Legend's Run was a small town spotted with sprawling communities, high-end and strip malls, and tons of chain restaurants. However, to get to more cultural activities, one would have to drive to the big city, which was less than an hour ride from our cozier town. Our neighboring city had sports stadiums, an accredited art museum, and a renowned zoo.
Every year the junior class went on a spring field trip to the zoo. There was a special feeling in the air on Thursday when students at school knew that we would soon embark on a fabulous field trip. With a school outing came freedom - a day clear of pop quizzes, long lectures, and sitting all day indoors. It would be an educational and relaxing time for all of us. And boy, did I need it. It would be great for Brandon and me to walk around the zoo and hang out with our friends.
I was stoked, waiting in line next to Brandon and Ivy to board the buses. Even though I enjoyed school, it was just as much fun to be taken away from it as to be driven to it.
Nash eyed me as I got on the bus with Brandon.
Brandon watched as I slipped into an empty seat, and he sat down next to me and slid his hand over mine. I looked back at our school, where the lower classmen were having a day like any other. I breathed in and sighed, releasing the tension, as if I were a yoga instructor.
As we pulled away from campus, there was a lot of hooting and hollering from the back of the bus, and Nash and some of his jock friends had to be scolded by the bus driver.
I breathed easier as we made our way out of Legend's Run High and onto the country roads. The open windows blew the breeze through my hair, and the warm sun seemed to kiss my cheeks. We passed fields of wheat and corn, grazing cattle and beautiful horses, spring flowers and trees in bloom. Yards were decorated with colorful tulips, daffodils, and potted plants and adorned with American flags and plastic geese. Birds were singing, and I felt exhilarated. I glanced over to my friends to see how they were enjoying our outing only to find them listening to their MP3 players and playing with their phones. Most students weren't even looking out the window. I felt sad, as they were missing out on the very things we were supposed to be enjoying and experiencing by being on a field trip.
I glanced at Brandon from time to time, and he seemed just as pleased as I was to get a break from school and take in the fresh air and sounds and sights of nature. However, our bus soon passed a strip mall and then turned onto the highway. It was exciting to get the chance to travel with Brandon on a field trip, and we intertwined our fingers as we passed corporate offices, car dealerships, and chain restaurants.
After a long drive on the highway, we passed through part of the city with its high-rise buildings and then saw signs for the zoo. It wasn't too much longer before we saw cars lined up on the street and the entrance to the zoo. Our bus pulled into the lot, and the boys in the back row started making ridiculous chimplike noises. This time, the bus driver ignored them as she was moments from parking.
One by one, we all exited the bus and made our way to the zoo's entrance, where one teacher did a head count while a volunteer from the zoo handed us each a map and a checklist of many of the animals at the zoo, with a blank area underneath where we had to write our observations about them. We were instructed to visit every major animal habitat and to meet at the zoo's entrance by two o'clock.
Ivy immediately veered off from our group and headed for the gift shop. Abby had to drag her out, appeasing her with the promise we'd have a chance to shop before we boarded the bus again to leave.
Ivy and Abby caught up to Dylan, Jake, and Nash and then joined Brandon and me and we all headed out for the exhibits. We girls were first to arrive at the cat house. The exhibit was both indoor and outdoor, and we proceeded to watch the Bengal tigers as they were resting in the sun. As the guys caught up to us, the tigers began to stir in their enclosure. For a few moments, the big cats sniffed the air and several of them began to stretch. Then a few of them squinted and perked up their ears. Several slowly rose and began to pace back and forth in front of their younger cubs. As we watched them, they continued to pace and we took a few notes before we thought about heading to the next enclosure. The adult tigers started to growl, and we were taken with their roars. Their growls grew louder. Then we realized the tigers were staring straight at Nash and Brandon.
"That's weird," Ivy said. "They don't like you guys."
Brandon backed away, but Nash stayed and waved his hands wildly. The tigers were still on their rocks and cavelike formations. One tiger stayed with the young, but another began to walk off the rocks and through the pond that separated the visitor's fence and the tiger's habitat. It was creeping over toward Nash.
"Can't you read?" Abby scolded him. She pointed to a sign that warned against taunting the animals.
