My alarm goes off at 9:00 A.M. and I feel completely drained of all energy. Without opening my eyes, I roll over and turn it off by smacking my hand down on the button with a loud thump. It’s only been about five hours since I went to bed. So much had happened in the past twenty-four hours and the comfort and warmth of my bed seems to wrap itself around me unwilling to let go, and I’m tempted to remain in its eternal embrace and just let myself disappear from existence. After a few minutes, I muster up the strength to rip my blankets off exposing my body to the crisp cold air, sending a chill down my spine. I crawl out of bed, walk over to my dresser, and pull out a fresh pair of clothes. I walk out into the hallway, to the bathroom, across from my room. Inside, I look in the mirror; my eyes are still red and puffy from crying just a few hours before, my leftover makeup is smeared across my face, and my long blonde hair hangs in a mangled mess over my shoulders. ‘Man, I could scare devil, himself, looking like this.’ I turn on the water in the shower and get undressed before hopping in.

I let the hot water hit my face and take in its warmth as the water washes away any remains of yesterday from my body; All the emotions, all the fatigue, just roll off and flow down the drain. I begin to make a list of things I need to do in my head; first thing I should do is call my dance instructor Anne, seeming as how I missed our lesson yesterday, and set up another time to make up for it. Next, I need to do my chores, and attempt to get some homework done. And finally, I need to go and visit the young man in the hospital. Uncle Jim had said last night, before leaving the hospital, that I could come back today during visiting hours. There are many reasons why I need to go; firstly, I want to make sure he’s going to be okay, and second I also have so many questions that I hope he’ll be able to give me the answers. 

Downstairs in the kitchen mom is making breakfast. The smell of eggs, toast, and bacon fill the air, and for a brief moment everything seems to disappear as I take in the wonderful aroma. The stairs creak under my feet and she looks up at me.

“I thought you were going to sleep in?”

“I wish. I have a lot to do today. I missed dance practice last night, so I need to call Anne and reschedule a make up lesson. I have to my Saturday chores, finish up some assignments that are due Monday, and I want to stop by the hospital and visit the young man.”

She pulls out a plate and glass from the cupboard and sets them down in front of me as I take a seat at the counter right across from her.

“If you want to sleep in sweetheart, you don’t have to worry about doing your chores. You had a rough night, I don’t want you to strain yourself.”

“It’s fine mom, I don’t mind.”

“Well, alright.” She scoops some eggs from the pan and places them on the plate in front of me, along with two pieces of toast, and a few strips of bacon. “Are you sure you’re up for going to the hospital? I know you want answers, but I also don’t want you to overstress the situation. Also, that young man was just shot, you might want to give him some time to recover before you toss all your questions on him.”

“I’m not just going to overwhelm him with questions. I also want to make sure he’s doing okay. He doesn’t have anyone right now; so, until we can contact his family I’d like him to know that he’s not alone.”

She looks at me with her calm, genuine eyes. I know she understands more than anyone what it feels like to be all alone in a place you don’t know, surrounded by strangers. “Okay sweetheart. I have to be at work at five, so I can take you with me. That should give you some time during visiting hours to see him.”

“Thanks mom.”

My phone next to my plate bings at me. I pick it up and swipe the screen to see the message. ‘Hey girl! Let’s go to lunch, I’ll swing by your house around twelve to pick you up!!’ Dang, I totally forgot about Jill. She has no clue about what happened yesterday, how am I going to explain everything to her? ‘Should I just cancel? Tell her I’m really busy? She kind of made it seem like I didn’t have much of a choice though.’ I text her back, confirming our lunch date, what’s the worst that could happen?

By the time twelve o’clock came around I had finished my chores, and set up another lesson with Anne; but I didn’t get a chance to start any of my homework assignments for class on Monday. Hopefully lunch won’t take too long and I’ll have some time before going to the hospital with mom, although knowing Jill, that was highly unlikely. She was already upset that I had declined her offer yesterday about a sleepover, the least I could do was go to lunch. Besides, I needed something to get my mind off yesterday.

