ROSE The superstar brisk-walked to the kitchen and I was hot on his trail. "Come on, Rum. Tell me, what is 'sling dash'?" He grabbed a glass from the shelf, glanced at me and groaned in surrender, “Urgh! It’s a sport. We played it back home.” The glass was slammed frustratingly on the counter, signalling his unwillingness to continue with the topic. But I was immersed in the thrill of discovering a new world and couldn’t stop. “What’s it like?” A jug of water in his hands, he closed his eyes to mentally count to ten and breathed, “It’s hard to explain.” Then, he opened his eyes and poured water into his glass. Abruptly, he snapped, “And it’s not important for my fucking allergy, so I’m not answering.” I pouted at the counter top. Humph! I’ll find it out on my own then. Erasmo did say that the others are coming for Rum—that means I can meet more werewolves! I looked up and he appeared startled and looked away. Puzzled, I asked, “What’s wrong? Something on my face?” “No,” he

ROSE I hit a bed of sand. “Ooph!” Fuck, it hurts! I curled into my usual foetal form to ingest the pain as a mesh of vicious grunting and growling rumbled not far from where I am. Rum! They’re ganging up on him! Worried sick, I pushed myself up, wincing in pain, and searched frantically for the giant, black wolf. Then I saw him fighting off the grey wolf—he jumped from the swings to the see-saw and then swiped his claws at the back of the grey fur animal, who then backed away in pain. The dark brown wolf appeared out of nowhere and jumped onto Rum—. “Rum, look out!” I screamed in worry. And Rum shook her off in one violent swing, then threw his hind legs at the attacker and shoved her hard at the steel pole of the swings, and she grunted in pain. But before Rum recovered, the grey wolf pounced on to him once more. “Look at what we have here?” I turned to the voice and gasped in horror. Niro was moving towards me, his yellow eyes boring through my face as the ugly

ROSE The Men’s Room? That self-centred jerk! There's no limit to his superstar craziness! I stared at the text message, feeling conflicted. Should I text or call him back, to see what he wants? Would that upset him? He did ask me to come. In the end, my stubbornness to keep my promise won me over. I arrived outside the male toilet and whispered as loud as I could, without catching any attention, “RUM!” “Jesus Christ, I should've gotten an assistant with longer legs…you move ten times slower than an average human—," he grumbled and then growled, "Just get in here!” “But it’s the male toilet!” “There’s no one here. And no one is coming our way. So come on!” he urged, sounding dead urgent. So I ran in and asked in a lowered voice, “Where are you—?” The door flew open and his hand stuck out to wave at me. I dashed towards it and clamped my mouth to stop a scream of shock: Christy was sitting on the toilet, unconscious. Rum tugged me in and locked the door. “What happen

ROSE It was then I felt the slight tremble of chill in Rum’s body. I knew what it was… I was trembling the same way as I followed my homeroom teacher to the headmaster’s office for the first time; I was caught in possession of a cigarette stick and a lighter, both of which I was muling for one of my bullies back in high school. Rum was right. A hug was all we needed to get through this. And I would gladly let him have it now. Without thinking, I rubbed his back in the same comforting way as dad did when I was frightened by a ferocious dog that tried to take my snack. “You did well, Rum,” I whispered and felt his arms tighten some more around me, nearly flattening my lungs. ****** “Yes, Rum had a migraine attack. So he rushed out to get some fresh air. We’ll be heading back in—.” I looked up and Rum was holding up five fingers. So I said, “In five. Yes, Peggy. I’ll tell him. Yes, he looks much better now. Alright, see you in a bit.” I ended the call and turned to the su

ROSE Rum caught himself before he turned away from the unwanted visitor to shoot a warning look at me. "Shut up, Rose," he reminded me in a low voice. "NO. I WON'T." I glared at the greyish white werewolf. Pushing myself forward to make my point, I continued chiding the wolf that was supposed to be the wiser one. "Like Rum said, you're not his father. So unless Rum's father personally told you so, you have no right to say what you said. Do you know how hurtful that is? You’re talking about Rum’s father!" Rum jumped onto the counter and barked at me, "Shut the hell up!" And he swivelled his focus back at the greyish-white wolf. I don’t care about Rum’s warning. I want this werewolf to apologise to Rum! Anyone can tell that Rum loves and respects his father a lot. I won't sit by and watch another person use that to hurt him. What’s wrong with choosing your own way of living? It’s your life, isn’t it? You have the right to make a choice, even if it’s not a popular one! "NO! I wo