The tiger was in its pen and at least fifty feet away. But it wasn't stopping or turning its direction. It was heading straight for us. And even though we were safely protected by a wire fence, it was creeping closer. We could see its eyes as, now not more than twenty feet away, it waded step-by-step, through the pond toward us. I wasn't calmed by the steel fencing, and I moved away, as did Ivy and Abby.
"You might want to stop," Jake warned Nash. "I don't think that's smart."
Nash immediately stopped waving his arms. But the tiger didn't pause.
Nash was as frightened as we were by the imposing tiger and retreated from the fence.
The tiger drew closer still and locked eyes with Nash. Then it growled. We could feel his breath and massive roar, and we girls screamed. Ivy and Abby ran a few feet back but Nash, Brandon, and I remained frozen.
"Let's get out of here," Nash said. "I never liked tigers anyway."
The tiger brushed against the fence, and other onlookers were also startled that it had approached us so closely.
We scurried away and as I glanced back, I still saw the tiger watching us until we were out of view.
We all laughed awkwardly and shook our heads at the weird incident. I was wondering whether others might have thought it to be bizarre - or if they were just passing it off as Nash taunting the animals.
"Scaredy-cats," Jake said to Abby, Ivy, and me as we made our way to the next habitat.
"I thought it was going to kill us," Abby said.
"I could have saved you," Jake said. "With my bare hands."
"Are you kidding? You were the first one to run away," Dylan needled.
"Hey, it was coming after Nash, not me," he said. "And it seemed to have its sights on Brandon, too."
"Even with a fence between us," Ivy said, "I was still freaking."
"I think it wanted to eat Nash for lunch," Dylan teased as he put his arm around Abby's shoulder.
We all laughed again, and Brandon grabbed my hand and my friends took comfort in their boyfriends' arms. Nash cracked a few jokes, but I could tell he was still a bit shaken by the tiger's threatening advance toward him.
We decided to visit the primates next. As we all arrived at their habitat, we looked at our checklist. Ivy was first to spot the species of primates on our list, and we quickly checked it off - chimpanzees.
The primates were behind glass and had trees and metal bars to climb and swing on.
One was looking straight at us as if he was checking us out, gawking at him.
"He's so cute," Ivy said. "I want to take him home."
"Until he rips your arm off," Jake replied.
"He wouldn't do that," she went on. "He's too cute. Look at that face."
"Aren't you already dating a chimpanzee?" Nash jabbed Jake in the side.
The chimpanzees were sweet looking, but I had seen news stories that they could be violent.
After a few moments of viewing them, they began to walk around and swing on the bars. They started to call out in high-pitched voices: "Ooh, ooh, ooh."
A mother chimp held her baby and made her way behind a tree as if she was protecting the small primate from something. As the other chimps still called out, a third one came up to the glass near where Nash and Brandon were standing. Suddenly it began banging on the glass. We all pulled back and quickly walked away.
"Still want to take him home?" Jake asked Ivy.
Ivy grimaced at her boyfriend.
"He's still better behaved than you are," Dylan teased.
Brandon looked at me curiously. "I've never seen a chimp do that," he whispered to me. "It was like it was staring right at me."
"And Nash," I whispered.
I glanced over at Nash to see his reaction. He was walking toward the next exhibit but was glaring at the chimpanzee. "Maybe they aren't feeding their animals today," he said to me.
We moved over to the black-handed spider monkey habitat and checked off the correct species.
They were in an outdoor enclosed pen with a huge wooden structure that they could climb on. We all observed the animals so we could fill in the rest of the information required on our sheet.
"Those are so cute! I want one," Abby said, pointing to a few monkeys who were high atop the structure.
The spider monkeys were sitting on the top picking at each other. As we took notes, they began racing around frantically and shouting out in repetitive and high-pitched calls.
They continued to race around frantically until we decided to move to the next habitat.
A gorilla was sitting on the grass, eating a piece of bamboo, fifty yards away from us behind its glass enclosure. It wasn't long before it took notice of us. It stood up and glared at Brandon, then Nash.
"This is weird," Ivy said. "It's like the gorilla is looking right at us."
The gorilla growled. Dylan began to grumble back at it.
"Don't do that," Abby said, slapping him on the shoulder. "Have some respect for the animals."
But the gorilla continued to stare and growl. Suddenly it began to beat his chest. All the spectators pointed at the large mammal and started taking pictures.
