chapter 5

I woke up the next morning, got ready for school, and went downstairs. I really was looking forward to school that day, but I was not looking forward to running into Kim, after what happened yesterday. I sighed a heavy sigh, and then I put a smiling face on for my dad. He worries if he thinks there is something wrong.

“Hey honey.” greeted my dad as I walked into the kitchen.

“Morning dad,” I said as I grabbed a single serving of orange juice from the refrigerator.

He had his uniform on and his lunch bag in his hand.

"I am working late tonight,” he said as he headed out the door.

Quickly, I glanced at the clock and realized I had to leave for school. I grabbed my backpack and headed out the door. I got in my truck and drove to school, and I found a parking spot and parked next to a newer model mustang. Like every time I arrived at school, I slid out of the truck and grabbed my backpack. I shut the door and headed for the school. As I was walking through the parking lot, another student walked up to me.

“Samantha Wilcox, my childhood friend.”

When he spoke, his voice was soothing and velvety. The guy was tall, with brownish blonde hair, dark eyes, and he had a muscular build. His skin was pale, but he seemed to be beautifully eye-catching. I smiled, and then I remembered his face. It was Collin Wilkins, someone I used to play with when I was a kid. He and Corey didn’t get along at all, and I wonder if they still have something against each other. Every time the kid came around, Corey would get mean and pick on him. Corey never told me why, but I never asked.

“Collin Wilkins, hi,” I said.

He took a step towards me and hugged me. To my surprise, he backed away quickly. He had a strange hunger in his eyes that seemed inviting to me. I looked at him oddly as I turned my head to the side, and he put his hands up in defense.

“My apologies. You smell mouth watering,” Collin said, and his teeth seemed to be a blinding bright white. What an odd thing to say. I thought.

“It’s been a long time, Samantha,” he purred, and I nodded.

“Yes, it has. Everyone calls me Sammy, now,” I stated, and he smiled and the hunger in his eyes disappeared.

I thought he was acting strangely, and I wondered why the weirdness. Although I wanted to ask him what was going on, I felt ashamed to even ask.

“Are you staying long?” he asked as he played with the bottom of his leather jacket.

I also noticed a weird smell in the air, but I dismissed it as some kind of animal that was dead somewhere close by.

“Actually, I moved out here with my dad, and I am here to stay,” I said as I smiled, and he seemed strangely pleased.

“Great. I look forward to catching up with you,” Collin said cheerfully, and I nodded.

“Sure, that would be great.”

Noticeably, his body language changed, almost as if he was suddenly nervous about something, and I noticed his eyes flicked behind me, then back at me. Collin then squirmed a little and smiled at me.

“It was a pleasure. I will let you know when I am available,” he said nervously as he turned and walked away at a fast pace.

I was curious about him. He was acting so strangely. Heavily, I sighed and then jumped as a heavy arm was slung over my shoulder.

“What’s up with the weirdo?” asked a gruff voice.

I looked up, startled by Corey’s older brother, Sam. He looked down at me and gave me a dazzling grin. I have to admit, he really was handsome. The Clearwater boys had grown up into handsome men now, but to me, they were still the same childhood friends that I played with back in the day.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, I am sorry, hun,” he said as I blew out a breath.

“He just wanted to get together and catch up,” I said as I heard what sounded like a low growl come from his chest, and I shook my head.

What was going on with everyone? Things in this small town have surely gotten a little strange since the last time I was home. I thought as we started walking towards the school.

“Hi, Sammy.”

I looked over Sam’s arm and saw that Jacob had caught up with us. He smiled at me, and I grinned back.

“Hi,” I said, as we headed towards the school.

Unfortunately, my luck changed, and I saw Kim staring at us. Sam and Jacob grinned at her. I could see tears pooling up in her eyes, and I felt bad for her as I bit my lip and looked at the ground. At that moment, I felt warm knuckles under my chin and looked up.

“Cheer up, little darling. She made her choice to play the three of us, so this was not your fault,” Sam whispered as he looked into my eyes gently.

The softness in his eyes was reassuring, but I still felt bad for her. Kim was my friend, but something must have happened to her to make her act the way she did. Did the boys play her first? I wondered. That would be the only way that all of this would make sense. However, I knew the boys, and they were not the type to play with someone's feelings. I wouldn't believe that thought for a second.

“Yeah, everything is alright Sammy,” said Jacob reassuringly.

“Izzy and Carly have our hearts,” said Sam as Jacob nodded, and I couldn’t help myself but ask.

“And Corey?”

I felt Sam chuckle.

“Sammy, he is in love with you.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Yeah, you have turned our brother into pudding into your hands,” laughed Jacob, and I bit my lip and sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Asked Sam, as I looked up at him.

