Today has sucked so far, you think as you drag yourself to the cafeteria. Let me count the ways. I woke up late, so I didn't have time to shower or eat breakfast. Linda totaled her van yesterday, and her boyfriend's highlander can't fit the 8 people who needed a ride; the last one to the car had to find their own transportation (I was last, but only because Gavin tripped me). I rode my skateboard a mile to school and showed up in the middle of my 3rd period. I didn't have my history paper that was due, and Brianna's cat shredded my Geometry homework. I don't have enough money to buy it off Nathaniel, either.
And to top it off, you think, sighing hard, I forgot my lunch. Craptastic. Today can't possibly get any-
"Hey, you, goth girl!"
I guess I spoke too soon. NOW it can't get any worse.
You turn around slowly, desperately trying to come up with an escape plan. Behind you stands the biggest jerks at your high school; Ernesto, Joseph, and Javier. These guys are so low they steal lunch money from fifth-graders on the playground at the elementary school across the street.
"What do you want, freckles?" I say to Joseph like I'm bored, not panicking. "Need me to beat your sorry butt at volleyball again? Or are you still mad that I embarrassed you in front of Nia? News flash; nobody likes the taste of stainless steel."
"Shots fired," whispers Ernesto, and Joe gives him a look like close your big mouth, and he shuts up.
"You get a time out for being a smart mouth, gutter girl," Javier says, and all three advances on you like wolves, completely blocking off the hall.
Almost completely; Ernesto is too far to the right, leaving a gap you might be able to fit through...
He realizes his mistake and shifts to the left.
Now you are backing down a dead-end hallway- on the second floor- that has no windows. In other words, totally screwed.
Just like wolves, the boys advance slowly now that they know you can't get away.
You know what happens next. They're going to stuff you in a locker until you have a panic attack from claustrophobia and start screaming your head off. Then they'll let you out and you'll scratch and kick at them, trying to fight them, but they'll hog tie you and take you to the office, saying that you went ballistic and tried to choke them.
That's how Ernesto's cousin got you expelled from your last school. Ernesto knows this.
You start hyperventilating, anticipating the terror you feel in dark, confined spaces. They laugh, and you see a glint in their eyes that you never noticed before. The boys almost never pose for pictures, and if they do it's with sunglasses on.
Their eyes reflect light like a dog's. Or a wolfs.
In your head, you hear your old history teacher saying, ' in mythology, folklore, and language, the gray wolf has had an impact on the human imagination and has been the victim of levels of misunderstanding that few animals have shared...'
Mythology...
The boys lunge suddenly, all at once after some unspoken signal. You catch a glimpse of something that looks like one of your monsters standing behind the boys who are closing the gap between you.
Terrified, you squeeze your self into a corner, making yourself as small as possible. The last thought you have before you blackout is I wish I was somewhere safe; I wish I was home.
...
It's dark, and you feel like you're falling, down down down, then it stops. You feel solid ground beneath you, and grass under your hands. You feel the sun on your face and the wind in your hair.
