Hair in All The Wrong Places (24 page)

“Colin!”

I love her voice.

Becca ran over to meet Colin, and they kissed. Because they could. Much to the anger, frustration, and disapproval of Mr. Emerson. Colin could smell his displeasure as he watched from the driver's seat of his car. Colin gave him a small wave and nodded politely. “Do you think your dad is ever going to like me?”

“Well, you did hurt a lot of his men.”

“True.”

“You did knock him out.”

“He was going to shoot me!”

“Don't worry. I still like you.”

“That's all that really matters.”

They kissed again. Because they could.

“Enough, please, yuck, gross, and just no!” said Jeremy jokingly as he joined them.

“Morning, Jer,” said Colin.

The three of them headed into the school where people either greeted Colin or avoided him like the plague
because they were mentally and emotionally scarred by what he was.

It didn't matter to Colin. In fact, he was more popular now than he'd ever been. Turns out that he had cracked the formula for turning from zero to hero in the eyes of middle-school students: you just have to eat the teacher everyone hates the most.

The school day passed quickly. Class schedules had been rewritten so the goth twins and Colin never had class together. Much to Becca's relief, Tori had also been removed from Colin's class schedule as her abilities as a siren played havoc with his senses. Gareth Dugan had also requested a class switch, afraid Colin would inflict some sort of terrible revenge on the bully who had made his life miserable for over a year. Colin didn't intend on doing anything of the sort, but it gave him a certain amount of pleasure that Gareth was terrified of him.

Becca and Colin said good-bye at the school gate and agreed to meet up later for a movie night at Jeremy's house. Being a powerful werewolf did wonders for Colin's self-confidence; no longer an introvert, he'd become far more social. It also helped to date the cool, creepy redheaded chick at school.

As he walked home, he pondered everything that had happened. Yes, he'd killed someone. But it was a bad someone, so that's okay, right? Colin had asked Silas how the change would affect his life, worried it was the werewolf that now made him who he was, and if that was the case, was he still himself? Silas had a simple answer, as he always seemed to.

“You're worried how it'll change you as a person?”
said Silas. “That's easy. It doesn't. Whatever you are inside, whoever you were before I bit you and turned you into a werewolf, that's still who you are today. You always had the potential to be whatever you wanted to be. Everyone does. Whether you step up and make the decision to use that potential, well, that's the difference. That's what makes you who you are. It's you making the choice to be something!”

The rain was falling heavily by the time Colin got home, and he decided to have a shave and a quick shower before dinner. As he dried off and looked at himself in the mirror, Colin realized that Silas was right. He could still see the same person in the reflection. Sure, he had more hair and yes he had muscles now, and his eyes had that crazy amber-colored tint to them. But he was still the same person.

This year he'd stolen a car, been bitten by a giant wolf, turned into a werewolf, eaten his biology teacher, and been drafted into a secret government organization.

This is my life as a teenage werewolf.

He wiped a hand across the mirror to clear the condensation. “Not a loser,” said Colin.

His reflection agreed.

THE END

(until the next full moon)

When I was young, my Dad used to record movies that were on late at night past my bedtime so I could watch them the next day. Movies like
Abbott and Costello Meet the Wolfman
and
An American Werewolf in London
birthed an interest in the popular hairy creature of the night and twenty five-ish years later, I finally wrote the result of that interest, this novel. With that in mind I need to thank my Dad for filling countless VHS tapes with movies and my Mum for allowing me to watch them (even though such viewing led me to the terrifying belief that there were gremlins living under my bed from age 7-10).

Particular thanks to my agent Mark Gottlieb at the Trident Media Group for his guidance and for believing in my work and helping me shape the tone and voice of the novel. Special thanks to Georgia McBride, Tara Creel, and the team at Month9Books and Tantrum books for their dedication, commitment, and hard work in making this novel the best it can be.

Finally, special thanks to my family for their constant love and support, to my wife Nadia who encourages and inspires me every day, and to my own adorable werewolf-pups, Ashlynn, Gabriel, and Kaidan.

Andrew Buckley

Andrew Buckley
attended the Vancouver Film School's Writing for Film and Television program. After pitching and developing several screenplay projects for film and television, he worked in marketing and public relations, before becoming a professional copy and content writer. During this time Andrew began writing his first adult novel,
Death, the Devil and the Goldfish
, followed closely by his second novel,
Stiltskin
. He also writes a spy thriller series under the pen name “Jane D Everly.”

Andrew also co-hosts a geek movie podcast, is working on several new novels, and has a stunning amount of other ideas. He now lives happily in the Okanagan Valley, BC with three kids, one cat, one needy dog, one beautiful wife, and a multitude of characters that live comfortably inside of his mind.

Andrew is represented by Mark Gottlieb at the Trident Media Group.
www.andrewbuckleyauthor.com

THE UNDERTAKERS: END OF THE WORLD

DEAD JED: ADVENTURES OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL ZOMBIE

KING OF THE MUTANTS

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