“School”
Amanda Graives breathed slowly as she did her morning exercises with her mother. It had been a ritual for the two wolves since Amanda was four. At seven, Amanda already knew quite a lot of martial arts and enjoyed this time with her mother. This day was a little different though, as her grandfather was also stretching with them. He had volunteered to teach both of the ladies some wrestling moves. But, that would have to wait, as one of Laura’s human maids came down the stairs and stood at the entrance to the dojo. “Excuse me, Miss Laura, but it time for Miss Amanda to go to school,” announced the redhead.
Laura and Thomas both stopped in their exercises at this news, but little Amanda did not. She was much more interested in her martial arts training than in going to school for the first time. “Thank you, Sarah. Are her school clothes and supplies laid out?” Laura asked the maid.
“Yes, ma’am. I’ve double checked the list of supplies and I think you will be quite pleased with the outfit I picked out,” Sarah answered with a slight bow.
“Good. Thank you, Sarah. You may go back to your duties,” the tall black she-wolf replied. Once the maid bowed again and headed up the stairs, Laura turned to her daughter. “Well, Amanda, let’s get you dressed and off to school.”
“But I want to learn how to wrestle,” protested the little black wolf.
Thomas laughed a little at that. “After school and homework, I promise I will teach you some wrestling.”
Laura moved towards the stairs. “Come on, Amanda, let’s go.”
Reluctantly, and with the biggest pout she could muster, Amanda crossed her arms over her little chest and followed her mother up the stairs. Her pout stayed cemented on her face while Laura changed her out of her martial arts uniform and into a pair of jeans and a pink t-shirt. Laura was pleased with how her daughter looked in her outfit and was impressed with the good job her maid had done in picking it out.
Picking up Amanda’s pink backpack, Laura took her daughter’s hand and walked her out to the waiting limousine. The adult canine paused and huffed at the luxury vehicle. She would have to talk to her maids when she got back, as she didn’t want her daughter to arrive to her first day of school in such style. The driver – an attractive young leopard – kindly opened the back door for Amanda and Laura who both reluctantly got in. “Driver, who ordered this limo?”
The cat seemed confused by the question. “Why, Mistress Wienhardt, Ma’am.”
Laura gave a frown and a sigh. “All right. We’re going to be late if we don’t get going,” she said.
With a nod, the driver shut the passenger door before running around to the driver’s door and jumping in the limo.
***
Amanda wore her pout all the way to school. “You know, Amanda, if you keep that up, you’re face is going to get stuck like that,” Laura commented with a smile.
“Good!” the little wolf replied with a huff.
Laura smiled at her daughter a moment before picking the girl from her seat and placing her on her lap. The once famous superhero gave her only child a kiss on the top of her head. “I love you, baby,” she said as she wrapped the little pup in her arms and held her close.
Finally, the pout was erased and a big warm smile took it’s place as Amanda returned the embrace. “I love you, too, Mama.”
***
The limo eased to a stop in front of the Brian T. Johnston Elementary School. The name of the school meant nothing to Amanda, but everything to Laura. A deep frown creased Laura’s face when she read the name of her dead lover who was also Amanda’s father. Ironic that Brian’s daughter would be attending a school bearing his name, but he would never get to see his daughter attend it. There was a wish on Laura’s heart that she knew would never come true.
Shaking off the memories of her dead lover, Laura walked her daughter through the front doors of the school. With a quick stop at the front desk, the two headed towards Amanda’s kindergarten class. Just outside the door, Laura knelt down and gave her daughter a quick hug and kiss. “Now, be a good girl and no fighting. If I get a call from the teacher that says you’ve been fighting, your grandfather won’t be teaching you any wrestling moves for a week, understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the pup replied.
“Good girl. Now, go on. I’ll be by to pick you up after school is out,” Laura said and kissed her daughter’s cheek one last time before handing her the pink backpack and ushering her into the classroom.
***
As soon as the little black wolf stepped into the classroom, she knew it was going to be rough going for her. Looking around, she noticed that not only was she the only wolf in the room, but the only canine, as well. Not only that, but her deep black fur made her stand out even further amongst her lighter colored classmates. Even the grey stripes in her mane were darker than the other creatures. On top of all that, at seven, Amanda was the oldest kid in class.
The sudden silence upon her entrance made the pup even more uneasy. Slowly she moved over to the crowd of students sitting on the floor in front of their teacher and took a seat towards the front. Setting her backpack on the floor in front of her, Amanda held it tightly, as if it would keep her safe from all the prying eyes around her.
“Well, hello, there. And what is your name?” the teacher asked, taking a clipboard from her desk.
“A-Amanda Graives,” the lone wolf replied.
