FSE

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It was a cold day out, and Ian White shivered a little. It was a bad day to forget a coat, and the little wolf was really feeling it through his fur and t-shirt. But it was going to be a good day anyway! Ian was turning ten that day, which was a rare delight. Ten whole years old! That was double digits, and only a few people in his fourth-grade class had double digits.

But jeeze, the walk to school today was a long one. Ian looked back over his shoulder, his ears perked, hoping his mom would drive by and pick him up because of the terrible weather. He didn't hear her car though... He shrugged the backpack up on his shoulders a little bit and ran a claw over one ear, his belly grumbling a little bit. Since he'd decided to sleep in, Ian had skipped breakfast. So he was feeling a little hungry.

"Dammit!" Ian's ears perked up, and he looked around. There wasn't anyone for at least a block. Just a bunch of houses, the sidewalk, and the actual street. All of them were completely empty.

"Who said that?" He whispered, stepping away, feeling a little freaked-out.

"Why are all of these empty? Do robins around here just not screw?" The wolf's ears flattened, and he looked up towards the frustrated voice. A weasel's face was looking back at him, with glasses perched on his nose. "Hey." said the weasel, suddenly a little nervous sounding. He was perched on a branch, next to a bird's nest, but he shyly lowered himself and dropped to the ground.

Ian groaned. Oh no... It was that weird kid. No one in the class really liked Danny all that much. They tried to get him to play when he first showed up in Mrs. Carrington's fourth-grade class, but he just shied away. He never came out to recess, and he only talked when a teacher called his name for a math problem or something. In fact, some of the kids who got in trouble and had to stay in for recess said that all he did was MATH. Who does math during recess? A weird-ass kid, that's who. Freaky, to most people.

Ian's heart raced a little bit. Seeing Danny outside of school like this was a little strange. In fact, seeing him outside of a desk was strange. He felt like he was being judged, almost. Just the thought was making him freeze up. With visible effort, he began to back away.

"Uh...." He said. "I gotta go to school."

The weasel kit nodded, but didn't say anything. Ian took another step back... something about the weasel kit made him fidgety.

"Yeah..." Danny scratched behind his ears as the wolf puppy turned tail and started trotting toward school.

It was busy outside of Woodfield elementary in the morning. It really wasn't an elementary school, as much as it was... well, it was an elementary school and a junior high school combined. There were different rooms for the first five grades, and then the next three were held all throughout the school. Before the doors were opened to the students, a lot of groups would hang out in front of the school.

Ian didn't like that at all. Too many people, in too many places. It was all too busy, and it made him nervous. Whenever he got nervous, Ian could feel his footpads getting cold, and it made him kind of move around in weird ways. It was just a little dance he did to keep his feet warm, but the other kids thought he was... odd for doing it.

He thought about Danny and wondered if they talked about him the same way they did about the weasel kit. He nervously felt for his good-luck charm, a simple Celtic-style cross slung around his neck on an iron chain. His family wasn't particularly religious, but it made him feel better to have it. The pup could feel his heartbeat slowing down whenever he clutched it tightly in his paw.

Ian stood there for a few seconds, rubbing the cross with his paw. He was so absorbed in his own world that he didn't even hear the morning bell, clanging loudly for the students to enter the building. All the kids moved like zombies, he thought, as they walked past him into the school. It kind of made him wish they were zombies. He grinned, happy with his thought and content to dwell on it for a while. He was feeling so pleased, the little wolf didn't bother to look where he was going. When he was turning around to go inside, a paw stopped him. It gripped his muzzle and forced him to look up.

John Evans was tall for a seventh-grader, three years older than Ian, and a lot stronger. He was a mean-looking, proud-featured hyena with a punk grin and a jerk face, as Ian would have put it. John was a wrestler, a pretty good one, too. He was always talking about the time he got into a match with a high school kid and won by knockout, but Ian didn't believe a word of that story.

The kid John had knocked out sure did, though. "Well well... You really aughta watch where you're walking, puppy. You almost smacked into me." He said, gripping Ian's muzzle, and shoving him backwards onto the pavement. The wolf cub yelped as he felt himself falling.

"What??" Ian groaned and rubbed his ass, picking himself up and looking up at John with a hurt sort of expression.

"I think you heard me." John's lips stretched across his toothy muzzle. That was an evil grin, Ian was sure of it. "Or did you? They say you're a little fucked up."

Ian's fur bristled, and his lips pulled back, baring his teeth. "Hey! I am NOT fucked up! Who said I was!?"

John threw his head back and laughed, flicking the puppy in the nose with a playful claw. Ian flinched away, growling softly in frustration. He was beginning to feel a little helpless, and that feeling only made his nerves worse.

