Chapter 21

21

KOVI

I must admit, being on a monster college campus is a good time tonight. It’s the twentieth anniversary of the Halloween Wave and there’s a blood moon—life doesn’t get more “creepy” than that. We’re having our huge Halloween Ball, and the campus is humming with excitement. Most importantly, with the sun almost down, I get to stretch my branches, literally. My body burns with paranormal energy, and I raise my vines up to the sky, simply because I can.

I’m fully shifted, romping around the quad, and the vibe is…fang-tastic? Monster-rific? Some other corny pun, I guess. All of us monsters are so thrilled to be ourselves, and so many have their abilities amplified. The path toward the student union building where the dance is being held is a sight to behold. Werewolves roam across the grass, rolling with werebears, play-fighting, while several vampires hoot and holler. Bat shifters, owl shifters, and my phoenix friend Felicia soar through the air. A minotaur is gently tossing humans onto some blob shifters who bounce them off. We’re all big monstrous kids.

The faculty has set up some photo booths to commemorate the event, like a non-alcoholic, on-campus pregame. Several friend groups use the colorful backdrops for their own photos, while other groups of human students use tonight as an excuse to mingle with monsters. I read that human colleges find these photo booths cheesy, but not at Creelin—no, tonight, we’re fully embracing Creepin U.

A phone camera flashes as yet another group of human girls and one ogre take a selfie with me. I naturally have to bend down to be in it, but I’m flattered they want pictures with the “big talking tree” —their words, not mine. They ask for permission before clinging to my vines, and I allow them to swing on me like a jungle gym for a few moments. On any other day I’d probably say no, but it’s the biggest holiday of monsterkind. Tonight, I adore being part of this community, and seeing humans and monsters congregate puts the biggest smile on my wooden face.

After several minutes of taking photos, two ghosts float through the quad announcing that the dance doors are open. Everyone whoops and hollers, then proceeds to march toward the union. Sure, some kids are going to get drunk at an afterparty—it’s the U in Creepin U—but it feels like all of campus is genuinely looking forward to the ball.

Except maybe me. My smile fades and I wave off the last of the humans making their way to the dance. Girls are dressed in gothic black skirts, and gentlemen are wearing suit jackets of various hues. I spot some monsters, slithering about, laughing with human partners dressed in masks and costumes. They’re almost all paired up, and my heart aches. I was so close to being like them, too. The loneliness gnaws at my roots more than ever tonight.

Tanner gave me a taste of what happiness with another guy could be.

I sigh and wander around the corner to the library. Nearly everyone has left the quad, and zombies begin taking down the photobooths. I try to ignore the pounding of music and cheers from inside the student union. Some solitude by my favorite tree might do me good, and I don’t want to wander to the forest tonight. Maybe, if I wait by a campus tree, I can spot Tanner. My need to watch over him and make sure he’s having a good time is purely platonic, right?

“SSsssssagghh!”

I nearly leap at the hissing sound below. Being ten feet tall makes it difficult to see the ground, but I’m usually careful of not squashing any woodland creatures. But this is no critter, it’s a shifter!

“I’m so sorry,” I say with my deep, dryad voice. It’s harder to articulate words in this form, but the glowing moon has made it nearly impossible for me to shift back while outside.

“It’sss fine,” the voice says. Peering down, I spot a talking pile of rope. No, it’s a snake! It’s coiled up in a round wrap, like an organized garden hose. But its head is inside the massive silver coil.

“Niko?” Do gorgons look like this?

“Not Niko. I’m Reyssssson,” he says in a raspy tongue.

“Oh, sorry.” I heard about a basilisk on campus, but our circles have never crossed.

“It’sss cool. Don’t uh…don’t look down.”

My eyes dart up. “Uh, why?”

“I’m a basilisk…and I…”

“Oh, right.” I’m so self-absorbed; I forgot I’m not the only one having trouble shifting tonight.

“I’ll, uh…”

“I’d leave but I’m afraid of…you know…petrifying you.”

“Why are you out here?”

