A Rebellious Moon

Chapter Ten

Amanda opened the door to her new apartment right off campus. The smell of chocolate chip cookies filled her nose as she dragged her bags through the front door. A sudden shriek filled her ears, rendering her temporarily deaf.

"You're here!" yelled Catherine Levitt as she ran towards the front door. The two girls smiled as they threw their arms around each other. Catherine and Amanda had been assigned as roommates their freshmen year and neither had ever considered changing.

Catherine was slightly too thin to be pretty and had very sharp features. She had long, straight dark hair that contrasted with her pale skin. Her look was memorable and combined with her gregarious personality gathered her a large network of friends and acquaintances making her always in the know for social events, parties, and other general goings-on about town. Amanda had been rather reserved, but being around Catherine had definitely brought her out of her shell.

"Is Farah here yet, or did I beat her in?" asked Amanda. She left her bags in the doorway and found her way into the kitchen, looking for the source of the chocolate chip cookie smell.

"She should be here any minute. I was actually expecting her first," said Catherine.

Farah Denis was their third musketeer. The girls had met in their required English class and despite their differences, they became inseparable. Farah was quiet, very studious, and preferred more intimate social gatherings. Amanda was sometimes surprised that Catherine and Farah got along so well, but they both valued their education and were highly motivated to succeed in their chosen fields. All three of them tended to be very competitive as well.

The door handle jiggled, announcing the arrival of another person. Amanda shoved one of Catherine's fresh baked cookies into her mouth and headed back to the foyer to remove her own bags from the doorway. Farah pushed through the door struggling with her own bags. Upon seeing her friends, she dropped them quickly and the three came together for a group hug.

Amanda noted that while Catherine had smelled like sunshine and cookies, Farah's scent was laced with magic. Amanda's eyes snapped to Farah's. Farah's gaze revealed that she now noticed Amanda was not quite human either. A slight head tilt from Farah towards Catherine, kept both girls silent, but they knew that once Catherine was distracted, they were going to have a talk.

"Farah, your hair! Why did you change it?" Catherine greeted her.

"At the end of last year my advisor told me that it would be hard for me to network and obtain internships if I had dreadlocks, so I decided to change it up," replied Farah swinging her box braids. "Hey, don't worry about it, I like my new hairstyle."

"Yeah, but," Catherine started.

"Here, have a cookie," Amanda said to Farah while shoving one in Catherine's mouth. She knew Catherine would keep picking making Farah more uncomfortable, but Farah wouldn't stop her. Amanda felt deflection was the best method for dealing with Catherine's nosiness.

The girls wandered into the kitchen leaving a mess in the entryway. After some quick catching up and devouring of cookies, the girls grabbed their bags and started the arduous task of unpacking. The apartment was a two bedroom with two bathrooms. Catherine had volunteered to pay more, as she was really the only one who could afford to, so Farah and Amanda would be roommates this time.

Once Catherine was thoroughly involved in arranging her shoes in her own bedroom, Amanda pulled Farah into theirs and clicked the door shut as softly as she could.

"You're a witch!?" hissed Amanda.

"So? You're a werewolf," Farah whispered back.

"Yes, but why didn't you tell me?" said Amanda.

"Back at you," said Farah.

The girls stared at each other for a moment, each trying to figure out what to say next.

"Did you transition for the first time over the summer?" asked Farah, attempting to break the tension.

"Yes, of course. I turned 21 in May. You know that," said Amanda.

"Ah, I see. Well, that I guess answers why neither of us knew about the other one until now," said Farah. "You couldn't smell me and I couldn't sense you."

Amanda nodded in affirmation.

Farah thought for a moment. "Isn't it kind of unsafe for you to be here without a pack? Especially with you being so new to the werewolf thing?"

"Yes, it is, but I'm supposed to, at some point, meet up with the pack here in DC. I think they live in Dupont Circle, but I have to check the address my dad gave me," said Amanda.

"I would say that it's probably a good idea to do that sooner rather than later. You're not in Kansas anymore. There's not as many vampires, witches, and faeries here as in my New Orleans, but DC does have its fair share, and they are going to be very interested in the fun to be had with a young, pretty, inexperienced lone wolf. You copy?" said Farah.

Amanda hmphed at her motherly lecture. First her parents were treating her like a child and now Farah was treating her like an idiot. She turned away and started unpacking her suitcase. She felt Farah's eyes on her back for a few, long seconds before she heard the sounds of her roommate begin to shuffle through her own bag.

A little while later, their storage boxes arrived from the campus business that kept them for students over the summer. The three girls stared at the mountain of boxes that had been piled up in their living room.

"Ugh, I give up. How much do you think we would need to pay those guys who brought them to unload them for us as well?" asked Catherine attempting to dramatically flop herself onto the couch without tripping over anything.

"More money than we can afford for sure," said Amanda.

Farah just stared down at the brown packages, trying to convince herself that all the stuff inside would find a place in their small apartment.

After a beat, the girls made eye contact and smiled at each other.

"Let's go out to dinner to celebrate the beginning of a beautiful year together. Cheers to being seniors," suggested Catherine.

The girls divided again to their respective closets to change out of their sweaty clothes and prepare for a night on the town. Catherine didn't just do dinner; Amanda and Farah both knew that there was shots and dancing in the plans for tonight. But that was exactly the way the trio wanted to kick off the new school year, in style.

Author's Note:

What do you think of Farah and Catherine?

Also, apparently Amanda wasn't the only roommate keeping a secret!  ;)

I hope you're still enjoying, so please vote and comment!