Shifted #Wattys2016

III

Maxine

"I shouldn't have assumed you could swim. I should've paid attention to the fact you didn't want to get in the water."

"It's fine." I said and took a bite of my ice cream cone. "I would learn but I've just got this fear of water."

Felix nodded. He didn't push me for details. Would it look bad if I offered them?

"These two girls pushed me into this pool when I was younger. I hadn't learned how to swim yet and that was kind of my first experience in water deeper than my waist."

Felix nodded again. "Maybe I can teach you over the summer. It's really easy."

I shrugged. "Maybe." The nice way of saying no.

I looked into Felix's eyes. I was so sure that they were the same as the wolf's. But that was ridiculous.

"So how old are you?" I asked.

"Seventeen. You?"

"Same."

"What are you doing here? Did you move to town or...?"

"Visiting my grandmother for the summer. I'll be gone early August. I'm sure by then I'll be ready to go home."

Felix laughed. "See, that's the weird thing about Pleasant Ridge, people stay here forever. There's something charming here, something that draws certain people in and keeps them here. If you ask me, it's because of the forest."

"It is strange," I said. "I can see the edge from outside my window. The first night I was here I saw a wolf standing at the tree line. Didn't think Kansas really had wolves,"

Felix nodded. "People are always so intrigued about the wolves. Kansas is more than just the Yellow Brick Road."

I chuckled. "I saw one in the woods, a wolf, I mean. I was taking a walk and it was right beside me. Its eyes looked just like yours."

Felix took a sip of his tea. "What did it do?"

"It was so weird... I expected it to be tense, or curious, or run off with the slightest of movement but it just stayed. It only left when another wolf howled."

A waitress passed our table. "Sounds like you meet Grey."

"Grey?"

"He's been seen by a few others in town. They always say that he is calm and relaxed. And that he has unmistakable gray eyes." She looked at Felix. "Just like his."

Felix turned and looked out the window.

The waitress walked off. I looked at Felix. "Are you ashamed of your eyes?"

He looked at me. "No. Never. I'm just ashamed to be connected to that wolf."

I nodded and let it go. I knew not to push for information.