The Amazing Wolf Boy

by Roxanne Smolen

  But this Thursday was the full moon. I couldn’t.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I’m busy this Thursday.”

  She frowned. “You said you were busy on Friday.”

  “That, too.”

  “All right.” Brittany sighed. “How about Wednesday?”

  “I can’t,” I said, then trying to diffuse her sharp look, added, “But we can do something tomorrow night.”

  She started walking way, then stopped and turned back. “You’re going out with her, aren’t you?”

  I blinked. “Who?”

  “Jana. I’ve seen how she looks at you. Rich girls always fall for the bad boys. It ticks off their fathers.”

  I moved close, smiling and dropping my voice. “You think I’m a bad boy?”

  “Cody, just go. I’ve got work to do.”

  I glanced around. “I’m the only one here.”

  “I’m serious.” She stomped back to the stools and dragged them out of sight.

  I felt a hot surge of anger. I wanted to grab her waist, lean her back against the counter, and kiss her hard on the lips. I’d show her how a bad boy acted. I’d show them all. So, rich girl Jana had a thing for me, did she? I wondered how she’d feel when she found out my parents could buy hers.

  With my fists clenched, I approached Brittany. She studied a shipping invoice and did not look up. I wanted to shake her and roar look at me.

  But that was the wolf talking.

  “I’m not going out with anyone,” I said.

  How could she accuse me? Didn’t she know how much I loved her?

  “Leave,” she said, her voice crackly.

  I honestly didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I didn’t know what I’d done wrong, how to talk my way out of it. If she had just looked up from that invoice, I would have begged her forgiveness. I would have promised her anything.

  But she didn’t look up. So I left.

  Warm, muggy air enveloped me as I stepped out of the store. The traffic sounds of the shopping center grated against my ears. My inner wolf raged. I should go back. I should yell, force her to listen.

  I guess I growled, because a man getting into a red Camaro, a really nice Camaro, gave me an odd look. I went to my bike, which still leaned against the wall. No Camaro for me. No sir. I scowled at the man. There was something about the way he watched me that made me want to bare my teeth. I took off across the parking lot, pedaling like the devil himself was behind me.

  That night, I called Brittany, but only got her voicemail. I didn’t leave a message. I was still mad and didn’t want to say anything I might regret. Besides, we’d see each other at school the next day.

  But she wasn’t interested in talking to me. She wouldn’t look at me all through World History, and at lunch, she sat with a bunch of girls. I was so angry I couldn’t eat. I kept watching her, catching glimpses across the crowded room. It was unfair. She blamed me for something I didn’t do. Why wouldn’t she give me a chance to explain?

  By the time I got home, I was afraid to call. She hated me. She’d never speak to me again. There was no hope of her ever being my girlfriend.

  I barely slept, just tossed and turned like I was sweating out a fever. My stomach was queasy, and my muscles ached. At first, I thought I was sick over Brittany. But it was the full moon nearing. I half wished to turn into a wolf and stay that way.

  When I saw my uncle the next morning, he looked as bad as I felt.

  I poured some milk. “How’s the project coming?”

  He gave a weary smile. “I’m putting the finishing touches on it today.”

  “I could stay home if you want, lend you a hand.”

  “Nah. Thanks, though.”

  “All right.” I rinsed my cup. “I think I’ll bike it today.”

  “Are you sure? You don’t have to.”

  “Yeah, it’s good. Why don’t you get an extra hour of sleep?”

  “I’ll do that.” He nodded, frowning.

  I knew that look. My mother got it when she suspected I was keeping something from her. Unlike her, he didn’t lecture. So I rode my bike to school. It felt good to get rid of the excess energy. But at the sight of Brittany’s green Volkswagen in the student parking lot, I became tense and anxious again.

  I don’t know how I got through the day. I wanted to snap everyone’s head off. Lunch was again spent by myself. I couldn’t wait for school to end.

  I stopped at the Café on the way back to the house. Anne, my uncle’s favorite waitress, acted glad to see me—and I was happy to spend an hour with her. I wanted to be with people, wanted to say hey, look everybody, I’m human just like you.

