‘Hey, Natalie,’ the girl called.
We sat, grabbed a menu each and perused the choices.
‘My cousin works here,’ Natalie told me. ‘My auntie owns this place, so she always reserves this table for me or my family.’
‘It’s such a lovely little place!’
‘It’s just a shame there’s no natural light,’ she sighed. ‘Still, it’s good place to come hide away from everyone. I especially need to be hiding away from everyone at the moment with how gross I look.’ Natalie frowned.
‘Oh, hun, you don’t look that bad!’ I tried to reassure her. ‘But, while we’re on the subject… I know I don’t know you well, but…’ I trailed off, trying to gauge whether it would be ok to question her about this.
‘Go on,’ she said. ‘I’d be asking too if I was you.’ She gave me a reassuring smile.
‘Did you really get hit by a tree?’ I felt bad for asking but it did seem as if she wanted to talk about it.
‘You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,’ she sighed.
‘Try me,’ I said, warmly.
‘Ok. I was attacked by an animal.’
‘Was it a wolf by any chance?’ I asked
‘Oh my god, how do you know? Have you seen one?’ she asked in hushed tones.
‘Well, this sounds so crazy, I know but…’ I hesitated but I felt as if I could trust Natalie now. ‘The first day I got sick I thought I saw a white wolf. Daniel was with me and… and I thought I saw his eyes turn black and then there it was standing right in front of me. A wolf.’
We sat in silence for a few minutes.
‘I knew there was some weird shit happening in this town, Grace, I just knew it! Well, this is even more crazy and please don’t hate me for telling you this, but, I’ve liked Daniel for a very long time. We grew up together. Then a couple of weeks ago, probably about the same time you got poorly, I saw Daniel walking around on his own, no shirt on, his trousers were ripped and he was covered in blood. Feeling worried about him, I ran over but then what I thought was a white wolf appeared and then a moment later a black wolf and… no sign of Daniel. The black wolf struck at me before it charged right at the white wolf. Next thing I knew, I woke up in my bed at home and with this scratch down my face. Since that day Daniel has avoided me.’
‘Oh, Natalie I’m so sorry! that is awful and must have been hard for you to watch me dancing with him on that very first day. But holy shit, there could quite possibly be wolves in this town.’
‘Shhhhh keep you voice down about the wolves word, people in this town are spooked enough as it is. As for Daniel, It’s cool, Grace, it really is. I know he likes you. But I get the impression that you’re into somebody else. The mysterious Ben.’
‘Oh my god, how do you know?’
‘I’m very good at picking up these vibes from people. That first day we met, when Ben tried to kiss you, I saw the look on your face, that you actually wanted it. But then Daniel stopped it.’
Natalie had really been observing me that day and she was right about everything. But I couldn’t help but wonder why she was so OK about the boy she liked being into me instead. This girl seemed too good to be true and very mature about the whole situation. I sensed there was more I needed to know and to find out about her, because I could l see us becoming really good friends. There were no signs of any jealously from her but perhaps it was because I believed her story that she was attacked by a wolf and then having no idea about getting home. I knew this would be a conversation to have with her another time in another place. This was not the right time or place.
‘Well it’s probably more awkward that I’m telling you this, but Daniel has arranged a date for us tonight, but I don’t know whether to go or not.’
‘That is sweet of you to be honest with me about it, but if you do go please be careful and don’t be on your own with him. I lost my virginity to him over the summer and he was very fierce with how he did it. Afterwards, he treated me like I was his property and not his girlfriend or even just his friend. Let me tell you a secret, I have been secretly going out with Dominic for the past couple of weeks. As soon as he heard about my incident, he was there for me and in those couple of weeks recovering, my feelings towards Dominic developed further than friendship. He still looks at me like I am still me even though I have these huge claw marks across my face.’
Our conversation was interrupted when Natalie’s cousin approached our table to get our order. She looked very similar to Natalie in the face, and same coloured hair and told me her name was Jenny.
‘It is so nice to meet you, Grace. This is the first time Natalie has bought a friend in here.’ Then, turning to Natalie, she lowered her voice, closer to a whisper.
‘How’s Dominic? Your face is really healing well.’
‘Thanks. I tried to cover it up with more make up than I normally wear, as this is the first
