December 20 | Friday #7
Danny raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled, but before he could ask, Abby slipped past them.
“Hi,” she said quietly, without even looking at Will.
“Hi.”
Then Liam passed them.
“Hey,” he said casually.
“Hey.”
And finally, it was Blake’s turn.
“Hi.” This time, Will spoke first.
He shouldn’t have. Alden gave him a haughty look and walked on without replying.
Danny was in shock.
“What was all that about?”
“He’s an asshole,” Will muttered, annoyed.
“That’s not what I’m asking. Since when are you on speaking terms with Liam? And Norma? And that girl whose name I don’t even know?”
“Since… yesterday.”
“Yeah, apparently,” Dan replied, amused. “Are you finally going to tell me what happened? Wait. One minute to the bell,” he announced, checking his phone. “Robins will kill me if I’m late again. But you’re telling me at lunch, you hear me? All the details.”
Will forced a smile, not answering.
Lunchtime finally arrived. After getting his food, Will took a seat at one of the tables. Danny wasn’t there yet. Thank God, because Will was trying to come up with a believable cover story.
Blake sat down two tables away and started staring brazenly in his direction, effectively distracting him.
Will snorted quietly under his breath. He was about to whisper something particularly insulting to test just how good Alden’s hearing was, but before he could, someone’s chest blocked his view.
“Hey,” Liam said, sitting down across from him.
“Hey,” Will replied slowly, eyeing him with suspicion.
Liam took a sandwich out of his backpack.
“So… how’s it going?” he asked before biting into it.
“With what?”
“You know what.”
Will glanced around uncertainly. He doubted they should be talking about this here.
“Good.”
“Really?”
“No.”
Liam laughed quietly.
“It might be hard at first, but you’ll get the hang of it,” he said, before taking an impressively large bite.
“Yeah.” Will watched him attentively. “I’ve heard that.”
First, he thought that Liam didn’t look like a werewolf. Then it occurred to him that he didn’t know any other werewolves, so he had no basis for comparison. Finally, he realized how absurd these thoughts were, so for his own sanity, he stopped his mind from wandering and said, “Can I…?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you… are we…” Will leaned low over the table, whispering, “the only ones like this in the whole school?”
“No. There are more. Maybe thirty or forty of us in total? I haven’t counted.”
“That many?”
Liam nodded.
“Mostly werewolves. It’s that kind of town. There are a few witches and wizards, too. Vampires are rarer. Blake is the only one in the school. Not counting Mrs. Loring.”
Will’s eyes widened.
“Mrs. Loring is a vampire?”
Liam started laughing.
“Was that a joke?”
“Yeah. Though I think she’s got a lot of bloodsucker in her.”
“Hilarious,” Will deadpanned. “I mean, it would be, if I knew enough to tell when you’re being serious and when you’re kidding.”
Liam shrugged.
“I’m rarely serious.”
At that moment, Danny approached their table, looking confused. Liam glanced over his shoulder.
“Well, time for me to go,” he said, then shoved the last piece of his sandwich into his mouth and left.
Danny took his place.
“What was he doing here?”
“He sat down with me.”
“Just like that?”
Will didn’t know what to say. He felt awkward.
“Okay, Will,” Dan said with dead seriousness. “Tell me what’s going on, because I feel like this time, I’m the one who’s missing a few hours from my memory. Or days. Or years.”
Will’s gaze automatically flickered toward Blake, who was probably listening to his every word, wanting to make sure he didn’t spill the beans.
“It’s no big deal,” he said with a forced smile. “I told you I went back to the school yesterday to look for my phone, right? Liam helped me, and we just got to talking.”
Danny didn’t seem to be buying it.
“You and Liam?”
“Yeah.”
“And Blake? And Norma?”
“They were there, too.”
“And you talked so much that Liam now greets you like an old buddy?”
“Don’t exaggerate. Like an acquaintance.”
“Uh-huh,” Dan grunted, unconvinced. “Why are you so nervous?” he asked, and Will caught himself picking at his lip.
“I’m not.”
“Sure. Are they threatening you or something? Harassing you? Is this about that stupid ball?”
“No, really!”
“You sure? Because if something’s up, we’re going straight to the principal’s office. Jokes are one thing, but I won’t let anyone give you a hard time.”
Will smiled warmly. It was nice that Danny cared about him. And it felt awful that he had to lie to him.
