Free One is Come (Five in Circle) by C. H. MacLean Page B

some weird religion. But, it was always best to be polite to crazies. “Honor and peace to you, Rivenwake.”
    “Bullies from school?” he asked.
    Haylwen nodded, tears starting to flow again. She swiped at them angrily.
    “What excuse were they using to pick on you?”
    “I just moved here… and… don't know anyone yet, that's all.”
    “I understand,” he said. His face was completely honest. “You’re not quite ready to stand up to them.”
    “Ready?” Yup, he was crazy, all right . “Stand up to them? The three of them are way bigger than me. Any one of them could beat me up!”
    Cute crazy boy smiled and nodded. “Yes, but if you stood up to them, none would want to fight you.” Then, he winked. Part of her rejected his wink. Like he knows anything! But her heart still fluttered.
    He looked at her for a moment, his face becoming so serious, so beautiful, that Haylwen felt herself hold her breath. Her grasp on control slipped. His eyes, locked on hers, became painful mirrors of truth. “You are more powerful than you want to realize, Haylwen. Yes, just standing up will win many fights.” His eyes sparkled, becoming bright blue and joking with a blink. “But, having friends wouldn’t hurt either, yes?”
    Haylwen let her breath out for what she thought would be a laugh, a sarcastic comment on his foolishness. To her surprise, it was just a sigh, a release of something, and tears welled up in her eyes. Feelings she couldn’t even name, much less explain, filled her up and spilled out her eyes. Her small voice of reason made some observation about shock and adrenalin, which she ignored completely.
    His eyes held hers, tenderly but relentlessly. “Why do you choose not to have friends?” he asked.
    Haylwen blinked away tears in surprise. “What? It’s not by choice, it’s just no one gets to know me enough to be my friend. It’s not like I’ll be around long anyway.”
    Rivenwake blinked his large blue eyes several times, while nodding solemnly. “I see. You feel unlikeable.” Haylwen couldn’t help it. Tears poured. Rivenwake sat there, looking at Haylwen unblinkingly until her tears slowed. He didn’t look away, didn’t seem embarrassed, or anything. “You honor me with your emotions, thank you,” he said. A sad, far-away look weighted his eyes down until they fell into the creek. “I know what it is like to be without friends. I have many friends I haven’t spoken to in forever. But that is a very long story. A story for another day.” He flipped a few stones with his toes, changing the flow of the water. Even his feet were cute.
    His eyes caught hers up again. “There is one I have spoken to recently, though… I want you to meet this friend of mine,” he said.
    “Um, Ok,” Haylwen stammered, blushing slightly. How would he introduce her…
    He looked away, then shyly back. “Yes, I hope someday you will call me friend.”
    Haylwen tried not to let her jaw drop and wondered if she had hit her head on a rock. This whole scene was so unreal, but felt so right, somehow. Like a dream. He noticed she was staring at him and smiled. Crazy, maybe, but boy, he was cute .
    Rivenwake stood up. “I think those boys are gone.” He stepped out of the little thicket of reeds.
    Haylwen paused, looked around her hiding spot and, without much choice, followed him. Rivenwake was waiting just outside the thicket, still standing in the stream. “My friend will meet you, three days from now, at the top of that hill there.” Haylwen looked and, from where they were standing, she had a peek through all the bushes and branches to a rocky outcrop. “The trail starts in the park over there. Be there at one o’clock in the afternoon. Will you do that?”
    What? Was he going too or was she supposed to meet some stranger by herself? She tried not to sound interested. “Well, no offense,” Haylwen said, “but I’m not sure I’ll be able to go.”
    “Yes, destiny is not much for our plans. But I have