But we were disturbed by its behavior, especially Brandon. This animal, like the others, seemed to once again focus on our group.
"I think we should go," he whispered to me.
"Let's get out of here," Ivy demanded. She dragged Abby away from the crowd.
We raced back down the hill, passing a few other habitats. The animals began to pace - and many of them cried out: tweets from the birds, hurmpts from the elephants, roars from the lions. When we reached the bottom of the hill, we tried to slough off the odd behavior of the animals.
"Maybe it's because it's spring," Abby said, "but these animals are crazy."
"I agree," Ivy said.
Then Jake tickled her. "They aren't the only ones who have spring fever," he teased.
"This is really weird," Abby stated. "I've never been to a zoo where the animals acted this way."
"I haven't, either," Dylan said. "It is freaky. But maybe Ivy's right about the spring weather. Brings out the animal in all of us."
I agreed that we all needed a break from the animal action. A few yards ahead of us was the zoo's kiddie train. It was big enough for adults to ride in next to a child, but it was obviously meant for kids and their parents. Each carriage was brightly painted with a different animal on it, and the engine was candy-apple red. Nash insisted we ride the train to the opposite side of the zoo.
We girls resisted at first, but Dylan and Jake hopped on and waved their girlfriends over. We tried our best to squeeze into the carriages together and keep our limbs from hanging out. Ivy, Abby, and I giggled as the train took us slowly through the park and stopped at the foot of the hill that led to the giraffe exhibit. We hopped out and giggled some more as we made our way up the hill.
Heidi Rosen and a few of her friends were already at the entrance. "This smells," she said. "I can't go in there."
"I wonder what the giraffe thinks of her," Abby said snidely. Ivy and I chuckled together.
"I think I'll stay out here," Brandon said.
"Afraid of a giraffe?" Nash said. "What are you, chicken?"
No, werewolf, I wanted to say. Didn't he realize that the animals were bothered by their presence? It was as if it wasn't even registering to Nash how the animals had been responding to them.
"I'll wait out here with Brandon," I said.
"Need some alone time?" Ivy teased as she and the rest of the gang proceeded into the indoor giraffe exhibit.
Brandon and I headed back down the hill and hung out on a picnic bench a few yards away from the Mexican wolf exhibit. We heard a few howls from the wolf enclosure. A woman was holding a small child as he stood on the lowest rung of a wooden fence around its perimeter. He leaned over the edge to look down at the animals.
"It is bizarre, but the animals must be sensing something about you and Nash," I said, draping my leg over his.
"You think so, too?" he asked.
"Uh...yes. It seems pretty obvious to me."
"Do you think the others notice that, too? That it's Nash and me?"
"Well, that one time Nash was tormenting the tiger, so perhaps they'll chalk that one up to him. But every habitat? It is really weird."
"Maybe the school bringing two werewolves to a zoo wasn't such a good idea for an educational field trip."
"Well, I think we are learning. A lot," I said truthfully. "Just as much about the animals as about you and Nash. You really have side effects beyond just the full moon. It is in you all the time - being a..."
"I know. They sense it obviously," he said. "But what can I do? Stay inside twenty-four seven? It's frustrating, really," he said.
I rubbed his arm - one that was now smooth but would be lined with a fine layer of hair and have muscles like a triathlete's in a few weeks.
"Well, maybe we can hang here for a while," I encouraged. "Let us rest - and the animals, too. Let's just enjoy the time together and having a day off from school. It is really beautiful here, with the pretty trees and flowers. And it's not too often I get to see wild animals this close up."
"Yes," he said. "It was kind of cool. But I like it better here, where it's just the two of us." He put his arm around me and drew me close. His brilliant blue eyes glistened like the peacock that was waddling away from us a few feet away. Brandon leaned in to kiss me.
Just then we heard a scream.
The small boy was gone, and the mother was straining to look down over the wooden fence.
"Help! He's fallen into the enclosure!" she screamed. "Please help me! Someone please - he's fallen!" She began pointing and looking around wildly, trying to signal someone to help her.
Without hesitating, Brandon raced over to the exhibit. I tried to run after him, but I couldn't keep up with him. Before I knew it, he leaped over the fence. I saw his hands holding on to the bottom rail for a moment before they disappeared.
I covered my mouth in disbelief. I was afraid for his life.
