the struggle

21. a goddamn wolf

September 9, 2021, Tuesday

Katie's eyes opened to a gloomy room, her eyes wandering around as she stretched for the lamp switch and snapped it on, making her flinch as the yellow dim light glowed throughout the room. It was foggy and gloomy outside her window, absolutely perfect. A part of her hoped hope it would rain though. She took a shower and dressed before heading downstairs, where she was met by Alexander, who had the same happy expression on his face every morning.

Breakfast was different this time, it was more quiet and calm as they ate together. But somehow, to her, it was perfect. She brushed her teeth right after breakfast and got out of the house, following Madison who had her arm linked with Isaac's. The two seemed to get more comfortable and serious with each other. They tended to avoid each other when Krystina or Alexander were around. But things had changed; they joyfully engaged in conversation and even held hands.

Despite the fact that it wasn't far from their home, the drive to school felt longer. Instead of using her jeep today, Katie chose to ride in Alex's car with Madison and Isaac.

When Madison crossed the parking lot, it was once more packed. This time, though, Madison clutched to Isaac's arm and paid no attention to the people who approached her. Isaac was smirking as they garnered a significant amount of attention from the other students. He was overjoyed that Madison began to treat him like her boyfriend and that he could now finally do things with her without hiding them from everyone.

Katie proceeded to the canteen to meet her friends, including Crystal, after four classes, and they all sat down. While some of them chatted, laughed, and made noise, she was subsumed in contemplation. Last night, she couldn't stop thinking about her research, and when her eyes landed on Tiles, she thought he could be having similar problems.

Tiles was fidgeting and twitchy the entire time, as if he had experienced trauma or been legitimately horrified. He didn't tell anyone, but last night he did some research on lycanthropy and didn't like what he found. And Colton was shadily eyeing Tyler. Katie also observed Tyler's extreme oddness. As if he hadn't slept in weeks, his eyes were bloodshot. And the entire time, he appeared to be enraged as he proceeded to clench his fists.

Ivory was using her laptop while her friends were eating lunch. She claimed that she was working on something important, so they didn't bother her. Katie, on the other hand, peered and saw what Ivory was looking up online: Supernatural Creatures List. Upon seeing what Ivory was researching online, Katie recoiled in her seat.

Katie hastily got up, drawing the brows of her friends as she said, "I-I'm just gonna go to the toilet." They wondered what was up with her because of the anxious expression on her face.

Crystal's head immediately tipped up, her eyes filled with concern and regret. Was I talking too much? she thought to herself since she had been talking to her new friends the whole time except for Katie and a few others.

"Coming with ya." Lydia sang as she rose and fixed her skirt, "I need to retouch anyways." She said before turning to walk toward the canteen's exit.

After a second look at her friends, Katie spotted Madison standing and gesturing at her. Although Katie didn't fully get what her twin's gesture meant, she simply let out a sigh and followed Lydia into the restroom, with Madison right behind them.

"Something wrong?" Madison inquired as she reapplied four more layers of mascara to her long, heavy lashes.

After pulling her hair back into a high ponytail and washing her face, Katie muttered, "I'm good," and then she peered at herself in the mirror for what felt like an eternity, fretting about what might happen if she didn't inform Tyler anything at all about her speculations and everything about who she was and what she was.