I'll Be Back (Great Uncle Dracula Fanfic)

Unrecognizable

Things were—

"Things really aren't going the way I hoped," Wolfie thought to himself as he headed to lunch. Entering the cafeteria, there was the realization he'd not prepared for the lunchtime hour, meaning his stomach would end up being empty. "And, of course, that would happen, given the lack of food at home and how we both forgot about money for lunch."

To which he thought about escaping, avoiding any of the usual chattering involving school gossip that he'd never been into, his mind unsure of how he'd fit in despite all of the hopes of finally having that place to fit in, that he could be a werewolf freely.

"It sucks, really."

Rubbing the back of his head, he didn't pay much attention to the person who pushed by him despite there being a definite recognition in the back of his mind that someone he knew was near. Still, his chin lifted upon seeing Winnie be the person to push by him, bag clutched into her arms.

"Well, she is in a hurry like she was this morning, so what's up with that?"

He brushed it aside from the way she moved. Instead, He took a deep breath, moving away from the door, wondering whether he should head to the library during lunch, as diving into a book seemed a lot more pleasant than interacting with everyone there, not to mention the lunchroom was starting to get loud.

"Deal with it. Not doing so will just make you stand out more than usual, just as it did before. It's not as if you've done anything to the point everyone in school would feel the need to shun you, albeit Hector's group..."

Again, he shook his head, his eyes darting around, taking in everything, such as how there was no table dedicated to the Goth and Emo kids like in other schools as practically everybody dressed in dark colors, with a splash of color here and there depending on the type of monster they were.

Everywhere, he saw a group of friends, with nobody alone like himself, albeit some only hung out with one person and seemed cautious of everyone else. And his head spun as he looked around, a few more coming in as the noise grew, but then—

Winnie was there.

Emily was there.

Hector was not yet there.

And Winnie was with a group of girls, older girls who seemed to be popular, which struck him as strange given how Winnie had never been one of the popular crowd, although that popular crowd had always been defined by one person before—Wanda.

Whereas Emily was hanging out with the more geeky kids, some of whom looked like they could be in science—no, potions club, or even chess club. Neither place seemed like a place for him, particularly when neither remembered him.

He refused to look for Wanda, knowing full well she was—he remembered all too well how she'd said she would like to be his girlfriend, which was sure to cause his face to turn red in front of everyone simply thinking about that.

And yet—

Observant as he was, he couldn't help but notice what was going on between Winnie and those girls, his ears picking up their conversation even before he started approaching, but he couldn't help but not like what he saw.

Specifically, one of the girls was talking to Winnie in disdain. "Come on. This is not what I wanted for lunch, Witcherson. I knew you were lacking in brain cells, but this is ridiculous."

"Stop it," Wolfie said firmly, causing Winnie's head to tilt slightly. The girl in question—

Wolfie took in her ruby red lips lined with black, but everything about her indicated she was a witch and a popular one. "This is cheerleader business, you fool." She turned to look at Winnie. "Do you know this idiot, Witcherson?"

Wolfie watched as she turned to look at him, but the look on her face was different from the look she'd given him that morning, as if—his help, he could tell from that look was definitely unwanted an intrusion. Yet there was also that look laking recognition.

He could also see Emily looking, not helping her childhood friend, which bothered him—the whole thing did, as they both looked at him as if he was doing something strange despite the fact he'd always stood up to Wanda when she'd treated them poorly, so it shouldn't have been unknown.

It shouldn't have been.

"Witcherson?"

"I don't know you, so why are you interfering?"

And there was that sickening sound to her voice, something he'd never heard before, which in turn left a sickening feeling in his stomach. He said nothing, choosing to back off as she wished, before heading towards the exit, noticing Emily didn't do anything—anything at all.

He knew as he approached the entrance to the cafeteria that Hector and his group were there, yet he ignored it as he bumped shoulders with someone, and someone called out that assigned nickname he hated so much.

He kept walking, his hands clenching, his ears picking up laughter as the classes continued, laughing at his expense from a small handful of students talking behind his back, whispering about the strange new student while wondering what kind of monster he was. Those speaking were few—very few, yet it was loud because of his ability to hear for him.

Not to mention—

"She didn't recognize me. Or did she recognize me finally and not want my help because..." He couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of what had happened that he couldn't remember, mainly since it made more sense for them not to have recognized him.

He didn't think things could worsen as the final bell rang, and he headed out, planning to walk home. He planned to walk home when he heard a familiar voice call out to him, making his head jolt up.

"Hey Maddie, how did school go today?"