Animal Nature

Chapter 29

Shy scratched at her arms and finished loading her backpack, stifling a yawn. Her dreams last night had been even stranger than the one she'd had the last time she saw David. More moon howling and running, and then she had chased and ripped apart a rabbit. All this werewolf research was definitely affecting her. And the rest of the night was spent worrying about Billy and his posse.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a hand reached out and slammed her locker door shut. A hot presence at her back pressed her up against the cool metal. She pushed back, and she was slammed, more forcefully, against the lockers, hot breath at her ear snarling, "Smells like you're in heat."

She sucked in a breath and wished she hadn't – Ron's breath stank like bacon grease. Her stomach rumbled. She'd barely eaten any of her cereal this morning.

"Get off of her!" came Mara's shrill voice.

Shy flinched at the impact of Mara's bookbag slamming into Ron's lanky frame. He stepped away, frowning, before his lips curved into a smirk at Shy cowering there. "I think she liked it," he sneered, and licked his lips.

Mara lunged at Ron. "You're just lucky I'm not allowed to bring my taser to school, creep!" she yelled. "Fucking pervert!"

Still shaking, Shy tried to pull herself together.

"You okay?" Chester asked.

Shy jumped a little. She hadn't even known he was there. "Uh, yeah," she whispered.

"Get lost, perv! I see you touch my friend again, you'd better watch your back!"

Unfazed, Ron smirked again and sauntered away.

"I can't believe you all would stand around and let SEXUAL HARASSMENT like that just HAPPEN!" Mara shouted at the students milling around, staring. "Bystanders are just as guilty as the perpetrators!"

Shy felt her face burning as she gathered up her things. She had a feeling most of the students had stopped to stare at Mara's loud outburst more than whatever Ron was doing. Had he been... coming on to her? Or threatening her? Neither option was one she wanted.

Unbidden, she thought of David's offer. Those bullies wouldn't be able to hurt you anymore. If she was a werewolf, Ron would never dare do what he just did to her.

"I have to get to class," Shy said, tugging at Mara's sleeve. Mara didn't move, only stood there ready to fight.

Chester slung his arm around Mara and steered her out of the middle of the hallway. "She gets so fired up by injustice." He grinned and kissed her temple, and Mara seemed to relax.

"So you didn't end up chaining yourself to the shelter doors?" Shy asked Mara.

"Nah, it seemed pointless since you let the wolf escape. You were the real hero last night—seriously, Shy! You saved a life!"

In homeroom, Shy pulled out her history textbook to study for a test while the vice principal made his morning announcements. "Students, I have very important news this morning," Mr. Kim said. "In light of the animal attack last night, the town has issued a curfew for all residents. All residents must be home by ten o'clock p.m. The town also encourages everyone to travel in pairs and avoid isolated areas. Keep a cell phone on you at all times. If you see an animal resembling a wolf, please do not hesitate to call 911. While the police encourage those who have firearms to open carry and have lifted all hunting restrictions, the school policy against all weapons remains intact. The Halloween Dance tonight will still go on, but it will end at nine o'clock so you have time to get home before curfew."

Shy looked down and realized all the hairs on her arms stood on end. Another animal attack? She thought they must be talking about the wolf's escape from the shelter, but then a boy across the aisle from Shy said, "Yeah, that dude who works down at the Kwik Stop got ripped apart last night. Like, totally destroyed. They only knew it was him because his shirt had the nametag on it."

She swallowed. It looked like David hadn't gone to Maine after all.

***

She didn't want to go to Animal Rights Club. She knew Mara would make some announcement about Shy releasing the wolf from captivity and saving it. Her stomach hurt, and she hadn't been able to eat her lunch – it smelled disgusting – so she was also ravenous. She kept smelling bacon.

She had released the wolf, and now someone else was dead. She would have to kill David. And what would Mara say about that?

When she got to the classroom where their meetings took place, Shyanne found Mara and Chester and a couple of others outside the closed door. "It's locked," Mara announced as soon as Shy got close enough, then thrust a paper out at her. "And look at what they posted."

"The Animals Rights Club is suspended until further notice," Shy read, "due to violation of the school student conduct policy."

"They're saying protests are a violation of school policy," Mara said, as if she was preaching to a crowd. "What about freedom of expression? What about freedom of assembly?" She turned to the three students behind her. "They can't deny us our constitutional rights!"

Mara was actually making sense. "If the protests aren't being held on school property, then how can they say we're violating it?" Shy asked.

"Yeah!" Mara yelled. "You tell 'em, Shy!"

The three faces looked at her expectantly, along with Mara and Chester's. Shy hadn't intended to make a speech. And while the school's actions didn't seem right to Shy, she would rather skip the club meeting altogether in favor of trying to find werewolf-killing weapons.

"Um, yeah. I guess they can ban us from meeting at school, but they can't dismantle the club entirely."

"Yeah!" Mara yelled. "We can meet somewhere else! How about your house, Shy? Chester, can you drive us?"

Chester glanced around. "My car can only fit five people."

One of the other kids, a girl with twin braids named Annika, raised her hand. "My mom won't let me go to other people's houses unless she meets their parents, so I have to go home."

"Great!" Mara smiled at everyone else, not seeing Annika's face fall. "Enough room for everybody then!"

The dance was in two days. Shy tried to tell herself that two days was plenty of time to find a weapon to kill a werewolf.