Page 2

Chapter

Two

OWEN

I click my laptop and the large screen before me flicks to the next slide.

We’re gazing at a collage of photos I compiled from the internet, now on the dorm flatscreen TV.

There’re dozens of vampire dude selfies, all shirtless pecs, smooth blue-gray skin, tight abs, and the occasional set of fangs. Yum.

I glance down at my tablet and read my notes. “Vampires have super-strength, making them strong protectors. More importantly, they’re virile, meaning they can last long in bed.”

This earns me a chuckle from my peers sitting before me in my friend’s suite.

I push up my glasses and swipe to my next page of notes.

“Some people are afraid of their retractable fangs, but I’m not.

I think kissing one would be a fascinating change of pace.

With enough trust, a vampire sucking blood from you could be an intimate experience. Consensually, of course.”

I click, and the next slide reveals a vampire leaping out of a pool.

Water splashes everywhere, framing his muscly abs in the sexiest way.

I try not to drool at the photo that I downloaded from the school website and clear my throat.

I had the forethought to cover the guy’s face with our school logo—for privacy, naturally.

“Vampires also age slower than humans. So dating one means you have a strapping young stud for years to come.” Everyone laughs, and I click one last time to show a dark slide that reads, Thank You.

“We’ve all had to deal with major life changes since the Halloween Wave morphed so many of us into shifters twenty years ago.

When it comes to interpersonal relations, we simply have to overcome our preconceived notions to unite monsters and humans.

As such, I believe I have more than convinced you that vampires make ideal boyfriends.

While I accept all monsters, as a human, I would be more than happy to date a vampire.

” I look up and slightly bow. “Thank you for your time. I will now be taking any questions.”

The small audience stares at each other in silence for a moment. Then, a hand raises.

“Yes, Tanner?” I point to my closest male friend.

“Yeah, um, why did you insist on showing us your little dog and pony show?” He cringes and exchanges perplexed looks with the others.

We all appear to be ordinary human undergrads, but I know Tanner’s boyfriend is a monster.

There are some other faces I don’t recognize sitting in chairs or on the floor.

“Not that this wasn’t, um…interesting.” My closest female friend, Shonda, smirks and nudges the dude next to her. “But we didn’t ask for a lecture. Even though it was very revealing, Owen. High marks.”

They all laugh, and I frown. “You asked me to come over,” I reply.

“Yeah, to have drinks before the start of the spring semester,” Rachel, my other human friend, points out. “Maybe play some games. Not listen to you wax poetic about how to objectify vampires.”

“I was not…objectifying vampires,” I retort as my cheeks heat up.

“Wasn’t there one slide showing a vampire’s backside and a peach emoji?” Kovi asks. His boyfriend, Tanner, giggles and bumps his shoulder into him, then they both sip their beers.

I clear my throat. “I was trying to prove that I’m not opposed to dating certain monsters.” I look away out the dorm window. As usual, no one understands my research.

“Well, I liked it. A-plus work, bro.” Seth points at me and leans against the wall.

Our resident mummy is in his human form.

He drinks from a beer bottle and, as always, has an easy grin on his face.

I smile at him, then he adds, “Very horny. The horniest thing I’ve ever seen. It should be your dissertation.”

Everyone chuckles, and my smile falls.

“Is this HowlerPoint presentation because I texted you over break saying how everyone should date a dryad?” Tanner asks. He grabs his boyfriend’s thigh where they both sit closely on the couch. “I didn’t mean to say other monsters aren’t attractive.”

“Thank you, kindly,” Seth says, and bows, earning more laughter.

“And you didn’t have to like…do a whole academic presentation,” Kovi says.

“Hey, if you wanna bone a vampire, we would have believed you,” Shonda adds.

Again, the whole dorm of drunk students laughs, and I frown. “This presentation is over.”

Kovi stands up and announces, “Okay, now that we’re done being forced to watch…” He points at the screen and grimaces. “ That .” The room snickers, and he smiles again. “Who wants to play Cards Against Monsterkind? ”

“Yes! Let’s do it!” Seth says. Nearly everyone cheers and huddles in a circle.

I’d be annoyed that my peers don’t appreciate my presentation skills, but I’m used to it by now.

Also, I don’t need any more humiliation before classes have even started.

Or to induce a panic attack from overthinking.

So, I’m happy to step back and let my so-called friends play a fun drinking card game.

I haven’t fit in for the past twenty-one years of my life, why start now?

“Hey.” One skinny, shorter fellow walks up to me. There are several folks I don’t know personally that Kovi invited to this little dorm gathering, but I wasn’t paying attention. “I noticed you took some photos from our team website.”

I gulp and the blood drains from my face. He’s cute, and his Scottish accent is musical. But that’s not what has me in a nerdy fight-or-flight mode. “Um, they were stock photos. Of vampires and such.”

“No, some of those were from the water polo team. I should know, they’re my people.” He looks me directly in the eye. Fortunately, everyone else seems to be enthralled by the party game on the floor.

Shit, this guy is on the team. “And that second-to-last slide was Clay.”

I gulp and quickly shut off my laptop. “I…don’t know what you mean. They’re random shifters I pulled from Boogle and Witchipedia.”

“Right, sure.” He tilts his head and pauses, then sips his drink. “A bunch of my team, including Clay, went to Zomb-Bar tonight, but I heard about a dorm party and couldn’t resist.”

