Chapter 6

I lay there for a while longer as the girls continued to talk. It was mostly still just inconsequential stuff. I would still rather lay there listening to them talk nonsense then to have Alicia stop scratching my ears. Alicia started to say something that caught my attention immediately.

"If I tell you something Sarah, will you promise not to say anything to anyone about it?" Alicia asked. "I do plan to tell the others about it eventually. I just have to work a few things out first."

"You know that you can tell me anything." Sarah said. "You know I will listen to anything that you need to say. I don't like keeping secrets from the others but I have secrets from them as well so I understand that there are going to just be some things that can't be told."

Alicia took a deep breath and released it. I raised my head to look into her eyes. She looked at me for a minute and said. "I'm trying to be strong here but I really need to be able to talk to at least one of my friends about what is going on. Besides, Sarah has always been really good at keeping my secrets. Please understand."

I nodded my head at her, after thinking about it for a few minutes. I still didn't think it was a good idea, but it wasn't my choice to make. This was her life so I figured that it was her decision to make. Besides, there was something about Sarah that made feel as if she would keep the secret.

Alicia threw her arms around my neck and squeezed hard. She kept repeating "Thank you!" to me over and over again. When she finally let go, I laid my head back down in her lap and faced Sarah, so I could watch her to see what her reaction was going to be.

"Remember when I told you guys about that day when I ran into the woods?" Alicia asked.

"Yeah." Sarah said. "You told us that you swear some sort of large creature attacked you. You also said you couldn't remember what happened after that though."

"Yeah, that's the one." Alicia said. "Do you remember when I told you guys that I thought I was losing my mind? I told you guys that there were a few nights that I couldn't remember going out but I kept waking up outside in my back yard."

"Yeah, I remember." Sarah said. "We were all worried about you. We all thought that maybe that damn father of yours was drugging you or something. We were worried that he was trying to do very bad things to you. But then, after about three days, you just stopped talking about it. You said it stopped, so we tried to forget about it. Why, did it start happening again?"

"No, not yet." Alicia said. "But it will happen again here pretty soon. At least to an extent. You see? I found out what was happening to me to cause those lapses. I couldn't tell you guys because I thought that you would all want to stop being my friends."

Alicia was starting to tear up at this point. I turned to her and rubbed my head against hers. I could easily imagine how hard this must have been for her. I was hoping to let her know that she would have at least one friend, no matter what.

Alicia did eventually get herself pulled together enough to be able to continue her story. Once she had herself under control, I laid my head back down into her lap. I still wanted to watch Sarah to see what her reaction would be.

"When I tell you this, remember what you promised." Alicia said. "You can't tell anyone, except our Shartren, if he works out."

Both girls giggled a little bit at that. Eventually though, I felt Alicia tense back up. This was her moment of truth. I hoped, for her sake, that this whole thing worked out for her. Alicia took a deep breath and then started her tale.

"The creature that I told you about was real." Becca said. "I know you probably won't believe me but the creature that attacked me was an honest to goodness werewolf. the reason I couldn't remember what was happening was because the beast had infected me. I was changing, and when you change, you never remember what is happening to you until you can get your head wrapped around it."

Sarah didn't look to surprised about the whole story but Alicia was continuing on too fast for Sarah to say anything.

"When you do finally do come to terms with what you are, all of your memories come back." Alicia said. "Do you see why I couldn't tell you guys anything? I didn't want to lose any of you guys as my best friend. I was so scared that you would all either think I was nuts or, even worse, I was scared that you would be scared of me."

Alicia had rushed through her whole speech and was crying now. I was keeping an eye on Sarah through Becca's whole speech. Sarah got up from where she was sitting and walked over to Alicia. she threw her arms around Alicia's neck and held her tight.

This whole situation was surprising to me. They were both crying now. I moved out of the way so they could cry on each other's shoulders. I just watched them to see how they would react. I really don't think I'll ever understand girls.

The girls sat there and continued to cry on each other's shoulders. They were hugging each other and blubbering for a good ten minutes before either one of them was able to get enough control to compose themselves. I was thinking about leaving until I heard Sarah start talking.

"I believe you." Sarah said. "I was too scared to say anything myself but I was having suspicions. You see, I believe you because I know just what you are going through."

"What?" Alicia screeched. I was shocked also.

"Yes, it's true." Sarah said. "It happened to me also but for me it was almost a year ago."

Alicia looked shocked. She wasn't the only one. I was having trouble comprehending that lycanthropes were that common.

"Wait." Alicia said. "That was that time that you disappeared for almost a month, isn't it?"

Sarah hung her head and said. "Yeah, that was when it happened. you remember how I was always such a tom boy back then and I was always playing out in the woods?"

