A Tail of the Moon

There was no denying it, I was a little nervous a giant knew my name. This was the first time I ever saw him, saw anyone like him

"How the hell do you know my name?" I questioned.

"My brother talks about you all the time."

"Your brother?" my brows furrowed in confusion.

"Seth Grey." Ivaylo answered.

My eyes widened in disbelief. Ivaylo looked amused. I could't wrap my brain around the fact that Mr. Grey had a brother, and he talks about me. Ivaylo gives a whole new meaning to big brother that's for sure. I swallowed my nervousness.

"What sort of things does he say?"

"He tells me how gifted you are. He thinks your art is genuine, beautiful, and has great composition." He smirked, knowing the last compliment was something Mr. Grey said to everyone.

This guy is for real, he really must be Mr. Grey's brother...or a really good stalker. I found Ivaylo's eyes wandering my form again. In return, I gave him a quick look over again too. Something about him...

"Aren't you a little too old to be in high school?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"Perhaps, or perhaps not."

"You are really annoying." I hissed.

"And you're ungrateful. I mean, I save your life. Is a thank you kiss really too much to ask for?" he pouted.

"Excuse me!?" I asked, flabbergasted.

Ivaylo gazed at me with huge puppy dog eyes and a jutted out lip; the works. He looked like I took the last cookie on earth, and wasn't sharing. I hate him. He stepped even closer to me, something I thought impossible. He placed large, warm hands on my shoulders. I could feel his rough skin through my clothes. His face bent toward mine, until we were eye to eye.

"That's a pretty wicked scar." He said softly.

"I got mauled by a wolf when I was younger." I answered, breathless.

"Snow White wondered off in the woods alone and almost got her heart cut out. Maybe you should take some caution as well." Ivaylo's eyes hardened, and his voice sounded hollow.

"I'm 18, stop treating me like a child."

"I'm just saying I'd rather not find my brother's favorite little artist maimed out in the woods."

"Then don't go into the woods." I snapped and turned around.

I ignored the intense stare boring into my retreating form. Not knowing how long he stared after me, I tried putting Ivaylo out of my mind. The rancid smell of blood and afterbirth still clung to me, and I wanted a shower. I grimaced at the thoughts of using the showers in the locker rooms. No temperature control, no water pressure, and basic-no name shampoo. I run through the woods for almost twelve hours a day, I want to smell clean, not like high school funk. Beggars can't be choosers though. Looking at the pale yellow liquid that caked my left hand; I replayed the deer's eye flying through the air in my mind. Poor, pitiful, creature.

When I opened the doors to the locker room, twelve pairs of eyes zeroed in disgust at me. The six cheerleaders, stuck their noses up and exited the way I had come in, heading to the gym. I was glad Susi and Tala were in class. I could shower in peace, without an interrogation. Stripping as quickly as I could, I turned the water on and stepped in. The water draining turned the color of rust as the grime fell off. I used the shampoo on my skin, and in my hair. Making sure no place was left untouched. As much as I hated to admit it, my mind wandered back to the giant named Ivaylo. He was ridiculously good looking; I'll give him that, but something about him makes me uncomfortable. He's like a rose with thorns. Pretty to look at, but dangerous to touch.

"Oh Goddess, did I really compare that hulking man to a flower?" I asked myself, "I am obviously sick."

Shutting off the water with more force than necessary, I pushed the curtain aside and went over to where the towels were. I grabbed the cleanest one, and began drying myself off. Staring into the mirror across from me, I gasped noticing that my hair seemed even lighter than this morning. It's like I keep washing out the color. I stared at my hair that almost mirrored my wolf pelt. Why was it turning white? Taking a deep breath, I did my best to brush through the tangles. Maybe it was the lighting in the locker room. I walked over to a hand dryer and stuck my head under it in an attempt to dry my hair. As I awkwardly stood there, laughter burst through the doors.

"Told you we would find her here." Tala giggled.

"Yeah, it's about time we found you Luna." Susi smiled.

"What was so funny?" I asked, only slightly curious.

"I ran into a giant! He asked if we were looking for a girl named Luna, I mean, Susi was shouting your name loud enough it was no surprise he heard us."

"Ivaylo." I grumbled.

"Well, he said to follow our noses, because you smelled so bad! So, I immediately thought you went to shower!" Tala finished with another fit of giggles.

"Wha-I-I don't smell that bad!" I protested, feeling my face flush. "Even if I did, that didn't seem to bother him while he was sizing me up!"

"He what!?" Susi gasped.

"Ivaylo sort of saved me from Weylyn, not that I needed it, but we got to talking and he just stared at me. He looked at me as if...as if he was dying of thirst and I was the first drink he saw in a long time." I explained.

"He so likes you!" Susi squealed.

"Oh shut up, we are now done discussing this." I growled.

The hand dryer shut off, and I straitened myself upright. I ran my brush through my hair once more while walking over to my gym locker. I opened it up, relieved that I had a clean white t-shirt inside. Slipping the clean shirt over my head, I stood there waiting for Susi to give me a pair of jeans. Tala put my dirty clothes in a plastic bag, and Susi handed me a pair of gray skinny jeans. I glared, hating how tight they were.

"Sorry, it's all I had." Susi shrugged, "Oh, here is your black hoodie."

"I love how prepared we are." Tala grinned.

"We're like regular girl scouts." I smirked while putting my socks and boots back on.

Tala lead the way as we all exited the locker room. With homeroom over and about twenty minutes left of first hour, we took are sweet time walking through the halls. Edon and Raff found us relatively quickly. They were hanging around D hallway, the science wing.

"Making sure you guys don't miss any explosions?" I asked.

"Oh hey, you aren't bloody anymore." Raff smiled.

"Yeah. Did you chase Weylyn off?" Edon questioned with narrowed eyes.

"He ran away with his tail in between his legs." I smirked.

"I think it is safe to assume he'll show up agin though..." Tala shrugged, "Anyway, we should all get to class."

"Yeah, let's try to forget those creeps and focus on our classes." Susi sighed and started to drag Raff away with her.

"Hey! Where are we going?" Raff shouted.

"Shut up. I'm making sure you get to your English class and staying there." Susi grumbled.

The rest of us bursted laughing. While those two headed off, I walked with Tala and Edon until we respectively parted ways to our different classes.