Maddy Cool

Told from Rhydian's perspective.

"Maddy."

She didn't respond, leaning further forward in her seat. The human world felt a bit strange after the first transformation, that I could relate to. She didn't seem to be struggling though, she seemed to be energetic. Too energetic. What was she going to do?

"Maddy."

Her head turned slightly in my direction, her eyes staying fixed on the stage. I could hear her heart pounding in her chest, as though she was desperate to escape the hall. However, if she had wanted to leave, surely she would have just done it? No, I thought. She wouldn't just run out of school. That's what you would do.

"Are you ok, Mads?"

She continued to ignore me, her heart rate increasing more and more. What was wrong with her? More importantly, why wasn't she talking to me? The entire point of our friendship was to share our secrets, our feelings. No, I thought. It wasn't. The entire point of our friendship had been teaching me about my heritage, my species. When had it turned into a lovey-dovey Shakespeare play?

The hall erupted in cheers for Kay as she began her dancing solo. I sighed, considering whether I really did want to walk out. But I didn't, not really; Maddy was here. Why did that girl have so much hold over me?

"Maddy?"

She jumped up out of her seat, disregarding me completely.

"What's she doing?"

Tom piped up from behind me, only now realising something was wrong. I suppose I couldn't blame him; he was only human after all. I shrugged my shoulders and, for the first time in a while, my confusion was genuine. What on Earth was she doing?

Maddy jumped up onto the stage, her hair flying wildly behind her. She was going to take over the stage. I took a deep breath, silently irritated that I'd need to give her a lecture. She was meant to do the lecturing.

The cheering got louder now, the humans seeing her act as one of rebellion. I knew better; it was her energy returning after her transformation, making up for the blues before it. I should have prepared her for it. No. Her parents should have.

"Maddy!"

I tried shouting her again, knowing full well that it wouldn't change anything. She'd given in to her urges, there was no bringing her back now. I sat back in my seat, defeated.

Maddy's name was being chanted now, to the dismay of the K's, who looked crestfallen. They shouted Kay's name, desperately trying to swing the attention back to their friend. I ignored them, focusing more on Shannon behind me, who was insisting that Maddy couldn't dance. Of course, she was right. Maddy couldn't dance. This wasn't Maddy though; her wolf had taken over.

If there was any doubt that Maddy had lost control, it disappeared in an instant. Her eyes flashed, displaying her other half for the world to see. Nobody had seen, of course, as they were too focused on her dance moves. In that moment, I thanked the universe that human beings had a terrible attention to detail.

"Did you see?"

Shannon whispered to Tom behind me, and I tried to look as cool as possible. She had seen! Maddy was still a contender for Shannon's beast on the moors, she was just throwing fuel on the fire! More than once, Maddy had scolded me about exposure, yet she was going to be the end of us. It was so ironic, I tried not to laugh.

I turned to look at Tom, trying to look as surprised as possible. Really, I was just seeing how he'd reacted to Shannon's statement. It appeared, however, that he hadn't given it much thought. His eyes, like mine, were apparently on Maddy the entire time.