  Of course, I wasn’t. So I ate a bloody hamburger, had three refills of chocolate milk, and soaked up all the attention Anne would give me. Eventually, the time came to leave. If I went home, either the house would be empty, which I hated, or my uncle would be there to question my leaving at nightfall. So I went straight to my hidden courtyard. I walked my bike through the thicket and stood there, taking in the familiar scents of pine, grass, and dirt. Birds made a racket in the trees. Field mice scurried through the underbrush.

  I dumped my bike and sat beside it, unwrapping the tape from my arm. Would I have a broken leg as a wolf, or would the shift mend the bone? When I turned back to human, would my arm automatically heal? Maybe I would have a wolf leg instead of an arm.

  That would be weird.

  I shook off that train of thought and instead spent my time searching for the pull of the moon. It was like a stream of energy fortifying me. It made sense that I should be able to tap its strength whenever I wanted. After all, the moon was always there, even when it shone on the other side of the planet.

  The sky fell to purple. Moonrise was minutes away. I stripped, tossing my clothes over the bike. With my senses focused, I faced the moon head on, holding out my hands as if to shield myself from the first beams.

  The change overtook me. My muzzle elongated, feeling like it was pulling off my face. My ears tugged toward the top of my head. I fell to my knees, crying out as my injured arm twisted and stretched. I licked my foreleg until the pain dulled.

  At last, I got to my paws. I ached like I’d been beaten with a two by four all over again. My fractured front leg balked at holding my weight. No chasing rabbits tonight. I limped through the trees and onto the road. Before long, I found myself at Brittany’s house.

  As I approached the yard, I smelled wolf. My hackles rose, and a low growl issued from my throat. Someone had been there. Three distinct scents. They circled the property and crisscrossed the woods. It was almost as if they’d left me a message. They wanted me to know about them.

  Rage swelled my chest, and I growled again. No one had the right to be there except me. I spent the rest of the night tracking the wolves through the trees. But the trail ended, masked by the scent of humans.

  * * * *

  When I went to school the next day, I was determined to talk to Brittany. I planned to ask her out to a real movie Saturday night.

  But she avoided me. When I saw her in class, she was busy. When I tried to catch her in the hallways, she scurried away. I felt crushed. What good was my life without her? It made no difference that I wasn’t at fault. All that mattered was her smile when she saw me, the touch of her hand on mine. I would never have those things again.

  I went home dejected.

  The moon was full that night. I sat in my clearing, awaiting the pain, itching to be out of my skin. I didn’t want to be me any longer. I felt lost.

  After I shifted into a wolf, I continued to sit there. A swirling wind tousled my fur. It brought with it all sorts of scents. Deer and panther. Swampland. Loxahatchee was on the northern tip of the Everglades. There was plenty to see and do, adventures I never imagined. But all I wanted was to be with Brittany. Even if she never spoke to me again, I needed to watch over her, needed to keep her safe.

  So turning my back on the enticing smells, I went to her.

  The m
oon climbed high. Shadows fell crisp. The wind drew music from the night. As I feared, I found the trace of a wolf in the grass. One of the three. He’d returned to the house for a reason. I growled at the thought.

  How could I protect her if I was only a wolf a few nights a month?

  Just then, the back door opened. Brittany stepped out with her bag of garbage. I should have jumped into the bushes—but I couldn’t. I had to see her, even if she didn’t know it was me. So I stood in plain sight, gauging her reaction.

  She froze like a doe. I held perfectly still so I wouldn’t spook her. I was too large to be mistaken for a dog. Almost too large to be a wolf.

  Moonlight turned her features silver, like a statue carved from crystal. I expected her to yell or to throw something to chase me away, but she did neither. She stared at me for a time. Then she edged forward, dropping her bag into the can.

  She backed away, leaving.

  Panic gripped me. I stepped toward her, wanting to cry stay with me, but she was through the door and gone. The deadbolt sounded like a gunshot.

