"Sure," Kieran responded contently, his mouth still full of orange.
Melody was right about the loner comment. If he hung out with
others, they'd probably find out about... well, it was obvious what
he was thinking about, and things were less awkward when no one
did. Kieran was also more introverted than extraverted, possibly
because raccoon dogs tended to live alone, or just in small groups.
"What's up?"
"GAH!" Winnie jumped back, nearly dropping her lunch in the
process. She could feel her heart beating against her ribcage as
she half-heartedly glared at Charlie.
"Gosh, Charlie. Don't scare me like that! You could've given me a
heart attack!"
Melody finished her sandwich bite. "Nothing much. Classes were
hard, but that's what happens when your education is constantly
changing. But I did want to ask you something. Well, two things
really." She took another bite of her sandwich. "Peanut butter and
ham is so good!" She said happily through the mouthful.
Kieran nodded with a small grin. "So, the two things?" He wasn't
surprised that he was going to be questioned about things by Melody
(she seemed like a very inquisitive human), but that didn't stop
him from folding back his canid ears further.
"Yesterday, I saw this weird dog thing that kind of looked like a
raccoon. Does it show up here often? Cause I've never seen it
before. Also, why don't you take classes here? You look like you're
only a couple of years older than me."
"Yeah, kinda." Winnie looked down towards the ground. As much as
she loved academics, school was one of the brunette's least
favorite places, and that was exactly why. She looked back up.
"A-Anyways," she began "Now that you're here, where do you wanna
sit?"
"That?" Kieran felt his brain jump from idea to idea as he quickly
made something up. "Probably just a big raccoon. Raccoons love this
area, and a lot of people don't forget to close their garbage
cans..." That part wasn't a lie. He'd seen a lot of raccoons in
town, which made it easier to blend in, since raccoon dogs weren't
exactly native. Now for the harder part. "As for the classes, I
took them when I was younger; I was in accelerated classes. I had
to move though, for... reasons." Hopefully his reserved tone would
stop Melody from asking further, though he was a little skeptical.
Melody narrowed her eyes a little. "I feel like you're not telling
me everything...but I can also tell you want to keep your secrets."
She was silent for a bit, eating her sandwhich. When she was done,
she turned to him. "Have you ever been in the woods? I saw them as
we were driving here, and I really want to explore!"
"I've been," Kieran was relieved at not having to lie anymore.
"It's quite beautiful, actually, and the blackberries there are
super good. Though I wouldn't recommend going in too far... it gets
a little dark and spooky in there." It was a good way of warning
about the monsters and supernatural creatures lurking in the nearby
woods without actually having to say anything about monsters.
Melody laughed. "I can handle spooky. My dad once tried to change
the genre of books he wrote, and we had to live in 5 different
places that were supposedly haunted. He watched a ton, and I mean a
ton of horror movies." Melody was starting to think she might just
go anyway.
"There's also the monster rumours... you've definetely heard about
those. I don't believe in them... but I do think that there are
some pretty dangerous things in there nonetheless, maybe animals or
something? A couple people who've gone in came out pretty beat
up..." Kieran paused, eager to change the topic. "Does your dad
write horror or something?
"Well, he used to. Was really into it as well. That was when moving
around was actually worth it, because we went to fun places, and we
all helped him with his work. We..nevermind." Melody frowned. "You
probably don't want to know."
Winnie opened her mouth to respond, then closed it again. After
all, if you couldn't beat them, join them. She walked over to the
table, and sat across from Charlie. Suddenly, a thought popped into
her head when she noticed the barren spot on the table, right where
Charlie was sitting.
"Did you...did you even bring a lunch?" She asked.
"If you want to talk about it, I don't mind." Kieran responded. He
fiddled calmly with the tassels at the end of his hoodie cords. It
was true, Kieran wouldn't mind listening, but he had a guess...
Melody's dad probably experienced something that made him lose his
motivation, or just lost it over time, and now Melody probably felt
they were moving around for nothing. He'd have to see, though.