Magic of the Moonlight: A Full Moon Novel (7 page)

“What’s up, Wolfie?” Nash said.

“Nash, please,” I said.

“Just wanted to see what the Wolfman eats for lunch. Deer meat? Or are you a vegan werewolf?”

“Stop it, Nash.”

“Have to get a girl to fight your battles?” Nash said coldly.

Brandon tensed up. “You mean your girl?” he muttered under his breath.

“What did you say?” Nash asked.

“Celeste is welcome to sit wherever she likes,” Brandon said. “I don’t own her, and neither do you.”

“Listen, bud,” Nash said, leaning in so only Brandon and I could hear. “I know what I saw that night. I can turn you in to the zoo sooner rather than later.”

Brandon leaned in, too. “Well, if you do believe you saw something, then you better watch your back. A full moon is coming.”

For a moment they continued to stare at each other, like two wolves ready for a fight.

“Stop it—both of you,” I finally said.

Mrs. Dent, our lunchroom monitor, must have noticed the rising tensions and came over to our table.

“Is everything all right here?” she asked.

“Uh . . . yes,” Nash said. “I was just making sure our friend here had enough to eat.”

“Well, the lunch period is almost over,” she said.

“We were just leaving,” my former boyfriend replied.

Before he left, Nash shot me a cold stare that chilled my veins. Dylan and Jake followed him back to my friends’ table.

“I guess this wasn’t a good idea,” I said, frustrated with myself. “The bullying didn’t stop. I might have made it worse. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

“You were,” Brandon said, squeezing my knee. “You were.”

The bell rang, and I threw my remaining lunch in the trash. I hadn’t been able to eat much. I’d have to wait until after school to have a snack. But if my stomach still felt as upset as it was now, I wouldn’t have much of an appetite then, either.

Ivy caught up to me by the cafeteria exit and took me by the hand, leading me away from Brandon.

“Okay, community service time is over,” she said as she yanked me into the crowd of students leaving the lunchroom.

When fifth bell was finally over, Nash was waiting for me outside my classroom.

“What was that about?” he asked, sliding up close to me. “Are you trying to embarrass me?”

“You mean lunch?” I asked.

“Uh . . . yeah. I know we aren’t back together, but are you trying to play a trick on me?”

“Of course not, Nash,” I said sincerely. “I wanted to show solidarity. That whoever is tormenting him—it needs to stop.”

“You think it’s me,” he said as if he was genuinely hurt.

“No. You said you didn’t write that on his Jeep and I believe you. But that means someone else did. So I’m doing it to stop them.”

He shook his head at me in frustration.

“What?” I said. “I’d do the same for you—only you don’t need it. You are popular and everyone in school loves you.”

“I know. I know you’d do the same for me. That’s why you are so cool.”

I was thrilled by Nash’s compliment. It was weird feeling I understood him more than the other girls at Legend’s Run. And that he in turn saw me differently, too.

“I guess I just wish this time that I was the new kid in school—that you wanted to sit with me,” he confessed as students walked by.

Nash’s admission went straight to my heart. For a moment, he wasn’t masking himself with the bravado of a high school jock but rather letting me into his soul.

“Well, it didn’t seem to work as well as I’d like. I might have caused Brandon more trouble. I’ll be returning to our table tomorrow.”

Nash turned serious. “Uh . . . things might be different there, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“You put me in a bind—in front of our friends and the whole school. I now know you were doing what you thought was right—but it looks like you left me for Brandon—a Westsider, no less.” He shook his head again in frustration. “Maybe I need to show you what you are really missing by making the choices you are making. By choosing the wrong side. But mostly the wrong guy.” Nash’s voice wasn’t threatening but rather low and sultry. And his expression was soft and sincere. If he’d been this attentive before, perhaps we’d be together now.

Nash was fighting for me as much out of pride as for the deep and true feelings I sensed he had for me. There was a slight part of me that was attracted to that—as much I’d been attracted to him in the first place. But as Nash smiled and walked away, I realized that Brandon didn’t have to change to be the guy I loved. He already was that way, naturally.

The following day, when the lunch bell rang, I wasn’t sure which table I should sit at. If I sat with Brandon, there would be more confrontation, and if I sat with my friends, Nash would feel that he won his battle.

