I was sitting on the couch in one of the dorm day rooms with Sylvie, Eve, and Kimberly. The four of us had decided to have a girls night in, or at least that was what Sylvie called it. I just called it sitting around and watching a movie together. It was their way of trying to cheer me up after the way I’d lost the duel to Teressa yesterday.

I had wanted to watch Serenity so I could introduce my friends to one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies, or at least Kimberly since she hadn’t seen it yet, but I was outvoted. Instead, I was stuck watching that movie about sparkling vampires, a whiney girl, and Native American werewolves.

“Weres aren’t anything like that,” I complained in annoyance.

“I’m pretty sure that vampires aren’t like that either,” Sylvie pointed out with a grin.

“They aren’t,” Eve said. “According to my sponsor, real vampires are…monsters.”

I snorted at that. “Yeah, but some Touched think that Weres are just animals.” I was careful not to look at Kimberly. After all, she was trying hard to understand. “I’m not gonna call anyone a monster without meeting them first.”

“Vampires are real?” Kimberly asked in surprise. “I thought they were make believe.”

“They’re real,” Eve told her with a scowl. “At least according to my sponsor. I don’t know much about them, other than that they’re bloodthirsty killers, but I think they’re somehow tied to the Sier.”

We all nodded at that as if that explained everything. The Sier were extremely mysterious so there were lots of different rumors and stories about them, many of which seemed to contradict each other. It seemed to be a general acceptance that anything related to the Sier would be mysterious and confusing.

“These werewolves still make the Were look bad,” I grumbled.

Sylvie snickered at that and pointed out, “You’re the one who threatened to eat Teressa.”

I winced at that and muttered, “Don’t remind me.” My own actions had probably set Were relations at the Academy back a couple decades at least.

“Well, they may not be realistic,” Kimberly commented as she gestured to the TV, “but they are cute.”

I found myself absently nodding agreement with Sylvie while Eve snorted, “Not really.”

“Speaking of which,” Sylvie commented, giving me a curious look. “What’s up with you and Todd?”

“I…” I paused, knowing that I was blushing badly. “I don’t know.”

“How can you not know?” Sylvie asked. “I mean, I’ve seen the way you keep looking at him. Hell, I’ve seen the way you kissed him…”

“I don’t know,” I blurted out in frustration, shaking a little as I did so. “I…I like him,” I admitted, feeling horribly embarrassed and confused. “But I don’t know why. I’m a guy… I mean, I was a guy… I like girls…or at least I did. I’ve never felt this way about a guy before…” I could feel tears beginning to run down my cheeks at this point.

“Oh Erin,” Sylvie whispered with a look of pity before coming over and hugging me. “I didn’t realize…”

“But you’re a girl now,” Kimberly said with a shrug. “And girls like boys.”

“Not necessarily,” Eve responded with a loud snort. “Just because you’re a girl, that doesn’t mean you have to like boys.”

“Oh,” Kimberly said, blushing a little. “Sorry. I forgot.”

“I think…I think I have an idea of how you feel,” Eve told me with a sigh. “I grew up thinking that I’d fall in love with a guy, get married, and have kids. But when I got older, I realized that I was more interested in girls than guys. At first, I was really confused. I mean, why wasn’t I like other girls? Was something wrong with me?” Then she shrugged. “Then I started to realize that I couldn’t compare myself to others. I was who I was, not who they were.”

“I appreciate the talk,” I told Eve with a wry smile. “But I don’t think our situations are quite the same.”

“Perhaps not,” Eve responded with a shrug. “But I do know what it’s like to be confused about your sexual orientation…for it to be something other than what you think it should be.”

“Maybe,” I admitted with a sigh, wiping the tears and feeling embarrassed about breaking down like this in front of my friends.

Eve got up and said, “I want to try something…” She gestured for me to get out of my seat. Once I did so, she said, “Now kiss me.”

“What?” I asked in surprise.

“Kiss me,” Eve repeated.

I hesitated but Eve grabbed me and pulled me in for a kiss. I kissed back, noticing how soft her lips were and how nice this was. However, there was something missing. My heart didn’t race and my body didn’t respond anywhere near what it did with Todd.