Oh, thank monster god . “Mhm!” I squeak, choosing to scrutinize my laptop bag.

“I could introduce him to you.” He smirks and taps my shoulder, and I flinch away. “Like team solidarity. I’m Nick by the way.”

My mouth goes dry. They say never meet your heroes, but I think that also extends to the fine water polo jock you’ve been lusting after since the end of last semester.

“Well, Nick.” I adjust my glasses and hike my bag over my shoulder. “I wish you and the uh, water polo team much success this semester. But all of those photos were random vampires. I don’t know who this Clay is.”

Is he a monster that can detect lies? “And I’m not looking to meet or date anyone right now.” More lies.

He stares at me skeptically while everyone near us laughs at the card game. “Are you sure? Because there was an entire slide detailing what your vampire-slash-Indian-human-gay wedding would be like.”

I clear my throat and my shoulders tense up. “That was uh, hypothetical. Buh-bye!” I dash out of the dorm suite, not bothering to say goodbye to my friends.

I walk out of Karloff Hall and into the cold January air.

Pennsylvania is freezing this time of year, but the entire Creepin U…

um, I mean Creelin University campus is buzzing with excitement.

The start of a new semester means new opportunities for monsters and humans to forge strong interpersonal relationships.

After all, last semester was their first time letting humans in, and I was part of that inaugural batch.

As I walk past a large snake cuddling with a handsome dude on a bench, I bite back a sigh. Okay, yes, I admit I’m lonely. And more than a little starved for intimacy, hence working all night on a vampire-themed slideshow.

But everyone at the party thought it was a wacky good time. I’m not sure what’s worse—my closest friends finding my research ridiculous, or a water polo jock taking it seriously and offering to introduce me to Clay Cannon. He is one fine vampire boy…

Shit, what if Nick tells Clay I used his picture in my lustful presentation? I’ll seem like a total weirdo. I mean, I am a nerdy weirdo, but I don’t want the hot water polo monster to know that.

I make it to my dorm building and swipe my card to get in. I relax my shoulders, then take the stairs up to my room.

It’ll be fine. I can focus on classes starting in two days. It’s not like I’ll ever meet Clay anyway.

As I sit in the front row of the lab classroom, I try to ignore the murmurs of fellow students walking in. Yes, I came to class early as always and managed to snag the seat closest to the professor. My human buddies aren’t in this lecture-practicum-hybrid course, so I’m on my own.

That’s fine; on my own is what I’m used to.

I stare at my reflection in my phone out of boredom.

Just because I’m a nerdy, lonely, kind of neurotic dude, doesn’t mean I don’t care about how I look.

I take off my glasses and study myself: my ochre skin is clear, thank monster god, and my trimmed black hair slightly curls over my forehead, just the way I like.

Sure, I wish I could be defined in my belly and more bulky in my arms, but that’s a problem for another day.

I’ve never liked exercising, and therefore don’t deserve a tight, athletic physique.

I am who I am, and that is certainly no jock.

The students around me lull into a hush, and I know what that means. The professor walks to the front, and I put my glasses back on. She’s an older woman with a high brown ponytail, and she’s wearing a lab coat.

“Welcome everyone! Good morning!” She gives a wave and her chipper energy forces me to sit upright at the lab bench. “So glad you were able to find the lab. Did you all print your syllabi?”

“Yes,” I reply, along with a few of my fellow students behind me.

“Fang-tastic.” She puts her hands together and beams at us. “I’m Professor Robinson, but please call me Octavia. I’ll be yours this semester for Monster Anatomy 101.” She shifts before us, her skin turning purple and her clothes disappearing into her monster skin.

The class gasps—she’s a kraken shifter! Most monsters have human guises, so it’s often a surprise to see their monster form. Her hands and torso look like a purple human, but as she leans forward, I know her bottom half must be tentacles.

And this is confirmed when a tentacle rises up behind her and takes a piece of chalk from the chalkboard.

“We have a lot to cover this semester, what with the dozens of species of monsters. But don’t worry, I will be your creature guide.” She laughs, but I can’t pay attention while her tentacle writes on the board. She isn’t even looking, but it manages to write the words, Monster Anatomy.

Fascinating . Monsters are so cool.

“One of the most important things you should know about this class is that we do everything in pairs.” I sift through the syllabus in my hands as I listen to Professor Robinson.

“And according to my census, exactly half of you are human and half are shifters. Isn’t Creelin University just wonderful? ”

She claps her hands and laughs. “So befriend a monster if you’re human, and if you’re a monster, link up with a human sitting next to you.

” I turn around—all the students behind me are paired up at their lab tables.

A minotaur stands up and swaps with a human so now it seems everyone is in a human-monster coupling .

To my left, my table is vacant—typical, even in academics I can’t find a monster to link up with.

The professor looks at my table and her smile falls. “I’m sure people are just late since this is the first day.” I hear the door open behind me and the professor waves. “Right on schedule. Come to the front and have a seat, you’re just in time.”

She turns around and proceeds to write, tossing the chalk from her tentacle to her hand. “As I said, it’s imperative to academically pair up.” She begins to write words, and I sense a presence to my left.

“Sorry I’m late,” the dude whispers, and a chill runs up my spine. When I turn to look at him, I swivel back to the front, then do a double take.

Oh my monster god . It’s Clay Cannon. Super-hot vampire jock… is now my lab partner ?