As I walked into the lunchroom with Ivy and Abby, I wondered what Nash had planned to convince me I was making the wrong choices in guys. I wasn’t expecting flowers or a ring, but I was wondering what the handsome jock had in mind. I was also slightly nervous that he would use Brandon’s lycan identity in hopes of getting my clique on his side. It was then I saw Nash already hanging out at our table—with his arm around Heidi Rosen. Before I knew it, she sat down in my spot—the seat that I’d been sitting in since freshman year.

I was being replaced by Heidi Rosen? He hadn’t told my friends about Brandon being a werewolf. Instead he was doing something strong to let me know what I was missing being without him. Though we’d been on and off before, Nash didn’t ever have a girlfriend that he’d brought to our table.

Ivy noticed Heidi, too. “What is she doing in your seat?”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Abby said.

My best friends stormed over to our table and faced Nash.

“That’s Celeste’s seat,” Abby said.

“But she’s not sitting here anymore,” he said.

“Uh . . . yes, she is,” Ivy said.

“Then she can sit there,” he said, pointing to the empty space on the other side of Heidi. “You know how she likes to make new friends.”

My two friends stormed back to me. “She won’t budge,” Ivy said. “Maybe if we had a crane—”

“Or a pack of cigarettes,” Abby said. “I get secondhand smoke just from looking at her.”

“It’s okay,” I said. Since I really liked Brandon, it wasn’t my place to make a fuss about Nash hanging out with another girl.

“I can’t believe him,” Abby said. “He must really be jealous that you were kind to Brandon.”

“He invited her to sit with us,” Ivy said. “He didn’t ask us, she just sat down, right in the spot that is yours! I know I’m going to lose my lunch.”

“She’s all about herself,” Abby said. “Just like every other girl he dates. Except you. Don’t you see that’s why you belong together?”

“It’s all right,” I said. “I’ll sit somewhere else.”

“But you can’t. You’ll sit next to me and Dylan,” Abby offered.

“No,” Ivy interjected. “By me and Jake.”

“I suggested it first,” Abby said.

“But Celeste might want to sit with us, too,” Ivy said to Abby as if I wasn’t standing there. “We’ll let her decide.”

My friends looked to me to make a choice between them, putting me more on the spot than I already was.

I didn’t mind so much being the odd girl out, but I did mind having my spot taken in such a brazen manner. I wasn’t in the mood to fight, and I didn’t want to use Brandon as a weapon and eat with him to get back at Nash.

“Thanks. You both are the best,” I said truthfully. “But I think I want to eat alone.”

“You have to eat with us,” Ivy said. “We’ve eaten together for years!”

“Yes, this is your table,” Abby said. “I don’t mind getting in his face for real this time,” she offered.

But that was what Nash wanted. He wanted to be fought over. I could have hung out at the table with them and shown him that it didn’t upset me, but I was too tired. By sitting with Brandon yesterday, I was trying to show anyone who was bothering him that he did have friends—even if it was only me. But today, Nash was trying to get back at me. And he’d think he won—even if it was a contest that I wasn’t really participating in.

“You can’t sit with another guy at a table in front of the whole school without Nash getting worked up,” Ivy said.

“I was just trying to help—” I began.

“We know. But that’s not what it looked like to him,” she added.

I couldn’t sit at our table with Heidi Rosen sitting in my seat. And I wasn’t in the mood to march over and demand that she sit somewhere else. “It would be too awkward,” I said. “But I also can’t sit with Brandon. I’ve caused him enough trouble.”

“I’d sit with you somewhere else,” Abby said, “but I’d like to hang out with Dylan. I haven’t seen him all day.”

“I understand,” I said. Although I wasn’t sure if I did. I hadn’t eaten with my true love the last few months so I could avoid turmoil with my friends. My friends couldn’t miss a day for me?

Ivy didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to.

“It’s okay,” I said to her. “I’ll see you after lunch.”

“You have to eat with us!” she begged. “It’s what Nash really wants.”

“Why do I have to do everything for Nash?” I asked.

