On the night before her birthday, Ash wanted to go to bed early. While Celia and Isabelle ate dinner at the cafeteria, Ash packed a duffel bag with clothes for the two-week holiday. She had already decided that she was going to spend the holidays with Hunter getting to know his parents and learning more about their shared werewolf heritage.The problem was, she had no idea how to tell her friends about her decision. With the awkward way things had been going with the three of them lately, telling them she was staying with Hunter just felt awkward. It was almost like she had turned into a different person around them.
She stared at her hands on the unfolded shirt in her lap. Her hands weren"t just human hands anymore. There were claws hiding beneath her skin. Claws that were large and sharp enough to rip open a deer"s ribs.
Ash had hunted and killed a wild animal, and she couldn"t even remember doing it. There was a hidden power inside of her all this time, and the first time it had emerged, she had not even been awake to experience it.
Ash opened and closed her fists, flexing her fingers.
[How did I do it? How did I turn---wait, what"s the word? Shift. Right, how did I do that?]
Ash continued to open and close her fists, wondering if she could do it all again.
***
"Where are we taking Ash tomorrow?" Isabelle asked Celia.
The two girls were eating dinner together at the cafeteria. Ash had begged off, saying she needed to pack her things. Neither Celia nor Isabelle needed to pack their things for the holidays. Like everyone else, they just left everything at the dorm and came back after two weeks with more new clothes. Ash had a more limited wardrobe, which meant that she would probably be the only student leaving the campus tomorrow with a large bag.
"She"s going to want to eat steak, I suppose," Celia answered. "The mutt likes meat."
"Cece, you shouldn"t call her that. I know you"re mad at her, but she"s our friend," Isabelle replied. Too many students were already calling Ash names behind her back, she didn"t Cece to add to their number.
"Sorry, that was mean. But yeah, I"m just really upset with the whole Hunter situation. I can"t even hang out in the room with her anymore coz I feel like punching her in the face. Or like cutting her up. Just anything that would draw blood, basically."
"That"s a little too intense, don"t you think, Cece? She didn"t kill anyone, she"s just dating someone. There"s no need to bludgeon her for that."
"Yeah, I know. It shouldn"t be like a super big deal, but I"ve got this weird blood l.u.s.t thing going on inside me. Like, I need to see her bleed for some reason. I dunno. I guess I just feel betrayed."
"Would it really be a good idea to bring her to a steak house then? There are a lot of knives in there, you might stab her."
"Hey, nothing like that! I didn"t really mean what I said. I"ll be chill, I promise."
Isabelle nodded and smiled at Celia. Celia responded with a smirk.
Somewhere in the back of Celia"s mind, a little voice kept whispering to her about taking her friend"s blood. Celia chose to ignore it as she took several large gulps of water.
***
"Happy birthday, dummy!"
Ash opened her eyes to see Celia"s wide smiling face hovering above her.
"Thanks, creeper," Ash mumbled, putting one hand over her mouth. She didn"t want Celia getting a blast of morning breath, even if it was her birthday.
"I got you breakfast, you little weasel," Celia said, brandishing a tray of waffles with two strips of bacon on the side.
"They didn"t have rice at the cafeteria today, so I figured you"d be okay with waffles."
Ash sat up in her bed and graciously received the plate. She kissed Celia on the cheek.
"You"re being very nice, but you"re also calling me a lot of names. Thank you?"
Celia looked away.
"Yeah, I"m mad at you but it"s your birthday. Also, I love you and happy birthday," she said, all the while staring out the window.
Ash smiled at Celia. Celia was seriously struggling with her anger, yet she still managed to get her breakfast in bed. Ash felt so lucky to have her as a friend.
"I love you too, Cece."
Ash turned to eat her breakfast. As she looked down at her plate, she realized that she didn"t have a fork to eat with.
"Uhm, hate to bother you babe, but you forgot the fork."
Celia turned to look at her.
"No, I didn"t. It"s your birthday, you barbarian. You get to eat with your hands today. That"s why I didn"t get an egg to go with it, otherwise you would"ve needed ~tableware.~" Celia said, exaggerating the p.r.o.nunciation of the last word.
"I suppose I"ll need my manners later for when we dine with the Comtesse," Ash said smiling. She picked up a piece of bacon and took a crunchy bite. "Mmmm! So good!"
"Yeah, well, enjoy your breakfast. I gotta go make arrangements with Her Ladyship regarding lunch," Celia said as she left the room.
Ash raised her bacon in the air and waved Celia a crispy goodbye.
Just as Ash was finishing her breakfast, her phone rang. It was Hunter calling. Ash felt a warm blush creeping up her cheeks. She wiped her greasy right hand on her left sleeve and smiled as she answered the phone.
***
When it was about time to go into the city, Celia and Isabelle stood together at the parking lot, waiting for Ash. Isabelle"s butler-driver was waiting for them inside a parked rental car, ready to drive whenever his mistress commanded. Antony had been the family"s butler for nearly 20 years and had been hired personally by Isabelle"s mother.
When Ash arrived at the parking lot, Hunter Guzman was walking closely behind her.
Celia and Isabelle gave each other a look.
"Hi, I hope you guys don"t mind, but I invited Hunter to come with us. I hope that"s all right?" Ash said shyly, looking back and forth between her two best girlfriends.
Isabelle put a hand up to her chest. She was so relieved that Ash finally came out and brought Hunter to meet them. As far as Isabelle was concerned, there would be no more secrets between friends and everything would be just as good as it was, perhaps even better.
"Of course, my darling! Happy birthday! We would love to have your friend join us," she said, darting her eyes toward Hunter as she said the word "friend."
"Thank you, Isabelle," he answered smiling.
"Please, call me Izzy."
As everyone around her launched into small talk, Celia kept her mouth closed. She felt dizzy. It felt like a loud voice was talking gibberish inside her head.
"Cece, are you okay?" Isabelle asked as she put her hand on Celia"s shoulder.
"Uh, yeah, I"m fine. I think I might just be getting hungry or something. Feeling dizzy."
"Oh, we must go then! Hunter, will you be coming with us or . . . ?"
"I have my own driver, I"ll take Ash with me and we"ll meet you in the city."