Alpha Balla': A Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance

by Angela Foxxe

  CHAPTER SIX

  “I can’t believe they did that!” John said.

  “I know. It’s totally weird, and now I feel like a piece of my childhood is gone,” Heather added.

  They were both standing in front of what used to be their grade school but was now a junior high for the entire area. Apparently, the school board had decided to consolidate all the junior high kids in the district in one school and the grade school kids in another. It was definitely stirring up some nostalgia.

  “How is it we never knew each other when we were in grade school? I know we were in different classes, but we should have stumbled into each other at recess or something,” Heather said.

  “I did notice you, but I was too shy to talk to you,” John replied with a laugh.

  “You? Shy? I don’t buy it,” Heather said.

  “It’s true. I wasn’t always the charismatic lady killer that you see before you,” John joked.

  “You were always a little stud muffin.”

  “Well, I’m glad you thought so,” John said.

  “I still do,” Heather replied.

  John couldn’t help but blush a bit. The evening had been going so perfectly. He’d picked up Heather from her dad’s farm at just a bit after five in the evening. The two of them had decided to try to recreate a high school date, just the way they had done when they were sixteen. John had tried to plan everything out accordingly.

  He showed up a few minutes earlier and went inside to shoot the breeze with her dad. Heather’s dad had always liked John, and the feeling was mutual. It was sad seeing him in ill health, but John tried to ignore this and not treat him any differently than he would have several years ago.

  John and Heather went to see a movie at the old Town Square Cinema. It was still mostly the same, but they had added a few theatres so they could show more movies. The new theatres were 3D capable. They saw the new Nicholas Cage movie. When they used to go to movies, he was their favorite guy, especially the action movies he did. They were awesome, and even though Cage’s popularity was no longer what it once was, he still delivered a great performance.

  Although it was tough to concentrate on the movie. John really felt like he had on their first date. And he wasn’t sure this was really a date, possibly just a mock date. But it felt great sitting beside this amazing woman who had only grown more beautiful with time. By the end of the movie, he was holding her hand and feeling like a million bucks, just like a horny teenager.

  He thought about kissing her through the whole film. It was really like being sixteen again. He could barely concentrate on the film. He was too concerned with “making his move” or if he was even going to make the move. Was it that kind of a situation? Was this a real date or were they really just getting to know each other again? He figured it was the latter, but he wanted there to be more to it, and something about the vibe led him to believe that there might be.

  It was just the little things. The way that Heather automatically grabbed his arm during intense scenes in the film and the way he caught her looking over at him in that sexy sideways glance of hers. It was flirty, but it was also subdued. The mixed signals she was sending to him were driving him wild, and he was at a loss on how to proceed. He had been around the block a few times, and with all the fame and attention that had been thrust upon him recently, he had indulged in a few romantic liaisons; he was a young, single man after all, but they had been nothing like the real feelings that were being stirred up by being with Heather.

  He wondered if she was feeling the same things that he was. Were those old thoughts and nostalgic feelings that they’d shared together when they were teenagers returning for both of them? Or was he caught up in something else entirely that was all his own? He had never considered himself as being a blind love type of guy, and he thought that he was able to read the signs and the signals pretty well. But that didn’t mean that his boyish innocence that he felt he still possessed was above making a few mistakes.

  “That was amazing!” Heather said as they walked out of the theater.

  John smiled and threw what was left of his popcorn and drink in the trash. He instinctively reached over and grabbed her hand in his. Her small, soft hand was warm and gentle to the touch. He instantly felt the goosebumps moving up his arm. It felt like he was stepping in a time machine and going back to high school. It was all such a sweet trip. It was taking him back to a much simpler time. It was a time when the only thing he had to worry about was getting a zit the night of the big dance.

  “It was a good flick. I don’t know what all those moron critics were talking about,” John replied.

  “I know. I learned long ago never to listen to reviews from others, especially critics. I always have to find things out for myself.”

  John smiled as they walked across the parking lot. The night was surprisingly warm. It was heading into November, but he was enjoying the long-lasting warmth that was new to the area.

  “Yeah, I agree,” John said. They walked in silence a few minutes across the large mall parking lot. “Hey, you remember the night we broke into Riverdale and stole their first-place trophies?”

  Heather’s eyes widened as she giggled. “Oh, my God. I haven’t thought about that in so long. Yes, of course I remember. You were the mastermind behind that little heist.”

  “I had a lot of help,” John contested.

  “Oh, but it was your idea. And you quarterbacked it just like you quarterbacked things on the football field. God, that was a fun time. And no one knew we did it.”

  “They suspected, but no one could ever prove anything.”

  “Wow, we were some little daredevils then, weren’t we?” Heather said.

  “Yeah, but it wasn’t like we didn’t give it back. We did it just enough to distract them for the championship game. Then we returned it. We almost got caught taking the stuff back, of all things.”