Ivy was hurt. “Everything is changing!” she exclaimed as if her world were crumbling down around her. “You have to stop being Mother Teresa.”

I didn’t understand this whole clique mentality. If I had my way, everyone in the school would just sit at one big table.

“Where are you going to eat?” she asked, worried.

“I may just go to the library and read. I’m not very hungry anyway.”

I was upset. I wasn’t sitting next to Brandon to get back at Nash or to prove anything to him; I was doing it to show Brandon support. But Nash was striking back in a big way by inviting Heidi Rosen to sit in my seat at our table. I was stung with jealousy, not so much about Nash, but about my friends, as I headed out of the cafeteria and saw Heidi across from Ivy and Abby. Were my best friends going to replace me, too?

I longed to sit next to Brandon, like yesterday when I got to have my leg and ankle touch his. Maybe if he was smooth enough, Brandon would grab my hand underneath the table. I imagined us all together, Ivy and Jake, Abby and Dylan, and me and Brandon. He would be a star to them, joining us at campfires on his hilltop, hiking, and skating on his frozen pond. And when he turned into were-form he’d be the handsome and heroic member of our group. But was I open enough to have Nash bring along Heidi? We girls were a threesome, and I’m not sure that I was ready for Ivy and Abby to have a new best friend.

But though it would be awkward, I think I was ready—because I was in love with Brandon. And having Brandon included definitely trumped my jealousy for seeing my former boyfriend cozy with a hot girl.

“You want everyone to get along,” Ivy said. “But unfortunately that’s not how the this town works. You have to sit with us tomorrow. You have to. Our friendship depends on it.”

But even I had my limits. “I can’t. Not with Heidi, too.”

I took my lunch and exited the cafeteria, not passing Brandon along the way. I found an empty alcove on the lower level and sat down. I wasn’t even in the mood to eat, but I did feel a sense of relief having a peaceful moment to myself. I took out a book and began to escape into its pages.

With the full moon approaching and Brandon’s impending transformation coming, I wasn’t sure what other changes were going to happen as well. Would I continue to sit alone and be pushed out of the clique I’d been part of for so many years? Would Brandon be bullied now more than ever because I showed him my support? And would others besides Nash find out that Brandon was the one howling in the full moonlight?

It was too much for me to grapple with alone during a single lunch period. And for the first time at Legend’s Run High, I wanted to spend time by myself. Ivy was correct. Things were changing. And one of those things was me.

SEVEN

father’s arrival

I
t was in the late afternoon one day before the rise of the full moon when I found myself sitting with Brandon and his grandparents on their living room couch, awaiting Dr. Maddox’s arrival.

I was excited to meet Brandon’s father. His visit would not only offer Brandon reassurance by his father’s presence, but Dr. Maddox might even have an idea for a possible cure.

Brandon, his legs twitching restlessly, kept switching channels on the TV.

“It’s okay,” I said. “He’ll be here soon.”

But that didn’t seem to assuage his agitation.

Even his husky began to bark as if he, too, was feeling Brandon’s tension.

“Calm down, Apollo,” he commanded. Instantly the dog winced, then lay by Brandon’s feet.

“Why are you so antsy?” I asked. “I bet you are excited to see your dad.”

Brandon didn’t respond but perked up. At the same time, Apollo’s ears stood up, and he raced to the window and began barking.

Within a few seconds there was a knock on the door.

I half expected Dr. Maddox to enter in a lab coat, wearing thick black glasses, and mad scientist–style gray, wiry, untamed hair. But instead he was handsome like Brandon, with dark hair, and dressed in a brown sport coat, jeans, and trendy metal rectangular-shaped glasses.

“Connor, it’s so wonderful to see you!” Brandon’s grandmother gushed.

Dr. Maddox was greeted by hugs and kisses from his delighted parents. It was obvious he was thrilled to see Brandon as he gave him a warm embrace.

“Dad, this is Celeste,” Brandon said proudly as if he was showing me off. I didn’t know if Brandon had even mentioned me to his dad—or what he might have said about our relationship. I felt awkward not knowing but reassured that Brandon seemed so happy.

“Hello there, Celeste,” Dr. Maddox said, extending his hand. “I am very pleased to meet you.”