"Oh come on, kid! Didn't they think you were retarded for a while? You're always spacing off... look, you're doing it right now! You little fuckup." The bigger hyena grinned. "The guys at the nut house wonder if you should even be coming to school. Everyone knows that."

Ian was feeling nervous again. He gripped his cross under his shirt, his paw pressing it to his grey fur. His heart was pounding, just like the doctor said it shouldn't... Don't get too worked up, he thought. Please... don't flip.

"Don't call me that." The wolf muttered, as patiently and evenly as he could. Ian could feel his voice cracking, which caused the smirk to stretch even further across the hyena's muzzle.

"Look at you, puppy. You're freaking out. Was it something I said?" John bent over a little, patting the wolf condescendingly with one paw. "Calm down, you messed up little kid. I'm just fuckin' with you. It's all just a game, you know?"

John walked away laughing while Ian shook. The wolf cub's heart was pounding in his ears, and he felt like someone was trying to beat his way out of his chest. Why did he get so worked up about these things? Why couldn't they just leave him alone when he was thinking?

The pup was panting now, like he was out of breath- and he hadn't even moved. His entire lupine body was aching, from the tip of his nose, all the way down his tail.

Ian rocked his head back and forth, trying to shake off the feeling. Older kids were jerks: that's what his mom had always said. They just were sometimes, and you had to deal with it, so when you get all nervous... just make the room stop spinning. Ian felt like he was going to be sick, so he held his stomach with a paw over his mouth as he walked in. Were the other kids watching him? Probably.... maybe not. He didn't look, just to be safe.

The morning classes were a blur, and Ian took them in stride. English.... boring. Math.... boring. Science.... ahhh, science class. Sometimes it was about rocks and stuff, and that was boring, too. But sometimes it was about space, or animals, which was Ian's favorite thing to study in the whole wide world. If there was one thing that could make the wolf pup feel better, it was a good day in Science class.

This week was frogs, or am.... amfi.... amfibbins. Or something. In fact, the teacher had something special lined up for today, if he remembered right. Ian's ears perked up as Mrs. Carrington explained the situation.

"Today, we'll be learning a little bit of biology! Do you guys know what biology is? It's bio, for life, and logy, for study. So we're going to be studying life! Doesn't that sound neat?" the teacher was absolutely ecstatic about her work today, and she felt it was sort of a shame when no one reacted.

The class was silent, except for Ian, who muttered an excited 'Uh-huh!' under his breath. He wanted to know about life! Who wouldn't? The wolf pup could feel his heart racing, and his tail wagged in his seat.

Mrs. Carrington was a young panther, and it was obvious that she loved her work and her student. They didn't want to learn science, eh? Well, she could fix that.

The black panther put on a look of mock disappointment, her round yellow eyes almost tearing up. "What, that doesn't sound cool? Oh, come on you guys! Don't make me throw 'em all away..."

The class's ears perked as a whole. What was that? She would have to throw something away?! Mrs. Carrington almost laughed as they collectively leaned forward with eager eyes.

"See?" The panther grinned, holding up a feral frog by the leg. The boys in the class let out a unison 'Cool!' and the girls whispered among themselves about whether it was really cool, or if it was really just gross. Ian could feel himself bouncing up and down in his seat, and he had to concentrate to stay still.

"So I'm gonna need you guys to get into pairs, ok? I'm gonna get the frog kits ready, and then your group can come get one and start working. I need you all to promise me you'll be extra careful with the knives, ok? They're really sharp."

Ian took a deep breath, and he felt his heart rate slow down a little bit. He suddenly realized he'd been panting the entire time, and promptly shut his trap, making a cursory glance around the room to make sure no one was watching him. Yep, no looks...

But what Mrs. Carrington said wasn't very good news. Ian looked around the classroom for someone to partner with. There really wasn't anyone he liked to hang out with. He didn't even know any of the girls' names, and he didn't like a lot of the boys. Besides, most people were already paired up with their friends anyway; so he decided he would just stay still, and if someone came to him, he'd be in business. And if not... well, he could do it alone, he was sure.

"Is everyone ready? All right, form a line and come get your kits!"

The wolf cub got in the back of the line. As far back as he could. That was just an instinct of his: to always get in the back of the line and walk as slowly as possible. Let the others go first... that way he'd know what to do when he got up there. That was just common sense, right?

"What's up Ian? Don't have a partner?"

Ian's ears pressed against his head. Mrs. Carrington's voice came out of nowhere, and she was talking so loud! About something Ian DIDN'T want noticed! The puppy made a glance around the room. A few people were looking at him. Damn that panther lady!

"No, Mrs. Carrington. There wasn't anyone left, so I just got in line..." Ian shuffled his feet as he spoke, looking right at his teacher. He secretly hoped his lie would somehow become truth before she said anything.

