My sister, Juliette, was away at college now. Her life was filled with late-night parties, studying and, for some of her classmates, part-time jobs. How was Brandon going to fit into all of that?
"I think Jake could get an athletic scholarship, too," Ivy said. "But I'm not sure what kind I could get."
"You don't need one," Abby said. "Your dad could pay for all of us."
Ivy scowled at Abby. "So could yours."
In fact, they both could easily afford college without any outside help. It was my family that would have to take out a loan.
"It's okay, nothing wrong with being rich," Abby said as if she weren't rich, too.
"Well, you have a big, fancy house right next to mine," Ivy argued back.
"Yes, but my dad's still paying alimony for his first wife. We were hoping she'd remarry by now but she never did."
We all pulled a face and laughed.
"What about you?" Ivy asked me. "You could get a scholarship for being a humanitarian. You are so sweet and kind and the only person we know who volunteers because you like to."
"Uh … I haven't thought much about it yet."
"But it's not far off. Only a few months until school ends, then it's senior year!" Ivy exclaimed.
She and Abby clinked their coffee cups again.
They turned to me as I stared at my ice cubes.
"What are you so moody about?" Ivy asked. "Is it Brandon? Don't you see a future with him?"
I paused. My heart said yes. But my mind was unsure. Anyway, it wasn't that I couldn't see a future with him-it was that I knew he was unsure about his own future. What was to become of him?
Last month, his scientist father had sent him a possible cure. It was to be taken under a full moon. And Brandon hadn't taken it because he'd shown up at the dance with me-and then, when we found out Nash had turned, too, he wanted to wait so he could protect me if Nash was violent in his werewolf form.
And what did we understand about this cure anyway? What was it made from? We didn't know if it had even been tested on anyone-or anything. If that wasn't bad enough, we only knew that it might work, and there was a possibility it could have the opposite of the intended effect and make Brandon a full-time werewolf. Or maybe there was a chance that the antidote wouldn't work at all.
"Maybe we should just think about ‘now'?" I suggested. "There is so much for us to enjoy today."
"So true," Abby said. "Like our field trip to the zoo this week … Oh, and the Legend's Run Werewolf Festival is only four weeks away!"
"The zoo?" I wondered aloud.
"Yes, don't you remember?" Ivy asked. "Our spring field trip. It's been on the school calendar for a while. Why are you so distracted, Celeste?"
"I didn't even look at the school calendar," I said truthfully. Other than checking the calendar for the date of the next full moon, I'd been so preoccupied that I was lucky to even get my homework completed.
I loved animals and I hadn't been to the zoo in ages. Ivy, Abby, and I mostly hung out at the coffee shop, high school games, and the mall. So I was definitely excited about the trip, hoping it might be a great distraction for Brandon and me.
"And then, the Werewolf Fest," Abby said. "Won't that be fun?"
Every ten years, Legend's Run held a Werewolf Festival to celebrate the myth of the Legend's Run werewolf-which, from recent experience, I knew was more fact than fiction. It was a huge celebration in town with outdoor movies, all the shopkeepers setting up booths, and a werewolf look-alike contest.
I was seven when I attended the fest the last time. My parents took me and my older sister, Juliette, and I remember it like it was yesterday. There were prizes to win and fun things to buy-and a stalking or happy werewolf on every corner. The outdoor venue showed werewolf movies all night long, like the original Wolf Man and The Howling. But I was older now and I'd be going with my friends and my boyfriend. My parents would probably go together; Juliette would be away at school with her beau of the month.
"Yes," Ivy replied. "A blast."
"Are you guys going to dress up?" Abby asked, blowing on her latte. "The winner of the costume contest gets a hundred dollars."
"Me, dress up as a werewolf?" Ivy asked, cringing. "I don't know. I don't think Jake will think I'm so hot with fur on my face, will he?"
"I'm going to dress as a girl who was attacked by a werewolf," Abby said. "I've got a dress that I'm going to tatter in shreds. I think that's hot. You can use your imagination, too."
"I'm not so clever," Ivy said. "But maybe I could wear something prickly. Would serve Jake right. When he gets that five o'clock shadow, it really hurts. Could be time for payback."
