Moonlight Denial: Shades of Moonlight Book One

There was a clatter in the refrigerator as Nicoli searched through it to find something to munch on. He soon abandoned the fridge and went to the shelves that held the snack food. Nothing sparked his interest since all he could really find was health food, health food and more health food.

“Who eats banana chips? Seriously,” Nicoli muttered as he tossed the bag of dehydrated fruit back on the shelf. Would it kill his mom to buy a normal bag of fatty, greasy chips every once in a while? He was just about to pour himself a bowl of granola “packed full of nutrition” when there was a crash in the living room.

“Beethoven! Bad dog! Bad!” Laura’s voice yelled as a great ball of golden fur came careening into the kitchen. The clicking of claws turned into a screech as the dog skid across the floor before hurling himself at the back door. When there Beethoven hopped up onto his back feet and placed his front paws on the door and began barking at the glass window placed in the center of the door.

“Oh boy,” Nicoli said with a sigh as he set his box of granola down on the counter. He knew what was coming next. He’d done this dance plenty of times before.

“Nicoli Leonard Vurkeshaun!” his mother yelled as she appeared in the kitchen, disheveled and seething. “Will you please get that crazy dog of yours under control!”

Nicoli opened his mouth to reply, but before he could Beethoven was rushing out of the kitchen, nearly bowling Laura over and his howl could be heard throughout the entire house.

“And do it before I lose my mind,” Laura growled.

“Oh, he’s just getting stir crazy, you know that,” Nicoli said before a rather plaintive howl assaulted his ear drums. “And don’t say my name like it’s my fault,” he then said offensively.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she rubbed at her forehead with her fingers. “You know I can’t stand it when he gets like this. Beethoven!” she screamed when there was a thud of something falling over. “I’m having horrible flashbacks of when he was a puppy.”

Nicoli laughed as she covered her face with her hands. Beethoven was extremely well behaved but he always regressed back to his old mannerisms when he was cooped up in the house for far too long. He supposed that it actually was his fault. Since he was so caught up in his business with Ethan and the others he hadn’t really been giving Beethoven the attention he normally would, which would explain the crazy behavior the dog was showing now.

“Well, if you want I’ll take Beethoven outside and let him run it off,” he offered as he put his bowl back. He wasn’t going to be eating much now.

“Ooooh no, no you’re not,” Laura said, wagging her finger at him. “It is pouring outside and you will both catch one heck of a cold if you do. I’m not having any of that.”

She was right. It had been raining all morning and it would soak Nicoli in a heartbeat if he were to step out.

“Then what the heck do you want me to do about that?” Nicoli asked as he jerked his thumb in the direction of the living room as another spine tingling yowl sounded followed by running feet. “He has to run off all of his energy or he’s going to be like this all day.”

“Ack! Beethoven, watch where you’re going!” Lance’s voice carried in before he showed up in the kitchen. “I’m guessing someone is having a bit of cabin fever, huh?” he asked as he rubbed his leg.

“Oh, Honey, I was hoping you would sleep in a little,” Laura said, guilt etching into her features.

“Well, I gave it a shot, but someone is bound and determined to let us know how he feels,” Lance murmured as he ran his fingers through his mussed hair.

Normally he would have done this action with his right hand, but that was not the case now and wouldn’t be for a while. Because of the wall incident Lance had to wear a pull on, soft cast on his right hand to help the fractured bones heal. There was going to be no long term damage, which everyone was thankful for, but it would take several weeks before he could get full use of it again. Nicoli was just happy the fractured bones had been in his father’s hand because that meant he didn’t have to get an actual hard cast. If that had happened Lance would have been driving them all up the wall with his complaints.

“I’m offering to take Beethoven outside to let him go run this off, but mom won’t let me,” Nicoli said, quick to tattle on his mother.

“Oh? And why not?” Lance asked, giving his wife a bemused look.

“Because I don’t want him getting sick, that’s why,” Laura said in her defense. She crossed her arms to make herself look more stern and in the right. “He’ll get soaked out in that rain and the next thing you know he’s going to miss a week of school because his head is so congested with snot and mucus.”

“Ew, thanks for the mental image,” Nicoli said, screwing up his face in disgust.

“Don’t you have rain clothes?” Lance asked as he went to the coffee pot to get his morning fix, not at all ruffled by his wife’s harsh gaze.

