Love & Werewolves: A Collection Of Short Stories

party tonight to take your mind off things,” he said. Lauren groaned.

  “Spare me,” she said. “I’m not going!”

  “You better come,” I said. “You’re my best friend. You’re supposed to be there in my time of need.”

  “I know Nick’s parties,” Lauren said. “It’s just an excuse for people to get drunk.” I was about to reply when a voice came from behind me.

  “Are you talking about Nick Darke’s party?” I turned to see a boy looking at me.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Why.”

  “I’m going,” he said. “I only just moved to town a couple of months ago and don’t know many people. I figured a party would be a good way to get to know people.”

  “Yeah right,” Lauren scoffed. I glared at her.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Xavier Cullen,” he answered.

  “I’m Carson. This is my best friend Lauren and her boyfriend Archer,” I said. “Will I see you at the party?”

  “I hope so,” Xavier said as he smiled at me.

  First Sight

  I love you not only for what you are;

  but for what I am when I am with you.

  Roy Crofts

  I led a normal life until a short time ago. I’d enjoyed reading about werewolves, vampires and other mythological creatures but I never seriously believed that they existed. Then I met her and she made me feel things I that had never felt before. Before I met her I rarely spoke to the other kids that I had attended school with for almost twelve years. She gave me confidence and changed my life.

  October, 2009

  It was almost unheard of for new students to start during the fourth term of the year, especially when they were in their last year of school. So needless to say that when we walked into our homeroom on the first day after the September holidays, everyone was amazed to see two new students with our teacher.

  “Everyone, this is Katarina Wolf and Oakley Lupus,” Miss Bells said as we took our seats. “They will be joining us for the term.”

  “Why would you start a new school so late in the year?” asked one of the guys. Miss Bells glanced at the two students standing next to her.

  “I’ve been homeschooled my whole life until now,” the boy, Oakley, answered. “My mum decided to send me to a ‘real school’ for the last term.”

  “Why?” another guy asked. Oakley shrugged as he replied.

  “Mate, do you think that I understand what goes on in women’s heads?” Everyone laughed. Everyone that is except myself and Katarina. My main goal was to get through the rest of the term unnoticed. I saw Katarina glare at Oakley and I wondered if they could possibly know each other

  “What about you, Katarina, would you like to tell us why you started here so late in the year?” Miss Bells asked. Katarina glimpsed at the teacher briefly before gazing at the rest of the class.

  “My old school burned down during the holidays,” she explained. “My parents were planning to move here for work once I finished school anyway. So, we moved a couple of months earlier than planned and here I am until they end of the year” Miss Bells nodded.

  “I heard about that school burning down,” she said. “Oakley, your surname is Wolf in Latin. Does that mean that you and Katarina are related?” Oakley’s smile got bigger while Katarina suddenly glared at Miss Bells.

  “We are related,” Oakley said, and this statement earned him another glare from Katarina. “Very distantly though.” The bell rang as he tried to explain and Miss Bells turned her attention to the rest of the class.

  “You are dismissed,” she said. Everyone jumped out of their seats and shoved each other in their hurry to get to the door. I took my time and was one of the last to leave the room but as I reached the door, Miss Bells called to me.

  “Harmony, would you mind showing Katarina and Oakley to their classes?” she asked. “And around the school at lunch time?” I nodded in agreement because I knew it wasn’t worth trying to argue and glanced at the two new kids. My eyes met Katarina’s and for a second I felt my heart race. Dark grey eyes that were almost hidden by her silver blond hair studied my own blue eyes as I quickly turned away.

  “Let’s go,” I said as I led the way out of the classroom and down the stairs.

  In an attempt to avoid seeing Katarina again, I went to the library at lunch time. This was the first time I had ever deliberately ignored a teacher’s instructions. I kept expecting Miss Bells to appear and demand that I show the new kids around immediately. Instead I received a friendly smile from the librarian as I came in and a kid in my home group class noticed me. He’d been there when Miss Bells had asked me to show the new students around but he didn’t say anything. I escaped to the back of the library before anyone else saw me. On the way, I picked up my favourite book, and dropped into a bean bag to read. I’d read Dear John about twenty times but I still enjoyed it. I was about thirty pages in when someone plonked themselves into the bean bag next to me.

