The Forest Gods' Reign [Published]

Chapter 25: He Knows

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"So, um, where have you been all day?" Cole asked me, ruffling his caramel-colored hair nervously.

His question alone made me want to walk away from him right then, but I knew that would have been quite rude. First of all, we had just walked out of the forest, so wasn't it obvious where I had been? And second of all, Cole had absolutely no reason to know exactly where I was at every second of the day. I belonged to no one.

"Well, we were in the forest. Where else would we be?" Luke shot back at him harshly, his blue eyes flashing, and like Zach, I held back a snicker.

Cole cleared his throat awkwardly, sensing the tension between all of us. He sighed and started, "All day? Oh, right, I guess I should've known..." His voice trailed off, and he nervously stuffed his hands into the pockets of his gray sweatpants before he continued, "I just wanted to see what's been going on, I guess."

I rolled my eyes and said softly, "Cole, get to the point. We don't have all night." As if to prove my point, a loud crash sounded from inside my dimly-lighted house, followed by an angry yell. Luke and Zach both sent me worried glances, but I shrugged them off. Cole glanced nervously back and forth between Zach and Luke, so I knew then that there was something he didn't want to say in front of them. Unfortunately for Cole, I wasn't in the mood to stick around after the brothers left. Rapidly tiring of his presence, I told him bluntly, "If there's nothing else, we'll be leaving now."

"I-I just wanted to see if you wanted to do something tomorrow...with me," Cole finally sputtered, and Luke, Zach and I raised our eyebrows. "And I had something...but never-mind. I left it at home."

I frowned, wondering what Cole could possibly want to give me, and why. Plus, he had just lied right to our faces - I could tell that whatever he wanted to give me was in his left pocket, which he kept fingering subconsciously. I suspected that it was some kind of jewelry or other keepsake. Gross.

"We're going camping tomorrow," I said flatly, crossing my arms. "For a few days, actually, just as an end of summer celebration." Zach and Luke quickly nodded in agreement.

"In the forest?" Cole exclaimed, his brown eyes widening. "Have you guys ever camped in there before? Isn't it going to be dangerous?"

Unable to control themselves, Zach and Luke burst out laughing, while I just rolled my eyes at their immaturity. After all, Danger was no stranger to us; we had faced him every day since the first time we had gone into the woods. In fact, you could say that we were close friends.

"Um, dude, that's kind of the point," Luke snapped rudely. "Learn to live a little."

"Okay..." Cole scratched his head, and then he glanced back at me. "Well, I guess I'll go now. Ash, can you meet me in front of the Fire Pit tomorrow?"

"Sure," I answered him and nodded slowly, noticing Zach and Luke exchanging mischievous glances, and I knew that they would be begging their mother to listen in on the conversation the next morning, since they weren't going to be there. Without another word, Cole waved good-bye as he headed east down the dark road, his footsteps echoing off the pavement, while the two brothers walked with me across the street towards our own houses.

"When did Cole get so annoying?" I muttered, more to myself than to Zach and Luke.

"When we found out we were gods," Luke replied with a snort.

Zach sighed. "Don't be so hard on him, Ash." Both Luke and I quickly looked to Zach for further explanation, mild shock on our faces. I raised one eyebrow at him, and he continued, "Cole has some guts, asking you out. You can be quite intimidating, you know - sometimes even menacing...but then again, we all are. And besides, we can't blame the kid for being curious." Then Zach lovingly patted my shoulder, and he disappeared with Luke into their cozy house, leaving me to quietly ponder what he had said as I stepped up onto my creaking front porch.