Chapter 4

I made it thru the first half of school on a high note. It wasn't until lunch time rolled around that I remembered that I was going to be meeting with five girls at lunch today. Thinking about it, made me instantly nervous. Lucky for me though, it didn't hit me until I was already out and getting ready to sit down.

I plopped down when I heard the five voices heading my way. I knew that I didn't have the time to escape so I was resigned to my fate. I braced myself the best I could and tried to make the best of the situation.

"Hey there Tim." Alicia said. "I want you to meet the rest of my best friends."

Alicia then proceeded to name them each in turn. They each said their hellos and I nodded to each one in turn. They were soon sitting in a rough circle around me and we all ate as we talked to each other.

I finished with my meal first because the girls were all talking while they ate. I did my best to say as little as possible.

I kept noticing that the girls all kept looking at me when they thought my attention was elsewhere. I didn't know if I liked the attention, although I was getting a thrill out of it, deep down.

"So Tim, what do you like to do for fun?" Sarah asked me. I just shrugged at her question so she changed tactics. "Well, what classes are you taking now?"

I blushed when I realized that she had asked that question so that I would have to actually talk about myself.

"Well." I began. "I'm taking the normal stuff like math, science and English." I finished.

"So, what electives did you take?" Alexa asked. These girls were good at getting information. I would sure hate to be trying to keep something from them as an enemy.

"I took advanced music and dance classes so that I wouldn't have to take PE." I said.

"Oh really?" ally asked. "So what instrument do you play?"

Because of the rapid fire questions that they had been sending my way, I wasn't prepared to answer her, so I told the truth.

"Well, if it has strings then I could probably play it." I said. I regretted the words almost as soon as they were out of my mouth.

The girls all looked at me with stunned expressions on their faces. They also had very doubtful expression as well. I was blushing profusely when I realized what I had given away to these girls.

"So, can you play the violin?" Sarah asked me. I nodded at her while keeping my head down.

"Can you play the guitar?" Alexa asked me. I nodded at her as well.

"Ok, what about the harp?" Alicia asked. I nodded at her as well and she looked really surprised by my response.

"I got one." Laura said. "It's got strings so can you play the piano?"

I nodded my head again. I was really starting to regret telling them anything but I had no choice now. I could tell that they weren't believing me anymore so I kept telling the truth so that they would think I was trying to pull some macho show off stuff. They probably figured that I was just trying to show off for them, and I wasn't going to disabuse them of their notions.

We kept talking about anything else that the girls were able to think of to ask me. When it was time for them to head back, I stood first and gave each one of them a helping hand to their feet. They all blushed a little at my act of being a gentleman. I guess they weren't used to any guys acting like that.

My last two classes of the day went by without a hitch. I went to my after school dance class as usual. I had fun like normal. I was starting to get used to these girls so I was acting more like myself around them.

The girls, in turn, started treating me more like I was a normal guy. That had the ripple effect of making me even more comfortable which made me act even more relaxed. After school was over, I went straight home and did my homework. I was reading ahead again when, my door flew open and as I turn my chair, to see who it was, Becca came barreling in and jumped into my lap.

"Long time, no see stranger." She said. "Where in the world have you been hiding yourself?"

I smiled at her antics and pushed her off of me.

"I've been busy." I said.

"So I've heard." Becca said while smiling. "In fact, I heard that you've been busy keeping some middle school girls happy. Five of them in fact." I started blushing and turned my eyes away from her.

"It's true?" she said. "Man, when did you decide to finally join the human race. When you decide to do something, you don't go half way do you?"

I blushed even darker and said. "It's not what you think. Alicia is just a girl I met downtown that looked like she needed a little bit of help with something. I helped her a little and now she is bringing around some of her friends to meet me. Today just happened to be the most she's ever brought around."

Becca smiled and shook her head. "Yeah, and knowing you, it wasn't as small a favor as you are claiming. She would probably tell a different story. So did you at least get all their names?"

"Yes." I said indignantly. "Alicia was the one I helped. Then there is Laura, Sarah, Alexa, and Ally. Alexa and Ally are the twins."

"Oh man." Becca said. ""You did get all their names. I'm surprised that you were able to talk enough to do it. Maybe I'll join you guys tomorrow so I can see you actually acting normal around some girls. Besides, I'd like to meet the girls who were able to get you to come out of your shell a little. I also want to make sure that no one is playing games with my best friend's heart."

I was touched by her concern but I was also terrified by the prospect of Becca being unleashed on the girls. I am sure that she would be telling them all of my embarrassing secrets as soon as she was able. It must have shown on my face because Becca started laughing.