  John couldn’t hide his laughter as they reached the car. He leaned against the hood, watching Heather walking toward him with that amazing smile. Her laughter was so infectious, and she had a habit of getting a bit giddy with things when she was really laughing hard. She would almost lose all control and have to wait until it was over. It was annoying enough to be cute and sexy.

  “Yeah, imagine that. We easily got into the school and swiped the trophy, but when we went back, there were those two bumbling security guards who chased after us. Neither one of those guys had ever won a foot race, I’m guessing. They both had to be well over three hundred pounds.”

  “I know, but I was still scared we were going to be recognized or something. Did anyone ever speak to you about it when it was reported that the trophy was stolen?”

  “Yeah, our coach talked to us as a group in the locker room. He knew that one of us or a few of us did it, but of course, no one said a damn word and he couldn’t prove anything. Truthfully, I think he believed it was funny anyway. He had a hard time keeping a straight face during the talk.”

  “Our cheerleading coach talked to us as well. She didn’t believe anyone on the squad was directly responsible, but several of us were dating football players, so they automatically linked us up with it. But, of course, they couldn’t find anything.”

  “That was such a fun time,” John said. “What the hell were we thinking? We all could have been expelled for doing a stunt like that, and that would have sunk the championship for damn sure.”

  “We were young and stupid. We thought that we were untouchable. It was a fun way to feel. I loved it. Before the shadow of adult responsibility became a thing for us,” Heather joked.

  “Yeah, that’s a complete drag,” John replied.

  Heather was leaning close to him right then, her eyes sparkling and bright in the light from the streetlamps and the bright, full moon in the sky. He could feel his breath tensing up as he concentrated on taking slow, deep breaths right then. She was so beautiful. Her scent was perfect, wafting up into his nostrils combining with the nostalgia of the moment
to create a perfect moment. He wanted to kiss her so badly, but would that ruin the evening? Sure, they were reminiscing, but did that mean that she was feeling the romantic feelings that he was? He just wasn’t sure; he had never known himself to be shy with women, and he definitely wasn’t shy with her back in high school, but for some reason he found himself hesitating this time.

  Was it the curse? Was there something there that was holding him back? The curse was always lurking in the back of his mind, and he was constantly fearful of what would happen if it got out. He had tried to tell himself he no longer cared, especially after what had happened with Michelle, but truthfully, a part of him did care. He did care what happened because he cared about Heather. He cared so much about this woman, and being with her was drudging up all of those feelings.

  How had he let her go? How had the two of them just parted ways and chalked it up to a teenage romance that was not important enough for them to hold their other plans back for? The teenage mind allowed you to do things like that. Nothing seemed like it was irreplaceable, but there were things like this that became irreplaceable. That was true. He was starting to realize this more and more.

  Heather stepped closer to him right then, taking him by surprise. Her lips were somewhat pursed, and he thought for a moment that she wanted him to kiss her, but then she reached up and rubbed his chin with her thumb.

  “Got a little butter on you there. The same old Cineplex—butter with popcorn thrown in there,” Heather said.

  “That’s true. But it’s the best, isn’t it? There is no other place like it,” John said. “I miss watching movies here. Actually, I miss a lot of things here.”

  “I know you do,” Heather said. “But that’s what happens when people go off chasing crazy dreams. It just so happens that your dream came true.”

  “Well, I got lucky.”

  “Again with this luck crap. You worked hard, and you had the talent you needed to get you where you needed to go. End of story.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” John joked. He wanted to scoop Heather up in his arms so badly right then. He wanted to hold her close and tell her how much he missed her. He was really starting to miss everything about her. The more time he spent with her, the more he was realizing just how much was actually missing from his own life.

  “So, what should we do now?” John asked.

  Heather thought for a moment. Her eyes suddenly opened up widely, a naughty look spreading over her with that sexy grin that he missed so badly.

  “What?” John asked.

  “Let’s go visit Riverdale,” Heather said.

  “What? No way…” John said realizing immediately what she was thinking about.

  “Yes. We owe it to our younger selves.”

  He could see that Heather was totally serious, and the more he thought about it, the more excited he got by the idea. It was time to relive the past again. He just hoped this time they didn’t get arrested.

  ***

  The chain broke free as the lock snapped away and fell to the ground. John tried to grab it to no avail, and it skidded on the pavement loudly. John cringed at the noise, hoping that somehow this did not alert the security guards that something strange was happening. He hoped that whoever was in charge of watching the school at night was busy sleeping or slacking off on the job watching Netflix on their phone. He normally would have no problem breaking into a school like this, but being that he did not want Heather to find out about his newly acquired extra sensory powers of lycanthropy, he decided that he would play the Clark Kent nerd part to the hilt.

