Kaden waited outside Nora's math class with little patience. He was pacing back and forth muttering to himself. He'd felt terrible about how his and Nora's reunion had been going. This wasn't how he'd wanted things to turn out.

Fortunately, today was bell schedule B, which meant him and Nora had early lunch together. Their school rotated the schedules so that each student had lunch at different times during the week depending on the bell schedule. Student council had fought with administration about it because too many people hated having first and eighth period lunch. Today, Nora and Kaden had fifth period lunch together.

Kaden'd figured that with everything going on the least he could do was buy her lunch. As a bonus, Slate'd promised to run interference between him and Donovan. He grinned as he waited for Nora, remembering another time in which his friend Slate had run interference for them.

In every family there were secrets. Neither Kaden's nor Nora's was any different. For reasons they hadn't fully understood at the time, their parents were leery of their growing relationship. After the day they'd met in the woods, it became more and more common for Kaden to disappear into the forest to find his new friend.

She was always doing something surprising. One day, he found her hiding in a tree branch, gathering honey from a beehive. Unlike most people he'd met, Nora wasn't afraid of being stung. The bees were happy to share their bounty with her, which should've seemed strange to Kaden, though it hadn't at the time, even if not one bee stung her that day.

On another occasion, Kaden found Nora out gathering strawberries. Her wicker basket was draped across her arm, and Nora had been singing to herself, or so he thought, as she plucked the ripened fruit from their vines. As he drew closer, however, he realized she was singing to another god.

He smiled. She was always singing her gratitude to someone.

On the one particular day he needed Slate's help to get away from his village unnoticed, Kaden found Nora sitting in poppy field with a crochet needle and some thread in her hands. Dragonflies were buzzing in the air from the nearby pond, and butterflies were fluttering from one flower to the next as Nora sat alone singing under the rays of the sun shining above.

As he crept closer Kaden grew curious. Was she making-

"Hello, my friend," Nora called out cutting his thought off. "I have something for you."

"Is that a dreamcatcher, Nora?" Kaden asked with surprise. "How do you know-"

"It is," she replied cutting him off again. "I read about them."

"You did?" Kaden asked. "But why?"

"Well," Nora began. She was twisting some thread in a loop with her needle and it was a tight knot to make. Nora stuck out her tongue and squinted. "Yes!" she whispered to herself when she got it through. "I wanted to know more about you, silly. So, I went to the library and I looked up information about Native American traditions."

A fuzzy bumble bee bounced on the anthers of a nearby poppy and Kaden looked at Nora thoughtfully. He was touched that she had gone to such lengths to learn more about his culture. Most people couldn't be bothered. They made assumptions about his family that usually painted them in a less than generous light. The idea that Nora sought out the truth about him in books endeared him to her.

"Now," Nora continued as she strung some thread across a tiny, circular ring. "According to the reference material I found, (see below reference notes), Dreamcatchers are a Native American tradition that the Ojibway (Chippewa) tribe began."

Twisting some strings to trap an amethyst bead into the netting, Nora suddenly looked up and frowned at Kaden. "I hope its ok that I'm making something outside the origins of your Lenape tribe, Kaden. Is it?" She asked and then continued.

"I was afraid to try your family's tradition of beadwork without help. It's beautiful but a little intimidating. I thought I'd try this first."

Kaden nodded his head and she relaxed again.

He didn't mind. He had a few Chippewa friends. Besides, it was the fact that she'd tried that appealed to Kaden. Later, he'd introduce her to his grandmother. She would be happy to share some of their crafting customs with Nora. He could picture her making wampum with his sisters and it made him smile.

"And sinew," Nora recited from memory, "which is made from dried animal ligaments or tendons, was pulled apart into delicate but strong strands. The Ojibway would use the sinew to weave a net around a round frame of wood, like this one I have in my hand." She held it up to show Kaden and the little bead slipped on the thread. "Once the webbing was in place, artisans might lace a feather and/or some beads into the dreamcatcher as well."

