At lunch, I grabbed a tray and followed the line toward the food counter. I approached the lunch lady and ordered the usual meal. Four burger patties, two fried chicken legs, and a small steak. Since I could drink dairy products, I grabbed a milk carton too.

The lunch lady used a spatula to scoop the meat and placed it on my tray. "Girl, it's a miracle you can only eat meat. My momma used to spank me when I refused to eat my veggies."

"Sorry about that." I strolled through the diner toward my cheerleading squad's table.

Malaya, Tiffany, and Holly sat at the round near the corner, far from the other kids. Although they were popular, the students respected their private space so no conflict would occur in the cafeteria. Everybody wanted a good lunchtime after melting their brains on schoolwork.

I sat between Tiffany and Malaya.

"Geez, I still totally will never handle your new appetite, Jessica," said Tiffany while napping on her salad.

I picked up my chicken leg and took a bite out of it. The tender crunchy meat melted inside my mouth as if the taste made me fall in love with it. Wolves must truly love chicken, especially the ones that broke into the farmers' chicken pens at night.

"So Jessica, did you see the new boy at school?" Holly asked in front of me, licking her ice cream cone.

I placed the chicken bone down. "Yeah, he is in my English class now."

Holly smiled, blushing her red cheeks. "You are totally lucky."

"Huh?"

Tiffany glared at me. "Are you like deaf? You are already hanging out with a brand new hottie!"

I sipped my milk. "We are not hanging out. I totally just met him."

"Girlfriend, you got a chance with him now," said Malaya. "You should ask him out."

I choked after I swallowed my milk. I patted my chest and cleared my throat. "Seriously?"

"Or I will!" Tiffany smiled a mischievous grin on her big red lips. "No boy can resist me."

Malaya laughed. "Then why are you still single?"

Tiffany sneered at Malaya. "I'm not being single on purpose you should know." She brushed her hair. "I can still choose any guy I want. Being single gives me a variety of options, and it keeps my popularity fresh."

"Our popularity?" Malaya corrected.

Tiffany shrugged. "Just saying, I'm still looking. Duh! But Tyler might become my prey. Mmmmmmh! His body is like caramel cake, waiting to get devoured."

Holly sucked in her breath and released slowly, acting dreamy. "Egyptian boys are so hot. He looks like a prince."

I giggled. "So why did you suggest I should ask him out?"

Malaya bit her sandwich. "We just thought you are tired of being single since Mark's tragedy."

Holly rubbed Jessica's shoulder. "But we won't push you if you don't want to."

I sighed.

I never told them the truth about Mark and how deeply I felt about him. If I told them, they would think I was totally crazy. 

The point was, I wasn't ready to find someone new. Not yet at least. "Thanks, but I still need some time. I still miss him."

Whether I missed Mark or not, I couldn't stop thinking about him. Maybe I missed his good side before he revealed his true evil self.

"Suit yourself." Tiffany stabbed her fork into her salad and took another bite.

Before I bit my burger, Kevin waved to me from a table next to the window. His position was four tables away from the corner.

I placed my burger down and rose. "I'll be right back. I think Kevin has more notes for me."

"Keep him busy," Malaya laughed.

I picked up my tray and hurried toward Kevin's table. He was the only one sitting there.

"What is it?" I sat in front of him, keeping my voice low.

"Good news, Salina called me last night," Kevin whispered. "She finished the mummy tracker."

I widened my eyes. "That quick? I thought she needed a week to finish it."

Kevin held up the ancient bandage. "With this, it helped her complete her work faster."

I glanced at the cloth. "Is that from the mummy?"

"Yes, you forgot?"

I shook my head. "Sorry… So she is done then?"

Kevin placed the cloth back into his pocket. "Yes. I thought we should hunt the mummy tonight. Salina will join us after work."

I thought about that. "Sir, my dad is working tonight as usual. I could tell him I will be staying at your place to study."

"That's good, but he won't think our study will be suspicious?"

I laughed. "You're still totally afraid of my dad?"

"Humans can be scary too," said Kevin.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah right. My daddy is a total slacker when he doesn't work. But he does care about my safety."

"If you can persuade him, that's fine with me."

"Okay." I bit my lower lip. "So where will we hunt?"

Kevin stared at the window and scratched his chin. "Around downtown I guess. There are many places the mummy could hide at. I don't know how Salina's tracker will work, but it probably won't matter where we look."

"What about the forest? Anything can hide in those creepy woods."

“The mummy needed to feed on life essence, remember? There are plenty of people he can attack. The woods have nothing for him.”

“Oh.”

“So tonight will be good for you?”

“Totally.”

Kevin smiled. “Good, I’ll call you when we get ready.”

“Okay.” I will be ready, including my inner beast.