Mermaids, Trigonometry, and Everything In Between

The 28th Thing

"Are you sure this is safe?" I asked for the third time. Max was on his phone, typing something. I stared at the small, perfectly round ball that was slowly rising in the sky.

"Don't worry. A wolf is always in control of himself, even on a full moon. I've done this a million times. Let me text Seb that i'm going to be late tonight, and then we can get a move on. I won't be able to turn back till tomorrow, and do you know how hard it is to turn a doorknob without thumbs? Not fun."

"So," I continued, "Completely in control? And you said every werewolf is like this?"

"Yeah," Max said, putting his phone away, "Well, mostly. Every once in a while you get a wolf whose brain is a bit too wolf and not enough human on a full moon, but they almost always grow out of it by the time they get to highschool."

"Okay," I took a breath in. My hands felt clammy, but I was starting to feel like I was less worried about what the moon would do to Max and more worried about what it would do to me.

"Moon's out. It's starting." Max looked down at his hands, as if he was feeling something I wasn't.

In the distance, the cry of a wolf sounded.

Max turned his head, "Bet you that's some upperclassmen out tonight. Administration likes us to turn in the safety of the designated werewolf den in the basement of the boys' dorm, but a lot of seniors sneak out and enjoy the night...anyway, you might want to turn around for this."

I turned around, like he said. I wasn't sure if it was embarrassing for him, or maybe it was more for my sake. I was already uneasy when it came to wolves.

"Hey, by the way....with this whole moon thing, I'm not sure how it's going to affect me, so if anything weird happens--"

From behind me, Max--or, Max transformed--let out a short howl.

"...and you're already a wolf." I said, more to myself.

I turned around. In the place of what should have been a teenage boy was a silvery-coated wolf sniffing at the ground.

I guess I stared too long because the wolf--Max--looked up at me with clear green eyes. At least, I told myself, if we didn't find Gen, I could cross Max off the list of werewolves I saw a month ago. He looked vastly different.

"Ok," I said, "We should start outside the girl's dorm. That's where she left from."

Max gave a short sniff in agreement.

The walk to the girl's dorm was awkward, at least in my opinion. Of course, it wasn't everyday that I walked around campus with a wolf next to me.

As we neared the dorm, Max's ears perked up.

"Find something?" I asked.

As if in answering, Max dipped his nose to the ground, sniffed once, and began to trot in another direction entirely.

For the first time, my worries were put on backseat. If Max really could find Gen, then this night wouldn't be for nothing. If she saw how dedicated I was, maybe she and I could smooth things over.

Max stopped.

He raised his head, ears alert.

"Is it Gen?" I asked hopefully.

Max stood, frozen, and did not look at me. Then, without warning, he darted forward.

"Hey, wait!" I chased behind him, "Stop!"

Max ducked underneath a larger outcropping of high-rising bushes and tunneled below the small trunks of the plants.

"Hey!" I shouted at him, and took the long way around. Where was he going?