“Yes, I do, so I don’t see the problem,” Nicoli said with a nod. He tried hard not to smile. Alone he could not change his mother’s mind even if he tried every trick in the book, but once he and his father teamed up she didn’t stand a chance.

“Oh, please,” Laura said with a roll of her eyes. “We all know what’s going to happen. You’re going to be a good boy and get your rain clothes on, but the second you get outside and start playing with Beethoven you’re going to take them off to move around better. You do it every time.”

Nicoli had no comeback. She had him there.

“How about this,” Laura said while Nicoli was drawing a complete blank. “Why don’t you just let Beethoven outside and let him run this off on his own. It’d be easier to have a sick dog than a sick son. At least Beethoven doesn’t have an academic career to worry about.”

“Are you crazy?” Nicoli asked. “Mom, we don’t have a fence! Beethoven will run out into the woods and get lost and I’ll never see him again! Do you really want me to lose my dog? My best buddy in the whole world?” In truth Nicoli was trying to be melodramatic to sway his mother’s decision, but he was also speaking the truth. There was no fence around their backyard and normally this didn’t pose a problem. Beethoven was good about staying in the yard and not wandering into other properties or out into the woods, but in his current state he was unpredictable and could very well barrel into the forest and never be seen again.

“He does have a point, Sweetheart,” Lance said before taking a sip of his coffee.

“Yes, but –”

“It’s just a little rain. He’s young and sturdy. That’s not nearly enough to knock him down,” Lance continued as he set his mug down to clap his hand on Nicoli’s shoulder and give him a little jostle as proof.

“But, Lance –” Laura said as she looked between the two.

Nicoli knew they had her now. The father/son team never failed, or hardly ever failed, and their cause was further helped by a crash from somewhere upstairs.

Laura groaned as she covered her ears with her hands and let them trail down the sides of her head.

“Fine, you can go out, just get that dog out of my house before he destroys it,” she said in defeat.

“Sweet, just give me one second to go get changed,” Nicoli said and gave his father a secret high five before rushing up to his room.

It only took him a few minutes to change into a pair of jeans and a shirt and to dig up his rain coat and boots from the bowels of his closet. Once he was dressed he grabbed Beethoven’s newspaper chew toy and sprinted down stairs and back into the kitchen.

“Now only stay out until he gets tired, okay?” Laura said as she put up Nicoli’s hood for him and tucked his hair underneath it.

“Yes, Mom,” Nicoli said with a roll of his and a shake of his head. Once she released him he made a bee line for the back door.

“And for God’s sake keep the jacket on.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.”

Without further delay Nicoli opened the back door. He then stuck his fingers in his mouth and let out a piercing whistle followed by,

“Who wants to go outside!?”

It sounded like a stampede rampaged through the house as Beethoven ran down the stairs and Lance and Laura stepped out of the way as the dog practically flew through the kitchen and out the door. Nicoli laughed as he followed and slammed the door behind him.

************************************************************************

It had been too long since Nicoli really played with Beethoven and he was enjoying it immensely. Just as his mother feared he had discarded his jacket long ago, preferring to move his arms freely and be wet rather than being constricted and dry. He was soaked to the bone and tingling chills raced along his skin, but he hardly noticed as he was having a tug-of-war with the newspaper chew toy.

Beethoven had one end held firmly between his teeth as Nicoli tugged and yanked on the other end.

“Oooh whatcha’ gonna do, boy? I got your toy. I got your toy,” Nicoli teased and had to hold on tighter when Beethoven lurched back and thrashed his head from side to side.

“Heh, you’re gonna have to do better than that, Buddy,” he said as he used all of his strength to hold on and give Beethoven a little thrashing of his own.

He was surprised that he felt so fit and energetic. After the mental lesson yesterday he had expected to feel worn and drained when he got up the next day, but it seemed the complete opposite had happened. He felt invigorated with boundless energy. It was probably the reason he had awoken so early that morning and didn’t feel the need to go back to sleep and stay there till noon. It had certainly shocked his mother. He wondered what the mental training did to give him such oomph, but whatever it was he liked it.

“Whoa!” Nicoli cried out when Beethoven gave a ferocious jerk and Nicoli lost his footing in the wet earth, causing him to slip and slam to the ground. “Awe man,” he grumbled as he sat up and looked at his clothes that were now caked in mud. He tried to wipe some off his arm, but only managed to smear it.