"Don't worry Tim." Becca said. "I was just kidding. I'm not going to join you guys until I am invited to."

I breathed a temporary sigh of relief because I knew that she would figure out a way to get invited as soon as possible.

"They aren't playing with my heart." I said. "We are just making friends. You, of all people, should know how bad my luck is with girls."

"I know how bad you think it is." Becca said. "I also know that there are a few girls that would go out with you in a heartbeat. They are just waiting for you to get up the courage to ask. They want you to make the first move, the first move that we both know you won't make for now."

I blushed and didn't even try to deny her. Becca knew me too well. I was getting uncomfortable with this discussion so I tried to change the subject.

"So how was your date last weekend?" I asked her.

"It was ok." Becca said.

"Well I haven't heard from you in a while so I was curious." I said.

"There wasn't much to it." Becca said. "We went to the movies and went out to eat. He was actually quite boring. I'll probably have another date next weekend. It's just too hard to find a decent guy like you Tim. None of the other boys are as sweet or funny as you are."

I blushed again. Becca always could make me do that. She was the closest friend I'd ever had. She knew most of my secrets, not the most important one, but she knew almost all my other secrets.

"Why is it than that, the nice guys always seem to finish last?" I asked her.

"They don't always." Becca said. "It's just that you are way too shy. If you aren't willing to talk to the girls, they will never get to see how nice you are. They won't get a chance to see you for what you are."

"I don't think it works that way." I said. "Besides, you know how I get when I try to talk to girls I like. I get all tongue tied and they end up laughing at me."

Becca shook her head sadly. She knew that I did in fact get very tongue tied when I tried to talk to the girls. She also knew how much it hurt me when the girls would laugh at me. She'd had to comfort me more times than she wanted to count whenever I would get up the nerve to try asking a girl out. I had stopped asking years ago.

"Well, maybe you can get to know these girls like you know me?" Becca said. "That way you can be comfortable enough around them to keep from getting tongue tied. That way you can ask one or more of them out?"

"I don't think so." I told Becca. "I don't even think they are going to like me that much, once they get to know me."

"I'm sure they'll love you." Becca said. "Just give it time and you will see."

I gave her a very skeptical look, which she pretty much ignored. I asked her how her school was going and she turned it back and asked me how mine was going. We both kept our grades in the top percentage. Sometimes, we even did our homework together because we took a lot of the same classes. We just took them at different hours.

Because I felt so comfortable around her, Becca was one of the few people to ever get to see my sense of humor. We had the same sense of humor so it was easy for me to make her laugh. I always loved to hear her laugh because she was one of those rare girls that would actually put herself into a laugh. She wasn't one of those girls that snickered at your jokes so she could make you feel good about yourself. If she didn't like your jokes, she just wouldn't laugh.

We goofed around for a while longer, before she told me that she had to be getting home. I walked her to the front door, like I usually do. When we got there, she surprised me by turning and giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm really happy for you." Becca told me after she stepped back. "I really do wish you the absolutely best of luck."

Becca turned then and ran home. I couldn't figure out what was with her, but I figured she would tell me when she was ready, if she wanted me to know. I finished my schoolwork and went to bed. I would never admit it to Becca but, she really did get me to thinking. If she was that sure of me, who was I to try to argue with her?

When I woke the next morning, I spent a little extra time making sure that I was presentable. I still wore my signature baggy clothes, but I made sure my hair didn't look bad and I wasn't dirty at all. I've been really lucky so far because I've never had the problem with acne that seems to plague all the other teenagers.

It would have been extra hard for me to deal with acne because of the scars on my face. I've always been self conscience of the scars on my face so I'm actually quite surprised that none of the girls have asked me about them yet.

I went to school as usual. I made it thru my morning classes without being singled out by any of the bullies. All the bullies seemed to be focused on another boy lately so I was left alone.

I've started noticing that most of the bullies have stopped picking on me as much as they used to. The only reason I could come up with for their lack of interest was, I don't really cry anymore when they beat on me. After the pain I've gotten used to when I change, everything they dish out just seems so weak.

When lunch time rolled around, I went to my favorite spot and waited. The girls weren't long in showing up. I smiled at them all as they walked up. I was actually able to force myself to make eye contact with each and every one of them in turn. They each smiled at me as I smiled at each one.

"So, how are you doing today?" Alicia asked me.

"I'm ok." I said.

"Everyone was going to come over to my house today, to meet with a friend of mine." Alicia said. "I was wondering if you would like to come over as well?" Alicia was blushing when she asked the last part.

I blushed deeply. I knew who the other friend was that she wanted me to meet. It would be really bad for her to find out who her other friend was.