Nora fingered the second bead she was lacing into the catcher. "This one is a tiger's eye," she explained. "And the purple one is an amethyst. I have one more I want to put on it."

Kaden plucked some grass that sprung up at the edge of the blanket they were sitting on. He listened as she continued. "It's a rose quartz. Do you know anything about crystals, Kaden?" she asked him.

"Not much, why?" he asked.

"I do," she said with a smile. "I don't know how they're regarded by your traditions, but in mine, Amethysts are for many things, one of which is interpreting dreams. Tiger's eye is for strength and courage."

"And Rose Quartz?" Kaden asked. He held a tiny poppy bud in his hand and reached forward to lace it behind Nora's ear.

"Love," Nora replied shyly. She dipped her chin and blushed at the admission.

Kaden leaned forward and touched her. "Don't do that."

Nora looked up nervously. "What?"

"Hide from me," Kaden answered softly. Then taking a chance, his heart beating wildly, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.

Nora replied in kind, the delicate skin of their mouths moving hypnotically against one another. The kiss was sweet; innocent as they found their way into new territory. Light pressure against the seam of their lips sent tingles down her spine and Nora dropped her hands. The dreamcatcher fell to the grass as she reached up to softly caress Kaden's face. She moved her hand to his thick, black hair and opened her mouth, moaning as she lost herself to him.

Kaden held Nora tightly, the blood rushing through his veins. When her tiny tongue reached out searching for his own, he met her. She licked his bottom lip and it was all he could do to keep himself together enough to pull back. "Nora, I-" he gasped.

Before he could continue, though, Nora leaned in and kissed him again. This time, it was a more chaste kiss, finished as fast as it had begun. "Sorry," Nora said. "I just needed one more. I've been wanting to do that for a while now."

"You have?" Kaden asked with surprise.

"Yes," Nora answered.

"Well, I-" Kaden didn't know what to say. He was speechless.

And happy.

Truly happy.

When he looked down at the blanket and saw the rose quartz bead on the dreamcatcher his heart swelled. "I love you, Nora," he said before he could stop himself.

"I love you, too, Kaden," she replied.

"Hey, Kaden," Donovan yelled while coming out of math and walking towards him. Slate was to his left but shook his head in Kaden's direction. The shift in thought was like being dashed with a bucket of ice water.

Shit! This wasn't good.

"We need to talk," Donovan said firmly.

"Listen, I need some help with-" Slate tried to say.

"They're here," Donovan replied staring directly at Kaden. "We need to talk. Now."

"What?" Slate asked.

Donovan turned to include Slate in his reply. "They're here. I saw them this morning. They were in the cafeteria. I made sure Nora would be held up with her friends during lunch and she has art afterwards today so she should be ok for the rest of the school day, but then-"

Kaden'd heard enough. "Let's go," he said. He regretted not being able to talk to Nora at lunch, but he still had 4 o'clock to look forward to. He would just have to wait. As the three boys turned to leave, he sighed.

"Soon, Nora," he thought to himself.

Soon.

----------

References:
*Bullock, C. (N.D.) Dreamcatcher Instructions. Web Search 6 June 2020. Website: https://wanderingbull.com/dreamcatcher-instructions/

*Bullock, C. (2019). Sinew for Crafting. The Wandering Bull, LLC. Web Search: 6 June 2020. Website: https://youtu.be/g5B233fvDEY

*Duggan, C. (2016). The Difference Between Real Animal Sinew and Imitation Sinew.
Wandering Bull, LLC. Web Search 6 June 2020. Website: https://wanderingbull.com/real-animal-sinew-vs-imitation-sinew/

*Redish, L. and Lewis, O. Native Languages of the Americas. (1998-2019). Native American Dream Catchers. Web Search 4 June 2020. Website: http://www.native-languages.org/dreamcatchers.htm/