Aubrey are still a thing, and rumor has it he’s giving her his Devil ring for Valentine’s Day. I finish organizing my desk and glance back when things go abruptly quiet. They’re talking in lower voices now, leaned in close, expressions serious. Whatever it’s about, it’s not for me to hear.
I feel weirdly relieved to see it. All of the openness and expression was starting to freak me out. Secrets, privacy, boundaries… those are comfortingly familiar.
“I think I’m going to go walk around campus before it gets dark,” I say, wanting to give them some space. Honestly, I could use some myself. It’s been a long twenty-four hours. I grab my coat and camera, and wave when Caroline offers that it was nice to meet me.
It’s late afternoon, but being the dead of winter, it feels later. The leafless trees stand guard over the old buildings and I snap a couple photos here and there, trying to capture the odd sense of Preston’s somberness.
In an effort to avoid other people on campus, I step off the main sidewalk onto a well-worn path. I know there’s a lake on the back of the property, I’m just not sure how to get there. The trail cuts behind the buildings, one I recognize as the dining hall. Along with the whir of ventilation, it has that smell—heavy, stale grease—the dumpster pushed up against the brisk wall. A thick grove of trees runs behind the building and I eye it, wondering if I have enough time to explore before it gets dark. I’m about to march on into the grove when I see movement across the grass. The shape is dark and small, a creature hiding in the thick stalks. I tip toe over and duck down to see a black cat, paws out, ready to pounce. Before I can react, another cat slinks forward, a few feet away, deftly climbing up an old tree trunk. This one is white with orange patches.
“Hey guys, what’s happening?” I say to them both. My voice disturbs the hunter, and he jumps away, closer to the trunk, eyeing me distrustfully. They’re skinny—not exactly scrawny, though. They remind me of the cats that hang out on the dock back home. Not quite feral, because they rely on the people nearby to feed them, but also not completely tame. The orange and white one watches me carefully and I’m not sure, but her belly looks swollen—probably pregnant. I drop down to a less threatening level, bringing the camera up to snap a few shots. “You guys like it back here away from everyone, too, huh?”
They hug the trunk and just stare back at me, a perfect exercise in contrasts. They’re good subjects, nice and still, and I don’t regret spending a whole roll of film on them. The black one has big yellow eyes, but the white and orange cat’s eyes are a gorgeous emerald green. I sit with them for a while, but neither will come very close.
Well I can’t say anything about that. I don’t want anyone touching me either. Sure, I have to rely on other people, family and some friends, but I know better than most that any of those people can turn at any moment.
The dark one is more interested in hunting and it’s getting dark. I can tell I’m keeping it from a potentially fulfilling meal. I stand and spot a third cat, this one an ashen gray, sitting at the edge of the tree line. “I should probably go, but maybe I can bring you guys some treats. How about that?”
They stare at me like I’ve lost my mind. I probably have. Coming to this school was a crazy, desperate decision, one that has already had consequences. Here I am, stuck without a car, and the very source of the thing I’d been so determined to run from is right here, in the very town I ran to.
But school starts tomorrow, and so what? Maybe I hadn’t run from something so much as ran toward something else. That’s what I’m really here for; a good education.
I head back down the path and glance back, feeling the eyes of the cats watching me. It’s strange, but for the first time since arriving at Preston Prep, I don’t feel so alone.
5
Sebastian
I wait until the main hall is thick with students before cutting through the crowd toward the science wing where the juniors have their lockers.