Hunter's Moon

Nine: Riley

"I can't believe it!" Nadia whispered excitedly as we made our way down the hall toward the girl's locker room. I raised a brow as she smiled over at me, saying, "You're a freaking werewolf!"

I glanced around, fearful that someone would hear. Students all around were going about their normal routine, laughing and chatting with friends before heading to the last class of the day. Luckily, it seemed that no one had heard her.

I sighed in relief and glared at her. "I know," I growled. "You don't need to remind me."

Oblivious to my growing frustration, she continued to smile like an idiot. I sighed, pressing my fingers against the side of my head, hoping to dull the throbbing. After Drew left, everything had hit me all at once and I had a panic attack. Once Nadia helped me through that, she retrieved the last of the booze from the Beast and we drank, both of us hoping to come to terms with what happened.

Only, I didn't get drunk, and it had nothing to do with my tolerance. I had more whiskey than I normally did in one sitting, and while Nadia passed out pretty quickly, I was left to stare at my ceiling, completely sober. After silently suffering through a few more panic attacks, my body finally shut down from pure exhaustion.

A locker slammed shut one hall over—or it was closed normally—and the throbbing in my skull intensified. I tried to block everything out, but it was impossible; my senses were overloaded, and I could hear and smell everything going on around me. A senior couple two halls over were making plans for Friday night; the group of freshmen girls out in the commons area on the other side of the school gushed over how hot their English teacher was; pencils scratched against paper as students scribbled notes down, and the sharp cracking of chalk on chalkboards as teachers wrote their plans for the day was enough to set my teeth on edge.

The Juicy Fruit gum in Nadia's pocket was overwhelming, as was the stench of the cafeteria as the employees got ready for breakfast and lunch the next day. Excitement, hatred, lust, envy, jealousy... the smells hovered in the air, and the fear, anticipation, and desperation covered my tongue in a thick film. I could smell, taste, and hear everything.

When we made it to the girl's locker room, I gagged at the stench. Feet, deodorant, perfume, shampoo, along with hatred, pettiness, and jealousy... it all hung in the air, making my stomach churn. I rushed to the bathroom, completely bypassing the whiteboard with locker assignment. My bag hit the floor as I reached the sink, peering into the eyes of my reflection. My eyes were still green, but now they were flecked with gold, just as they were last night and this morning. Is this permanent? As my breathing quickened in response to my rising anxiety, my eyes started to glow. Dammit.

"You know," Nadia murmured as she leaned a hip against the sink next to me, "you could pass it off as contacts." She gestured to my eyes. "It would help explain away the lack of glasses."

"Can this get any worse?" I moaned, bracing my arms against the sink. After taking a moment to collect myself I headed over to the whiteboard, Nadia following close behind.

One good thing about today—other than no longer needing my glasses—was that mine and Nadia's lockers were right next to each other. We weaved our way through the crowd of girls, heading to our lockers to change. By the time we had pulled on our sneakers, black shorts, and green-and-silver Wolf Valley High T-shirts, the second bell had rung.

When we entered the gym, Coach Johansen was waiting for us to arrive. Nadia and I made our way to the area beside the bleachers, stretching and warming up before Coach started his torture session—I mean, class. We watched students come in, greeting old friends and making nice with new ones. My heart hammered against my chest, head pounding as all the different stimuli assaulted my nose and brain.