by Jeff Hale
“I don’t think he’s a bad person, I just…. I’ll see you later, Alex. Be careful.”
I stepped out the door, heard him shut it behind me, and let out a long breath before going to my car and driving home. No, I didn’t think Darien was a bad person. I knew deep in my heart that he would never do anything to hurt me, but I wondered if the human culture I was raised in and the shifter culture he was born into would always be at odds with one another.
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Originally, neither Kris nor I had planned on going to the Senior Party. We had decided we were going to just stay home, watch movies, get some pizza and other junk food.
It wasn’t so much that neither of us wanted to go, we just felt like we would be out of place. Now, though, with Cody asking me and my inexplicable yes answer to go with him, we were both going. Kris was just going stag.
Nina had shown up around four o’clock in the afternoon. Kris and I had been watching TV when I heard the vehicle pull up into the drive and I stood on a chair to peek out the family room window.
There was a newer Chevy Avalanche in the driveway, one of those that can be either a pickup or an SUV; she had it set up to be an SUV at the moment. It was a pearlescent black, with a dark haired girl in a bikini painted on the side (both sides if I remembered correctly), and a panther painted on the hood.
Nina had a thing about panthers, and if you looked at the girl and the cat, they had the same eyes. I hadn’t thought about it when I had known Nina in Vegas, but now, knowing what I was, what I was going to become, it made me wonder if there was more to my insta-friendship with Nina than I had realized.
“She here?” Kris asked, eyes wide in curiosity.
“Yup, c’mon.” I headed up to the main part of the house, getting to the front door and opening it just in time to see Nina standing there with her fist raised to knock on it.
Her hair was neon pink and green this time, and she was dressed like a cowgirl; by that I meant she had a pair of high heeled cowboy boots on, a faded denim microminiskirt with frayed edges, and a black leather vest that only had one button done right in the middle. I was pretty sure she wasn’t wearing a bra. She had multiple piercings in her lip, eyebrow, nose, ears, bellybutton… and I knew she also had her tongue and some other not so visible places pierced.
“Kitty Kat!” she squealed, near piercing my eardrum. She engulfed me in a tight hug and rocked me back and forth.
“Hi, Nina,” I managed to get out when I had breath again. She kept me in the embrace, seeming to not want to let go and an odd familiarity came over me that was more than just seeing a friend after a long absence. It was almost that same quality that I sensed when I was around Darien and Alex, the one that alerted me that they were shifters as well, only muted.
“Mmm, Kat, you smell just yummy, what kind of perfume you got on there?” she murmured.
I pulled back from her, a blush brightening my cheeks, and I smiled shyly at her, but my brain was still mulling over that odd familiar feel. It didn’t make any sense. Then I remembered that when I had started school in Vegas those several months ago, I had felt almost the same thing the first time I had seen Nina.
We passed each other in the hallway, the girl with teal and baby blue hair brushing past me in some hurry when she suddenly halted in her steps and turned around to tap me on the shoulder. I twisted to face her, expecting anger over ‘running into her’ and instead found myself greeted with a huge smile as she looked me over.
“You’re new here, huh?” she asked, taking my arm and steering me out of the student traffic, until we were in the alcove that housed the door to the girls’ restroom.
She was wearing some very revealing clothing that would have gotten me kicked out of school at home, and had quite a few piercings in her eyebrow, lip, nose, ears, and bared bellybutton. I would have killed to be able to dress like her and sport the jewelry but my stepfather would have beaten me within an inch of my life. Or so he threatened; I had never wanted to test it. I felt overdressed in my plain jeans and blue t-shirt.
“Yeah,” I told her. “I’m a transfer student. I’m only here for a couple of months though.” I looked over her shoulder at the long hallway teeming with students and felt overwhelmed. “My regular school isn’t dinky by any means, but it’s nowhere close to this! I feel so freakin’ lost.”
“Hah, well stick with me and we’ll get you used to it in no time! My name’s Nina, by the way.” She stuck out a hand, grinning at me and raising her eyebrows, sticking her tongue out just enough so that it peeked past the edge of her teeth.