“I’m telling you, we bumped into each other at school, they helped me look for my phone, we talked a bit, so we kind of know each other now. That’s all,” he assured him, hoping he sounded more convincing this time.
“Uh-huh.”
Apparently not.
“Seriously, Danny. It’s not a big deal.”
Dan stared at him with concern, then sighed deeply and said, “I hate it when you keep secrets from me, you know?”
October 29 | Tuesday
Will didn’t know what exactly he had expected, but it certainly wasn’t…
this. This complete radio silence. Aside from brief greetings when they passed in the hallway, he barely spoke to Norma and the others.
Liam never sat with him again, Abby kept a low profile, and Blake was as unapproachable and nasty as ever.
On top of that, he still looked at Will as if Will had killed his mother.
With Dan, obviously, Will couldn’t talk about what was bothering him, and because of that, he felt them starting to drift apart.
Because Will was constantly thinking about things he couldn’t speak about openly, Dan could see something was troubling his friend and would ask.
In turn, Will would have to make Dan feel like an idiot by insisting everything was fine or by making up some nonsense.
Neither of these solutions had a positive effect on their relationship.
As if that weren’t enough, he was still having accidents.
Those accidents.
He had gym class. He wasn’t particularly fond of sports, but he had to complete at least four hours of physical activity per week, so for lack of a better option, he’d chosen volleyball.
Winded and sweaty, he ran around the gym, trying to get into the game. At one point, he saw the ball flying toward him. He jumped, intending to hit it. Dave Hammil apparently had the same idea. They collided in mid-air.
Will fell to the floor, hissing in pain.
“You okay?” Dave asked, extending a hand to him.
Will was about to take it, but then a familiar jolt shot through his body, and a second later, the lights throughout the room went out.
“Shit, again?” Becca groaned. “That’s the third time this week!”
“What do you expect?” Sabrina replied. “This school is ancient. It probably has ancient wiring.”
“This is fucking bullshit! What if there’s a fire?”
Taking advantage of the commotion, Will slipped out of the gym.
There were only five minutes left of class, so he didn’t think anyone would notice his absence.
He stopped by the locker room. He grabbed his things but didn’t change.
He went outside, sweaty, in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, even though the weather was already typically autumnal.
He sat down on the narrow steps in front of a side entrance. He sighed in frustration, rubbing his sore shoulder.
God. He was hopeless. And dangerous! It was scary to think what would happen if he had different powers.
The school would probably be up in flames.
Though he could still cause that now. What if he caused a major short circuit?
What if it sparked and started a fire? Or what if some piece of equipment exploded?
Hearing voices nearby, he turned his head and saw Norma. She was standing a few feet away, talking to some guy who was smoking, probably a junior. At one point, she glanced in Will’s direction. She smiled, but he couldn’t return it. She said something to her companion and then walked over to Will.
“Everything okay?” she asked casually.
“Yeah.”
“Really? Because you don’t look like it’s okay.”
“It’s fine, okay?” he snapped. He really didn’t feel like talking to her. Not now, anyway. A week or two ago, he had been eagerly awaiting the moment someone would finally pay attention to him, but apparently, no one gave a damn about him.
“Uh-huh. Sure. I use that same tone when things are fine too.”
Will didn’t answer.
“Wanna talk?”
“Now? Seriously?” he exploded, and Norma looked at him in surprise. “You ignored me for weeks and suddenly you remembered I exist? Thanks a lot!”
Norma let out a pitying snort.
“No offense, Willy, but I’m not your mommy,” she declared condescendingly, crossing arms over her chest.
“Yeah, right. You’re just the girl who told me I have some superpowers and then left me all alone with it!” Will shot back, not hiding his resentment. “I thought… I don’t know… I imagined you had some kind of club or assembly…”
“Assembly?” she repeated, amused.
“I don’t know!” Will grumbled again. “And yeah, okay, I get that you all handle things on your own and you can’t help me, but you promised it would get easier, and it’s not.
I can’t control these… abilities, even though I’m trying.
Sometimes I feel like I have no control over them at all!
That it all just happens randomly. Danny has already called an electrician twice because he’s convinced there’s something wrong with the wiring.
And I can’t even tell him what’s going on!
In fact, I barely talk to him at all because I’m afraid I’ll let something slip. And that’s not fine.”