Page 47 of Dryad, Try Again
“It’s more complicated than that.”
“You wanna uncomplicate it?”
I recall sleeping with Tanner that first night. Then I remember the horror on his face when he woke me up last week. I take a deep breath in and out. “I hurt him.”
“Huh?”
“I triggered his post trauma. I’m a nightmare for him. We slept together, and when he woke up…” I land my head on a book and groan. “He ran off. It was awful.”
“I’m sorry, bud.” He taps my back, and after a moment, we go back to sitting upright.
“I’ve never seen that much fear. All because I shifted in the middle of the night.”
“Oof. Rough. It’ll be tough for him to want to sleep with you again after that.”
Niko doesn’t know the half of it. “Exactly,” I reply, shoving my hands in my pockets.
“At least you won’t accidentally turn them to stone.”
We share a laugh. “Sometimes I wish I was a monster all the time,” I lament.
“Trust me, it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
“You know what I mean. The full moon is coming on Halloween, and who knows how I’ll end up? All dryad? Left half human, right half dryad? It’s a mystery! I want to be accepted for who I am. You’re exactly who you present as, a monster. My shifting could poke an eye out!”
“You know how hard it has been for me this semester,” Niko laments. “I’m always in my shifted form. Celebrating everyone out and about in their monster forms when I’m always stuck in mine doesn’t seem like my kind of party.”
My eyebrows furrow. “Niko, it's about more than that. What about the fact that for some of us, we want to celebrate monster history? It’s not something to hide. And think about it this way: you’re lucky because since you’re always in your shifted form, you don’t have to worry about changing into some kind of dangerous hazard.”
He scoffs and nods. “I still think a reprieve from this…” He adjusts his cap, and a viper pokes its head out for a moment before he pushes it back in. “Would be hunky-dory. But the grass is always greener on the other side of the graveyard.”
I chuckle. “I like you the way you are, Niko. Never change, my dude.”
He stands up and begins to push his cart. “Look, regardless of our humans, I hope you reconsider going to the dance if it’s that important to you. With everyone shifting out, it ought to be fang-tastic.”
“I’ll mull it over.” I quirk an eyebrow. “‘Our’ humans?”
Niko fills me in on how fast his relationship has progressed with his sexy roommate. Apparently I’m not the only monster with his heart tied up in a human.
But how can I go to the dance with Tanner knowing I trigger him?
After Niko bids me farewell, I shut the books in front of me and pack my things. There are some answers I won’t find from reading.
20
TANNER
I placethe last can in my aunt’s cupboard then shut the wooden door. “There. Now you have plenty of nutritious soup.”
“Enough to last a lifetime,” Aunt Hannah remarks. She stands to my left and places a hearty helping of stew into a bowl. “Eat up, Tanny.”
I take the bowl, and moments later, we’re at the kitchen table, ready for our meal. I dig in, enjoying the hearty flavors of meat and potatoes, but Aunt Hannah eyes me curiously.
“Your food is getting cold,” I state, still trying to avoid her gaze.
She eats one spoonful then relaxes. “Tanner, it’s time for you to share.”
“Share what?” I ask, knowing exactly where she’s going with this.