“Ah. Good. Now, every one’s here. So, how old are you, Amanda?” the tabby cat said.
“Seven.” Amanda was still fully aware of that everyone was looking at her. Her sensitive ears even picked some chatter amongst the other students.
The teacher asked the other students to introduce themselves, and, obediently, they did. Amanda took careful note to recognize faces and names with voices. This was a technique her mother had taught her a couple years ago. “It is important to not only know what you enemy looks like, but how they sound. That way, you can pick them out in the darkness of nights,” Laura had said.
One of the kids in the room was a male lion named Kale. He sat directly behind Amanda and as the teacher began to read a book to the kindergartners, the little cub started to toy with Amanda’s gray-striped mane. This bugged the wolf greatly, and it took all her strength not to use her martial arts training on him. “Miss Loni, Kale is playing with my mane,” complained the pup.
“Kale, leave Amanda alone,” the teacher ordered with a stern tone.
“Why? Wolves don’t deserve to have manes,” the boy commented, crossing his arms over his chest.
The big tabby didn’t appreciate the comment and she shot the cub a scolding look. “Do you want to go sit in timeout until your parents come and pick you up, mister?”
“No,” the lion replied with a groan.
“Then behave yourself and leave Amanda alone,” said the teacher.
Reluctantly, the lion stopped messing with Amanda’s mane. But as the teacher continued, two of the human children started started whispering to each other. The little pup knew the talk was about her. Soon, her trained ears began to pick up other chatter about her, and none of it was good. In defiance, and a little emotional pain, Amanda put her backpack on, and crossed her legs. Slipping her hands in opposite sleeves, she closed her eyes and listened intently to the teacher as she read. Taking deep breaths, the little wolf pushed all of the other voices out of her mind and focused on the only voice that seemed to care.
As she listened, she started to notice some more subtle things. The door to the playground wasn’t fully sealed and slight breeze was whistling around the edges. Amanda noticed how it began to flow around the other students in the room; how their breath caused it to swirl and dance. Every movement they made was clear to her. Their individual scents revealing a lot of their secrets. The lion behind her was still in diapers, and it seemed some of his crankiness was due to the fact he needed changed. He wasn’t the only one in diapers though. At least one of the human children and a leopard who had been relatively quiet also had on the plastic pants.
One of the humans started to sneak through the crowd. She reached for Amanda’s mane, but at the last second, the wolf pup tilted her head out of the way and leaned back, causing the child to loose her balance and fall forward over Amanda’s shoulder. The little blonde girl rolled into a seated position, confused and dazed.
The commotion caught the attention of the teacher. The cat, however, only saw the human child sitting in front of Amanda, who hadn’t stopped her trance. “You kids need to settle down. I’m almost done with this story. After that we’ll go outside and you can play until your parents get here,” announced the cat who waited a moment for the blonde to return to her place in the gaggle of children before resuming her reading.
No one messed with Amanda for the rest of the story, although, the wolf pup could tell that her little stunt didn’t go unnoticed. A lot of the other children were angry because of it. But, at that moment she didn’t care. She wasn’t there to please them, and if they didn’t want to be friends with her, then that was perfectly fine with her. Although, it would probably make the school year easier.
***
Finally, the children were escorted outside to the playground. Being a child, Amanda was excited about being able to run and climb on all the equipment, and she instantly set out to concur everything, starting with the monkey bars. From there she made her way up to the top of the tower of wood and was about to slide down the pole, when Kale suddenly appeared behind her and shoved her off the tower. This did catch her off guard, but luckily, Amanda inherited her parents’ enhanced reflexes and strength, and she easily maneuvered her body around and landed perfectly on her feet, only slightly bending at the knees and facing the lion cub. “No one wants to play with a wolf!” he shouted, a little surprised that she landed without injury.
“No one wants to play with a lion who still uses his diaper as a toilet,” Amanda replied in a huff.
Kale’s face turned beat red with embarrassment and rage at the comment as all the other kids laughed. “Yeah, well, you’re a girl!” the lion tried and everyone laughed at the pathetic insult. This only made the boy march off the playground in tears.
Miss Loni gave Amanda a scolding look, but didn’t say anything to her. “He’s right, you know?” the blonde girl from before said as she stood a few feet from Amanda. “No one wants to play with a stupid little wolf.”
At this Amanda glanced around the playground and noticed that no one was even looking at her. The thought that this strange creature might be right started to break through the wolf’s toughness. Was it just because she was so different? Could that really make her such an outcast? Without a word, Amanda climbed up to the highest point in the playground and sat down to ponder that thought.
As she sat there some of the other kids started to throw rocks at her, which she simply let hit her. Those kids were soon caught and yelled at by the teacher who gave the lone wolf a sad look and a heavy sigh.
