Melissa quietly watched as Rachel and Megumi made their way off from the point where the group had gathered outside the front doors of the high school and she got the sense that the two were going over information related to werefoxes. It was something that not too long ago, she herself had been going down, at least with regard to learning about weres. Initially, Melissa had been a bit worried over how Rachel would react to things, as since they had last seen each other in Michigan, Melissa had changed quite a lot. Melissa could tell that by Trevor's presence close to her. Thankfully, Rachel seemed to take a lot of it in stride, including Melissa's changes.
"Hopefully everything we talked over today will work out," Melissa said to Trevor as she looked over to him while Jason, Roy, and Alice also began to head out, "that Rachel will get the time to find out what she needs..."
"Hopefully," Trevor agreed with her, "particularly given some of the fears she's relayed..."
"About her father," Melissa nodded, "Yeah... I mean he could be excitable at times, but I'd think that once he gets to know Moon Lake a bit better, he'd accept the things that make Moon Lake unique. I mean... my dad and I were a bit nervous over things related to the Mandatory Were Law too. But Ms. McCoy helped my dad and you helped me... and we found things we liked to the point where the Mandatory Were Law wouldn't matter. Dad was already falling for Ms. McCoy before he got clawed..." Melissa then felt blood rush to her cheeks as she looked to Trevor, "and I've fallen for you."
Trevor happily smiled and the two ended up leaning in short kiss before they too began to walk, though more toward the school's parking lot.
"So... do you need to wait for Anna Bell or anything?" Melissa asked as they walked along.
"No," Trevor answered, "we often drive in together, but given that on some days with the academic team that I've been in having practice sessions during the week after school... she's often preferred to either walk home or ride the bus, even on days when I don't have practice... So, there is room for a ride home. Just you, me, and our homework."
"Thank you... I'll take it," Melissa answered, "my place or yours?"
"Yours... I'll probably have chores to finish when I'm done with my homework," Trevor answered, "at least that way, you'd be at home and wouldn't have a long walk when we're done."
"Very considerate... though... a part of me doesn't mind that much," Melissa admitted, "is that... I don't know... part of the adjustment to being a were?"
"I really can't say, seeing as I've been a were all my life," Trevor answered as they reached his truck and climbed in, "it wasn't until after I turned fourteen that I was able to transform... Though, just about every were I know hasn't been opposed to walking places... potentially even walking long distances to get places. Most of the time, driving some place is more an issue of time available than anything else."
Melissa nodded and accepted that as she buckled herself in and as Trevor backed out and the two were still on their way back toward the Jenkins home. It wasn't a long drive and Trevor soon pulled into driveway and parked there while leaving most of the driveway open. As they rode along and as Trevor put his truck in park, Melissa felt her thoughts turning back to Rachel and the worries that were there. While she didn't think that Rachel's father actually would do something stupid, there were some things that struck Rachel as a bit close to something... something that just made Moon Lake different, and not just the fact that most of its residents were weres of some kind.
"Say Trevor," Melissa began as they cut across the lawn head in through the front door, "how much do you know about prophecy dreams? I mean all the details..."
"Hmm? Is this something from your mirror friend?" Trevor wondered.
"Not at the moment," Melissa answered with a weak shrug, "just more a response to some things that Rachel said to me in the morning..."
"Like the dream she said she had?" Trevor wondered, hearing concern clearly in Melissa's voice, "the one she told us about at school today?"
Melissa nodded and twisted the doorknob and found it unlocked. The door slid open easily and she held it open for Trevor to enter. They entered to hear some water running elsewhere in the house, though it sounded like the ground floor. Melissa guessed her father was doing some laundry at present and they went into the kitchen and sat at the small round table that was by the windows that faced the forest behind the Jenkins home to the west. She tapped a small switch as she set her bookbag down and sat in one chair while Trevor sat down opposite her.
"Well... that did sound a bit odd to me..." Trevor said slowly, "for... generally speaking, from everything I've heard... only weres have prophecy dreams. That normal humans don't or can't have them. And if it weren't for you talking about this mirror friend that you said has offered you advice... I'd tend to believe the latter. As the only ones I've ever hear talk about those things have been weres themselves."
"No one that was a normal human that you grew up with ever had one?" Melissa asked curiously.
"Not that I could remember..." Trevor admitted, "though... I'd say that I wasn't really the sort to believe in them all that much. As I had dreams of flying an antique crop duster once because I'd seen a movie that had an old crop duster in it. That doesn't necessarily mean I ever will."