Alicia nodded her head. I was listening to the story raptly. I didn't want to miss any of it because I was always curious about how other experiences might differ from mine.

"Well, the day it happened, the day I disappeared, I was out in the woods playing." Sarah said. "I wasn't paying attention, so I wondered deeper into the woods then I'd ever been before. When I finally paid attention to my surroundings, it was too late. I was thoroughly lost. I tried calling for help, but I guess I was too far away by that point."

Sarah was starting to shake by this point. She had a faraway look on her face and she had pulled her knees up to her chest and was rocking herself while she hugged her knees. Alicia got up and joined Sarah to hold her.

"It took me months to be able to accept what had happened to me." Sarah said. "When I did get them back, they weren't very nice memories at all."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Alicia said. "In fact, they would have probably all been bad for me also if it hadn't been for my guardian angel here."

Sarah looked confused at Alicia's comment. Alicia just smiled and looked in my direction. Sarah took a couple minutes to realize what Alicia meant.

When Sarah realized what Alicia meant, her face went through a whole range of emotions. Her features finally settled on anger. Alicia still had her arms around Sarah's shoulders.

Sarah looked like she wanted to attack me. I had to try my hardest to not tense up. I watched closely to see if she was going to come at me. I really didn't want to hurt her.

"He's one of them bastards, isn't he?" Sarah was barely able to get out from between clenched teeth.

"No, no, no." Alicia said quickly. "He's different. He wasn't the one to this to me. In fact, he's actually the one that protected me from the one that did."

"What?" Sarah gasped. "He helped you? I've never heard of one helping anyone."

"Well, he did." Alicia said. "Stop getting mad and think about it. he keeps coming around and he hasn't attacked anyone. He protected us from that other one that tried to attack us. And, don't forget that he protected me from my dad."

Sarah had a confused look on her face. she really didn't know what to make of me. she had been changing for a while and never been able to control herself so she really didn't think it was possible to control yourself while you were changed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sarah finally said. "But how can this be? I've never been able to control myself like that."

"I don't know." Alicia said. "I can't control myself either, but he seems to be able to do it pretty easily."

"So, who is he?" Sarah asked while looking over at me again.

"I don't know." Alicia said. "I figured that it would be rude to ask him and I didn't want to push it. Remember, he did save me twice."

Sarah smiled at her friend. they laughed a little bit and were soon talking about their experiences as if I wasn't even there. I played it cool and lay down away from them.

I started thinking about everything that was said. I now realized why Sarah had smelled different when I first met her. I wasn't really used to meeting others so I wasn't expecting it. I would definitely be keeping my nose open for that scent from now on. I knew that I would be able to recognize that distinctive scent from now on.

Thinking about smells got me to thinking about all the different smells of the girls and each of their distinctive smells. I determined that I would pay closer attention to each of their smells from now on.

I also started thinking about some of the other things. Even though I was an old hand at being a lycanthrope, I was still learning things myself. One of the things that bothered me was that the scars that I received from fights with other lycanthropes took slightly longer to disappear than any scars I received from any normal stuff.

It seemed to me that the only scars I had anymore were just the scars I got on the day that I was first attacked. all other scars seemed to just disappear. All the other scars would just disappear over time.

Thinking about it, I was surprised that the doctor didn't say anything about any of my scars, except for the originals from my attack.

I pushed those thoughts out of my head and realized that I should probably be heading back home now. I had a feeling that Julia was probably going to start worrying about me very soon.

I stood up slowly and stretched. I tried not to yawn because I didn't want to spook the girls. The girls watched me get up but they never stopped talking to each other.

I slowly walked over to the girls and gently rubbed up against Alicia. I then turned and walked into the woods and headed home. Neither one of them were paying me much attention because neither one of them said anything to me as I walked away.

I rushed home and spent the rest of the day with the family. Julia seemed to be trying to smother me with affection. Luckily, Jeff was trying to keep her from over doing it too much.

Alice kept trying to talk to me about my body and the choice of clothes that I wished to cover it with. She was really starting to get on my nerves. Jeff and Mark were both trying to curb her seeming growing obsession with my dress, but she pretty much ignored and kept badgering me. I took it from her as long as I could, but eventually, I just snapped.

"Hey Alice." I said. "You know what?"

"What?" She said.

"I really like that new bikini you bought last summer." I said with an even voice. "You know? The one that you had to beg Jeff to let you wear?"

"Yeah." She said. "What about it?"

"Well." I said. "Why don't you wear that to school tomorrow? I mean, you seem to think that I am required to show off my body, so I figured that you must have to show off your body as well."

Everyone stopped talking then. Julia wasn't looking too happy and Mark and Jeff even stopped to listen.

