The day went by slowly for Rachel as there continued to be things that perplexed her. She'd been surprised to find that the girl she'd seen during her study hall period WAS the same Melissa Jenkins she knew in Michigan, and while she was glad to see a familiar face, her joy was offset by the fact that Melissa was now very different from where she was before. In Michigan, Melissa had had a fairly average build and about the only physical exercise she might do was to go jogging, just to stay in shape. Now in Moon Lake, Melissa rather powerfully built for a girl of her age. Her shoulders were wider, and were actually rather wide for any woman and it was pretty clear that her musculature was far more developed than before.
And while it could be theoretically possible that Melissa had gotten into weight lifting, it hadn't been that long since Melissa and her father left Michigan. As such even if Melissa had gotten into a more intense gym regimen, she wouldn't have developed the musculature she know had. At the same time there were other developments that Rachel couldn't ignore, either. In Michigan, she and Melissa were about the same size when it came to their chests, wearing a modest B cup bra, and there were a couple of times where they'd even exchanged bras and had no difficulty. Now, though, it looked Melissa could fit into a much larger cup size, and while Rachel was well aware on the concept of a growth spurt as one grew up, that was something gradual that could take place over several months. Even in the hormonal rushes that went along with puberty, no one just jumped two or three cup sizes in a couple of weeks. At least that was what Rachel could determine based on what her own mother had told her with regard to Rose Van Direstag's time growing up.
All of this added to the sense of mystery that Rachel felt surrounded the town. It wasn't necessarily that there were people who where extremely well fit and toned, as there were people like that, but they weren't usually so concentrated in one small place. She'd seen a few in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she and Melissa had grown up, met, and first became friends. But that was a bigger town with a bigger college that was bound to attract enough people that the number of people that were built the way so many people in Moon Lake, students and teachers, would fit within the normal law of averages. Moon Lake didn't have that, and yet there were many teens at the high school that looked far more muscular than normal with females far more voluptuous than normal, and if Rachel didn't know any better, she figured the boys would have something hidden away that would be larger than normal...
But so far all Rachel had gotten on the matter were rather vague answers when her questions came up and that frustrated her. Even Melissa's answers seemed a little vague. There was the promise of honestly answering the questions later, but that was about all that Rachel really had to look forward to as she went through her afternoon classes.
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Melissa's afternoon classes went fairly well, though she still had some worries with regards to Rachel's likely response to Moon Lake and its special secret. If they were here, that had to mean that they'd arrived over the weekend, or Sunday at the latest. Regardless, she'd learned enough about Moon Lake to figure that they would take people moving to Moon Lake pretty seriously and that would include Samantha Twist going in for the formal welcome to Moon Lake, regardless of the day of the week, but Rachel didn't seem to be aware of weres, which had to mean that Samantha Twist hadn't visited them to tell them the truth about Moon Lake and what was to be expected from new residents. Which puzzled Melissa a little bit, as Samantha had visited her and her father the same day they moved it.
That then made it all the more concerning for Melissa, as Rachel was her best friend in Michigan and it wasn't like she could just lie to her. She also knew that Rachel was smart enough that she couldn't just "play dumb" on the issue. She knew she'd changed a lot since coming to Moon Lake. She'd been a bit nervous over the town's were secret and the Mandatory Were Law, and a part of her wasn't necessarily above reworking that law to let people have a choice. But as she'd met her friends in Moon Lake, Trevor, Roy, Jason, Alice, and Megumi and came to know the town a bit better, she got over her initial fears and worries, and as she began to fall in love with Trevor, the more and more open she became to becoming his werecow so she could claim him as her bull. In that, Rachel was going down the same path that Melissa had gone down a few weeks ago when she first moved to Moon Lake, and Melissa wanted to be a good friend and even if this went against some sort of protocol, she would try to explain things carefully.
