Animal

Chapter 1

*NARRATOR'S POV*

It began where the conventional and cliché stories all began: high school.

Louis was eighteen and ready to graduate with a month left of secondary education books before the big leagues, aka college. He was a straight A student without nerdy glasses and the bullies.

He had a routine. He woke up at 05h59 and shut off his alarm before it went off. After a shower and brushing his teeth, he had a breakfast of Cheerios or buttered toast if he's feeling frisky that morning. He lived alone, no parents or siblings to pester him about the lack of a partner or friends because they were dead. Tragic train wreck when they all went into a subway for the first time, that accident is also the cause of a malicious scar in his side.

Louis took the bus every morning to school or to the pet shop he worked in. He genuinely loved his school because nobody ever touched him, it was a firm 'to each their own' basis around here.

But then November 11th came around.

It was the perfect winter's day in Middleston. The snow met the icy tar and pavement like old friends after a drought. It really was a drought in Louis' mind, he's missed the snow flakes so much. He enjoyed walking extra slow to school on days like this, waking up a half hour earlier just to make up for the time.

Their school was open for today, since the snow just started, but would probably be closed tomorrow. That's great because Louis needed an extra day for his Trig test.

The principal droned on about their morning announcements that Louis didn't listen to. It would appear in the circulars they handed out at the admin anyway, so he kept his earphones in playing Ariana Grande's Santa Tell Me.

French. Algebra. English. He grabbed those books from his locker and neatly slid the excess ones back in. People called him metrosexual for being so neat and tidy, taking care of himself and never letting go. He was gay though. Happily gay and lonely.

He felt the stiff silence fall across their hallways but chose to ignore it. The Populars probably arrived. Damn idiots with money and no brain. God was giving people intelligence while they were probably eating in the back.

Taking his earphones out, he slotted them into his satchel and grabbed a blank notebook. One of five in his locker. His first class was in the building next to this one, so Louis had a six minute walk ahead of him before he got to his seat at the back of French class. He estimates about two songs can be enjoyed that walk - maybe one and a half if you ignore the bridge and final chorus. Popping his headphones back in, Louis begins the trek to Building B. He has to cut across the parking lot to get there in time to be there before the teacher, which he does.

Halfway complete his journey, Louis decides to look up and shut out the catchy rhythm of Karma Chameleon. In the brief fifteen second gap, he catches a glimpse of a fairly pretty female exiting a Range Rover from the passenger's side. There's no smile to the hidden driver or wave, she just

stomps off so that's probably a parent of hers driving. Louis' ridiculous chuckle is cut short when the second door opens and the person previously behind the steering wheel exits hastily. Another fifteen seconds is spent observing this new person.

Definitely not her father, is Louis' first thought. He tightens his hand around the strap of his Totem backpack and takes in this perfect stranger's features. On the outside he is less than approachable but not revolting, at least not to Louis. Louis knows revolting.

This boy - man? Maybe he's in his early twenties - is wearing a 'SWEARING IS BIG AND CLEVER' hoodie with black jeans that are ripped at the knees. Louis never understood that style. Not much can be seen of his face from this distance, except that he has perfectly pale skin and dark eyes. Louis can't see any tattoos, mainly because his body is entirely covered by cloth, but if the furious expression on his face is anything to go by, it's safe to say this individual is not friendly.