His head perked when he heard a whine. Beethoven was a few feet away and crouched down with his rump in the air, his tail wagging insanely. The chew toy was securely in his mouth and he shook his head ever so slightly, as if taunting Nicoli with his victory.

“Oh, you want to play it that way, do you?” Nicoli asked, wiping the hair that was plastered to his face behind his ear. There was mud all over his fingers and he used it to make streaks on both of his cheeks. He then flipped over so he was on all fours, but had most of his weight on his feet. “Let’s see what you got, Punk.”

Nicoli then launched himself towards Beethoven, who sprang away and bounded around the yard with Nicoli right on his paws. Laughter, barks and splashing mud was all that was heard as Nicoli chased Beethoven and more than once the dog was caught and tackled down to the wet ground where they would wrestle for several minutes, effectively covering them both in mud. Then Beethoven would escape and it would start all over again.

“No, I got you this time. You’re not getting away from me,” Nicoli said as he was dragged through the mud. He had his arms around Beethoven’s middle, but the dog was bound and determined to keep moving and soon Nicoli lost his grip and a splash of wet earth met him as he hit the ground. He rolled over onto his back as he tried to catch him breath.

“Fine, you win this round, but the war is far from over!” he announced, his pointed finger reaching up towards the sky. His arm then fell back to the ground and he closed his eyes as he enjoyed the sensation of the rain pelting his dirtied face and body.

He forgot what it was like to act like a normal teenager. What it was like to wake up to a lazy Sunday, playfully bicker with his parents about the littlest things, play with his dog in the backyard until he could hardly walk and, lastly, what it was like to not worry over anything. Not about vampires, vampire hunters, magical books, mind links, past tragedy of lost love and lost friends, or about traitorous brothers. Not to worry about anything at all.

Nicoli’s eyebrows furrowed when he noticed that the rain drops hitting his face abruptly stopped.

“What are you doing?”

Nicoli blinked open his eyes and was met with a deep red canopy of an umbrella, and leaning over him was a girl with hair just as red dressed in a sleek dark green rain coat with matching leggings underneath a black skirt.

“Amelia? What are you doing here?” he asked as he sat up. He hadn’t been expecting her. They had made no plans to meet each other or anything so her appearance was met with heavy confusion.

“Well, it’s a rainy day,” Amelia said with a shrug, as if it explained everything.

“…Aaaand?”

“And I get easily bored on rainy days. Mom and Aunt Tabitha are busy doing “Grown up” things and Preston is too busy with his dang studying to even acknowledge I exist. No matter how many spit balls I pelt him with. So, I thought I’d stretch my legs and see what you were up to…and you seem to be up to your eyeballs in mud,” she said, giving him a once over.

“No, I think there’s some mud in there too,” Nicoli said with a big grin. He grunted as Beethoven came over and knocked against his side, now wanting pets. His tongue was lolled out and his tail thwaped against the muddy ground as it wagged.

“Awe, hi, Beethoven,” Amelia greeted as she reached out and scratched behind his ear, apparently not caring that her red glove was now getting just as dirty.

“Beethoven was getting really antsy inside and it’s never a pretty thing when he does, so we’re out here burning off some energy, huh, boy?” Nicoli said and ruffed up the mane of fur around Beethoven’s neck.

“Aren’t you afraid of getting sick?” Amelia asked.

“Jeeze, what is it with women and always being afraid to get sick?” Nicoli asked with a shake of his head. “Its just a little water and dirt. It’s not like its going to kill me.”

“It may not kill you, but you look like a right mess. Like some kind of swamp monster.”

Nicoli glanced at himself, picturing himself as a swamp monster. An evil, mischievous smirk spread across his face as he got up to his knees and flexed his fingers.

“Me swamp monster. Swamp monster want woman,” he said in a deep, gravely voice as he got to his feet and took a few steps towards Amelia.

She must have known his intentions because her eyes grew wide and she took several steps back.

“Nicoli, don’t you dare. Don’t you even think about it,” she said warningly as she continued to back up, but Nicoli matched her step for step.

“Swamp monsters don’t think,” he said in the same voice. “Swamp monster just act.” Before Amelia could take another step Nicoli lunged forward.