"What are you doing?" a man yelled to Brandon. "You'll get killed!"
I was afraid not only that Brandon would be attacked but that he would be injured in falling to the bottom of the enclosure.
"Brandon - what are you doing?" I shouted. I raced over to the fence and looked down at Brandon and the boy.
The boy was lying on a grassy area about fifteen feet below us, just underneath the fence where he had fallen. Brandon was standing between him and a pack of wolves about twenty feet away from him. The wolves huddled together as if they were wondering if they were going to be attacked by the intruders. Brandon stepped between the boy and the wolf pack, staring at them. I wasn't sure if the wolves would attack, but they were snarling as if they might.
Suddenly Ivy, Jake, and Nash were standing behind me.
"What's going on?" Ivy shrieked as she ran up to me. "What is Brandon doing in the wolf cage?" she asked, terrified.
Brandon continued to stare at the wolves, and they backed up slowly. Eventually they relaxed and knelt as if obeying a command.
Brandon remained in front of the child, who was stirring awake, while keeping the restrained wolves at bay. Several zookeepers hurried into the enclosure with long, metal prods and tranquilizer guns. But the wolves were already calm and lying down. One zookeeper quickly led Brandon and the boy out of the enclosure.
Nash was as white as a ghost. "I can't believe what just happened. That could have been me," he said. "Perhaps it should have been...."
"You could have fallen into the enclosure?" Jake asked.
But I knew what Nash meant. However, he didn't jump into the enclosure. In fact, he didn't even move - until now.
We hurried to that side of the enclosure and waited impatiently for Brandon and the boy to come out.
A few moments later a side door opened, and the boy, along with a zookeeper and Brandon, appeared.
The mother raced to her son and held him, clinging to him with all her might, as a few paramedics and zookeepers came to check the boy out. He had several cuts and bruises but, apart from that and being traumatized, he seemed all right.
The boy began to cry as his mother fussed over him.
"You saved my son's life," she cried when she saw Brandon. "You are a hero."
Brandon blushed.
"I don't know how to thank you. You just stood there in front of those wolves. I can't imagine what you were thinking...but I am so happy you did. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you."
"You don't have to," Brandon said. "I'm just happy he's all right."
"Tommy, this young man helped you. Can you say thank you?"
The boy was visibly shaken and clung to his mother. He was too upset and shy to speak.
"It's okay," Brandon said.
"Thank you so much again," the mother gushed.
Brandon smiled as the paramedics attended to the boy, and we began to walk away from the wolf habitat.
"I should have filmed it!" Jake said. "It would have gone viral."
I held on to Brandon, who was breathing heavily. Brandon acted calm, as if he didn't recognize his own heroic actions.
"So what are we going to see now?" he asked.
"How about we have lunch?" Ivy asked. "My heart is pounding, and I need to sit down."
"Me, too," I said.
I squeezed Brandon's hand tightly as we walked over to the outdoor cafe, sat at the picnic tables, and began ordering.
Abby and Dylan finally caught up with us and ordered, too. "So what was all the big excitement we saw over by the wolf habitat?" Abby asked.
"Didn't you hear?" Jake said to Dylan. "Brandon saved a kid!"
"He was going to be attacked by a pack of wolves," Ivy said.
"They weren't going to attack," Brandon said.
"Uh, tell that to the kid's mom!" Ivy said.
My friends were very taken with Brandon's heroics and kept complimenting him.
Nash appeared jealous, as the attention from his friends and schoolmates was centered on Brandon.
A few moments later, the waitress returned with our meals.
As Nash and Brandon ate several sandwiches, my friends continued to gloat over his bravery.
"You can build up an appetite being a superhero," Abby said about Brandon's eating.
Even Jake and Dylan were impressed by the handsome Westsider. "You really have guts," Dylan said. "You wouldn't catch me dead in a wolf enclosure."
"Ha! You'd probably be dead if you jumped in there! Brandon must be a wolf whisperer," Jake joked.
"Yes, it was amazing what you did," Abby said.
Brandon was too close to the event to bask in the glory of being a hero. I think he was still stunned at what had happened. Or maybe it was like nothing at all to him. That he jumped over the fence and saved the boy was like eating lunch in the cafeteria. Something normal and everyday. He did seem overwhelmed with the attention, however.
Brandon and Nash finished their meals quickly.
