After lunch I ended up sitting next to Remy in English. The teacher has alternative seating and since there is so much infighting about who gets to get on the couches, no one argued with Remy's decision to move from his shares thrown to sit on the plush mat next to me.
In fact, the teacher ended up complimenting Remy's kind heart and willingness to share. Remy turned to me with a cheeky face and winked,
"See, I'm great at everything."
His self confidence was alluring. Contagious. I laughed at him, trying to ignore the feelings that were arising. It didn't help that he ended up walking me all the way to my ancient civilization course after class. It was as though he could sense my hesitancy and wanted to assert his presence in my life.
Perhaps I think too much of myself though. Perhaps his actions had nothing to do with me at all. Maybe he was just being kind. I didn't think about it too much once my class began. Ancient civilizations was the only course I had that I didn't end up daydreaming in. I love listening about the different cultures and more about their myths and beliefs.
When I finally arrived at my last class of the day—Journalism and the school newspaper—I greeted my friend Eleanor. She is tall with sepia skin and a crown of ebony coils; she is part of the junior class but was allowed into this particular journalism class, an elective made for seniors, because of her fabulous writing skills.
Eleanor wouldn't be hard to bait into taking me to the creek. She prides herself on being in on the latest town gossip and her contribution to the school's newspaper, while I mainly work as an editor for those who can actually write.
"Eleanor, have you written a column on the creek by Gnawville yet? I'd love to be the one to edit it!" I smirked.
"No, I haven't. Did something happen there?"
Eleanor popped her head up and met my eyes, and I knew I had her full attention.
"I heard some shady stuff was going on there. I can't believe you haven't heard about it! You are like the top investigative journalist in all of Graythrope."
"OH MY GOODNESS! We have to go! I can't let someone else get the scoop before me. People will probably be flocking there soon. Especially if even you have heard about it." Elenor stood up, her eyes flaming with a deep sense of determination.
"What is that supposed to mean!" I touched my hand to my heart and pretended I was going to faint.
"Girl, you live under a rock. But enough about that, I'm going to pick you up tonight at 7:00pm after my piano lesson, and we are going to that creek!"
When I got home after school, I quickly ate dinner and charged my phone so I would have it when I went out with Eleanor. Then I paced around the house waiting for her to arrive, unable to focus on anything else.
When I heard Eleanor's car pulling into the driveway I grabbed my phone off the charger and ran out the door slamming it shut, not even stopping to lock it. I slid myself into her ancient beat up sedan and was greeted by her parrot, Tickles.
"You look like a toad." Tickles croaked out in his robotic eery parrot voice that all parrots seem to have.
"Um, why is Tickles here?" I turned to Eleanor, clearly concerned.
"Your hairline is thinning." Tickles defended.
"Because, if we are gonna be sneaking around shady areas we need a cover. Story is that my brother let Tickles out of the house and we are out looking for him." Eleanor said with a straight, serious face. She almost could have been taken seriously if Tickles hadn't interrupted with a new insult, " You smell like burnt chicken."
"Eleanor, you are a genius. I knew I called you over for a reason!" I laughed. There was no point in taking this too seriously. Not with her involved anyway.
Eleanor's younger brother, Theodore (Theo), was notorious for his pranks on Eleanor and her older brother, Conroy, using Tickles. She was absolutely in love with that parrot, though, regardless of the fact that Theo converted most of Tickles vocabulary into strange insults. Most days she carries the deranged thing around on her shoulder like a pirate.
It was dark so we spent the brief drive discussing how we would use the flashlights on our phones to navigate the woods. Once we arrived to the foggy woods near the creek and continued our adventure on foot. I probably should have changed but it's too late to worry about that now.
We were silent, the only thing we could hear was the crunching of the leaves beneath our feet...
"Your hairline is thinning."
"Your hairline is thinning."
And Tickles.
Crunch!
Smack!
"Oww! Watch out for that tree limb." Eleanor called to me.
Crunch!
"Your hairline is thinning." Tickles sang into the dark forest.
Crunch!
Rustle!
Crunch!
Before we could question if we were heading in the right direction, we heard the gentle trickling water that appeared to be whirling in the creek under the dim moonlight. We started to hear crickets chirping and even Tickles seemed to fall silent. I could feel my heart beating in my chest.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
AHHHHHHH!
