Eric Anderson found it difficult to fall back asleep, even after being told by his mother to do so.
He laid in bed, thinking about everything that had happened to his family since moving to Moon Lake, and what Nate told him of recent events.
Dad's a werefox now, and there's still a werevixen after him. Nate will be a werewolf after next weekend, and Mom's new friends are werecats. What kind of place is this?
Being just 14 and on the edge of puberty was bad enough. But this...?
Although he felt like ignoring it, Eric got up when the alarm clock rang and got ready for school.
After getting dressed for the day, he went downstairs to discover Samantha and her wife Frances (the fact that they were also a married lesbian couple didn't bother him), Nate, his father and mother all gathered around the breakfast table. All were looking normal, in other words: human, but Samantha's outfit looked like it had seen much better days.
Everyone but his dad was talking about something, but suddenly stopped when Eric entered.
"Hi son," said Martha, kissing her child on top of his forehead, "did you sleep well?"
"As well as can be expected," he replied, sitting down in his usual chair at the table.
As his mother served breakfast, Martha said, "There's a couple of things I need to tell you."
"Okay," said Eric, wondering what was going on.
"First off, your father and I will both be out tonight. He has... a school function to attend and Samantha and Frances have decided that I need a... girls' night out," said Martha, not knowing how to tell her youngest son the truth.
Puzzled, Eric looked at her. "So that means..." he began, dreading the answer.
"You and Nate are getting to be big boys. Almost men. So the two of you can stay home alone tonight," said Martha. "But no shenanigans. And the Twist's son Ben will be staying here over night too."
"What time will you and dad be back?" Eric asked.
"We don't know," was William's answer, finally speaking. "That's why the three of you will be keeping each other company."
"I'll leave money for pizzas," added Martha. "I'm sure Ben knows a couple of good places to choose from."
Eric didn't mind that part, but then realized, "Does this mean Nate and Ben are going to hog the TV all night watching monster and horror movies on the DVD player? That's all Nate did the last time you left us alone."
"If there's anything you want to see tonight, just let me know and we'll work around that," promised Nate.
That was weird, thought Eric. Nate was actually willing to share the TV and interrupt whatever movie marathon he might have planned. Something wasn't right here, but what could it be?
The Anderson brothers caught the school bus in front of their house, before it stopped a moment later to pick up Ben in front of his place.
The older boys shared a bus seat, excitedly talking about their plans for the evening while Eric sat alone in the seat behind them, trying to doze.
At one point, Eric thought he heard Nate say something in a low voice to Ben about what their mothers were going to do tonight, but didn't catch what it was.
All he could swear to was that Ben thought it was "Awesome" with Nate in full agreement.
At school, Eric managed to get through his first three classes without any problems.
Then it was lunch time. For whatever reason, their mom didn't make any lunches today, so gave each of her sons plenty of money to buy a meal at school.
While the school meal came with milk, Eric got a small soda out of the vending machine. He wasn't too crazy about drinking them on a regular basis, but thought he could use one now for the caffeine, like why adults drank coffee.
As he sat and began to eat, his new friend Julie came over and sat down next to him to eat her lunch.
Eric couldn't help noticing the pretty blonde with the sharp blue eyes. Yet she was also kind of brainy like him, although neither teenager would come right out and admit they were nerds.
They exchanged hellos and started talking about their school day so far. Julie warned him of a possible pop quiz in history, which he had later in the day than her. He told her about an essay in science that would be due the following Monday. While they were both freshmen and the same age, they didn't have any classes together, but did share a couple of the same teachers.
Then Julie noticed that Eric didn't seem quite himself today. "What's wrong?" she asked.
After telling her about Nate and events with his father, Eric added, "And my mom is now hanging around with a couple of werecats."
"Is that bad?" she asked in return.
"I don't know," admitted Eric. "What if she decides to become a werecat herself?" he asked, not knowing how close to the truth he really was.
"So? It's not like your mom would be the first person to ever move to Moon Lake and decided to become a were," said Julie, before taking another bite of her sandwich.
"With Nate's ceremony next weekend, dad's... incident, and mom's interest, where does that leave me?" asked Eric.
"Your brother and your parents will still love you, even if they are weres and you're not," said Julie. "You've only been here about a week or two, right?"
Eric nodded his head yes.
"There's been a lot going on and you haven't had a break yet. Tell you what. I'm having a pool party tomorrow. Why don't you come over and have some fun for a change," suggested Julie.
"I don't know," Eric said, and then stopped to think about it. Nate had his pre-ceremony meeting with his future pack leader to go to tomorrow, and he didn't know when his parents would be home. "Where do you live?" he asked.
When Julie gave him her address, Eric realized, "That's only a couple of blocks from my house. How come I never see you on the school bus?"
"Most of the time, one of my folks has to be at work early, so they usually drop me off on their way," answered Julie. "How I get home depends upon their schedules too."
Then suddenly, it dawned on Eric to ask her the one question he should, but wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer to. "Julie, are you a were anything?"
"While not all your meetings with them so far have been fun, being a were isn't necessarily a bad thing," replied Julie. "It just means you can physically be more than just a human being."
Then the school bell rang, indicating that freshmen lunch was over and they had to get to their next class.
"But are you a were?" asked Eric, as they both got up from their chairs at the lunch table.
Julie turned to look at her friend. "Does it matter?" she asked in return, before leaving the lunch room.
Eric Anderson went to his next class, wondering whether or not it actually did.