THE WOLF IN THE SHADOWS

Chapter 4

Elyssa's POV

Was Loren really going to kiss

me?

"Ely, sweetie, are you okay?"

my mom asked me.

I haven't touched my food,

which smelled delicious. "Yeah,

Sorry, Mom. I'm, um, I'm not that

hungry." I excused myself from

the table and went into my room.

Why did I just lie like that? I'm

super hungry! I've been hungry

since I bumped into Loren!

Speaking of which: I wonder

what's he doing right now. He's

probably hanging out with his

little sister.

Wait...how did I know he had a little sister? Loren hardly

told me anything about himself! I'm weird. I need to stop thinking

about him. (Which is nearly

impossible!) I can't stop thinking

about his body, his lips, his hair,

the way he smiles and laughs, his

eyes-

Actually, coming to think of it,

I haven't seen his eyes, well,

technically not his eyes, but the

ones I see in the dark.

There were footsteps coming up the stairs. Then there was a

light knock on the door.

"Honey?"

"Yes, Mom?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Im fine."

"Do you want to talk?"

"Um, I'm kind of tired, I'm

gonna hit the sack." I am really

tired.

"Okay, sweetie, good night."

I sighed and changed into my

pajamas and went to bed.

Days passed, and it was Saturday. It was really hot, too!

Mom suggested that we go to the

beach. Dad went fishing with his

friends.

I put on my new green, pretty

bikini. Then I put on a blue fitted

tank top, blue jean short shorts,

gold strap flip-flops, and some

sun-glasses! Now, I'm ready.

"Can I invite Clara?" I asked

my Mom.

"Sure." She put the picnic

things in the trunk of the truck

and strapped Andy in.

We picked Clara up, and we

were on our way to the beach.

When we arrived, Clara and I

walked side-by-side, and Mom set

out the blanket and sat down.

"Ely, how about you and Clara

take Andy for a swim?"

"Sure thing, Mom."

When Mom was out of

ear-shot, Clara said, "Look at all

the hot guys here!"

"I know," I laughed. We

undressed and started walking

to the water where people were

splashing and other stuffs. Some where even playing volley ball in the water.

Some of the boys whistled at us

and Clara giggled and waved. I

rolled my eyes and took Andy to

the water.

I put my feet into it, and it immediately felt good. But I stood there, looking down at my feet. I had a feeling someone was

watching me.

"Hey, baby!"A boy came up

next to me. Clearly, he works out.

He looks about 17 or 18. He had

blond hair and green eyes. He

smiled brightly at me.

"Uh...hi," I said, kind of unsure

because he called me 'baby'.

"I'm Stanley."

"I don't care," I said.

"Ooh, beauty. I like," he said.

"Whatever," I said, I really do

not want to be bothered. Where

is Andy, by the way? Oh, there

he is. Nevermind. I was hoping

I couldn't find him, so I could

go look for him and ditch this

asshole over here.

"Wanna come back to my car?"

he asked.

"Oh my god, no."

"What's wrong with me? You

must think I'm hot? I'm great at

working out, and that's not all I'm great at," he said smirking. Gross!

"Sorry, not interested," I said,

walking away. But he grabbed my hand and yanked me back.

"Come on, babe," he whispered

in my ear.

"Get away!" I shoved out of his

grip.

"Damn, you're strong!" He was

getting mad now. What, is he

going to rape me? Before he could grab me again, someone called my name.

"Elyssa?"

I turned around. "Loren?"

Loren came walking to my

side. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing man," Stanley, the

asshole, said and walked away,

mumbling.

I turned back to Loren who was smiling at me. "Thanks." It's kind of awkward that he pops up

sometimes.

"You're welcome."

"What are you doing here?" I

asked.

"It's 100 degrees out here, and

you're asking me what I'm doing

here?" he laughed.

"I meant how did you find me?"

"Oh. I was just walking around

when I saw you. Then that dude

grabbed your hand, so I came

Over."

"Oh."

"What, you're not happy to see

me?" he smirked.

I'm always happy to see him.

"Of course I am. If it weren't for

you, he would have had me in his

car by now."

He shook his head and we got

into the water. "I don't think so.

I saw the way you pulled away

from him. That was pretty damn

strong," he said.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

I was bored, so I splashed him.

It's not like he wasn't already wet.

His eyebrow rose. "Are you challenging me?"

"Maybe, maybe not," I said,

splashing him.

"Oh, it's on!"

He just practically DUNKED

me! What happened to

SPLASHING! He actually dunked

me! I tossed my hair from my

face and looked at him. He was

laughing so hard, if he had some

of the water in his mouth, it

would be coming out of his nose.

"You....should...have......

seen....your....face when I

dunked...you!" he said, in

between laughs.

"That was so not fair. It was a splashing war, not a dunking

war!"

"You should know I play dirty

by now," he was still giggling

a little. I folded my arms. He

smiled.

"Aww, don't be mad!"

I didn't answer.

