Lamia's Dream

Chapter 26

Of all the classes to have a group project in, math was the worst.  We had to come up with a way that the quadratic equation was used in the real world.  This was stupid to me.  Everyone knew the math we learned had no such uses. 

Samantha tried to explain to me how the quadratic equation could be used to show the trajectory of a ball in the air.  I nodded my head the whole time.  I was good at doing math, not applying it.  Once Samantha helped me set the equations up, I worked them out while she worked on drawing our football and athletes on the poster board. 

We made small talk.  Samantha politely asked if I had any trouble sleeping, out of fear of the Hunter showing up.  I told her I didn’t, which was true. 

“Did Valerie tell you about that trickster guy?”

"The Indian guy in a suit?  She did.  We laughed.”

My face flushed.  “I was being serious.”

Samantha smiled.  “I know.  It’s just a funny situation don’t you think?”

“I guess,” I said.  I jotted down the next step of the equation, before adding, “I figured you would be worried.  There’s another person- human or not- who knows your secret.”

Samantha shrugged.  “I’m not worried about him being a physical threat.  The girls and I can take care of ourselves.  The Hunter caught Valerie off guard because she was really upset.  It won’t happen again.” Then, giving me a certain look, she added, “and I’m more worried about other students knowing our secret.”

“He knew a lot more than I did.  I had totally forgotten Valerie mentioned your ability to transform.”

Samantha’s face twisted.  “Yeah, well.  We gain that ability later.”

She went back to drawing.

“Hmm.  You know Samantha, I may be socially handicapped, but I have noticed a change in you and Valerie whenever I mention it.”

“Well aren’t you the social Sherlock,” she replied, still looking down at her paper. 

“Is transforming one of your dream magic abilities?”

Samantha looked up, her brown eyes searching mine to determine if they were trustworthy.  She let out a sigh.  “We can’t take on our other form until we lose our virginity,” she whispered.

An explosion went off in my brain, followed quickly by an enormous mushroom cloud. 

“What?”

Samantha nodded.

“All of you?”      

She nodded again.

“Even Lynn?”

Samantha sighed.  “Yes, Miles.  When we were younger, we took a pact that we would remain virgins until after high school.  The transformation comes with undesirable side effects to our human form.”

“Like…”

Samantha tapped the eraser end of her pencil against the poster board.  “An insatiable sex drive for one thing,” she said, her voice still low.  “That part lasts for a few weeks to a few months, depending on the Succubus.”

The mushroom cloud of my brain had not yet disappeared.  The most desirable girls of the junior class were all virgins.  All the guys they had dated and not one… it was too much.  How could girls with such sex appeal still be virgins?  Not that being a virgin was a bad thing.  If anything, it kind of evened the playing field between Valerie and me.  At least a little bit.