And that was partially what had her nervous and kept her thoughts on how to word that. As she did so, she came around a corner as she came up the stairs and bumped into someone, making her stagger back. As she did so, she looked up to see an unfamiliar teen with red hair recovering from the collision as well. Her hair was a different shade of red from Melissa's. Melissa hair was closer to a crimson in its shade, the other girl and a darker and brownish shade to it, lit it was more auburn than red. Melissa's present sense of smell could determine that she was another werecow, but her breasts looked a bit smaller when compared to Melissa's and her muscles were bigger than Melissa's. Something told Melissa that she should know this girl or had met her before...
"So... Trevor got to you... I'm glad for that," the girl answered, noting the obvious change in build and scent that Melissa had.
"Yes... he and all my friends did..." Melissa said slowly, trying to figure things out.
"Anna, Anna Bout," the girl spoke, "I'm the Adaptaur Werecow that interrupted your dance with Trevor on Halloween..."
"That explains the added muscle," Melissa commented, "I'm a Canadienne Werecow, now... thus the larger chest."
"I can see," Anna answered, "Look... I didn't mean to get too pushy and I certainly didn't want you getting lead off into the woods at the dance. It's just... well... Trevor's been the best werebull around. Hardworking, smart, handsome, and just about anything anyone would want, Were or Normal. And I'll admit I'd sorta hoped to make a positive impression."
"I'm sure there are others," Melissa commented, now remembering the altercation at the Halloween dance that had ultimately seen to her getting a watered down dose of Alice Decrux's "Love Potion Number Nine." She didn't really like Anna's more forceful approach, as a part of her just wanted to dance the night away with Trevor.
"None that are like Trevor... and a fair number of the other weres often tend to look at us and just want to get in our bras, if you know what I mean," Anna answered.
Melissa picked that up, knowing that werecows had the largest breasts of any female were. And while there was a size range for them, even the smallest werecow would be bigger than any other female were. A few of the boys in the school had given her their fair share of glances and she also remembered Erma telling her that a good sports bra would be needed just to make sure she didn't attract too much "romantic" attention while jogging.
"Anyway..." Anna picked up, "I'm sorry for how I acted at the dance... I didn't mean to get in the way of anything between you and Trevor. And I had nothing to do with the punch..."
"It's okay, and I know you weren't involved with the punch," Melissa answered, "that was Alice Decrux... but why the big apology? It's not just because I became a werecow, is it?"
"No... I'd be apologizing even if you were still a normal," Anna answered, "let's just say that Trevor loves you very much and when he realized you were in danger... you were more important and he gave me a pretty straightforward warning if I had been involved with the punch. So... I'll recognize that you won the heart of the best werebull in Moon Lake and do something that will at least let me be friends as my family is in the same specific herd as the Tysons."
Melissa nodded when a teacher came out from a nearby door and cut both of them off.
"As good as it is to see two students settle their differences peacefully, you BOTH need to get to class," the teacher spoke sternly.
With a quick "yes, sir" both Anna and Melissa hustled on. The run in with the other werecow worked out well enough, though it still didn't change some of her worries about what would happen with regard to sharing Moon Lake's secret with Rachel.
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Melissa eventually caught with Rachel in the literature class they had at the end of the day. It was interesting that Rachel had two English language courses in the same semester, but then from what Melissa remembered, Rachel had been more into that sort of thing. The literature class was however Melissa's only English language course for the semester. She made her way in and sat down beside her friend, happy to find that there was an open seat and that this teacher didn't have assigned seats.
"There's no need to be worried," Melissa said to Rachel as she sat down, "No one is out to harm you here."
"That's not what happened in a dream I had," Rachel commented, which made Melissa blink in response.
Melissa was about to ask as the teacher shut the door and made his way to the front of the room to begin the lesson for the period. There was a brief "interruption" as the class started as the teacher issued Rachel the textbook for the class and she had to go through the process of checking the book out. That wasn't too hard and they soon moved on to reviewing the last story they'd read and handing in the "study questions" for it. Rachel, having only just arrived did have to hand any in, which Rachel took as something of a mild bonus. Though Rachel was still perplexed over how strange things seemed here, including Melissa who had changed a great deal since when they last met. But the Rachel still made it through the class fine.
