The following morning in English class I wasn't able to concentrate. My calendar told me all I needed to know. There was going to be a full moon tonight. I could see the pale white of the moon in the bright blue sky from my classroom window - it was just waiting to shine its glow. Mrs. Clark was reminding us to finish our folklore essays and I knew I hadn't completed mine. The only werewolf I wanted to write about was the one sitting a few rows behind me.
Mrs. Clark's attention suddenly turned outside. It appeared she, too, was having a hard time focusing on our lesson. But she looked concerned. She instructed us to remain seated and told us she'd return shortly.
I had a seat next to the window, so I glanced over to see what the object of her attention was. Fifty yards away from our classroom was the Legend's High flagpole. Standing next to it was a wolf.
It was jarring. I immediately surveyed the outlying area to see if any students were in danger. Fortunately, there weren't any students lingering anywhere.
"It's a wolf!" Ivy screamed, catching sight of it, too.
My classmates all rose and bolted for the window. They pulled out their concealed cell phones and began taking videos and pictures of the wolf.
The wolf began to howl, a strident howl. It sent shivers down my spine. The scene was surreal - a wild animal roaming around campus as if this was its home. And if that wasn't bizarre enough, out from the woods behind the gym came two more wolves and they joined the first wolf's side.
"They're taking over the school!" Ivy yelled.
Other windows around the school filled with students' quizzical faces.
For some reason, the wolves were focusing their attention toward our classroom and began walking in our direction.
"They're coming for us," one of the students said.
Nash remained seated. I could see the color drain from his face. I feared for my ex, knowing his immense aversion to canines. I didn't feel anger toward him but rather protection. Our windows were at least twenty feet off the ground and we were in no impending danger.
"There's no way they can come in here," I said, hoping to comfort Nash. "Unless they have a ladder."
We were all glued to the view of several wolves looking up at us as if they were about to join our lesson. Cameras flashed, a few students screamed, while other classmates were calling or texting.
The scene was truly frightening. Even though I assured myself that we had a brick-and-concrete wall between us and a few feet in height, the sight of wild animals focusing their attention on us was terrifying. Ivy clung to me. Most of the guys thought it was really cool and whooped and howled. A few jocks waved and taunted the wolves.
"You mustn't do that," Ivy warned. "You'll only provoke them."
"I'd love to pet one," Abby said. "They look so beautiful."
"They are wolves!" Ivy said. "They aren't pets."
The school administrator's voice came over the loudspeaker.
"Everyone please remain in your seats and in your classrooms with your doors and windows locked. We are under a Code Yellow. I repeat. Code Yellow. No one is to leave the classrooms or building at this time. We will inform you when it is safe to resume the normally scheduled day."
Now I was frightened.
Just then Mrs. Clark returned to our classroom and instructed us to immediately take our seats. She secured the door and double-checked to make sure all the windows were locked. A pack of wolves was such an unusual sight, even she hung by the window as we all peered from our seats.
Within a few minutes, there were at least five wolves howling outside our window.
I glanced back at Brandon - the only other student who had remained seated through all of the chaos. He had his head buried in his textbook. I wondered what was going through his lycan mind.
I couldn't imagine why the wolves were here - if it was purely coincidence, if they were lost, or if there was some paranormal connection. Mrs. Clark tried to resume her lecture, but it was impossible with five howling wolves focusing on our classroom.
"This is so freaky!" Ivy said.
"They are cool," Abby said.
"They could rip your head off," Dylan said.
"They must be following you," Ivy teased me. "Everywhere you go there are wolves!"
"I wonder if we'll be on the news," Abby said excitedly.
I was still scared. I clung onto my writing binder as if it could protect me. The situation was so unreal. And although I knew we were safely locked inside, the threat of a pack of wolves outside our window was disturbing.
Finally, a few police cars pulled into our school's entrance. An animal control car followed closely behind.
"We can calm down now," Mrs. Clark said. "Animal control is here."
We eyed the outside action, some of the students sitting on top of their desks for a better view.
Several officers stepped out of their cars covered in protective gear and using their open doors for further protection. A few animal control wardens came out of their cars with tranquilizer guns and nets.
"They're going to shoot them," I said.
"They have to," Ivy said. "Did you think the police were going to handcuff the wolves and put them in the back of a squad car?"
"Let's return to our lesson," Mrs. Clark said, her voice unsteady. But no one focused on our teacher.
"Brandon," Mrs. Clark said. "Please remain in your seat."
