"The bus. Great," Selena's sarcastic tone amused Peter who knew how much of a bitch it could be to ride a bus full of high school students in a small town. Everyone stared as she sat down in the first empty spot she saw and Peter sat next to her. She could feel the stares from the kids around her and she couldn't help but feel annoyed.
Peter threw his arm around her in a protective way and glared at those who stared.
"Looks like werewolf brought his girlfriend," someone mocked causing others to laugh and giggle. Selena rolled her eyes. How original, she thought.
"You didn't tell me we were going to school with a bunch of idiots," she whispered in annoyance.
"Oh, they're more than idiots," he chuckled. Selena rolled her eyes once more already knowing that she wouldn't tolerate these people. She had little tolerance for stupidity.
"Just keep your claws in check," he muttered as some immature football players wolf whistled at them. Peter wrapped his arm tighter her thin figure as she turned to give them an obscene hand gesture.
A part of him liked that they assumed they were a couple. He thought they looked good together. He'd always thought that since they were children.
"Here comes the bride, here comes the bride," sang Destiny as Selena emerged from the small trailer dressed in her mother's white dress. It hung extremely loose and it was obvious it didn't belong to the small ten year old. Peter stood next to Destiny wearing his grandfather Nicolae's jacket. Peter was practically drowning in the fabric. He smiled as Destiny reached him and they both turned to Destiny who would officiate their so called wedding.
"Do you, Peter Rumancek take Selena Camlo to love and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do."
"Do you, Selena Camlo take Peter Rumancek to love and to hold, in sickness and health, until death do you part?"
"I do."
They both noticed the stares they received as they entered the school hallways. Her locker was two down from his and they luckily had a few classes together. And one of them was English. The one class he had with Roman. That alone made him nervous as the upir had been hanging around him lately.
"Upir," she said the instant Roman walked in. Peter noticed she sat up a little straighter as Roman took the seat on the other side of her.
"And you are?" Roman asked as he leaned towards her. She held her head high and looked at him with disinterest written plainly across her face. Peter chuckled as he saw Roman shift uncomfortably in his seat, refusing to break eye contact yet thrown off by her attitude. Roman wasn't one who was used to rejection.
"Selena." Her answer was blunt and cold. She turned away from the handsome upir and instead turned her attention to the front of the class. Roman opened his mouth to reply when the teacher began to speak, leaving him to collect his thoughts.
All throughout the class Roman kept his eye on the new girl. He noticed how she wrote her notes quickly yet her writing remained neat. She could feel his gaze burning into her and did her best to refrain from giving him the pleasure of looking at him. Peter sat uninterested in what the teacher spoke about and more interested in the girl who sat next to him.
She shot him a warm smile when she caught his eye that caused Roman to eye them both. Roman was sure that he was his only friend in this place. So he couldn't possibly be friends with her.
He took notice of their clothing. Peter wore tattered jeans with a flannel and his usual biker jacket. Everything he wore screamed old and poor. Selena wore black jeans with a blue patterned blouse. She had some sort of fringe kimono over it and her hair was pulled to the side, revealing a small weirdly shaped G tattoo on the side of her neck.
They looked different yet the same. He figured Selena just took better care of her clothing.
She jumped as a piece of paper flew in front of her and landed on Peter's desk. The teacher instantly reprimanded Roman who simply shrugged her off. She looked at Peter curiously and noticed that he'd gone tense.
She wondered what the upir wanted that would upset Peter. A part of her was annoyed at him for causing her only friend emotional distress. She wanted to not like him, but a part of her reminded her that she shouldn't judge people for what they are. Especially with her and Peter being what they were.
After class Roman tried to approach them as they put their stuff away.
"Um yeah," Peter answered before Roman could get a word out. "Come on Sel," he pushed her towards the exit in a rush.
"Oh! Excuse me I'm so sorry!" Sel exclaimed as she bumped into a ridiculously tall girl. She watched as she typed something on her phone.
"It's okay," her phone spoke as the girl smiled. Selena couldn't help but smile back.
"Hey Shelly. How are you beautiful?" Peter asked with a smile. Peter had always been a very accepting person and it was something Selena admired about him.
"I'm good. New friend?" Shelly's phone spoke again.
"Old friend actually. Shelly, this is Selena. Selena meet Shelly. She's the best Godfrey there is," he commented with a smile.
"Pleasure to meet you Shelly," Selena said happily. She could tell instantly that she was a wonderful person. Her aura said it all.
"Shelly!" Roman called out, approaching them. His face was blank. Selena thought it was actually kind of frightening.
"Well, gotta go Shell, see you later," Peter said quickly once again in a hurry to get home. Selena called out her goodbyes as the young werewolf pulled her forward.
Lynda was upset when they got home. Peter had announced that Roman was coming to watch him transform and it hadn't gone over well.
"How could you let him do this?" She asked Selena who just shook her head.
"I didn't even know this was happening," she said in her defense. She was sprawled out lazily on the sofa with her English homework laid out on the small coffee table. She'd already gotten bored after a few minutes.
"I'm gonna change. I'm tired of daytime clothes," she muttered as she grabbed some pajama shorts and tank top. She headed towards the bathroom where she could change peacefully without hearing Lynda and Peter's arguing. She agreed with Lynda on this one. Letting an Upir in that way was dangerous. Hell, having a upir around in general was dangerous. Even if it was an insanely handsome one.
