Chapter 16
No matter what grade you're in, at Royal Woods High, everyone takes their English final exam on the same day, at the same time. Since multiple classes are combined, the auditorium is used in place of a classroom.
I scanned the room, looking for Sam, but he was nowhere to be found. In fact, I hadn't seen him all day. Nobody had. After worrying my head off about him, I decided to call him in the brief period before the exam began.
"Hey, Luna. Wassup?" He sounded absolutely miserable on the phone. Which was strange, because normally he was the picture of health.
"Sam, where are you? We have our English exams today!" I asked.
"Aww, sorry, Lunes. I got sick last night, so I decided to stay home and take the exam remotely. Don't worry, it's just food poisoning. Again." I pondered what could possibly give Sam of all people (who could eat Dad's nasty green bean casserole without flinching) food poisoning. Then it hit me, and I facepalmed with an audible groan.
"Sam, what did I specifically tell you not to do?" I demanded.
"Um...eat the cafeteria fish tacos?" he guessed.
"And what did you do?"
"Eat the fish tacos." In my mind, I could see him hanging his head in shame.
"I hope you learned your lesson, Buster! This is what happens when you eat something that everyone else leaves alone! I'd chew you out more, but the exam is about to start," I told him.
"Alright, alright, lesson learned. Good luck with the exam. I love you."
"I love you too, you freak of nature," I said and hung up. It became a habit for me to call Sam a freak of nature whenever one of his quirks annoyed me. He didn't mind; he actually considered it to be something of a compliment.
"Sam ate the fish tacos, didn't he?" Mazzy asked from the seat beside me.
"Yup. And he's home sick because of it," I replied as I started up my laptop. Yes, our English exams were online, a policy that was started after Cold and Flu Season hit our little town hard one year. It had been bad enough that the school building was practically abandoned for the entire duration of Finals Week. One good thing about that was because the exam was online and graded automatically by the computer, there was absolutely no way Sam could flunk it!
"That's too bad. If he were here, he could've given you a kiss for good luck," Mazzy said as she started up her own laptop, prompting me to drive my elbow into her side. "What? It's true!" she defended.
"I know. I still get embarrassed when people talk about my love life, okay?" The exam went smoothly after that, and after he recovered from the food poisoning, Sam and I went out on another date to celebrate the beginning of Winter Break. I didn't really see him in person much after that, due to the Burnt Bean being swamped with orders for sweet treats for Christmas (cookies, cupcakes, pies, and the like), but he was sure to text and/or call me both before and after work.
Sam being as busy as he was worked in my favor, because now I could shop for a good Christmas present for him without him knowing. And that's how I found myself in a jewelry store at the mall a few days before Christmas, browsing the aisles and growing more frustrated by the minute.
"Need help finding something, Luna?" Leni's friend Jackie, who worked in that store, asked me. "Let me guess, you got stuck with Lola again? I know she can be hard to shop for."
"Actually, do you have matching jewelry for couples? I'm shopping for my boyfriend," I corrected.
"Oh, sure! Right this way!" I followed Jackie across the store. "So, who's the lucky fella?" she asked.
"Sam Sharp," I replied. She blinked. "The hairy, barefoot guy from your class?"
"Oh, him!" she laughed. "Sorry, I just have a really hard time remembering names. Do you guys have any specific theme as a couple?"
"Kinda. I'm looking for something that involves either the moon, wolves, or some combination of both. And preferably either a necklace or a charm for a necklace. And Sam's allergic to silver, so no silver plating."
"Okay, I can work with that," she said. I watched with bated breath as she scanned the shelves with a trained eye. Her eyebrows twitched and she squatted to reach one of the lower shelves. "A-ha! I think I found something!" she exclaimed. She stood up and showed me what she found.
The moment I laid eyes on it, my pulse sped up, my eyes dilated, and my smile stretched from ear to ear.
"It's perfect!" I squealed.
...
It was now Christmas Eve. With Mom and Dad's approval, I invited Sam and Sandra to sleep over and spend Christmas Day with us. It wouldn't be an issue, because Lori had called the other day to let all of us know that she would be spending Christmas in Great Lakes City with Bobby's extended family, the Casagrandes. So we converted the basement into a temporary guest bedroom with two air mattresses, some blankets, and some pillows.
