If Only We Could Be Us

"SHAYNE! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?"

Jesus. If I never hear her obnoxious screeching voice again, it will be altogether too soon. I look up at the woman standing in the doorway of my room.

"How could I what?" I asked her, knowing full well what I had done wrong.
"This is it! This is the last straw! I am so sick of having to move because of your lack of self-control and incessant need to piss off the world. I swore I wasn't going to do this Shayne, but you have left me no choice. Pack your bags. I want this room fucking spotless when you are done. I warned you that I would do this." she continued screeching at me.

"Ma my hair is purple, it's not like I killed anyone or anything." I argue back with her.

"This time. I told you that I wouldn't put up with anymore of your shit and I wasn’t kidding. Shayne in the last two years we have moved seventeen times because of you and your reckless attitude. It's not fair to me, and it's not fair to Liza or Mike." my mother continued to shriek, "first you get a piercing- for someone normal that’s no problem, but for you that's an issue. In case you weren't aware, tigers don't have their septum pierced, nor do they have double lip rings. And even in the desert people notice those kinds of defects. Then we decide to go rural, buy houses where we have lots of property and woods so we can shift in private. But oh no, not Shayne. You go into town as a tiger, frightening everyone in sight. Sure you don't hurt anyone but again- tigers in the middle of an urban town? And now this. Shift. Do it right now."

I snicker to myself, I already know exactly what is going to happen. I look at my mother feeling smug. And rapidly, my human body extends and twists until I am a nearly full grown white furred tiger. Except that now, my stripes which should be black, are the same violent purple as my hair.

"SHAYNE!" she shrieks once again. "Pack. Now."

With that she leaves my room , and I wait until I hear her footsteps pounding down the stairs to shift back to my human self. I begin walking around my room, throwing my shit in a suitcase. She's bluffing like she always is. She may have her perfect new husband Mike and my perfect little sister Liza, but I'm her son and as much as she may threaten it, she would never really do this to me.

Once I walk downstairs with all of my things, I head right out to the car. We've been through this same routine a million times. I fuck up, my mom packs me up in her car, drives around for a while pretending like she's going to drop me off at… that place, then goes back home, we pack up and move somewhere even more obscure than wherever we were previously.
My mom settles herself into the driver's seat, and I jump into the passenger side. I fiddle with the radio before finally deciding to hook up my I-pod. I blare my favorite band- Falling in Reverse, knowing full well how much my mother hates them.

We drive for hours. As we drive I spend the time thinking about my life. I kind of hate everything that I am. Of course who wouldn't hate me? I am a freak. A shifter.

No one in the world knows that we exist, outside of the other clans of shifters. There are three clans of shifters. the tigers are the strongest, then the lions, then the jaguars. I myself am a tiger, and so are the rest of my family members. If I were smart, I would be terrified of my mother. She comes from one of the most terrifying and powerful families of tiger shifters. I am however my mother's son, and am probably altogether too strong for my own good.

I know it's bad that I continually try to piss off my mother, but the fact of the matter is that it's her fault my father left us. And I hate her husband. I am however proud of my latest attempts. You see, for a normal teenager a piercing or dying your hair is really no big deal. However, when a shifter alters something on their human body, the change appears on their animal form as well. That's why my mom is so pissed off. If I shift at all now, I will draw immediate attention to myself because well have you ever seen a white tiger with purple stripes, lip piercings, and a pierced septum?

At some point I must have fallen asleep in the car, because now I find myself being shaken awake. And when I open my eyes I can't help but wish I could go back to sleep and this would all just be a dream. Because it seems that my mother was not bluffing this time, as her car was currently parked in front of the one place that I never wanted to see again. Ever.

"You bitch." I hiss.