Unleashing a Different Beast

Who: Gabe and Charlotte
Where: MSHS, empty halls
When: Before school

Gabe had gotten to school downright early. Far earlier than normal, which meant the halls were still mostly empty as he wandered to his locker. Yesterday had been wearing, with the conversation with Kavin, then with Nate, then receiving the anonymous gift that told him someone else knew what he was. Someone with a sense of tact, which was better than his friends had. Someone that was also a werewolf and knew what he was going through. Gabe had been unable to sleep, his senses becoming more and more sensitive as the days passed, and he realized that earplugs would be essential to preventing exhaustion going forward. Eventually he'd just given up and headed to school, rather than have his mother worry over him for the rest of the morning. Though she wasn't crumbling to pieces, this was hard on her as well, and he hoped that getting to school would provide her some relief.

Charlotte was usually early to school, even if she never really set out to be. Today was no exception. She had always been an early riser, but today the animals had woken her up well before she'd actually been ready - they were very uneasy, and couldn't quite figure out why. It was hard to sleep with a house full of jumpy animals whining inside your head. She yawned as she straightened her books in her locker, and straightened a bit as she saw Gabe in the corner of her eye. "You're here early. How are you doing?" As if being woken up early wasn't bad enough, she'd been up late thinking about his situation.

"Tired," he said with a little laugh as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I found out I need to invest in some earplugs. You have a few?" he asked, closing his locker door. "Some things happened yesterday that, I dunno... kind of shook me up." The noise in his house wasn't the only thing that had him up half the night, and even if he wasn't supposed to tell... Gabe had never been all that great when it came to keeping other people's secrets. At least not when he thought it was better that people knew them. In this case, keeping Kavin's secret was not high priority.

...Shook up? The newborn werewolf was not supposed to be 'shook up'. That was not part of Charlotte's master plan for safety and, and goodness, darnit. "Of course. We can go sit in my car if this is a..." Crap, she had no codeword for werewolf. "Doggy thing?" she settled on, sheepishly. Hopefully Gabe wouldn't hold it against her.

"I think I can talk around it," Gabe said with a little smile. They would definitely have to come up with a codeword in the long-term, but for now he completely knew what she was getting out. "It's not so much that, though it does kinda-- let's sit," he said, taking a seat there in the hallway. That was better. Gabe pulled his backpack into his lap. It gave him something to hold on to. "Kavin dropped by my house yesterday after school," Gabe said, chewing lightly on his lip. "I don't know how much you know about him, but... well, Nate decided it would be a good idea to tell Kavin what happened. And it turns out Kavin's a hunter."

Charlotte closed her locker and sat down next to Gabe, her posture somewhat mirroring his. The idea of Kavin finding out had not been something Charlotte had considered before this moment, and her first reaction was absolute horror. He said he only hunts... the bad ones. Still. She was not thinking the werewolf and the hunter needed to be in the same room together. "What happened? How do you know?"

"He fuckin' told me!" Gabe said, not even realizing that he'd let a curse word slip in front of Charlotte. He was usually so careful about that. "He started going off about how I'm gonna--" Gabe purposefully lowered his voice, suddenly realizing he needed to be quiet. "--how I'm gonna turn into a blood thirsty killing machine and there are hunters around who'd love to get their hands on a werewolf pelt." That had made his blood run cold, and he couldn't even decide which part was worse. "He said he was trying to help, but he was acting like I needed a cage now."

Charlotte stared at Gabe, feeling a little shocked. Would Kavin really do that? Then again, her history with him proved he didn't exactly think anything through, in her eyes. Even if it was an embellishment - which she didn't think it was... you used a certain amount of tact when talking to a friend. And Gabe didn't need to be scared any worse than he already was. And oh yeah, you didn't freaking make the newborn werewolf feel threatened when you're supposed to know better!

Charlotte felt angry, and protective, and she'd already been feeling protective of Gabe five minutes ago. This sent her over the edge of all her overprotective nurturing mother-nature stuff that her mom had always warned her was just begging to be let out. Okay, great. They didn't need to worry about Gabe unleashing the beast anymore, Charlotte's was out and running free. She grit her teeth and put her hand over Gabe's. "Let me talk to him."

"I wasn't even supposed to tell you," Gabe said, worried about how this would go. "If he finds out I told you, he might tell other people about me and-- and he's not the only one that feels this way. I called Nate afterwards to chew him out and ended up hanging up on him twice. It's that temper thing you told me about and..." Gabe shook his head. He was tired, scared, and feeling rather betrayed by a couple of people he thought he could trust. Maybe school wasn't where he needed to be today. Maybe it would be better if he ditched and found a place to rest. "I don't want everyone thinking I'm some kind of a monster."

"Look at me." Charlotte said, jaw firmly set. "You are not a monster. And I know all about Kavin. Kavin is going to keep his mouth shut, because I am going to make sure he keeps his mouth shut. I don't know why Kavin told you what he did, but he shouldn't have." And I'm going to make him regret it.

"Okay," Gabe said with a little nod of his head. He hated this feeling of vulnerability, but at least Charlotte didn't make him feel weak for it. "Thanks, Charlotte. I... I'm kinda thinking of skipping the rest of the morning. But I'm still planning on dropping by your party tonight. Is it still on?" he asked, his exhaustion becoming more apparent by the second. Leaving really would be in his best interest. When his phone began to beep, Gabe pulled it out and read the text message from Kavin. Gabe sighed. "Kavin says he's sorry and he wants to talk, but I don't think that's a good idea right now."

"It's still on. But don't worry about it if you don't feel up to the crowd." Charlotte said, shrugging. "We'll all just be dorky anyways." She made a face at the text message and shook her head. "Then don't. You don't owe him anything."

"I'm gonna go rest then," Gabe said, climbing to his feet. He always felt better after talking to a friend. It was like going to confessional... except that he wasn't Catholic. "Thank you, Charlotte. I'm sorry for putting this all one you, but I really, really... thank you."

Charlotte smiled and pushed herself to her feet, and she was very impressed with herself for pulling it off while she was overwhelmed with anger. "It's okay, Gabe. Anytime. Go rest."

"I'll see you later," he said, shuffling backwards before turning to go. First thing he needed were some earplugs, and then just about anywhere would do. A few hours of real sleep and then he might be able to actually enjoy Halloween.