***
Amanda sat on her perch for several minutes, perfectly content to stay there until her mother came. She did not notice the fuming Kale eyeing her with contempt, his eyes red from crying. She was much to focused on watching the road for her mother’s truck. Finally, she saw the red pickup pull up the street, and sat up in excitement, her tail wagging to show her joy. Seeing his opportunity, Kale walked right up to Amanda and shoved her off her perch. Not knowing what was happening, Amanda’s reflexes didn’t kick in, and she crashed to the ground hard, and she could have sworn she heard a crack somewhere.
Not satisfied that he had done enough to the poor black wolf pup, the lion jumped down from the playground equipment and gave the wolf a swift kick to the stomach, causing her to loose her breath. “Kale Jonathan Andrews!” came the voice of the teacher who instantly marched over to where Amanda was trying desperately to get air back into her lungs. “You get inside the classroom and put your nose into a corner and don’t come out until your parents get here.”
Still fuming, the lion did as he was told as Miss Loni rolled the injured wolf onto her back. Once air finally returned to Amanda’s body, she almost instantly started to cry, her eyes scanning for her mother. The cat tried to pick up the black wolf, but she squirmed free and moved towards the fence at the edge of the playground.
Upon seeing her mother walking towards the playground, Amanda tried to climb over the fence, but a sharp pain in her arm caused her to fall back to the ground in agony. Her crying briefly turned to screams as both adults quickly ran to the child’s aid. “What happened here?” Laura asked as she gently picked up her daughter, who was clasping her arm tightly.
“One of the other students shoved her off the playground equipment and kicked her in the stomach. Don’t worry, he’s going to get suspended,” Miss Loni explained.
“Good. Now, we probably should get that arm checked out. Luckily, I was just coming back from lunch with my doctor friend,” said the taller black wolf.
Miss Loni glanced towards the pickup in time to see a gray wolf with a black mane get out. This new wolf was dressed in a business suit that looked very expensive. Seeing the concern in the face of her friend, this newcomer ran up to the group to see what the problem was. “What’s wrong?” asked the doctor.
“Amanda’s been hurt,” Laura explained. “I think her arm is broken.”
The older wolf gently took a hold of Amanda’s arm to examine it. She started to roll it over, but stopped when the pup buried her face in her mother’s breast to keep from screaming in pain. “Yeah, it’s broken, all right. Let’s get her to the hospital.”
***
Amanda only stayed in the hospital long enough to get her arm put a cast. When the doctor guided her from the room, she found her mother finishing up a face to face conversation with her teacher. “Well, you don’t have to worry about Kale for a while. I suspect he’ll end up being held back with all the school he’ll be missing,” Miss Loni said.
“That’s good. Maybe it that will give Amanda some room to make a couple friends,” Laura replied and smiled at her daughter.
“Isn’t Eric and Cindy’s son in that class?” the doctor asked.
“Eric and Cindy Cole?” the tabby cat questioned and the gray wolf nodded as Laura picked up her daughter.
“Well, their son is on my roster, but he wasn’t able to attend yesterday. Seems his family was on a bit of a vacation. He should be there tomorrow, though,” the teacher said.
“Hear that, Amanda? You should have someone you actually know to play with tomorrow,” Laura told her daughter who simply nodded and rested her head on her mother’s shoulder. Laura laughed. “Well, it looks like this little one is ready for a nap. Which would be my cue to head home.”
“Alright, Miss Graives. Take care.” Miss Loni waved.
“See you tomorrow. And thanks again, Whitney. I owe you one,” Laura called back as she headed towards the exit with her daughter in her arms.
“You owe me several, Laura,” the doctor said with a hint of irritation that made Laura laugh. “But, this one is on me. Anything for my little second cousin.”
Laura smiled at Whitney’s affection for her daughter as she pushed open the doors of the hospital. The doctor treated Amanda as if she were her niece, even volunteering to babysit whenever Laura needed it. She was grateful for that support. Nothing put Laura at ease more than knowing there were so many people around that wanted the best for her and her daughter. It was a dream come true.
When Amanda got hurt, however, it scared Laura more than she cared to admit. Now, as she gently buckled her daughter into the car seat in Laura’s personal vehicle, being sure not to wake the now sleeping pup, she couldn’t help but give her daughter a loving kiss on the forehead and thank God that she only had a broken arm. “Watch over my little girl, Father. She’s the only one I got, and I’ve fought long and hard to make this land safe for her. Keep her safe for me,” was her prayer as she entered the driver’s seat of her truck. That was the prayer Laura prayed every day and night from that point on. All she wanted was for her daughter to be safe. To Laura Graives, Amanda was more important to her than life itself.
The End.