"We'll get your dessert for you," Ivy said. "You relax." She got up from the table.
"Uh...that's okay." He tried to stop them. "I can get it."
But Abby waved him off. "You sit. Let someone do something for you now."
"Yeah," Jake said. "We need you to catch your breath in case a kid falls into the lion's den next."
Jake and Dylan followed the girls and met them at the ice-cream stand.
"That is so nice of them," Brandon said sincerely. He was so touched by my friends' generosity. "But really, I can get my dessert. I'm all right."
"I know, but it might be a good idea for you to unwind for a minute." I caressed his back and smoothed out his shirt, which had bunched up a little when he was jumping into the enclosure.
"Are you going to get mine, too?" I heard Nash ask after Ivy.
"When you save a kid's life, maybe," Abby shot back. They were already ordering Brandon's sundae.
Nash muttered under his breath and turned back to us. He saw me smoothing out Brandon's shirt. I could see a loneliness in his eyes. He was a werewolf, too. But he wasn't the one to face the wolves, and I think he felt like the odd lycan out.
As our friends were taking care of our desserts, we were approached by a few zoo administrators.
"I'm Kevin," a lean man in a khaki zoo uniform said. "Are you the guy who jumped into the wolf habitat?"
I was eager to share Brandon's heroism, and I beamed proudly. But he inched back as if unsettled. "Uh...only if I'm not in trouble."
"Yes, normally that would be a criminal act. But in this case, we can't really cite you since you saved a boy - and the wolves as well."
Now Brandon was the one beaming. He wasn't going to be in trouble, and he felt good about bringing a peaceful end to the incident.
"I'll need to get some information from you." Kevin sat down at our table with the other administrator, and I sat close as Brandon answered questions for the zoo's incident report.
After a few minutes, Brandon had completed the man's queries.
"I think that's all for now," Kevin said. "We'll call you if we have anything further."
"All right," Brandon agreed.
"But one more thing," Kevin said. "Can I ask what made you do that? Just jump into the enclosure? Wolves don't normally confront people. But in this situation? Who knows."
"I don't know. I didn't think about why," Brandon answered. "Just that I had to."
Kevin shook his head. "But to have just stood there so calmly in front of a pack of wolves. Most people won't stand in front of a pack of barking dogs. And you couldn't have known what would happen to the kid - or you."
"He knows more than you think," I said to Kevin.
"Well, we know he's brave and agile. That's for sure," Kevin said.
I smiled proudly at the compliments about my boyfriend.
Kevin gathered his things and rose. "We are happy to have had you here. And hopefully your next visit will be a lot less eventful." He handed Brandon a book of free tickets to the zoo.
He shook Brandon's hand and left just as our friends came back to our tables with ice cream.
A few other students started coming into the outdoor cafe and had noticed the zoo administrator with us. They kept peering over and began whispering. As more students came in and joined them, they began to gossip and all began eyeing us. I assumed that word was spreading about Brandon's heroic deeds in the wolf enclosure.
Nash came back with a triple cone - twice as much ice cream as Dylan and Jake had. Ivy handed Brandon a banana split sundae.
"We know how you like to eat," she remarked.
"Thank you so much," he said. "I really appreciate it."
Nash and Brandon tore into their supersized desserts. We all watched in awe.
"Abby was right. Being a hero must build up an appetite," Ivy said to Brandon.
"And doing nothing must build up yours," Jake teased Nash.
Nash scowled. It was a strong jab, and I think it really hurt him.
"That's okay," Brandon said. "He wasn't in the area when it happened. Otherwise he would have done the same thing."
Nash brightened. He sat up straight and a smile came over his face. He was really pleased with Brandon's coming to his defense.
We continued to eat, and I felt exhilarated sitting next to a once-again hero.
When we all finished and were discarding our trash, I wondered if it was such a good idea to go back through the park. We'd only completed half of our required checklist, but I didn't see how we'd be able to hang out in front of each exhibit without Brandon and Nash disturbing the animals with their presence.
Brandon must have felt the same thing as he sidled up to me when we left the cafe. "Maybe we shouldn't go right up to the habitats," he said. "We can get an idea of what the animals are doing from a distance. Don't you think?"
I nodded. "Yes, I think it might be best to give them - and you - some distance."
