Love & Werewolves: A Collection Of Short Stories

to her.

  “See you at lunch,” I said. I glanced at the front of the room to check that Miss Bells had left before kissing her. As she left, I could tell that Katarina was not happy with me and I knew I’d be hearing about this at lunch time. Nonetheless, I pushed Katarina out of my mind as I continued toward Oakley. He had a relaxed expression on his face as he watched me.

  “You were staring at me,” I said. “Why?” I expected Oakley to deny my accusation, so I was surprised by his response.

  “Go on a date with me,” he said. I laughed until I realised that he was serious.

  “You’re not my type,” I said. “I have a girlfriend in case that escaped your notice.”

  “I think the whole school has noticed,” Oakley muttered.

  “Whatever,” I replied. I turned and headed for the door of the classroom but then Oakley said something that made me turn around and walk back to the table.

  “I know where to find your father.”

  My father had left when I was a baby. My mother had no idea why, she simply awoke one morning to find him gone. Oakley had chosen exactly the right thing to say to gain my attention. So, with this in mind, I agreed to have dinner with him and for the first time I was glad that I had no classes with Katarina on a Monday. I knew I would not be able to lie to her if she asked me why I had spoken to Oakley.

  I didn’t really want to see her, so I went to the drama room, which I knew would be the last place she’d look for me. I’d always had an interest in acting but I had never pursued it. If no one noticed me when I was myself, why would they notice me when I was someone else? I sat in one of seats and lost myself in a daydream. I knew Katarina would find me eventually and when she sat beside me, I didn’t look at her.

  “Why were you talking to Oakley?” she asked.

  “You don’t beat around the bush, do you?” I said. I expected her to laugh but she simply pursed her lips. Her next words reinforced my decision not to tell her the truth.

  “There are things you don’t know about Oakley,” she said. “He’s not a good person.”

  “I was just asking him why he was staring at me,” I said. Knowing that I was lying to her, the words tasted horrible as they came out of my mouth and I had to look away.

  “Why wouldn’t he look at you?” Katarina asked. “You’re beautiful.” I knew from her tone that she was still upset with me but that she had bought my story.

  “The same reason no one else looks at me,” I said. I knew using my old insecurities was playing dirty but I had to be sure that Katarina didn’t suspect anything. Katarina rested her forehead against mine.

  “Those other people do not matter,” she said. “The only thing that matters is how you feel about yourself.”

  “You’re right, as long as you think I’m beautiful, no one else matters,” I said. “I love you, Kat.”

  “I love you too,” she replied and I almost changed my mind about my date with Oakley. Almost. I looked into Kat’s eyes and as I saw the trust reflected there, I knew I would never be able to do anything to shatter that. As much as I hated lying to her, the thought of losing her trust hurt me more. Instead I kissed her. The bell rang and I sprang gratefully to my feet.

  “See you later,” I said and hurried to my next class.

  “Tell me everything that you know,” I said to Oakley that evening. We were having dinner at a little cafe about twenty minutes from my house that I had purposely chosen for its obscure location.

  “What do you know?” he asked as we were led to a table.

  “My father left when I was a baby,” I said. “That’s all. Mum woke one morning and he was gone.” A waiter came to our table and we ordered drinks.

  “Harmony, do you believe in the supernatural?” Oakley asked. I frowned at the change of subject but answered the question.

  “I’ve seen the Vampire Diaries if that’s what you mean?” I said. Oakley smiled as he accepted a glass of coke from our waiter. My glass was only filled with water and I sipped it as I waited for Oakley’s reply.

  “Your father was a vampire,” Oakley said and I nearly choked. Oakley watched me calmly as I coughed.

  “You’re joking, right?” “Vampires don’t really exist”, I said when I could finally talk. “I can’t believe I lied to Katarina for this.” Oakley looked pleased when I mentioned lying to Katarina.

  “Come with me,” he said. “Come with me and I will prove I’m telling the truth.” I hesitated thinking that Oakley was crazy but then something about Oakley’s face and his story intrigued me.

