by Kelli Kimble
The breath of one jerked into a more staccato pace. They were awake now.
I set my claws against the door and ran them down the wood beside the poster. Not hard enough to leave marks; I wanted only to frighten the person inside.
Something inside rustled. Bedsprings squeaked.
“Fanny.” A harsh whisper. “Fan-ny. Wake up.”
There was another rustle.
“Fanny. Get that pillow off your face. There’s someone at the door.”
Silence.
“Fanny. Fanny!”
A rustle and a thud. “Would you shut up? If there’s someone at the door, then answer it!”
“Fine. But you hit me with that shoe.”
“Good.” Another resolute rustle. Then silence. The breath of one evened out, back towards slumber. The other sped up. I scratched at the door again. A gasp.
“I’m . . . I’m coming. Just a moment.”
The door swung in hesitantly.
“Uh, hello?”
Jacob extended one clawed foot into the doorway, scraping it against the floor in a slow deliberate movement. Trixie inhaled.
“Who’s there?”
I clicked my claws against the wall.
“Fanny. For goodness sake, Fanny.”
“Shut up, Trixie. If nobody’s there, shut the stupid door.”
The hinges whined as the door swung. I couldn’t tell if it was opening or closing, and I reached inside the doorway and slowly set each finger down. Tap, tap, tap, tap. Just for fun, I added in a quiet snarl.
“Oh!” The door made a whooshing sound. But Jacob darted in and stuck a leg into the door jamb.
“What on earth? Fanny!”
Jacob stepped in further and I followed. He threw the door back and it slammed, causing Trixie to scream and Fanny to leap from her bed.
“Trixie! I’m trying to sleep. What’s going on?” Fanny had a sleep mask over her eyes, and she pushed it aside. Her mouth dropped open. “Trixie. Trixie?”
Trixie was on the floor, her legs splayed open as she stared up at Jacob. I ducked to the ground putting my hands on the floor and crawling towards her around Jacob. Her gaze dropped to me and she bicycled her feet trying to get away, but she didn’t move.
Fanny came hurtling to her senses and let out a single blood-curdling scream. It jolted Trixie into finding purchase on the floor. She flipped over, onto her hands and knees and crawled only a pace or two before I grabbed her ankle and pulled her to me. She yelped.
“What? What are you?” she yelled as she spun onto her back. She held up her hands, trying to ward me off, and her leg flailed. I didn’t release my grip.
“You’re a bully, Trixie. And now it’s time for you to die,” I snarled.
“What? No! No, I’m not a bully. Fanny, tell them I’m not a bully.”
Fanny didn’t respond, probably because Jacob now had her from behind, a furry hand over her mouth.
“But you are a bully, Trixie. I’ve seen you myself.”
Trixie’s mouth opened and closed. Then her eyes went to the still-open door. “Help! There are monsters in my room! Someone, help!”
I gripped harder on her ankle and she grimaced. “I’ll stop! I’ll be nice. Whatever you want.”
“What do you think?” I asked Jacob.
“I think she needs to try a little harder.”
She looked wild-eyed from Jacob and back to me. I released her ankle, and she drew it under herself, setting on her knees. She clasped her hands together like she was praying. “Please, oh, please. I won’t ever bully anyone ever again. Whatever you say.”
“Tell us who you’re bullying,” I said.
She squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t know. A bunch of people. That boy who eats like a garbage can. He’s always trying to get other people to buy him food.”
My thoughts strayed back to my first day before I’d met Siggie. “You mean Wayne?”
“Yeah. I don’t know why he can’t just get his own food.”
She squealed when I pushed her down onto her back and leaned over her. “Not him. A girl. You’ve been bullying a girl.”
“Brenda?”
“And?”
“Uh, Simone?”
I sighed. “And?”
She paused for a long time. Fanny writhed beneath Jacob’s arm.
“I think she has something to say,” I said.
He lifted his. “That girl with the vampire teeth,” Fannie said.
“Oh, yeah. Sigourney.”
