Eyes of Light

Science was deadly slow, all of us hurriedly exiting the classroom as soon as the bell rang. Josh and Anna gave me a wave, knowing I was off to English. I was actually happy about it, for reasons I wasn’t quite sure of. Maybe I was excited to see if we were going to talk about those old tales.

I strolled down the hall and turned into the classroom, surprised to see that many people were already seated, including Nick in the back. He sat there, face forward, his cheek resting on his palm again. I didn’t know why I suddenly felt bad for him, he seemed all alone, and after yesterday I shouldn’t even care. It was his own fault nobody talked to him, or maybe he wanted to be left alone. Biting my lip, I realized that I was just standing there, staring at the mysterious boy with thick curls and deep, dark eyes. He glanced up, locking my gaze. He didn’t move from his spot, but his eyes held so much power in them… I was almost afraid.

Quickly moving, I turned my back to him and hurried to my seat, which was also in the back. It seemed so far away from the comforting chatter in the front row, the back of the room holding a sudden darkness to it; I was uncomfortable to say the least. I licked my dry lips and scratched my head, feeling a deep gaze on me. Slowly turning my head, my eyes met his again. He didn’t look away, knowing I caught him staring; glaring would be the proper term. I furrowed my eyebrows, gulping. He slowly turned his head away from me, his face once again holding a blank expression, the bell ringing just as Mrs. Holster came in.

“Okay, quiet down!” she sighed, a smile on her face as she shut the door. She quickly carried herself to the middle of the room, facing us all.

Everyone started to quiet down, curious to what she was about to say. I sat myself up a little straighter and tried to focus my full attention on her, but it was harder than I thought.

“Now, I got to thinking, and I came up with an awesome assignment,” she grinned. The class erupted into groans, a deep sigh escape her lips. “Keep quiet, please. Now, it’ll be quite fun. It’s an assignment to get you all familiar with what we’re doing next week.

“Now, this is a research assignment, therefore, you will be writing a research paper. You will be pairing up and going through books to become more familiar with the tales and stories that Mr. Jonas brought up yesterday. We were going to be putting on a class play of Romeo and Juliet, but I find this far more interesting,” she smiled, her eyes settling on an uninterested Nick for a moment before she began speaking.

“Not only will this assignment familiarize you with the material that we will be going over as a class next week, but it will also allow you to get to know one another. So let me take roll and then you can pick your partners,” she grinned, taking herself over to her desk. Everyone began to speak quietly, turning around and pointing to each other. I, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to who my partner was going to be. Sighing, I scanned the room nervously, my eyes settling on the only other unmoving person.

Nick.

No way was that happening. I looked around the room again and found that many girls were staring at him, giggling with each other. Glancing back over at him, I wondered how he didn’t notice. He kept his gaze to his binder, his body slouched in his chair, and moved his hand to open the flap of his binder. Something there caught his complete attention and, for once since he’d been here, he didn’t have a scowl on his face. It looked… somewhat peaceful.

“Alright,” Mrs. Holster clapped, making me jump in my seat. I took a breath and faced back forward quickly, Nick’s eyes settling on me just before I could look away. “Partner up.”

Everyone seemed to jump out of their seat, their voices echoing through the room. I hated comparing myself to Nick, but we were the only two that didn’t jump up. That didn’t mean that we were the only two without partners, and I was determined to find someone… normal, or sociable, at least. Slowly getting up, my eyes settled on a Junior boy. He smiled kindly at me, my cheeks flushing as I moved forward. I felt his gaze on me and I was ready to move forward, to possibly ask if he wanted to pair up, but something stopped me. As soon as I stepped forward, I felt as if something pushed me back, like everything was stopping. I took a shaky breath and looked over at Nick, but his eyes were still settled on his binder. Was he even going to participate in this assignment? Surely he cared about his grades if he were that opinionated yesterday.

I suddenly didn’t know what came over me, but I felt a tingling sensation rack through my body, and my feet took me in the opposite direction of the boy… straight over to Nick’s desk. I inhaled deeply, my eyes scanning his zoned out face just before I ended up right in front of him.

