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Wolf had been nervous about starting her first day of school, and rightfully so. While she had managed to do her assignments during class without too much trouble, she had yet to make any friends. At lunchbreak, everyone found someone to play, with except for Wolf. She was left standing alone in a corner, nibbling on a cookie with tears in her eyes. First day of school turned out to be awfully like when she lived with the wolves and tried to befriend the children in her so-called 'pack'. She had tried her best to be polite and fit in, but they didn't accept her until she befriended Margot almost a year after they first found her and took her in.
Wolf pushed the painful memories to the back of her mind, not wanting to think about her past. She had a new family now, a real one. Still, she couldn't get rid of the feeling of loneliness. She had been with Kipo long enough to be influenced by her. She hated being alone.
Suddenly, someone tapped her shoulder nervously. Wolf did her best not to flinch. Turning her head to the side, she was met with a ginger boy with freckles and a kind, nervous smile.
"Hi. I'm Alex. Do you wanna play with me and Stitch?" he gestured to a Timbercat girl who was leaning onto a wall absent-mindedly.
Wolf scowled at the boy, not wanting to appear like an easy target.
"No. Playing is stupid."
"Oh," Alex looked disappointed, "it's just, you looked so lonely."
"I'm a lone wolf," Wolf shrugged, and the boy turned away from her to go back to his friend.
Wolf anticipated the feeling of ease and calmness, but instead she was met with the feeling of guilt and sadness. She did want to go with them, but she didn't know if she was ready to play. Playing was for children, and she wasn't a child. She was a survivor and survivors didn't play, although it was tempting.
Her thoughts was interrupted by yet another tap to her shoulder. Wolf turned around with a sigh, sounding ruder than she would have liked.
"I thought I already told you that I-" Wolf paused mid-sentence when she realized that it wasn't Alex, but the Timbercat Stitch.
Wolf regretted her harsh tone, but Stitch barely reacted.
"I know that you said that you wanted to be left alone, but we'll feel bad for leaving you in a corner. Are you sure you don't want to play?"
Wolf opened her mouth to answer but closed it again. Was she really sure that she didn't want to try and make friends now when she had the chance? While playing was stupid, she could at least try it before she'd decide that it wasn't for her. She didn't want to make a bad first impression on her first day at school after all.
"I guess I could join you... What game?" Wolf asked, wanting to know what she'd get herself into before she agreed to anything.
"We were going to play tag," Stitch answered, recieving a confused look from Wolf.
The Timbercat quickly explained the rules so Wolf understood. The game did look tempting, and she knew she'd be good at it.
"Alright," she relented, going with the other girl to Alex who was waiting for them to come back.
"I'm glad you wanted to join us!" Alex said with a kind smile, which Wolf managed to return.
However, she was caught off guard when Stitch suddenly patted Wolf's back, calling out 'tag' before she and Alex quickly ran off into different directions. It took Wolf a second or two to realize that she was it and was supposed to chase them. Looking around, she laid her eyes on Alex who was looking at her from behind a trees further away. Since he was closest, Wolf went after him first.
Running for her life everyday of her life, like Dave would have said, proved to be useful when playing tag. Wolf was quicker than both Alex and Stitch, and it didn't take long before they were both tagged. Wolf decided that the game was fun and they started another round, this time Alex being it since he was the first one to get caught.
Only a few minutes later, Alex tagged Stitch, and they both went after Wolf. She let out a light giggle when Alex almost caught her, but missed.
"You need to try harder than that!" she teased, looking behind her to see her playmates running side by side, only a few meters behind her.
Suddenly, it was as if a switch had been turned on. Instead of a human and a timberkitten, Wolf saw a pack of wolves, hurrying to catch their prey for the night. Looking up, the warm sun turned into a shining, white moon. The giggles of other children around her turned into howls and Wolf felt tears build up in her eyes. The school building disappeared and trees turned up in it's place. Wolf felt her stomach drop.
Happiness turned into fear as the wolves got closer, their growls and howls overwhelming her senses as Wolf felt herself panicking. They were catching up on her, and if they did, she would die.
Deciding that hiding would be better than running in the open, Wolf darted between the bushes as she ran into a different direction. She didn't recognize this part of the forest, but she didn't dare stopping. Not now. After running into random directions for what felt like fotever, Wolf laid her eyes on a door in the middle of the forest. There was no wall around the door, no floor or roof. It confused her, but she decided that she didn't have time to think about it as the howls got closer and louder. Opening the door, she found herself in an unfamiliar room. It had five bathroom stalls, lined up against one wall. To her left were five sinks with one big mirror above them.
