My name's Myer West, I'm eighteen years old and the story I'm about to tell you is a little strange. Scratch that. It's pretty damn weird actually. It all started on Halloween.
I was lying in my bed in my orange hoodie and blue jeans. My buddy Julio Cortez, a half Mexican, half black young man of eighteen in a red karate gi burst through my door. He was accompanied by a family friend Nicole Brice. A blonde mid sixties white woman in a green blouse and khakis. They came into my room to drag me out of my bed. Why? You might ask. Well I had spent the past week mourning the loss of my mother. Long story short she was all I had after my dad left. Well aside Nicole.
Anyway they had both stormed into my room. Julio grabbed my arm and held it behind my back, while Nicole grabbed me by the ear. She's surprisingly strong for a woman in her mid sixties.
"Hey let me go!" I cried out.
"Oh no. Sorry Myer, but the pitty party is over. You've been in here a week. You barely eat or sleep anymore. There's a whole world out there. And you did promise Sabrina you'd go to her party."
"Come on Myer. Just think of all the fine chikas we'll get to meet." Julio ran his free hand through his dreadlocks.
"Pass." I replied.
Nicole smiled that malicious smile of hers. If you ever happen to meet her, stay on her good side. She once stopped two armed robbers from robbing a grocery store. Then she gave them both one hell of a lecture. Now they both work for that same grocery store. True story. Anyway I'm getting a bit off topic here. She smiled then twisted my ear and yanked me to the front door. "You're going to that party and that's final." And she threw me out the front door. Then she turned to Julio. "The two of you don't come back until he has a good time. Am I clear?"
Julio saluted her. "Aye captain!" He joked.
I reluctantly joined Julio to the party. Once there I found a quiet corner to sit in. I watched the crowd while Julio went to get us some snacks.This was absurd. I didn't need a mother hen. I needed time to process.
He wasn't gone long. "Come on man. I miss her too." He started. "Hey, remember when we were thirteen and she took us to the zoo?"
"And I did that balancing act on the railing over the otter pool for Amy Madison." I continued.
"Then you fell in and and got banned for like a year." He added.
"On the way home she said 'You're in hot otter mister.' Lamest joke she ever made but I still laughed."
Suddenly there was a loud crash. We looked over at the DJ table where a thick voluptuous light skinned black girl knocked over a tray of spare wires the DJ had sitting on his table. She had on a simple brown dress, brown slippers with fuzzy puffy balls. A set of wolf ears and a wolf tail that actually wagged. Evidently it was the tail that knocked over the tray. She apologized over and over to the DJ.
"Now that's a fine chicka." Said Julio.
And I had to agree. She was beautiful. And I couldn't put my finger on it but there was something different about her.
"I'm gonna go talk to her." He said handing me his bowl of chips as he left.
I shook my head knowing he'd most likely strike out. But who knows. I made my way out to the balcony and look up towards the mountain. A minute later I heard someone headed my way.
"I'm sorry, but I'm just not interested." It was the werewolf girl from the DJ's table.
I could just hear Julio say. "Shot down again."
I chuckled at this.
Then she turned and saw me. Up close I could see she had a pleasant smile and her eyes were yellow. Most likely contact lenses for her costume. "Hello." She said walking over to me.
"Hi. I see you managed to fend off Julio's advances." I teased.
"Who?" She asked.
"My friend in the red karate gi." I smiled.
She giggled. "Your friend is very persistent."
"It's just part of his charm." Then I looked her up and down. "Nice werewolf costume."
She frowned a bit. "Thank you but it's a wolf costume."
"My mistake."
"It's ok. Everyone seems to make that mistake. So, what are you supposed to be in that orange hoodie?" She leaned on the railing next to me.
"In mourning." Yeah, probably not the best response.
"I'm sorry." She said quickly holding her hand to her mouth.
"No I'm the one who should be sorry. You didn't know and that was kinda rude of me."
She shrugged. "Who did you lose?"
"My mother. She was murdered about a week ago." Yeah I may have glossed over that detail because I was already being a bit of a drama lama.
"My God. I'm sorry for your loss." She looked so sad.
"Thanks. Sorry I guess I'm just not in the Halloween sprit."
"I love Halloween. It's the one night I get to be myself." She sighed. "The one night mama let's me do anything fun."
"She's pretty strict, huh?" I asked.
"Oh, you would not believe."
I decided to change the subject "So are you new in town?"
"Not exactly." She scooted closer to me. I could feel her tail brushing my leg. "I've lived here my whole life."
"I've never seen you in town or at school."
"My family lives a bit outside of town. They're not too fond of h. . people." She looked up the mountain.
"So does your mom home school you?"
"Something like that." She scooted even closer so that our elbows touched. "But I finished schooling a while ago."
I couldn't help but be drawn to her for some reason. I looked into those big yellow eyes of her's and did something that would change both our lives forever, though we wouldn't find out for a while. "Let me try this again. I'm Myer. Nice wolf costume."
She chuckled . Then a moment later she smiled at me as she placed her hand on mine. "My name's Amera. It's nice to meet you Myer."
There was a loud bong from the town clock. It read 10:00 PM.
She jumped. "Is that the time? I have to go!" She turned to leave.
"Wait. Can I see you again?" I asked trying not to sound too desperate.
"Like in courtship?" She asked.
"Well we call it dating. But yeah." I guess her family's really old school.
"Well. . . " She thought about it for a moment. "Yes. When and where do we meet?" She asked.
I pointed to the base of the mountain. "You see that house all the way at the back. That's my mom's boarding house. Well I guess its mine now. Tomorrow night around seven?"
She smiled. "I'll try to be there." And then she left.