“Umm… Nick?” I whispered, my voice almost failing me. His head jerked up, his eyes scanning my face for a moment, and he slammed the flap on his binder shut, making me jump just a little. His face was once again like stone; like smooth, carved stone. I shook my head and looked down for a moment, my hand setting on the edge of his desk. “I….I was wondering if you maybe wanted to be partners?” I questioned, glancing up to see his face completely unchanged. His full lips stayed in a fine line, his chocolate eyes slightly narrowed. He looked as if he had no clue what I was talking about, like he hadn’t been listening to Mrs. Holster. “For… the assignment, I mean,” I quickly continued, feeling my face flush as he continued just to stare at me.

He shifted in his seat after a moment and sighed, cocking his head. “You’re serious?” he finally muttered, his voice sending relief through me, although I couldn’t tell if he was amused because I was asking, or if he really didn’t know if I were in fact serious.

“Yes,” I muttered, turning my body to look around the rest of the room quickly. The junior boy caught my eye and he gave me a dirty look, turning back around to the blond.

“I meant are you serious about this assignment,” he said clearly, slight annoyance in his voice. I turned back around, my mouth parted slightly in shock. I didn’t really know how to respond, so he sighed once again, crossing his muscular arms over his chest. “Are you going to be like bobble head-Barbie over there?” he questioned, moving his head in the direction of that same blond. I turned around again, laughing slightly and inwardly.

“If you mean uninterested and stereotypical, than no,” I answered, surprised by the confidence in my voice. He raised his thin eyebrow at me and I swore I saw his lips twitch.

“Fine,” he finally answered, something in me bubbling; was it excitement? It couldn’t be.

“O-okay,” I stuttered, smiling softly. I couldn’t help it. “So, umm, how do you want to divide the work up?” He looked at me, almost weirdly for a moment.

“You’re… actually interested in this stuff?” he asked, his voice slightly stiff, but I could hear the bit of masked interest in it.

“Yeah, absolutely,” I nodded, realizing that I sounded a little too enthusiastic. “My mom… she used to talk about this stuff all the time.”

I didn’t understand why he kept staring at me, like he were trying to figure something out. He didn’t speak, so I decided to continue.

“Maybe we could go to the library, get some books…” I trailed off, getting him to shake his head dismissively.

“I have books.” I blinked in surprise and flinched a little, clearing my throat.

“Oh. Umm, okay. Then… we could go to my house after school, to get started on it. My dad isn’t going to be home… he wouldn’t mind, since it’s for school,” I rambled, biting my lip to shut me up as he just stared. It was starting to get uncomfortable, although he didn’t have one of those weirdo stares, I just wondered why he kept looking at me like that.

“That’s fine then,” he said quietly, flickering his eyes back down to his binder. I bit my lip and stood there awkwardly for a moment, sighing softly. I opened my mouth to speak, surprised when he did.

“Just meet me by the back doors after school.” His voice sounded as if I wouldn’t understand if he spoke normally, but I decided not to bring it up.

“Okay.”

[&&light]

“So, when do you want me to help you with math?” Josh asked as he shoved a few chips in his mouth, saving them from lunch. We were walking back through the building, just coming from PE. Coach Curt said he’d always let us out five minutes early to get back to the building, but it was mostly because he wanted to get rid of us.

“Umm, not today. Maybe tomorrow?” I answered slowly, scanning the hallway absently. The bell suddenly rang and everyone came rushing through the doors, including Anna. She smiled widely at us and hurried over.

“Hey,” she smiled, continuing our walk to the locker bins.

“Hey,” I smiled back, Josh continuing.

“What’s up after school today?” he questioned, trying to sound casual, but I could hear the nosiness in his voice.

“A project, for advanced English,” I answered quickly, pulling my locker open to retrieve my backpack. I quickly unzipped it and shoved my binder in, pulling back my hair in a messy bun.

