The Sun Will Rise (Moonlight 1)

Chapter 5-Half-Moon

The next few days passed uneventfully. I returned to school the next day and found that things were completely different between the guys and me. For starters, Ashton and Calum seemed to have made it their mission to be my friend; they'd been asking me to sit with them in class and at break times. Michael on the other hand still seemed a little distant but I guess that was okay. At least he was talking to me now.... kind of. It was a lot better than it had been on my first day, so perhaps everything would work out okay between us.

When we weren't at school, I'd been heading out with the three of them into the forest. It had been a few days now and it still amazed me as I watched them turn into wolves. Ashton, was the blondish brown wolf, he seemed to like to stay behind with me as the other two raced around the place before joining in, I guess maybe he didn't want me to feel left out. Michael's fur was sandier in colour and a little darker than Ashton's, he seemed to be the fastest. The moment his paws hit the ground he would take off at full speed. Finally, Calum was the dark brown furred wolf, he was slightly larger than the other two wolves and when Michael wasn't running off; he seemed to stay in front of them.

On the first afternoon, I'd just resolved to sitting on one of the logs and watching them. Honestly, I figured that there was no way that I could keep up with any of them, the walk out here had worn me out enough. As the days went by I decided to try, feeling an urge to join them and in turn found myself getting closer and closer to matching their pace. I guess it meant that I was closer to being like them, but it was incredible running with the three wolves. They seemed to be glad I was with them, when they shifted back I was showered in praise and amazement for keeping up with them like I had.

Offsetting it all was that I'd been feeling kind of odd this week. I guess it was to be expected considering what had happened, but it didn't make it any less weird. I'd been hearing strange noises that should've been too far away to hear and there would be sudden bursts of noise almost like if you pulled the plug on your guitar out of the amp. I'd been distracted by everything, sitting in class it was hard not to notice things that were going on outside that you hadn't noticed before like small bugs on trees. The same went for at night where I could stand staring out my window for hours and barely even notice the time pass from how much there was to see. Then there were the weird dreams I'd been having, I couldn't remember much except that I was always running. I don't know whether I was running away or to something it was hard to tell. The guys had been assuring me that these kinds of things were normal, but it didn't change how odd it felt to experience them.

All of that was nothing compared to how sick I felt waking up on that Saturday. I'd already arranged to meet up with Calum and the others on the fact that he thought I'd shift for the first time on that day. I guess this meant he was right and I was terrified. Despite having watched them the last few days, I still didn't feel ready. How could you prepare yourself for something that you still didn't quite understand?

Pressing through the thrumming pain in my head, I quickly got dressed. Lazily, I put on the nearest pair of jeans and a shirt. I looked in the mirror, nothing looked remarkably different. I looked kind of sick though, my eyes were a bit red and puffy, my skin was kind of pale and sickly looking. Oh well, there wasn't much I could do about it. I shook my head and took off into the corridor.

Straight away, I noticed my mother was sitting on the kitchen bench on her laptop. A wave of nervousness hit me. Hopefully I'd be quiet enough that she wouldn't even notice me leaving. She knew I was going to Calum's tonight, but I was worried if she saw me looking as I did that she would know what was up with me.

"Luke are you alright? You don't look so good, are you going out?" I hear a voice.

Oh no, here it comes. Even she'd noticed. Slowly I come to a halt, and spin around to face her. She's looking at me as if expecting an answer. I take a deep breath and try to keep my voice as casual as possible, "It's only hay fever, I'm fine. I'm just off to Cole's place."