"Is. Is he dead? Elora, is he. Oh my goodness!" Eleanor's eyes went wide in shock. I couldn't tell if she was gonna scream or throw up.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
It took me a moment to process what Eleanor was saying, but when I did I whipped my head around.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
A boy was lying on the ground, mud stuck to his hands and forearms as well as his feed and calves. He was on his side, facing away from us in a fetal position, mostly bare.
Ba-
"I don't know," I was frozen. I couldn't hear my heartbeat, the crickets, the crunching leaves, or even Tickles. I turned back to Eleanor, "I think we should go check on him, just to see."
I took a deep breath. I mean, if he was dead whoever unalived him would have tried to do a better job at hiding the body right? Yes, he was probably just lost and unconscious. He had to be.
Crunch!
"Your hairline is thinning." Tickles kept going, but his insults almost felt like a blur after the adrenaline kicked in.
Crunch!
Crunch!
Eeeek!
I jumped and whipped my entire body around, but no one was there. It must have been my imagination.
Crunch!
Crunch!
"You look like a toad." Tickles persisted.
Crunch!
We finally stood over the boy's body. I examined what I could in the darkness and noticed that his body still had some red in it, which was a good sign. My mind raced a million thoughts a minute. I couldn't help but worry that whatever happened to him could end up happening to us too. Maybe we shouldn't have come. No! I need to know if it's connected to my mother.
"Do you think he's breathing," Eleanor whispered.
AAAAHHH!
I jumped again. The boy sat straight up in less than a second, panting and gasping for his breath. He turned toward us, eyes wide and manic. After the initial shock I couldn't help but feeling like the whole situation was awfully anticlimactic.
"Are you okay?" I asked him, nearly unfazed. Strangely enough considering our circumstances.
"Elora?" The boy quested back to me.
"You smell like burnt chicken." Tickles interrupted, this time it felt like an interruption. The mood had shifted and his antics didn't feel like merely a humorous background anymore.
"What the! Is that a parrot?" The boy cocked his head, clearly confused.
"Don't insult my baby!" Eleanor yelled back defiantly.
"Wait, how do you know me?" I turned back to the boy, wanting real answers.
"Your mom, she showed me a picture of you once and told me about you. My dad, Dr. Shade works with her at the clinic. I'm Bennett. Could you help me get back home?" He pleaded.
So this was connected to my mom. I don't trust my mother's judgment, nor do I trust Bennett, but taking him home could be a good opportunity.
"Yea. Where do you live?" I replied coldly.
"You look like a toad." Tickles spouted.
"I'm sorry, but why is your parrot bullying me?" Bennett turned to me and then Eleanor.
"He's not! He's perfect! Don't you dare say another word about my baby! Don't listen to him my Tickly-Too!" Eleanor pulled Tickles into a hug like position and began kissing and stroking him affectionately.
"Hello! We are more pressing things going on than this parrot! Like where you live and why you are taking a nap in the woods half naked." I interrupted their argument.
"I went on a walk and fell asleep." Bennett replied.
"IN THE WOODS? Half naked?" I pushed.
"Yeah."
"You look like a toad." Tickles repeated.
"Yeah, right! You better start talking or we aren't taking you home!" Eleanor chimed in.
"Fine, it's just embarrassing okay. I took my clothes off to swim in the creek with my friends and they took my clothes and ran. I didn't want to walk up to the road in my briefs so I just sat around waiting for them to come back. Eventually I got tired and fell asleep." Bennett blushed, hugging his arms around his body trying to cover more skin.
I could see the look of sympathy on Eleanor's face. She bought his bogus story. I on the other hand have questions I will probably never get answered. 
Firstly, why didn't he have any dirt on his torso? Was he bear walking, and if so why? Secondly, the dirty brushed off his skin too easily considering how hairy he is. If he was wet from swimming it would have stuck to him and made more of a muddy paste that would have clung to his abundant leg hair.
Remy is super hairy too, along with a good chunk of the guys at our school. I wonder what they put in the water out here for all the boys to be so hairy?
Hairiness aside, the whole situation was building up to be a huge red flag. I just hope we can learn some more before Bennett gets home, or we may never hear or see him again to find out what's really going on.