"Please?"

Still, no answer. I was just

glaring at him.

Then he came over to me and

put his big muscular arms around me. I have to say, I was surprised at first, but then I was enjoying the feeling, I could hear and feel his heartbeat. "Please, Elyssa. I'm sorry, can you forgive me?"

How can I not forgive him?

"Okay, fine."

I could feel his chest rumble as

he laughed. I laughed too.

"Elyssa?"

We both looked up. It was

Clara, and she had Andy with

her. I moved away from Loren.

Clara had that 'OMG LOREN'S

HUGGING YOU!' look. Then he

started to look me up and down,

like he's just now seeing what

I have on. Then, Clara had that

'OMG He's looking you up and

down!' smile on her face. Andy

was also smiling.

"Um.." Clara said, but it came

out in a squeak.

"Oh, um, I guess I should go,"

Loren said. I didn't want him to

go. "Bye Clara. Bye Elyssa." He gave me one last look before he got out of the water and walked away.

"Okay, what happened?" Clara

asked me.

"I don't know. What happened

with you?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just met

a couple of boys," she turned

and waved at a group of boys

drinking beer. "But you know

how I am."

I nodded. I did. She gets a boy,

uses him, then dumps him. Like

Kleenex. You get one, use it, then

throw it in the trash.

"Ely, can we go buy some chips? Mommy gave me the

money," Andy said, hugging my

leg. I smiled and messed his hair.

"Sure."

We walked over to the food

stand. When everyone else was in

line, the man serving the things

looked at me a couple of times.

Clara nudged me. "Dude is

checking you out," she giggled.

When it was our turn in line,

he practically stared at me before

saying, "What can I do for you,

Sweetheart?"

I smiled, and looked at Andy.

"What do you want, Andy?"

He put his index finger on his

chin, to make it look like he was a

big boy, making a hard decision.

It was so cute. "Ruffles!" He finally answered.

"Ruffles it is," I looked back at

the guy.

"Sure thing, gorgeous."

While he searched in a box full

of chips for Ruffles, I was kind of

checking him out. His name tag

said, 'Hi, my name is Ken Kris!"

"Here you go," he smiled at me,

handing Andy the chips.

"Thank you!" Andy said.

"Anything else you would like?"

Ken Kris tried to look sexy at

smirking, but he failed.

"No, thanks."

"See you around?"

"Um...sure," I smiled. What a

lie.

"See ya!" He waved.

When we were already back

to my Mom, Clara whispered to

me. "You're not going to see him

around, are ya?"

"Nope."

We laughed.

"You girls had fun?" Mom

asked us.

"We sure did, Mrs. Sean! I had a

great and amazing time. Thanks," Clara said.

My mom smiled. "Any time.

Well, we should be going. I'm

pretty sure I got a tan, and your

father will be home any time

soon, so let's make him lunch."

"Okay." We helped Mom pack up.

Before I got in the car, I looked

around and spotted Loren. He

was looking at me. He smiled and

waved, and I did the same back

then got in the car.

Loren's POV

As I watched Elyssa's truck

pull away, I turned back to my

friends.

"What are you looking at?"

Brady asked, throwing the football to me.

"Nothing," I said, throwing it

back.

"He's probably dazed," Aaron

said.

"About what?"

"All the hot girls here! I mean

look at them!"

I shook my head. "Nah, I got

my eye on someone else." Brady

threw the football.

"Oh, right," Kenny chimed in.

"Elyssa." Everyone said together.

"How are we supposed to

know if she's hot or not?" Brady

asked. He and Aaron laughed. I

threw the football at Brady, and

he ducked out the way onto the

ground, growling playfully.

"Once you see her, you'll see.

How about I make a bet? If she's

hot, all of you owe me 20 bucks. If she's not hot to you all, I'l give

each of you 20 bucks," I said.

They exchanged glances.

"Oh, you're on!"

I rolled my eyes. I guess I'll be

having 60 bucks tomorrow!

I actually wanted to see her

again today, but I'll wait to see the look on their faces.

"Ya know, she was here today

at the beach. I was just talking to

her," I said.

They stopped throwing

footballs.

"What?" asked Brady.

"She was?" said Aaron.

"Dude! There's like a million

hot girls here! How are we

supposed to know?!" Kenny

yelled.

"I want out of the bet." Aaron

raise his hand.

"Nope! If we're still in it, so are

you! Besides, she might not be so

hot," Kenny said, and threw the

football.

Whaaaaatever.

"Anyways, how about you guys come over tomorrow, and I'l bring her," I said, catching the

football.

"How do you know if she'll

come?" Brady asked, and I threw

the football to him.

I snorted. "Dude, come on. I

mean, look at me. You really think she'll turn me," I gestured to myself. "Down?"

They actually looked at me.

Then they laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." I will

be expecting them to bring their

wallets.

"Whatever, Loren," Aaron still

laughed and Kenny threw the

football at his crotch. Then we

laughed.