It was morning and Paul's cell phone alarm went off. The smell of bacon filled the air. That meant his mom was home. Which was exactly what he was hoping for. Now he could get an update on Rhea.
"Good morning. You’re up without snoozing your alarm. I'm impressed,” Paul’s mom, Grace, exclaimed while frying the bacon.
"Hey, Mom, glad you're home," Paul said through a yawn.
"Is it because of the bacon?"
That was one thing Paul liked about his mother. She was quick-witted, and it seemed like she took on life effortlessly. She was a single mom who worked overnight. Although you’d never see that stress on her face. She was unstoppable.
"I have been on record saying you make the best bacon," Paul smiled. "So did you treat Rhea last night?"
"Uh, yeah, I did check on her. Why do you ask?"
"Did she say what happened? All I saw was some blood and hair. We have some classes together, so I wanted to make sure she’s okay."
Paul's mother turned away as she replied, "Oh, she said she was attacked by an animal. She doesn't know what exactly but she should be alright. You know, partying in the woods is dangerous."
He was in disbelief. "Animal attack? Really? I know we've had some in the past, but it's weird for an animal to come that close to a party,"
"Well, maybe just no more late nights in the woods, please," his mom replied.
Paul ate his breakfast while his mom went off to sleep. He was dreading going to school. It was the second day, so cutting was out of the question. Armed with to go bacon, he headed off. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but think how impossible an animal attack seemed. Then he remembered that’s how Delilah’s dad died on his camping trip, so it’s not that impossible.
He headed to school. Pulling up to Autumnvale High, today there was less excitement in the air and more gossip. As he got out, he spotted Delilah and Zane walking in together. He hated that. He grabbed his stuff and headed inside to his locker. As he was closing the door, Quinn walked up. "So, dude, did your mom say how Rhea was? I mean, did she say what happened to Rhea?"
"Yeah, some sort of animal attack. Why are you so curious?"
They started walking to class, "Just curious. I feel bad it was my party and all, but damn, an animal attack….that sucks."
Before Paul could stop himself, he asked, "Why were you fighting?"
Quinn looked shocked by this question, "Well, she was kind of into me, and I told her to leave me alone. It was nothing big."
After that, the day went on pretty normally. Lunch was fun. It was great to hang out with all his friends. Football practice went smoothly even with Zane there. He’d never say it out loud, but Zane was really good and a great help to the team.
Practice ended, he headed over to the students’ favorite hangout spot to get something to eat. It was called The Fireside Tavern. It was pretty average, but everyone liked the vibe there.
As Paul arrived, he laid eyes on his friends at the table, but Quinn was missing. So when he approached the table, he asked, "Where's Quinn at?"
"Oh, he's visiting that Rhea girl in the hospital. I guess he feels guilty about her getting attacked at his party." Melissa replied.
Tyler interjected, "That's weird. Quinn's not usually that selfless."
"Well, he is eighteen now, so maybe he has become wise and helpful in his old age," joked Beatriz.
There was a brief laugh and then a pause before Delilah softly chimed in. "Did your mom really say it was an animal attack?"
Paul shook his head yes. The whole group looked at Delilah with a look of pity.
"Dont be silly. Quinn is always helpful and thoughtful to all his classmates," Melissa added, trying to change the subject of animal attacks for Delilah's sake.
"No need to campaign at the table, your majesty," joked Tyler.
A voice coming from behind Paul chimed in, "You should see her practice her acceptance speech in the mirror at home."
Melissa threw a bread roll at the voice. Paul turned around to see that it was Aiden, Melissa's younger brother, who was the complete opposite of her. Paul thought highly of him because Aiden didn't care what anyone thought. That was an admirable trait to have in high school, especially when high school is basically a popularity contest. Aiden was also the opposite of his family. Melissa was most likely to join a beauty pageant. His dad was the mayor, and his mom was a newscaster but Aiden was just himself, unapologetically.
"Did your mom say if Rhea was going to be okay?" asked Aiden.
Paul replied, "Yeah, she said she should be alright."
Aiden looked relieved and said thanks. As he was leaving, Zane walked through the door. Delilah left the group to go say hey to him. Paul's heart sank into his stomach. The twins just stared at him, waiting for him to say something. Paul, of course, did, "She likes him, doesn't she. It's not just in my head?"
The twins both fumbled over their words as if to avoid saying yes, but Melissa plainly stated, "Oh yeah. You know, Paul, you've been single for a while now. If she wanted to have a relationship with you, she would."
As much as the sentence hurt Paul, at least she was honest. That was one of Melissa's better qualities, honesty to a fault. Of course she could be a little nicer about it. Delilah and Zane came over to sit with the group. Zane was curious about Rhea.
"Are you sure she said animal attack? Did she mention what type of animal? "
"I don't know. My mom said she said animal attack. Why do you care about the animal type? Did you even know her?"
Delilah interjected as to stop a fight from happening, "Melissa, did you and the party committee pick a homecoming dance date yet?"
Melissa responded, but Paul just tuned it out. He got up and went to the counter. Their server was there so he ordered more fries. He waited at the restaurant’s counter/bar for a few minutes. He needed a few moments to himself. There was a tap on his shoulder so he turned around. Standing there was the girl he flirted with at Quinn’s party. Her name was Kelley.
“Hey, I was hoping to run into you again. I need to challenge you to another beer pong game. I need a chance at redemption.” she said.
Paul was a little flustered, “Kelley, yes, next party we are at I will definitely make time for you.“
“You better. Or you know if you wanna team up next time. I wouldn't mind that either.” She walked away and Paul couldn't help but stare.
Dating Kelley wouldn't be so bad. She seemed fun. Paul was still determined to get Delilah back but looking at other options wouldn't hurt.
He went back to the table and the group discussed things they wanted to do this year. The topic of college also came up at the table.
The meal ended so the group went their separate ways. Paul went home. When he got there, his mother was standing by the sink doing dishes. “Hey Paul. How was school? Did you learn anything interesting today?”
Paul went over to hug his mother, she followed up with, "Well hello to you too. How was school? What did you learn?”
“I learned nothing,” he joked.
She laughed. “Yes, the quality education I was so hoping you’d get. Oh yeah, your friend is being released tomorrow. She is okay."
"Cool. Thanks for the info."
Paul went upstairs to his room. The bed looked amazing to Paul. Sleep could fix anything. In the back of his head he couldn't help but think that this was an omen for the rest of the year. The universe was signaling that this year will be a disaster. He forced that thought out of his head.