“Zeta?” Stel asked. “You OK?”

  I didn’t answer, my hands were still over my mouth. Stel walked in like she always did, as if every room was a stage and the doorway was her curtain. She loved theater and ag, and it bled into everything she did.

  “Hey, what are you…?” Stel asked.

  I pulled one of my hands away from my mouth and it was covered in blood. Way too much blood. That and suddenly feeling the way too much warm blood in my mouth flipped the switch from total freak out to total meltdown and I started screaming and then Stel ran in and started screaming and I screamed some more.

  “Oh, OK!” Stel said, trying to pose herself but still frantic. “It’s time. The schedule said your teeth would be ing i month, but…hey, hey it’s OK, it’s just blood. It’s just your teeth.”

  I was trembling like all my internal strings had been plucked. Stel was loud and anxious which didn’t help but she was trying to keep cool. She got some towels over my drenched bed and gave me oo hold against my bloody face. I grabbed a book as Stel led me out of our apartment and to her car.

  “The hospital’s not far,” Stel said. “They’ll get you all set. Hey, we start pnning your i awakening party now! If I remember the family tradition, it’s…what was that one lemon bar recipe…”

  My heart was rag too much to be excited about a hypothetical party.

  “The bleeding probably stopped,” Stel said. “You don’t o keep smushing that towel in your face like that.”

  I pulled the towel away slightly a somehow more blood rushing from either my gums or the spots on my lips I bit ah screamed again.

  I stared at a framed picture of a bead wished I could be there instead of a hospital waiting room. I don’t think anyone enjoys being in hospital waiting rooms, but my great m left me covered in blood and holding a towel to my mouth to try and slow the bleeding down just a little.

  Stel was still talking to the che people, and I wished this would all hurry up. I had never had stitches before. Was this a deep enough cut to get stitches? How much stuff did I fry with that lightning? Or wreck with that rainfall? Was my i gift just like weather?

  How hard did I bite myself? It was taking me so long that part of me wondered if I really was dying. I survived the first part of the i awakening, but how long was the window of potential death I read about? Would they notid try to help me if I just started dying? Or just keep expining the new insuran or whatever it was to Stel? How many i bite their faces this bad right away? Jerk gremlin in the bay head asked if I deserved it. Maybe I did.

  In the chaos of the st half hour I did mao grab my calming charm, one of my favorite Raina Starlight books. It sat on my p and I studiously avoided getting blood on it. I’d rather hold the book and not read it than look at any of the magazines oable like TouchCelebs, How to Make Your Child Less Stupid Monthly, or Does Your Kid Still Wet the Bed?

  But just as I started reading, I could hear her voice almost as clearly as that day.

  “Long day, huh?”

  I couldn’t even read my favorite book without thinking of her. With the same towel in my face, I felt my stomach sink as the rest of summer hit me like the dark grey clouds of a big thuorm desding over me. A nurse opehe door, and this time I was sure at least that a surly doctor wouldn’t tell me this was just a dry season and tell me that the salihing I got to spray up my nose didn’t do anything to stop nosebleeds in a way that made me feel like an idiot. This time I actually had fangs.

  “Zeta Faleur?” the nurse said.

  Stel was already by me shooing me forward.

  I got settled in the appoi room and sat on the big cushion table thing with the paper on it. The nurse ed up all the blood around my face, and I actually felt human again.

  “This is just like when she had braces,” Stel said. “Same amount of blood.”

  I couldn’t even snap back because the nurse was getting information down.

  “But that’s because you never flossed.” Stel said. “My fangs came in and it was like. A lot less blood. Did you fall bato the not flossing thing?”

  I tried to not kick her and just waited until the nurse finished. I wanted some answers from her on how I was doing. Basically, was I OK? Was I dying? She didn’t mention it. Before she left, she wheeled in an old TV stand and started a tape. The video quality looked a.

  “The following has been paid for by the Kinder Corporation, a subsidiary of Taramierprises.” A practically garbled voice said.

  “Oh, they’re still showing this?” Stel said.

  “They made you watch this too?” I asked.

  Stel just suppressed a sn ugh. The video began with a synth keyboard solo apanied by a painfully slow-moving title. After like five minutes of zoom it finally revealed the words “I AM A ____. WHAT ARE YOU? YOU ARE A ____”. It made me wonder why all the i reted stuff had such bad titles.

  Some cheesy graphics swooped by and transitioned from the titles to a series of shots of people just going about their lives like eating popsicles and going through marketpces and reading books.

  “We all live in the world,” the narrator said. “But all of us are different. Upon reag puberty, some find themselves going through another gey ge. These are the people with the idodutessaic makeup. Do you know what kind you are?”

  Then it cut to a park and the most stereotypical surfer dude with long blonde hair and a tye dye shirt wandered into frame.

  “Whoa! Fangs to meet you. I’m Thadley, and you’re like, a…well, what are you?” Thadley said.

  “Fangs to meet you?” I asked. “And why did the guy say ‘gey ge’?”

  “It gets worse.” Stel said.

  “Yoing through your own like, um,” Thadley said, then paused for so long I had time to wonder why they did out his helpless stare at the camera. “…ges that are totally different thaher kinds. Let’s take a look and find out what you are!”

  Thadley then ran around the park with a cheesy fast forward effed another synth solo.

  “There are three possible categories you fall into if you have the idodutessaic makeup,” the narrator said. “The i geic makeup generally falls into three categories. The most on form is simply called i. i get at least one animal-like trait, and a unique power, such as trol over bees, or hypersensitive paperwork filing. The seost on is Exa i, who get more animal traits, but all have the same power of shapeshifting. The third kind, Kanibari, get the most animal traits and powers. Because they are less in trol of their powers, Kanibari must be closely monitored.”

  It showed a i with just fangs, an Exa i shapeshifting bad forth between human and dragon, and a Kanibari all sitting at desks. The Kanibari was like full on werewolf, which seemed to go against the title of that book I had to read.

  “Whatever you are, you’ve experienced an awakening. An awakening sists of at least a trait appearing somewhere on your body. Awakenings occur at any age, but a majority occur between the ages of sixteen aeen. When an awakening occurs, the new i also get some sort of special ability. These skills must be hoo protect you and those around you. Now that you’ve had your awakening, you are required to attend an officially saned school to nurture your gey ging body.”

  It cut back to Thadley running around the park interviewing kids about fangs and stuff.

  “What do you like about, uh, i…? I guess?” Thadley asked.

  “If you uh…my mom said that…their teeth uh like…sharp teeth uh…are fangs.” The kid said.

  The video tinued like that for a while, not really any new information. It felt like an hour had passed by the time the doctor finally showed up, mercifully when the video was just getting to “Unfortable i gey ges” after I had already white knuckled it through the incredibly awkward “i Hygiene” sequeh Stel right there.