Bessie's Dilemma

Bessie had been told to stay out of the forest at night since the day she was born. At fourteen years old you'd think the warning might have some merit, but not tonight. It had been a rough day at school today, especially because of Jared, a boy she liked was seen holding hands with her best girlfriend Sasha at lunch time. Bessie felt crushed and spent the rest of the lunch break crying behind the Phs. Ed building alone. She was always alone it seemed. Even when she was out with her girlfriends at the mall it seemed liked they were not including her in the conversation and everytime they mentioned Jared's name, they'd give her a glance to see if it got a rise out of her. Bessie felt like a loner and a loser because all the girls in her little circle of friends had boyfriends to do things with after school and she just went home to her studying and the same chores she had to do before dinner. It was getting cold at Greatbend, the little town she lived in near the forests of Wisconsin. But this day was to improve! Sara, one of her girlfriends told her that Jared wanted to meet her alone at Hearts' Tree in the woods at 8:00 P.m.
She hurried through her chores and helped her Aunt Elle prepare dinner for her Uncle who was a Linesman for the local phone company. Her Aunt noticed she was rushing through the meal after they had sat down to eat and said, "Good God girl, you'd think we never fed you, are you that starved or in a hurry for a date?" Bessie almost choked on her food and replied,
"I'm going over to Sara's house after dinner to study for a test, I should be back by 9:30 at the latest."
"Well at least chew your food, Sara will still be there when your done with a proper dinner", replied her Aunt." Sara finished her dinner and dashed upstairs to change clothes from school. She put on a pair of her favorite jeans and a long sleeve Pendleton Shirt Jared had loaned her last week which she purposely never gave back. Sitting down at her vanity table she put on a little makeup pulled on her Doc Martins and was ready to go. Her heart was beating like it was going to jump out of her chest she was so nervous. She came downstairs and said goodbye to her Aunt and Uncle. "Where's your books? asked Uncle Peter, or don't you need them to study?"
"Oops, said Bessie and she ran to the living room where she had left them when she came home. She laughed and said, "I know, I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached to me, right?" Both the Aunt and Uncle kissed her on the cheek and told her not to be late. She dashed out the frontdoor, hid her books by the firewood pile and then jogged up the street. When she got to the end of the street, instead of turning left to go to Sara's she ran into the forest. Hearts' Tree, as everyone at school called it, was a tree about a half mile into the forest and was so named because the local lovers carved their initials in it. Everybody knew about Hearts' Tree and went there to makeout with their boyfriends.
Bessie's pulse raced as she ran and her anticipation was soaring higher then ever before. When she finally got there, there was nobody insight. "Maybe I'm early", she thought to herself as she sat down by the tree and lit a cigarette that she'd gotten from Tania at the mall. She waited there for twenty minutes then a whole gang of her classmates jumped out from behind a big bush and started throwing eggs and mud at her while taunting her in the most hurtful ways they could think of. "Oh, look Jared, Bessies here to makeout with you!" screamed Sasha all the while holding hands with Jared.
Bessie's heart sank and she ran crying and running deeper into the woods then she'd ever been. She was in hysterics, she cried so hard she couldn't catch her breath, her side started hurting and all she could do was run! She stopped to catch her breath and to quit crying, but every second she felt more and more humiliated. Finally she slid down to the base of a large tree and tried to get hold of her emotions. Thoughts of never going back to that school raced through her mind almost as much as she hated Sara for setting her up. Something was moving toward her from the trees. All she could see was a shadow on the ground from the light of the full moon. Closer and closer it came and suddenly Bessie was more scared than humilliated. People were known to disappear from these woods and never be heard from again. The she heard a branch snap and a howl like that of a wolf. It was howling and wouldn't stop. Bessie got up and looked around the tree and found a stout branch she could use to protect herself from whatever was over there and she started to slowly back away from the howling which was just beyond some large bushes. She moved about five paces and the howl turned into a whimper. Whatever was beyond those bushes was badly hurt and needed help, thought Bessie. So with club in hand, she moved in a large circle until she could see what was there. Lying on it's side with it's foot in a trap was the most beautiful sable colored wolf she'd ever seen. She could see clearly as the moon was now directly over the animal and tears of pain were flowing out of it's big green eyes.
