Ensnare

Chapter 1

Dedicated to my wolf loving bestie, my favourite reader ;)

The sun was shining, the sky was blue. Birds chased each other in the air, drifting by cottony white clouds. The breeze rustled the leaves in the trees and danced in the flowers' blooms. It was a spring day in all its glory...All on the other side of the glass pane.

I felt caged as I sat in the stuffy classroom. There were only two weeks left of school and each day dragged by slower than molasses. Attention spans were cut in half. Hemlines had risen drastically. Attitudes were in season.

With only ten minutes left in class, it felt like I'd been staring outside for an eternity. The students didn't want to work, and neither did our English teacher. The class had started slow and continued slower. Three long minutes had trickled by as Mr. Wentworth waited for students we all knew wouldn't show up. Attendance had been drug out, followed by pages assigned to read in the textbook. Pages covering completely irrelevant material.

Two or three students had begun to read. Most had waited for Mr. Wentworth to open the newspaper, then pulled out their cell phones. One kid had even fallen asleep, his dark hair falling messily onto the desk. I had stared out the window, wishing I was on the other side.

After what seemed like hours, the bell gave off three short bursts. The students peeled themselves off of their sticky chairs. I slung my bag over my shoulder and joined the crowd headed into the hallway. The way everyone traveled in the same direction reminded me of a school of fish. Shoulders brushed against each other as students made their way to the cafeteria.

Once inside the larger room, the crowd dispersed, everyone going their separate ways. I joined the lunch line and grabbed a tray from the stack.

When I sat down at my usual spot three girls were already digging into packed lunches. I set my tray down and slipped my shoulder bag onto the bench beside me. Emily and Cass both had containers of salad in front of them as they talked away. I picked up the plastic fork and speared a piece of chicken from the cafeteria salad.

"Really?" Emily said as I chewed on the meat. "Chicken?"

I swallowed.

"I like chicken."

"That's exactly why you shouldn't eat it. The way they treat those poor animals is despicable." Emily waved her fork in the air dramatically.

"I like the taste of chicken," I clarified rolling my eyes. We had this conversation weekly. Emily had converted our entire social circle to vegetarianism except for me.

"Fine, murder the little chickens," Emily took a bite of lettuce. If she kept eating salad all the time, she'd be starving the poor little rabbits soon.

"Humans are omnivores, we're supposed to eat meat." I stared her in the eyes as I took a huge bite of chicken. Emily just rolled her eyes and turned to talk to Cass. As she did, Maggie and April sat down, their lunch trays holding baskets of fries. Leah snatched one off of Maggie's tray.

"I may not be a vegetarian, but at least I eat healthier than that," I nodded toward the new arrivals.

'Hey, fries are good," Leah defended the girls as she looked at her carrot stick unimpressed.

Maggie nodded in agreement. April stuck her tongue out at me. I laughed.

"So, who's going to formal?" Maggie asked.

"Like, everyone," April said matter-of-factly.

"Are you?" Maggie turned to me.