Strange Love

Chapter 4~The Staring Wolf

     Anne and Eleanor both sighed as they walked out of their math class. "It's only my second day and I'm already lost.." Eleanor complained as the two started to walk down the school halls.

     "I'm stuck on the fifth question, what about you." Anne said while she looked at Eleanor.

     "I got stuck on," Eleanor looked at her homework. "Five as well, but also the second one, and the seventh one." Eleanor through up her arms then stopped them to her sides dramatically.

     "I'm just glad we get extra time to work on this assignment." Anne said and Eleanor agreed. "I'm also glad that today is finally over." Anne yawned.

     "Why are you so tired?" Eleanor asked and Anne shrugged.

     "I guess I didn't get much sleep last night, I was studying. " 

     "How about you go back to our dorm and take a nap before dinner." Eleanor suggested and Anne nodded then the two said goodbye and went their separate ways. Eleanor aimlessly walked down the hall while looking around. Almost everyone was already on their way to get food or go back to their dorms. Eleanor looked ahead and saw two students standing by the wall. Please be nice. Eleanor thought before she fixed her posture, trying to look confident, and walked up to the two girls. "Excuse me." Eleanor politely said and the two looked at her for a moment but smiled.

     "Yes?" The horse answered nicely.

     "Can you help me with something?" Eleanor asked.

     "Of course, what do you need?" The kangaroo next to the horse asked.

     "Do you guys happen to know of a flower shop near school?." Eleanor asked and the two girls thought for a moment then the horse spoke.

     "I think there's actually a gardening club on the floor above us but I'm not sure what side of the school it's on." She explained and Eleanor nodded.

     "Thank you, I'll go look for it." Eleanor started to head off looking for the stairs.

     Eleanor finally found the staircase and eached the top of the top. There was a metal door with a sign above it that read 'Gardening club' which made Eleanor sigh in relief. When she opened the door she was hit with the smell of fresh flowers. She always loved the smell of the Earth. Eleanor walked out and started to look around at the beautiful garden.

     "Can I help you?" A female voice asked. Eleanor turned around and was met with a small white rabbit holding a watering can.

     "I was wondering if I could get some flowers." Eleanor smiled. "If that's okay." Eleanor added and the rabbit thought for a second.

     "Why not, no one else has been up here in a while." She said then turned to face the big garden. "How many?"

     "Just a few, maybe three or four." Eleanor said then the rabbit nodded.

     "Pick out the ones you like and I'll be right back." The rabbit said before she headed towards a small little house-like building. The rabbit's voice was a little demanding and harsh but that wasn't going to stop Eleanor from being the nicest she could towards her. Eleanor walked around a bit more when some daisies caught her eye. She remembered a lot of those flowers at Tem's memorial.

     Light footsteps approached behind her and she turned around to face the rabbit who was walking to Eleanor with a small clear jar with water and some floral clippers. The jar also had a blue ribbon tied around the top. "Find some?" The rabbit asked and Eleanor nodded.

     "Can I have a few of these?" Eleanor pointed to the flower bed and the rabbit clipped five flowers and put them in the jar.

     "Here you are." The rabbit said and Eleanor thanked her.

     "I'm Eleanor by the way." Eleanor introduced herself.

     "I'm haru." The rabbit said before the two started to walk towards the door Eleanor came in through.

     "I'll pay you back somehow, I'm guessing the flowers aren't really for other people." Eleanor said and haru shrugged before she spoke.

     "I have an idea, you can pay me back by helping me with the garden sometime. It would be nice to have some help." Haru said and Eleanor accepted the offer before the two of them said goodbye to each other and Eleanor walked out the door and back down the stairs.

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     Eleanor Looked straight ahead as she walked towards the end of the hall. Seeing the yellow taped up and scratched door made her frown. Even if she didn't know Tem she still felt the need to do something. Eleanor glanced to her left as she stopped in front of the mauled doors. A wolf was crouched near the items in the ground, his eyes closed. He looked calm. Eleanor sat down criss crossing her legs and gently set the jar of flowers down in front of her, breathing in deeply before closing her eyes. Tem, I've only been told great things about you. It must seem weird that I'm here but I can only imagine what you went through. I hope you are resting easy in a beautiful and safe place. Eleanor was in deep thought. Her mind even drifted to her own accident.

     The wolf on her left couldn't look away once his head turned towards her. The wolf studied every feature he could see. Her medium length brown hair looked soft and her skin looked smooth to the touch. He barely had to breathe to smell her scent. Lemons and Vanilla. The wolf though. Eleanor turned her head to look at the wolf, feeling his eyes on her. The wolf snapped his head forward.

     "Sorry." The wolf muttered. Eleanor smiled, brushing it off. Everyone stared at her anyway.

     "It's okay." Eleanor said and the wolf looked back at her. "I'm Eleanor." She said, the wolf shyly introduced himself as well.

     "Legoshi." He replied. Eleanor turned when she heard high pitched squeals from some students behind her. Eleanor raised an eyebrow, the name 'Louis' came from some of the girls. Walking toward the two was the red deer Kyoko talked about, whenever she had the chance, holding a bouquet of flowers. Legoshi turned his head glancing at Eleanor before he looked at the deer who walked closer and closer before kneeling down and setting the flowers on the floor. After a few moments of silence Eleanor was about to get up and leave but the deer on her right spoke.

"You're staring." He said then Eleanor heard Legoshi quickly apologize before he looked down in embarassment. "Is rudeness something that's inherent in wolves." Louis said before looking past Eleanor and at the wolf. Eleanor bent down, the top of her head just barely reached the wolf's shoulders while her eyes were eye level with the deer's. She would still have to tilt her head if she were to speak to either of them. "You're the pup in the art department. I've got a task for you to do, come on." Eleanor stayed seated while the wolf stood, his long legs and torso made him look like a tree. She heard Louis speak again. "You." He stood up as well and looked down at Eleanor. Eleanor looked up at the deer. He wasn't as tall as the wolf but definitely taller than Eleanor. She stood, not liking the feeling she got in her stomach while looking at the two standing right above her. . "You're the one who's joining the drama club, correct?"

     "Y-Yes, that's me." Eleanor stutterd then cleared her throat.

     "Meet me in the drama room later today and I'll give you something to do." Louis said before he started to walk off, Legoshi began to follow him. Eleanor stayed put looking at the two tall figures walk away.