Normal, But Not

Nova went back to school a week after getting back and everyone treated her weird at first. Then, rumors started to spread about how she had gone crazy and ran off with some guy for the summer. Some said it was a publicity stunt. Others said she was probably partying it up all summer drunk and high. Nova never bothered to comment, neither confirming nor denying the rumors and soon they disappeared.

It took 3 weeks for everything to completely settle down and disappear and now everything is normal. She faked going to parties and watched documentaries instead. The one thing that did change was she stopped going into the garden during the night. Her family had thought Nova had gone to a party, so the police never actually searched back there. No one knew what happened that night and Nova never told them the truth.

Now she had been home for a month and a half and she was completely alone in the house. The second or third time it had happened since coming back. Kelly and Blake had left for college not long after Nova's school started. Carter went and did who knows what every night. Normally, one of her parents would always make sure to stay home, but not recently.

You would think her family would be more protective, but when they saw that she was acting normal they had relaxed. Maybe they were leaning toward believing that she had just got high and ran off for the summer. After all, That wouldn't be surprising for a crazy party girl.

Tonight, she was wearing black denim shorts with a white shirt with long off-shoulder sleeves. A cute yet comfortable outfit used to simply convince her family she was going out tonight. Instead, she was watching a documentary about a wolf pack in Yellowstone Park. They were beautiful creatures and Nova wondered how it would feel to run free as they did. To have large paws propel their powerful bodies through the woods.

A smile crossed her face as she looked up at the full moon. It was just as beautiful tonight as it had been that night. Nova felt at peace like everything would work out. Her eyes shifted back to the computer and pain erupted through her body. She barely noticed her body fall out of the chair as her throat and chest constricted at the pain.

She wanted to scream, but the pain left her silently gasping. Nova's eyes pressed closed as pops and cracks sounded in her room. What was happening? She couldn't focus on anything but the pain, but luckily it soon faded and silence filled her room. Her breath started to come easier as she laid still with her eyes closed.

After a few minutes, the mysterious pain seemed to be completely gone so Nova released a breath and stood up. But it was weird, she was leaning over as if on hands and knees, but her legs were extended. This felt right but wrong. Actually, the feel of her hands pressing into the ground felt weird as well.

Nova's eyes opened and she looked down and saw fur. There were massive furry paws in front of her, right where her hands should've been. She tried to lift her hand and the paw lifted. She placed it back down and the paw responded. Her head swung to look back at her feet and she saw reddish-brown fur extending backward until it dropped off and large paws underneath pressing into the ground.

Her head shot back forward and she swiftly moved to her full body mirror. Staring back at her was a beautiful wolf. Her coat was largely red with black and dark brown mixed in along her back and in her tail. The toes on her front feet were white and her back legs were white all the way up to the equivalent of her ankles. Her bottom jaw was also white and the white spread down her throat down to her chest and slowly faded to red. Her large ears were tipped with black and the wolf's golden eyes stared back at her.

This wolf was beautiful. Nova's heart rate increased as she stared at her reflection. Why was there a wolf where she was supposed to be? What was happening? This is totally not normal. Her eyes couldn't leave the golden one of the wolf's. This was absolutely insane.

'I don't want you to feel anymore insane, but hi!' A voice said. Nova jumped and was about to look around until she realized the voice wasn't from outside, but rather from inside her mind. What the... I think I am going crazy.

'No, you are not going crazy! This is real and I can slightly explain.' The voice spoke up once more.

'Wait, you can hear me?' Nova asked as she realized the voice was responding to her thoughts.

'Of course, I can hear your thoughts, I am in your mind.' the voice said. It was a girl's voice, a bit lower than Nova's but beautiful still.

'Ok, I appreciate the sarcasm and all, but seriously who are you and why am I a wolf.' Nova responded.

'Right! How rude of me, my name is Dawn. I am your wolf spirit, in other words, I have stronger wolf instincts, and it's my job to basically help you with anything. You are a wolf because you are a werewolf and this happens to be your wolf form. Does that make sense?' The voice, Dawn, informed Nova.

Nova nodded her head, her giant wolf head. 'Ok, cool. Nice to meet you, Dawn. Don't totally understand, but I'll figure it out. So, I am a werewolf. Which is kind of cool, but really weird. But how? How did I become a werewolf?'

Dawn was silent for a moment before responding, 'I actually don't really know. All I know is that I showed up suddenly and this is the first time you have actually heard me.'

'Wait, you have been trying to talk to me before?' Nova's eyes widened. How long has Dawn been hidden in her head?

'Well yeah, I had almost given up but then you shifted and I figured I could try again. I am so glad it worked.' Nova said in a no-duh tone. The last part sound more like a breath of relief and happiness.

'Sorry I couldn't hear you before. So, does this mean you are my friend?'

'I hope I can be more than a friend, maybe your best friend?'

Nova grinned widely, it actually looked kind of creepy on her wolfish face though. 'Awesome! I haven't had a best friend before so I would love that. Anyway, can I turn back into a human, and how?'

'Well, you should be able to turn back. I don't really know the rules though. Um, what were you thinking before you became a wolf?' Nova uncertainly suggested.

Nova's head tilted to the side, 'Well, I was watching the wolf documentary and started to wonder how that would feel to run so free like them.'

'Ok, maybe you just need to think the reverse then. How it feels to be human and what you look like.' Nova nodded at her suggestion and closed her eyes. She thought about hands and standing up tall. She pictured her body and pops and cracks filled the room. The pain wasn't like the last time, this time it felt more like the pain when you stretch sore muscles. When her eyes open again, she found herself once more staring into her sea-green eyes.