After dinner, Lillie and I go to her room. I look up shifter lore while she does her homework. Before she shuts her last textbook, she starts her interrogation.

“So is what you told my mom the truth? Why lie to me like that?”

“I actually lied to your mom, mostly through omission though. What I told you was the truth.”

“Are you really going to take that insane joke so far? At first I thought you were confused, but the doctors say all your tests are normal. If I act like I believe you, will you finally drop it?”

“Do you honestly believe I would joke about something like this?” I ask incredulously.

“Normally, no. But you haven’t really been acting yourself since you first got sick. Besides, if what you said is true, why lie to all our parents?”

“For one, I do agree it is too hard to believe. I can’t seem to convince you and Viv, so I definitely won’t be able to convince Tina. Also, I wasn’t sure myself until today, so I haven’t had the chance to talk to my parents yet.”

“Are you going to tell them?” Lillie gives me a skeptical look. 

“I don’t know yet. Maybe if I can convince you two, I might consider it. The other reason is, I’m kinda afraid of what will happen if everyone believes me.” Trips to a science lab flash through my mind. Thankfully, I don’t have to explain, because she nods in understanding.

“Well, I guess I should be happy you didn’t bottle it up.”

“I thought about it,” Lillie rolls her eyes. “But what if this is genetic?”

“I suppose that’s true,” Lillie goes quiet for a moment, “Do you remember anything else from before the hospital?”

“Did I tell you about hearing my mom freak out when I screamed?”

“No, but Mrs. Riddle never said anything about you screaming.”

“Right. She heard it as a growl instead. After she freaked out, I remember feeling so awkward while running on four legs. I swear I looked like one of those dogs wearing socks for the first time. I even fell on my face the first few times.” Lillie snorts at the admission. Thankfully, Lille is willing to listen to me even if she doesn't fully believe me.

“How did it feel this time?”

“Well, it hurt less, but I was also much more emotional and angry.” I say before zoning off again in the following silence.

From what I read so far, the fact that I shift according to my emotions follows the pattern of shifters that were born, rather than those that turn due to some curse or bite. This means Viv is most likely getting ready to shift. Since she is the most temperamental of us, this could easily lead to disaster.

“What are you looking at anyway?” Lillie asks, once again pulling me out of my reverie.

“Just some lore. Trying to figure out what and why this is happening.” She looks at me with some more skepticism.

“Well, since you say you aren’t joking, I guess the question is what is causing such delusions.”

Frustration grows but I can understand her doubt. “How about coming over this weekend and I’ll show you.”

“Ok. Since Viv is sick with the same symptoms, I guess there is a very small chance you could be right. How about this? I will act like I believe you. But if you are wrong, you have to go see psychiatric help.” Lillie bargains.

“Deal”

“So, I understand why you were overwhelmed, but what made you angry?”

“I ran into Chris and Shasha.” I tell her about what Shasha thinks and how I slapped her. She burst out laughing.

“You should have slapped them both. They could use a good beating.” I chuckle, even as I wish the same. “If Shasha really thinks you’re prego, then I am surprised there isn’t a rumor about it.”

“Same here. The fact that you haven’t heard anything kinda makes me nervous. She has to be planning something.” 

“Maybe, or she could be looking for evidence. If she is planning something, she better do it before Viv comes back. Viv will fight her over such a rumor.”

“Nothing was wrong with my locker when you left, right?”

“No, but I barely stopped by to grab your phone before running out. Shasha had plenty of time to look before seeming suspicious.”

“I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.” We continue talking until I hear Tina mumbling about how we need to be going to sleep soon, or she is going to come separate us.

The next morning, I am not surprised to see a poster covering my locker with big block letters, “CONGRATS ON THE BABY!” I can feel my blood boiling with anger but I am able to push it down this time. Thankfully, I am one of the first students here and there is no way she could have put it up when most of the teachers were here yesterday. It shouldn’t have made too much of an impact yet. I tear it down and grab the stuff for my morning classes. 

I make it until lunch before someone brings it up. I am walking towards a quiet space when Lyra sees me. 

“Ash!” She calls, coming over. “So, what was up with that sign?”

