Wild

Chapter 5 - Lessons

Makai

The celebration is in full swing, and there are plenty of food and drinks to go around. Many of the women had baked pastries and brought home-cooked meals to share with anyone interested. I'm mildly curious about what the sweet ladies would say if I approached them and asked for a cupcake or two.

Cupcakes. I wonder if Storm made cupcakes today.

When my thoughts inevitably go to Storm, I close my eyes in frustration. I didn't want to think about Storm at all. Thinking about him made my heart ache and a lump grow in my throat, I need to remain calm today.

I am on the roof of the Pack Training Arena, looking down on the party that is going on below me. Couples and groups go hand in hand, laughing and playing mini-games to win prizes, creating a happy and easygoing atmosphere. I wonder how it would feel to roam around aimlessly, conversing with strangers and eating sugary bakes from the stalls that had been set up.

When I was younger, I used to accompany my mother to celebrations, and while some people had being wary, they tolerated my presence.

It wasn't until after the incident that I stopped going to pack events. It was an experience I would never forget because it taught me two very valuable lessons.

My mother usually stayed with me at the celebrations until we went home, but that day, she was called in at the clinic for an emergency. I had assured her I would be fine by myself, so she had left me there. I strolled around quietly until my attention was drawn to the Dart Booth. I stood there for a while, contemplating whether to go in when some boys arrived and asked me if I wanted to have a go at it.

The boys were from the pack school my mother had enrolled me in. Even though we didn't talk there, I was happy that they had approached me and challenged me to a game of darts.

I had a dartboard at home that Mom had bought me the year before, and I had been practising it for some time. I thought maybe if they saw how good I was, they might want me to teach them to be good too, and then maybe I could have some friends over at home.

I was so excited about the prospect. As I kept hitting the bull's eye each time, I thought about how happy and proud Mom would be that I had made the effort to talk to people.

I didn't realize my mistake until after the fifth round of me trouncing them.

One of the boys had angrily wrenched the board from the wall and spat at me, "Freak!"

I remember blinking in surprise, not understanding what I had done wrong.

"What happened?" I asked warily. "Did I do something wrong?"

The other boys had looked on nervously, also unhappy they had lost so badly but not nearly as angry as the one who looked like the leader of the little group was.

"Kane, maybe we should just go," the shortest one, Timmy, said nervously when "Kane" started to advance on me angrily.

"Freak! What did you do to it?! What did you do to the board?" He demanded in a rage that I couldn't understand.

I cocked my head in confusion, not understanding how this had suddenly turned sour. I flicked my eyes to the board that was now lying on the ground with the darts scattered all around it and glanced back at him.

"I don't understand what you mean," I told him honestly, wracking my brain to understand what could have possibly gone wrong.

"Kane, come on, let's leave", the other boy, whose name I remembered from class to be Mark, urged, trying to pull Kane away. I just watched quietly with a blank but watchful expression as Kane wrenched his arm angrily from Mark's grasp and reared back to punch me.