I Can Be Luna

4.

Graduation Day

Ella tried her hardest to comfort and talk me through it as I was overwhelmed with recollections of the attack on Silver Shadow. Although I have experienced panic attacks before, this is the first time I have had to deal with my thoughts being so overloaded. Ella reassured me in a quiet voice that everything was fine and that I was no longer there. My thoughts slowed down after what seemed like a lifetime. Ella revealed that she chatted with the Moon Goddess when she went to her area in my head to contemplate. She advised us to exercise caution and to prepare for the unexpected. She expresses regret for us having to experience such tragedy at such a young age and says my dreams are fate's method of guiding me to the truth. I talked to Ella for a little while longer before falling asleep. I was wondering and worrying more as I turned over and over. My alarm went off at 7 am, and I woke up with a start. Fortunately, we do not have any work to complete this morning because it is our last day of school.

I hauled myself out of bed and hastily picked out my day's attire. Firstly, I really needed to take a shower because I was so preoccupied having a panic attack that I did not really have time to wash up before I went to bed last night. I peeked outside my room to make sure Kylie and her friends were not there before running down the stairs. I make sure to thoroughly wash my hair and exfoliate every part of my body. I determined that you two should spend a few more minutes in the warm water. Your partner would dedicate their entire life to you because they genuinely love you. A wolf can locate their partner using their scent starting on their eighteenth birthday. It usually has a precise scent that they love. Your skin makes contact with one another like a million little sparks popping, giving you both a tingling sensation. The mate relationship begins to deepen the moment you both accept it. Your souls are then permanently bound together when you mate and mark each other, completing the tie. They claim that it is the happiest state of mind a wolf can be in. Mates may reject each other on occasion. Rarely, the Moon Goddess might grant you another opportunity at love. As retribution for disobeying her orders and wronging the person she personally chose for you—thinking you are more intelligent than the goddess herself—it can be someone awful who does not think highly of you at all. Alternatively, if you have been mistreated, you might be rewarded with a better partner who would value the mate-bond and you. This person could be your first mate.

I was deep in thinking when Ariana cleared her throat. She was staring at me expectantly, having finished her meal some time ago. "I apologise; did you say anything?" I blurted out in a hurry. "Yes, girl, I see. You kind of lost consciousness as I was talking about your possible future partner, so I inquired if you were okay." As she carried my unfinished plate to the kitchen, she said, piling it on top of hers. I apologise; my ideas got the better of me. "All right, how about we go to school?" With a shrug, she let go of the dishes and we packed up our belongings to depart from the pack house.

I could not control the smile that came across my face when I arrived at school. Observing that everyone else was packing their locker items into their backpacks, we followed suit. Everyone has the same last day of classes on this particular day, but as graduating year students, we get to spend it gathering our year's worth of schoolwork, bidding farewell to friends we will not be seeing for a time, and getting ready for graduation later that afternoon. Everyone else is still required to show up for class. Ariana and I are the only ones we have, so we pack up our lockers and head straight to the sports pitch to soak in the sun and remember our school days.

We take our time displaying our schoolwork to one another while giggling and making jokes about how difficult the lesson was or how sloppy our writing is. Ariana then takes my sketchbook out of my purse.

"What is this?" Her expression resembled that of the cat that captured the canary.

"There is nothing intriguing in my sketchbook. Presenting in our small show and tell is definitely not worth it." I say as I make an unsuccessful attempt to wrest it back from her. I start chasing her as she bursts into giggles. "Come on, Ariana, return it!" I moan. "Not at all! Absolutely not! I am curious to see what is within." She yells back at me while giggling uncontrollably. At last, she collapses into the lawn, gasping for air, and flips through the first page. I collapse into the ground beside her, feeling embarrassed because it looks more like a wacky stick figure than one of my parents' drawings. My face goes all funny as she flips through the pages, admiring every detail in every drawing she looks at. She lets out a sudden gasp, and when I turn to look over her shoulder, I realise that she is staring at my most recent sketch. The stunning wolf, black in colour. She looks back at me, and I can feel her warm stare warming my cheeks. I just know that right now I am as red as a beetroot.

"This wolf, whose is it?" She asked. I honestly do not know, so I shrug in answer. "I had a dream about it. I do not remember seeing this wolf before. Of course, I would recall his attractiveness." I laughed aloud. "His?" Her tone had a trace of humour, which made me even more red-faced. "Anyway, Helen, this sketch is fantastic. The specifics are ridiculous." She pondered. Before she could say anything further, I hurriedly grabbed the sketchbook and stuffed it inside my backpack. To get ready for graduation, we left the field and went into one of the empty classrooms.