I thought I was mad before, but now my anger boiled over. She’d been tormenting Siggie for weeks, and couldn’t even be bothered to remember that she was doing it? For heaven’s sake, she’d thrown firecrackers under her door less than six hours ago.
I wanted her dead, deader than dead. I grabbed her by the collar of her stupid prissy night dress and clenched my fist. She grabbed at my hand with hers, but she seemed repulsed by the fur and she couldn’t maintain a grip. Her eyeballs bulged and her tongue stuck out while she made a strange coughing sound. I stared into her eyes. What I saw there made me want to vomit.
“Hey.” It was Jacob.
“Yeah?”
He shook his head and I suddenly became aware that I’d lifted Trixie off the ground, that I was choking her. I wasn’t guiding her to the other side, I was actually killing her. I released my grip and she dropped to the floor. As soon as she hit it, she scuttled under her bed.
“We’ve gotta go. Someone is going to come soon.”
“No more bullying,” I said as Jacob guided me out of the room. He closed the door just in time to muffle a gigantic scream from one of them.
“Good grief,” Jacob said. “Are all the girls here like that?” He opened the window and we jumped out onto soft pine needles below.
“No. The Anubians are much nicer.”
“Thank goodness. I’d be hamburger if I tried to throw a party matching up girls like that in my fraternity.”
* * *
We didn’t talk about how I’d come close to really hurting Trixie. It didn’t really seem like the sort of thing you casually discussed with your boyfriend, anyway. Within a few days, there were rumors around campus about a werewolf attack. Most people dismissed the rumors as a joke. But not Trixie. Whenever I saw her, she looked as if a feather could knock her straight to nervous breakdown territory.
Siggie cheered up now that Trixie was letting her alone. We discussed the possibility of the party at every opportunity. Jacob came to campus every other day for us to discuss details after dinner. It wasn’t long before we’d solidified the plans enough to each present them to our respective groups.
The other freshmen were relieved that we’d developed an idea, so we didn’t have any trouble convincing them. And when we presented it to the board, they were quite open. They’d given us a budget of four hundred dollars and only asked that we sell tickets in an attempt to regain the money since more than Alpha Nu members would be present.
Jacob, on the other hand, had no convincing to do. He only needed to throw the party and let the membership know where and when.
“Why do men always have it easier?” Siggie asked. We were sitting around the lounge table in the dorm, going over possible locations. We’d checked the gymnasium, but the basketball coach said no way were we going to tear up the new finish on his floors. The college has a ballroom, but it had recently doubled as a dissection lab for the premed program and even though the bodies were all gone, it smelled of formaldehyde and old sausage.
“It’s a man’s world,” Jacob said. “That’s why.”
I bristled. Mr. Anu had hinted that I’d be his right hand when he returned to prominence. And I was decidedly not a man. “That won’t last forever,” I said.
Jacob scoffed. “Yeah, a woman would think that.”
I frowned. Siggie’s eyes pinged between us. “I think you two have something to discuss. Can you excuse me for a moment?” She left the table without waiting for an answer.
I leane
d forward and hissed at him. “That’s so archaic. Of course, a man would never think that a woman could do better. A classic case of overconfidence in themselves and underestimating the competition.”
He studied his cuticles. “Whatever. I’ve seen the book.”
I didn’t want to fight with Jacob. But the injustice of the truth in his words stung. A faint strain on our bond made me rub my neck.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, promises have been made, and I’ve seen a future mutually beneficial to the two of us. Anything that benefits the one will only advance the other. See?”
“When are you going to tell me what he showed you?”
Last year, when Mr. Anu had wanted to perform the ceremony that would give Jacob and me our ability to assume an alternate form, he’d shown Jacob an ancient text. It was a book that had images and hieroglyphics detailing how Anu would regain his status and rise back to power. Jacob had said that Anu promised him something he couldn’t pass up. Of course, he’d also told Jacob there would be a revolution. But he’d made Jacob swear not to tell anyone what he’d been promised.