A shriek ripped through the air and the umbrella went flying as Nicoli and Amelia tumbled to the ground with a thud and a splash. Nicoli sat up and laughed uncontrollably as he watched Amelia do the same, but now her clothes were splattered with mud along with her hair.

“Nicoli, you jerk! What the hell was that for?” she demanded as she stamped her foot into the ground.

“What? You wanted to hang out, so I’m including you,” Nicoli said impishly, then sputtered when Amelia hurled mud at him.

“You are so lucky I don’t push your face into the ground and suffocate and or drown you,” she hissed.

“Suffocate on this,” Nicoli said as he picked up his own handful of mud and threw it at her. He broke out into laughter as it went splat against her face and slowly rolled down into her lap.

“All right,” Amelia said as she wiped off her face and flicked the muck to the ground. “Your luck just ran out.”

Faster than Nicoli thought she could move, she sprang and tackled him to the ground. The two then began rolling around, trying to gain the advantage over the other. Grunts and curses soon turned into giggles and laughter and Beethoven yipped as he raced around the fighting pair.

After a few minutes of wrestling, chasing each other and Beethoven around, and hurling more mud at each other, Nicoli and Amelia sat side by side in the middle of the yard with Amelia’s umbrella between them, protecting them from the rain.

“Okay, that was not my first thought of what we’d do when I came over, but I have to admit schooling you in mud wrestling was fun,” Amelia said with a bright smile.

“See? Us guys know what we’re doing when we get down and dirty,” Nicoli told her as he squeezed some mud out of his hair.

“Apparently so, though I’m not sure Mom’s going to be thrilled when she sees my clothes…or my hair,” she said as she gingerly picked up strands of her hair that was now a dark brown instead of fiery red.

“Eh, no sweat. My mom’s probably going to insist she washes your clothes and for you to take a shower here before you go home, so your mom won’t even know,” he assured her.

“That’s good. Speaking of which can we go inside now? I’m freezing.”

“Yeah. I think Beethoven will be okay now,” he said as he got up on his feet and helped Amelia up. “Let’s take him into the garage so I can hose him off. Mom will have a conniption fit if I let him run into the house all muddy.”

Nicoli turned to call his dog, who was lounging about the yard, when he noticed that Beethoven’s ears were perked and he was staring at something intently. Nicoli followed the gaze and he blanched when he noticed a squirrel darting about the tree line.

“Oh, shit.”

“What?” Amelia asked.

“Explain later. Just grab Beethoven!”

Nicoli darted forward, but Beethoven was already on the move, running for the squirrel that had seen the danger coming and ran off into the forest. Nicoli dove for Beethoven, trying to grab him around the middle, but the combination of wet fur and slick mud helped the dog slip from the grasp and disappear into the woods.

“Beethoven! Beethoven come back!” Nicoli yelled, but he knew it was useless.

“What the heck just happened?” Amelia asked as she grabbed Nicoli’s arm and hefted him up.

“He saw a freaking squirrel. Usually he’ll only chase them to the tree line, but he’s still hyped up from playing so he went full on after it,” Nicoli explained as he wiped off his knees. “Come on, we have to find him before he gets lost or something.” He grabbed Amelia’s hand and dragged her into the thicket of trees.

***********************************************************************

“Beethoven! Beethoven where are you!?”

“Here, boy. Come on Beethoven leave the squirrel alone. Time to go home!”

The calls echoed off the trees and amplified the voices, but they went unanswered.

“Ugh, that stupid dog. Where did he go?” Nicoli growled through clenched teeth as he scanned the area, but couldn’t see any golden fur anywhere.

“Twilight Forest is huge. He could have gone anywhere,” Amelia answered.

“Thanks, I feel so reassured.”

“Sorry.”

Nicoli let loose his piercing whistle, but the forest remained still. It felt like a stone dropped into his stomach. What if they never found Beethoven? He’d be devastated.

“Don’t worry, Nicoli. We’ll track him down,” Amelia said comfortingly, placing her hand on his shoulder.

“God, I hope so.”

They delved into the woods further. Continuing their calls and whistles, pleading for a sign of where the golden retriever could have gone. Nicoli leaned against a tree and hefted a sigh. It felt like they had been searching forever and still nothing. To add to his sense of loss his teeth were chattering and he couldn’t stop shivering. The trees protected them from most of the rain, which only made his wet state that much more noticeable. If he really did get sick because of this that’d just add insult to injury. He shook his head. He needed to stop having thoughts like that. They were going to find Beethoven safe and sound and then they’d go back to his house and get cleaned up and he’d make everyone hot chocolate.

