Surviving Specter High: Werewolves 101

7 ~ Vampire Pumpkins

I pinched my nose and recoiled. "Ew. What is that?"

"What? It's breakfast."

"It smells like canned dogfood."

"What? No way." He then took a bite and chewed on the squishy substance. I could only imagine what his breath would smell like afterward.

Finally, I couldn't stand seeing him torture his intestines, so I cut my greasy burger in half with a plastic knife. There were enough fries to fill me up until lunch. "Here, let's share."

"Just throw it under the table. He'll eat off the floor," a monotone voice interrupted.

Asher was standing there with his soup can helmet and sipping casually on both straws. Today, he was wearing a black hoodie printed with the words: Mornings Suck. Was that some kind of vampire pun?

"At least I don't drink from a sippy cup strapped to my head!" Rusty grumbled with his ears pinned back.

Asher ignored him and sat down beside me with a book titled 101 Facts About Humans by Reginald von Fae.

"What'cha reading?" I peered over his shoulder.

"I dunno. It's just somethin' I picked up the other day."

Rusty was clearly fuming because his nose was scrunched up. Ignoring him, I read a few of the "fun facts" from the book.

Fact #72: A human's natural habitat is on their couch in front of their television.

Fact #73: For a human relationship to survive, the two must be in harmony on the positioning of the toilet paper roll.

Fact #74: To a human, a spider is a very deadly threat that strikes terror into their hearts.

Well, I had to admit. That last one was true—at least for me.

"Do you seriously believe this stuff?" I asked.

"No, I'm gathering research on how stupid the fairies are," Asher simply replied.

"Hey, don't lean in so close to his mouth!" Rusty warned.

Asher scoffed. "If I wanted to bite her, I'da done it when she got off the bus. I could smell her a mile away."

"Wait, do I smell bad?" I worried.

"Don't encourage him!" Rusty barked.

Finally, I decided to change the subject. "Oh, that reminds me. I wanted to ask you a favor." I turned to Rusty.

"You don't have to say you wanna ask me a favor. Just talk. Don't be so formal."

I smiled. "Okay, then can you come to my tower after school?"

"You mean your bedroom?!"

Suddenly, Asher choked on his iron-fortified soup.

"Yeah, I need someone to help me clean. It's really dusty, and it was giving me allergies last night."

"Oh. Yeah. Sure. I mean, I can't believe they put you in a filthy place, but I'm startin' to think this place is pretty shady."

"You shouldn't be alone with a werewolf," Asher cryptically warned. "Especially one you just met."

"And what? A vampire's better?" he snarled.

"Do you know what happens when werewolves get angry? They become malformed."

Malformed?

"Don't listen to him!" Rusty shot back. "He's the guy that listens to faeries give facts about humans. Like he knows anything."