Siggie picked that moment to return.
The tension between the two of us crackled, but Siggie took it in stride. “You two are the perfect couple,” she said. “Whatever is eating you, kiss and make up. We’ve got a masquerade ball to plan.”
I went back to studying our budget. We only had two hundred dollars to spend on securing a venue. “Maybe Professor Cane would have a suggestion,” I said. “Somewhere nearby. Maybe a hotel ballroom or something?”
“That’s a great idea,” Jacob said. He slapped his notebook shut. “And anyway, I’ve got a midterm I need to study for.” He leaned over and pecked me on the cheek. “I’ll see you ladies tomorrow? Same time, same place?”
“Great,” I said. The tension on our bond snapped tight, and he turned to go. “Wait.”
He pivoted around. A hint of annoyance creased the lines around his eyes. “Yes?”
“I know it’s not your fault. That it’s a man’s world.”
Just like that, the feeling between us eased. He smiled, an easy, sexy smile, with only one side of his mouth. He winked. “I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”
A thrill tingled up my spine and I returned the smile. “Me either.”
* * *
Professor Cane was in his office at eight o’clock sharp, just as he’d so often promised in class. I was surprised; I thought it was just something he said since most of the students at Garfield seemed hard-pressed to get up before ten.
“Iris, what a surprise,” he said. I was waiting in the hall studying the bulletin board across the hall from his door. It featured a public display announcement about how to avoid contracting sexually transmitted diseases. When he noticed what I was looking at, color rose up his face.
He jingled the keys in his pocket and extracted them. “Why don’t you come inside?” He motioned me away from the poster. I wondered if he was the one to post it.
Inside his office, he offered me a seat in the wooden chair, which today was free of papers and books. I sat while he bustled around. He hung his umbrellas on a hook beside the door, then removed his overcoat and hung it there as well. He capped it off with his fedora.
“What can I do for you today, Miss Hond?” He eased into his desk chair and snapped open his briefcase.
“I was hoping you could help me with something not related to classwork.”
He nodded. “Oh, really? As long as it has nothing to do with werewolves, I’ll do my best.”
I winced but told him about the masquerade ball and how we were planning a cross-campus event with Jacob’s fraternity. His eyebrows furrowed together in thought. He snapped his fingers.
“I have the perfect place, as a matter of fact. You see, my sister owns a dance studio. It has a rehearsal room large enough for a dance with a real dance floor. Plus, there’s a bandstand and a separate room where you could offer drinks and finger foods. There’s even a coat room.”
“Really? And you think she’d be willing to let us use it?”
“Oh, of course. She’s friendly with Anu, just as I am.” He smiled, and for the first time, I had the impression that his devotion to Anu was rather mindless. But no matter; it wasn’t my problem if Anu could lead him around by the nose or not.
“We can only offer two hundred dollars,” I said.
He absently pinched his thumbs and forefingers together and rubbed. “Is that all? I’m not sure.”
“We could maybe offer a portion of ticket sales,” I said. “How’s ten percent of each ticket sold sound?”
“For how many people?”
“Maybe a hundred. A hundred-fifty at most.”
“Yes. And what would the ticket price be?”
“I think five dollars per person is reasonable, but we haven’t really discussed it.”
He nodded and rubbed his fingers together again. “All right. You sit tight.” He picked up the receiver and dialed a number.
“Helga. Yes, hello. Yes, I did get your letter, only the day before yesterday. Why don’t you just telephone?”
There was a pause as he listened. He traced the blocks on his calendar blotter and nodded along. I couldn’t make out her words, but she spoke even faster than Siggie and had a lot to say.
“Lovely, yes. That’s fine. I called for a purpose, though, Helga. I wondered if you might like to rent out the studio for a bit of money? Just for one night, a very civilized group of like-minded individuals.”
I put my hand over my mouth, to cover the smile at his obvious reference to our Anubian status.
