The word "full moon" stuck with me the whole way home.
Like fog that wouldn't lift thick, cold, annoying. I kept telling myself it was nothing. Just another dumb school rule. Like lockdown drills or weather warnings.
Except drills don't make teachers look nervous.
And they didn't make the quiet boy look at me like that.
I barely slept.
When I finally did drift off, I dreamed of hallways that kept stretching longer, lights flickering like they were about to die, doors locking one after another with these heavy metallic clicks. I woke up way before my alarm, heart hammering, and that weird hum under my skin was louder than ever.
By the time I got to school, the air already felt different.
There were way more students than usual crowding the front entrance. Everyone is talking low. Moving quick and sharp. A staff member stood right at the doors checking names off on a tablet before letting people in.
That had literally never happened before.
I stepped inside and stopped.
The smell hit me first.
Not bad. Not super strong. Just… warm. Kind of metallic. Like rain falling on old pennies.
My nose wrinkled up. Okay, that's weird.
Other people were reacting way more obviously.
The boy in front of me sucked in a sharp breath and actually swayed a little. The girl behind me muttered a curse and grabbed the railing like she was dizzy. Somewhere off to the left someone let out this super sudden, super high-pitched laugh and then it just… stopped.
I hugged my arms tighter to my chest and kept walking.
Eyes followed me.
Not the normal kind of looks.
This felt sharper. More focused. Like invisible strings pulling tighter the further I walked.
In the hallway a group was leaning against the lockers, talking quietly. The second I passed, they went dead silent.
One of them a pale girl with dark lipstick slowly tilted her head.
Her nostrils flared.
Her eyes snapped to me.
For half a second… Something in her eyes glowed red.
I blinked.
It was gone.
"Hey," I mumbled, more confused than anything, and kept moving.
By second period it was impossible to ignore.
People shifted away from me in class.
Not dramatically. Just… a few extra inches. A shoulder turned. A chair was quietly dragged back. The boy across the aisle kept glancing at my throat like he couldn't stop himself.
I pulled my collar up higher.
Did I change soap?
Did I spill something on myself?
The bell rang, and I felt this tiny wave of relief until I stepped into the hallway.
He was already there.
The quiet boy leaning against the wall right outside my classroom. Arms crossed. Eyes locked on me so hard my steps almost faltered.
"You need to go home," he said immediately.
I frowned. "What?"
"Now."
"I'm not skipping school because you're going through some cryptic phase."
His jaw clenched. "You don't understand."
"Then explain."
For a long few seconds he didn't say anything. His eyes flicked around teachers, students, cameras before coming back to me.
"They smell you," he said very quietly.
My stomach dropped. "That's not funny."
"I'm not joking."
His voice was low. Urgent. Whatever thin layer of calm he'd been holding onto before it was gone now. Up close I could see the faint shadows under his eyes. He hadn't slept either.
"They're stronger today," he said. "And tonight"
He stopped himself.
"What happens tonight?" I asked.
The hallway felt like it was getting smaller around us.
He looked away.
I thought he wasn't going to answer.
Then his hands curled into tight fists.
"Last full moon," he said slowly, "a girl didn't make it home."
My breath caught.
"What?"
"They said she transferred. Family issues." His voice went flat. "But I saw the blood in the stairwell. I could smell it for days."
I stared at him. Heart slamming against my ribs.
"You're lying."
"I wish I was."
His eyes came back to mine. Raw. No walls. No mask.
"She was human. Like you. They told us to stay in our classrooms. Lock the doors. Don't look outside."
My skin prickled.
"I didn't know what was happening," he said. "I just knew I couldn't stop shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. Like something inside me wanted out."
He swallowed hard.
"And when the screaming started… no one opened their doors."
The words landed heavy between us.
"I couldn't protect her," he said, almost too quiet to hear. "I didn't even know why I wanted to."
Something twisted hard and painfully in my chest.
"And now?" I asked.
His eyes searched my face like he was trying to memorize it.
"Now," he said, "they smell you before they even see you. And tonight… control gets fragile."
A laugh came out of me sharp. Brittle. "Okay. So what you think I'm in danger because I smell weird?"
He stepped closer.
"Because you smell alive," he said. "And different. And they don't know why yet."
That was when it happened.
A girl walking past behind me stumbled.
Her hand brushed my arm.
She gasped.
The sound was small but wrong.
Her fingers tightened on my arm for half a second too long before she jerked her hand back. Eyes huge. Pupils blown wide.
"I sorry," she whispered. Voice shaking.
Then she basically ran down the hall.
The boy's face went pale.
"That's it," he muttered. "It's starting."
"What is it?" I demanded.
But he was already holding my wrist.
Not hard. Just firm enough that I couldn't easily pull away.
"You're not walking alone," he said. "Not today. Not tonight."
My pulse jumped under his fingers.
"Let go," I said.
Even though part of me really didn't want him to.
"I will," he promised quietly.
"When you're safe."
The bell rang again sharp and loud.
Overhead the lights flickered once.
And somewhere deep inside the building, a door locked with this slow, heavy, echoing click.
That was when I finally understood why the full moon scared him so much.
Because whatever was waking up in this school…
It was already tasting the air.