Wolf felt as if she was supposed to remember where she was, but she didn't. The howls were still getting louder, through the closed door behind her. Deciding to hide, Wolf rushed into one of the stalls, forgetting to lock the door before she cured up into a fetal position on the toilet lid.
Just as Wolf believed that she was safe, she heard the door to the bathroom open. She was going to die.
~~~
Stitch was confused. Alex and their new friend, Wolf, had been playing tag outside the school. Wolf had seemed completely fine with it, but suddenly, she had just run off, sobbing. Stitch wasn't sure what she had done wrong, but she and Alex had went after Wolf to see if she was okay. Stitch saw Wolf run into the girl's bathroom, slamming the door shut after her. Alex decided to wait outside, since he was a boy. Stitch entered the bathroom alone, hoping to find out what was going on with Wolf.
She heard frantic breathing from inside one of the bathroom stalls. Nobody else seemed to be in there, which Stitch was very thankful for. She didn't want a live audience watching her trying to calm her friend down.
"Wolf?" Stitch called out, not wanting to scare her in case she hadn't heard her enter.
"No! No! D-don't hurt me..." Wolf answered with a shaky voice, her sobs almost making her words impossible to understand.
Stitch sighed, walking up to the bathroom stall before she opened the door, realizing that it wasn't locked. She found Wolf in a fetal position on the toilet lid, her arms wrapped around her body protectively as she sobbed into her knees. Stitch quickly wrapped her arms around Wolf's shaking body, trying to ground her from her obvious panic attack.
"Wolf, can look at me, please?" Stitch requested, trying to carefully lift Wolf's head up so that she could look at her.
Soon enough, Wolf slowly lifted her head and looked up at Stitch, although it seemed like Wolf was looking through her, as if she was seeing something that Stitch didn't. Wolf's eyes had turned grey and lifeless, instead of the live, brown eyes that she usually had.
She was having a flashback. Stitch knew what that was, her parents had flashbacks from before Las Vistas turned into a safe sone for all mutes and humans. Something had clearly triggered Wolf, and Stitch had no idea how to get her back.
"Wolf, you're safe. Wherever you think you are, you're not there, okay? I'm Stitch, remember? You played with me and Alex just a few minutes ago," Stitch tried, deciding to just hold Wolf closely for the time being until the girl came back to the present.
The room was quiet, except for Wolf's quick breathing. Suddenly, Stitch heard Wolf start to hum a melody. It was barely audible, but Wolf seemed to calm down. A few minutes later, Wolf slowly opened her eyes and looked around, not remembering going to the bathroom.
"Hey," Stitch said with a gentle smile, "welcome back."
"What happened?" Wolf questioned tiredly, her energy leaving her body after the long panic attack.
"You had a flashback and a panic attack in the middle of our game and you ran off. Alex is outside the bathroom, waiting for us." Stitch informed, no judgement in her voice.
Wolf took a deep breath. She had let someone see her vulnerable and weak.
She let her guard down and played games like a child, and had a panic attack right in front of two other kids. Wolf didn't want to be seen as weak, she was a survivor!
Stitch seemed to read her mind as she spoke up.
"Don't be embarrassed, my parents have panic attacks too. It's nothing to be ashamed over," Stitch reassured gently, placing a hand on Wolf's shoulder.
Wolf nodded quietly. Slowly unraveling from her fetal position before she stood up on shaky legs. Stitch wrapped an arm around Wolf to steady her, leading her out if the bathroom where Alex was waiting outside. He was sitting on a bench, but stood up immediately when Stitch and Wolf exited the bathroom.
"Are you okay?" he asked Wolf who nodded with a tiny smile, feeling happy at the thought of people caring about her without even knowing her.
Only Kipo did that.
"I'm fine, just... I'm sorry for interrupting the game." Wolf apologized, feeling guilty for turning their attention onto her and her problems that she was supposed to have come over a long time ago.
"Don't worry about it," Alex reassured, "class will be starting soon, should we go to our classroom?" he suggested and neither Stitch or Wolf disagreed.
While Wolf regretted letting her guard down and having a panic attack publicly on her first day of school, she ended up with two new friends at the end of the day.
Maybe school just wasn't that bad.