“My student says they will pay two hundred upfront and also give you ten percent of the ticket sales. Does that seem fair?”
He paused and gave me a confident nod as he listened.
“Terrific, Helga. When can I tell her to drop by the studio? Just to make sure it suits.”
He scribbled something on a piece of paper. “Fabulous. I’ll see you for Friday tea? Goodbye.”
He hung up the phone. “Helga would be delighted. Here, let me jot the address for you.” He licked the tip of his pencil and added something more to the paper. “It’s just a mile or so from campus. Close enough to walk.” He turned the paper over and drew a rudimentary map, marking the studio with a star.
“Thank you, Professor Cane,” I said as I accepted the piece of paper and studied it. He was right, it wasn’t far. I recognized some of the street names on the map. A thrill of excitement went through me. Maybe I’d be the one to provide something for the sorority that no other freshman could boast: a venue for the party.
“She says to drop by today or tomorrow, between four and six.” He smiled, but then his gaze strayed to a pile of bluebooks on his desk. “Oh. While you’re here. There is the matter of your mid-term.” His demeanor changed as he shuffled through the books until he found mine.
He set it on the blotter, put on a pair of reading glasses that immediately slid to the end of his nose, licked his pointer finger, and flipped to the opening page. Red marks were scattered over the page.
“I have to admit that I was a little surprised at your performance on the midterm exam,” he said, gazing at me over the frames of his glasses. “I expected that Anu had done a lot more to prepare you. And I’ve seen your entrance essays and the like. This should have been a reasonable request.”
“May I see it?”
He slapped the book shut. “No.”
“But —”
“I’ll offer a retest in two days for everyone who got less than fifty percent. But you cannot see your original result. It will be up to you to properly study so that you can pass this time.”
“I didn’t pass? Less than fifty percent?” My confidence burst like a soap bubble on the wind. “And you won’t show me where I was marked down?”
“Miss Hond,” he sniffed. “That wouldn’t be fair to the other students. Now, I know we have a special relationship becau
se of Anu. But I won’t be showing you that sort of favoritism. It’s against the policies here at Garfield, and I’m appalled that you’d ask me to break policy.”
“No,” my head was swimming. How did he get the idea that I wanted him to break the rules for me? Without meaning to, I found myself at the door with my hand on the knob. “I don’t want you to break the rules, Professor Cane. I apologize if I gave you the impression that I did.”
Before he could answer, I rushed into the hallway and down the steps. Why were there so many steps? And why were they so hard to see? I scrubbed one eye with the palm of my hand, and it came away black with mascara and wet. Ugh. What if an Alpha Nu sees me crying?
I clutched my bag to my side and strode purposefully across the campus green. At the moment it was a lucky thing that virtually no student is up before ten. I made it across campus and into the dorm and finally stumbled into our room after turning quickly so that a stray girl heading for the ladies’ room didn’t see my state. I pushed the door closed and slumped against it.
I was curled up on my side, in front of the door with sorry-for-myself tears rolling sideways down my face when Siggie woke. She rolled over, looked at my bed and started to get up. She must have thought she was alone because when she turned towards the door, she yelped and jumped.
“Iris! You scared me. I thought you were the werewolf.” She had a hand to her chest, and she was breathing heavily.
A little touch of pride came out at her mentioning the werewolf. There were new rumors about sightings nearly every day. Someone saw one in the dumpster behind the dining hall. There was one in the men’s room at the gymnasium. A certain shrub outside the library had contained at least three werewolves in one night. Of course, it was all false; there had been only one genuine sighting. But it still felt good to leave an impression.
But then I remembered that I was an utter, miserable, abject failure and that Mr. Anu and Tessa and my parents were all going to be disappointed in me. And at least one of them was likely to say they told me so.
“Iris? Are you all right?” She crouched down beside me and helped me to a sitting position. “Your makeup looks like you used the tail of a live squirrel to apply it.”
In spite of myself, I laughed. But as soon as I tried to tell her what was wrong, my laughter turned to all out sobbing.