“Didn’t think anyone would ssspot me by a tree. I just…”

“I get it. Here.” I influence my favorite tree to lift its roots up. Now a tiny arc of wood lies at the base of the tree, like a small alcove. “Do you want to…put your head inside?”

I spy the top of a massive snake head looking forward. I gaze back up at the sky and hear him slither below. After a moment I ask, “Can I…look down?”

“Sssure,” he replies.

A moment later, I take a seat by the base of the tree. Reyson’s massive snake body—tail? —is jutting out of the roots. I relax, catch my breath, and soak in the sweet carbon dioxide of campus.

“SSsooo…” Reyson says after a minute. “Why aren’t you at the dance?”

“Same reason as you.” I smirk and bump my wooden head against the trunk of the tree. “No one wants to be seen with me.”

“That can’t be true. A handsssome tree monster like you?”

I snicker. “The person I really wanted to go with. He’s…well, he’s out of the picture. We can’t be together for…reasons.”

“I’m sssorry to hear that.”

“Thanks, Reyson.” I smile and glance at his tail wiggling slightly. “For what it’s worth, I’m sure you could find a date if you wanted.”

“Finding a boy to date isss not really the problem…”

“Oh?” I quirk an eyebrow in interest. I sense a story there. Why do I get the feeling he’s strung up over a human boy, too.

“But shifting isss complicated,” he mutters.

“I hear that. Knock on wood.” I bump my head against the tree and we both share a laugh. After a beat, I gaze at the blood moon. As a child I used to pray to live in a world where monsters were considered the norm. Here at Creelin, I found just that, and now look at me: successful, yet heartbroken.

My thoughts are interrupted by the sounds of squishing flipper-like feet striding through the grass. “Kovi!”

“Blake?”

“You have to come quick!” he says. He’s in full shift, and his voice is deeper in his lagoon monster form, and he raises his webbed hands in a gesture of desperation.

I stand up. “What, why?”

“What’sss going on?” Reyson mutters from within the tree.

“Oh, what’s up Reyson?” Blake smiles through his fishy-lips, then looks up at me. “Kove, you need to come with me.”

“What?”

“There’s an emergency at Mummy Mocha! Seth needs you!”

My heart beats faster at his words. Blake doesn’t usually sound this panicked. “What does he need?”

“Should I call campusss security?” Reyson asks from inside the tree.

“No, it’s not that kind of emergency,” Blake says, looking down at the snake. “But Seth needs you! Come on!”

He waves his hands and I have no choice but to follow. It doesn’t take too long to reach the library door—getting around is easy with my trunk legs. But my anxiety pulses as I wonder what’s happening with my best friend.

“Blake, what is—”

“Just come with me!” He opens the door to the dark library building, and halfway through, he shifts back into a tuxedo’d human form. “And for monster god’s sake, shift down.”

“You know it’s not easy… oof !” I bump my wooden head as I bend down to walk into the library. “To shift during this damn blood moon,” I grumble.

“But you’re inside now.”

I huff and focus. My branches pull back and my trunk turns into a human spine. The high ceiling of the library gets farther as I gradually morph down to human height again. It takes more effort than usual, but I can achieve it indoors. Once I’m down, I straighten out my green t-shirt and blue jeans, then walk up to Blake.

“Okay, can you tell me what’s going on?”

“Follow me!”

I stride after him, still confused as ever. We take the familiar trek to Mummy Mocha, but since the library is closed, we’re walking in the dark of night. Once we get closer, I notice one of Seth’s sarcophagi blocking the entranceway.

“Seth?”

“Kovi!” Seth pokes his head out from behind the gilded, seven-foot structure. “Good you’re here!”

“What is going on?”

By all accounts, Seth looks normal, wearing his dark suit—I expected his mummy wraps to be falling off or something. “Come this way,” he says, moving his mummy coffin. Behind him, the café appears to be glowing in an unfamiliar hue.

“Do I have to call the fire department? When I said I’d bury a body for you, I didn’t think you’d actually—”

I step forward and freeze, my voice cut off at the sight— Tanner .

My Tanner. He’s standing in the middle of Mummy Mocha, holding flowers, and surrounded by glowing lanterns.