“Wake up!”

“Whoa!” Fred exclaimed as he fell out of his double bed, falling face first onto his blue carpeted floor.

“Dammit. Diana, why?” he whined against the floor, his sheets on top of his bare back and legs.

“It's nearly eight in the morning and you haven't had a wash, shaved, made your bed or come up with a good excuse as to why you didn't do most of your homework. Get going, Freddie,” she scolded above him.

Fred groaned loudly, getting off the floor to yawn and stretch his arms up before scratching his bare tummy and trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes.

“Keep it down in there! Some of us are trying to deal with eternity!” Malcolm yelled from his room but like always, Diana wasn't having any of it.

“Scum like you deserve what you get so stop your whining, demon!”

“I will exorcise the shit out of you, dead girl!”

“And what? You're alive? And I'd like to see you try! Hit me with your best shot!”

“Why do you keep quoting that song?”

“Cause you keep disturbing my peace with it!”

“You've ruined it for me!”

“You're wholeheartedly welcome, demon!”

“I hate Mondays,” Fred grumbled as Diana dumped his towel over his head as he headed for his bathroom on the left of the front door.

Closing the door shut as Diana and Malcolm continued to argue, Fred nearly walked into the shower’s sliding door as, his towel fell on the tiled floors. That and the fact that he had no idea when he got in his shower let him know that he was in desperate need for a pick-me-up.

#

“H-Here you go, F-F-Freddie,” the usual waitress, Noelle, said shakily, giving Fred his cup of vanilla latte with cream.

He was more of a tea person but as that only made him even more tired, coffee it was.

“Thanks very much, Noelle,” he said chin on the palm of his hand as he tried to give her a warm smile.

He was way too tired to say anymore, even if he slept all through Sunday. The turning after a full moon has that effect on his people. It was physically, and sometimes mentally, exhausting.

Her freckled cheeks revealed her blush before she scurried away, serving tray pressed to her average chest and he let out an amused chuckle.

Harpies, rare in the States, even rarer being half human ones like Noelle, tended to be weak to the presence of lycans after a full moon. His mama said it was the pheromones or something.

I wish I fucking knew how these people knew my name though. Host one good party as a freshman, and everyone is suddenly in your squad.

Fred sighed as he looked to his right, sipping his drink carefully as he watched the people walk about on the sidewalks and cars moving on.

It was mostly students rushing towards their classes, some groaning and a good few looking sick from a probable hangover while others skipped along, alone or chatting with friends.

People watching was an odd pastime of his. He liked to look at people and guess what type of person they were. Study mannerisms or analyze them to guess their next move. It was a fun game his sister had come up with to help him feel more comfortable around humans, learn how they acted to act just like them. His grandfather's stories of the past had really gotten to three-year-old Fred.

He chuckled quietly, tentatively sipping his drink again and again, but his smile soon fell at the sight of a puppy's soul dutifully following a sad girl headed for school.

Listening carefully, he heard the soul bark and yip, the translucent yellow soul trying to get the child’s attention as it tried to jump on their leg but went right through. And it still followed the child. Still barking, still wagging its skinny tail, and still wanting to be there for the one person it loved.

Fred sighed then looked down at his cup, eyes glancing to the watch on his wrist before he got up with his drink in hand. His first class of the day started in ten minutes, not enough time to feel sad about the dead that couldn't pass.

Can't stall any longer, can I? Really can't wait for this Uni thing to be fucking over. It's becoming a chore. Same thing from the start of the morning to the end of the day. Why not just drive a stake through me chest?

No...Wait. That's only funny when it's Malcolm.

I really need more sleep.

He was about to drop the payment on the table when he caught sight of a familiar red and black bag out of the corner of his eye.

Turning to look back out the window, Fred saw Jean with his head down and lips moving rapidly, wearing another one of his many hoodies as he walked down the path headed for school.

He blinked rapidly, a smile forming on his face as he recalled the Saturday he spent with the really weird guy. When Jean wasn't talking so much and confusing the fuck out of Fred, he was actually easy and relaxing to be around. Him also knowing who Fred was and being way too cool about it—way too cool about it—meant Fred didn't have to walk on eggshells with him and that was just so freeing.

He wasn't even that comfortable around his own family, most of them fine with only having relations with the family and their kind. Hell, his parents didn't even like being around other types of lycans that weren't wolves.

It gave Fred an opportunity for something new, and maybe odd. An actual friend that didn't sprout fur and claws or made him feel bad because of how they had died. It was an interesting thought, and could have also been a relationship experiment. Win-win.

Fred's smile dropped immediately when he also remembered that he had told the guy that he would go over on Sunday and answer some of his questions. He had completely forgotten that he was definitely going to pass out. Fred groaned as he face-palmed, feeling more stupid than usual.

I'm already fucking this up.