Page 69 of Love Thief

I shake my head at their ridiculous thinking. They’re winding themselves up, so for fun I move backwards and howl like a wolf. I’m crying with laughter and worry they may hear me laughing. But no, they get more panicked and I howl again, a little louder as if I’ve gotten nearer, being the big bad wolf. I hear them set off at a run for home, and, standing in the moonlight, I watch the two figures run like the devil, or a she-wolf, is after them, grinning like a maniac.

I go into the Lodge, and hurray! some food. I only had school lunch and daren’t say yes to another Greystone evening meal. Pat watches me eat like a hawk. I’m so hungry sometimes, I gulp my food. I have to pretend I’m picking at it, it’s so tiring, all this pretence.

I’m skimming through the debris, and take a bit of time to tidy it up. There are no blankets, they obviously had school fleeces on. I should have scared them sooner. They may have left me one. I sit on the sofa, it’s old but comfy and I make sure I look after it, as I need it here. I’ve spent many nights here of late.

“I knew it was someone. My money was on Jonno, but you are a big surprise. And in so much fucking trouble. Let’s go, I'm taking you to my dad.” Kellen Russell, not such a wimp after all, and not as drunk as his friend.

Damn. I don’t move, he can get lost if he thinks I’m doing what he says. Instead, I look up at him and say, “You might boss those silly girls around, but you are not the boss of me. Get lost and mind your own business, Kellen.”

He stands, open mouthed. How dare I tell him no. How dare I answer him back when he has spoken, and in that tone of voice.

I lay down on the sofa, demanding, “Give me your fleece. You’ve got a quilt at home, it’s cold.”

I hold my hand out for the fleece, expecting him to give it to me. He looks down at his fleece and actually starts to take it off. But I grin at him and he stops. Drat. “So near, yet so far,” I say cockily.

“You’re not staying here,” he pronounces.

“Wanna bet?” I retort. “Can you go? I’ve got school tomorrow. I know you’re here for your annual ‘ritual,’” I emphasise the last word with air quotes, “and can lounge in bed, but I don’t have that luxury. So get lost. And leave me that fleece.” I crack an eye open to see if he’s complying. He isn’t.

“Are you really going to sleep here?” He sits down next to me on the sofa so I have to move my feet. He picks them up and puts them over the top of his legs, and his voice softens. “Tell me you’re not, Evie. I won’t let you. Let’s go to my dad, he can sort this out.”

“Kellen, look,” I sit up, pulling my legs off him. He’s too warm, too comfortable. “Keep your nose out of my business. If you get your dad involved, I swear to god, I’ll unleash Jonno on you full stop. I’ll stomp on the pieces. Give me your fleece and fuck off back to your comfy bed and perfect home.”

He rolls his eyes. Does the man have no regard for his safety?

“I’m not leaving you here, so you have two choices. I’ll stay here, which means that no doubt a full search party will be called in the morning. Or you come with me and stay at mine. You’ll be gone before anyone comes into my room, but we’ll both be warm and?—”

“No,” I cut him off, “you go home, leave me that fleece. We’ll both be warm and I won’t have to sneak out of your room. I’m in enough shit as it is with your mother. Just do as I ask, Kellen. For once, please, just leave me alone. I know what I’m doing, I do it all the time.”

He looks horrified. “You’re here on your own all the time? At night?”

I stare at him, I’m admitting nothing.

“Is it her?” another voice says.

“Oh my god, do you two always do things in pairs?”

Xander steps back into the Lodge. “I heard you go,” he tells Kellen. “I knew that wolf was fake. You’re shit at impressions,” he tells me.

“Why did you run then? If you were so sure.” I smirk at him, and he’s so sad he makes my heart ache. But as I continue to look at him, his smile gets wider. I see Kellen looking at him, disbelieving we’re friends. It’s one of the only smiles I’ve seen from him in a long time.

“Have you been?” I ask him. I can see Kellen has no idea what I’m talking about, he hasn’t told him about the graveyard. Xan nods at me. I feel like I’m bursting, so I go and throw my arms around him.

Kellen looks like he’s going to bust a gut. “What the fuck is going on?” he demands. We both ignore him, and stand, smiling at each other.

“Will you give me your fleece, Xan? He won’t.” I say, thumbing toward Kellen.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t, I just said I wanted you to come home and to bed, so we could all be warm. I don’t want you here, I want you safe.”

“You sound like your dad,” I tell him.

“Not yours then?”

Oh he’s quick. “No, not mine.” I put my head down.

“Come with us, Evie. You’ll be warm, and we’ll get you to school. I’ll go get some food so you can take it and eat on the way home to get your stuff. Why didn’t you bring it with you?” Xander asks.

“No time, bit of a rush job,” I tell him. They both look at my boots, too big, and fleece PJ bottoms and T-shirt.

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