When the bell rang, Melissa got up slowly, but motioned to Rachel to stay with her as they stood up. They let the rest of the class go out and they went out slowly falling to the rear of the group. Once they got into the hallway, Melissa turned to her old friend.
"So... what do you think so far?" Melissa asked.
"I think this whole place is strange," Rachel said flatly, "You have guys that look like they'd be Olympic level athletes and girls that aren't that different... unless you're counting the weights on their chests."
Rachel made her point clear by a firm poke into the side of Melissa's right breast.
"There's barely anyone here that looks even close to me... or you before now..." Rachel finished.
"Well there is that," Melissa nodded as they made their way out toward a short hallway that lead toward the top of a flight of stairs. There were a set of windows at the end of the hallway and a large metal heater that was underneath the window. While the sounds of lockers being opened and closed as others got ready to head home, Melissa sat down on the heater and offered Rachel the space to sit down beside her. For the moment the area was quiet enough that they could talk and out of the way enough that they wouldn't be in the way of anyone. "But that's ultimately part of something that makes Moon Lake special. Something that both my dad and I found out when we moved here a few weeks ago."
"Just tell me this isn't something like the "Stepford Wives," is it?" Rachel asked.
"No... nothing like that," Melissa said slowly, "though it could be odd to those who aren't used to it... and if it weren't for the help of some very good friends that I've made here... I'd probably still be nervous about a lot of things about Moon Lake..."
"Nervous?" Rachel wondered.
"Yeah... like how healthy so many people are here and some of the official secrets that make this town so special," Melissa nodded.
"Secrets?" Rachel wondered, "Mel... what are you talking about?"
"It's something that's part of why City Hall sends someone... usually the Town Chancellor... I think her name is Samantha to greet new residents," Melissa answered, "she tells them about the town and the rules that go with it and would essentially offer to help those new residents comply with the rule. It can be a bit complicated and weird... and technically outside my responsibility, but you're my best friend and a familiar face and I'm putting a lot of trust that you won't freak out or post this on YouTube. Okay?"
"Yeah... yeah," Rachel grumbled, though part of that was due to the fact that her cellphone didn't get great reception on the way in and only got marginally better once they got into Moon Lake. In this, she didn't think it'd be possible to do much until her computer was set up and they were hooked up to cable or some advanced Wi-Fi. "Look the secretary already made me sign some agreement that said I wouldn't tell anyone if I saw anything weird... So... please... can we just move forward with this? Just what is it about Moon Lake that makes it so special?"
"Well... Moon Lake is sort of a hidden community for weres," Melissa said slowly and hesitantly with her eyes focused on her friend, "they are very real... though not quite like they are portrayed in movies."
"Weres... as in werewolves?" Rachel blinked, her mind going back to the book she'd found that was supposedly a guide on Moon Lake's weres, not knowing that Samantha Twist had just dropped off another copy of the book to her parents and older brother, and the nightmare of being attacked by a werewolf version of herself that the book had inspired.
"Not only werewolves... there other species too, wereraccoons, weretigers, wererats, werecattle," Melissa answered and noting that her friend was shaking a bit, "at first it can seem a bit scary. And my dad and I were a bit nervous about things when we first arrived and didn't fully know what to do... and I'll admit that there was a part of me that was willing to run..."
"Why didn't you?" Rachel asked. A lot of this sounded unbelievable, but then there were certain things that seemed to relate to things she saw in her dream/nightmare and was willing to hear things out.
"Because ultimately... I made friends," Melissa said proudly, "Megumi Tachibana, Alice Weiss, Roy Hooper, Jason Saxon, and my present boyfriend... Trevor Tyson. In talking with them... they shared what it was like for them to be a were and shared the specific strengths and weaknesses that came with being a were and actually how easy it can be for a were to maintain control over themselves. They aren't the monsters you see in the movies."