I changed from my sweats and baggy t-shirt into a pair of jeans and a casual, but cute, pink blouse; my hair pulled back in a half ponytail. I was sitting on our swing chair on the front porch when Jill’s blue Pontiac pulled into the driveway. I grabbed my small shoulder strapped purse, jumped off the steps, and hopped inside her car.

“Hey girl! How’s it going? And might I add… you be looking mighty fine!” Jill exclaims with a wink.

“Hey, I’m doing good. Thanks.” She looks at me for some time, long enough that it started to feel kind of awkward. She looks me up and down like she’s about to break me for a serious crime. “H-how are you doing?” she looks at me for another long minute.

“Something happened. You look… tired, and… more depressed than usual.” Well she saw through my barrier. I had previously made the decision that I was going to wait to tell her what happened last night, but I guess my poker face wasn’t as good as I thought. “Well, spit it out girl! What happened? You look awful.”

“Ouch! What happened to ‘you look mighty fine’?”

“Well, at first glance you’re fine, but up close, you look like you were hit by a semi or something. Your eyes are all dark and baggy, and you look like you’ve been crying.”

‘It’s been seven hours since I cried… is it really that obvious?’ I'd tried covering my baggy eyes with makeup, but I guess they still look the same.

“Nothing happened. I just had a rough night, I couldn’t really sleep.”

“Well that lie is about as real as a three dollar bill. Seriously, what happened?”

I didn’t want to do this, not right now anyway. Everything was still so fresh; I didn’t want to turn into some blubbering mess again. She would just think I’m crazy… then again, that’s what I thought my parents would think last night, but they had believed me. Maybe, Jill would be the same.

“It’s a long story. Let’s go to lunch and I’ll tell you.” She could see everything now; all the exhaustion, all the tears, all the fear, and worry that was written all over my face. She looked really concerned. She nodded and backed out of the driveway.

 The drive to the restaurant was long, all drives seemed long to me now. Jill made small talk about her family and plans after graduation, but I knew she was aching to find out what really happened, and I was just trying to gather up all the strength I had when it came time to tell her. She pulled into a tiny strip mall by Main Street. We got out of the car and walked inside where a waitress guided us to a small booth. We sat across from each other and ordered some drinks. Jill got her usual Dr. Pepper, and I ordered a Coke. As soon as the waiter disappeared she turns to me.

“Okay, we’re here. Now are you going to tell me what happened?”

“Okay, honestly, you’re most likely going to think that I’m crazy.”

“I already do.”

We both let out a little laugh, and I feel the tension in my stomach die down enough that I’m more confident that I can get through this. Jill was my best friend. She’s always been on my side, even when I know that she may not believe in it, she knows and understands how much I need the support. She will probably not believe me at first… but I have to trust that she’ll still support me and be by my side like she always has. But, I still would like for her to believe me.

“Okay, well after you dropped me off yesterday I went on a ‘hike’ everything was normal, I just walked around taking in the scenery and getting a recharge from everything that had happened before that. But, after maybe thirty minutes or so I saw these two hunters.” I pause as the waiter return to our table with our drinks.

“Are you ladies ready to order?” He is a pretty tall guy, mostly likely over six feet. His sandy hair fell in waves across his tan face; his muscles made his shirt seem a little too small. I look over at Jill and she is practically drooling.

“Sorry we may need a few more minutes.”

He nods. “Take all the time you need.”

After he walks away I look back over at Jill; she’s still looking in the direction he went. “Did you see the muscles on that guy! Man alive, I think I’m in love.” I let out a laugh as she turns her attention back to me.

“We should probably decide what we want for when he comes back. Maybe then you can ask for his number or something.” She gives me a look that’s full of protest.

“I can’t just ask him for his number. Especially not when we haven’t even ordered yet, imagine if he turned me down, then I it would make things so awkward. I leave my number on our receipt before we leave, that’s how it’s supposed to be done.”

“Coward.” She shoots me a glare and I laugh again; it felt good to laugh, I feel like I haven’t laughed for years.

After looking at the menu for a few more minutes, our waiter comes back to take our orders. Jill orders a burger with a side of fries. Having just ate a few hours ago, I decide to go with a salad. The entire time Jill can’t seem to take her eyes off him, as if it weren’t obvious enough she tries flirting with him. He is very polite and returns some of her compliments, then returns to the back of the kitchen to give our orders to the cook.

