A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

“Ug, back in school again,” She complained “I can’t believe that summer vacation ended so quickly! It felt like I got nothing accomplished,” She grimaced as she walked down the hall surrounded by a group of boys all in their late teens.



She was just as tall as most of the boys surrounding her and with her slightly muscular build she might be mistaken for one of them. Well, she would have if it weren’t for her feminine facial features and her knee-length black hair which swayed back and fourth as she walked to her locker.



“But at least today is almost done, is lunch over yet?” She asked in her normal leader-like tone as she spun her lock.



“Not quite yet, there’s about five minutes left, why ‘ya askin’ Lupe?” said one of the six boys as the other five walked away.



“Mmm-nn,” she shrugged, and turned to grab her books. Then she closed her locker and leaned against it. “This morning was weird…”



“Watcha talking about?”



“Well, I thought today would be normal until I started walking to your house, Vince. It felt like I was being followed. I spotted a guy with brown hair near the park. I’ve been seeing him all over the place; I think he’s following me.”



“Don’t be silly Lupita,” Vince said mockingly. She glared at him; she hated it when people called her by her real name. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt, the tone for the start of class echoed in the empty hallway. She’d have to be mad at him later.



“You skipping?” “Yep” “Well, see ya later, bye,” Lupita said as she quickly ran to class and left Vince to wander in the halls by himself.



Vince started walking in the opposite direction but after a while he heard something that sounded an awful lot like a dog sniffing behind him. He brushed it off and continued walking, until it started to get annoying. He quickly turned around and spotted a short, unkempt boy with brown hair. He looked to be around Vince’s age. “Um, hi?”



“Hiya, I’m Wolfe,” He smiled and held out a dirt-stained hand which was left hanging there by Vince. “Are you friends with Lupita? I don’t know why but it seems like she’s avoiding me.”



“Um yeah, I’m Vincent. I guess you know Lupe enough to call her by her full name.”



“I’ve known her for years. I was trying to talk to her all day but she just kept avoiding me and looking at me strangely.”



I guess he’s the one who’s been following her. He thought. “Well I have to go now. Bye!” Vincent ran off in the opposite direction and hoped to get to Lupe before he did.



Meanwhile, Lupe was sitting, dazed at her seat in the back of the class. Only a couple minutes left. She thought. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzt! “Finally!” She grabbed her books and bolted out of her class as fast as she could. When she got to her locker she expected Vince to be standing there as usual but instead she saw the short shaggy figure of Wolfe. Cautiously she made her way to her locker while ignoring Wolfe, but despite her cautious exterior her mind was racing. It’s the guy from this morning, what does he want?! She reached for her lock but was stopped by a rough tap on the shoulder. She turned to face Wolfe. “What do you want!?”



“Whoa, whoa, there’s no need for yelling, it’s me Wolfe. I finally tracked you down; it was petty hard with all these humans around, all their smells mix together.” Lupe just stared at him with a quizzical look. “What, you don’t remem- oh right, you haven’t seen me in this form yet.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her to a secluded corner of the building where she watched his body contort and change into a wolf-like creature. Lupe’s mouth formed into a silent scream. She was frozen in place and try as hard as she could she would not move. When seeing the weird look on her face Wolfe quickly changed back.



“What’s the matter Lupita? You’ve seen me like that before. Remember, we used to hunt together? You’re a were-wolf too!”



Lupe had no idea what he was talking about and was completely confused so she decided to do the safest thing possible and get the hell out of there. She ran and ran until she didn’t know where she was anymore and it was getting dark so she wandered around until she happened upon the park near her house. She decided to relax for a while on a park bench. To keep her mind off things she decided to focus on a squirrel trying to search for his nuts. Squirrels bury their nuts to survive the winter. They bury them in fall so in winter they have food. But in winter they sometimes don’t find their food. Why would they hide all their food if when they actually needed it to survive there is a chance they wouldn’t find it anymore? She was so engrossed with the squirrel that she didn’t notice the two figures approaching the bench until they were right beside her. She quickly turned her head towards the two strangers and glared at them. “What do you want?!”



“How ‘bout some company doll-oll?” They said in almost perfect unison.



“I really just have to go now,” She couldn’t put her finger on it but there was something that just wasn’t right about those two. They had a weird almost animal-like features and eyes that glowed like cat’s eyes in the dark. She knew she had to get out of there.



“Well I don’t think you can go without your bag,” He grinned menacingly as he played with the strap of her bag that was now in his hands.



Because she was not one to give up and go home she lunged for her bag which was kept just out of her reach. She tried again and again it was skillfully kept out of her grasping hands with animalistic reflexes. She started to become angrier and angrier the more the bag was kept away from her. Second after second of this crazy game drove Lupe into a wild rage in which she no longer felt like she was in control. She felt different; wild even, until it dawned on her. She didn’t feel the same because she was changing. She could feel her bones creaking, changing shape, and her teeth growing into a malicious snarl. Maybe Wolfe was right, she really was just like him! She quickly grabbed her bag and ran out of their as fast as she could but slow enough so that she heard what was said next; “We have to call up Wolfe and tell him that he was right, it actually did work.”



She did not know where she was going; all she knew was that she had to get there fast. She turned a corner and then another until she was in some dark and dreary alleyway where she crept into a corner on her now furry limbs. She stayed there thinking to herself that maybe being a were-wolf wouldn’t be that bad, that is if she learned to control it. She then quickly fell asleep and awoke what seemed like hours later to blinding sunlight. After blinking the sleep out of her eyes she examined herself to find that she was human again. She quickly got up and stretched, preparing herself to head home. As she reached the opening of the alleyway she was greeted rather rudely by a shouting mob of people brandishing homemade weapons of many kinds. “Get the monster! She’s a freak!” They shouted as she just stared dumfounded. She tried to change to defend herself but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn’t do it. The last thing she saw through her now tearing eyes was the face of a short, scruffy brown-haired boy staring at her apologetically.