“I think I should probably call my mom at your place,” Connor said, looking at the charge on his cell phone. “My battery is basically dead since I forgot to charge it last night.”
“That’s alright,” Ryan said, leading Connor towards his house.
Ryan’s house was your typical suburban home: a moderately sized three story home that was painted light grey. Connor couldn’t help but admire how nice the house looked.
“My parents keep the house nice all year round,” Ryan said, noticing that Connor was “examining” the house. “I can’t blame them though. They want to make sure the house stays nice so we can have people over whenever they want.”
Connor nodded in agreement as Ryan led him up the porch and opened the front door, holding it open for Connor. Once the two were inside, Ryan closed the front door and took off his shoes, placing them neatly by the front door. Connor quickly did the same.
“The phone is in the kitchen,” Ryan said. “You can call your mom from there.”
“Alright,” Connor said, letting Ryan lead him down a small hallway to the kitchen. As the two walked into the kitchen, Connor saw a white woman with black hair that was tied up in a ponytail leaning over a cutting board with a knife in her right hand. With her other hand, she was holding a head of lettuce still so she could cut it. When she saw Ryan and Connor, she put down the knife and smiled at the two of them.
“Hi Ryan,” she said, approaching the teen and giving him a hug. “I didn’t hear you come in! How was your day?”
“It was good mom,” Ryan responded. “I hope you don’t mind that I brought a friend over. This is Connor Ross. He just moved to Moon Lake yesterday.”
Mrs. Ross smiled. “It’s very nice to meet you Connor,” she said. “How are you liking Moon Lake so far?”
“It’s great,” he said. “I’ve only met a few people, but those that I have met have been nothing but kind and welcoming.”
“That’s lovely to hear! Oh, where are my manners? My name is Lucy Chang, but you can call me Ms. Lucy if you want.”
“Okay,” Connor said. “Thank you Ms. Lucy.”
“Anyways Mom, Connor needs to call his parents,” Ryan explained. “Can he use the phone?”
“Of course dear,” Lucy said, grabbing the phone off the charging stand and handing it to Connor. He thanked her before dialing his mom’s cell phone number and holding the phone to his ear. The phone rang for a minute before Connor heard his mom’s voice on the other end.
“Hello?” Diana Ross said. “Who is this?”
“Hey mom, it’s Connor,” Connor said.
“Connor? This isn’t your number.”
“I’m using a friend’s phone,” he explained. “I wanted to tell you that I met a new friend this morning on my way to school. His name is Ryan Chang. He’s been nothing but nice to me, and he’s volunteered to help me do some research on Weres over at his place.”
“Alright, what’s the address?”
“4752 Sycamore Drive. It’s just around the corner from our house.”
“Alright honey,” Diana said. “Thanks for calling me. Be home before 9:00, okay?”
“I will mom. Love you.”
“Love you too sweetie.”
Connor hung up the phone and handed it back to Lucy Chang. “Thanks Ms. Lucy,” he said.
“No problem sweetie,” she said. “Enjoy your researching!”
Ryan led Connor out of the kitchen and up the stairs into a short carpeted hallway. The two walked past a few open doors before Ryan led him into a door at the end of the hallway.
Ryan’s room was quite nice. He had what looked to be a queen sized bed with a blue and black striped comforter and two pillows. He had a nice desk with a PC and a few figurines on it on one side of the room. On the other side, there was a small TV sitting on a TV stand with a few video game consoles hooked up to it. Sitting on the floor in front of the TV were two bean bag chairs, one red and one blue.
“Damn…” Connor said, looking around. “You’ve got a really nice set up!”
“Heh...thanks…” Ryan said, scratching the back of his head. “When my parents asked me if I wanted to have my room redone a few months ago, this wasn’t what I had in mind.”
Connor set his backpack down at the edge of the bed before opening it and pulling out the manual on Weres.
“Should we get started?” He asked.
“In a minute,” Ryan said, sitting down in the edge of the bed. “I want to ask you a question.”
“Uh...sure. Go ahead,” Connor said, unsure why Ryan was suddenly asking him something.
“When you asked me if I would transform you if you wanted to become a Werewildcat, I said yes. But that question just came out of the blue.”
Connor looked a bit disappointed. “So you...wouldn’t?”
“No no, of course I would,” Ryan said. “It’s just that...most people who ask to become a Werewildcat or a Werecat are already homosexual, or at the very least bisexual. Since most people are pretty open about their sexuality, it’s relatively easy to tell who likes who. If you are actually considering becoming a Werewildcat someday, you need to be aware that your sexuality WILL change unless you aren’t already gay or bi.”
“So...you’re asking if I’m gay, or at the very least Bi?” Connor said.
“I know that I’m in no place to ask you that, but it would make things a bit easier,” Ryan explained.
“I...I understand…” Connor said, slightly nervous.