After a strange, revealing, and slightly nerve-wracking day at school, I finally got home and went straight to the storeroom to check if my mum was there. She did mention she wanted to do some clearing, especially with the clinic closed for a deep cleaning, but Mom and throwing things away ... that was slippery ground. I hadn't even opened the door completely when I heard her shouting.
"Rayna, Kira ran away! Will you please go after her?"
"The park?"
"Yes."
How many times has she run away this month? I had lost count; and always to the same place: the willow by the lake.
I left my bag on the doorstep and went to bring her home. In hindsight, maybe I should've grabbed her carrier. For one reason or another, my cat hated me; and it wasn't just her, but all animals. Dogs barked and growled, cats hissed and scratched, which only made it the more painful since I simply loved them and was looking forward to attending vet school in 2 years' time. But in my present circumstances, it was impossible.
I arrived by the willow just as dark clouds gathered and blocked the afternoon sun. I eye-measured the tree in all its grandeur for a few seconds before I called out to Kira; and soon, from between the branches, the threatening hiss I was so used to, reached me in reply.
"Kira, you fluffy devil! Don't make me climb after you!" I shouted, glaring at the tree.
The wind abruptly picked-up, startling Kira into giving up on her violent threats. I was ready to climb after her, but a dazzling light streaking through the sky, followed by loud thunder, scared her further up the tree, meowing pitifully. That was a point where I couldn't reach her; the branches being too thin to support me, and it was too high for her to come down.
"Fuck!!! What do I do?"
The wind was getting stronger, swinging the willow aggressively, and all I could do was take off my shoes so I could jump into the lake after her if she fell in and had a hard time getting out. I watched helplessly as her claws were coming off the tree branch, making her shake. I went closer to the edge of the lake, stepping backwards little by little, not moving my eyes from the upper crown where Kira was. A fast movement in the corner of my eye, a humanoid shadow passed by me in the blink of an eye, and climbed the tree, only for mere seconds later to land at the tree base holding Kira in his arms.
He turned his head toward me, barely aware of my presence. It was not difficult to recognise Rowan's figure, even in the dim light, but something was wrong. His left arm was covered in blood, and so was a part of his face - a blank expression; no emotions showed, except for his eyes. He had a strange look in them, that of a cornered animal. He tossed Kira gently to the side and ran to the wooded area of the park.
***
"Oh, my god! Rya look at you!" Mara cried the next day at school.
"Shut up! I love you, but please shut up."
Seated at my desk, with my head leaned on my left arm, I watched outside the classroom's window and sniffled my nose. I tried hard to ignore her overreaction, but she was too loud to let it happen. Yesterday, on my way home, it wasn't enough I had to keep a firm grip on Kira as she clawed and bit every inch of flesh she could grab; the skies opened and soaked us completely.
"Yesterday, you cut your foot. Today, you're scratched and bitten everywhere. After every unfortunate encounter with your cat, you look like you got out of some sort of championship." she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Can I be honest with you?"
"Do I have a choice?" I rolled my eyes on the verge of pouting.
"You are focusing your energy in the wrong direction," Mara continued, placing her palms together, ignoring my sarcasm.
I lifted my head suddenly and faced her, frowning.
"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" I asked, although I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer.
"Like your love life."
Oh, my God, and she starts – an incurable romantic.
"What has anything to do with my cat's behavioural issues, or that I'm uninvested my love life?"
"If you didn't spend all your time outside chasing cats," she pointed her finger at me "maybe you'd have time for Adam. How long has it been since you last spoke to him?"
"Adam? I forgot about him ..." It sounded strange, but I honestly had.
"You forgot?" her eyes widened in disbelief and her mouth fell open. "How can you forget about your boyfriend?"
Quite so, how could I forget?
"Where the fuck are you?" She slapped her hands on my desk and looked deeply into my eyes, then glanced involuntarily towards Rowan with an expression I couldn't quite describe. But it tugged something in my chest... recognition? worry?
"That ... Hey, is that a new headband? It looks terrific on you."
"Thanks, and no, it's not new. Don't you try changing the subject because it won't work."
Damn it!
