Chapter 14
Another full moon came and went at the end of Thanksgiving Break, and the three nightly transformations healed Sam the rest of the way. When both of us were back in school, Mazzy and Sully congratulated us on our new relationship. Sam seemed to have a more positive outlook on life in general now, and the teachers that continued to bully him didn't get on his nerves quite as much as they used to. He still needed Lisa to occasionally hack into the archives and change his grades to what they should've been, but he took the teachers' insults with a grain of salt.
Naturally, the whole school had heard about the incident with the truck. Therefore, almost everyone was dumbfounded that Sam was still alive with only a few new angry red scars to prove that the event happened at all.
Case in point, the very first day Sam came back after his transformations into the Wolf, I was once again cornered by Bryce before the first classes of the day were scheduled to begin. He pinned me against my own locker with the same crazed look in his eyes that he had on Halloween night, but this time I wasn't afraid.
"Okay, b**ch, I'm done playing Mr. Nice Guy," he growled two inches from my face. I gagged; he clearly hadn't bothered to brush his teeth that morning. "Now that Sharp got himself splattered, nothing can stop me from taking what I want. Kiss me! Now!"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I said when he grabbed my face with one hand to force himself on me.
"Oh yeah? Why the h**l not?" he demanded, and I smirked when he let go.
"Have you met my new boyfriend?" I asked. Sam, who had been creeping up behind him the whole time, grabbed Bryce's shoulder, whirled him around, grabbed his shirt with both hands, and lifted him off the ground. The whole thing happened so fast that Bryce's shout of surprise came out as a high-pitched squeak.
"Hello, Bryce!" Sam growled animalistically while baring his teeth, his eyes flashing yellow for a split second.
"H-h-h-how?" Bryce squeaked again in absolute terror, an obvious wet spot forming on the front of his pants.
"I'm a really fast healer," Sam explained, never dropping the malicious grin. Bryce squirmed around, trying to escape Sam's grasp, but Sam walked down the hall in plain view of the entire crowd of students. He flipped Bryce upside-down and dunked him head-first into the overflowing trash can. "Now stay away from my girlfriend!" he warned as Bryce flailed his legs uselessly. Still in full view of the students, he walked back toward me. He wrapped his arms around my waist. I gazed into his eyes and smiled as I stood on my tiptoes and wrapped my own arms around his neck.
"Thanks for the save, babe," I said and leaned forward. He smiled back and leaned forward as well.
"For you, my dear, anything," he replied, and our lips met in the middle. The whole hallway erupted in cheers and applause. He turned to the crowd and called out, "That goes for the rest of you, too! If you want Luna, you go through me! Or, more accurately, I go though you!" I saw several boys and one or two girls gulp before shuffling off to their classrooms.
...
Sam and I spent as much time together as we could over the course of the school week, occasionally getting warnings and dirty looks from teachers for our displays of affection. We both blew raspberries the moment their backs were turned.
On Saturday, Sam took me on our first date to my second favorite restaurant in town, Bangers & Mosh (my absolute favorite restaurant is Dad's, duh!). Don't get me wrong, the Burnt Bean is my favorite place to hang out, but it honestly doesn't have much in terms of actual food, just finger-food breakfast and dessert items. Anyway, we ate lunch at Bangers & Mosh, then took a romantic stroll through the park. I'm not sure if most people realize this, but as far north as Royal Woods is, it gets cold fast! The day of our first date wasn't so bad, as I only had to wear a black thermal layer under my usual shirt and skirt (function and fashion!). Sam's werewolf traits kept him warm except in the absolute coldest of temperatures, so he could get away with just his usual outfit. Namely, a new denim vest (to replace the one that was torn and heavily bloodstained) over a white wife-beater, his wolf's-head belt, and purple pants cut off just below the knees. His dad's dog tags dangled out in the open, making a faint jingling sound with every step he took.
"Beautiful day, isn't it?" he asked.
"Yeah, it is," I replied. We smiled at each other and held hands as we walked, a faint breeze stirring the leaves that crunched under our feet. We left it at that; a moment where talking wasn't really necessary. We seemed to be having quite a few of those lately, particularly when we're alone together. At times like those, no matter where I was sitting originally, I somehow always wound up in Sam's lap, curled up in his arms. He didn't mind; he just stroked either my back or my hair until I either zoned out or straight-up fell asleep.
Sam's smile suddenly fell, and he sniffed the air. He frowned and let out a growl.
"What? What's wrong?" I asked.
"Get behind me! Now!" he hissed, letting go of my hand. "IT'S NO USE TRYING TO HIDE, BRYCE! YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS COME OUT WHERE I CAN SEE YOU!" he yelled as I moved behind him.
"How the h**l did you even know we were here, Furby?" Bryce demanded, stepping out from a grove of trees with three other boys armed with various pieces of sports equipment.
"I'm standing downwind from you, and you're the only person in our entire school who wears Calvin Klein's Obsession cologne," Sam explained, still standing protectively in front of me. "Are you really so cowardly that you can't even fight me mono-a-mono?"
Extremely startled that Sam was able to smell him, Bryce retorted, "Well, you took my girl, and I want her back! These guys put the playing field in my favor!"
"Girls are not property, Bryce! Luna doesn't like you and never did! Get over her and find someone else to stalk!" Bryce threw the first punch right after Sam finished speaking. Sam staggered a little but shook his head and glared back at Bryce. "Alright, buster. You wanna rumble? Then let's rumble!" Sam took off his vest and dog tags and handed them to me before retaliating.
The four boys attacked him all at once.
He absolutely destroyed them!
By the time he was finished and allowed them to limp and crawl away, Sam didn't have a scratch. On top of that, his white undershirt was still spotless. He walked over to where I had been standing stock-still the whole time and took his vest and dog tags back. He put them on and walked me home, telling me along the way how his dad taught him self-defense since he started walking, and his skills improved vastly during his time on the streets. We reached my house before long, and he stepped inside to tell me goodbye. The twins and Lily were sitting on the couch watching cartoons.
"Will I see you again?" I asked. Now, I wasn't serious with my question. Almost all of my sisters liked it when Sam and I had a romantic exchange, and I thought I'd humor them for now.
"Of course. We see each other practically every day at this point," Sam replied with a warm smile. Like me, he decided to humor my romance-addicted sisters. We wrapped our arms around each other and kissed passionately, and the twins sighed longingly in the background. However, when we parted, Sam was hit in the cheek by Lily's teddy bear.
"MUSHY!" my baby sister yelled. Of all the ones who still lived at home, she was the only one who found all things romantic to be totally gross. Sam and I just laughed, and he gave me another quick peck on the lips before leaving. After closing the door behind him, I leaned against it and slid to the ground.
"I think I'm in love!" I sighed dreamily.
Yeah, I lied when I said I would reveal the identity of the killer this chapter. Next chapter I will, though!
