Today is Friday, which means that it is the day before my sixteenth birthday and the party that Matteo is going to hold. Currently, Melissa and I are in her bedroom, taking turns trying on party dresses for tomorrow. Since I only have one dress at home, and it's not even suitable for a party, Melissa has offered to let me borrow one dress from her large collection.

"What do you think of this one?" Melissa asks me, as twirls around so I can see the dress from all the sides. It looks even prettier than the other dresses she has tried on. It's a short dress and simple, but not too simple because it has a very revealing and sexy back. Also, her blonde locks contrast well with the black fabric of the dress.

"Aire?" She has stopped spinning, but her dress itself continues in its earlier motion. I can't think of the right words to tell her how well it looks on her and that she should wear it to tomorrow's party anyway. Worse, no words leave my mouth.

I can only look at Melissa in admiration. Jealousy almost creeps up on me for her ideal body, but then I remind myself that she is my friend, kind, and will always be there for me. So I shouldn't be jealous of her. But even though I keep telling myself this, the feeling doesn't go away.

"Aire, what do you think?" Melissa's voice sounds nervous now and begins to pick at the hem of the dress. I blink – I was zoned out and still haven't responded.

I smile briefly at her, even though it feels forced. "Perfect, you have to do this one."

"You think?" Melissa turns to the mirror that is on my right. She studies herself for a few seconds before she focuses her gaze back on me and nods. "Then I'll do this one."

She walks over to her walk-in closet and pulls both doors open at the same time, like castle doors being opened for you. Immediately Melissa walks over to the dresses, each hanging on a hanger.

"Which one do you like?" she asks me, while her eyes remain fixed on the dresses.

"Um..." I look at the dozen or so dresses, but immediately my eyes fall on one midnight blue dress. "This one is beautiful," I say, as my fingertips feel the satin fabric.

Melissa looks up and nods approvingly when she sees which one I've chosen. "Good choice!" She takes it off the hanger and kindly pushes me out of her walk-in closet.

"Here," she hands the dress to me and points to another door that connects to her bedroom, just like her the doors to the walk-in closet. "There's the bathroom, where you can change. And hurry up, because I'm super curious to see how well this dress is going to look on you." Melissa winks at me briefly and I chuckle.

I rush to the designated door and after locking the door, I change my clothes and put on the dress. It fits like a glove.

It is a shoulder drooping dress with short sleeves. It falls just a few inches above my knees and at the bottom, it is all lace and the more you go up is, the less lace there is and more satin fabric.

"Aire, have you put the dress on yet? What's taking you so long? I'm curious!" I hear Melissa yell excitedly on the other side of the door.

With swift fingers, I do up the zipper and unlock the door. Immediately when Melissa sees me, she squeals excitedly and claps her hands like a small child.

"Girl, you are on fire!" she screams so loudly, I'm sure the neighbours down the road can understand her word for word.

I feel a blush appear on my cheeks because of her compliment. I never know how to respond, when I get a compliment, so that's why I look at my bare feet and suddenly mumble shyly, "Thank you."

Melissa gets off her double bed, which she had been sitting on the whole time I was trying on the dress and gives me a big hug.

"We're going to look fabulous tomorrow and make sure Matteo and Brian know what they're missing." Melissa gives me a little squeeze on my bare upper arm and we smile at each other in the mirror.

"Since you're going to spend the whole day with Cian tomorrow, I obviously won't see you before the party starts, so I think it would be wisest if you took this dress now and then you can return it to school next week."

"Thanks, Mel, for everything. You're the best friend anyone could want," I say sincerely.

•••

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!"

I hear Cian singing, with his false voice, right next to my ear, awakening me. I pull the blanket over my head and stifle a groan. Sleep. I want to sleep.

"Aire!" Cian pulls my blanket off my head again. "I know you're awake. Come on, get up, I have a surprise for you." He sings the last words cheerfully.

"Hmm," only comes out of my mouth. The surprise can wait an hour, too.

"Okay, then you're not coming." Cian falls silent for a moment and I see him imaginatively raise his hands in the air in surrender. I then hear his footsteps move away from me and frown at myself. What is Cian doing?

I hear my bedroom door open and secretly open one eye. Cian is really standing at the door. He really is letting me continue sleeping. I almost want to thank him for understanding, but then he says, "But know that I'll eat the cake then."

My eyes immediately barred and I shot up. But as I dropped off, my right hand slipped off the side of my bed, causing me to fall off my bed and onto the hard wooden floor with a "thud".

"Ouch," I say smothered, as my face is pressed against the ground. Judging by Cian's roaring laughter, my clumsy fall had not gone unseen. My birthday is off to a good start, not. I should have just stayed in my bed and not let Cian's words seduce me.

"It better not be a joke that you bought a cake, otherwise-" I begin, scrambling to my feet.

