Eulalia stepped back away from the wolf and tripped over her feet. She landed with a dull thud on the damp earth and gasped, cutting her arm on a sharp branch.

She stood up and swallowed her fear, just in time to see the wolf change into a human. Her eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped slightly. She didn't know whether she should go over to help Alex, or stay away from him. Her eyes looked to her arm, which was bleeding, but it wasn't bad.

Eulalia held her arm loosely and walked over to Alex, fearful that he might not be completely human yet.

Alex moaned softly, his head thrbbing.  At first, all he could see was the damp ground and smell Eualalia nearby, but he was suddenly hit by an iron-strong band of confusion, worry, and panic.  He felt his heart begin to throb and his eyes shifted around, looking to make sure no one else had seen.

Scrambling up, Alex realized that Eulalia was bleeding.  Sidestepping the most obvious question, he asked, "Are you okay?"  He began to step closer, then thought better of it.  Staying in place, he eyed her with a mix of wariness and concern.

Eulalia backed up slightly, still wide eyed.

"I-I'm... fine." She stuttered, glancing at her arm slowly. "It's just a scratch..."

Alex seemed normal enough to Eulalia, but how could she be sure after what she'd just seen? She stayed quiet for a while and didn't dare take her eyes off of him.

She backed up a few more steps before asking, "You're not human, so... what are you?"

((I'm so sorry for not posting.  <3  I didn't go on during our four-day weekend due to a string of sleepovers, and have been procrastinating logging on because of the bombardment of stuff I would have to face, lol.  o-O ))

Alex sighed and ran a hand through his hair, contemplating.  He obviously couldn't tell her that she had just hallucinated, and she also didn't doubt what she had seen.

"I'm..." he finally said, grasping for words.  "I'm...  I'm a wolf shifter, Eulalia."  He blew out a breath and watched her anxiously for a reply, ready to pounce if she tried to run.

((xD Haha. It's alright. Hope you had fun at your sleepovers. :3))

Eulalia nodded slowly, finding this all hard to take in. She looked away and opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again, wondering what to say. She bit her lip and glanced up at him shyly.

"Maybe I should  just go...?" Eulalia said awkwardly, inching away from him. "Uh... To, um... Get a bandage for my arm..." It wasn't hard to tell she was lying; she knew her arm was going to be fine. Really, she just didn't want to be around Alex right now.

Alex flinched at the wariness in her voice, but he nodded.  "Just don't tell anyone...  okay?"  He whispered, his voice slightly wavering.  "I'm sorry I had to drag you into this."

After having that said, he shoved his hands into his pockets and turned on his heel, walking down the street in the direction of his home.

Eulalia noticed his sudden change in emotion and hoped she hadn't hurt his feelings. She watched him walk away and felt like she should call out to him and apologize, suddenly making it all better, like in a cliche movie. Instead she just sighed and whispered to herself, "I won't tell anyone..."

She ran her fingers over the scratch on her arm and noticed it had stopped bleeding. Eulalia looked back at Alex one more time before heading back toward her house.

((Should we skip to the next day? :3))

B-beep!

B-beep!

B-beep!

Alex groaned, hitting the "Snooze" button on his alarm clock.  Why hadn't he turned it off last night?  As he remembered, Alex sat straight up in bed.

Eulalia.

Her name hit him like a hammer as yesterday's events once again made themselves apparent in his sleep-foggy mind.  He remembered the strange force-shift, and then Eulalia's wary, shocked ex
pression.  He remembered making his way home, collapsing on his bed, and falling into an exhausted sleep free of dreams.

As he struggled up, Alex realize he was still in yesterday's clothes.  Changing as quickly as he could, Alex ran down the grand staircase that made its way towards the front door, tossing a goodbye over his shoulder to his parents.  As he reached the outdoors, Alex scented the air, searching for the sweet scent that would lead him to Eulalia.  The wolf within his gave a happy yip as Alex found the scent.  He needed to make things right.

Eulalia was awakened by the soft chirping of birds by her window. The tree growing their had come to accommodate a family of blue birds, and it seems they liked to wake her up early on the weekends. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and sat up. The memories of the previous day crossed her mind briefly and she felt a pang of guilt for not even giving Alex a chance to explain himself thoroughly.

Eulalia got out of bed and dressed at a sluggish pace. She yawned as she came down the stairs, but still was able to smile at her mom who was cooking breakfast. One of the windows was open in the kitchen and a tiny breeze drifted through it. Before she sat down to eat, Eulalia walked to the window and gazed out at the street, wondering if she should try and find Alex today and apologize.

Alex paused at an intersection, scenting the air cautiosly.  As he caught Eulalia's scent again, he became a bit more eager, though he didn't know why.  Walking on, Alex sensed he was near.

His nose led him to a quiet house with a big tree in the front yard.  Blue birds chirped merrily from its high-reaching braches.  Shadows cascaded down in the morning light, darkening Alex's already-black hair and highlighting the reds in it.  The tree offered a calm spot amid the nervousness that was beginning to buzz around in his mind.

Seeing no better place to wait for Eulalia, Alex sat down and waited.  He was unsure of what would happen next.

Eulalia's mom busied herself at the stove, flipping pancakes merrily.
"It'll be a few more minutes, darling," She said with a smile.

"Alright," Eulalia replied distractedly. She could have sworn she saw something move outside. "I'm going to go get some fresh air..." Eulalia didn't wait for a reply before slipping out the front door. She closed the door quietly and walked towards the tree.

Alex was sitting in the shade under the tree and Eulalia's heart skipped a beat. She sat down next to him and didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Hey, what are you doing here?" She finally asked, not angry, just confused.