“A project? What kind?” Anna asked, pulling her tote over her shoulder, kicking her locker shut.

“It’s a research topic. We partnered up and we have to learn about these old tales,” I shrugged, glancing up at Josh.

“So who’s your partner? Aren’t you like the only freshman in that class?” he murmured, rubbing his neck.

“Kind of,” I shrugged, turning back into the main hallway. My eyes settled on Nick’s figure immediately, trailing over him as he slowly trudged to the door, passing all the moving people easily.

“So, who’s your partner?” Josh repeated. I snapped my attention back to him, hesitating for a moment.

“Nick,” I answered, clearing my throat. “I have to get going. I’ll…see you guys tomorrow,” I waved quickly, turning around. I quickly made my way through the crowd, my eyes settling back onto Nick who was now leaning up against the door, his face turned towards the window.

“Okay,” I breathed, finally reaching him. He looked over at me quickly, all the voices seeming to disappear as everyone cleared out.

He didn’t say a word, he just opened the door, revealing the dim sun and the cool wind. He opened it wide enough for me to exit without getting hit by it and kept his pace a little slow, probably noticing the pace I usually walked. He kept his path straight, his curls bouncing as he stepped through the rocks and dry leaves, slowly stepping down the hill. I followed, trying not to trip over the visible roots, the trees already starting to collect.

We soon entered the forest and two paths came up. I was surprised to see he took the correct one, quickening my pace to get ahead.

“Wait for me,” I breathed, his head turning to face me as if to say ‘why?’ “How could you know where I live?” I continued, not meaning it to be an actual question, but more as a statement to tell him I had to lead the way. He answered though, his voice seeming almost nervous.

“Right,” he murmured, stopping so I could get ahead. I had never really walked this way, but I knew how to get back to my house from here, thankfully. My dad had shown me, just in case I ended up in there somewhere.

I turned left and avoided tripping over the log, my eyes settling past the trees and onto the back of my house in the distance. I could hear Nick behind me as I walked, slowing down some more. Continuing forward, I moved my legs up the small pathway and cut through the grass. Nick followed me to the side of my house and crept up the stairs slowly, allowing me to unlock the door. I pushed it open and entered, waiting for Nick to follow. He did so, but it was almost hesitantly.

I shut the door with a small creak and locked it back up, turning the small corner to see the coffee table completely stacked with movies. I sighed, shaking my head. I knew it was Dad’s movie night and I had completely forgotten that it was Wednesday today, my mind preoccupied.

“Uh, sorry about the mess… my dad and I like to watch movies every Wednesday, kind of like a bonding thing,” I explained softly, not quite sure why I felt compelled to tell him that. “I guess we’ll work in my room… do you want anything?” I was trying to be nice, but he wasn't giving me much to work with, or an answer.

“What’s that?” he asked quickly, my gaze shifting to settle on what he was referring to.

“What?” I asked.

“That.” He pointed to a small painting on the wall, his eyes completely focused on it.

“Oh. That was my mom’s. She, umm, kind of had an obsession with-”

“The great wolf?” he followed, tearing his gaze away to look at me. I nodded slowly, turning my head to focus back on the painting; she did it herself.

I remembered my mom always having a smile on her face. She seemed to always have something to tell me, one of the times being about this so called ‘great wolf,’ and another distinct memory was of the time she told me of the glow. She said that witches glowed, but only at certain times. She painted a soft golden sphere on my tea set once.

“Mommy, I wanna’ be a witch,” I had begged, smiling after she told me that they were able to glow so brightly, but there was a secret to the glowing that she couldn’t tell me.

“Oh, honey. Witches don’t always glow. Only at special times,” she smiled, kissing my cheeks. I pouted, heaving a deep sigh. “But I’ll tell you what Lilliani. I’ll paint you a golden orb on your tea set.”

“Why gold?” I questioned, my wondering eyes settling on the lilac tea set that sat on the table in front of me.