"I mean, you did finally move up from a B-cup, right?" I said, while still maintaining a calm voice. So, with you saying that I shouldn't wear what I am comfortable with, just because I finally put on a little bit, that means I am required to wear whatever makes you happy? So that must mean that you have to start wearing bikini tops to school now because it doesn't matter what you would feel comfortable in, it only matters what the other people would want to see you in."

Alice was stunned. I had never talked to her like that before. The fact that she had been a late bloomer made my words all the worse. She had been very self conscious about her breast size. Normally, the family was really careful about bringing it up, but I've had about as much as I could take.

"I have an idea." I said, my voice starting to rise now. "Your butt is getting bigger now, so why don't you wear one of those thongs of yours to school tomorrow? Don't forget not to cover up that thong with those silly pants of yours that make you comfortable. You'll want to show off that junk in your trunk. You wouldn't want to keep anything from any of those perverts in school, would ya?"

Mark was trying his hardest to keep from laughing by this point and Jeff couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or be angry. Julia though, was turning quite red. She was quite angry with what I had said. I could see that she was about to say something.

"Let's not forget what any of the mean or popular girls in school will say when they see you like that." I said.

"I'm sure they would just love to see that."

My last remark was what finally sobered up the guys. Julia looked like she was about to blow a gasket. Alice had started blushing and crying.

Julia went to her daughters side, to comfort her. I didn't care though, so I turned and went upstairs. I went up to my room and tried to get ahead on my studying. I also knew that Julia would be blowing up on me pretty soon and I just wasn't in the mood to care anymore.

I was in my room for nearly ten minutes before I realized that I could hear Jeff yelling. He wasn't the type of person to lose his temper very often so it was a surprise.

I couldn't make out what he was saying but I could hear that Julia and Alice were trying to yell back at him. I could tell though that it must not have been going to well for their side though because they were getting quieter. That could only mean that Jeff was winning his side of the argument.

Jeff stopped yelling before I could hear all of what he was saying but I heard enough to know that he was on my side.

I didn't come back down that night. I didn't even come down for dinner. I wasn't hungry anyways. I just read ahead on all my subjects in school. I read until I was too tired to stay awake anymore and went to bed. I wasn't looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.

I stayed away from everyone for the next week. It probably wasn't a good idea, to risk the girls figuring out who I was, but I even stayed away from them. Both at school and in the clearing. I didn't have any competitions over the next couple weekends so I just stayed in my room or went roaming in the woods.

I even chased Becca away when even she tried to bug me about my clothes. I did start talking to the girls again at lunch. I had been eating in the cafeteria during lunch, to avoid them, but I started eating out in the quad again and they were soon eating with me again.

They stopped bugging me about my clothes so I had at least one group of girls who weren't obsessed with my choice of clothes.

I did try to watch out for this guy that they had been talking about. I'll admit that I can be rather dense at times.

The next two weeks seemed to just fly by without much changing. I was starting to think that maybe everyone had forgotten about the whole incident, but Julia and Alice wouldn't stop giving me the cold shoulder.

I just ignored them and went about my own business. That seemed to piss them off even more.

I hadn't had a competition in quite a while and I was starting to get suspicious. I got tired of it and asked the teacher about it. She told me that she hadn't told me about any of them because she was trying to give me a chance to heal.

I told her that I was fine and that I was itching to go to the next one. She told me that if I was sure that I was ok, then she would put me into the next competition which was that Friday.

Since it was Thursday, I stayed late to put in some extra practice. Mary-Anne even stuck around to help me. Her assistance was very much appreciated, but it was a huge surprise. Even the teacher was surprised when she volunteered to stay late to help me. She isn't the type of girl to normally help anyone, let alone someone like me.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked her.

"I want you back." She said. "None of the other guys are good enough to dance with me. Besides, I like dancing with you. Just don't get any ideas. You're still a bug."

I had never heard her compliment someone before. I must have had a very shocked look on my face because she started laughing.

We stayed there working until it was almost dark outside. I could see that Mary-Anne was very tired but she still stuck around as long as she could to help me. She must have really wanted me back because she never relented. She pushed me as hard as I tried to push myself. We were both sweating profusely when we finally called it quits.

There were a bunch of questions when I got home. I was able to dodge most of them long enough to get through dinner without really saying anything.

I went to my room after dinner and worked on my homework and did more reading ahead. I went to bed early and was soon fast asleep.

I had crazy dreams that night. I dreamed that I was roaming through the woods until I came upon a clearing. In the clearing were five cloaked figures standing around a blazing bonfire.