  “Oh, my God. I can’t believe we are doing this,” Heather giggled as she pranced back and forth from foot-to-foot as if she had to pee really badly. John couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Here they were, two grown people, breaking into a place that they couldn’t wait to get out of when they were teenagers. That was the magical thing about an empty school building after dark—it was a lot more fun at night. There were all sorts of long, dark hallways to creep around, trophy cases to break into, a huge gymnasium where you could play the sports you wanted to on your own terms, and the exhilaration of it being wrong and of you getting caught. And now, if you got caught as an adult, you were probably going to jail as opposed to detention for a week. So the stakes were higher, and John had to admit to himself that made it all the more fun. He had never considered himself much of a “bad boy” character, but tonight, he was definitely getting in touch with his inner wild child.

  And he had a feeling that Heather was digging every single second of it.

  He opened the door slowly, cringing at the loud clank of the steel on steel as he pulled apart the standard double doors to the entrance of their old school.

  The air from inside hit his nostrils with a nostalgic punch, sending him back several years to the times of his youth. He could instantly recall almost exactly what it had been like to spend every single day in this place. He’d been a fairly popular jock, but he knew that the jock thing was the only real reason he was popular. He was not deluded enough to think that his personality—charming as it was—would’ve made him into the big man on campus.

  As he stepped down the hallway, he noticed things about the school that he had forgotten and things about it that seemed different somehow. The way the floor squeaked under his shoes, the way the light from the exit sign gleamed through the darkness and lit up the doorways of the classrooms in ways that he had never had the privilege of seeing before. He peered into the darkness of each locked room and scanned the layout, using his newly acquired night vision. It was coming in handy for something after all. He didn’t utilize many of his gifts very often; there was too much fear of breaking out into the wolf, but somehow being with Heather had a calming effect on him. Maybe she would end up being a good luck charm of some sort for him. It was wishful thinking, but it had its place in the world sometimes, didn’t it?

  He felt Heather’s sweet fingers curl around his own as she took his hand and he escorted her down the hall, much like they had done so many times before when the hallways were filled with their envious peers. John had always hated being admired that way for being able to play football--he still did hate that--but at the time, he rolled with it because even then, he was able to see all of the things that were being brought his way by his skills with a football. He most certainly would not have been Mr. Popularity, and he would not have been with a girl like Heather.

  John wanted to break into one of the classrooms, but he knew that the doors were locked. That wasn’t really a problem for him since he could have easily broken the doorknob and just pushed the door open with his extra strength. He thought for a moment about how impressed Heather might be to see him do that, but he quickly pulled himself out of teenage fantasy mode and back to the real world.

  They made their way past the sciences hallway and around the corner to the main commons. The old bench was still where they had left it. He thought for a moment how many memories they’d had in between classes and after school, just hanging out there and talking about life and sometimes even love, or at least what they thought love was as teenagers.

  He could see that Heather was feeling the nostalgia as well as she sat down and slowly slid her fingers over the edge of the worn wood of the bench. A sweet smile spread slowly across her lips. John wanted to kiss those lips so badly right then. He wanted to go back to that simpler time when all they really had to worry about was winning the game against Valley the following Friday or not getting a big zit before the Homecoming dance. Of course, John realized that his problems paled in comparison to some, at least on the surface.

  Most people had to worry about paying their bills and taking care of their families. He had to worry about being a werewolf and having the world find out he was a monster.

  There were times when he really didn’t know who might have had it worse.

  “Do you remember?” Heather asked.

  “What?” John replied.

  “This
bench is the first place you asked me out,” Heather said, trying to stifle a giggle.

  John smiled as the memory came back to him.

  “Yeah, we were just getting done with the pep rally, and everyone else had pretty much left the school building except for a few football players. I noticed you sitting there, and you looked up at me as I was walking past. I’d noticed you before, of course, but I was shy.”

  “There you go with that shy routine again. You have never had anything in the world to be shy about,” Heather said.

  John felt himself blushing a bit. “I bet you said that to all the awkward football players in high school.”

  “Only the ones that I really wanted,” Heather said with a wink.

  “I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I’d been wanting to speak with you and at least get to know more about you, but I was too shy. You can believe that or not.”

  “I don’t,” Heather teased.

  “Well, anyway, for some reason that day, I found myself stopping dead in my tracks as you looked up at me with those beautiful eyes and gave me a little smile. I sat down almost immediately and just blurted it out. I asked you to go with me to the school dance. I wasn’t sure you even knew my name.”

  “Well, of course I knew your name. You were the big campus football stud, and I was the new girl. I had just moved to the area a few weeks after school started. The only reason I was able to try out for the cheerleading squad was because Tracy Fillmore twisted her ankle and the coach heard that I was on the squad at Belpre. I didn’t think you knew who I was, that was for sure.”

  John looked her directly in the eyes, focused. “Oh, yeah. I knew who you were. All the guys had huge crushes on you. I was surprised as hell that no one asked you to the dance before I did.”

  “Oh, they did. But I wasn’t interested in any of the other guys on the team. I considered going out with Corey Gillman, but he seemed like a bit of a pervert, as did a lot of the guys on the team.” Heather laughed.

  “You’re right; a lot of those guys were total perverts.” John laughed. “I have no idea why we hung out with them that much.”