We all laughed.
"I bet you can come up with something really awesome," Abby said to me. "Your Halloween outfit was supercool. Little Red Riding Hood. You could wear that."
"I guess I can," I agreed.
And what is Brandon going to come as? I wondered.
It would be a full moon. I guessed he could come as himself.
Nash had been a prankster in our school for years, so many believed that he and Brandon had pranked the school dance a few days ago-and that they weren't real werewolves but fake ones. And no one wanted to admit in the light of day that they weren't in on the joke. Some even still gave Nash high fives as he made his way down the corridors.
I couldn't help but feel uneasy about their lycan situation. We only had a little less than four weeks until the next full moon, and we'd all have to deal with their transformations again. Would we always be able to dismiss these occurrences as a prank? Or would everyone discover the truth?
Nash caught me in the hall on the way to class on Monday. "I need to talk to you," he said urgently. My former boyfriend was always trying to get back together, and I figured this time was no exception. I was reticent to start another quarrel, but he seemed adamant that he speak with me immediately.
"Uh, can't this wait until after school?" I tried as I hurried toward Ivy and Abby, who were already waiting outside our classroom.
"No," he said, taking my arm and leading me into the alcove of the hallway.
I wasn't thrilled to find myself alone with him in the narrow doorway that led to the theater.
Nash appeared harried. His normally neatly styled sandy-blond hair was tousled, and his mood was urgent. "I want to thank you," he said intently. The last time I saw him, his eyes were gray, and he was in werewolf form. I was on the end of his lips, kissing him under the full moon in hopes that his memory would come back to him when he was a lycan.
Nash was dreamy and it was hard not to fall under the spell of his good looks, but I was in love with Brandon. I had to resist.
"For the other night," he began. "I'm really grateful for what you did." His words were as sincere as if he'd been waiting a lifetime to tell me.
"You remember?" I asked. He'd seemed to gain his consciousness that night but I wanted to make sure his memory lasted.
"Everything." He drew in a breath as if he was breathing me in, too.
I nodded, relieved. This meant that the plan Brandon and I made had worked. Nash was now aware that he had been a werewolf. Having him remember was the only way to control how he acted when he transformed. If he knew what was happening, and what he was, it would give him reason to curtail any violent behavior before it was too late.
He gently placed his hand on my shoulder. "That kiss. It meant a lot to me."
"It was the only way-" I said. I didn't want him to think I wanted us to reconnect.
But then his demeanor changed. "I remember transforming," he said in a worried whisper. "Running through the woods. Destroying the baseball shack." Then he grew even more concerned. "Terrorizing you at the lake-and at the Moonlight Dance." His voice began to waver.
Nash was referring to his first transformation, when he chased me through Willow Park, and another when he burst through the doors of our spring dance and almost attacked me.
I hated that he had to go through such an unearthly transformation. Even though we weren't together anymore, I certainly wouldn't wish for him to have to deal with such an unusual issue.
"It's okay." I tried to comfort him. "You were a … "
"I didn't mean to do those things," he continued. "Especially to you, of all people."
"Of course you didn't," I assured him.
"But at the time, I wasn't myself. Not like I am now."
"I understand." I tried to convince him. He was under a considerable amount of stress and turmoil-the effects of remembering his actions.
Nash looked at me intently again, this time his eyes full of sorrow. "I'm not sure you do. I'd never dream of hurting you. I hate the thought of making you afraid of me."
"I know."
"But those nights, I was different, Celeste. Everything changed. I changed, my whole world changed. I felt like an animal."
"Well, you kind of were," I said with a slight laugh.
He didn't smile. "But the kiss," he continued. "That was one thing that was the same. You and me, like old times. It meant everything to me that you did that. I'll never forget it."
"I wanted you to remember, to be aware while you were transformed, and that was the only way I knew how to help you. That's all it was. It was like breaking a spell."
"But I was a werewolf!" he whispered vehemently. Then he paused as a few students passed by, clearly out of earshot. He drew in closer. "And you stood there, shaking, and kissed me anyway. You were so brave-even though I've never seen you so frightened."