“Katelyn,” I said, taking her hand.
She squeezed my hand, but then didn’t let go. I didn’t mind. Something about her made me like her instantly, and I felt like I had known her forever. I had felt the same way when I had met my best friend Kris, but this was something different, on a more visceral level.
“Well, Katelyn, I’m your new best friend!” Nina proclaimed. She still had my hand.
I laughed. “Thanks, but I already have a best friend back home,” I told her.
She just gave me a big smile again, leaning forward so that her lips were next to my ear. “Not like me I bet you don’t,” she said wickedly, before pulling back and giving me a wink. “I feel like I’ve known you forever already!” She began to drag me back out into the hallway. “What’s your first class? I’ll take ya there. You can tell me all about yourself on the way there, oh, and after school? We’re going shopping, you can’t be dressing like that on my watch, and I have this guy friend that you have to meet…”
“Kat?” Kris poked me on the shoulder. “You gonna stand there all day or are you going to introduce us?”
“Huh?” I shook my head, the memories fluttering away. I blinked a couple of times, saw that Nina was giving me a bemused look. “Oh, yeah, sorry. Was actually just remembering the first time Nina and I met, was weird.”
Nina beamed at me. “That’s cuz we just have this bond, me and you.” She drew me into a hug again and I could smell her perfume, and underneath that the scent of her own skin. The cat in me roused briefly, inquisitive, before settling back down, and I heard Nina’s breath draw in sharply before she pulled away. The look she gave me now was something different, almost confused, although full of intense interest. I stepped back from the doorway so she could enter the house, shutting the door behind us as we headed into the living room and Nina turned to Kris.
“You must be Kris,” Nina said, ignoring Kris’s outstretched hand, smiling and leaning in to hug Kris tightly. “I gotta tell you, chickie, I tried to steal her away from you while she was there, but she wasn’t having any of it.” She winked at me. “She’s a loyal one, our kitty Kat.”
Kris returned Nina’s hug a little awkwardly, seemingly unsure about the other girl’s overt friendliness. I knew Nina kind of swung both ways, liking girls as well as boys, but I hadn’t bothered to tell Kris. Maybe I should have warned her.
“Nice to meet you too, Nina,” Kris said, chuckling nervously as Nina let her go. “Kat’s told me a lot about you.”
“Really? Nothing too horribly bad, I hope.” Nina gave me a mischievous grin and I felt that familiarity again, only this time I was pretty sure I knew what it must be.
I was just about one hundred percent sure that Nina was a wilder like me. The familiar feel, the way my cat had reacted to her, her obsession with werepanthers, it all seemed to point in that direction. I wasn’t quite sure what to do about it though.
“Nope, nothing too scandalous.” Kris’s mouth quirked up at the sides and Nina laughed.
“Shit, that means she told you everything.” Nina rolled her eyes at me. “Well, I won’t claim I’m a good girl by any means, but I do like to have fun.”
Kris couldn’t help but laugh. “I like you, Nina. Kat told me I would, she was right. You two catch up, I gotta go take a shower for tonight.” She stuck her tongue out and headed upstairs for my bedroom.
The moment Kris disappear
ed from sight, Nina dropped onto the couch, her face falling, and let out a deep breath.
I sat down in the chair nearest her, confused by this sudden turn of emotion. “What’s wrong?”
She shrugged lightly. “I talked to Dave this morning, just letting him know how I was. Apparently he thinks I’m up here screwing every guy I meet. We had a big argument.”
I gave her only a half sympathetic look. “Maybe it’s not my place to say, but maybe you and Dave would get along better if you would, I dunno, quit cheating on him?” I waggled a finger at her. I loved Nina, I truly did, but she was about as faithful as a cat in heat. Yet another sign.
Her eyes shimmered with the start of tears. “I try, Kat, I really do, and I love him, but some other guy or chick comes along that just does it for me, and it’s hard to keep control, to say no. I feel like shit afterwards, but at the time, all thoughts of anything else but the person and what we’re doing just go out of my head. I don’t like myself very much when it happens, and I know it sounds trite, but I just can’t help it.” Tears were streaking her cheeks now.
