“Well, what did my mom SAY to you,” asked Dita.
“Just, ah, she wanted you to wait till tomorrow evening.” Heather smiled at her friend. “We’ll be having a sleepover on Friday.”
Dita raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Is that all she said,” Dita asked wryly.
“Dita, trust me. For now, that’s all I can say. I’m sorry,” pleaded Heather.
“Ok, well…here’s my class. Talk to you later, girl!!” Heather waved, smiled, and hurried away.
Dita chuckled, shaking her head. Heather was her best friend and all, but she could be a little weird at times. Dita found her seat in the theology classroom, an advanced placement class taught by Father Mike Brennen. Though Reitz was open to all faiths and denominations or lack therofs , four years of theology was a requirement for graduation.
Dita enjoyed the class even though she was Presbyterian, not Catholic. Father Brennan was only eight years out of the seminary and an excellent if impassioned teacher. A shame, she thought, that such a fine young man had decided on the life of a clergyman. The last year of the theology program concentrated on theological archeology and anthropology, and was apparently designed as an excuse to show movies every Friday to Indiana Jones fans suffering from chronic senioritis.
This week they were concentrating on the archeology of ancient Babylon. Father Brennan wasted few words, picking up right where he had left off yesterday: “We had been saying that Nebuchadnezzar II had been boastful towards God and generally acting like an ass, at least according to the book of Daniel and had been punished accordingly. Was there any tangible evidence other than what is found in scripture, say perhaps some documents that the boss had been acting pretty strange?”
Dita giggled quietly at the last comment, thinking back at what Heather had said. Yeah, her MOM was apparently in a werewolf VIDEO. Why had Heather seemed so solemn about that anyway? Hmm, Heather had also left her mom’s car in tears, was she that embarrassed about it? A big serious conversation, then her mother comes along, and Heather is silent about it.
The priests’ words faded in her ears. Why DID her mother shut her up so tightly?
“…a lack of decrees by the king possibly might be evidence. Anyone else?”
And that sleepover sure came up quickly didn’t it. Usually it was a case of, “Well I don’t mind if she doesn’t mind…If she doesn’t mind, I don’t mind.” This time is was more along the lines of; “Und ve VILL be havink der schleepoveratderfreudenhaus, für die Mütter hatten gesprochen!!”
Weird. And disturbing. It had certainly shaken up her little buddy. Was Heather that put off by seeing her mother, well her mother and a few others disrobe?
“…Daniel was written three to four hundred years after his reign, so there is an excellent chance that what we read in Daniel lost or gained a whole lot in the telling.”
Dita weighed the evidence in her mind. “Oh screw Babylon,” she whispered to herself. Heather had seen a video last night and was obviously disturbed by it or from something she had learned after it, and it was still on her mind according to what she had seen. Dita shook her head, there was no way that Heather, and her mom, could be so circumspect about a simple corny home movie. She bit hard on her inner cheeks. There has to be a lot more to it than she would like.
Physics Honors had been the last course of the day. As the bell rang Heather stood up slowly, her new body hair lightly tickling her lower belly. She headed out to the school driveway, searching for her moms car. Heather soon noticed a figure beside her. Turning she saw that it was Mike Kramer, the second string quarterback and one of the better-looking young men of Reitz. She smiled. “You’re Mike, aren’t you?”
“Certainly,” he replied. “And you are Heather, if I remember correctly. Can I give you a ride home?”
Darn, thought Heather. “Under normal conditions, I’d love a ride home with you, but my mom is expecting me to ride with her.” She touched his arm gently. “Let me give you my phone number and email address. Maybe tomorrow…then?”
Mike nodded, accepting the scrap of paper. “Can I keep you company while you wait?”
“Yeahhh, sure. Do you practice today?”
“Nothing much, just reviewing the plays. I know we shouldn’t be looking ahead, but Anderson doesn’t seem like much in the way of competition.”
“Four – three defense?” He shook his head in disgust. “Five down linemen, one linebacker, and five defensive backs. With Peters carrying the ball outside, we should be able to chew them up. I should be starting the second half if we get an even break.”
“So…um not to put you off or anything, but what made you come up to me today?” Mike’s face relaxed, thinking. “You know…that’s a damn good question. I guess I assumed that you were already seeing someone before, but today it was just like I felt I should talk to you.” He paused. “You’re not going out with anyone are you?”
She shook her head. “Mom wouldn’t let me date till I was seventeen, and since then I’d only been asked out three times. I never dated longer than three weeks.”
Heather saw her mom pulling up and waving her over. “And there is Mom. Hey, um…call me,” she said earnestly.
“Who was that?” Debra asked, curious. “Mom, that was Mike Kramer, he’s a football player”
“I SEE! And what were you talking about?”
“Well, he wanted me to elope with him, but I said that it would have to wait till he was playing for the Colts. No, seriously, he offered to give me a ride home.”
Debra shrugged. “How did your day go?”
Heather shivered, pulling her legs together. “Mom, Lisa took Dita and I to lunch today. She actually picked us up as I was telling her about the DVD, and we drove to Blimpie. Just before we left, she pulled me aside and warned me not to say anything else about it to her. Then she…Mom, she CHANGED me!!”
Debra’s eyebrows shot up. “How so?”
“Mom…I grew fur, between my legs and under my arms. I called her up before I went to class and she changed it back to hair, but she said I shouldn’t shave it.”
Debra nodded. “Not a good idea. She’s right there.”
“Is she as powerful as she says?”
“Absolutely, Heather. She is our Alpha, and we support her fully. Don’t worry though, she’s as sweet as pack leader as you know her from before. Just don’t get on her bad side.” Debra scratched her daughter’s neck. “Are you starting to accept what I told you about yourself?”
“Mom, no. I don’t WANT this. Changing into a dog does not appeal to me in the least. You understand that, don’t you?
“Of course I understand it honey. But there is nothing you or I can do to stop it, and I am sorry about that.” She stroked Heather’s head. “It will be all right.”
They drove up to the house. “Mom, I’m going to bed for a bit.”
Heather ran up to her room, locking the door. She took a deep breath and pulled off her clothes, standing in front of the mirror.
“Oh. My God.” Heather sobbed quietly to herself. Thick, tightly curled hair covered her abdomen spreading from one hip to the other and hid the skin of her armpits. The black curls made a muffled crunching sound as she probed through it. Turning sideways in the mirror, the mass of hair puffed out a full two inches, from a couple of inches below her navel to a few inches spilling onto her inner thighs.
“I have to get rid of some of this,” she thought desperately. She grabbed a pair of scissors, and then froze. “I don’t want it to get any thicker.” Heather took a deep breath. She DID look pretty cute with that big triangle on her belly. Running her fingers through the hair, she marveled at the thickness and texture. Her hand dipped lower through the hair, but she stopped herself. She had homework to do.
As she fell asleep that night, Heather thought that it was worth the wait.