While we waited for Sam and his aunt to arrive, it started snowing.
Hard.
It wasn't until after it started snowing that Lisa alerted us of a severe blizzard warning issued by our branch of the National Weather Service. While the cell signal was weak, I was still able to get a text from Sam that said he and Sandra had to drive super slow because of the weather. They finally arrived, still in one piece, but caked from head to foot in fluffy white snowflakes. I had to repeatedly smack my beloved boyfriend upside the head with a bath towel when he shook himself like a dog, flinging wet clumps of snow and ice in all directions. Dinner was served once Sam and Sandra had dried off by the fire.
We all stayed up until almost midnight, watching classic Christmas movies, playing games, and telling stories. The whole time, I was either on Sam's lap or otherwise snuggling up to him. He was sure to return the affection. We only parted when we decided to get some shuteye ourselves. I had a hard time sleeping though, and it wasn't from the childlike excitement of what tomorrow morning would bring.
I couldn't sleep because the blizzard outside was trying it's dang hardest to get into the house!
After tossing and turning for over an hour while the wind whistled past the window and the temperature in the room noticeably dropped, I finally let out a groan, crawled out of my bunk with the comforter from the bed wrapped around me, and crept down the stairs. In my half-asleep mind, it would be warmer and quieter in the living room next to the dying fireplace. To my surprise, Sam and Sandra had already beaten me to it. Sam was awake and reclining on the couch, wearing baggy blue drawstring shorts and his vest with no shirt. Sandra was lying in front of the fireplace in a cocoon of blankets, snoring like a chainsaw.
"Can't sleep?" I asked, and he jolted and turned to me.
Moving his legs to let me sit down next to him, he replied, "Nah. Aunt Sandra got too cold in the basement, so she came up here to warm up. I came up here just now to keep her company. You?" I took the invite and sat down.
"It's mostly the wind howling that kept me up," I said. "Though I was getting a little chilly myself."
"Lemme guess: you want me to help keep you warm?" he asked with a small smirk.
"If it's not too much trouble," I said with a little pout. I let out a small squeak when he tugged on my comforter so that I was lying on my stomach on top of him. He then made a big show of wrapping the comforter around both of us and tucking me in.
"There. How's that?" he asked. I was too tired to even giggle at the display, so I just burrowed my head into his shoulder and lazily ran my hand through his chest hair.
"It's perfect," I purred before drifting off in his warm embrace.
...
It was well past nine o'clock in the morning by the time Sam and I woke up, but it was still pitch-black outside. My brother and sisters had already been downstairs for a while (along with our parents and Sandra), and according to Lisa, the blizzard was still going full-force. If you paused long enough to listen, you could actually hear our rickety old house creaking in protest.
Lola, surprise surprise, had been impatiently waiting to open presents, but everyone else was forcing her to let the two of us wake up on our own. Sam sat up, still holding me against his chest, so that the sacred Christmas ritual could finally begin, lest we incur Lola's wrath.
"But I don't wanna get up! You're so warm!" I whined. He only smiled and pecked me on the lips.
"I'll go make us some coffee. Then we can keep snuggling," he assured me. He stood up and stretched, and immediately Mom, Leni, and at least three other sisters blushed from the sight of his bare chest and powerful muscles. As Sam walked away in the direction of the kitchen, I shot all of them glares, warning them not to make a move on my man. Sam came back with two steaming mugs, and I quickly latched back onto him with no intention of letting go anytime soon.
I had arranged for Sam and Sandra to spend Christmas with us far enough in advance that I was exempt from our family Secret Santa tradition (and Lincoln thinks he's the planner in the family!). That way, Sam and I only had to buy presents for each other. Sam's present to me was a Lord of the Rings-themed scarf, all black with Sauron's Eye on both ends, the One Ring in the middle, and red tassels.
Sam got a little misty-eyed when he opened my present for him: a pair of pendants that clipped together to represent our relationship. One was a round white Moonstone made to look like the full moon. The other was a wolf's head carved from a piece of Smokey Quartz. When put together, the wolf and moon overlapped so that the moon peeked out from behind the wolf. Both pendants were backed with Stainless Steel with steel chains, so they wouldn't irritate Sam's skin like silver would.
