The Werecat; The Story of Ronnie

Eleven

The leaves of the great oak tree started to turn brown as the end of October drew near, and Halloween was just around the corner. Ronnie had started seeing more of Lulu and less of anyone else, though he hadn't gotten as far with her as he would've liked. She'd only allow him to kiss her cheek, never her lips, and wouldn't go farther than a long, intimate hug. For someone like Ronnie, being cut off sexually was as bad as quitting smoking cold turkey. He was having major withdrawl symptoms, and once or twice he snuck out with another girl for a release, only to have Lulu find out the next day, and give him the cold shoulder.

As Halloween snuck up on them, so did the yearly Harvest Ball. The ball had been around since the beginning, when the school was first built, and was the highlight of the year. The recent attacks had left school spirit in tatters, but slowly it was repaired, as excitement for the ball grew with each passing day.

All around, guys asked girls to the ball, and almost all were rewarded with squeals of joy. All except Ronnie.

"Why not?" he would ask Lulu, for he would ask each day if she would go, and she'd always refuse.

"Because," she would tell him, "it's dumb. You dress up and dance and then go to bed, forgetting it until the next year."

But still, he persisted, until one day, she caved and said yes. Whether it was because she secretly wanted to go, or if she was irritated by his asking, he'd never know. Nonetheless, he was glad.

She spent most of her time with the gay kid. Diego something-or-other. Why, he didn't know, but everytime he'd try and talk to her, he would run up, his heels clicking madly, and shove a sketch book under her nose, whispering excitedly about "the perfect design". Everyone used to make fun of him, because he always had on eyeliner and high heels, and he took it pretty well. Then one day, he over heard Skylar made a snide remark to Ronnie about wanting to get those heels into bed (joking, of course), and Diego stabbed a pencil halfway through his arm. After that, he was left well alone, and he seemed to like it that way. Some of the girls seemed to revolve around him, asking him advice on shoe and purse combinations and which jeans to wear in the spring or whatever, and one of the loners, Christian, was spotted a time or two slipping notes under his door. Since the day he got back at Sky, everyone respected him.

The day of the ball arrived. The hallways of the school were decorated with orange and black streamers, and live bats flew around the ceilings, once in a while swooping down and startling one of the students. Pumpkins were set up outside every doorway, done up in the style of whatever teacher the door belonged to. Professor Nitsky's pumpkin had goat legs and baaa'd every once in a while. Professor Ludwig's played classical music while reciting the names of all the important Others since the beginning of time. Professor Mason, the cute half-pixie woman with light pink hair and all baby blue eyes that taught the magic classes, had a pumpkin that shot out clouds of pixie dust at couples. Even nasty old Professor Parkins, the old witch who taught the potions class, had a pumpkin that seemed to be brewing something inside, thick fog creeping out of the top and along the floor, hiding whatever was bubbling inside. Word was that if one of her students could guess what was in there, they'd get the rest of the year easy, but so far, no one could tell her the right answer.

Ronnie was glad when classes were cut short to give students time to get ready for the ball. Within twenty minutes, he was standing in his dorm with Sky, fixing the black bow tie around his neck, then smoothing out his deep blue suit. Sky was wearing a crisp white button down shirt, with a green tie that matched Lily's eyes and a pair of black slacks, neatly pressed. Even his shoes were perfectly polished, and they shone in the light. Ronnie had never seen Skylar so well put together. Or so sober. Even his hair was slicked back neatly, and he opted for his thick, square rimmed glasses instead of his contacts.