“Let’s keep –” Nicoli stopped in mid sentence as he turned towards Amelia. His eyebrows furrowed as he observed her. She had her back mostly to him with her hands cupping her mouth, but by the movements of her jaw it looked like she was talking into her hands. “The hell are you doing?” he asked.

Amelia jerked up in surprise and sent a sheepish smile his way.

“What? I’m not doing anything,” she said.

“It looked like you were talking into your hands.”

“I was blowing into them. They’re cold.”

“…okay, whatever, let’s just keep going,” he said. As he turned to continue their trek he saw Amelia toss something out of the corner of his eye, something shiny that disappeared into the surrounding brush. “Okay, what the hell was that?”

“What?”

“You just threw something.”

“No I didn’t.”

“You did, I just saw you! What was it?” When Amelia continued her denial of anything Nicoli stomped over to the bushes and looked through them, but he couldn’t find anything unusual.

“Are you quite done?” Amelia asked. “We could be searching for Beethoven right now instead of you riffling through foliage.”

Nicoli extracted his head from the bush and stared at her. Finally he shook his head and stomped off into the forest.

“God, you are so weird!” he called back over his shoulder.

“I’m not the one sticking my head in bushes,” Amelia rebuked as she followed him. When she caught up she grabbed Nicoli by the arm and began pulling him in another direction. “Come on, I may have an idea where Beethoven could have gone.”

“What? Where?”

“Do you remember those Fairy Rings I showed you weeks back?” Amelia asked as she pulled him through the forest with a purpose.

“Yeah, what about them?”

“Well, it’s said that animals are drawn to those kinds of places, so he may have wandered over in that general area.”

“And you didn’t bring this up before?”

“I completely forgot until just now. Excitement makes me do that,” she said defensively.

“Great, so we’re going to this place on a hunch?” he asked.

“Do you have any better ideas? It’s either do this, hope he’s there and if he’s not keep searching, or keep looking through the woods aimlessly.”

“…good point. I’ll just cross my fingers and hope you’re right.”

They trudged on and Nicoli hoped more than anything they would find Beethoven. After this fiasco he was definitely going to proposition his father into building a fence around the yard. He never wanted to go through this again.

They mostly traveled in silence and said a few words to each other off and on. The absence of noise made the surrounding woods feel more suffocating and closed in. Amelia must have felt this as she was the first to really say anything.

“So how is your dad doing? Is he okay after that whole…thing?” she asked as she hopped over a protruding tree root.

“Yeah, he’s fine. His hand is still healing up, but other than that he’s doing good. I think being stuck at home while the building is under scrutiny is driving him crazy,” Nicoli said with a chuckle. He had noticed over the last few days that his father was becoming just as restless as Beethoven.

“Yeah, Uncle Lloyd is the same. He keeps saying that he can’t believe its taking so long for those inspector guys to come to the conclusion that he already knows. It shouldn’t be much longer till everything is in the clear,” she told him.

“That’s good. Dad will be happy to hear that.”

Quiet fell between them again, but Nicoli noticed that Amelia was worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. To him it almost seemed like she was fidgeting as she walked, but he couldn’t understand why. The uneasiness in her demeanor then came in the form of a statement.

“You know…I could have sworn I saw that Ethan guy wandering around town the other day,” she said with a forced disinterest.

“Oh? Really?” Nicoli mumbled, raising a curious brow. That was the second time in a very short amount of days that Amelia had brought up Ethan. He didn’t know why she was doing it, but it seemed like she was trying to get at something, but it was easy for him to pretend to be impartial to the topic.

“Yeah, he was kind of walking around all suspicious like, like that day we followed him.” She paused again before side glancing at him. “Are you sure you haven’t seen him around at all, or run into him?”

“No, I haven’t,” he replied, trying to be as casual as possible. He was really starting not to like where she was trying to lead the conversation and he wished she’d stop. “What is it with you lately? You sound like you’re becoming obsessed with this guy or something. Whatever it is you can keep me out of it. I haven’t seen the guy nor do I have any desire to.”

He hadn’t noticed that as he spoke Amelia slowed her pace. He did, however, feel the tension in the air increase and before he could contemplate it a shout behind him made him nearly jump out of his rain boots.