  I couldn’t stand it. All the heartache and confusion of the past few days balled up inside me, rising like bitter vomit. Lifting my head, I bayed at the moon. Long and forlorn. I howled again, releasing my pain.

  Brittany stood at the kitchen window, watching.

  * * * *

  Friday, I caught her in the hall outside World History. I grasped her arm so she wouldn’t run away. “I’m not going out with another girl,” I said.

  She met my eyes. “Okay, then. Where are you going?”

  “I can’t tell you.”

  “Is it a secret?”

  That sounded like a trap, and I hoped that by not answering I wouldn’t step into it. Of course, it never turns out that way.

  “That’s the thing.” Her voice rose. “Friends don’t keep secrets from one another.”

  “So what are you saying? I’m not your friend?”

  “I have to go.”

  “You aren’t being fair,” I wailed. “There are things about me you don’t understand.”

  She pursed her lips, and I faltered. Even angry, she was beautiful.

  “Look,” I said, “it’s just this one thing. I’ll tell you anything else you want to know.”

  Brittany paused. “If I was hiding something and you asked me flat out about it, I would tell you.”

  I stared at her, knowing it was true. But she didn’t have a secret like mine. If I told her, she’d call me a monster and I would lose her. If I didn’t tell her, I would lose her anyway. “Brittany, please. Can’t you just trust me?”

  She wrenched her arm from my grasp and walked away. I stood there dumbstruck in the middle of the hall with kids streaming to either side. I felt like cutting the rest of my classes, but that wouldn’t do any good. I stuck it out.

  At lunch, I grabbed a Dew and sat alone at my table. I didn’t look to see if Brittany showed up. I wished I had someone to confide in. Someone like Uncle Bob, who always listened and never judged.

  “Hi,” said a voice.

  I looked up, trying to place the face. “Jana, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Happy birthday.”

  “Oh, thanks.” She smiled, showing deep dimples. “Are you coming? To my party, I mean.”

  I shook my head. “Sorry. I’m busy.”

  “Come on.” She swung her hips and tossed her ponytail. “We’ll have fun.”

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Brittany. She walked toward me, then stopped, her face falling. My insides wrenched. She was coming to speak to me, and here I was with this stupid, insignificant—

  “Cody?” Jana giggled.

  The wolf snapped, and my voice roared. “I don’t want to go to your stinking party.”

  She looked alarmed, then outraged. If looks could kill, I’d be a smear on the table. She stormed away, ponytail swishing.

  My head bowed into my hands. Brittany had been coming to see me. I blew it again.

  I managed to get through to the end of the day without yelling at anyone else. Just before Shop, Lonnie and Maxwell grabbed me in the hall. The last time we’d spoken, they blamed me for getting Eff kicked off the football team.

  I was glad to see them, but feigned disinterest. “Are you two talking to me again?”

  “Come with us,” Maxwell said.

  They led me to the bathroom near the office. Lonnie pulled out his phone. “Have you seen this? There are new photos on your fairy page.”

  I took the phone, expecting to see more shots of me posed with the snow globe. Instead, I saw pictures of me tied in the trees. Good photos. Taken with a good camera. With a zoom.

  My stomach fell. Someone had come back. Someone took pictures of me in Brittany’s yard. I remembered her dog barking.

  I scrolled down. There was a shot of Brittany and me together, her face streaming with tears, my eyes swollen shut. There was Butt Crack hanging onto the rope, looking horrified. Me in close-up, grimacing in pain. Me on the ground with Brittany kneeling at my side.

  Rage built deep in my gut. Someone was in her yard. They might have hurt her, and I would have been powerless to stop them. Powerless.

  I wasn’t powerless now.

  I handed back the phone, fingers shaking. In my mind, all I saw was the photo of Brittany looking anguished, tears on her face. I slammed out of the bathroom and turned toward the exit. The main door would be unlocked.

  “Where are you going?” Lonnie called. “We have class.”

  “Tell Mister Conklin I’m sick.”

  I walked out right past the office. I didn’t care who saw me. My mind was so full of hate and rage, I could barely think.

  It was one thing to post photos of me on the Internet. They shouldn’t have involved Brittany. Now the whole school would know what I put her through.

