• "Damn... That's why you're such a badass?" he asked.
    "Yeah, I guess," I said. "Being the reason for your mom's death does that to you."
    "Oh. My. Goddess. I would die if I was the reason that my mom died! How do you live through that?"
    "I uh, I have worse memories. Lots worse. And if I think about them, I don't feel so bad about the fire."
    "Damn, you got balls, girl. I cried for a friggin' week when my goldfish died."
    "Uh, thanks? So why don't we check out campus before this gets akward." I said quickly.
    "Wait! Then what's your worst memory?" he asked.
    "Maybe later," I said. "Let's just say it's better if left alone."
    "Please?" he begged. "Please please please please PLEASE?!"
    "NO," I barked. "Dammit. It just got akward. Thanks dude." I muttered. I walked toward the door, Skyler trailing close behind.
    "Ok, so our schedules are pretty similar, so I can help you out a lot. Most of the essential classes are in one corridor, like history, literature, earth science, and stuff like that." He launched into a frenzy of listing all of the teachers, their personalities, how easy or tough the classes are, and crap like that. I only caught about half of it.
    "So I can pick fencing and animal science or chemistry and theater? Hell, I'll go with the fencing and animal sci."
    "Sweet. Animal sci is pretty easy. All you do is take care of them and do studies about their lives. And they even let you take care of them! Once, they let a vampire take care of a tiger cub! It's awesome. And fencing with Mr. Lankford is tough. It's a b***h on your thighs with all the lunges that you have to do. But it's rewarding 'cuz the best can go to the championships against other immortal schools. We've won the championships 24 years running."
    "Damn. Are there any extra-curricular classes or sports?" I asked. "At the last school I was at, I was #1 on the softball and hockey teams."
    "Yeah. We have baseball, softball, hockey, football, soccer, swimming, track and field, wrestling, and archery," he said. "And we have a few academic teams, and a photography and art class. I'm in photography after classes. It's pretty fun. And it's a pretty empty class; not a lot of people think it's 'cool' enough for them. a**-holes."
    "I'll check it out. It sounds pretty cool to me." I said. "And I'm awesome at archery. I'll actually like my classes."
    "Yay! I'm glad! Hey, let's go meet some of my friends. They usually hang in the parlor." he said gleefully. He led me down a long hall, down 2 flights of stairs, and through a pair of french doors. When we walked in, everyone on the room turned their heads towards us. Most of them didn't give a second glance at Sky, but I seemed to catch the rest. Everyone there was either a student or an animal. There were shapeshifters with their genetic animals, vampires with their pets (commonly cats and reptiles), and werewolves with dogs or puppies.
    "Everybody, this is Scarlett Montgomery. She's new here, so can you make her feel welcome?" he announced. Wow, thanks. Why can't I just sit in the back and watch everyone else socialize?
    "Uh, hi." I said like a total idiot. Skyler could tell that I was uncomfortable.
    "Thanks, so much guys. Way to help a brother out. Jeesh." He led me over to a table with a few people at it. One girl looked up at us. She looked nice enough. She had layered light brown hair and sharp, golden eyes.
    "Hiya! I'm Shayna Munson, but call me Shay. I bet you can tell, but I'm a hawk-shifter. Welcome to River Bend! I'll introduce you to our group. Sitting by that window is Kurt. He's a werewolf," Kurt had sandy blonde hair and green eyes.
    "Hello. Nice to meet you." He extended his hand towards me, as if to shake it. I took his hand, and as soon as he had a good hold on it, he dragged me over and licked me from my wrist, all the way up to my elbow.
    "Eew! Thanks, dude, I really needed that." I said in disgust, as the table burst into laughter.
    "And next to me with the black hair is Raven. She's a vampire." she told me, desperately trying not to giggle. "And that's the crew." she finished as Raven reached over and b***h-slapped Kurt.
    "Ow! That hurt!" he yelped, clutching his hand to his face.
    "Good," smirked Raven. "It was supposed to. Sorry about that, he likes tormenting the female species."
    "Relax, baby! It's in my nature. I am a predator. And you are the prey." he said, trying to sound cool.
    "Yeah, internet predator..." I said to myself.
    "Nice one," said Shay. "He's a total geekoid when it comes to the internet. He's hacked the school system 4 times."
    "Five times, thank you. I'd like to keep that status established." he said with obvious pride. The group laughed at the stupid remark, including me.
    "s**t, first bell's gonna ring in about 20 minutes. I'm gonna go upstairs and get ready for class." said Shay. "See you guys later." She leapt off the arm of the couch and jogged through the double doors.