“Oh, I don’ t know,” she sighed, smoothing down my hair with her soft, cool hand. “I think that, if you were a cute little witch, you’d be gold. Just like the sun; gold just like the great wolfs’ son,” she smiled proudly. I crinkled my nose and cocked my head, letting my curls fall to the side.

“The great wolfs’ son?”

“Mhm,” she mumbled, standing to her full height. She was tall and skinny and always wore a blue orb around her neck. “The great wolf has a son, well, he has more than one, but this particular son is very special.”

“Because he’s gold?” I giggled, getting her to laugh that musical laugh.

“Well, not exactly. He isn’t gold in general, he-” she stopped, biting her lip. I heard footsteps and jumped up, knowing it was dad. “We’ll save this for another time,” she smiled, kissing my forehead again.

She never finished that story.

“Did she tell you stories about the great wolf?” Nick questioned suddenly, his warm voice bringing me back to reality. I blinked, bringing my attention back to him.

“Sometimes. Why? Were they real?” I answered, raising my eyebrows at him. He looked away, focusing back on the painting. “I mean… I always thought they were, from how she explained everything so vividly, but it was too silly; merely a fairytale,” I muttered, biting the inside of my cheek.

“We should get started,” he muttered lowly, pulling his backpack back over his shoulder. I nodded, even though he wasn’t looking at me, and carried my bag up the stairs. He followed me in silence, keeping his distance as I opened the door to my room.

He entered slowly, his eyes scanning his surroundings, like he was cautious. Did he think I was hiding a gun in here, ready to shoot him? I’m the one who should be cautious of him. I sighed and shut the door, throwing my bag onto the floor with a small thud. He kept his on his shoulder and stood in the middle of the room, raising his eyebrows.

“You have… pink walls and rock posters; what a collaboration,” he mumbled, amusement actually in his eyes. I felt my face flush as I looked around, giving him a small shrug.

“Well, what books do you have?” I knew I was changing the subject, and it seemed to work. He sighed and unzipped his bag, pulling out a thick book. It was tattered and old looking, like it had been looked at countless times, read over and over. He set his bag on the floor and stepped forward awkwardly, holding the book out for me reluctantly, as if he were afraid I’d rip an already tattered page. I took it gently and sat on the edge of my bed, turning to grab one of my notebooks and a pencil.

“How are we going to do this?” I questioned, most of my focus on the large book. I was fascinated, the leather cover having tears on it, the pages a faded cream color. The edges were curled up and there was a bookmark sticking out of it. I opened to the page, my eyes scanning the words quickly. They were in cursive, like someone had scribbled on the page alongside of the old typed words. I caught sight of a word that was circled, gasping when he shut the book before I could see it.

“I’ll write what I already know and you can look up whatever you want,” he murmured, his voice almost cold.

“Don’t you think I should help more than that? This whole assignment is so we can get to know these tales better, or at least so I can,” I protested, looking back down at the book as he pulled it away from me.

“Fine, but this isn’t the right book.” I watched him turn quickly and shove it back in his bag, pulling out one that looked almost identical, just not as torn. He dropped in my lap and grabbed the notebook and pencil, opening it swiftly. He began to write something but stopped, his eyes locking on me.

“You can sit…” I motioned for the small desk that sat in the corner. He looked over quickly.

“What’s your name?” he muttered, his cheeks actually flushing red. I realized that I hadn’t told him and I smiled slightly.

“Lonnie.” He raised his eyebrow, his mouth twitching as if he were about to speak, but decided against it and scribbled it down on the paper.

“Lonnie what?”

“Stewart.”

I watched him trudge over to the table and sit down swiftly, continuing to move the pencil across the page almost elegantly. I bit my lip and looked down at the book that sat in my lap, running my fingers over the page. I opened the front slowly and scanned the title page: The Moon of Secrets. There was no copyright date or author. The book looked like it was unprofessionally made, but it piqued my interest. I turned the first page, my eyes scanning down the long table of contents, a few of them catching my eye: witches, magic, vampires, wolves, serving, battles…there were too many things that I didn’t understand. My eyes finally settling back up the to the top to chapter one: History.