"And they convinced you?" Rachel asked.
"By showing me that aside from being able to turn into an anthropomorphic animal at will... with Megumi being a werefox, Alice a wererabbit, Roy a werewolf, Jason a weretiger, and Trevor a werebull..." Melissa said slowly, "there isn't that much that differs them from other people. They like many of the same things normal people like and so on. Nothing outlandishly different or monstrous. The only thing that some people may pay attention to is what they can turn into and fear the potential negatives... but while there may be negatives, it's rather rare. And that a were that goes rogue or goes after someone... is likely to do it for the same reason as a normal criminal would."
"And you and your dad both went through this?" Rachel asked.
"Pretty much," Melissa nodded, "it wasn't easy at first... but as we learned and made friends, the fear went away. Dad had it a bit rough in the fact that a wereraccoon with her eyes on having him pay child support to her wanted to use him and ended up becoming a weretiger when he got in the middle of a fight between the wereraccoon and a weretigress named Virginia McCoy... but dad was already falling for Virginia and finally coming out of the funk he went into when my mom got sick... and the two of them quickly became an item and are planning to get married, I think by this weekend."
"And you?" Rachel asked, poking at Melissa's bicep and soon felt the muscle flex in response with great firmness.
"I fell in love with Trevor," Melissa commented, "he's been understanding, he's been gentle and kind, he's been a perfect gentleman... with all that... I joined were-society to be with him..."
"So... you're...?" Rachel spoke, her voice falling off at the end.
"I'm a werecow now, and happy to be that way," Melissa answered, "the growth in muscle and my bust are sort of side effects that coming along with being a were. And remember... I'm still your friend where it counts, Rachel. I will never hurt you. And practically every were will feel the same way. The city will have some rules that may be odd in order to protect the were secret and all that... but a lot of that is a formality and doesn't reflect who many weres are as people."
"And what if a were attacked me?" Rachel asked.
"That were would be in trouble with the law, the city has this law that says at least one member of every family must become a were, but they give new residents the option of making a choice on what were to be," Melissa spoke, "you're not just thrown to one group and told you HAVE to join that group. And if your parents or older brother or younger brother join... then you don't have to at all. And if anyone tries to force you... that were will be in trouble."
"What if the were was me?" Rachel asked.
"You smell like a normal human to me," Melissa commented.
"Bah... it's this weird dream I had last night," Rachel answered, "Rob and I found this guidebook left in our new house. I thought it was some companion book to a fantasy novel series, oddly named after the town, but then I had this dream where I was held in this darkened place where I was attacked by a werewolf that claimed to be me."
"There are a lot of things that even I'm still learning... but unless someone has a time machine, I doubt you could be attacked by a werewolf version of you in real life," Melissa commented, "maybe a clone with were DNA added in while still in the embryonic stage of development, but that would still take time for the clone to grow up. So my guess is that was probably just a dream." Melissa was quiet for a moment and privately thought to herself, "though... it could also be something like my spiritual advisor/mirror friend... who's helped me with my own choices..."
"Well... I'd hope it's just a dream," Rachel commented, "so most everyone in the school is a were of some kind?"
"All the ones that are really buff or busty... or both," Melissa answered, "but we're still friendly and understanding." She then reached down to her own notebook and wrote down her and her father's present address. She tore that part off and handed it to Rachel, "My dad and I are at that address. You and your folks could come visit if you want more info... at least on how other new residents are adapting."
"This is all weird," Rachel said flatly, but in an odd way she actually believed Melissa.
"Delightfully so," Melissa answered, "read through that guidebook you said you found. The information it shares is pretty accurate and can help with the reasons why or why not to join a specific were-species."
Rachel rolled her eyes at that, but she accepted the slip of paper and figured to make another look through that guidebook.