and stared deeply into my eyes. "Tomorrow is a full moon. Promise me that you won't see me anymore."
It was as if I'd just found out I'd failed every class I'd ever taken. I was devastated at the news. "I can't!" I said. "I won't."
"At least until I have this figured out," he said sadly, cupping my face in his hands. "I understand if you won't wait... but you can't contact me, Celeste. Don't you understand? You can't - "
"I know you. You wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone."
"I want to be with you, more than you know. It's just at night... it's best that you aren't around me."
My heart broke. I'd finally fallen in love, and I wasn't able to be with the one person I'd fallen in love with. I felt as if he were being shipped off to an overseas boarding school never to return. But Brandon was here - in my classes, the hallway, and the lunchroom. He wasn't saying we couldn't see each other because he didn't care for me. He was saying it because he cared.
I didn't want Brandon to leave our secluded spot underneath the staircase. I was afraid I'd never be able to be with him again. He must have felt the same thing because this time he took a chance he hadn't taken before. He drew me into him and gave me the most heartfelt kiss. It hit me through my heart and down through to the soles of my shoes.
It was as if he was saying good-bye.
Brandon disappeared into the hallway as I sat down and sobbed.
I didn't have anyone to talk about my problem with - no school shrink would have the answers. No one would understand. No person could help. No soul would believe me.
Or was there someone who would?
Chapter Eighteen The Doctor Is In
Out of breath, I arrived at Penny for Your Thoughts to find the shop dark and a hanging sign with the word CLOSED.
I wondered if Dr. Meadows was sequestered in her back room giving another cliched reading like she had given to my friends. Or was she giving one like mine - dead-on?
Whatever she was telling her client, it couldn't be more important than what I had to tell her. I knocked until my hand hurt.
A man the size of several normal fathers combined, with a shaved head and more tattoos than skin, lumbered out from the store next to Penny for Your Thoughts.
"She's closed today. Can't you read the sign?"
"Uh... yes. It was just that sometimes she puts the sign out when she's doing a reading."
"This is her day to stay at home."
The man could have easy squashed me like a bug. Normally, I would have gotten back in my car and given way to the large, tattooed obstacle obstructing my goal. But Brandon's life was on the line and I had to drum up all my courage to get to Dr. Meadows.
"Do you know where she lives?" I asked in my nicest voice. "This is very important."
I'm not sure what that tattooed man deemed important - or if he was going to demand details. I wasn't about to admit to him that my new love was a werewolf.
He obviously didn't think I was the type to be hanging around a tattoo parlor and didn't seem to want to be further bothered by my presence. I waited outside his shop as he popped inside - afraid the tattoo artist was going to ink Dr. Meadows's address on my back. Instead, he returned quietly and was kind enough to write it down on a piece of paper.
I followed his directions closely.
I arrived at a two-story cottage home that appeared delightfully magical. Wood-carved sculptures lined the yard. Orbs of every color dotted what must have been a summertime garden. Ceramic and mosaic tiles spelled out New Age affirmations. Artistic symbols of every religion hung from the porch. I was met with the tune of a thousand wind chimes clanging in the breeze. I knocked on her door.
Dr. Meadows answered. Her long gray hair was frizzy, and she covered her flowing blouse with a South American shawl.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Dr. Meadows. But do you remember me?"
I could see she was trying to place me. I was all bundled up from the cold.
"Were you the one selling candles for your school band?" she asked. "I've been waiting for them to be delivered."
I lowered my