I flipped through the pages, freezing when large letters lined the fifth page in with exactly the same heading. Flipping to the next page, I focused on a small drawing. There were different looking creatures outlined in a large field. I didn’t understand it. I trailed my eyes down to where the first paragraph started, taking in the words. I couldn’t even focus, the way it was written confusing me on belief. I looked up and jumped slightly, Nick’s eyes completely focused on me.

“I… don’t get this,”: I trailed off sheepishly, feeling myself blush. He sighed and stood up, carrying the notebook with him. I blinked in surprise to see that he had already written a full page in small, neat, cursive handwriting. If I had written it, the words would be large and loopy, taking up at least two pages with nearly not as much information.

“What do you not get?” he questioned lowly, finally being somewhat civil. I looked between the book and his calm face, blinking.

“Everything.” I was surprised to hear him chuckle, the sound smooth and melodic. “I don’t even know what the first sentence means.”

“Of course you don’t,” he huffed, taking the book from me. He set the notebook on the bed and shoved the book back into his back, zipping it up.

“Can’t you explain it to me? You wrote that much and I have no clue what the first thing is,” I pleaded, glancing at the page.

“Well, let’s see,” he sighed, running his hands through his hair, his eyes showing he was deep in thought. “This assignment is to familiarize you with the material that we will be going over as a class next week.” It was then I realized that he was joking, mocking Mrs. Holster, and I smiled.

“How come you know so much about this stuff anyway?” I questioned after a moment, meeting his eyes. He stayed silent, letting out a breath.

“It’s a family tradition.” I furrowed my eyebrows and set my hands in my lap, looking up at him.

“So… you know all the stories?” I wanted him to tell me something, anything, and asking questions seemed to be the only way that would happen.

“You could put it that way.”

“What do you know the most about?” I asked next, his eyes narrowing a bit.

“Wolves.” I wanted to scream in frustration due to his short lived sentences.

“Could you tell me about that first then?”

“Why do you ask so many questions?” he snapped suddenly, his irritation apparent. I shut up for a moment, not realizing how much I had really been talking. If only I were like this with people who would consider being my friend. He sighed heavily after a moment, running his fingers through his thick curls.

“The great wolf is the leader,” he finally spoke, catching my interest.

“Like… an alpha?”

“Not necessarily,” he shook his head, taking a step back. “The great wolf is more of… a guidance. He’s more of the peacemaker. Each pack has a leader, an alpha, but he overpowers them all. The great wolf is passed down through bloodline, father to son. But it skips generations. When there are no wars, the great wolf isn’t needed. When an outbreak of any kind surfaces, whether it be between the wolves themselves or another creature, the next child born from the great wolf is conceived with the special blood-line. There are two types of blood-lines for wolves- well, three. The human stream is the largest giving…” he trailed off, swallowing. I watched him in awe as he slowly continued, wondering how he knew all this.

“Werewolves are born human. Some of the children even stay human, especially if their cross-bred between two different creatures, which rarely happens. Even then, when all is at peace, the werewolf children stay human. The next blood-line is the animal chamber. When ready to phase, the blood from the animalistic chamber spills out and overpowers the human blood, turning you into a wolf.

“The third is the blood of which your born from. If you’re a son of an alpha, you become the alpha wolf. If you’re a regular wolf, that’s what you are. But if you have blood of the great wolf and are born during battle, you’re set for that destiny.”

My head was now spinning with information, but it was odd the way he talked. How did he know all of these tales? Were they… real? He spoke of them as if it were in reality, as if he had seen it.

“I have to go,” he said quickly, pulling the bag over his shoulder. I stood quickly and cleared my throat, leaving the notebook on the bed. He headed for the door, stopping when I spoke.

“Can we work on this tomorrow morning, in the library? I’m getting help with my math tomorrow…” I trailed off, watching him raise his eyebrow.

“Sure, whatever,” he shrugged and before I knew it, he was gone.