I patted her bare knee, feeling her still under my touch. “I don’t know, Nina, maybe you and Dave should just give up then? I mean, if he’s adamant about you being faithful and you know you can’t be, then maybe you two need to go your separate ways. Sometimes two people just want different things.”
She smiled wanly at me. “I’ve thought about it, we both have, but we’ve been together since grade school. I wouldn’t know what to do without him. Seems like no matter how much I fuck things up, we always end up back together. I know it’s not fair to him, but dammit, I don’t know how to let him go.”
I shook my head. “No real advice for you on that one. After all, I’ve never had a real boyfriend yet. Just a few dates and some hot and heavy make out sessions.” I laughed somewhat sadly.
Her eyes widened. “Really? I didn’t know that you and Aerick had even gotten that far. I mean I hoped…”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t with Aerick, was with this other guy that I met after Prom. His name’s Darien, but he’s not the guy who’s taking me to the party.”
“Is he good looking?” Nina was perking up now, her tears drying as we switched the subject.
I closed my eyes, picturing Darien in my head. “Oh, yeah,” I breathed.
“As good looking as Aerick?”
I nodded. “In a different way, but yeah.”
“He just doesn’t do it for you, then?”
“Oh, no, he does ‘it’ for me just fine, in fact I have a hard time keeping my hands off of him when he’s near.”
“I’m confused then, why not go out with him?” she asked, forehead crinkling.
“Well there’s a bond between us I just don’t get, but he’s very possessive and jealous and I’m not willing to deal with that right now.”
“Gotcha.” She looked towards the stairs, then skewed her glance at me. “So you’re not really seeing anyone right now?”
“Not really, no, why?”
“I like you, Kat. I mean, I’ve always liked you, from the moment I met you, we had a connection, but I was never all hot and bothered over you. Don’t get me wrong, you’re a beautiful girl, and if you had suggested anything, I would have been all for it, but I didn’t lust after you.” She licked her lips, scooting forward on the couch and tentatively placing a hand on my knee. “But I do now, more than I have for anyone else.”
I froze at her words, entirely unsure what to do. I was straight but I knew that Nina was bisexual. I wasn’t stunned by the fact that she was hitting on a girl, only that she was hitting on me. I just didn’t know how to respond without hurting her feelings.
Unfortunately for me, Nina was no shy maiden unsure of how to get what she wanted, and she capitalized on my shocked stillness by pushing herself partway onto the chair arm, curling a hand around the back of my neck and softly pressing her lips to mine, caressing my lips with her own when I didn’t respond.
“Nina,” I protested against her mouth. “I’m not…”
“Ssh,” she breathed against my lips, stroking the side of my face with her other hand. “Just relax, give it a try, please?”
She nibbled her way along my jaw, rubbing her thumb lightly back and forth across my bottom lip, and then trailed feather light kisses across my neck and back up, before placing her lips over mine again. Her tongue flicked out, tracing the contour of the inner edges of my lip.
I was still frozen in place, bewildered now by the fact that what she was doing actually felt good. Part of me wanted her to stop, but another part wanted her to keep kissing me, wanted more. I took a deep breath through my nose, and the scent of earth and mist, of something feral, hit me and the cat in me roared to just under the surface as it recognized one of its own.
Very carefully, I put my hands on her arms, pushing her away, pushing the cat back down; it took all my willpower just to do so. A small part of my brain hoped to God that Kris didn’t walk down the stairs any time soon, or my mother didn’t get home because I in no way wanted to explain this to them.
Nina was watching my face, gauging my reaction, and she frowned when I smiled sadly. “I’m sorry, Kat, but I had to try. I just don’t get it, I know you felt it too, so now I’m confused.” Her short laugh was one of irony.
I chewed my lip, finally making a hard decision, not sure if she would believe me anyway. “I think I may know what it is.”
