Opposites Are Supposed to Attract Right

chapter 15

Clawdeen was excited. She had waited a long time to say the prized three words to Toralei. She decided to wait in the cafeteria because she was too excited to wait on the roof. It was Friday and that meant that the end of year dance would be held in one week. Clawdeen bounced from foot-to-foot, awaiting her girlfriend's arrival.

After several agonizingly long minutes, Toralei, Purrsephone and Meowlody finally walked into the cafeteria. Toralei's eyes met Clawdeen's immediately and Clawdeen saw a decision in them right away. She wondered what that was about, but she was too excited to bother with the thought. Bouncing over to Toralei, Clawdeen wrapped her in a tight hug and pressed their lips together. The entire school stopped what they were doing to stare and Toralei pulled back.
"I love you." Clawdeen said happily, her eyes shining.
Toralei sighed and untangled herself from Clawdeen's arms. "Clawdeen, we need to talk."

Clawdeen cocked her head to the side and asked, "About what?"
"Well, some things have been put into perspective for me lately and I, um, I mean…"
"Just tell me Toralei." Clawdeen said. "You know you can tell me anything."
Toralei took a deep breath and gulped slightly before stepping back and sighing. "Look Clawdeen. What I'm trying to say is… I don't think we should be together."
Clawdeen stared at her girlfriend in utter shock. "This is a joke, right?" Clawdeen asked, trying to sound angry despite the heavy tremble in her voice. "You're kidding? Pulling my fur?"
Toralei's eyes were sad as she gazed at Clawdeen. "I'm sorry, Clawdeen, but we're not meant to be together. I mean, look at me. My fur is thinner, my ears are smaller, my fangs are sharper… what does that tell you?"
"That you're just smaller than I am!" Clawdeen exclaimed, making the entire cafeteria go quiet.
"No," Toralei sighed. "It tells you that I'm a cat and you're a dog. We naturally repel each other; it's in our nature. Plus, on werewolf cycles, you'll get much more vicious and I don't know that I can handle that."
Clawdeen's eyes were now shining with tears as she stared at the orange werecat. "Please Toralei, don't do this."

Toralei shook her head, turning away. "I should go." She hurried to the double doors and exited without a backward glance; Clawdeen was about to go after her when a rough hand came down on her shoulder.
"Let her go, sis." Clawd said gently. "She's not one of us." A fierce growl ripped through Clawdeen's teeth as she rounded on her brother and punched him solidly in the jaw.
"How can you say that?" Clawdeen demanded, her fangs bared at her dazed sibling. "How can you SAY that? Draculara isn't one of us! Does that mean that you should stop dating her? No! Frankie's dating a guy with two different personalities and who is living, but should she stop dating him? No! Cleo, an Egyptian princess is dating a gorgon, but should she just give Deuce up because of what normies think of him? No! Why should I be torn from my love when everyone else is happy? Why can't I be happy too!"
Clawd had gotten to his feet by now and was staring at his sister, who seemed genuinely angry with him. "But she's a cat and we're a breed of dog." He told her calmly. "Maybe you can find a nice vampire, like I did. They're humanoid and can still turn into animals."
"I don't want a vampire!" Clawdeen roared. "I want Toralei!"
Clawd's features darkened. "Clawdeen, you have to give her up! She's not a werewolf like us. She's not even a weredog. She's a cat! Cats don't belong with dogs. It's just not natural!" This pushed Clawdeen over the edge and she charged her older brother with a roar, her claws digging into his stomach fur. Spinning around, Clawdeen threw Clawd at the wall and pounced on him, throwing punches left and right.

"We're not natural!" She screamed. "We're monsters, Clawd! Nothing about us is natural because we're the supernatural! I just wanted to be happy like all of my ghoulfriends and my brother. Everyone had someone to love and I thought I would never fall in love. And then, Toralei came and comforted me. She held me while I cried, she made me laugh when I was done crying, she made me happy. I've tried every other person in this school who isn't already dating someone, but they don't make me happy."
Clawdeen took deep breaths and stood over her once again dazed brother. "Toralei makes my heart flutter, makes me want to make myself look presentable, makes me feel like I'm not completely lonely. Did any of my friends care? Not really! They've all been too involved in their own relationships to really notice!"
"She was only using you, Clawdeen!" Clawd snarled. "She just wanted something to have that she could dump off whenever she wanted!"
Clawdeen was backing away now, trembling with fury and anguish. "But Toralei noticed, Clawd!" she roared before dropping to her knees and bawling in front of the entire school. "Toralei cared, but now she's gone."
Toralei mewled helplessly at the sky as she sat on the roof, curled into a ball. She felt as though her heart was broken into miniscule pieces and then stamped to dust. Everything felt wrong; she should be going to class with anticipation for her next date with Clawdeen; instead, she was mewing like a hungry kitten, all alone on the roof.
Normally, if she was sad, Clawdeen would hold her and ask her what was wrong, but she'd just broken up with the werewolf. So, here she sat, alone and cold. Slowly, Toralei stood and leaned on the railing, looking into the sky. If she were to scream out her pain, it's not like anyone would notice. So, opening her jaws wide, Toralei began yowling and mewing to the air around her, letting out all of her anguish at her breakup.
When her voice had gone hoarse from screaming, Toralei leaned heavily on the rail again and just stood, silent tears streaming down her face. After a few moments, Toralei heard footsteps and her ears cocked toward the sound. A soft purring reached her ears and she knew Purrsephone and Meowlody were coming. The orange cat sighed and waited for her friends to join her. She was not disappointed as Purrsephone and Meowlody appeared moments later in the doorway.
"Good job, Toralei!" Meowlody purred happily.
"Yeah, you've gotten rid of the dog!" Purrsephone meowed.
"Let's go celebrate!" They cheered.
"I'm not in the mood, ghouls." Toralei murmured, sinking lower onto the rail.
"What do you mean not in the mood?" Purrsephone demanded softly.
"You should be happy that Clawdeen isn't with anymore." Meowlody added.
"She was dragging you down!" They chorused.
Toralei couldn't even muster the strength to get angry at their insults. She just felt… empty. "I don't know, I mean… what if I made the wrong choice and I just lost my mate?"
Her friends stared at her for a moment before Meowlody burst out laughing. "Really, Toralei? You think the werewolf is your mate? You're a werecat! We don't take dogs as mates; that would upset the balance."
Purrsephone didn't say a word as she continued staring at Toralei, noticing her friend's slightly drooped ears and lackluster tail. She couldn't help but think about Toralei's part in this. While Meowlody began explaining why Clawdeen and Toralei couldn't be together, Purrsephone watched as the information fell on deaf ears and decided that she should keep a closer eye on her ghoulfriend from now on.