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Morning finally did come, but I woke up really groggy. Mom had the cereal and milk out on the counter, so I grabbed a bowl of cornflakes.
As I spooned it down, there was a knock at the front door. Dad opened it, and I saw Hailey standing on the doorstep in the morning sun wearing her purple jacket.
She smiled at my Dad, then noticed me sitting at the table and called out, “You wanna walk to school with me?”
I nodded, wolfed down the rest of my cereal and grabbed my backpack from off the floor. It was still a little damp. Mom kissed me goodbye, and I said, “See ya” to Dad as I walked out the door into the sunlight. He watched me with a big smile on his face. It was kind of annoying.
The morning was bright and everything was still wet from the rain yesterday. The air felt sticky.
Hailey wheeled her bike along as we walked next to the gutter full of soggy leaves and stuff.
“I saw it last night,” I said.
Hailey looked at me.
“Saw what?” she asked.
“The thing that howled at us,” I answered. “The Wildman.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded, kicking at a pile of wet debris as I stepped over it.
“What did it look like?” she asked, looking back at the road ahead.
“It looked just a bit taller than me. And really hairy,” I said. “But it looked almost human.”
“Like an apeman?” she said.
“Yeah, I guess.”
Hailey nodded but didn’t say anything.
A crow flew overhead and landed in a big tree on the other side of the road.
“So why’d you tell me to lock my doors last night?” I asked. “What’s up?”
She glanced over at me. “I think Zach may be trying to scare you.”
I laughed, “He does always sound like he’s trying to spook me.”
Hailey shook her head. “No, I mean I think he’s planning something.”
“Planning something?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know exactly,” she said, “but the way he was talking with Brent about you yesterday at school made me think he was up to something.” Her bike clicked along as she pushed it. “And then last night, I heard him in his room on the phone. He said something about the woods and then ‘It’s gonna be the funniest prank ever!’” She paused for a second. “That’s when I texted you.”
“Are you sure he was talking about me?”
“Um, I guess not,” she said, then added, “but I don’t know who else he’d be picking on right now.”
“Oh.” I thought about this. “Why’d you tell me to check the locks?”
“Because when Zach decides to do a prank, you don’t know what he’s going to do. One time he snuck into Brent’s house and squeezed honey all over his bed.”
“Honey?” I asked. “My mom would be so mad.”
“Yeah, Brent’s mom sure was,” she said. “And Zach wasn’t even trying to scare him.”
That’s when I heard bikes coming behind us. We both turned around and saw Zach, Brent and Emily moving our direction up the road. Brent waved. I half-waved back.
Hailey leaned toward me and whispered. “Just be careful, Scott.” She climbed onto her bike.
“What’s up, Scotty?” called Zach.
They rode up beside us and slowed down, moving along with us as we walked.
“Scott!” said Brent. “Did you really walk home through the woods?”
I nodded, but Zach jumped in and said, “Hailey says she found him scared and all alone.”
Hailey rolled her eyes. “I did not say that.”
“You didn’t?” teased Zach. “Because that’s what it sounded like to me.” He grinned ear to ear.
I decided not to say anything and instead looked at an old house we were passing.
“So, Scott,” said Emily, “did you see anything weird last night?”
“No,” I lied. “Why?”
“Oh, no reason,” she said, eyeing me suspiciously. Zach and Brent looked at each other and snickered.
Something was definitely up. Was the thing in the woods all a practical joke?
“Hey, what homework did we have due in Second Period?” asked Brent suddenly.
“The math worksheets,” said Emily. “You didn’t do them?”
“Shoot!” said Brent. “How many questions was it?”
“Like fifty-five,” said Hailey.
Zach looked at Brent. “Busted!”
“It’s not my fault!” said Brent, “I forgot!”
Hailey rolled her eyes. “Maybe you should have been doing homework instead of whatever you and Zach were up to.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” said Zach.
“Can we go faster?” asked Brent. “This is taking too long.”
“Yeah,” agreed Zach. “You two are moving way too slow.”
“That’s ‘cause he doesn’t have a bike,” said Emily.
“I’m getting one next week,” I piped up.
“Really?” said Emily. “Then we could all ride together.”
I looked at her, surprised. I nodded.
“Which will be great,” said Brent, “but we’re gonna be late today if we don’t go faster.”
“Yep,” said Zach. “Let’s get out of here.”
He pedaled faster and Brent followed along, zipping ahead down the road. Emily watched them go, then glanced over at Hailey and me. She seemed to hesitate for a moment.
“Sorry,” she finally said, and hurried after them, her black hair waving behind her.
It wasn’t too long before they had disappeared from sight.
As the road curved around a bend, Hailey and I came to a forested area. Banks rose up on both sides of us, covered in grass and tangled vines, and topped with trees.
The vines fell between the trees like cloth draped between the gray branches, making the forest thicker and darker. Runoff from a drainpipe poured down one bank, making a small waterfall that splashed down onto the edge of the road.
The neighborhood was hidden behind us. The air was cool, but humid and still.
Hailey unzipped her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone.
“It’s eight-twenty!” she said. “We are going to be late if we don’t hurry.”
She stopped her bike.
“Jump on,” she said.
“Huh?”
“Just jump on the rack,” she said. “I’ll pedal standing up.”
I awkwardly climbed on the rack over the back tire, sitting sideways, and held onto it with one hand and onto the seat with my other.
Hailey pushed off. It felt pretty wobbly, but we were moving faster than we had on foot.
The breeze in my face felt good too, as we moved through the trees.
We might actually make it on time, I thought.
I glanced back to see how far we’d come, and gasped.
Something was standing in the woods, back near the running drainage pipe. Something big with reddish, brown fur, standing on two legs.
My eyes opened wide. “Hailey!” I said, as I almost fell off the bike. It wobbled like it might fall over.
“What’s going on back there?” said Hailey, regaining control. She glanced back. “What?”
But I couldn’t answer.
It wasn’t there anymore.
Had it slipped into the woods? Or was I just seeing things?
I held onto the seat tighter as we rode away, and watched the drainpipe disappear from sight.
