Foster Wolf

Chapter 12: I Hate Turtles (Pt 1/1)

"Well, ummm."

"Ryder!" Mist complains.

"Okay, fine! You really want to know? I'll tell you. He likes you. Okay? He has a crush on you. He thinks you're pretty. You happy now?"

"What?"

"Please don't make me say it again."

"Why, how, when?"

"Well, according to him, he's had a crush on you since the first time he saw you. At least that's what I got from what he told me. Can I go now?"

"No! You are going to tell me everything he told you."

"I did! He has a huge crush on you. That's what he told me. I don't see why it matters."

"Ryder, how much does he like me?" A terrified look covers her face.

"Why does it matter?"

"Because I kinda did some research on werewolves. According to the web page I found it, said that werewolves can tell who their soulmates are. How much does he like me?" She puts a lot of emphasis on the last part.

Ohhh. Oh. Hell no. No no no no no no no.

"Ryder?" Mist asks shakily.

I snap out of my daze. "Uh, well. I don't know how to answer that. I mean he said he liked you a lot, but he didn't say he loved you. So, I don't know. I guess it could be possible that he... uh."

She throws herself under her bed covers.

"Look, Mist, I'm sure it's not him, okay. You and him aren't soulmates. He's clearly not right for you, so I don't know why we would think otherwise. I've had crushes on girls and none of them was my soulmate, so there's nothing to worry about. How about we talk about something else?"

She pokes her head out from under her blanket. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do."

***

I open my eyes and look around at my surroundings. I'm confused on how I got here. I sit next to a pond that's covered with lily pads and frogs hopping about. I glance to my left and leap up, backing away from what just startled me. A large turtle is sitting next to where I had just been. And it's not just any turtle. It's a snapping turtle. How I hate turtles. It starts towards me and I take off in the opposite direction. One thing about turtles is that they're slow and I'm not.

I stop to catch my breath. I look behind me, not expecting to see anything, but to my disbelief there it is. The turtle. I jump and back away from the snapper. "You, bad turtle! Go away!" The turtle leaps at me.

"Gahhh!" I fall onto my bedroom floor. "Owww," I moan.

I quickly jump to my feet and spin around. To make sure there's no turtles. Yes, go ahead, laugh. I'm afraid of turtles. "Damn snappy turtle thing," I mumble to myself.

"Now I'm hungry. Hmmm, turtle soup sounds good right about now. Wish I had some," I mutter.

I wander down to the kitchen and rummage through the leftovers from dinner in the fridge. I pile some tasty stuff on a plate and stuff it in the microwave. After the longest sixty seconds of my life, the microwave dings.

I dig into my delicious midnight dinner scraps. I start to think about what happened last week, when Hunt apologized to Mist. The fact that they could be soulmates bothers me. My thoughts derail when I notice my plate is now empty. Since no one is around, I lick my plate because let's be honest, everyone licks their plate when no one is around to see it. And some people do it anyway because they are braver than I am.

I place my plate into the dishwasher. I hear a noise come from the living room, but I can't make out what it is over dishes clashing.

I rub my eyes and blindly walk into the living room. I hear a gasp and I quickly remove my hand from my face. I see Mist and what seems to be a friend of hers sitting on the couch. I believe it is Mist's best friend, Chris. I guess she invited her over to watch TV and have a sleepover or something. I really have no idea how early I went to bed.

They both have weird expressions on their faces.

"Uh, Ryder," Mist says.

"What?"

"Look down," her friend tells me.

I glance down and my face turns red, like fire truck red. Kinda like the little firetrucks and dalmatians on my boxers. Yes, I am only in my underwear.

"Uhhh" is the only thing I can get to come out.

I look up again. Mist is now covering her friend's eyes.

"Ryder, either put something on or get out!" Mist complains.

"I'll be more than happy to end this embarrassing moment." I speed walk out of the living room.

I can hear her friend talking. "Your brother is really cute. You didn't tell me your brother had abs!"

"Ewww, Chris, he's my brother! And keep your voice down, do you want him to hear you?"

Too late, I did. I look down at my stomach where my abs are located. "Huh." I shake my head. The only thing my brain can think about right now is turtles. I wander back to my room.

I can still hear them chatting downstairs. Instead of going back to bed, I decide to sit in the hallway and listen to them talk. I want to see if her friend is gonna say anything else about me. Though I do wish she hadn't seen me in my boxers that I now regret buying. After a while of them talking about some movie they're watching, they start to talk about girl things. And that is my cue to leave.

I crawl into my bed and hope to have a better dream this time. Hopefully something that doesn't involve turtles.