"Do you like it?" I asked, and Sam nodded. "I got two of them so that there'd be one for each of us. Pick which one you want, and I'll take the other," I told him. He pried them apart and handed me the moon pendant.
"Here, you have this one," he said, "because when I first met you, you were the moon shining down on the darkest time of my life."
"Plus, Luna is a name derived from the Latin word for moon," Lisa added, only to shrink when Sam glared at her. "Shutting up!" she squeaked.
"As I was saying," Sam continued, "Luna, after three years of missed Christmases, this is one of the best presents I've ever gotten. Thank you." After looping the pendant around his neck, Sam pulled me in for a deep kiss. One that I gladly returned.
"Awwwwwwwwww!" everyone but Lincoln cooed. Leni and Sandra both snapped pictures of us, to both of our annoyance. Our annoyance and embarrassment deepened when they both confessed that they already got pictures of the two of us sleeping.
"I hate to intrude, but I've also prepared a gift for Sam," Lucy said, walking up to us and handing Sam a rolled-up piece of yellowed paper. "I came across this while studying one of Great Grandma Harriet's spellbooks."
Sam unrolled the paper. In the middle was a charcoal sketch of a figure sitting in the lotus position in the middle of a circle of candles. The left side of the figure was totally human, but the right side had a wolf's head and was shaded in. Lines of Latin were written both above and below the illustration in spidery handwriting.
"This is a ritual that, if performed correctly, will allow both of your warring personalities to merge into one," Lucy explained when asked. "You will then become a Wolf Walker, a werewolf with the ability to transform at will, without the influence of the full moon."
"Thanks, Lucy. I'll, uh, take this into consideration," Sam replied before rolling the scroll back up and tucking it into a pocket inside his vest.
After everyone's presents had been opened, Dad and Sandra started cooking breakfast while the rest of us got ready for the day. After a quick shower, I dressed in a white undershirt tucked into my special sherpa-lined denim jeans, wool socks, and black snow boots, completing the outfit with a purple cable-knit sweater. Sam was pretty much the only one who didn't dress as warmly as possible.
Suddenly, while we were in the middle of eating, the power went out! Dad and Lisa immediately went to the basement to check the breaker box, while Mom dug an old, weathered battery-powered radio out of her and Dad's closet. Dad and Lisa came back upstairs and announced that our breaker box wasn't the source of the problem. Mom tuned the radio in to the local radio station, just in case an emergency broadcast was issued. Sure enough, while all fourteen of us were huddled around the fireplace an hour or two later, trying to stay warm in the dark and rapidly cooling house, Mayor Davis's voice could be heard amidst oodles of static.
"Attention, citizens of Royal Woods! Due to a city-wide power outage with an unidentified source, you are all strongly encouraged to seek immediate sanctuary at the Royal Woods Mall. With worsening weather conditions and a lack of electricity for central heating, your homes are no longer safe. At the mall, there will be generators powering portable heaters, hot soup and hot drinks, and medical professionals on standby. I repeat: your homes are no longer safe. Seek immediate shelter at the Royal Woods Mall. Avoid all roadways, as conditions are not safe for driving."
"Okay, that settles it," Dad said. "Bundle up, gang! Looks like we'll have to walk to the mall!"
We all switched on the flashlights of our cell phones to locate our appropriate winter gear. I personally pulled on a hoodie over my sweater before donning a purple Russian-style coat with brown faux fur trim. I covered my hands with brown fleece-lined leather gloves, crammed a purple beanie onto my head, and wrapped one of my older purple scarves around my mouth and nose (I didn't want my new one to get ruined right after Sam gave it to me). When I walked back down the stairs, the others were all dressed similar to me. In addition to his Nepalese poncho, Sam had some kind of thick gauze-like material wrapped around his arms and legs, and sherpa-lined slipper socks that matched his multi-colored poncho covered his feet. We all congregated in front of the door, and Dad counted to three before flinging it open...
Stay tuned for the next part of this two-part chapter!