Peter and Lynda had made peace by the time she emerged. Once again she lounged on the couch, their pet cat crawling into her lap. She instinctively ran her hands against it and it purred loudly in satisfaction.
"You look like Destiny," Peter commented as he took in her outfit. She stared at him and almost felt pleased at the way he looked at her. She knew she'd grown well into her body.
"Aw I miss Destiny. How is she?" She replied thinking about her old friend. She and Destiny were close growing up. They shared magic practices but Destiny had always been the most skilled of them both.
"Selling viagra to desperate old men and passing it off as magic," Peter replied with amusement. Selena laughed loudly causing the cat to jump and Lynda to smile. Lynda remembered how well they'd gotten along as children and had always felt guilty about ripping Peter away from her. But somehow fate had brought them together again.
There was a knock on the door and everyone grew quiet as Peter opened the door. Even the cat refrained from meowing as the tall upir walked in.
"Roman this is Lynda, Lynda this is Roman," Peter introduced.
"Nice to meet you," he replied before turning to look at Selena. He noticed the way her body looked in her shorts and tank top, a look that was much more revealing than what she wore to school.
"Selena, you live here too? What are you two related or something?" He asked with amusement in his voice.
"No, we're not. But this is my house too. If you have a problem with that then you can leave," she said bluntly. Roman was taken aback at her tone.
"Never said that it was a problem," he muttered as he took a seat next to her. She moved her firm legs towards her as to allow him room.
"Milk?" Lynda offered. Peter denied the drink while Selena happily grabbed a cup. Roman accepted as a polite gesture.
"Does it hurt?" Roman asked and Selena had to refrain from rolling her eyes.
"You wouldn't notice if a bus hit you," he replied.
"Are you still...you?"
"He's a good boy," Lynda answered for him. Peter let out a sigh as he began taking off his jewelry. Sweat began to drop down his face. Selena stood up and made her way towards him, stopping just in front of him. She leaned down and gave him a kiss on his sweaty forehead, the taste of salt hitting her lips.
"Basht phral, feri ando payi sitsholpe te nauyas." She said, and Peter held her hand and gave it a kiss as a thank you. Lynda smiled as she observed the exchange.
"Wait, you're a gypsy too?" Roman interrupted. She pulled away from Peter and looked at him with an unimpressed look on her face.
"Barely figured that out?" She replied. Roman swallowed, not having ever dealt with someone who gave her attitude like she did.
"It's time," Peter spoke as he began to undress. Both Roman and Selena watched with curiosity. She was right, he was hairy. But his body was impressive and she couldn't not admire it.
A normal girl would have blushed at the sight of his manhood out in the open and looked away. But she wasn't a normal girl and she thought being embarrassed by human anatomy was a waste of time. Instead she looked him over and sent him a wink, causing him to smirk.
They all made their way outside as the sun began to set. Roman noticed a tattoo on Peter's side that looked familiar and after some thought he realized that Selena had the exact same one on her neck just in a smaller size.
"What's the G stand for?" He asked out of curiosity.
"Go suck an egg," Peter replied. Selena let out a small laugh as she saw Roman's unamused face.
It wasn't much longer after that when Peter's body began to contort in unnatural ways. Selena could hear his bones breaking and watched as his skin began to fall off. She'd seen others transform but the fact that this was Peter worried her but left her amazed at the same time.
Roman watched intensely as the gypsy's eyes popped out, revealing bright yellow eyes. Before long the human was gone and in his place stood a giant wolf. Lynda and Selena watched proudly as it ate the flesh it had just shed.
"Peter?" Roman called out. The wolf simply stared and let out a snarl before turning and running into the woods.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Roman said in disbelief.
"Come on. He won't be back til morning." Lynda led them back into the house, Selena following her steps and Roman hers. She grabbed a blanket and set herself down on the couch once again.
"So where is your bed?" Roman asked as he sat down.
"You're sitting in it," she answered. She was already tired and wanted to sleep but she doubted that the upir would leave anytime soon.
"Oh." He shuffled uncomfortably obviously not knowing what to do.
"It's fine. I can curl up and you sleep on that side," she replied, exhaustion evident in her voice. She closed her eyes and let herself drift for a while.
"You don't turn?" Roman asked Lynda who was putting stuff away in the kitchen.
"No. Rumancek women don't turn, only the women." She answered.
"So what about Selena? I'm guessing she's not a werewolf since she didn't turn either?" Lynda laughed at his question.
"Sel a werewolf? No, honey, she's quite the opposite," she chuckled. Roman didn't understand what was so funny about his question and looked displeased. Next to him the gypsy girl had already fallen asleep curled into a ball.
"You'll see in the morning. Now get some sleep. Peter will be back in a few hours," Lynda commanded as she herself made her way towards her bedroom. Roman looked over at the girl next to him with mild curiosity. He'd never met someone like her. She was assertive of herself unlike the many girls he'd had one night stands with. No girl in this town ever caught his attention enough to make him actually want a relationship.
Selena moved, stretching out her legs and hitting Roman. She didn't wake up and he decided that they would fit better if they both laid down. So going against his better judgement he placed himself behind her and gently laid an arm around her waist. Her body instinctively moved closer in need of body heat and he rearranged her blanket to cover them both. He could feel his hormones going crazy as scenarios of what could happened played in his mind and he struggled to keep those images in check. Tonight he just needed to sleep.