“That is enough!”

Nicoli’s shoulder was grabbed and he was spun around to face a very angry, very scary looking Amelia.

“I have had enough of this! No more lies, no more deceit. You’re going to tell me the truth and you are going to tell me right now!” she yelled at him.

Nicoli shrank back and he was shocked by the outburst. He had no idea what she was screaming about, but the fury she was emanating made him want to scuttle under a rock.

“Whoa, Amelia, chill, will you?” Nicoli said, putting his hands up in case he had to defend himself. “What the hell are you talking about? What lies?”

“The lies you keep spilling about that bastard Ethan,” Amelia said through clenched teeth. “You keep saying you haven’t seen him, haven’t run into him, blah blah blah. I know you’re lying and I want to hear the truth about what is going on between you two.”

“Okay, Amelia, I think you’ve really gone off your rocker. I really have no idea what–”

“I saw you two at the Halloween party, Nicoli. So don’t even give me that,” she said, cutting him off. “And Preston saw you guys in the maze. I know you’ve been seeing him even after that and I want to know what is going on, once and for all.”

Nicoli could only gape at her. This was the first time he’d even thought Amelia had possibly noticed something amiss at the party, but he had no idea she had witnessed his time with Ethan, or that Preston had seen their meeting in the maze. He was screwed. He was royally screwed. How much did Amelia know? How much had Preston seen and heard?

No, he had to keep his wits about him and think rationally. Preston might have seen the exchange between him and Ethan, but he must not have overheard anything. If he had Amelia would be grilling him about Deloris Mary-Weather’s house. He had to keep hope that that was the case and just try any way he could to keep Amelia from guessing the whole truth.

“Well, uh, you see, there’s a very good explanation for that.” He knew he was fumbling over his words and fumbling bad.

“I’m waiting,” Amelia said, crossing her arms.

“Er, it’s kind of complicated.”

“Then un-complicate it.”

“You see, it’s kinda like this. I may have run into him at the party, but I haven’t seen him since, really.”

“You’re not lying your way out of this one, Nicoli.”

Finally, cornered and nowhere to go, Nicoli blurted out the first thing he could think of that was the closest to the truth that he could possibly go.

“I’m fucking the guy, okay!?”

It was said so loud the words echoed around them several times before fading off into the distance. Once they dissipated completely a buzzing silence surrounded the two as they stared at each other. It was now Amelia’s turn to be in complete shock with her mouth hanging open.

“W-What?” she finally stuttered.

Nicoli recognized right away that Amelia had been thrown for a loop and that she didn’t immediately find what he said a lie. He bit into the opportunity and held onto it as hard as he could.

“I’m sleeping with him. Are you happy now?”

“Wha…are you serious?” Amelia asked, apparently this was a hard notion for her to grasp.

“Yes, I’m sleeping with him, fucking him, screwing his brains out, is there any other turn of phrase that will be clearer to you?” he asked.

“Er, no, that’s pretty clear,” she murmured, her cheeks stained red. “So, you’re sleeping with him? That’s it? That’s all you’re doing with him?”

“What else would I be doing with him?”

“I-I don’t know. It’s just that Preston saw you guys arguing in the maze. If you guys are just…sleeping together than what were you fighting about?” she asked, and Nicoli noticed it was more of a plea.

“Oi, that was a while ago,” Nicoli said as he scratched his head, desperately trying to think of something. He was at least relieved to know Preston hadn’t actually heard his conversation with Ethan. “It wasn’t anything major. He was a real jerk when I was talking to him in the maze. He thought he was all smooth and whatnot and he propositioned me to get down and dirty with him and I was so disgusted with his attitude I told him no. We started arguing from there.”

“And then you relented? Preston saw you guys kissing,” Amelia said.

“It wasn’t more relent than it was just trying to get him to shut up,” Nicoli told her, which was all the honest truth. “After that I never intended to see him again, but he’s a stubborn bastard and tracked me down and kept up his pursuit. I guess I should be flattered that he found me so attractive that he’d chase me down like that,” he said with a grin and a waggle of his eyebrows. “Now we kind of have a thing going on. A fling if you will.”

“A fling? That’s all?” Amelia muttered in disbelief as she dug her fingers into her muddy hair. “I can’t believe it. That’s all this has been about?”