"But then there is my mirror friend," Melissa whispered to Trevor as they got started on their homework and making sure her father wouldn't hear about that as she didn't want him to think her crazy. As whatever water was running had stopped running, which would mean her father would soon return to at least the living room, "and supposedly my dad was admitting to having dreams about being a weretiger with Virginia even before being clawed..."
Trevor nodded in response, "that is something that is different..."
He didn't want to outright disagree with her on the existence of her mirror friend, but at the same time there were somethings that he couldn't deny. The warning of Alice Decrux messing with the punch at the Halloween Dance and then finding out that the punch at the dance WAS spiked was too much of a coincidence. He granted Melissa had every reason to be concerned about Alice Decrux, as the wereraccoon's reputation was well earned and her involvement in the fight that saw Melissa's father get clawed and become a weretiger was proof of that, but to know that she had actually messed with the punch with Love Potion Number Nine was too direct to just be chance. In that, Trevor did get some sense that it might be possible that this "mirror friend" was real. And in the back of his mind, that made it possible that some of what Rachel described might be possible, though he'd have a hard way of explaining it.
"And it might still be hard to explain," Trevor continued, "even for those that would see something special about Moon Lake... not just in its were population. I mean..."
"Your mom kinda described Moon Lake as magical," Melissa commented.
"I always assumed that was more of a metaphor," Trevor admitted, "but then even if we take that as something true... wouldn't that have to mean that normal humans have had prophecy dreams before too? And if so... why didn't they tell weres about it?"
"Maybe outside of Moon Lake... such things might be something only weres have... or occur at such a low rate to be written off as coincidence or women's intuition or something random," Melissa answered, "which would mean normal people moving to Moon Lake might not believe in it."
"Believe in what?" came her father's voice as he came into the room from living room.
"Prophecy dreams... like the ones you said you had about being with Virginia..." Melissa answered.
"I didn't quite believe them at the time," Harold Jenkins commented to his daughter as he looked to make sure that they were doing their homework and not just talking. Noting that the assignments were being filled out, he could accept that, "and the way I joined were society was a bit different from the dreams I had. So... I wouldn't say they were completely accurate if one is to believe in them. What's brought all this on? I could pick up a fair part of it as I finished up with some laundry."
"A friend of Rachel's and her family have moved to Moon Lake, sir," Trevor reported politely, "and has had some premonitions on her parents not taking the Mandatory Were Law well."
"Rachel didn't take it well?" Harold asked to Melissa, "she..."
"She seems fine... fine with the new me and things like that," Melissa answered her father as he sat down at an open chair between her and Trevor, "but she's been nervous about her father's response... that he might do something like try and run..."
"Which if caught, would give the city the right to force their change for violating the Mandatory Were Law," Harold said slowly remembering Samantha Twist saying something of that nature to him when he and Melissa had first arrived. Back then it had unnerved him to the point where he had seriously thought about finding a way to simply run. However, between the costs invested in the move, Harold doubted they could have gotten anywhere without running into greater trouble and thus he'd begrudgingly stayed. Though as he got to know Virginia better and became a were, regardless of the circumstances, many of his objections vanished. In some ways, becoming a were was a gift Harold couldn't say "thank you" enough for.
"Which is what Rachel fears," Melissa explained, "she's had one dream where she was attacked by a werewolf claiming to be her and another last night in which she was told flat out that her father would pull something stupid and her whole family would be forced to become werewolves as a result."
"And while that may not happen often..." Trevor added, "at least so far as I know, a lot of that has been that most new families have found reasons to accept the terms of the Mandatory Were Law and become weres willingly. I might doubt the choice of werewolf, as I would think the city, if forced into that option, would prefer a were-species less... powerful... but as I said, I can't think of a case where it's occurred."
"And Rachel has said she's willing to become a were... but she doesn't want to be a werewolf and is afraid that her father might rob her of that choice," Melissa told her father.
Harold gave a sigh and looked down for a moment, "Well... I did meet her father this morning. I'd gone in to invite the dean to Virginia's and my wedding... and Mr. Van Direstag had showed up and was yelling at someone from the Admissions Office over the Mandatory Were Law. To say that he was frustrated with it was possibly an understatement."
"He didn't hurt anyone? Did he?" Melissa wondered.
"No, but he was clearly frustrated," Harold sighed, "I think I got him to calm down a bit and explain the reason why the Mandatory Were Law is there. I may have my reservations on the law... but that's irrelevant to why the law is presently there and it will likely take time to change the law, if it were to be changed. When we finished, I think he did calm down... but I can't say by how much. That might get him to sit back and think things over... give Rachel time to get everything she needs... or see if there might be something that he and his wife might like and become weres. But I don't know for sure and for the moment, we can only hope."
Melissa only sighed at that.