People were staring at him. The students covering their mouths and looking on in disapproval by their lockers. Zed didn't know what warranted such a reaction, was it because of the break-up? He thought everyone would be over it by now.
He saw a discarded newspaper atop of a trash can. He didn't know they had a school newspaper. He picked up the newspaper and looked at the front page.
WATCH YOUR BACK; THEY'RE ON THE ATTACK!!!
It included two side-by-side pictures on the cover. One was a blurry image of Wanda grabbing onto Alice's hair from their infamous fight, and the other was a scene from the library, with Zed pinning Wyatt to the ground, his fist making contact with the werewolf's jaw.
That was one way to get Zed angry.
He clutched the paper in a vice grip, storming off to find the cheer break room. The cheerleaders heeded a fair warning to Zed's rapid approach, thankful for the gigantic windows on their walls. The windows weren't a plus when he could see every second of their initial scramble to hide evidence, though.
He pushed open the door, shoving the paper in their faces. "Who did this?" His voice was nothing short of friendly.
They all simultaneously pointed to the ACEY's, who were holding mirrors and trying their best to look nonchalant.
"Why did you write this?" He saw their faces morph into ones of mock innocence, "Don't even try to say you didn't do this, you guys have hated us since the first day we walked into this school."
"So what if we did? You don't have any proof, and it's pretty easy to get this sheep of a school to follow behind us." Stacey announced, sparing a glare in his direction. The other ACEY's nodded in agreement.
"Did taking down the barrier mean nothing to you? Hell, even Prawn? I thought you guys matured, and I was thinking we could put our differences aside. Guess not. You guys are still childish freshmen." Zed spat, tossing the newspaper into the trash on his way out, his fists still clenched.
The ACEY's watched as he left. None of them would admit to the guilt that sat present in their stomachs for the rest of the day.
Zed woke up early the following day. He tried to go back to sleep, get another hour of rest in, but his body was uncompromising. He threw off his blankets and prepared himself for school. Wearing his usual attire, he went to grab a bite for breakfast. He froze as he saw a grey lunchbox sitting on the counter, with his name on a note card beside it.
He picked up the note, seeing it was from his dad.
Hope you have a fun time on your field trip, bud! Call me when you arrive back at the school.
-Dad
The trip to the Reserve! Leave it to Zed to forget about a field trip. Zed dragged his feet to his backpack, stuffing in items he thought he might need, such as bug spray and sunglasses.
He noticed neither his dad or Zoey were up yet. His dad must have packed the lunch the night before. He smiled as he headed out, maybe he could sit in the back of the bus if he was early enough.
The buses were lined up at the front of the school, he saw a few students boarding already. The sun wasn't even up yet, the grass reflecting the morning dew. The zombies and humans wore similar expressions of either excitement or drowsiness.
The teachers stood outside each door, telling the students which bus they were going on. When Zed got to his bus, he was relieved to find the back seats totally empty. He was grateful that he naturally woke up early, or he'd most likely would have been seated at the front and forced to talk to the teacher.
It was a Sophomore only trip, so luckily no annoying ACEY's or Bucky. He waited on the bus for almost an hour, before a few wolves entered the bus. He smiled as he saw the familiar faces of Wyatt and Wynter looking at the seats with keen disgust. Looks like they weren't fond of public transportation.
Wyatt saw him and took a seat in front of him, Wynter seated beside the other wolf.
"Willa not with you guys?" Zed asked.
"Nope, she got separated onto bus 2. Don't worry, I saw Eliza get on that bus, so she shouldn't attack anyone." Wynter reassured, patting him on the head. Zed didn't know what that meant, but let it slide.
Turns out werewolves are scared of moving vehicles. The entire two hour ride they were clutching the top of the seat in front of them. Zed would have made a joke, but he didn't want to lose a finger.
The wolves were the first off the bus, racing each other before anyone could even stand first. Zed couldn't be blamed if he let out a laugh at the scene.
Everyone was lined up outside, teachers and leaders trying desperately to put rowdy sophomores in order. He was given a sticker with the letter 'H' and told that the letter was his group he had to stay with.
With Zed's luck, of course he sees Addison adorning the same sticker.
The white haired girl waved to him and he reluctantly approached her. "Hey, looks like we're in the same group." He gestured awkwardly to the stickers.
"Yep," Addison nodded as other people started finding their groups. Their excuse of a conversation was cut off as they were given permission to begin roaming around.
The reserve was a decently large facility, with a huge wooden mansion in the middle of an open field, several stone paths leading off into the forestry areas. A number of signs were littered across the paths. He was less than pleased to find out that Addison was the only person he knew in his group. Strangely enough, no werewolves were present in his group.
A lot of the day was spent talking to the natives that lived there and the history behind the buildings. So far, the only thing he genuinely liked was getting to pet one of the rabbits that the people on the reserve were nursing back to health.
Luckily, lunch wasn't separated so he was able to sit with Eliza and Bonzo. Addison joined them at a picnic table under the shade of a tree.
"Blegh, it's hot out here." Eliza complained, fanning herself with her notebook. Bonzo grumbled his agreement in zombie.
"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you, Zed." Addison announced. "Why were you fighting Wyatt?"
"What? You fought Wyatt?" Eliza asked bewildered.
"It was in the school paper, we just got into a disagreement is all. We're cool now." Zed didn't tell them that he had attacked him because of Addison. He still had dignity and preferred to keep it that way.
"Yeah, but why? You've never physically fought with anyone, you're not that kind of person." Addison persisted, totally forgetting about the time he ran into a den of wolves and threw one of them to protect her.
"Oh, we're talking about character? So what if I fought with someone, it's none of your business what I do." Zed scoffed.
Addison's face hardened. "I was asking because I thought you might have gotten hurt. Why are you being so mean?" He saw Eliza and Bonzo give each other worried looks.
"Why am I being so mean?" Zed looked in disbelief, "You just left me, Addison! I haven't been myself for weeks. Did you forget that you dumped me and that I might be a bit upset by that. I was crushed, Addy. So forgive me for not wanting to be best friends with you right away." He stood up from his seat, deciding he didn't want to be at this table anymore.
His stride was angry as he walked off into the direction of a random path, not caring to listen to his friends call his name. God, why did he have to be in Addison's group? He kicked a branch on the ground, his body still seething.
She wasn't even criticizing him or mocking him, she was being nice, and he had to go and act like a fool in front of her again. Why couldn't his feelings just dissipate already?
He saw a rock wall, decorated in vines and white flowers. With no hesitation, he slipped off his Z-band, roaring as he felt his veins pump blood with more force, cracking his neck and wrists. His blood boiled as he looked to the wall.
He punched the rock.
He hated Addison
He struck the wall again.
He hated being alone.
Again.
He hated Addison.
He felt the rock give.
Zed gave another punch, watching the rock cave in. He was panting hard, carefully slipping the Z-band back on. He sunk down against the piled up rocks, feeling choked out sobs wrack his body. He cried out in despair, a low pathetic wail unfitting of a monster.
He missed Addison.