As she approached it the animal became quiet and was rubbing its nose against the grass. Bessie knew what she was doing and what she was about to do was very dangerous, but she couldn't stop herself. It was like some unstoppable force of nature was pulling her in to try and aid this creature.
"Stay still now, she said to it softly, don't thrash around or the blades of that trap will make it worse. Easy now, I'm going to open this trap and push your leg out. Easy boy." It was almost as if the wolf understood everything she was saying to him. Bessie put the branch down and went over to the trap and studied it. The wolf lay silent almost not breathing. Bessie took off Jarad's Pendleton Shirt and wrapped her hands in the sleeves. She sat next to the wolf and put her shoe against one side of the trap and with her hands she started prying the clamp apart. As soon as there was enough room the wolf shimmied out and the trap snapped together again, but the wolf could't stand. Bessie made a bandage by ripping the sleeve of the shirt and applied it to the wolf''s leg and tied it tight. "We really need to find some water and antiseptic to clean this wound", she said. With all the effort it could muster, the wolf started to pull it self away from the trap area. When it reached a far enough area away, it's whole body started to glow brightly. The light was so bright Bessie had to cover her eyes. When it finally stopped. The wolf was gone and in its place was a teenage boy, naked except for the bandage.
"Thank you, Bessie, for coming to my aid," he said as he removed the bandage and tossed it to her.
"How did you know my name is.., wait what are you, some kind of a werewolf?" she asked more curious and enamored than scared.
"Not the way you'd imagine me to be. We call ourselves Shifters, we can take on any form of animal we choose and as you can see, we heal very quickly. My name is Jean-Paul Laroque. And to answer your other question, I heard what those kids said back there near where I was hunting."
He stood up and Bessie stared at his naked body without realizing. Mesmerized by his tall athletic body which appeared lily white against the moon lit sky. He was beautiful to her, beyond handsome and Bessie was starting to feel desire, real desire for the first time in her life. He walked up to a tree and reached into its trunk and pulled out his clothes. In moments he was dressed and walked back to her.
"I think I'd better help you find your way home from here, you're probably lost,"he said as he held out his hand to her which she took and said, "How come you didn't just change in the trap and use your arms to free your leg?"
"My, you're just full of questions tonight aren't you? he said with a grin on his lips. You see those pieces of green twigs wrapped together by the trap to make sort of a stick man?"
"Yes, said Bessie walking over to the trap and picking up one of the two. This stuff really stinks! What is it?"
"That dear Bessie is a wolfsbane totem. When I get near it it robs me of my power to change and all my strength. Someone was hunting me or my kind," said Jean-Paul. Bessie threw the totem as far as she could until she heard it fall into water. She did the same thing with the second totem.
"I guess that's the lake over there, I know about where we are now. If I follow the lake bed it'll lead me almost to my own backyard. Would you still walk me home, Jean-Paul?" she shyly asked.
"It would be my pleasure to walk home the girl that saved my life", he said with the same sexy grin. They walked hand in hand for about two miles and when they came to the path that led to Bessie's back porch he put his arms around her waist and drew her in for a long passionate kiss. After it ended Bessie was all weak in her knees and she said,
"I don't suppose you'd like to get together again, would you?"
"He pulled out his cellphone from his pocket and said," What's your number?"
Bessie pulled out her own phone and asked him for his. They both laughed and exchanged cell numbers.
"Can I call you when I get out of school tomorrow?" asked Bessie.
"Better, I'll look for you at lunch, we go to the same school, I'm in the 12th grade at Millikan High and you're a freshman. How about we meet at the soda machines at 12:10pm?"he asked.
"Awesome," she said looking at her watch it was 10:00 pm. She waved at him as she went running to her home, she was late. What should she tell her Aunt and Uncle? She didn't know and she didn't care.