“Okay,” Jill says “continue your story.”

“Where did I leave off? Oh yah, I saw these two hunters aiming their guns at a black wolf. I hid myself in some tall grass so they wouldn’t see me. You should’ve seen the wolf though, it was so beautiful! And I didn’t want it to die so I threw a rock to startle it.One of the hunters tried shooting at it as it ran away. I wanted to make sure it was okay so I followed it-”

“Wait, wait, wait. You followed the wolf? Are you crazy?”

“I thought we had already established that I was crazy? And yes, I did.”

“You could’ve gotten hurt; either from those hunters or from the wolf… what were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t. I don’t know, you know me. I couldn’t let there be a possibility that the wolf was suffering somewhere due to a gunshot wound. And I don’t need a lecture form you, I already got one from my parents.” She shook her head, placed her face in her hands and groaned. I can understand why she would feel this way, it wasn’t exactly the smartest move on my part, but I wouldn’t change it. “Anyway, I followed it to a small hill and it… changed.” She looked up from her hands a little confused.

“What do you mean it ‘changed’?”

Here goes nothing. “I mean it was a wolf one minute, then a man the next.” She stares at me speechless. I can’t tell if she’s upset, confused, annoyed, her expression is simply… expressionless. I continue to tell the story. “The hunters did actually shoot him in his stomach, so I wrapped my jacket around his waist and carried him to my house where my parents and I drove him to the hospital.” I’m sure she has no clue what to say. She looks a little speechless, but I’m sure if she did say something it would be along the lines of crazy and delusional. The waiter returns with our food; he looks at Jill then at me a little confused. Makes sense because she’s just staring at me like a statue, completely unaware of his presence. I flash him an apologetic smile. He places the food down and walks away.

Jill seems to stare at me for what seems like an eternity, I’m starting to feel very awkward and a little concerned that I might have just surprised her so much she died.

“Okay, you’re really starting to worry me. Can you please say something? Blink? Something that lets me know you’re still alive?”

“I-I just. I don’t, I- um… I don’t know what to say.”She looks down at her plate then back at me. I still can’t seem to tell what she’s thinking.

“Okay, look I know it sounds a little crazy-”

“A little crazy? Girl, this sounds more than just ‘a little crazy’. I mean, you know I love you, and I support you but, this just seems a little out there.” I try not to let her disbelief crush me and release the emotions I was keeping in so well. She doesn’t believe me. Can I blame her? Did I really think that it would go as well as it did with my parents last night? I always knew that she didn’t completely believe me about my experience eight years ago, but she had still supported me. She was always there for me. Is this too much for her to handle? Did I make a mistake in telling her? What’s going to happen between us now? I’ve always had a bad habit of thinking the worst about everything. I guess it stems from the years of harassment that made me trust people less and less. But somehow… somehow with all that mistrust, I could always see the good in people. I’ve never really been able to explain how or why, but ever since I was little I’ve always been able to see right into to people, see their true self. People say that you can usually tell if someone is good or not by a gut feeling, but me, I could see it. I’ve always been able to tell; it’s never been a question. Maybe that’s why it’s been so easy to let Jill in, I know that she’s a good person and she really does care; so why am I doubting her? This whole situation really is crazy to someone who wasn’t there to experience it firsthand. I know what type of person she is, I just need to give her time and let it all soak in.

“Okay, it’s a lot crazy, but I swear to you Jill it really did happen.” She looks me up and down studying every inch of me as if she’s trying to find some evidence that I’m lying.

“I don’t know Natalie. This all just too much, I don’t think I can just believe it right now. At least not without proof. I know that makes me really selfish, and a horrible friend, but you have to understand how it all sounds from my point of view.” 

“I do understand Jill. And it doesn’t make you selfish, I would feel the same way if I was in your shoes. Just take the time to think about it. Can you do that for me, please?”

She lets out a deep sigh, and looks down at her food with eyes that have lost their appetite. I have to believe in my instincts, I have to trust her.

“I do understand Jill. And it doesn’t make you selfish, I would feel the same way if I was in your shoes. Just take the time to think about it. Can you do that for me, please?