  “Harmony Hansen, right?” I almost dropped my book as I turned my head and looked straight into Katarina’s grey eyes. My first instinct was to jump up and run away but something compelled me to stay and talk to her.

  “How do you know my last name?” I asked as I set the book on the ground. Katarina smiled.

  “It wasn’t easy,” she said. “No one seems to know who you are.” I didn’t want Katarina to see the pained expression on my face and turned away.

  “Why would they?” I said sarcastically. “We’ve all known each other since preschool.” Katarina reached over and gently turned my head back to her.

  “But I managed to find out,” she said. I allowed myself to smile.

  “And why do you want to know my name?” I asked and Katarina smiled.

  “To ask if you would do me the honour of accompanying me on a picnic this Saturday?” she said.

  “Why would you want me to join you on a picnic?” I asked. Katarina leaned closer to whisper in my ear.

  “Because you are the most beautiful girl at this school,” she said. “And I would cherish the chance to get to know you better.” I looked into my lap.

  “I’m not beautiful,” I said softly, so softly I thought Katarina wouldn’t be able to hear me. She didn’t say anything and I assumed she hadn’t heard.

  “I will pick you up at nine o’clock Saturday morning,” Katarina said. She stood up and began to walk away.

  “How?” I called. “You don’t know where I live.” Katarina beamed a smile that made my heart skip a beat.

  “Just be ready at nine,” she said and then she was gone. I opened my book again but I suddenly I had no desire to read. I couldn’t focus because all I could think about was Saturday.

  The rest of the week passed painfully slow, made worse by the fact that I only saw Katarina seven times during the next four days, not that I was counting. Even so, we never had an opportunity to speak. Apart from being in my home group, Katarina was also in my English class as I discovered the next day. I spent much of the first English lesson of the term staring at her. I only looked away long enough to see that Oakley Lupus was staring at me. He’d obviously noticed that I had been watching Katarina and somehow I sensed that he disapproved. Why should he care?

  For some reason, it was Oakley’s face that came to my mind as I dressed on Saturday but I propelled it away. Nothing was going to spoil this day, except maybe the wrong outfit. I’d never really cared about clothes before and I was extremely thankful that we wore uniforms to school. It was going to be a hot day, over 30 degrees celsius. I changed my outfit five times that Saturday morning before finally settling on a blue singlet that brought out my eyes and denim shorts. I was tying my hair up, so that I could cope better with the heat when someone knocked on the door. I slipped my phone into my pocket and took one last look in the mirror before heading downstairs.

  Mum had opened the door and was greeting Katarina when I reached it.

  “But you can call me Judith,” I heard her saying. Kata
rina flashed a smile.

  “That’s very nice of you, Mrs Hansen,” she said. “My name is Katarina Wolf.”

  “Have you lived in the area long, Katarina?” Mum asked as I stopped beside her. Katarina grinned at me and I found myself smiling back.

  “Only a few weeks,” Katarina replied. She winked at me and I felt my cheeks warm.

  “Well, we should be going,” I said. “Mum, I’ll be home before ten tonight.” I brushed past Katarina and headed down the front path.

  “Have a lovely day, Mrs Hansen,” I heard Katarina say. She caught up with me as I reached the gate.

  “You look nice,” I said. She was dressed all in grey; the only splashes of colour were her red shoes and a striped bracelet dangling on her wrist.

  “And you look breathtaking,” she said, running her other hand playfully through my fringe. I frowned and turned away.

  “What’s your bracelet mean?” I asked, hoping to change the subject. People often told me I was beautiful but I didn’t agree. As I waited for Katarina to answer, I examined her bracelet. It had yellow, orange, red, green and blue strips with the initials W.W.J.D. As I began to wonder if Katarina would ever answer, she stopped me and tilted my chin so that I had no choice but to look at her. She studied me silently for a minute, looking at my red hair, blue eyes and slim figure.

  “Remember one thing, Harmony; you have beautiful red hair, brilliant blue eyes and a figure to kill for. You are beautiful. Don’t ever forget that, got it?” I nodded and Katarina