Things while my friends and I listened to them retelling their final play of the game. But I didn't have an appetite. I had butterflies in the pit of my stomach. I felt as if I'd never be able to eat again.
"What's up?" Nash finally said to me.
Abby told him my story. By this time it was thirdhand. Even with her embellishments, the end was still the same - I'd been as close to a pack of wolves' dinner as these chicken wings were to our boyfriends' mouths.
"And that psychic predicted the whole thing?"
"Even what she was wearing," Abby said.
"She did not - " I tried to tell them.
"What else did she say?" Jake prodded.
The gang waited for my answer. I wasn't about to tell them the rest.
"I don't remember," I said.
"Something about an outsider," Ivy chimed in.
"Yes, an outsider," Abby repeated.
"Did you see an outsider there?" Jake asked. "I wonder what that means."
I wasn't about to tell them that I did see an outsider - that he was from the Westside and had the best eyes I'd ever seen.
"Your girlfriend was only moments from the clutches of death!" Jake teased Nash.
"It's true," Ivy defended. "She was surrounded by a pack of wolves."
"Wolves?" The color washed out of Nash's face.
"Yes, wolves," Abby said, stressing the severity of the situation.
"The Big Bad Wolf?" Nash teased, recovering his cool. "So how did you get out?"
I could tell my friends right there and then that the wolves didn't retreat but rather were fought off by someone who didn't run away from wolves or wasn't frightened by the mere mention of their species. But as the words came to my mouth, I saw that the story might hurt Nash. Once word spread throughout school that there was a real hero in Legend's Run, the star of the football and basketball teams could never measure up to that feat. And once it was discovered that someone, especially an unpopular Westsider, saved Nash's girlfriend's life - something he didn't do and possibly could never do - it could ruin Nash's reputation and ego for the rest of our days at Legend's Run High.
"So... how did you survive it?" Nash pressed.
"I raised my hands like they told me in school and the wolves eventually went away."
"What woods were you in?" he asked.
"The ones in Riverside," Abby answered.
"Why were you in Riverside?" Nash asked.
Abby waved her receipt in his face. "Servants for a day! Starting tomorrow! Not only am I going to get an A on my English project, but I'm going to get a free massage, too."
Dylan rolled his eyes.
"And what do I have to do?" Jake asked.
"I'll let you know when we're alone," Ivy said.
"Don't get too excited," Dylan whispered. "For some reason, I think it has to do with shopping."
"And me?" Nash asked. "I'm not going into the woods again. Especially with you. You seem to attract wolves."
"We'll be indoors," I said. "This time, you'll have to invite someone who isn't on one of your teams."
Maybe this was a small gesture for an outsider - to be finally included in the popular students' party.
Nash drove me home. When I unbuckled my seat belt, he leaned over. For some reason, I turned away. His lips landed softly on my cheek.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing." I hopped out of the car before he could question me anymore. As usual, Nash didn't walk me to the front door but sped off when I unlocked it and stepped inside.
Wolves weren't the only thing on my mind as I tried desperately to fall asleep. I felt attracted to Brandon Maddox like I hadn't been drawn to anyone ever before - not Nash, or even a movie or TV star I'd adored. I replayed the late afternoon's harrowing event in my mind - that at the last second before I was about to be wolf bait, a handsome hero swooped into the most dangerous situation of my life and saved me from the clutches of death. I wasn't sure why I felt so strongly for Brandon - someone who I didn't really know much about - but I did. Perhaps it was the same feeling a victim has toward a firefighter or police officer who saves them in the line of duty.
I recalled the moment when Brandon and I stood together underneath the romantic snowfall and in the solitude of the woods, our bodies