Surviving Specter High: Werewolves 101

5 ~ The Vampire Who Drank Soup

Thankfully, math class was quiet because most of the students dozed off mid-lecture. Like every other school, the teachers mainly went over the rules and explained a few things about the academy. So, at least there wasn't any homework. That would give me a chance to take it easy tonight.

Finally, my favorite part of the day rolled around: lunchtime. As soon as the bell rang, I hurried to my locker and stashed my heavy textbooks. The crowd piled into a fancy cafeteria with long tables and walnut chairs. A massive row of curved stained-glass windows plastered the walls, and colorful shards of sunlight reflected against the maroon carpet.

Four lunch ladies were serving trays to their own individual lines of vampires, werewolves, satyrs, and fairies. I wasn't really sure why each species was being served exclusively, but I walked over to investigate the food. And to my horror, the werewolves received plastic trays of red meat, kibble, and little dog treats that I recognized (because I bought them for Beanie once). For some reason, the guys seemed perfectly okay with the food they were served.

Speaking of guys, I noticed something a little unusual. There weren't any werewolf girls, so what was the deal? There were female satyrs, fairies, and even vampires. I decided to ask Rus about it later, but for now, I checked out what the satyrs were eating.

And for whatever reason, the lunch ladies filled their trays with shredded grass, dandelions, and granola. There was still a bug crawling on one of the grass clumps, so did they pick their lunch out of the backyard?

The vampires filled dixie cups with a strange lime green liquid from a drink dispenser. Gross. Out of all the options, the fairies were provided with the most normal meal—a leafy salad with nuts and berries. There was only one problem. I was human! So, what was I supposed to eat?

Thankfully, Rus came to my rescue in the middle of my dilemma.

"Rus! What are they eating?" I whispered.

"Lunch."

"I know, but kibble? Dog treats? Is that what werewolves—er, I mean, what you guys like to eat?"

"Well, I mean, our stomachs digest kind of differently. It's not any big deal. The school has it catered to meet our needs. That's all I know."

Did he seriously not realize he was eating dog food? I was almost too afraid to break it to him. There was no way this school was preparing kibble from scratch, so they must have been lying about it to save money. I was seriously starting to question the integrity of the schoolboard.

"Well . . . I can't eat this kind of stuff," I awkwardly mentioned.

"Oh, yeah, right. You should probably go for the fairy line."

He was right, so I waited in the long line until I received my salad. But as soon as the lunch lady handed me my tray, she told me, "Don't worry, dear. Since you're human, we'll start preparing special meals for you starting tomorrow."

A few of the fairy girls scowled at me, so I awkwardly nodded and escaped to an empty bench in the back of the cafeteria. Pretty much everyone hated me at this point, so I poked my plastic fork at my salad and glumly took a bite. Not long after, Rus returned with his food and sat down in front of me.

He popped a dog treat into his mouth and chewed with a straight face. It looked like a petrified meatball.

"Is it good?" I tried to make small talk.

"No. Does it look good?"

". . . You know, I have a corgi back home who really likes those things. I think he'd like to meet you one day."