Dan groaned as he got out of bed for school. Year 11 was a nightmare for most teenagers, but it was even worse as a neko. He had taken to wrapping his tail around himself under his shirt just so people couldn't pull it anymore, and tucking his cat ears under a beanie so people wouldn't notice him as easily and target him.
He finished getting dressed and straightening his hair. He sort of hoped that by looking edgy people might be intimidated by him and leave him alone. It didn't work, but he liked the look, so he kept it.
As he walked to school, he kept his head down and stayed quiet. Most kids walked with a group of friends, talking and laughing even at god awful times of the morning. Dan didn't understand how anyone could be that cheerful ever, much less this early. As he entered the school, a couple of the other nekos gave him half-hearted smiles and waves. They got picked on too, especially by the werewolves, but they fought back or stayed in groups. Dan personally didn't see the point. After all, it didn't really change the way they were treated.
There was a buzz in conversation this morning as he sat down in his first class. His hearing was a bit muffled from the beanie, and before he could try to listen to what the other students were saying someone shouted "here kitty kitty!" and threw a wadded up paper ball at his head. Dan sighed and laid his head in his arms on his desk. He felt a tap on his shoulder. When he looked up, he saw PJ, one of the more popular nekos. He even talked to Chris, one of the werewolves, quite often. He smiled at Dan. "New student. I figured you'd be wondering what everyone's excited about."
"Yeah, thanks." Dan said softly.
"No problem." PJ left him to his desk staring. They were on friendly terms, most of the nekos were, after all, they had to at least try to have some kind of friendliness at school. But friendly terms didn't mean they were on the same level or really friends. PJ got along with everyone pretty well, and Chris protected him from the other wolves for the most part. He was funny and confident, and Dan just didn't have that. He wasn't sure he really had much of a personality at all, other than liking video games.
Suddenly the bubbly conversation of the room got a bit hushed. Dan looked up. A black haired boy with grey wolf ears and a grey and white tail walked in. His style was actually pretty similar to Dan's, funnily enough, but brighter. They shared a hairstyle and what seemed to be a love of black skinny jeans, but this boy was wearing a ridiculously bright red shirt with white stars on it. Great, thought Dan, another wolf to chase me around and tease me.
A few of the other wolves in the room howled excitedly and one of them, Dan was pretty sure his name was Austin, went to shake hands with the new boy.
"Name's Austin, what about you?" He said confidently, holding out a hand.
The new boy smiled, seeming oddly awkward compared to the rest of the wolves. "Um, Phil. Nice to meet you."
Phil approached the group of wolves and PJ. Dan watched as he introduced himself to the other wolves, seeming to gain confidence. Chris growled softly when Phil turned to approach PJ. Dan was shocked when he turned to PJ and held out a hand. "I'm Phil! What's your name?"
PJ himself blinked in surprise. "Uh, PJ. Nice to meet you." Phil smiled again. He had a smile that could light up any room, at least Dan thought so. "Don't think about him like that," he thought to himself, "he's just another wolf, sure he's friendly now but before you know it he'll join the others and you'll have to run from him."
Dan sat through his classes passing the time doodling on his papers and thinking about playing Mario Kart after school. They were dismissed for lunch and he went to sit alone at the same corner table he sat at every day. As he ate he heard a loud group approaching from down the hallway. He looked up. It was one of the werewolf groups. Phil was there, showing Chris and PJ what appeared to be some sort of odd party trick. The other wolves laughed and smiled as he began animatedly telling a story. Dan could stare at this boy for hours. That is, until he realized he was staring and quickly looked back at the table, hoping the wolves would just walk by him.
"Hey!"
Of course not. He was rarely lucky enough for them to just walk by.
"You guys wanna see something funny?" Austin loudly said to the others.
"Sure!" Phil said enthusiastically.
Chris rolled his eyes as PJ got a guilty look on his face and turned away.
Austin walked up to Dan and pulled his black beanie off. "Give that back!" Dan shouted frantically.
"Aw look he's scared," Austin laughed. Dan folded his ears back into his hair so they couldn't be grabbed and pulled easily. He tightened his tail around his waist and braced himself.
"Give it back."
Dan looked up to see Phil looking at Austin, furious. Austin laughed.
"Listen Phil, you're new, so I'll give you a pass, but you don't get to tell me what to do, got it? I'll give it back when I want to. Or maybe I won't. Maybe I'll toss it into a tree for him to find later." He laughed again. Dan felt tears forming in his eyes and quickly blinked them away. He couldn't show them how upset he was. He clenched his fists and remained silent.
Phil growled. "I said give it back." His ears folded back and he bared his sharp teeth.
Austin suddenly dropped his smile. "I'm serious Phil," he growled, "Don't fuck with me."
Chris jumped in as the two wolves stared each other down. "Come on Austin, is this cat really worth fighting over? Let's just drop his hat and go, I'm hungry."
Austin glared at Phil for a few more seconds then let himself relax. He rolled his eyes and laughed, dropping Dan's beanie on the floor and wiping his shoes on it before kicking it under the table. "Sure Chris, whatever, I know you have some freaky soft spot for cats."
Chris sighed in relief even as the other wolves laughed at him.
PJ turned to Dan and mouthed "Sorry" before following Chris and the others. When Phil turned to follow them, Austin glared at him and growled. Phil stopped. The others kept walking.
Phil turned to Dan. "So, um, I don't really have anywhere to sit anymore. Mind if I join you?"