"Well, we have half of the park left," Jake said to our group. "Mainly sea animals, so I hope no one falls into the shark pool. That would be gruesome."
"Do you know how to swim, Brandon?" Dylan teased.
Brandon laughed off the joke and seemed to be in good spirits, but I know he was concerned about the animals' reactions. He'd drawn enough attention for one morning, and we didn't want any more coming our way. It was hard enough to explain the earlier events, and I wasn't sure how much longer we could keep hiding it.
On our way to the rest of the park, we walked by the area that led to the cat house attractions; we could hear the roar of a lion. I wasn't sure if it was disturbed by Brandon's and Nash's presence or if it was giving my boyfriend kudos for his bravery.
When we reached the sign for the manatees, Brandon and I slowed down.
"I think we'll hang back," I said to the others.
"You're not afraid of wolves but you are of manatees?" Jake prodded.
"We're not afraid," I retorted. "Just want to see other parts of the zoo, too."
"Yeah, me, too," Nash said. "I'll hang with them." He stuck next to Brandon and me, and we accepted his company. I felt for him. He was going through the same thing Brandon was going through.
"That's okay," Ivy said. "We'll catch up to you."
"All right," Abby said. "But these guys are acting so weird today."
"We'll be able to see them from here," I said.
"Do you have telescopic vision, too?" Dylan teased.
"Leave them alone," Ivy scolded. She linked arms with Jake and pulled him toward the manatee attraction.
"I thought I only had to worry about the full moon," Nash said to me when the others were out of earshot. "I wasn't expecting this, too."
"Neither was I," I said.
Brandon was silent.
"But you were?" Nash asked Brandon.
Brandon shrugged his shoulders.
"You know. Tell me. It's happened to you longer."
"I've sensed things during the day, too, since this has happened. Yes."
"Like the time at school when the wolves appeared outside our classroom?" Nash said, piecing the events together.
"Yes," Brandon said.
"And the time you saved me from the wolf attack?" Nash continued.
Brandon nodded.
"But elephants and lions?" Nash asked with a laugh.
"I haven't come across them in the woods," Brandon said lightly.
"Animals sense other animals," I added.
"I'm an animal?" Nash said to me. His voice was angry, as if I had hurt him.
"I didn't mean - " I began.
"But, yes," Brandon interjected, putting his hand on my shoulder. "They sense us."
Nash sat on the bench. He was deflated by the reality of his lycan situation. "I just want to be normal. Be myself again. That's all."
I sat by him. "I know. This is hard on us all."
"But you aren't the one changing," he challenged me.
"You are right. It just hurts me to see you both deal with this."
"I'm sorry," Nash said. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. We really need to come up with a plan," he continued. "I can't deal with this every day. We have to get this thing fixed."
"I know," I said.
Just then our friends caught up to us. Nash, Brandon, and I chose to hang back several yards away from the rest of the exhibits, viewing the animals and making our notes from afar. It seemed to work, and the animals behaved normally. We didn't have much time for private conversation as Ivy and Abby returned quickly each time as if they felt like they were missing something by not hanging back with us. I held hands with Brandon as we walked through the park, checking the remaining animals off our list. Before I knew it, it was almost two o'clock, time to meet our bus. We headed to the front of the park and as we waited by the entrance for the other students, Ivy, Abby, and I ducked into the gift shop.
Abby and I got a few zoo key-chain keepsakes for us and our beaux.
Ivy came out with a plush wolf and handed it to Brandon.
"Here," she said. "Something to remember today by."
"Thanks, Ivy," Brandon said. "That's really nice of you." He seemed truly touched by my best friend's generosity, and so was I.
Nash scowled again and quickly boarded the bus.
"Maybe next time we should stick with the botanical gardens," Dylan said.
"But Nash might frighten the Venus flytraps," Jake teased.
The pair laughed as we all settled in our seats, and our teacher took another head count.
"Students," the teacher said in a serious voice, "I'm sure I don't have to tell you that no one is ever encouraged to engage in dangerous activities on school-sponsored field trips. And today could have become a very tragic day because of the potentially dangerous actions of one of our students," she admonished. "But that said, I'm rather proud to say that we have a hero on this bus, and his name is Brandon Maddox."
Cheers and clapping erupted from the students on board. Brandon blushed from all the attention as Nash gave him a knowing glance.