“I’m pleased to meet you, too, Dr. Maddox.” I shook the senior Maddox’s hand. It was firm and warm, just like Brandon’s.

“Please, call me Connor,” he said, and gestured for us all to sit down.

I sat quietly and watched the Maddox family reunite as Dr. Maddox shared a few tales from overseas. It was interesting to see the dynamics of Brandon’s family. They all seemed very intelligent and motivated. And Brandon beamed, having his father and grandparents surrounding him. It was the first time I’d seen him truly relaxed.

“Well, it’s time for us to turn in,” his grandparents said when the evening wore on.

We all said our goodnights to them. I felt the mood shift a bit and realized that now was the time that Brandon needed to tell his father why he’d asked him to come home from Europe.

Dr. Maddox checked to see that his parents were out of earshot, then he sat across from us in a comfy chair while Brandon and I sat close on the sofa.

“So, what did you want to tell me?” Dr. Maddox said. “You two aren’t getting married, are you?” he joked.

“No.” Brandon laughed.

“Then what is it that you wouldn’t tell me on the phone?”

“I was bitten by a wolf.”

Dr. Maddox was taken aback. “Are you okay?”

Brandon pulled off his fingerless glove and showed his scarred palm to his father.

He examined it closely. “When did this happen?”

“A few months ago.”

“Where?”

“In a wooded area.”

“What were you doing in the woods?” his father asked.

“He saved me,” I blurted out. “It was my fault. I was in the woods—lost—and stumbled on a pack of wolves. I’m sure I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Brandon. He is a hero.”

Brandon blushed, and Dr. Maddox beamed with pride.

“Why didn’t you tell me this when it happened?” his father asked.

Brandon withdrew his hand and replaced the glove. “I didn’t want to bother you.”

“You aren’t a bother. You should have called me. I want to know what is going on with you. Just because I’m in Europe doesn’t mean I’m not your father,” Dr. Maddox said sincerely. “Did you go to a doctor?”

“Not at first. But Grandma saw my hand and made me go. I got a shot and some stitches and that was the end of that.”

“Or so we thought,” I said.

Dr. Maddox raised an eyebrow over his glasses. “So you said you had a reaction to something. Is this what it was?”

“Yes,” Brandon said.

“What kind of reaction did you have? A fever?”

“Yes. But it didn’t happen until a month later.”

“Then how do you know it was from the bite?” his father wondered.

“You’ll think I’m crazy.”

I looked to Brandon.

“Tell me,” his father persuaded. “I’m sure I’ve heard something like it before. It’s hard to surprise a scientist.”

“Something happened.” Brandon wrung his fingers together nervously.

“What, Brandon? I’m here to listen.”

“I changed.” Brandon fidgeted in his seat.

“Changed how?”

“It was a full moon when I was bitten. Then the following full moon, I got the fever.” Brandon paused. I placed my hand on his knee, trying to give the comfort I think he was searching for. “I had these dreams all month long,” he continued. “Weird ones.” Brandon turned back to me.

“You have to tell him everything,” I coaxed him.

“You’ll think I’m crazy, Dad.”

“I won’t,” he said reassuringly, with a bit of impatience and weariness from his long day of traveling. “Go on.”

“This is hard to talk about.”

“They were just dreams, right?” his father asked. “Everyone has weird dreams. It’s okay.”

“I was a wolf. Running through the woods and fields. Even around houses.”

That part shocked me. I hadn’t heard that Brandon had dreamed about being near homes, too.

“Anything else?” his father asked.

“I couldn’t sleep. I mean, I dreamed, but I didn’t feel like I was really sleeping. I woke up exhausted and starved.”

It was apparent his father was concerned for his son as he leaned in to hear more. “I wish you would have talked to me,” Dr. Maddox said.

“What was there to tell?” Brandon said. “‘I’ve been having nightmares, so come home from Europe?’ I’m not a kid.”

“I know—but . . . so what is this concern with the full moon? You’ve never been into that sort of cosmic stuff before.”

“One night Celeste came over, and we were hanging out in the guesthouse,” Brandon continued. “The sun set and I felt strange. . . . I really don’t want to tell you more.”

