Chapter 2

They walked in silence around the giant bonfire, and she enjoyed the warmth from the roaring flames. Everywhere were people either waving or coming up to chat with Ryan. No one so far had attempted to talk to her, and she felt slightly embarrassed that she was so unpopular at school. Ryan leaned in closer, and the familiar butterflies took to the sky inside her stomach.

"Hey, is it OK if we go somewhere a bit quieter?"

“Yeah, sure”, she exclaimed in a high-pitched tone.

“Why am I so awkward she scolded herself inside her head. 

Ryan put his hand on her lower back and steered her towards the water’s edge before grabbing her hand and leading her alongside the lake’s lapping water. A breeze winnowed between them, making her shiver.

“Here, I’ll keep you warm” Ryan smiled and put his strong arms around her shoulders.

“I can see a log just up ahead where we can sit”, he continued and pointed into the darkness.

Nueva tried to widen her eyes to see the log he was talking about, but she could only see blackness in front of them. But just like that, an old weathered tree trunk appeared resting in the soft dunes. Behind the tree trunk, grew a half-circle of shrubs, creating a shelter from the cold winds. The shrubs sharp pointy branches looked like evil hands against the midnight sky and a feeling of nervousness and eerie mixed into a new emotion deep down in her gut. Nueva swallowed hard as they sat down together on the smooth wooden surface. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, watching the moon that seemed to be admiring its reflection on the lake's calm surface.

“So, tell me something about yourself”, Nueva uttered to break the silence. “I don’t know anything about you.”

“What would you like to know?” Ryan’s voice was warm and comforting.

“Well, let’s start with where do you live?”

Ryan straightened his back before answering.

“My family and I live outside of town. We have lived on a property owned by my family for hundreds of years.”

“Oh, wow. What do your family do?’

“Well, it’s sort of a family business that my older brother Gray is running.”

His body stiffened, and he looked away. Nueva could tell that he didn’t want to get into that subject. So, she decided to let it go and ask about something else.

“What’re your hobbies?” straight away feeling silly to have asked such a juvenile question.

Ryan turned, and his eyes fell heavy on hers, making her breath hitch in her throat.

“My hobbies are boring. Let’s talk about what you like.”

He leaned in closer and tucked a blond lock that defied the winds behind her ear.

“I like.” She stuttered as the touch of his fingers on her skin made her shiver.

“Me, I hope”, Ryan smiled, staring into her wide eyes.

For a second, everything went quiet as the blood pumping through her veins drowned out the wind and the noise from the party down the beach.

“It’s finally going to happen. I am about to get kissed by Ryan Tanner” Her brain cheered in the back of her mind.

But then a rustling from the shrubs brought her back to the now. She could feel Ryan’s body stiffen before he stood up, pulling her with him. A low growl emerged from the shrubs behind the tree trunk, sending shivers down Nueva’s back.

“What is that?” Nueva whispered, staring into the darkness and stepping closer to Ryan.

“I am not sure. Let’s get out of here.”

Nueva could sense his alarming state of mind. But, before they got a chance to move, a large dog-like animal sprung out from the shrubs heading right for Nueva. The giant animal bit down into the flesh on Nueva’s small hand, sending a shockwave of pain throughout her body. She cried out in pain and instinctively tried to pull her hand out of the beast's jaws. Ryan threw himself onto the animal and wrestled it into the ground. The animal whimpered and let go of Nueva’s hand. It lifted its large head and looked straight at Ryan with its beautiful honey-coloured eyes that glowed softly under the moon's ashen glow.

He looked utterly confused before he spoke the words “Mate.”

Ryan let go and stumbled to his feet; the animal seized the opportunity to escape, sprinting away under the shield of darkness.

“What was that?” Nueva’s voice trembled as she struggled to keep the tears from spilling out from the shock. 

“I can’t explain, sorry, but I must go.”

“What? You can’t leave me here; what if that thing comes back?” Nueva couldn’t hold back the panic in her voice.

“She won’t come back.”

“She?”

“I am so sorry, Nueva, but I must go.”

He left her standing alone with those words as he ran into the blurry backdrop. She stood numbed, listening to his footstep disappearing in the distance. There was a blood-chilling bone crackling noise before everything went silent. The noise from drunken teenagers and the whistling wind soon seeped back into her ears.

Her hand throbbed painfully, and in the dull light from the moon, she could see that it was swollen and bruised. Nueva took off her shoes and ran alongside the silvery water’s edge towards the bonfire glowing brightly in the navy-blue night. As she came closer, she slowed down and snuck off to the side across a well-manicured garden so as not to be seen by the party guests. The last thing she wanted was for Lucinda to find out that not only did she not get kissed but instead got attacked by a dog and dumped by her date. She hid behind parked cars in the large driveway and ordered an Uber. She thought about calling her mum for a minute but then decided not to worry her.

Ryan's bright blue pickup remained parked at the front, where they had left it. So, where the hell did he go off to? The more she thought about the whole ordeal, the angrier she got.

"Seriously, the next time I see him, I'll give him a piece of my mind," she growled between clenched teeth.

As she waited impatiently for the Uber, she heard voices from the garden she had snuck through earlier. There were two voices, and as they walked into the dim light from the lake house security lamps Nueva’s jaw dropped. Ryan was walking with his arm around the shoulders of a beautiful girl. The girl had long silky brown hair and big beautiful honey-coloured eyes.

“Those eyes look so familiar”, Nueva tried to rack her brain to remember where she had seen this girl before.

The two of them gazed longingly into each other’s eyes, and their hands didn’t seem to be able to get enough. The couple kissed hungrily before reluctantly letting go and climbing into Ryan’s pickup truck. Nueva crouched down behind the cars as they drove past.

“Could this date get any worse” she hissed in disbelief.

It was past midnight when she finally walked back through the front door to her house. Miranda had left a few lights on for her, and Nueva felt her heart ache slightly over her mum’s thoughtful gesture. She tiptoed up the stairs and into her bedroom and crawled under the soft dusty pink duvet. Her hand, strangely enough, didn’t seem to hurt as much anymore, and she drifted off to sleep straight away.