"I have a lot of homework that I have to catch up on tonight." I said.

"Oh, ok." She said. I noticed that all the girls had a slight look of disappointment on their faces. "Well, maybe some other time?"

"I'd love to." I said. That seemed to cheer them all up a little.

"Fine then, what are you doing this weekend?" Laura asked me. I shook my head at her to mean that I wasn't doing anything. "Well than, we were all planning to go to the movies. Do you want to come with us?"

I was trying to think of a way to beg out of going when Alicia said. "Yeah, please come with us. We can even hang around the mall for a little while after the movie is over."

Alicia had suck a pleading look on her face that I was having a hard time thinking of a reason not to go. When all the other girls started in on me as well, I caved. The girls all seemed to have million watt smiles on their faces when I gave in.

"So, what kind of movies do you like to watch?" Sarah asked.

"I'll watch just about anything." I said. "I just don't like horror movies."

"What?" Alexa asked. "You mean to say that you are the only guy in the world that doesn't like to take girls to scary movies?"

Alexa was smiling at her little joke. I looked around and could see that all the other girls were smirking as well. I could tell that they were all smirking at me so I blushed. The blushing caused the girls to start giggling.

"So, what are you going to wear?" Ally asked.

"I don't know." I said. "Whatever I have clean and comfortable."

"Well, what color is it going to be at least?" Laura asked.

"I don't know." I said. "Why do you want to know?"

"We just do." Alexa said. "Stop being a pain and just tell us."

"Well, if I had to pick something now, I would probably say that I will be wearing black jeans with a purple sweater." I said.

"See now, that wasn't so bad." Alicia said. "If nothing else, maybe we can pick you up something at the mall when we get there."

The girls all seemed excited by that prospect. I ignored their excitement and said. "Sorry girls but I can't afford that right now."

"Sure you can, just ask your parents for a little money for now." Sarah said.

A clouded expression passed over my face at the mention of my parents. I tried to school my expression before anyone saw it but I wasn't quick enough to keep Alicia from noticing it.

"I can't ask my parents for money." I said. I was looking down when I said it.

"Why not?" Sarah asked. "The worst that can happen is they'll say no."

I shook my head before answering. "You don't understand. My parents are dead, they died when I was five."

I'd talked with Becca and the family enough times about the incident that I was able to keep from crying about it. It was still hard enough for me that I did still have to fight them back for a couple minutes.

Alicia had started to move closer to me when she saw the original look on my face. When she heard my response, she gasped at first but then she leaned in and put her arm around my shoulder.

I sensed her leaning towards me and that gave me a moment of panic. Before I could think of something to do, she already had her arm around my shoulder. I stiffened at first but she held on until I relaxed. She had a curious expression on her face while her arms were around me.

"Tim, can I ask you something?" Alicia asked me. I was weary of what she might be wanting to ask me but I nodded anyways.

"Why do you always wear baggy clothes?" Alicia asked me. "Are you overweight or something? I can't figure it out. I originally thought that you were shy about being too skinny but when I had my arm around you I noticed that you aren't that small at all."

I blushed before answering. "I'm just shy about my body is all. I've been picked on for years because of how small I am. I started to wear the baggy clothes all the time so they would stop. I just got used to always wearing them. Besides, I have scars that I don't like people to see."

"Well, you don't feel that small anymore." Alicia said. "You should start wearing t-shirts again. Besides, how can you stand to wear sweaters in the middle of summer like that?"

"I've been through a lot worse heat." I said. "But I really don't think I'm ready for everyone to see my body yet."

The girls all looked disappointed about my decision but they agreed to respect my decision for now.

"That's fine." Ally said. "But we are going to see you in shorts by summer vacation."

I blushed at them but nodded my head anyways. I figured it would be easier for now if I just agreed with them and hoped they forgot about it by the time summer got here. It was while the girls were all distracted for a second that I happened to glance around. I saw Becca walking in my general direction. I started sweating, thinking about the embarrassment that she would heap upon me if she joined us.

Becca was looking me in the eyes as she walked towards us. She was smiling the whole time. I thought I was done for. She turned at the last second and headed over to sit with some friends of hers. I breathed an audible sigh of relief.

When I turned back towards the others, I noticed that Sarah turned away quickly. I thought I saw a look of curiosity on her face, mixed with a little bit of guilt. Maybe I was mistaken though.

We finished our lunch hour, talking about inconsequential things. I left them all and headed for my music class. We were supposed to be studying the intricacies of the faster forms of rock and roll. We were also studying how different instruments could be utilized.

