"Jeremiah! Jeremiah!" Ali tried to call his attention, but he was too busy wondering why and how Ali and Millie had a conversation.
"Jeremiah, would you stop talking and listen to why I'm calling you?" Ali said impatiently.
"What is it, Ali?" Jeremiah finally answered. "I know, you see, I'm trying to solve a mystery here."
"What I want to show you is an even bigger mystery."
It was true, though, that the jet-black-haired girl was an even bigger mystery. He didn't know why, but he badly wanted to know who she was.
"What could be an even bigger mystery, Ali? tell me."
"She!" Ali nudged Jeremiah so hard in the gut that if the stone nuggets weren't so dry, they would have poured right out of his mouth.
"Wait, Lyca? You're talking about Lyca?" Jeremiah said, much to Ali's surprise. But unfortunately, she went and sat at a different table far from them, so it was impossible to see her.
"You know her?" How many girls do you know here?" Ali asked. He was a bit devastated that yet again he didn't get to see her face.
"Of course, I recognize her; after all, this isn't my first day at a new school."
How stupid of Ali to not have thought of that.
"Oh, I just thought you had a thing with girls."
"Well, I definitely do not have a thing with Lyca, that's for sure."
"Is something wrong with her?" Ali asked concernedly.
"Nope, nothing extraordinary is wrong with Lyca," Jeremiah said nervously, and Ali could tell something was up. "Can we not talk about her and maybe forget I even mentioned her name?"
"No, I don't think I can do that, Jeremiah. Tell me what's up with her," insisted Ali.
"All you need to know, young Ali, is that she's in my town history class, and that's all."
"You take town history classes? Do we have town history classes? Is that even a class?" Ali asked.
"They're for advanced students, my Indian name dude, and speaking of advanced students, I have now found out why Millie had a conversation with you."
He made air quotes with his fingers when he said, "conversation. "She thinks you're a werewolf."
"What!" Ali exclaimed so loudly that a few people around him turned their heads. "Jeremiah, what the hell?"
"It's true. Didn't you hear what happened last week?"
"No, Jeremiah "I didn't hear what happened last week…" said Ali bitterly, "…but what could have possibly happened, Jeremiah?"
"There were howls heard by my Indian name friend," Jeremiah said, smiling. "Howls heard on Maple Street. Do you know that street with a lot of maple trees? It's like a forest."
"I don't know Jeremiah, I moved here a week ago, not a year ago," said Ali.
"Well, I hope you don't," Jeremiah said, with knitted brows. He had worry written on his face. "And you know what last week was?"
"What was last week? Ali inquired with greater zeal than the first time.
"Last week wasn't a full moon."
"What?"
"Yeah, Ali, come on, keep up. Everyone knows werewolves don't come out until the full moon, but Paver Town hasn't had a full moon for a very long time."
"What do you mean, Paver Town hasn't had a full moon in a very long time? And doesn't it bother anyone that our high school isn't named after the town?" Ali asked, still perplexed.
"Wow, Ali, no one has ever thought of that," Jeremiah said in what sounded like sarcasm, but Ali wasn't sure. He wasn't sure of anything with this dude, Jeremiah. What he was sure of was that he didn't speak to Jeremiah again, and when he got home, he had time to do his homework and think about what Jeremiah had said.
He had seen a lot of maple trees on his way home, and he hoped he hadn't just moved to a town where his street would matter more than himself.
"Hey Pa, how was the interview?" Ali asked his father when he came back that night.
"I wouldn't exactly call being questioned to work at a gas station an interview…" Jack said, "…but I got the job and I get free gas, so we'll survive."
"Cool," Ali said, "so can I ask you something, Pa?"
"Ali I just got home. I don't need you pestering me now, especially if it has something to do with money."
"I just wanted to know the name of the street you moved us to."
"I don't know Ali, they said something about old Maple. I think, what do you need that for? Is it for a school project?"
"Yeah, it is, town history." Ali didn't exactly lie; it was concerned with his school and it sounded like a project, plus Jeremiah did tell him he had town history lessons.
****
Jack was worried Ali was going to start asking him for money, which he knew he would if he didn't have any. But Jack didn't want to be a bad parent and let Ali work instead of finishing school first. What Jack didn't know was that Ali's mom, Sharon, had sent money to Ali at the end of every week since the divorce. That's why Ali still talks about his mother. She abandoned him but didn't forget, but Ali was never going to mention it to his father.
The next day, Ali was cornered by Jeremiah, and the first thing he told him was,
"My dude, join our club," Ali had no idea what Jeremiah was on about, but he had him cornered, so he had to find out what he meant.
"What club, Jeremiah?"
"Remember when I mentioned something about town history?" Jeremiah started.
"Yeah, I remember."
"Well, it is real, but it's not a class, it's a club, an after-school club."
"Ok, let me get this straight, Jeremiah. You want me to join an after-school club named Town History."
"Exactly, it's that easy, so what do you say?"
"I don't know Jeremiah," said Ali, scratching the back of his head while trying to think of this weird offer.
"I didn't think when you talked about town history yesterday, you meant it."
"Well, I did," said Jeremiah.
"Why do you need me to join this club?"
"For starters, it's the best extracurricular for college applications because the club dates way back and we don't allow a lot of people in it. Again, it says a lot about the weird howls."
"I'm not interested, Jeremiah. It doesn't sound like something I want to do. You said you don't just take anyone in, so, why am I suddenly qualified to be a member of this awesome club?"
Ali didn't think the club sounded awesome.
"The club needs someone like you in it." Jeremiah sounded desperate. "I sort of told them how you reacted when I mentioned the howls, and we all agreed for you to attend one meeting so we could see what you have to say."
"Sorry, man, I'm not interested," Ali reflected in the two minutes he was silent. He didn't want to join a weird club. Just as he turned to go, Jeremiah called out the best reason for him to attend the meeting.
"Lyca will be there!"
Jeremiah didn't lie. Jet-black hair was the first thing he saw when he and Jeremiah walked into a room he had never seen.
"There she is, my Indian-named dude," said Jeremiah. "Lyca McCraigen."
Ali suddenly had butterflies in his tummy. He was looking at a very pretty girl, possibly even prettier than the popular Millie Oak. Ali gave off vibes that Lyca gave off that Ali could feel inches away from her; vibes he had never felt in his entire life, not even the kind his father gave off when he was pissed.
An invisible force had pushed him to take the seat next to her and say something. What he would never have done in his shy life.
"Hi," he said, with a voice that sounded more like a croak than actual words.
"Hi," she said back in a more human-like feminine voice.
He was just soaking her sweet voice in when it hit him. It was the same voice that rang in his head the whole of yesterday's chemistry lesson. He was so sure it was the same voice, even though all she said now was "Hi."
"It's you!" He said it before he could stop himself. He wouldn't have stopped himself.
"Uh...yeah, it's me," Lyca said, confusion written on her perfectly symmetrical face, but Ali was too caught up in the moment to acknowledge that the expression was real if it was real.
"It's you who's been messing with me, messing with my head."
Lyca's expression changed. "Who?"
"You messed with my head in Chemistry class yesterday. I recognize your voice. How did you do that?"
"Excuse me! I don't even know you!" She exclaimed bitterly, giving him a nasty look, "How could I have possibly messed with your head?"
"You did, you messed with my thoughts, I heard your voice," Ali insisted.
"Ok, ok, I did mess with your thoughts…" Lyca said, "…and I'll tell you why." She lowered her voice and motioned for Ali to lean in close.