  “You’d better be telling the truth,” I said. Oakley stood up and threw a hundred dollar bill on the table. We drove for about an hour until we were out of town and deep into the countryside before Oakley stopped the car. He urged me to follow him into the paddock. With no street lights, it was really dark and eerily quiet. “What are we doi…” I started to ask but the words died in my throat as Oakley suddenly transformed into a huge, grey wolf. I stood there frozen transfixed by the wolf’s huge yellow eyes but it was the high-pitched howling that most terrified me.

  The next thing I knew I was staring at the sky with Oakley leaning over me.

  “You’re a w, w, werewolf?” I said, barely managing to get the words out. Something clicked in my brain and my hand flew to my mouth. “OMG, Katarina is too.”

  “Yep,” he said. “Katarina’s great great grandfather was my great great grandfather’s twin brother. They had a fight and Kat’s grandfather left. He changed his name from Lupus to Wolf and came to Australia.” I slowly got to my feet.

  “Why are you telling me this?” I asked.

  “Kat is wrong for you,” he said. “She claims to love you but she lies to you.”

  “Are you saying you’re better for me?” I asked. Oakley nodded.

  “I will treat you the way you deserve,” he said. I rolled my eyes.

  “I hate to burst your bubble, Oakley, but I’m gay,” I said. Oakley didn’t seem to be deterred by my words.

  “How can you know that, when you’ve never been with a man?” he said and suddenly he was only centimetres from me. He softly stroked my face and pressed his lips against mine. He kissed me with equal passion to Katarina but I felt nothing. This was the difference between kissing Kat and Oakley, if not for the warmth of Oakley’s lips, I would have thought I was kissing a dummy. I lifted my hands to Oakley’s chest and pushed him away.

  “Take me home,” I said. I expected an argument but Oakley simply led the way back to the car. We didn’t speak on the way home and I was grateful for the silence. Instead, I spent the journey just barely keeping a handle on my emotions. My body screamed at me to collapse and cry. Katarina had never done anything to harm me, she had only trusted me and I had repaid her by cheating. I didn’t speak to Oakley when he stopped the car outside my house. I went straight to my room where I stripped to my underwear and crawled under the doona on my bed. It was boiling hot but I didn’t care. Once my head was on the pillow I finally allowed the tears to fall.

  I walked to school in a haze the next day. I barely noticed that Katarina was absent from home group but the other kids were staring at me as I sat alone for the first time in two and a half weeks. Miss Bells asked me to stay after home group; I stayed in my seat and she walked amongst the desks to sit in a chair beside me.

  “Did something happen between you and Katarina last night?” Miss Bells asked. My voice had no emotion as I answered,

  “No,” I said, the last thing I wanted to do was discuss my private life with a teacher. “Everything is fine.” Miss Bells still looked concerned but a class was lining up outside and she let the subject go.

  “Ok, go to class,” she said. I could feel her eyes on me as I walked out of the classroom but I didn’t look back. Each of my teachers looked at me with concern throughout the morning but no-one asked any questions. They all knew about Kat and I so, they probably assumed that we’d had a fight. I went to the library at lunch time but this time. I just sat in a be
an bag and stared into space. Lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t realise that Kat was sitting next to me until she spoke.

  “Hey you,” she said as she leaned in to kiss me. I didn’t respond to the kiss and Kat pulled back to look my eyes.

  “What’s wrong,” she said and I felt my heart breaking.

  “Nothing is wrong,” I said. I managed to inject some enthusiasm into my tone but Kat still looked concerned.

  “Don’t lie to me, Harmony,” she whispered. I was hit with an overwhelming urge to kiss her. We were in a section of the library that was blocked from view, especially from the librarian nevertheless; I looked around to ensure that we were alone. I moved myself over onto Kat’s bean bag so that I was facing her. Surprise crept over her face before I kissed her. As we kissed, I deftly edged my hand toward the bangle on her wrist. I was able to undo the band and slip it into my pocket without her noticing. I stood up to walk away but Kat called after me.

  “Harmony?” I knew that she was going to follow me, so I walked faster. “Harmony, wait.”

  I left the library and kept walking until I was out of the school grounds. Despite knowing that it was the first place Katarina would look for me, I went home. I packed clothes and the money I’d saved up working at a supermarket during the holidays into a bag. I then left a note for Mum on the table, another lie!

  Mum, gone to clear my head for a couple of days. Don’t