Brandon stopped and covered his face with his hands.

It was like he was afraid of revealing actions that might make the doctor think he should be institutionalized.

“You’ll think I’m making this up,” he started again. “It’s nuts. This stuff doesn’t really happen—just in movies.”

“Well, Celeste seems like a very smart girl, and she’s sitting with you and seems to believe in you,” his father said. “And you’ve never lied to me before—why would I think you’re lying to me now?”

“Because I turned into a werewolf!” Brandon exclaimed, his hands tightening into fists.

His father’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. Then he laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“I’m not.” Brandon was dead serious.

“You are paying me back for disrupting your life. I understand that.”

“I’m not, Dad.”

“All you had to do was say you wanted me to come back for a visit. I would have. You didn’t have to concoct this crazy story.”

“I knew you’d think I was crazy.”

“That is the strangest thing you’ve ever said. Even as a kid. I thought it was something serious. Now I can breathe easier.”

His father stretched his arms out and sighed. Then he placed his hands on his lap as if he was signaling the end of the conversation. “We can talk more tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll have some dreams, too, tonight. Maybe I’ll be a zombie.”

When Dr. Maddox stood up, I saw all the hope rush out of Brandon. I knew I had to say something before his father went up to bed.

I rose with all the force I had. “It wasn’t just a dream, Dr. Maddox,” I said, my voice quaking and my eyes almost teary. “It really happened. I saw it. I was there.”

He stopped and studied me as if he didn’t know how to address my sudden outburst.

“You have to believe me,” I pleaded. “Us. I mean, Brandon.”

Dr. Maddox was in disbelief. I wasn’t sure what he was going to do—and it seemed, as he stared at us, that he didn’t know what to do himself.

“See—I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me,” Brandon said sadly. “If I can’t trust you—who can I trust?” He got up and started for the back door.

“Brandon, get back here,” his father called.

But instead Brandon headed outside. The screen door slammed behind him.

Tears welled in my eyes. I felt awful for Brandon. And bad for his father.

“Celeste—” his father said, stopping me. “What is he really going through? Is he having a hard time adjusting here?”

“Brandon needs your help,” I urged him. “Tomorrow is a full moon.”

“I’m not sure—”

“Please, Dr. Maddox. If he knows you don’t believe him, you’ll break his spirit.”

“That is why he insisted that I come here now?”

“Yes. Tomorrow is a full moon,” I repeated. “You will see the change for yourself.”

Dr. Maddox wasn’t convinced. “Well, whatever this is, I’m not leaving. We’ll get this solved. Okay?”

We found Brandon outside, throwing rocks between the trees.

“I shouldn’t have asked you to come,” he told his father.

It was as if those words hit his father like an arrow. I could see the pain in his eyes—the pain of not being there for his son, even now that he was in fact physically here.

“No. You were right to.” He patted Brandon on the shoulder. “It’s been a long day for both of us. We’ll get some rest. Tomorrow I’ll take some samples, take a look, and run some tests. And by sunset we’ll see what happens.” Dr. Maddox was more confident than concerned.

Brandon’s sullen mood brightened. “You will?”

“You are my son,” he said. “I won’t let anything happen to you now that I’m here.”

Brandon’s father gave him a reassuring hug.

“It was great meeting you, Celeste. I’m grateful Brandon has found such a good friend.”

Dr. Maddox headed back inside, and Brandon took my hand and walked me to my car.

“I feel so stupid,” he said.

“Don’t. He has to know.”

“Maybe I should have gone to Dr. Meadows instead. She’s into the paranormal. My dad is a scientist. Something like this is only fantasy to him.”

“He’ll see tomorrow night how fantasy is reality.”

Brandon looked up at the almost-full moon. Tomorrow evening would be the first of his three nightly transformations.

He hugged me hard. I could feel the weight of his condition wearing on him.

But I was curious about one part of his dreams that I hadn’t heard before. “When you’ve been dreaming about running around houses,” I asked, “where were you going?”

“To yours,” he said. “Always to yours.”

Brandon kissed me goodnight and watched me as I pulled away. I wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight, and neither was Brandon. And Dr. Maddox was in for a restless night as well.