“Shasha put it up there. It’s not true but she wants to start the rumor using my recent hospital visits.” While I am still unhappy about the rumor, the anger has died down.

“So what are you going to do? Are you going to make a poster saying you’re not?” Lyra asks.

“No, that will only confirm the rumor. I plan to just ignore the rumor until it dies down and goes away. I’ve already given it too much time and anger.”

“You’re seriously not going to confront Shasha or Chris? You know they won’t drop it. If it was me, I would walk right up to Shasha and slap her, as well as Chris.”

“Well… I might have already done that.” I sheepishly look away.

“When did you confront Shasha?” She doesn’t hesitate to rule out the idea of slapping her and I’m not so sure that is a complement.

“She came up with that conclusion in front of me and my hand reacted on its own. That caused a bit of a confrontation.” Lyra’s eyes grow so big, I’m sure I could fit an entire Thanksgiving feast on them. After she recovers from the shock, she laughs so hard that she has to hold her sides. 

“I wish I could have seen that. I saw you leave the lunch room, but now I wish I had followed you too. Is that why you disappeared yesterday?” I nod. “Do you think Shasha tattled on you? Maybe that’s why they haven’t called you to the office yet?”

“No, but we might find out now.” I nod to the teacher who is walking over to us, almost as if Lyra had jinxed it.

“Lyra, Ashka, there you are!” Ms Johnson greets us with an exasperated look.

“Yeah. There is too much noise in the cafeteria for us,” Lyra answers. I remain quiet.

“Well, I was looking everywhere for Ashka. I almost gave up and assumed you decided to disappear again.” She says pointedly. When I sent in all my assignments each week of my absence, most teachers were satisfied and usually expressed their wish that I would focus on my recovery.  Ms. Jonson was one of the few that, according to my sisters, seemed frustrated that I didn’t send the work back the next day.

Lyra and I shared a look. 

“Your mother called and asked us to make sure you got your lunch OK.” You would think she asked her to babysit me by her tone. I just smile and hold up my sandwich. I also have a wrap and a salad sitting out in front of me. I’ve had a larger appetite since I started shifting.

“I’m good, thank you.”

“Okay. Text or call and let her know.” She glances at my large lunch and hesitates before walking away while grumbling. I curse at my enhanced senses as I hear her say, “ I wish I could have eaten that much in my first trimester.”

“Oh my god, did you see the looks she was giving you?” Lyra asks. “She totally believes the rumors!” 

“Yeah. Maybe I should post the test results I got from the doctor on a poster.”

“Wait, why did they test you for that?”

“They kinda ran out of things to test me for.”

“I guess that’s true. Anyway,what did you do after leaving the building? I didn’t see you in class.” We continue talking until it is time to get to class.

I almost think I am going to get away with disappearing yesterday, when they call me to the office during sixth period. They give me after-school detention for the rest of the week starting today and the school day finishes smoothly.

With classes being so quiet, I have high hopes that detention will go just as peacefully until I see Ms. Johnson as the proctor. I start walking to the back, hoping she won’t see me. 

“Go ahead and sit up here so we can chat.” Ms. Johnson says. I can tell by her tone that this is about the rumor. I sit and contemplate bringing it up first, and immediately regret hesitating.

“So I heard about your ‘situation’.” She begins while pointing to my stomach. “You know, with all your hard work, I must say I’m surprised.” My temper flares. While I am quickly adjusting to a much shorter fuse, I still can’t stop the next comment.

“Yes, you must have been so surprised that you forgot to check the rumors' validity.” Ms. Johnson is momentarily shocked before she finally asks me.

“So you’re not pregnant? Chris was the one who told me and I knew you two were together. I thought for sure the source was reliable.”

“No. Chris and Shasha are spreading the rumor, and I’m just ignoring it.”

“Okay. Do you want me to have a word with them? I would hate for such a rumor to affect your grades.”

“No thank you. If I ask that, they will find something else to try to provoke me with. At least this doesn’t impact me most of the time. I will let someone know if someone goes too far.”

Ms. Johnson nods and detention, along with the rest of the week, finishes without any more notable issues. Occasionally someone would ask about the rumor, but I just had to deny it and move on.