"Then what?" asks Cian to me. His eyes are challenging. "Are you going to hit me?" With a smug smile, he looks at me. I would look at myself the same way if I were Cian. After all, he is muscular and tall - he towers over me and I am of average height.

Childishly, I stick out my tongue. "Yes, maybe so," I try to say menacingly, but I fail completely. The only result is that Cian puts his head on his neck from laughing, causing my lips to curl up as well.

"Come, we'll eat your birthday cake before one of the other kids, like little George, has cut a piece out of it." George is the youngest of everyone in the orphanage, which is why everyone refers to him as "little George." He is a big believer in the quote "sharing is caring", but not when it comes to his things and food.

Cian didn't lie, because when we walked out of my room to the dining room, I saw a medium-sized pink birthday cake with "Sixteen Aire" written in white standing there.

The cake was as delicious as it looked and after Cian and I both took a piece of cake and hid the rest in my bedroom – just in case others were going to eat the cake too – we headed to the cinema, where Cian had bought two tickets to my favourite movie.

Before I knew it, it was late in the evening and we were standing in front of Matteo's gigantic villa. The size of the house always reminded me of the limited amount of space I had in the orphanage.

But I forbade myself to complain...many people had it even worse than me and because of the orphanage, at least I have a roof over my head.

"Aire, Cian, you made it!" Matteo opens the door and strolls towards us with one red cup in his hand.

He hugs us and I smell the alcohol, which is like a haze around him.

"You look beautiful, Aire," he says with a double-take. I blush slightly at his compliment and wish my gaze away. In the corner of my eye, I see Cian roll his eyes.

"You look good too, man," Matteo compliments Cian, giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder.

Matteo, who is not yet drunk enough to get ahead of Cian's stubborn obliviousness, quickly mutters that he needs to check that nothing is being torn down in his house.

Once Matteo is an appropriate distance away from us, I smack my cousin against his chest. "Hey, what's that for?" he asks, confused.

"What do you think? Matteo invites us to his party, comes over to welcome us, and all you can do is look grumpy in front of you." I look at him irritated. I don't want to have this conversation. It's my sixteenth birthday; all I want to do is party and have fun. Nothing more or less.

I sigh deeply and run a hand through my just curled hair. "Let's go inside and have a drink too. It will do us both good."

With renewed energy, I pull Cian inside through the crowd and eventually we come to a large glass bowl with ice cubes and cans of beer in it. Red and blue cups are on the table next to it. Impatiently, I grab the top two red cups from the pile and open the first best can of beer.

Just before I want to pour the cool beer into my mug, it is taken from my hand. Surprised, I look up at Cian, who has come back to life and is no longer just staring ahead in thought.

"I don't think it's wise to go drinking today, Aire." He puts a cool hand - through the coolness of the can - on my bare shoulder.

Although he addresses me, he doesn't make eye contact but keeps looking around as if danger could come from any direction. It is only then that I notice that since we arrived at Matteo's house he has been behaving like this all the time. He behaves as if he knows something I don't.

I want to ask him what's going on, what it is that he's not telling me, but my question turns into a screech in pain like a stab of pain courses through my ribcage. I drop the cups in my hand and fall to the ground. Just before my knees hit the marble floor, Cian catches me and I dig my nails into his arm, but he doesn't seem to mind.

I want to come up to him, clearly aware that I have the attention of many fellow students, but then another searing jolt of pain passes through my body. This one is even more intense than the first and black spots appear before my eyes.

"Aire, look at me." I raise my head with difficulty and make eye contact with Cian for the first time tonight. His eyes are dead serious, the twinkle that was always present in his bright blue eyes gone like snow in the sun. "Focus on my voice. I know it hurts and I know it's going to hurt more and more, but you have to push through and get through it. Do you understand that Aire?"

Confusion and fear fill my body alongside the pain, which is indeed growing more intense and severe.

Another jolt of pain courses through my body. This one is longer and fiercer than the previous ones. With fits and starts, I ask, "What's happening to me, Cian?"

Sweat is beading on my forehead and across my face by now. The pain is so intense at the moment, I struggle not to scream out and keep my eyes open.

It feels like my whole body is on fire and somehow I feel like it's only going to get worse.

I feel Cian lift me and push me through the circle of fellow students formed by my screams.

"Out of the way! There's nothing to see here! Just mind your useless teenage drama and focus on that for a change than nosing around in someone else's life." Cian's voice sounds agitated and if I hadn't been in this situation I will laugh at him, but all that comes out of my mouth now are groans of pain.

"It will be okay Aire," Cian whispers reassuringly. I feel us climb a flight of stairs and the background noise gets softer. Apparently, the other students have been listening to Cian.

"What...what's wrong with me?" I briefly open one eye, when I feel myself being laid out on a bed. Black spots seem to be competing with my image for supremacy.

"You are undergoing your first transformation."