A wild rabbit suddenly hops across the oval. I feel my teeth elongate, and Janie gasps, letting go of my arm as she sees the blue in my eyes brighten. I remove my hands, covering my lips, and Janie’s mouth gapes as she sees my canine teeth. I let out a low growl, watching the rabbit.
‘No, Rose. You have to control yourself. Take a deep breath,’ she says. But my primal instincts are too strong. I bolt into a run and chase after the rabbit, growling. Everyone peers out from their car windows in amazement at the speed I’m running. Many take their phones and record.
‘What is going on?’ Brad asks, confused at my behaviour.
Janie laughs nervously, ‘Rose has been training to be an elite runner ever since she could walk,’ she lies to Xander and Brad.
Xander senses the lie.
‘Why is she running after that rabbit like a wild dog?’ Xander asks.
‘Oh, erm. You see, Rose has always wanted a pet rabbit. So, now is the chance for her to have one,’ she lies again and turns to look at me.
Janie then removes her high heels and chases after me, ‘Let me help you catch that rabbit,’ Janie shouts and forces a terrible growl sound.
I chase the rabbit into the woodland with Janie behind me. As I see a clearing, the moon is in my full sight, and I howl.
Brad freezes on the spot, ‘Is that a wolf howling?’ he asks Xander.
‘That is something more powerful than a wolf,’ Xander replies, and with fear for Janie’s safety, he blinks, disappearing from Brad’s sight.
As I let out a third resounding howl, my foot snags on a log, causing me to trip and tumble down a slope. Janie catches up to me, panting heavily as I sit up, groaning in pain. Suddenly, I feel a sharp sting in my leg, and Janie shrieks in horror.
‘Rose! Something is sticking out of your leg!’ she exclaims.
I look down to where Janie is pointing and see a stick lodged in my leg, just above the knee. Blood oozes from around the wound, dripping onto the ground.
‘I'll call an ambulance,’ Janie says, her voice trembling with anxiety.
‘No!’ I insist, and she pauses, unsure what to do.
Taking a deep breath, I grit my teeth and tug the stick out of my leg, wincing in agony. The pain fades as I clench my eyes shut, and I feel a warm, tingling sensation spreading throughout my body. When I open my eyes, Janie and I are both stunned as we witness the wound closing up and disappearing before our very eyes.
‘Did your leg just heal on its own?’ Janie asks, her voice tinged with disbelief.
‘So, I'm not hallucinating then?’ I reply, equally incredulous.
‘Rose, you have the power to heal,’ Janie says.
‘How is that even possible?’ I ask her, still reeling from what had just transpired.
Janie shrugs her expression one of bewilderment. Suddenly, the sound of crunching leaves alerts us to the presence of someone behind us, and we scream, hugging each other.
‘Why are you screaming? It’s just me,’ Xander says, staring at us.
Janie and I fake laugh, stand up, and brush the dirt from our dresses, looking a complete mess.
‘Do I dare ask?’ he says, staring between us.
‘No,’ we reply simultaneously.
‘Well, in case you didn’t hear, there’s a were-, I mean a wolf out here. We need to get back to the car where it’s safe,’ he tells us and takes Janie’s hand.
I follow directly behind them until we reach the oval, where Brad waits for us. ‘What happened to you? Are you okay? You’re hurt. You have blood on your leg,’ he says, lifting me onto his car's bonnet.
‘You didn’t tell me you were hurt,’ Xander says, annoyed as he tries subtly pushing Brad out of the way.
They both stare at my leg, trying to find the wound. I place my hand over the area, ‘Look, it’s nothing, just a scratch. You can barely even see it,’ I lie.
Xander narrows his eyes at me, ‘That’s a lot of blood from scratch,’ he says.
Janie comes to my rescue and takes Xander’s hand, ‘Rose is fine. The wound isn’t that bad. Now let’s get in the cars and watch the movie. We’ve already missed half of it,’ she says, pulling him away to his car.
‘Xander,’ Brad says, stopping them in their tracks. ‘You said that howl wasn’t from a wolf. What was it then?’ he asks, confused.
Janie and I jolt, giving each other a knowing look.
‘A wild wolf,’ Xander replies and gets in his car, slamming the door shut.
My shoulders drop with relief. Of course, Xander wouldn’t know it was the werewolf side of me and wouldn’t know werewolves existed anyway. I feel silly for even thinking Xander was going to tell Brad it was a werewolf.
Brad helps me into his car and gets in the other side, ‘Are you sure you’re okay, Rose?’
‘I’m fine,’ I smile at him, hold his hand, grateful for his concern, and realise I want to spend much more time with him. Maybe having boyfriends isn’t such a bad idea after all.
We arrive home, and before I get out of the car, Brad takes my hand, ‘I had a wonderful night tonight,’ he says. ‘Can I walk you to the front door?’ he asks.
‘Yeah, I guess so,’ I shrug.
Brad smiles, gets out of the car, and opens my door before taking my hand to help me out.
I hear Janie giggling across the road behind me as Xander walks her to her front door.
As I unlock my front door to enter, Brad spins me around, his eyes staring into mine, ‘Before you go, Rose, I was wondering if you’d let me take you out on another date? This time just you and me?’ he says.
I smile and nod, ‘Okay.’
‘May I kiss you?’ he asks.
‘I suppose so,’ I shrug again.
Brad laughs before inching his face closer to mine until our eyes close and our lips meet, feeling the softness and warmth of each other’s lips. His hands tighten on my waist as my hands explore his back, as the intensity of the kiss increases. Finally, we break apart, and the sensual desire between us still looms around us.
Brad pulls his phone from his pocket and hands it to me, ‘Could you add your number to my phone,’ he smiles.
I nod and type it in, handing it back to him. ‘Good night, Brad,’ I smile.
‘Goodnight, Rose,’ he says, taking a few steps backwards and returning to his car.
I lock the door behind me and run upstairs straight onto my balcony to see Janie standing on hers. The cars drive away, and Janie and I squeal, jumping up and down on the spot, ‘We kissed!’ we both shout to each other.
I remove the scarf around my head and untie the rope, freeing my tail that wags happily from our date.