She raised an eyebrow.
I made a gesture out toward the driveway. “You know how you have that fascination with werecreatures, werecats in particular.”
She nodded.
“Would you believe me if I told you they were real?”
“Very funny. It would be cool if that stuff existed, but we all know it’s all made up.” The look in her eyes didn’t match her words, as though she were saying what she thought she should say to my question.
“Are you so sure about that?”
“Are you trying to say that they are real?”
I nodded, schooling my expression to be as believable as possible.
Her eyes narrowed as she scrutinized my face, looking for signs of deception on my part. “You’re fucking serious!” She reached out a finger, ran it down my cheek, then sniffed the air experimentally, her eyes closing. Her eyes opened again, and she smiled at me, shaking her head. “You little bitch!” Her laughing tone took the insult out of the word. “You are one!”
“Yes.”
Her eyes went wide.
“But I’m new, I haven’t shifted for the first time yet. Darien, the guy I told you about? He’s a werewolf.”
“No shit?”
“No shit. And there’s more.” I took a steadying breath. “I think you’re like me, a wilder, someone who’s born with shifter blood.”
Her head jerked to one side. “Like you? You mean, going to be a werecreature?”
“Yes.”
“That would explain so much. So how—”
We were interrupted by Kris coming down the stairs and into the living room, still toweling her short hair.
“She know?” Nina whispered to me, too low for Kris to hear.
I gave a small nod.
“You guys catching up?” Kris asked, looking from me to Nina, eyebrows furrowed.
Nina smile brightly. “Yeah, sorry, I was just telling Kat about how well my boyfriend and I aren’t getting along, got a little weepy.” She looked at the dainty black metal watch on her wrist. “Shit, I need to head over to the hotel, still have to get all the stuff out of my truck, get it all set up, test it out.” She stood and headed for the door. “I will see you two tonight then? And we can go hang out tomorrow for awhile?”
“Sure!” I stood as well, saw Nina out, trying not to feel guilty for what had happened between us, then excused myself to go take a shower. A cold one.
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It was close to time for Cody to show up and Kris and I were just about finished getting read
y, just doing some touch ups and last minute checks. I had decided to wear a skirt, one that I had ordered online and had shipped to Kris’s several months ago. It was a miniskirt, tartan plaid, blue, green, and black, with white and yellow striping; the Shaughnessy family tartan. I had never been able to find a tartan for my mother’s side, the Daly’s.
I put a black fishnet shirt with it, and a forest green corset, along with nylons and black high heeled Mary Janes. I had my hair pulled back in a ponytail again, and makeup on the way Kris had taught me. Kris had opted for a pair of tight black jeans and boots, and a low cut, figure hugging red knit shirt that showed more cleavage and left less to the imagination than my corset.
“So, did you get that blonde guy’s number, the one who asked you to dance?” I asked her, looking for her reaction in the mirror.
“Nope, I didn’t even think to ask. He seemed nice enough, but I wasn’t really interested,” she said, her reply a little cagey.
“What does that mean? Have you set your sights on someone else?” I turned to face her. She hadn’t said anything to me about being interested in a guy.
“Not really.” She quirked her lips. “It’s just with things the way they are, all the weird stuff happening everywhere, the stuff we know now about people other than humans that exist… well, high school, high school boys, all that… seems so… childish, I guess. That guy was cute, and nice, but he was…” She didn’t finish, just gave me a look.
“Too immature? Believe me, I get ya. How long have I had a crush on Cody Grey? Since our freshman year? And it turns out that he’s a halfway decent guy after all, and he’s interested in me. But he pales by comparison to Darien, or Alex… hell, even to Aerick, although Aerick’s human, at least I think he’s human.”
I thought back to some of the things that had happened involving Aerick while I was in Vegas: how he would disappear without explanation, strange phone calls, the odd job that he worked out on the test site. His life wasn’t normal by any means, but nothing that would have made me think something strange was going on… until now. And now I wondered if maybe there had been more going on in his life, with him, than any of us had thought.
