Fire And Ice

Chapter 53 - Birthday

Natalia's P. O. V

I almost didn't want to get out of bed.

From the lack of sunlight trying to penetrate the curtains, I could tell it was gonna be a cloudy day, and the birds weren't chirping as much as they had during the summer through to about a week ago.

Hailey and Kaesha both had classes early today, so they'd apologetically slept in the dorms, not that they'd been around much lately anyway. Added to Timothy having left for our territory three weeks ago, the house was devoid of all breath besides my own.

'At least it's peaceful.'

One year, Brittany and her posse had found out my birthdate and made it their mission to dunk me with any liquid they could find throughout the week. Ice water, honey, liquid soap, the chilli sauce I'd cooked in advance for the pack, vomit from someone at one of their parties, and finally manure I'd already cleaned up from their farm animals. They'd gotten progressively worse till my birthday and had made sure to dunk me either in the middle of class, or during my chores on the weekend. And, of course, I'd also had to clean the messes up or there'd be hell to pay.

I glanced at my alarm clock, somehow hoping to confirm the date as the one I already knew, October twenty-first.

It was ridiculous, but I wanted to run to my vanity table and look for changes. I wanted to inspect my being, to see if I was still just... me. Instead, I laid there, letting the seconds crawl by as I stared at my ceiling.

My alarm finally rang. I closed my eyes and swung my feet to the floor. The ground was chilly as I walked over to my mirror, my eyes still closed, only opening them when the ringing stopped.

Nothing had changed.

I was still brunette, my black roots barely noticeable. My eyes still swirled with their ember colour, but I had no doubt my regular contacts would work just fine. My body hadn't gained any new dimensions and my height had gone absolutely nowhere.

But what did I really expect?

My disappointment was unreasonable. Of course, nothing had changed overnight.

I was a Werewolf.

'Happy birthday, Nat. I'm sorry you didn't get what you wanted.'

I turned away from the mirror, and started on my morning routine, 'Thanks Candy. Don't worry about it, we both knew it was never gonna happen.'

Soon enough, I was in my first class of the day. As the day dragged on, I spent most of the time sitting next to any study group members that were present, taking notes. During my last lecture of the morning, the lecturer stepped out, so Beth brought up the topic of our Halloween plans.

"I think I might attend the party my sorority's throwing." Ada mused.

Beth giggled, "Finally got time for them?"

"At least I'm better than our Presido over here." Ada gestured to Annya, "I don't think you've seen any of their faces since they let you in."

Annya laughed, "Guess I've just been occupied."

"An understatement if I ever heard one." Ada quipped.

We laughed.

Ada turned to me, "What about you, Ava?"

I shrugged, "I'm not really big on Halloween. Might just watch some horror movies with my sister or something."

"You should come for the party." She suggested.