The Amazing Wolf Boy

Part 31 - Popcorn and Chocolate Milk

As dusk fell, someone tapped at the door. It startled me, and my thoughts went immediately to Eff. The smart thing would be to ignore it, but that made me feel like a coward. So I stomped to the living room and wrenched open the door.

Brittany smiled at me from the porch. She shook a bag. “I brought peace offerings. I realize it seemed like I wasn’t on your side before, but I was only trying to make you feel better. Lame, I know. Anyway, I was at work today and I saw this movie, and I thought I had to get it for you because I know you like werewolves, and can I come in?”

“Um, sure,” I said, a bit stunned by her rapid-fire greeting.

She stepped inside, glancing around. I saw the room as she must have seen it—a battered recliner, a kitchen chair, and a twelve-inch black-and-white television on a metal TV tray.

She raised her brows. “You do watch movies, right?”

“In my room. On my laptop.”

“Good. I hope you have a microwave.” She pulled a package of popcorn out of her bag.

“Yeah. We do.” I closed the door and led her to the kitchen. “You had to work today?”

“No, I only work on holidays. Since the eighteenth is Presidents’ Day, I stopped in to see if they needed me. And they do. I thought maybe you could come and keep me company. Unless, of course, you’re still mad.”

“I’m mad, all right. But not at you.” I relaxed, realizing it was true.

“Well, let’s not worry about it now. Presidents’ Day is more than a week away.” She placed the popcorn in the microwave. “Do you have a bowl?”

“Good question.” I stood on my toes to search the cabinets. All I found was an old, square cake pan.

“Perfect.” She dumped the popped corn inside. “What do you have to drink?”

“Chocolate milk?”

“Yum. You get that, and I’ll carry this.”

I grabbed two coffee cups and the jug of milk and followed her down the hallway. She paused at the doorway to my room. I closed my eyes, picturing the red horse blanket, the Scooby sheets. At least, my dirty clothes were in the laundry room.

“You weren’t kidding about liking Scooby Doo, huh? I can tell.” She sat on my bed and fluffed the pillow.

I set the milk on the floor. “What movie did you bring?”

“Underworld. It has vampires and werewolves. Can’t go wrong.” She set the laptop at the foot of the bed and booted the DVD. It played Coming Attractions.

I sat on the other side of the bed. Since it was a twin, our shoulders touched even with the popcorn between us. I tried not to move for fear that she’d lean away.

“Do you like werewolves?” I asked.

She scrunched up her nose. “They aren’t believable. I mean, bones and muscle rearranging by themselves? No way can a human body change shape like that. Just like vampires. How can their fangs pop out? Snick.” She made vampire fangs out of her fingers. “On the other hand, zombies are probably real.”

“What?” I burst out laughing.

“Some people in my neighborhood make me very suspicious. I’m sure my third grade teacher, Miss Ellison, was of the undead persuasion.”

I wasn’t sure if she was serious or not. “Speaking of teachers, all of mine are having fits over something called an FCAT.”

“Oh, yeah. Part one is coming up next week.”

“I’ve heard of an MCAT. That’s to get into medical school. But never an FCAT.”

“It’s an annual test. The state wants to find out how well the teachers are doing so they test us. If we fail, they know the teachers aren’t doing a good job.”

“That’s dumb. We could sabotage them by failing on purpose.”

“But then we would lose privileges, like football teams and bands.”

I nodded and stuffed my mouth with popcorn.

“If the FCATs are here, Jana’s party won’t be far behind. All the girls will be giggling and having their dresses altered.” Brittany glanced at me. “Don’t ask me to go. It’s not my thing.”

“Okay.”

She sat up straight, nearly knocking over the cake pan. “That was easy. Didn’t you plan to ask me?”

I shrugged. “It’s not your thing.”

The main menu came up, and I leaned forward to hit Play. Brittany stared at me. “Did you ask someone else?”

“Hmmm?” I settled back and ate more popcorn.

“It’s all right. You can tell me.”

I made a shushing sound and pointed at the screen, feigning interest to cover my thoughts. Of course, I hadn’t asked anyone else. I couldn’t go to the party even if I wanted to. It fell on the night after a full moon. The wolf would still affect me.

The werewolves in the movie were snarling and vicious. Every time they came onscreen, Brittany booed. I felt uncomfortable with the reminder of how the world saw me. It didn’t matter. No one was going to find out.

Halfway through the movie, my uncle came home. I didn’t hear him come in. He just appeared from the darkness of my doorway, making me jump.

“What are you two up to?” he asked as if he couldn’t tell.

“Watching werewolves,” Brittany said. “Want to join us?”

“Werewolves.” He snickered and shook his head.

I realized he was covered in dust—his clothing, his hair, even the creases around his eyes. He hadn’t told me what his big project was. How did he get so dirty?

“I’m not much for horror flicks,” he said. “Think I’ll take a shower.”

“Good idea,” Brittany said. “You look like you’ve been digging graves.”

My uncle laughed, moving away. The sound chilled me. Was that what he’d been doing?