------------Chapter 1
I felt the hot sun on my back, shining through from the treetops. I smelled the fresh dew on the grass beneath me. Rolling over, I opened my eyes to the forest in which I call home. At least, it is my home for the summer. I crawled over to the bank of the stream and washed my face. Look at me; I'm a dirty, half human half fox. I'm surprised I am so lucky to have found Noah when I was so young. Noah was my best friend. He too, was an orphan. We had much in common. Except for the fact that he does not have ears sprouting from his hair, or a tail growing from his back.
I felt a lot more for Noah then he felt for me. I watched him sleep, right next to the spot where I was sleeping. Noah only thought of me as a best friend, he never once showed more affection then that. That's not true, he kissed me! He must like me as much as I like him! Yes, once he showed affection.
FLASHBACK;
It was on my birthday, September 4th, when I turned 15 and he was still 14. I was taking my hike; I always go on hikes while he is still sleeping. He must have woken up early to follow me, because I was in the middle of my hike and he put his hands over my eyes and said, "Guess who?" I took his hands in mine and turned around, smiling. He tugged my hand and started running uphill. I asked him where we were going, and he just hushed me. He said it was my birthday and he wanted to show me something special. He brought me to a forgotten well he had found, and decorated it with my favorite flowers, Bleeding Heart vines. I turned around to look at him, and he held up a rose.
"Noah," I started to cry, I was so happy. "This…this is-" Just then, he leaned forward and kissed me. And it was not just a little peck; it was a full-blown kiss. It was amazing, it seemed as if it would last forever. One of his hands was petting my ear; the other was right above my tail. I wrapped my arms around him too, one on his neck the other feeling through his silky soft hair. I had never realized that he felt the same way I felt about him. I guess it would be considered obvious, the way we always listened to each other, the way we would make each other feel better when we had to cry and let our feelings out, the way we would always watch each other sleep, and cuddle to stay warm (apparently not just to stay warm, I am learning.)
When we finally stopped kissing and both took a breath for air, he looked into my eyes. I guess before he kissed me he did not see that I was crying for joy, because he looked awestruck. He must have been wondering why my eyes were red, as if I was upset about him kissing me. He turned away, dropped the rose, and ran down the hill.
END FLASHBACK.
That was it. We never talked about the well, the kiss, or our feelings for each other since. It has been almost a year.
Things changed, too, since then. He never looked at me the exact way he used to, with a sparkle in his eye. He didn't cuddle near me, when we slept on the forest floor. I often found myself crying at the well, without him making me feel better. I could've called out to him before he ran. I could've stopped this. I guess I was to stunned by the kiss and him running from me that I didn't speak to him for the rest of the week. He did the same, and didn't look at me for the rest of that week either. The day we started speaking was when I could barely speak.
One morning, I was sitting on the bench I built over the river. I guess I lost my balance, because next thing I knew I screamed and fell backwards into the fast moving part of the river. Noah came as fast as he could, to see why I screamed.
"Rya!" He leaped into the water after me, and wrapped his arm around my waist when he finally caught up. I never noticed that he had muscles, and he was about 6 inches taller then me now. Of course, I am a scrawny 5'3", and weighing about 101 lbs. He swam us both to the riverbank, me now over his shoulder. He plopped me down and hugged me. "Rya, if you ever fall in again I may be the one killing you instead of the river!" He always put my safety first, because I am so small. He laughed a roaring laugh, so friendly it made me laugh too. That was about 10 months ago.