  Now, I know, I thought, remembering her stricken face.

  A growl escaped me. I clenched my fists, hating Eff for hurting her. I wanted to tear him apart. As soon as he came out that door, POW!

  No. Too crowded. I’d go to his car. I couldn’t wait to see his face when he saw me standing there. But in the parking lot, I realized I didn’t know which car was his.

  Too public, anyway. I needed to take this off school grounds.

  Then I thought of the waning moon. I would be a wolf tonight. A smile spread across my face, and the beast inside me howled. I would pay Eff a little visit in my wolf form. Scare the crap out of him. Bite him a little. Maybe a lot. Maybe leave him as bloodied as he left me.

  I stomped away from school. It would take hours to walk all the way to my hidden courtyard, but I was up for it. The animal in me made me strong. It nurtured my rage.

  I imagined Eff snapping photos as Brittany lowered me from the tree, imagined him smiling as he zoomed in. That was premeditated. He went back there to gloat.

  Well, maybe there will be pictures of Eff in the news tomorrow. Just one more unexplained attack.

  With a low snicker, I stepped up my pace. I was halfway through town when my phone rang. It was Uncle Bob. “Hey, boy. I’m waiting outside the school. Where are you?”

  “I’m walking. I cut my last class.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Sure.”

  A pause. Then he said, “Where are you? I’ll pick you up.”

  “I don’t need you to pick me up,” I snarled. I didn’t want him to mother me, didn’t want him to be reasonable.

  Uncle Bob’s voice grew stern. “I expect you to come home. Do you hear me? Whatever you’re doing, stop and come home.”

  My shoulders sagged, and I looked to the moon for strength. After a moment, I said, “Fine.”

  It was nearly five o’clock when I finally got back. My uncle held the door. “Where you been, boy? I was worried.”

  “Why can’t everyone just leave me alone?” I pushed past him and went into the kitchen. Standing in front of the open refrigerator, I chugged milk from the carton.

 
Behind me, Uncle Bob said, “You’re my responsibility. I care about you.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  Good question. What should I tell him first? Should I tell him about Brittany ditching me, or how Jana wants me dead? Maybe I should tell him that in two hours I would turn into a wolf. I took another swig of milk. “Eff posted more pictures.”

  He sighed. “Yeah. I saw them.”

  I slammed the milk carton onto the counter. “What, you have a MySpace page now?”

  He chuckled. “Me? Of course not. Howard does.”

  I glared at him, wanting to slug him in the mouth. I felt like they’d been spying on me, felt like everyone knew my business before I did.

  “Come with me tonight,” Uncle Bob said. “Don’t do anything in anger.”

  “Yeah. Right,” I muttered.

  “Your mother wouldn’t want—”

  That did it. I couldn’t stay there a moment longer. I rushed out of the house, not even bothering to close the door, hopped on my bike and roared away. I half-expected him to pull up behind me and force me into his truck, but he didn’t. So much for caring about me.

  I turned down the long, asphalt road, pedaling as fast as I could. The sun had set. Between the growing darkness and my mounting agitation, I wouldn’t have been surprised if I turned into a wolf right then. That would be funny. A wolf riding a bike.

  I wondered how to find Eff. Just wander around and hope I caught a whiff of him? Then I remembered Jana’s party. He was sure to be there. Most everyone in the tenth grade was expected to show. Perfect. I would wait to catch him ducking out to have a smoke. Better yet, I could storm the party and chase him around in front of everybody. I’d make it an event they’d never forget. I grinned as I imagined the screams.

  By the time I reached the courtyard, it was pitch dark. I didn’t bother to walk my bike through the trees, just tossed it to the side of the road. I stepped to the center of the clearing. The moon rose. It pulled at me. I stripped off my shirt. Then I kicked off my shoes and stepped out of my jeans and shorts.

  The shift hit before I had time to take off my socks. I stood with my arms outstretched and welcomed it. My skin prickled and stung as the coarse fur broke out. My face elongated, and my fangs grew painfully, making me drool.