"Listen to me," she said, lowering her voice to a soft whisper. "I wouldn't get too close to that kid if I were you." I glanced at Rowan as well, who was standing by himself in the corner opposite me, with his head leaned on the glass, gazing outside the window with a lost expression on his face. "Look," she pulled me back. "He's dangerous. Do you know that gang on the other side of the city? Always in the newspapers and on TV. There's this rumour... Yesterday it's said he left them half-dead." She lowered her voice even further.
"Good for him! Maybe now those guys will calm down.", I said, rolling my eyes.
"Na, you don't get it. There were a lot of them, all armed ... he was alone."
"Exactly! Can't you see how ridiculous this is? If the Police are unable to do anything, what can a teenager do all by himself?"
My sudden outburst left Mara speechless for a while.
As far as I could tell, everyone in the classroom was talking about it, some whispering, but others talking out loud. Rowan, who at first seemed to not pay any sort of attention, stormed out of the classroom, making everyone freeze as the door slammed behind him.
"Nevermind, they're all rumours anyway..." Mara began, and that was all I heard because I was on my feet and already out the classroom door after him. I felt a little guilty about letting her talk by herself, but I didn't think I could bear hearing right now a monologue or some sort of romantic script for a double date with Ben and Adam. The relationship no longer seemed to exist in my mind anyway.
But the truth was different. I wanted to find Rowan. I had to find him. The whole situation was just wrong, and most certainly it was none of my business, but there was probably something even I could've done. Leaving him alone was out of the question, not after seeing him storming out like that.
While searching left and right, I kept squeezing the juice bottle I grabbed in a hurry from my bag.
I found Rowan behind the gym, appearing deep in thought, sighing at regular intervals, and I couldn't blame him. It was only his second day, and people were already gossiping about him. I just hoped we could talk somehow; he seemed extremely shy.
I tried to stay hidden for a few minutes, observing. I remembered Mara's words about that gang. That, and the memory of his face covered in blood the day before, left little room for interpretation, but a small corner in my heart didn't want to believe that this could be the truth.
There must be another explanation. A boy my age can't possibly go up against one of those gang members, much less a whole bunch of them. Right?
After a few seconds, very close to his feet, three squirrels came down from the tree, two of them appearing young by their size and colouring. Looked like I wasn't the only one who was curious about Rowan, but what truly amazed me was the fact that after analysing him for a few seconds, he lowered his hand, and one of the smaller ones climbed all the way up to his shoulder without any hesitation. With a finger, he rubbed the squirrel's small head, and a soft laugh escaped from between his parted lips. It sounded tight and sad, yet pure and sweet. Animals have good instincts, and for me that was enough proof that he couldn't have been a bad person.
And yet ...
...I could feel my frustration spilling over. I couldn't pet a dog without getting bitten, and he was playing with squirrels. How was that even possible? I was ready to either throw the towel or throw hands, but either way I felt like I saw something I shouldn't have and it was probably best for me to go back. By the looks of it, he was going to be okay. I took a step, but in my clumsiness, I stumbled and fell, scaring off the squirrels and attracting Rowan's attention.
Very subtle, Rayna!
Before I could get up, Rowan was already by my side, reaching out his hand, taking me by surprise.
Oh...
I took his hand, and he pulled me up to my feet.
"Thank you. I ... I'm sorry, I... didn't mean to pry. I just wanted to see if you are alright."
What was I babbling for?
"I can take care of myself", he replied coldly.
"I yeah... I kinda got that feeling...um... you know, we're in the same class."
"I know, and you don't have to push yourself to be nice," he added, turning his back.
His response struck me, but I couldn't blame him for his behaviour; he hadn't exactly received a warm welcome.
"I'm not forcing anything," I answered honestly, trying to get the dust off my clothes at the same time.
Rowan suddenly turned around and got closer; our bodies only centimetres apart, his body heat brushing my exposed skin. I felt the urge to touch his slightly wavy, all-over-the-place hair. The frowning, the dark shadow lingering on his long eyelashes and the subtle facial hair made him look older than he actually was, and his compressed lips looked as if he rarely smiled, but even so, I didn't find him intimidating.
