"Bad Date"

I am not a werewolf.

Derek kept telling himself that as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was on a date. With Brandon. It was a discreet date. It was a small restaurant right by the bike trail. It was practically walking distance from Derek's house. Brandon had slipped him a note after football practice the other day asking him if he wanted to grab grub with him. Of course, Brandon was still being cautious, having not written his name on the note and it seemed like he had written it with deliberately scratchy handwriting. Plausible deniability, Derek had thought. Only issue was, Brandon had suggested they go out on the night of a full moon. Derek almost said no when he realized this fact. He resisted the idea of saying no. If he told Brandon no, it would mean possibly rejecting him. It wasn't every day that the most attractive guy on the football team wants to go out with you.

So Derek said yes. He would go. The full moon didn't matter because....he wasn't a werewolf. Derek had been telling himself that for days. The last two times he THOUGHT he was obviously was because he was under a lot of stress and was enduring hallucinations. Derek even negotiated why 'werewolf' too; obviously he wanted to be stronger and faster and so it was natural his mind would manipulate that. "I'm not a werewolf," Derek told him. He was going on this date on the full moon because he hadn't nothing to fear at all because he wasn't a werewolf. He told himself that one time before leaving the restaurant bathroom.

"When did you find out about you?" Brandon asked him.

Derek flinched for a moment, fearing his secret was discovered. He knew he was a werewolf...wait! I'm not a werewolf! "What..." Derek coughed. "What do you mean?"

Brandon leaned in and somewhat smirked. "You know, about you. Being gay."

A wash of relief swept over Derek. "I guess...freshman football. I never really was around guys that much until then and I guess I realized it then."

"Wanna know with me?"

"Sure."

"When I first saw you this practice season."

Derek's heart skipped a beat at the sound of that. This date was worth it. It was worth the risk...but there was no risk. There was no risk because he wasn't a werewolf.

"Yeah man," Brandon continued. "I saw you walk on the first and I was like 'wow' and then that practice when you outran me...I couldn't stop thinking of you. I realized I really liked you and it's all confusing cause my dad has always been talking to me about messing around with girls and I've dated and all, but can I admit something stupid?"

"Sure."

"This, right now, is the most exciting thing I've done like this." Brandon sat back and smiled.

"Well..." Derek began. He didn't know what to say. The moment had presented itself and he found himself so nervous. Here was a guy literally saying he wanted to be Derek's boyfriend.

"Hey, look" Brandon said, gesturing upwards at the sky. Derek turned over his shoulder and immediately a feeling of dread swallowed his stomach. Up in the sky was the full moon, glowing bright and radiant in the pitch black sky. The moon eerily felt like it was calling for him, teasing him. 'I'm not a werewolf' Derek thought to himself as he stared at the moon. He stared at it defiantly. It wasn't real.

He turned back around to see Brandon smiling at him. "I like you a lot," he said to Derek, but then looked at him strangely. "Are you ok?" He asked. "You're sweating like crazy."

"Uh, yeah. I'll be right back."

Derek went back to the restaurant bathroom, locking the door behind him. He went to the mirror and stared at his reflection. Normal. Perfectly normal. 'I am not a werewolf' he thought to himself. No, it's better to say it out loud. "I am not -"

Derek stopped midsentence and his eyes widened in horror as he saw his ears beginning to stretch. He watched as the cartilage at the top of his ears pulled upwards, traveling up the length of his head. The tips of his ears developed into points as his ears widened slightly, shifting into prominent wolf ears. Derek reached up and felt his newly transformed ears. 'This isn't real,' he told himself. He reached into his back pocket, pulled out his beanie and threw it over his head, hiding his ears from view.

"Why you wearing that?" Brandon asked him when he sat back down.

"I was just cold."

"You're sweating though."

"Maybe I'm coming down with something. I'll be fine."

Brandon looked at him curiously, but Derek hardly noticed. It only took a few seconds for Derek to realize that he was actually fighting something. He resisting it. 'I *am* a werewolf," Derek thought to himself. 'But I won't let it happen."

Derek then felt his back arch some, pushing at the back of his shirt. He was grateful that his shirt didn't tear, but he could feel the developing muscle pushing at the fabric. It would only be a matter of time before it tested how sturdy the fabric of his shirt was. But worse, Derek felt his spine lengthening too. He bit his lip as he felt his tail growing and lengthening, wiggling down the side of his pant leg. It felt bony at first, but he could feel his tailing growing fur, which tickled and irritated his leg, but also was pushing against his leg and pants.

"I don't feel well," Derek managed to say. "I should go." He would have said more, but he had felt his teeth beginning to sharpen as he had spoken. He had barely finished his sentence when he felt his front fangs extending in his mouth, nearly protruding outside of his lips. At the same time his tail had slipped to the back of his pants and was dangerously close to splitting them open. And his ears were extending even more, daring to push his beanie up off his head.

He pushed himself up from his chair, realizing his nails were extending and sharpening into claws. The palms of his hands were turning black and forming pads. They were the claws and paws of a werewolf, and he knew it. He had barely stood up when he realized how itchy he was all over and then realized his body was already sprouting fur all over. He glanced at his hands and could see tiny hairs poking to the surface in rapid succession. He took one step and further realized that his shoes were uncomfortably tight on him. He could feel his feet stretching and his toe nails tearing the fabric within his tears as they grew sharper and more dangerous.

He realized he couldn't play it simple and walk away. He ran. Not just ran, but sprinted as fast as he could. He didn't even see Brandon's face as he fled, which was an expression of both confusion and rejection. But Derek couldn't focus on that right now. He was turning into a werewolf because he was a werewolf. He was precisely what he said he wasn't: a werewolf.

He had barely gotten out of eye sight when his tail tore out the back of his pants. Derek stopped running and reached around and grabbed it. He couldn't believe he actually had a tail. He felt his beanie fall off his head as his ears finished extending. His pants burst at the thighs, exposing thick dark fur pouring out.

Derek tried to run, but his shoes split apart, knocking him to the ground and all fours. Derek's powerful paws tore through the shoes and his socks were shreds. Derek tried to pull himself back up, but it was no use. He was a werewolf and this is what happened to him on a full moon. There was no resisting. No escape. No denying it.

Derek could feel his abs tightening, pushing out, tearing the neckline of his shirt. Fur began to sprout on his face. He growled and moaned, baring his teeth into the night sky. His clothes tore further off him as his face pushed forward, extending into the muzzle of a powerful werewolf. Derek's mind told him to love the moon for giving him this gift, but he still resisted. He didn't want to. But he found himself howling at the moon as the remainder of his clothes tore off and his transformation completed.

The werewolf that was once Derek then sprinted into the woods and began to hunt.