It was an interesting hour, watching the teacher try to explain all of the different roles that our individual instruments could play in modern music. When she tried to talk about the classic role of guitars in rock and roll, she kept glancing in my direction. Some of the other students looked my way as well. I noticed that the most common look on each person's face was one of doubt for my skills.

I had been very careful to make sure that I didn't play the guitar again since that day. Due to the lack of reinforcement, most of the other students had started to doubt what they had seen with their own eyes. I was more than happy to let them forget about the whole incident. It appeared that the teacher was trying to keep them from forgetting. I left music as soon as I could. I rushed out as soon as the bell rang. I was in a hurry to get to my dance class. The kids in my dance class were still barely putting up with me. Most of them didn't attend the after school classes so none of them had really seen me dance. There were only about three people that did attend the after school classes. They tried to convince everyone of my skills but none of the others would believe them.

Part of the reason that none of the other students liked me was because I was the only freshman to make it into class. The only person who had absolutely no problem dancing with me was Mary Anne. Ever since the dance competition, she had tried to become my partner whenever possible.

Mary Anne was a junior so she wouldn't even acknowledge my existence during the rest of school, but as soon as class started, she was always trying to be the first to claim me as a partner. When Mary Anne first started picking me as a partner, I quickly decided that dancing with her was too enjoyable to care about what others might think.

Mary Anne was always trying to get me to show my skills in front of the other students. She soon learned that I wouldn't do it. I would barely let my guard down a little bit when I was in front of the after school kids.

The teacher started teaching the after school kids more and more complex dances. Most of the females in the group were quick to pick up the new dances. Only a few of the guys seemed to be able to keep up. I was having no problem keeping up though.

The teacher wouldn't kick anyone out of the after school classes, she would always just try to work with them as much as she could. For those of us that were picking up the dances easily, the teacher would have us practice the dances so much that we would swear that we could do them in our sleep.

The teacher told us that she was trying to get us ready to be able to compete in the more advanced competitions that would be coming up against some of the more art orientated schools. Most of the others didn't believe that we had a chance. The teacher was adamant that we should still try because she honestly believed that we had a very good chance.

After class was over, I rushed home so I could get over to Alicia's house as soon as possible. Our class had run a little over so I figured the girls would all be there waiting.

"I'm going over to a friend's house." I yelled to Julia on my way out the back door.

I made it to the woods in record time. I was starting to really enjoy my time over at Alicia's house. It was nice to be able to get an in depth view of the female mind. Plus, all the girls were always putting their hands all over me. It always felt fantastic.

I approached the clearing with all the girls in it very quietly. They didn't seem to notice my sounds, although I thought I saw Alicia's and Sarah's ears perk up a little. They quickly resumed their discussions with the others though so they were soon relaxed again.

I'd frozen in place when I first saw their ears perk up. I was close enough now to be able to watch them and hear what they were talking about.

I had been listening to their gossip for a while and decided that I should probably make an appearance. I was just about to step into the clearing when the wind changed. I sniffed a couple times when I realized that I smelled another. I had only come across two others, besides myself, so I was surprised. Just as I caught the scent of the other, I saw movement on the far side of the clearing.

I don't know how I knew, but I knew that it was about to attack. I could make out just enough of the other one to be able to tell that it was a werewolf. I was debating with myself if I should try to lure it away from the girls when the decision was taken out of my hands.

I heard it give out a loud growl. The girls all jumped at the sound. They all seemed to freeze in place. The growl sounded nothing like mine so the girls knew that it wasn't me. The girls freezing is probably the only thing that saved them.

The werewolf crept slowly into the clearing. The girls were all still frozen with fear. I was just surprised that the werewolf hadn't felt my presence yet. I watched his muscles start to bunch up under his fur as he got ready to pounce. I knew the girls would be in trouble if I didn't act soon.

I tried to wait until the last possible moment so that his undivided attention would be on the girls. I was able to time it so that I sprung at the same time that he did. I had been able to get more force and momentum into my jump than he was so that when we collided, we went rolling into the woods.

The girls all jumped up and started screaming. They turned to run away but the sound of our battle seemed to have them rooted to the spot.

When we landed in the woods, we tumbled a few feet before coming to a stop. The werewolf ended up on top of me. We were both in pure animal form so it looked like a large wolf on top of a saber tooth.

He was biting and scratching, trying to get a good purchase around my neck. I had my front paws on his chest so I was able to keep him at bay. My hind legs were busy also, scraping down his belly.

I had sharper claws than he did so I was causing significant damage but he was still causing damage as well. The werewolf's front and back claws were trying to open me up. I had the advantage of having the thicker skin. That didn't stop him from causing serious damage.