I gave him a frustrated look as I thought about the things that had happened the day before.

“He has a strange way of showing it,” I said, annoyed as I crossed my arms over my chest, and Sam looked into my eyes as he held them.

“Give him a little time honey, he is kind of floored that you came back home. He is more worried about losing you again, that he has forgotten the first step. He has to make you his first before he can lose you,” Sam said matter-of-factly.

Without a second thought, I uncrossed my arms and said,

“I am his.” Sam gave me an ear to ear grin. Also, I thought I saw a hint of relief in his eyes. I rested my head against his arm and smirked.

“What were you worried about?” I blinked at him repeatedly.

He looked at me and gave me a bashful smile, and then he then pressed his lips to my cheek.

“You are my favorite little sister,” he said, avoiding the question.

I scoffed and shook his arm from my shoulders. Sam looked at me with a hurt expression on his face.

“I am your only little sister. Nice try!” I said matter-of-factly, and Sam laughed as he continued to smile at me as we made our way into the school.

******************

The first half of the day went smoothly. So far, I haven't had any classes with the brothers, but hopefully, we would have at least one class together. Carly and Izzy only had two classes in the morning, a three-hour lunch break, and two classes in the afternoon. Finally, it was lunchtime, and I walked into the cafeteria, got a tray of pizza, yogurt and a salad, and then I sat at one of the distant tables that was empty, as I hoped the brothers would find me soon. I looked at my tray, deciding which to eat first, when a voice interrupted me in my thoughts.

“Hey, beautiful girl, is this seat taken?” asked a husky voice.

I looked up into a pair of honey-green eyes and smiled. It was Corey, and I grinned at him as he took a seat next to me.

“Did you miss me?” he asked.

I looked at him and laughed.

“No. Not at all,” I said.

Our eyes met, and I smirked at him. He laughed and draped his arm over the back of my chair. The lunch tray he had brought with him had an enormous pile of food on it. Surprisingly, I had never seen a person get so much food for one sitting before.

“What?!” He asked as he caught me staring at his tray.

"That is a lot of food!" I said, as I looked back and forth from our trays.

"What is this? This is just a snack. I can't wait to see what mama is cooking for dinner,” he said happily, and his brothers looked at him as they laughed.

"Sammy, I forgot to warn you, this kid will eat you out of house and home,” said Jacob as he clapped Corey on the back.

Corey shoved Jacob away from him and he laughed at his brother. Sam and Jacob had walked up to the table to hear me say something about the amount of food on the little tray. Nonchalantly, I shook my head as I took a bite of my pizza, and the two brothers sat across from us.

“So, did you tell her about this weekend yet?” asked Sam as he looked at us, and Corey looked at me.

“What’s this weekend?” I asked as I looked at all three of them.

“We are having a family bar-b-q, and I was wondering if you would like to come,” Corey said, and I looked at him.

“Sure, sounds like fun,” he grinned at me.

“Great. Hey, don’t forget about tonight's run,” said Jacob as he looked at Corey.

I looked at all three of them in question. Sam must have seen the look on my face, because he sighed and glanced at his brothers.

What was that look for? I wondered.

“We now help our dad, since his accident that left him in that wheelchair. His job,” explained Sam, and I only nodded.

I had a feeling the brothers were not being completely honest with me, and I would not ask any questions just yet. Maybe I needed to let them see they could trust me with anything. Then they would really tell me what was going on. Until then, if I heard anything weird, I would just keep my mouth shut.

“What are you doing tonight?” Corey asked me, and I contemplated him.

“Homework and dinner.” I said lamely as I rolled my eyes, and Corey laughed.

“It’s not that bad,” he said, laughing, and Sam and Jacob laughed too.

I made a face at them as the bell rang, and lunch was over. We all got up from the table and headed to the window, where students dropped off their dirty lunch trays. As we stood in line, Corey nuzzled my cheek, and then he kissed my jawbone.

“I’ll see you after school,” he whispered in my ear, and I smiled and nodded as he left me in a daze. We dumped our trays and headed off in our separate directions.

******************

The last class of the day, and I finally had a class with two of my friends. Izzy and Sam. I sighed in relief as I headed in their direction. Suddenly, I stopped when I saw Kim sitting at a far desk in the back of the classroom, and I sighed. I walked over to the desk next to her and sat down, and she looked at me, surprised.

“Hi,” I said as I chewed on my lower lip.

“Samantha,” she said in a very snotty tone and looked away.

Heavily, I sighed. It was now or never to try to talk to her. I had to smooth things out with her and explain to her why I was out there, or this would cause our friendship to die completely, and I didn't want that.