I stood back as they all seemed to be swaying and chanting. I couldn't make out what they were saying but it kept feeling to me like there was some power building. It felt like the power was waiting for something to happen before it would release.

I stood outside the circle, watching for what seemed like a long time. I was almost getting bored about the whole thing until I saw another approach. I gasped when I saw the new hooded figure's face. I was looking into my own eyes.

It was at that point that I realized that the other figures were in fact my girls. I was shocked. The surprise was enough to wake me up.

I was drenched in sweat and my heart was beating a mile a minute. I was actually surprised that I didn't cry out when I woke up.

I lay back down and looked at the clock. It was too late for me to get back to sleep so I got up and took my morning shower. I took my time and was still downstairs before anyone else was awake.

I thought I would try my hand at making breakfast. I had watched Julia do it plenty of times so I thought it couldn't be that hard. I guess I never quite realized how much effort went into it.

I cooked scrambled eggs with bacon. I found a bag of hash browns in the freezer and fried them up before making some toast. When I finished, I put most of it into the oven, to keep it warm, until I heard the others starting to move around upstairs.

I quickly set everything onto the table and then went up to my room before anyone could see me downstairs. I had eaten my breakfast while I was cooking so I was full anyways. I just thought I would give the family a little bit of a treat.

I was able to grab my bag and head out unnoticed. The family was running late and I didn't want to risk missing the bus.

I was only at our bus stop for a couple minutes when it showed up. I climbed aboard and told the driver that Mark and Alice were running late so he could go ahead and take off. He just shrugged his shoulders and closed the doors and took off. I figured that Jeff could give them a ride to school.

I was surprised that I didn't see any of my friends on the bus today. The other five girls all rode different busses so I wasn't expecting to see them but I was expecting to at least see Becca. I hoped she wasn't too sick.

I sat in my usual seat and reviewed my notes on the way to school. I was still trying to improve my grades enough to get into college on a scholarship. I was still slightly surprised that Becca and the other girls were able to get me to change my mind about going to college.

I was still worried about going to a college town but I was hoping that I could find one that had a good sized forest near it. I even thought I could get by for a while if it had some good sized farms by it.

My day at school was pretty boring that day. The girls all stopped by for lunch. I could see some of the guys giving me dirty looks but I was able to mostly ignore them. I was grateful to the girls for dropping the whole wardrobe issue. I did notice however that they all seemed to be especially clingy today. They were all sitting closer than normal and they seemed to be practically cuddling with me today.

I walked the girls back to the middle school grounds before returning to my classes. I was more than caught up on all my school work, I was even a little ahead.

I saw a few posters hanging around school that were announcing the dance competition that was that night. I thought they were a lot more obvious this time around but I still hoped that they would pretty much be ignored. I definitely didn't want a bunch of people from our school to show up.

I was given a message during last period that asked if I would just stay after school. Mary-Anne had a new dance move that she wanted us to try and work on to see if we could possibly put it into the competition.

I called my foster parents to let them know that I wasn't going to be home until late. I was actually surprised at how quickly Julia agreed and said it was ok. I had been expecting her to give me plenty of grief.

I stayed after school and worked with Mary-Anne. Her new dance move was a flashy and complicated version of triple step box hitch with a kick ball change thrown in for good measure. The way that they had it all put together was quite fascinating.

We were able to work on it for almost an hour before we had to load up onto the bus and head out. I told her that I really thought the move had a lot of promise, but I thought we needed to wait until the next competition to use it so that we would have more time to practice it and I thought it would work better if we just created a whole new dance to go with it. She agreed with me.

On our way to the other school, I put my headphones on and listened to some of my music. I had put a few songs on there that weren't finished yet and I was hoping to be able to finish them up before we got there.

Jeff hadn't mentioned anything to me in a while about how any of my songs were doing. He just kept telling me to write more songs. I would give them to him and he would send them off. I just hoped that the songs would eventually be good enough to be played. But since I wasn't hearing anything on the radio, I kept figuring that they weren't good enough yet, so I kept trying harder and harder to write better.

When we got to the host school, we were running a little bit behind. We had to rush in and get changed quickly. I didn't even have enough time to get nervous. I simply got dressed as quickly as I could and then me and Mary-Anne went out onto the stage for our first dance.

We had been told that each couple were going to get two dances during this competition. If we scored high enough, we would get into the semi finals and we would then have to do a third.

I didn't know if it was just getting easier for me, or if I just was starting not to care anymore, but I was almost starting to like it out on that stage. I still wasn't very good with the audience yet though.

Mary- Anne and I went onto the stage when our name was called. Our school was still so new that we didn't really get much of an applause. These competitions were usually quiet affairs until the end anyways. Most students didn't get much recognition unless they went to one of the performing arts schools.