I could feel the presence of someone walking by me.
Brandon brushed past me and headed to the window.
"Brandon," Mrs. Clark said. "Get away from the window! You must sit down!"
But Brandon ignored her. Instead he took off a glove and placed the palm of his wounded hand on the pane of glass. He stared down at the leader of the pack, transfixed.
The wolves stopped howling. Brandon and the wolves locked gazes, as if the wolves were hypnotized by Brandon's stare.
It was spellbinding to watch. I didn't know what was happening, but the tiny hairs on my skin and the back of my neck tingled.
"What is he doing?" Ivy asked.
Brandon continued to stare at the leader of the pack.
"He thinks he's talking to the wolves," Abby said.
The wolves remained fixated on Brandon as if he was their trainer, as if Brandon was one of them and they were looking up to him as their new leader.
The police held their stance by their patrol cars, apparently working out their plan of action. The animal controllers, now at least twenty yards away, slowly crept toward the wolves.
Just then the leader of the wolves howled at Brandon.
As the handlers took aim, the pack tore off. They raced away from the campus and disappeared into the woods behind the gym.
Mrs. Clark, my classmates, and I watched in astonishment as Brandon replaced his glove and calmly walked back to his desk and took his seat.
I was dumbfounded. Along with my classmates, we were perplexed, confused, and amazed at what we'd just witnessed. It was as if we all were wondering if we had really just seen a student, one who didn't speak in class or make himself known, communicating with a pack of wolves. We looked to Brandon for answers, but by the way he was avoiding all eye contact or questions, it was clear he wasn't about to give any.
"That was totally freaky!" Ivy said. "Did you see what I just saw?"
"Yes! I swear they were looking right at Brandon," Abby confirmed. "I think he was talking to them."
The classroom was abuzz with gossiping, laughter, and disorder. The students glared at Brandon, bewildered. Mrs. Clark tapped her desk with her pointer.
I gazed back at Brandon. His face was flushed from all the attention, and he was doing his best to hide behind his textbook.
"They must have sensed the police coming," I said out loud. "Wolves are very intuitive that way."
Legend's Run High was buzzing with the wolf sightings. The lunchroom was packed with students replaying videos, showing pictures, and telling their version of the events that had occurred by the flagpole.
Ivy insisted Brandon had something to do with the wolves retreating, but everyone in our group laughed at her hypothesis.
"I was sitting right there!" she said.
"So was I," I said. "They left as soon as the animal controllers started to approach them."
"He took off his glove - the one he always wears," she said. "Don't you think that was freaky?"
"Maybe he was nervous and got warm," I said. "We all were excited."
"He was talking to them," she said. "Like the Wolfman."
They all laughed again, but I remained silent.
"You have to admit, it was pretty freaky," Jake agreed. "Maybe it was coincidence, but why did he go up there in the first place?"
"He might have psychic powers," Abby teased. "Like Dr. Meadows. Maybe he can give us our next reading."
"We always thought he was strange," Ivy said. "Ever since he arrived here at school." She looked to Abby for help.
My friends agreed.
"But that doesn't mean he can talk to wolves," I said.
"Why do you always defend him?" Ivy asked.
"Yes, why?" Nash suddenly chimed in.
Everyone waited for my response.
"Because no one else will," I finally said.
When I turned on my phone during lunch, there were at least five voice messages and a dozen texts from my mom. I immediately called to assure her I was safe and the school and community resources had done their best to protect us and maintain order.
"It's all over the news," she said when I arrived home. My mom left work early and had been watching the TV all day. "They closed several businesses around the school. I'm so glad you're home safe."
We were glued to the local four o'clock news. Animal experts talked about wolf safety, but most agreed that it was uncommon for one wolf to venture out of the woods in the middle of the day and come so close to an area with a human population. For a pack of wolves to do it was extraordinary.
The sun was going to be setting soon. I didn't have much sunlight left before the full moon was going to shine. I was worried about Brandon and what might happen to him.
"I have to run out - but I'll be back soon," I said, grabbing my coat.
"You're not going anywhere tonight," my mom said. "You can't go out when there are wolves running around. Give it a few days to see how it plays out."
I was always well behaved and it was very rare that I didn't follow the rules. It was as unlikely for me to get in trouble as it was to discover that a transfer student could become a werewolf. But both things were possible tonight.
"I'm sorry, Mom, but I have to go - " I said defiantly, closing the back door behind me.