“We don’t usually mess with each other’s stuff. Your scent is like fingerprints, only way more obvious. It keeps you honest.”
Imogene’s room was messy. With how perfect she dressed—not even a hair out of place—I thought her room would be tidy. The sty was a surprise. Piles of dirty clothes covered the walking space.
“Dude,” Meredith whisper-shouted. She held up a pair of jeans. “This pair costs like hundred dollars and she’s just thrown them on the ground like they’re trash. What the hell?”
I shrugged. Now that I was here, I didn’t really want to touch anything. It was just so dirty. I stood in one place as I scanned the room, trying to decide where to begin.
“Here.” Meredith handed me a journal. “Try this.”
As soon as my fingers brushed the worn brown leather, I saw absolutely nothing. I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate. I shook my head. “It’s not working.”
I tried her pillow. Then ran my fingers along her laptop’s keyboard. Nerves made it hard to breathe.
Why wasn’t I seeing anything?
“Try this one.”
Meredith handed me a necklace. Its thin gold chain held a single tiny heart charm. It was simple and elegant—something I’d pick out for myself. That annoyed me.
I reached out and closed my hand around the necklace.
The vision knocked me on my ass.
Imogene was kissing Dastien.
I can’t believe this is finally happening, she thought.
His tongue brushed hers and I could feel how happy kissing him made her.
I opened my hand and dropped the necklace on the pile of clothes at my feet. “This was a terrible idea.” A hot tear ran down my cheek. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Come on. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
I hugged my arms around my stomach. It was in the past. He hadn’t been cheating. But it sure felt like cheating.
That was something I never needed to see. The curse of visions strikes again.
Meredith moved to hug me, but I dodged it. “Sorry. Don’t think I can handle any more visions at the moment.”
We went back to my room. She sat at my desk. “What was it?”
I shook my head. “Something icky.” But there was no unseeing it. “Dastien and her together.”
“Shiiiiiit.”
I grinned in spite of my mood. “You’re telling me.”
“Well, they broke up a while ago. Clearly she’s not over it, but Dastien is. For sure. I know this stuff is not normal for you, but Weres don’t cheat. It’s not possible. So yeah, sucks that you saw it. But everyone has a past right?”
“Not me.”
“Right. Visions.” She balled up a piece of paper and threw it at me. “Enough with the pity party. Let’s figure out our plan for today.”
A plan? “You’re not going anywhere?”
“Nah. About the mall…sorry for going without you, but, in my defense, Shannon had been pestering me. And then with everything with you and Dastien, she’s been in a mood. I couldn’t put it off.”
She didn’t have to apologize, but it was nice that she did anyway. “It’s okay.”
“No. It’s not. Chris and Adrian found us at the mall after they saw how upset you were and gave us quite a lecture, and they were right. I should’ve left a note at least. When we came back, we saw you and Dastien were hanging. Shannon might be cranky but she’ll get over it. She takes time to warm up to people.”
We wandered down to the cafeteria. When we got there, the gang announced that they wanted to have a movie marathon. All werewolves. All day. Chris said I needed to learn more about being one of them. And this was the most fun way, even if the movies were horribly inaccurate. Then the debate really began—start with An American Werewolf in London or Ginger Snaps?
I found their love of werewolf movies fascinating. Nothing was better than seeing their species depicted as monsters. Until recently I’d seen them as the bad guys too. There weren’t that many movies where werewolves were the heroes. They were always a step away from zombies with their hunger for human flesh. A totally unfair assessment.
Halfway through Ginger Snaps there was a knock on Meredith’s door. Mrs. Ramirez peeked in. “Did you order pizzas?”
Meredith popped up from her perch. “Yes. That’s us.” The door opened farther, showing three guys carrying pizzas stacked higher than their head.
“Holy shit,” I said. “Meredith. There are only five of us.”
Chris leaned over. “Five werewolves. And two of them are boys.”
The pizza guys handed over the pizzas to Adrian and Shannon while Meredith signed the bill. When Meredith handed back the bill, the pale-faced pizza guys flinched. Why did they let human delivery guys on campus if they were so afraid of us?
“Thank you. You can go now,” Meredith said to them.
“I’ll be down the hall. Boys, you need to be in your own dorm before nightfall,” Mrs. Ramirez said. “We’re still on lockdown.”