"You don't think I'm dangerous or scary?"
"Why would I? Is there a reason for me to think that?"
"Well, everyone else seems to think so..." a answered a bit taken aback.
"No, I don't really...," I didn't mean to hesitate, I didn't want him to get the wrong idea, but it took me a little to find a more suitable word." More likely... a bit unapproachable, perhaps?"
A boyish smile lit his face, stumbling backwards on his feet, and covering his forehead with his hand, he laughed - and my heart, with a single strong beat, made my whole-body shake.
What was that?
I took a seat on the grass, close to the place where I found him. Rowan did the same, only a few steps away.
"I won't bite if you come closer."
Hesitantly, he closed a bit the distance between us, but it was still about an arm's length.
"Here!" I gave him the juice bottle. "It's for you."
"What for?" he looked at me confused.
"As a thank you, for helping me out last night."
"Last night?"
"Last night, in the park, you managed to recover my cat from the willow near the lake before falling into the water."
"Err ... with pleasure, I think ..."
I think?
"The teacher said you travelled quite a lot. Where have you been?"
"I never stayed too much in the same place, so everywhere I guess."
"You must have met lots of interesting people."
"Not quite. We always lived in large areas without people, uninhabited islands, jungles. We rarely came into contact with them, usually just to replenish on water, food, and medical supplies, and we didn't need much time for that."
I did not know what to say.
"It's ... extraordinary. No wonder the others are ... reserved towards you."
"I don't understand."
"How should I say this? You are different from the others. People, generally, react in two ways when they face someone or something different: they are afraid, or they are curious. Sadly, most of them are afraid of what they don't know. Anyway, you don't have to worry about that; I'm sure you will soon have loads of human friends, not just squirrels."
"You saw?" he asked, ashamed, pinning his eyes to the ground.
"Yes. How did you do that?"
"I could show you if you want."
"Though it might be a little difficult."
It was my turn to blush, embarrassed and looking at the ground. I didn't like talking about my complicated relationship with animals, and it wasn't much to talk about anyway. I was hated by them. End of story.
"How are you adapting to city life then?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
"Not too good; too much noise, it's crowded, and it smells bad."
"And Moon's Gate it's a fairly small one. I don't want to think about what you'd do in a big city."
He just shrugged making a funny noise as an answer without adding any more words.
From a distance, the bell rang.
"Oh, no!" I jumped.
"What happened?"
"Sorry, I forgot that we have to go back for classes. I speak a lot when I feel comfortable with someone, and I lose track of time. We already skipped one. If you don't want to miss another one, we'd better get moving."
I got up and headed to the main building with Rowan less than two steps behind me.
"You know, I think we should hang out sometime."
"Rayna, I'm not good with people, but does that mean that we could become friends?"
"If we could ...? I'd say we're already friends." I turned my face to him with a smile. "But when you become popular, don't forget that I was your first friend."
"I promise," he said, laughing.
We took our time on the way back to the classroom, ignoring the curious looks of others, and then I realised something.
"How do you know my name? I forgot to introduce myself."
"I know the names of everyone in the class."
"But it's just your second day. It took me ages to learn everyone's names. Even now, I'm still unsure about one guy in the back."
"Which one?"
"Well, back of the class, right corner. I don't think I heard him speak more than twice since we started high school."
"I'm quite sure his name is Robert Shelby."
"Seriously!" I said, laughing. "How did you do it?"
"I remember them from the teacher's attendance list. I learned yours because I heard your friend calling you yesterday when I collected my timetable from the office. We passed by each other. I didn't expect us to be in the same class, even less for you to talk to me."
"So, you know it from Mara."
"Yeah, she's a rather noisy person." he added unbothered.
"Yeah, I have to agree. Mara's extremely noisy, that's true, but she's also an exceptional friend, and I love her for that."
As we kept heading back to our classroom, a funny thought remained at the back of my head. He lived in uninhabited areas surrounded only by wildlife. I couldn't imagine what kind of life Rowan lived before he moved to my little town. All I could picture was what I had seen in documentaries about survival in the wild, although I knew they were directed entirely.