My classmates snickered as the jocks roared and snarled.
“Have you seen the werewolf?” I heard someone ask Hayley Phillips.
“Doesn’t seem like he’s hitting the Westside,” she retorted loud enough for Ivy and me to hear.
Dylan and Jake stopped showing off when Abby bolted into class.
“I was almost attacked last night,” Abby said. “First my dog. Now me.”
“What happened?” Ivy asked.
“Are you okay?” I wondered.
“After volleyball practice, I left the school gym and this thing jumped out of the bushes at me.”
“What thing?” Ivy asked.
“A thing! A creature.”
“You have to be kidding me,” Ivy said. “A creature?”
Dylan sat by her and consoled her. “Abby, it might be best if you kept quiet.”
“Did it touch you?” I asked, concerned.
“No—” she said. “I screamed so loud I think I scared it away.”
“What did it look like?” I asked.
“It was evil, that’s all I know. All I saw was dark hair and fangs.”
I turned to Brandon. Distress showed on his face. He put his head in his maimed hand and flipped through a textbook.
Mrs. Clark entered the classroom. “Everyone, take your seats. You’ll be reading your essays aloud in class today.”
“Abby says she saw the werewolf last night here at school,” Heidi Rosen said.
Abby turned to her in horror.
“Is there something you’d like to report?” Mrs. Clark asked.
“Yes,” Abby said. “Just like Heidi, I saw the Legend’s Run Werewolf.”
Heidi glared at Abby as the rest of the students snickered again.
I couldn’t concentrate on any of the murmuring in the classroom. Brandon wouldn’t be so brazen as to scare Abby. And if he did, what would I do? I wasn’t sure I should feel affection toward a guy who was scaring my friends. But Brandon never hurt me or posed a threat when we were together, so why would he do that to others? It just didn’t make sense.
After class was over, I tried to catch up to Brandon, but he snuck out quickly and slipped away into the crowd of students. I seemed to be the only one at Legend’s Run High who couldn’t spot the werewolf.
Later, Ivy and I were in the library gossiping during study hall.
“Do you believe Abby really saw a werewolf?” Ivy asked me.
Really, I thought she did. But how could I tell Ivy that?
“I’m not sure,” I said instead. “I think she thinks she saw something. But do you really think a werewolf is running around Legend’s Run?” I asked her.
“I still think there was something bizarro about that wolfman Brandon Maddox and that incident with the wolves. Maybe it’s him.”
I paused. “Does Brandon have fangs?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t made a point of getting that close to him.”
“You really think he’s a werewolf?” I pressed.
“I swear I saw him stare at those wolves and they were staring right back at him. It’s possible. He is from the Westside,” she said with a laugh.
I didn’t think my best friend’s comment was funny.
“But I think that’s it,” Ivy continued as if she just realized something. “Ever since I said that thing about Brandon being weird when the wolves came, Abby’s had to top me. With her dog missing, and now this crazy story. Don’t you see it?”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“I think Abby’s just trying to get attention,” she said, fixated on our friend. “Everyone wants to know her story about seeing a werewolf.”
I didn’t reply but listened to my friend rant.
“Did you see at lunch the way Dylan and Jake were fawning all over her? And Nash, though he was just hanging back, taking it all in.”
I was surprised at Ivy’s being jealous of the attention Abby was receiving.
“If she did see something—” I said.
“She didn’t see anything, don’t you get it? She’s made the whole thing up. Just to get attention. It’s so like her.”
“You’re saying Abby lied?”
Just then Abby returned to the library from her locker.
“This is just between us,” Ivy said.
“Of course,” I said.
“What did I miss?” Abby said. She always felt left out when Ivy and I were together. In this case, her feelings were accurate.
After school, I was heading down the stairs when I spotted Brandon. He was standing at the bottom of the landing, out of the way of students. I was startled and surprised he was finally making contact with me.
“I have to ask you to come over,” he said quickly when I reached him. “It’s important.”