Shifters: The Day I Became A Werecat

Chapter 1: A Normal Day

Ari Noble leaned against the palm of her hand, eyes blinking slowly, as the most boring lecture in the world rattled on in front of her. She was nearly an adult now, 16 years old! And here she was, listening to mathematical formulas she'll never use in the real world. Honestly, maybe that was why she was terrible at math, and why she was barely passing her English.

Only a few minutes passed after the class started, but that was when the door opened up, and Ari's attention snapped onto the white room. A girl had stepped inside, one she'd never seen before. Granted, it was a large school; the largest in the state. She seemed nervous, much more than a new student. What caught Ari off-guard was that she was, in fact, a new student, as the teacher seemed as confused as her.

"Excuse me," the girl said, "is this math?"

"Yes," the teacher said, raising his brow, "are you a new student?"

"Yes. Crystal Parks. I just got to this school. Sorry I'm late," her hand pushed a loose strand of auburn hair behind her pale ear. She had very unusual eyes, too; amber, a rare color. But, Ari was no stranger to oddities. At the realization of Crystal's eyes, she looked at her own hair that draped over her left eye. It was white, a color she was born with, and a color she'd grown to hate.

Crystal was guided to the empty seat in the back, third row. Most seats at the front and back were open, but by sheer luck, Crystal had taken the seat next to Ari. She'd tried not to think about it, but Crystal's looks struck something in her body. Ari brushed away the thought almost frantically. Nope. Not in love. Not again.

The lecture continued as normal, but Crystal seemed to take more than a few glances at Ari, like she was some mythical being among the mortals.

That might've been more odd than Ari's hair or Crystal's eyes.

In a moment that was both too slow and too fast, class was over, and the bell rang. Crystal was hesitant in packing up, taking her notes very slowly. Ari was going at a similar pace, but as she picked up, Crystal seemed to follow. Much faster than she normally was, Ari hurried out of the classroom, concern on her mind more than anything.

Her hurrying caused her to recklessly walk through the hall, but that was the worst mistake she could've done. She collided with someone, and when her mind got out of its daze, it was the worst person she could've bumped into. A boy younger than her yet taller than a foot rubbed his head, anger blazing through his brown eyes. Standing up, he shouted, "Hey! Watch it, air-head!"

Christopher was the kid's name, and his shadow engulfed Ari as she picked up her fallen stuff. He seemed ready to punch her face in, but she was small and agile, and so she broke into a run, using the busy school crowd to her advantage. His shout of frustration was music to her ears, but the pain his comment left still stung in her heart.

It stung more than it should have, but Ari was sensitive to the idea of flight and the air; it was the reason she no longer had a father, gone in a plane crash on a flight that should never have happened. Someone had learned about it and spread it around the school, and since then, she was avoided as though she was bad luck.

Tears in her eyes, Ari rushed to the bathroom, hoping no one saw her face as it grew red and her nose sniffled. She closed the door to one of the stalls tight and rubbed her eyes dry, but it wasn't long before they started crying again. Stop crying! It only made it worse. Memories of her, young and sweet, talking to her father before the fated flight taunted her.

The door opened, and panic seized her mind. Someone stepped forward, stopped, stepped again, and seemed to wait. Ari pressed her back to the stall door, waiting, wishing that whoever it was would go away so they wouldn't have to see her like this. The footsteps started to fade away, and Ari breathed all the air she didn't know she was holding in.

Slowly, she opened the door, but that was when the unexpected happened. Her eyes locked onto the new girl's, and they seemed caught in a net.

"Hi," Crystal said. It was a simple word, but it made Ari's heart flutter.

"Hi," Ari said back, smiling. It was only a year since she broke up with her girlfriend, but the feelings that happened then returned. Crystal was very pretty, with bushy auburn hair that fell down one of her shoulders, and the way she dressed was with a large brown hoodie. Her unusual amber eyes were almost reassuring, like they said, don't worry, you're not the only one with weird genetics.

"So, uh," Crystal said, shyness in her voice. It was the one thing out-of-place on a girl like her. Her looks spoke of a confident young woman, yet she was shook. "I saw you in the hall, earlier. I just wanted to make sure... You were okay."

Ari felt her smile widen even more, and she blushed. "Oh, I'm fine, it's okay."

She didn't feel like it, but something about Crystal made her worries melt away. If only it could change her past...

Crystal turned away and left without another word, which was a shame. Ari wanted to keep talking with her, but she didn't want to overwhelm her. The girl was hiding something, and Ari had the urge to find out.

The rest of that day seemed normal. Ari stood outside the school, ready to walk home, when she heard a conversation between other students. One with frizzy black hair was talking to another with brown hair swished to the side.

"So what do you think about the humanoid creature sightings?" the frizzy-haired one asked as though it was the most normal thing he'd ever heard of. His friend waved it away.

"Nah, that's bogus. Really? Humanoids? What, is this the 2000s? If they were real, we would have photos that aren't in 180p resolution. I can count the individual pixels on it!"

"Yeah, but I'd say it was convincing. There's been stories of werewolves for ages, and that guy seemed like one to me."

They continued to argue if werewolves were real, but Ari had heard enough. In her mind, the answer was the biggest, fattest, 'no' she could imagine. Over 2,000 years had passed, but not a single piece of evidence had shown itself. How could anyone stay in hiding for so long?

On the way to the sidewalk, Ari caught a glimpse of Crystal, her hair blowing in the gentle breeze. Yep. Ari considered it official. She had a crush on the girl who was more than eager to leave the conversation. At least her last girlfriend showed interest. Ari shook her head, finding it pointless to involve herself in romantic drama.

Along the way home, Ari couldn't stop thinking about that conversation of the shifters. It was ridiculous, yes, but something about it was an itch on her mind. When she got home, she began looking into the topic, pushing her schoolwork to the side. Surely there must be a valid source online for all of this?

Search as she might, Ari found not a thing, and convinced it was just a rumor, she put her schoolwork on the center of her desk. Though, before doing any of that, she did check her phone, just in case someone had contacted her. It was an eternity since someone outside her family did that, but she eagerly hoped to receive a message from her former partner.

Not a message was there. Sighing, she begrudgingly opened her textbook and began studying.