Eric Anderson was your average, intelligent, nerdy/geeky 14 year old Freshman who was also still a virgin.
While this would not be a problem anywhere else in the world, in Moon Lake this meant that he was also a normal and that the first time he had sex with a were, he would be joining that person's species whether he actually planned to or not.
His girlfriend Spencer Lawson was an equally intelligent, but not quite as nerdy/geeky 15 year old hybrid were. Her father was a werewolf while her mother a werepanthress with some werecat in her family tree, making Spencer unique in were society.
It also meant that regardless of how deeply in love Eric and Spencer were with each other, Spencer was afraid to have sex with Eric because neither knew exactly what he would transform into if they did.
Spencer was also a Sophomore at Moon Lake High School. Technically she should of been a Junior, but because of some past "problems", she was now repeating the Sophomore grade.
Yet, in part because she wanted to change for the better and longed to be with Eric who inspired those changes to begin with, Spencer was behaving herself.
However, after she started hearing the rumors concerning the scorned were-mermaid Julie Stovall in regards to Eric and herself, a part of Spencer wished for the opportunity to get Julie alone in some dark alley and make sushi out of her.
Because of the difference in their grade levels, Eric and Spencer didn't have any classes together.
In fact, they didn't even share a lunch period or study hall.
But they had compared and contrasted their respective schedules and figured out every moment they could be together during the course of the school day, even if it was just a quick "Hello. How you doing?" exchange passing each other in a hallway.
Thankfully, the class change between second and third period was one of their longer moments together. It meant Eric had to carry his books for both classes with him instead of going back to his locker during the break, but it also meant that he could meet his girlfriend at her locker and walk Spencer to her third period class and still make it to his own with time to spare.
Spencer was just closing her locker door as Eric walked up to her with a smile on his face.
Obviously he hasn't heard the rumors about Julie yet, she realized, wondering how she could tell him in the few brief minutes they had walking along the corridor.
Spencer was about to say something when someone else took that task away from her.
"Eric?" asked a girl as she walked toward the couple. "Hi. You must be Spencer Lawson. I'm Frieda Knight," said one of the most popular girls at Moon Lake High, introducing herself to the were she didn't know. "Interesting scent," she told Spencer, as she shook hands with her. If either girl felt the (sexual) tension pass between them during that brief moment of contact, neither commented on it.
"Listen, we don't have much time before third, but despite being a friend of Julie's, I don't like what's going on," revealed Frieda.
"What do you mean?" asked Eric, totally in the dark about the situation.
"Whatever's got her upset, for some reason Julie's really mad at the two of you about something. She's asking everyone she knows and trusts to help her find out all they can about the two of you, because Julie's got some crazy idea about breaking the two of you up for revenge," explained Frieda.
"Really? You wouldn't happen to know what her plan is?" asked Spencer, trying to keep her anger in check.
"Unfortunately, no. I don't agree with Julie, which is why I'm warning the two of you instead of helping her. If you're happy together, congratulations," said Frieda.
"Thank you," was the only response Eric could think of.
"However, since Julie is my friend, I can't go against her either. I don't know whether or not she would ever actually use it to her advantage, but with her father being mayor..."
"I understand," said Spencer. "Perhaps when this all blows over, we could hang out sometime?" she offered.
Frieda looked at Spencer for a moment, and then smiled. "Maybe," was her only answer, "but I really have to get to class now. Good luck," she said, before walking away.
"What's all of this about?" Eric asked Spencer, as they started heading to their own classes. "Nate asked me earlier if I had seen Julie today, but never said anything about..."
"Unfortunately, there's no time to explain now," said Spencer, while glancing at the hallway clock that said they only had a couple of minutes left before being tardy. "Just stay alert and avoid Stovall like the plague," advised his girlfriend, even as she planned to call her mother for advice as soon as she could. "And if you can do so without Julie knowing, be nice to Frieda too."
"I'm always polite, but why her specifically? Because she warned us?" asked Eric.
"That, and because I got a good sniff of her and discovered Frieda Knight is also a werepanthress!" revealed Spencer, as she said a quick goodbye to Eric and walked into her third period classroom.
Eric suddenly realized what his girlfriend had in mind. They had discussed their physical relationship in great length after analyzing all the available facts, and Spencer agreed with Eric's conclusion that whenever her boyfriend did enter were society, panther would be the best match to her hybrid form.
Unfortunately, finding a cooperative werepanthresses proved to be a problem. There wasn't any that they knew of at school until Spencer met Frieda; and even if they knew how to approach her about it, Nate was now having problems with his werepanthress girlfriend Kenya Adaeze, which put them back at square one.
Yet now maybe a possible solution to ensure their happiness together was on the horizon.
But first they had to deal with whatever threat Julie Stovall was posing to them, which would be difficult.
Although he didn't have any classes with her, Eric did seem to always run into Julie during Freshman lunch, which would be after third period.