The Jaguar Witch

Chapter Seven:

Notes : Ignore the 'gangs' bit back in the first couple of chapters. I'm trying to rewrite the story, and edit as I go along. Sorry if it seems like it's scattered all over the place!

Word Count for this Chapter:  2,220

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Sam wandered through the mall, trying to not show how unsettled she really felt. Shopping was a great way to take your mind off of difficult memories: like how she had transformed into a jaguar, and how her grandmother didn't seem all that surprised. Sure, she was startled at seeing her sitting in the bedroom with a tail and black fur...but she had seen before how her grandmother can be shocked into silence. She wasn't shocked into silence. She was simply startled at the scene before her. Sam could remember her talking to the butler, and her grandfather, and then...nothing else after that. She must have fallen asleep, but she didn't recall doing so. All she had known was waking up the next morning, and finding that her grandparents had supposedly flown off to Spain, leaving her with $600. That meant that they could be gone a while. Or it meant that they were a lot more wealthy than even Sam had guessed. Coming from a poor background in Missouri, to having more money than what she knew to do with, was confusing.

She wandered through the mall, with no real destination in mind, before coming to a stop at the local bookstore. She hesitated, knowing she could easily blow her budget there, but decided that she wanted new books to read. She'd never been able to purchase what she wanted with however long she wanted in a bookstore before. She felt rather grown up as she sauntered in and made her way towards the young adult fantasy books, which were apparently growing steadily more popular amongst the population. She browsed the bookstore and came away with two heavy bags of books. She'd gotten several young adult novels, as well as adult fantasy books that she'd been particularly invested in, and some-rather embarrassing but needed information-smut novels. Smut novels were the best way to learn about romance, or at least that was what she surmised. She didn't have anyone to ask about it, after all. She definitely wasn't going to ask her elderly grandparents about it!

She was just passing a leather store that sold items from clothes to journals, when she heard a familiar guy's voice from the store call her name. She poked her head in, and saw Bradley with a few other teens. She walked over to him with a grin, it was nice seeing familiar, friendly places.

"Hey," She greeted.

"Hey yourself. What brings you to the mall-shopping or boredom?" He asked, grinning at her.

"Can't it be both?" It wasn't her that responded, but one of the girls who looked as if she could be a cheerleader with how thin she was. Sam felt a wave of jealousy and squashed it. She knew she would never be that thin; she worked out every day, and it didn't seem to matter. "Hi. I'm Nadia Greene." She shook hands with Sam, and Sam grinned at her.

"Samantha Rose." She introduced.

"And these two quiet ladies are Justine Harris and Ann Rashel. We're all part of the gymnastics class." She explained. Sam inwardly gave herself points-she wasn't too far off when determining the girl was in sports.

"Gymnastics looks fun, but I think I'm too heavy for the class." She said wistfully. Nadia shook her head.

"You're tall, and you're a bit above average but you'd be perfect for a few of the sports most girls don't go for. Like Disc Throwing. You have the perfect muscle structure for that sport in particular. And you could do dancing, that takes a lot of energy and sometimes skinny girls like me just don't have that kind of energy." She offered.

Sam blinked, and frowned in thought.

"I might do a few of those sports, maybe. I have a schedule as is, so I'll get back to you on that. Do any of you know if there's a book club at the school?" She asked.