When we pulled apart, Sylvie exclaimed, “Damn… If any of the boys had come through here, they would have really had a show.”

“If you would have warned us, we could have sold tickets,” Kimberly added with a giggle.

“Well?” Eve asked me hopefully.

I stared at Eve for a moment and then slowly shook my head. “It was nice but…” I shrugged, feeling extremely self-conscious. Then in a quiet voice that was nearly a whisper, I admitted, “It didn’t do anything for me.”

Eve gave me a slightly disappointed look before smiling. “I guess now you know. You really are into guys now instead of girls.”

“Or maybe she’s just not into you,” Kimberly teased.

“Are you going to talk to Todd about this?” Sylvie asked me. “I mean, you like him and I know he likes you too.”

“But why?” I asked with a grimace. “I used to be a guy and I’m a part time succubus. Who in their right mind would want to be involved with ME?”

“Don’t make me smack you upside the head,” Sylvie said firmly, giving me a steady look. “Todd does like you and doesn’t deserve to have you sending mixed signals. At least talk with him before writing him off.”

I nodded at that and gave her a weak smile. “Okay.”

“You’re one of my best friends,” Sylvie told me with a serious look. “But if you hurt my brother, I will smack you upside the head.”

“What is it with you and smacking people upside the head?” Kimberly asked her with a grin.

“Don’t make me smack you,” Sylvie replied with a broad grin of her own.

“I wonder,” Eve mused, giving me a curious look. “I mean, being female shouldn’t mean you automatically start liking guys. I wonder if it might have something to do with you being a succubus too.”

I thought about it for a moment before responding, “Probably. I mean, everything else is because of that.” I gestured down at myself and gave a wry smile.

Sylvie gave me a curious look and asked, “What do you mean?”

I smiled faintly, thankful for the change of topic. I thought about some of the other hybrids that Amylia had told me about and carefully responded, “I think it has to do with the nature of hybrids and how our Were and Touched sides interact. When a Were and a Touched have kids together, the kids are usually either one or the other. It’s pretty rare that you get one that’s a hybrid of both.”

“We know that much,” Eve said.

“Well, if your Touched side awakens before the first full moon,” I commented thoughtfully, remembering my night long conversation with Amylia as well as several that we’d had since. “Then you never manifest a Were side. All hybrids have one thing in common. Our Were and Touched sides awaken at the same time.”

“Really?” Kimberly asked curiously. “How does that work.”

“On our Changing Day, the first full moon after we turn sixteen,” I explained. “Weres change for the first time. Apparently with hybrids, that triggers our Touched sides as well so our talents are often influenced by our Were forms.” Then I paused for a moment before adding, “I heard that there was once a hybrid sorceress here at the Academy. She was a Were skunk. Her sorcerers mark was that she had a white stripe through her hair and her talent was that she could create a nasty stench.” And though I didn’t say so aloud, I thought about how Amylia’s sorcerers mark was that her hair and eyes retained some of the color from her Were form.

“So, you’re a succubus,” Even mused as she watched me. “So it gives you a sorcerers mark of turning you female and a talent of becoming sexier.”

I nodded at that. “Exactly.” Then I let out a sigh and said, “My starting to like boys may the same kind of carryover from my succubus form. Or it may be something else about my new body. I mean, why do normal girls like guys? I don’t really know. I only know that it’s confusing as hell to feel like this…”

Before I realized it, I was suddenly caught up in a group hug as my three friends all tried to comfort me at once. Normally, I would have thought that this would be an uncomfortable invasion of my personal space, but it actually did feel comforting.

“Everything will work out,” Sylvie assured me. Then she grinned mischieviously and said, “Trust me, in no time at all, you’ll be drooling over the boy bands too.”

“I don’t know,” Kimberly added with a giggle. “Todd might not like that.”

I just chuckled at that, feeling a little better for having friends who were willing to understand. “I was wondering,” I said after a moment, blushing again as I looked at my friends. “I was wondering if you guys would help me with something. You see, I have a practical joke I want to play on someone…”