“Yeah, it is,” he said. “What else would I be doing with a prick like that unless it was to get some action? Why were you so flipped out about the guy?”

Amelia chewed on her lip and averted her gaze.

“There’s something about him I don’t like. I don’t think he’s a good guy and when I figured out that you were involved with him in some way I got really worried for you. I thought you got caught up in something really bad.”

Nicoli couldn’t help but laugh. She had no idea.

“You got all that just from seeing him from a distance a few times? You haven’t even met the guy, how could you think he’s bad?” he asked.

Amelia pouted and huffed at him.

“I get feelings, okay? And I get a bad feeling about him.”

“Well, don’t worry. I’m not caught up in anything and, as far as his character goes, he seems perfectly fine in the bedroom. Outside of it is none of my business,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“God, why didn’t you just tell me you were seeing him?” she asked. “I’ve been freaking out about this since forever.”

Nicoli sighed and hung his head.

“It’s because I didn’t want you to think less of me.”

“Less of you?”

“Yeah, think about it. I don’t really know Ethan all that well and I only met him a few times before I slept with him. It makes me seem kind of…easy, which I’m not, I made him work for it believe me, but I didn’t know how you would feel about that and I didn’t want to risk you thinking I was a whore or something,” he explained. Now he was just talking out of his ass, but it was a reasonable fear, and he realized that was a certain light he didn’t want Amelia seeing him in.

“Awe, Nicoli, I wouldn’t think you were a whore,” she said and stepped forward to hug him. “It’s just one guy. Now if you were sleeping with the whole school that would be another matter.”

“Ha, like anyone there would give me the time of day…which is kind of why I gave into Ethan,” Nicoli said. “A man has needs,” he elaborated when Amelia pulled back to give him a strange look. “Another reason I’ve been keeping this a secret is because Ethan is so much older than me. It’s like a ten year difference or something and anyway you look at that it seems kind of wrong. I know if my parents found out about Ethan and that little detail they would flip.”

“Yeah, I see what you mean,” Amelia said as she released him. “So, that’s really all that’s going on? You only see Ethan when you sleep with him?”

“For the last time yes. There’s really nothing to be freaked out about. He’s not some kind of serial killer or something.”

“I still don’t know…”

“Trust me, Amelia, if he starts getting really strange or something I’ll stop seeing him.”

“You promise?”

“Sure, now are you quite convinced? My dog is still lost in the woods somewhere,” Nicoli reminded her.

“Yeah, I guess I’m relieved enough,” she said as she took his arm and the two continued to the Fairy Rings clearing. “I just want you to be careful? Okay. If he ever hurts you I’ll make sure he ends up six feet under.”

“Oooh I like the sound of that. Can I get that in writing to show to him if he starts being a major jerk?”

************************************************************************

It took them only a few minutes to reach the clearing. The rain slipped through the canopy of leaves, sprinkling the grass and mushroom circles in glistening rain drops. Nicoli scanned the area all over when he entered, but he didn’t see his dog anywhere.

“Beethoven!” he called and for a split second he thought maybe Amelia had been wrong in her assumption.

“What was that?” Amelia asked, looking off somewhere to their right.

“What’s what?” he asked, but then he stopped and listened. Somewhere close by there was the sound of rustling leaves. They stood for several seconds when Beethoven’s head popped out of some nearby bushes.

“Beethoven!” Nicoli cried out in joy. He dropped to his knees as Beethoven ran to him and he hugged the dog tightly and welcomed the slobbery kisses he received. “You stupid mutt, you had me so worried.”

“See, I told you he’d be here. Gotta trust me more often,” Amelia said as she bent and stroked Beethoven’s head.

“Yes, for once old mumbo jumbo myths came in handy,” he said as he buried his face into the matted, dirty fur.

“And still you sound so insulting,” she said with a sigh. “But, whatever, let’s just get back to your house. I’m cold and tired and I want a hot shower.”

“Here, here.” Nicoli stood and made sure to keep a tight grip on Beethoven’s collar. “No way am I letting you run off again, Buddy.”

Nicoli was the first out of the clearing and since he was he didn’t see Amelia turn toward the mushroom rings. She winked and gave a thumbs up and smiled when the rain drops on the mushrooms shimmered and glowed followed by a chorus of chiming laughter that rose up into the trees above.

============================Ch. 44 End