“Look,” I said calmly, and she turned her head back towards me.

“You know the brothers would have caught on, eventually,” I said frankly, and Kim glared at me.

“I told you I was trying to hook up with them, and you went behind my back and tried to snag one for yourself. You ruined any chance for me,” snapped Kim angrily, and I looked at her in shock.

What was her problem! I thought angrily as I took a deep breath and pushed the anger aside. I had to keep my cool.

“Ruin your chance, Kim. I have known them since we were kids, besides I was there picking up paperwork for my truck,” I explained heatedly, and she gave me a hard look, but I kept a straight face.

This girl was not going to have the last say on this. She was wrong for thinking she could play the guys against each other like she was about to do. I was not going to let that part go.

“Jacob and Sam have girlfriends, anyway,” I said nonchalantly.

“That still leaves Corey,” she stated flatly, and I rolled my eyes at her.

I knew Corey had no interest in her, and if I didn't say something to take her mind off of him, she was going to push him too far, and she could get hurt.

“Well, he has something going on. Not sure what it is. But I can tell you he doesn’t want a girlfriend right now. Also, there is something weird going on around here.”

The words slipped out of my mouth and I felt like kicking myself. I noticed that seemed to perk her interest. Here we go, I told myself. Kim was big on conspiracy theories, and she enjoyed making up her own. It was a bit annoying, actually, if I may be honest.

“What do you mean?” Kim asked as her eyes lit up.

“I don’t know yet,” I stated, quickly.

Now I had her attention away from the guys, but now she was focused on another thing.

“I can relate,” she said, and I looked at her in question.

Yep, here we go again. And what is behind door number two? I thought as I rested my face against my hand.

“I have been talking to Collin lately, and he is acting a lot differently from he did last year. Some of the other boys are acting a little strange too,” she explained.

“I wonder what it could be,” I said, and she shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know, but I am going to this party tonight. It’s down on the beach at the reservation. Everyone is going to be there,” Kim said excitedly.

“Homework and dinner for me,” I said, and she rolled her eyes.

“Get out of suburbia and come check it out,” Kim said, as her eyes sparkled.

I thought about it for a moment and decided my dad would be happy that I would be out mingling with other kids.

“Okay, see you there.”

The bell rang, and she jumped out of her seat. I grabbed my backpack and looked up. I didn’t see Sam or Izzy anywhere, so I headed out to my truck. When I got to it, I opened the door and threw my backpack onto the passenger seat. My friends were nowhere to be found. I pulled myself into the driver's seat and watched as everyone scrambled to leave. Bewildered, I shook my head. However, I really wasn’t in any hurry to try to push my way out of the parking lot. I could wait until the madness had stopped.

“Sammy.”

I turned my head.

“Hi,” I said with a smile. Corey was at my door.

“Leaving so soon?”

He sounded like he purred the words. It sounded silly and soothing, and I smirked. Playfully, I shook my head as my hair fell around my face, and Corey brushed it away from my face with his hand. He then put his palms to my face and touched his lips to mine. The touch of his lips sent tingles down my spine as he kissed me gently and touched his tongue to mine. I sighed as he kissed me passionately. The kiss was making me dizzy, and he pulled back gently, not taking his hands from my face. I opened my eyes, and I looked at him, a little dazed. Corey grinned.

“Are you going to be home all night?” He asked.

Still dazed, I looked at him and said,

“I may go check out the beach party down at the reservation.”

He looked at me for a moment and his face changed from a smile to a frown. He sighed a heavy sigh, and I blinked.

“What?” I asked, and he looked at me.

“I have got to take care of something for my dad with my brothers,” I nodded.

Noticeably, Corey seemed to tense up, and I was about to ask him what was wrong when he cut me off.

“Sammy, please, if you decide to go down to that party, be careful. There have been some strange things going on down there.”

The look in his eyes was so intense.

“Oh okay, I will,” I said sincerely.

I touched his face, and he leaned in and kissed me again. Corey pulled back as he sighed a heavy sigh, and I looked at him in question.

“My brothers are waiting for me. I will see you later.”

He looked into my eyes, turned, and walked away. I blinked and was about to tell him to wait, but he was already gone.

Where did he go so fast? I wondered as I looked around. I shook my head and started my truck.

The crowd had died down, and I pulled out of the parking lot. Maybe it would be fun going to this party. My dad was having Henry and Bill over to watch the game, so I wouldn’t have to cook dinner. They ordered pizza for game nights. I didn’t even have homework, so instead of just sitting in my room being bored on a Friday night, why not go out and make a couple of new friends.