wolves¹[wyatt lykensen]

.01

ACCIDENTAL ENCOUNTERS

"I'M JUST GLAD the uniforms aren't as pink as last year, I don't think I could've handled all the neon again." I pulled my hair out of its ponytail, letting out a sigh as I tamed it down. Addison laughed and shook her head.

"It wasn't that bad," she tried, shrugging a little.

"Please, you could probably see it from outer space," I exaggerated, earning another laugh from her and our friend Bree. "Anyway," I begin. "How's it going with Zed? You write him at all?"

"I did, a lot actually, but the Aceys shredded them before they could be mailed," she said sadly. "I hope he didn't forget about me. I kind of wanted to go to Prawn with him."

"Yes! I got invited to Prawn!" A shout echoed around the bus, making the three of us sigh.

"Getting invited to Prawn sounds great, but Bonzo won't even look at me," Bree complained, glancing back to the zombie.

"He's just a bit shy," I excuse. "Give him some time, he'll come around." I turned to face Addison. "And as for you, there's no way he's forgotten. It's only been three months and I'm sure Zed is already planning a way to ask you to the dance."

"Hey," Bree got our attention, looking to the windows on the left. "Addison, will you...go to the Prawn...with—" she and the rest of the cheerleaders began reading off of the signs that were showing up outside.

"Zed!" Addison shouted, her eyes widening as we all noticed him standing on a ladder in the middle of the road. Not a second later, the bus plowed forward and knocked him off of it and began to swerve down the road as the driver tried to stop it.

Eventually, the bus ran into a few trees and stopped after hitting a large ditch. Murmurs filled the bus and small sounds of relief could be heard.

"Is everyone okay?" I called out after a moment, standing up and looking around. "Addy? Bree? Everyone good?" In return, everyone nodded and muttered words of confirmation.

"Ah! Nothing can happen to me, I'm way too important!" Bucky shouted, running as fast as he could down the isle of the bus and out the emergency exit. He jumped and landed flat on his face.

I sighed and shook my head. "I'll check on Bucky." I rose from my seat and jumped down from the exit, landing next to the dirt-covered cheer captain. "You okay?" I held my hand out to pull him to his feet. He took it and quickly brushed himself off as he stood, giving his best charming smile once he did so.

"I'm perfect! Thanks for asking," he replied, but he before he knew it, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell right back down to the ground as Addison jumped out of the bus and ran into the woods.

"Wait, Addison—" I cut myself off with a huff, leaning to the bus and calling for the Aceys and Bree. "Make sure Bucky's okay. I'm gonna go find Addison, she ran off into the woods." With that I turned and began trying to track down the white-haired girl.

It was a few minutes of following the path she took before I saw her, Zed, and Zoey in a small clearing. The boy had snuck up behind her and caused Addison to slap him across the face.

"Oh, Jesus!" I exclaim, earning their attention as I walked to them. "Did you just slap him?"

"It was an accident," she said apologetically.

"Okay, well I'm glad I found you guys. The cheer team is waiting on the—never mind there they are." I gesture behind them as the entire squad appears from the trees, having the same idea of finding Addison as me.

"We're not alone," Addison began. "We're surrounded by werewolves." She looked around, as if she was waiting for one to come and pounce back out of the woods.

I stepped closer to her and Zed as the Aceys and his little sister, Zoey, got excited and scared for what they had been told. "Addy, there's no wolves here." I was fairly sure of my statement due to what I had been told and known from before, but she shook her head quickly and glanced between Zed and I, trying to find some sort of support on the issue.

"I saw one howling right over there!" she shouted quietly, trying not to draw attention to us again.

"Are you sure it just wasn't someone tricking you? Or trying to make a joke?"

"No," she said surely. "It was a werewolf."

➤

"Anti-monster laws are reinstated as of"—I looked to the time on my phone as I walked inside my house—"thirty minutes ago," I announced loudly, gaining the attention of my parents. "Addison's mom just made it official at the meeting in city hall." I dropped my bag at the bottom of the stairs and walked into the living room.

"She claimed she saw a werewolf howling in the forest," I informed, sitting down on the chair across from them. "I thought you guys said they didn't exist here anymore."

"We thought they didn't," my mom said lowly.

"Did you try to track any of them? See if she was right?" my dad asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.

"I couldn't. Everyone on the cheer team was there, and her boyfriend and his little sister," I inform. "There was just too many people." I shrug and look to them.

I could tell my parents never expected for a situation like this to arise when we moved here, but now as they glanced between myself and them, I could tell a plan was already formulating in their heads. My dad turned to me after a moment.

"If it was a wolf, they're going to want to cover their tracks. That means coming into town. Just be on alert," he concluded. "We don't know if they pose a threat."