I knew that he would win if I didn't do something soon. I made a desperation move to try and get him off of me. With all the force that I could muster, I pushed off with my legs and he went flying over my head. He rolled to his feet almost instantly.

I jumped to my feet also and turned to face him. We circled each other for a few seconds. We were watching each other to find any signs of weakness.

I did a feint, to make him jump the gun. It worked to perfection because he came in instantly to try and get his jaws wrapped around my neck. When he was close enough, I turned at the last second and his split second of surprise caused the opening that I needed. I brought my head around and clamped my longer teeth around his throat.

He went into a frenzy of thrashing and jerking to try to get away. My longer teeth were designed to hold on though so we both knew who was going to end up being the victor.

He tried getting his jaws clamped onto any part of my body, so he could try to put me in enough pain to release him. He succeeded in getting a hold of my shoulder. I felt the skin rip open under his jaws but I never released my hold.

I held on until I felt his twitching stop. Our fight had taken us a ways from the camp. I took advantage of the distance to rip a hole in his chest. When I was in far enough in, I clamped onto his heart and ripped it out.

It was instinct that drove me to eat it. I would find out later that it was the only way to be sure that a lycanthrope was stayed dead after a fight with another one.

I was in slightly bad shape but I wanted to see how the girls were doing. I crawled back to the clearing. I saw them tense up when they first heard me approaching. They didn't see me at first so they didn't know which one had won.

I crawled into the clearing and saw them relax. When they saw my wounds however, they all gasped. Alicia and Sarah were the only ones brave enough to approach.

Alicia sat down and pulled my head into her lap. I relented and lay down next to her. I was hurting pretty bad and it was hard for me to not snap at the girls. Animals don't like to be coddled with when they are injured.

Sarah approached my side and started gently checking my wounds. No matter how gentle she was though, I still kept growling every time she actually touched a wound.

Sarah took her time examining me. When she was done, she said. "The wounds are bad, but I think he will survive."

The other girls all seemed to be relieved at hearing the good news, especially Alicia. Sarah did tell the other girls to keep their distance though because, as she said, I would probably be very grumpy until my wounds were healed.

It seemed that Sarah had told the girls just in time because they looked like they had been just about ready to rush me.

They all started talking about me then. They were all saying how heroic I was. They all agreed that I had probably saved their lives. I conceded the fact, to myself, that they were probably correct. I just hoped that they would forget about it quickly.

I had a lot of deep scratches on my belly and sides, but the worst wound was on my shoulder. I had a patch of fur missing from where the werewolf had gotten a hold of me. I just hoped that the wounds weren't too bad when I changed back.

I sat with the girls for a few hours until it was just starting to get dark. I got up painfully and walked off, after rubbing up against Alicia's face. The rest of the girls were surprised when I gave the same treatment to Sarah. Even Sarah was surprised by my actions.

I went straight home after that. When I changed to human form, I felt the pain immediately. My shoulder wound looked like it was going to try to start bleeding again so I had to be extra careful when I was getting dressed.

I didn't want my family to know about the injury because I didn't want to have to explain what had happened. I went straight to my room and lay down in bed. I was just relaxing until my family got me for dinner.

When my mother called me down to dinner, and I had joined the rest of the family for dinner, the grilling started in earnest. I hadn't thought about the reaction that my parting comment would have when I left earlier. I sure wasn't prepared for the inquisition that I got now.

"So, who's this friend that you were in such a hurry to go see this morning?" Julia asked me.

"Just some friends from school." I said.

"Well, Becca stopped by earlier, so we know it wasn't her." Julia said.

"They're just some girls from school that I met recently." I said.

"Are these the same girls that have been eating lunch with you for the past few days?" Julia asked me.

I blushed a bright shade of scarlet. I knew that Becca must have blabbed off to Julia when she had stopped by earlier. My family were all too excited for me to stay mad at Becca for long.

Julia and Alice kept trying to get more information from me while Jeff and Mark just smiled. Jeff seemed to be especially happy. He must have been scared that I was going to end up being gay.

I put up with my family's reactions because of how happy they all seemed to be. I let them continue to badger me until after dinner. I then begged out of any more questions by telling them that I was very tired.

I took a shower before heading to bed. I was careful around my shoulder while I was washing up. I was already healing up pretty good. My belly and sides were already scabbing up pretty good so, I wasn't too worried about them.

I dressed carefully and went to bed. It took me a while to fall asleep because I kept thinking about the whole incident. That was now two, three if you count Alicia, werewolves that I have come across in the past month.