The Xoe Meyers Trilogy (Xoe Meyers Young Adult Fantasy/Horror Series) Page A

make oval indents in my palms, trying to remain steady. I just had to hold on until the night was through. After that I could fall apart.
    Our conversation had ebbed, then Jason asked suddenly, “If you were so suspicious about Dan, why did you go out with him on Saturday?”
    I gave him an ‘isn’t it obvious’ look.“Lucy and Al were set on going. I couldn’t let them go alone.”
    “But what good did you hope to accomplish by going with? How did you intend to protect them?”
    I paused in consternation. How did I intend to protect them? Truthfully, I hadn’t though about it. I just knew that I had to go with them. At least that way, I’d know that I had tried. I answered, frustrated with my inability to explain, “I just had to go, even if I couldn’t do any good, I couldn’t let them go alone.”
    “You’re a good friend,” he stated simply.
    “Exactly.” I smiled at him, happy with his ability to sum up my situation.
    With that, he rose from his swing and I followed suit. We started walking back toward the school. I amused myself by watching my sneakers as they squashed down the blades of moist green grass. We’d run out of werewolf conversation, so we walked in silence. Surprisingly, the silence wasn’t awkward.
    I stumbled on a loose rock at one point and slipped backward on the grass. I had closed my eyes, waiting for my butt to hit the ground, when I realized that Jason had caught me with his hands under my upper arms, right before I hit. One moment he had been beside me, and the next he was in position to catch me, too fast for me to follow.
    My heart fluttered. Please don’t let him be another werewolf. He hoisted me back up and smiled at my mumbled thank you. I walked a little ahead of him after that, trying to hide my bright red embarrassed face as well as my cautious eyes.
    We walked up to the school parking lot just as Lucy and Allison arrived. Jason nodded to Lucy and left, saying he would meet us at my house. I watched him walk to what was apparently his car. Now I don’t know cars, but this one looked expensive . . . and fast. The paint was a glossy charcoal gray that would be mistaken for black in the night. Nice.
    Allison broke me out of my daydream of getting into that car with Jason. “So that’s where you were.”
    I gave her a quizzical look.
    “During geometry. Not that I condone ditching, but he looks like a pretty good reason.”
    “That was Jason, the guy we met in the woods. I’ll explain on the way to my house,” I answered.
    We piled into Allison’s car for the short ride to my house. Lucy in front and me in the back for a change.
    As soon as we pulled out of the parking lot, Lucy turned to look at me in the backseat. “I thought we didn’t trust him,” she said, referring to Jason.
    I met her eyes. “I’m not sure that we do, but he admitted to knowing more about Dan than he let on. Dan is in fact a werewolf, or so I’m told, and Jason seems to know quite a bit about werewolves, so we need his help, trust or no trust.”
    Lucy looked down for a moment, then met my eyes steadily. “Did he say how likely it is that I’m . . . infected?”
    I patted her shoulder, trying to be comforting and failing. I answered honestly, “He said it’s a good possibility.”
    Lucy turned back around to stare out her window.
    I went on, speaking to the back of Lucy’s head, “Let’s just try and not worry too much until we actually know what’s going on. Jason and Dan could both just be crazy. We're only going along with any of this to err on the side of caution.”
    Lucy gave the barest of nods, but stayed staring out at the passing trees.
    “So . . . same plan still?” Allison asked hesitantly.
    “We’re going to tweak it just a little,” I replied, then went on to detail my conversation with Jason.
    By the time we arrived at my house we had agreed on the rough plan. Jason would obtain restraints for Lucy, we would restrain her, and then we would wait. So, not the