Hooked [Complete]

12. New Moon

Author's Note: 

Song for this Chapter: Caminando  by Rising Appalachia

You HAVE TO HAVE HAVE TO play this song during this chapter. It's available on YouTube and Spotify, probably other places as well. I changed the lyrics within the text a little to fit the ritual in the chapter...the original song says, "We are walking towards the sun," but obviously, Hearne's class is walking toward the moon!

Dru didn't text Sean on Sunday afternoon. She both glad and sad, when he didn't text her either.

She couldn't avoid him on Monday however. Sabit was a small school, and they had Sociology together. He loped into the classroom, looking casually gorgeous in low hung, frayed jeans. The faded moss green thermal that hugged his lean frame reveled no tension in his shoulders as he gave her a slow nod and slid into his normal seat beside her. There was no small talk, but as they interacted in the class discussion, there was no awkwardness either.

Behind Dru's reserved facade, her feelings were a riot. She replayed the date they might have had the entire class. It ended with more than empty coffee cups. But every time her imagination wandered too far into the convenience of his private dorm room, Dru reminded herself of Hearne's words.

You will ruin him by loving him.

If anything good had come from her meeting with Hearne, it had one hundred percent confirmed her belief that she and Sean were not a good idea. She wished she could explain to him exactly why, but it was just...better to let it go, especially since he was being so gracious and letting her off the hook without any confrontation.

Lana met them after class. Dru had told her nothing, but Lana was...intuitive, and she saw the distance between them. She completed the smoothing of things over by putting the attention on herself, talking about Saturday night's party that Dru had refused to go to, and making fun of the band that Sean had seen in Asheville over the weekend. Soon Sean and Lana were trading their normal affectionate barbs.

By mid-week, if Dru didn't quite feel comfortable with Sean, she felt no less uncomfortable with him than before last week's weirdness. As they left Sociology on Wednesday, converged with Lana, and headed across the quad to in search of a unlikely decent meal in the dining hall, all three of their phones pinged simultaneously. A message from Professor Hearne:

Friday night is the New Spring Moon. A time for releasing what no longer serves, and setting intentions to new endeavors. Come with a sacrifice or a desire to burn. Wolfe Lake at Midnight.

Hearne's class gravitated to the same table once again in the dining hall.

"A sacrifice? He can't be serious," Isabel scrunched nose. Her springy hair piled on top of her head bounced as she looked around at the group.

"He means a symbol of your sacrifice or goal," Tandie assured her, taking a bite of toast spread with avocado.

"Are you sure?" Finn said darkly, as he tossed a book and notebook on the table and hooked the chair beside Lana, dropping into it. "I say we call his bluff and bring a real sacrifice. I saw baby goats for sale on Craigslist for a hundred bucks. Who wants to go halves? Faraday?"

Everyone looked at Finn with thinly veiled disgust.

Finn put his hands up. "Kidding. Jesus, people. Kidding."

"Leave, Finn. Now." Sean's words were too quiet, and Dru looked up quickly, surprised by the hostility in Sean's voice. Then Dru noticed that Lana was looking at him with worry, too. She patted Sean on the shoulder, and a look of question passed between them—a look that Sean left unanswered with a shrug.