"No one left?" She pointed one black claw towards the back of the room and mouthed something. Ian found it a little hard to make out what she said through the embarassment.

Ian tried not to groan as he turned his head to look. When had Danny even gotten into the classroom? Ian hadn't even seen him walk into the courtyard out front before school... But there the weasel kit was, and he was giving a shy wave of his paw, looking down at Ian's feet.

"See?" The panther purred a little bit when she spoke. "You've got a buddy. Go get him so you can get started, alright?"

"Yes Mrs. Carrington." Ian shuffled his feet and grabbed his notebook, heading toward the back of the classroom. He threw a look over his shoulder. Some kids were watching him walk over to Danny, and it made him nervous. He shot them a look back saying I didn't pick him! Carrington made me! , but they just turned to each other and started talking. Ian wondered if their conversations were about him.

The weasel kit straightened his blue superman t-shirt as he saw the wolf pup approach. "Hey." He said softly, fondling a pencil in one paw. Ian looked at him, and they stood together in a little bit of an awkward silence. Danny scratched the back of his ears with one claw, waiting for the wolf pup to respond.

"Hi." Ian whispered back. "You ah... you wanna go get a frog?"

They sat on opposite sides of a little table, looking at a frog in a box, lying on its back with its legs spread wide. The poor thing was a picture of death, still and cold and.... a little funky smelling, Ian thought. He poked the frog's belly with one paw, testing the strength of the skin, and looking at the worksheet that had all the little parts and pieces inside of the frog labeled, so that you could tell what they were.

"You know..." His science partner said, kind of staring off into space, his eyes focused somewhere beyond the scalpel in his paw. "This is a really sharp one. I'm kind of surprised the school would have a good knife like this... You know how you can tell?"

"What?" Ian said, jerking his head up suddenly, startled out of his own daydream.

"I said: do you know how you can tell how sharp a knife is? My foster dad showed me. Here, hold out your paw."

"No...!" Ian sort of moaned, clutching his paw to his chest, and giving the weasel kit a weird look. His claws snaked around the iron of the cross, his eyes giving Danny a confused look.

"Oh, come on. You just slide it across your claw, see?" Danny held out his paw. On the thumb claw, there was a deep groove. Ian leaned forward to get a better look... did that hurt when you did it? It didn't look pleasant at all.

"I can see how sharp it is from here." The wolf murmured.

"Yeah, but you can't FEEL how sharp it is. How can you tell if it's really..." Danny trailed off for a second, leaning over the table and looking right into Ian's gaze. "... Sharp...? Did anyone ever tell you that you've got really pretty blue eyes?"

Ian blinked. "N-no." He said. Danny was making him jittery again.

"Well... uh... " Danny grinned a little bit, shyly. "You do."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before the weasel kit took the frog in his paw and sat it on the table. He took a second to look at the scalpel again in the light, apparently very pleased with something. Ian took it as a chance to read a little bit about the assignment.

"Are you going to cut it open?" The wolf pup said, shifting up in his seat a little bit and pointing to the directions on the packet.

"Yeah. Did you want to do it?" Danny looked back into the wolf's gaze. Ian flinched a little, out of habit. He didn't like being looked in the eye.

"No." he bit his tongue and watched as Danny took the knife, and pressed it gently against the frog's cold flesh. He drew it back in a slow, curving arc, and the skin folded back like a blooming flower. Ian was transfixed, watching with wide eyes as the weasel kit took another slice with his clever paws. With a careful pinch, Danny took the folds of skin and pulled them back, exposing the innards of the frog's chest.

"Pin it, would you?" he said, waiting for a response. "Hey. Ian." The weasel looked up at his partner and adjusted his glasses. "Are you spacing out, man? Pin the skin back, so we can see, huh?"

"Right! Sure. Ok."

The frog looked magnificent when it was all open like that. Ian peered inside as he went. He leaned way over it trying to get a closer look, poking the frog with his nose and claws. The wolf puppy could feel his heart beat in his chest again, he wondered if they frog's heart had beat like that once. He reached in with blunt claws, and plucked it out with a few firm tugs... he knew this had to be the heart. It was small and blue, which was a bad color for a heart to be. Ian gave it a squeeze, and a little purple stuff leaked out. Was that blood? Did frogs have blue blood? So cool! It almost made him want to put his muzzle in the little frog, his little tail thwapping against the seat. He just wanted a sniff or two. Or maybe even a t---

"Are you going to be ok?" A small voice said. "You're kind of drooling."

Ian's ears perked and he ran a paw across his muzzle. Sure enough, he was kind of drooling. His ears folded back and he laughed nervously, an embarrassed expression creeping across his face. He shrunk away from the frog, and looked over his shoulder.

Danny wouldn't let him get off that easy, though. The weasel stood up and leaned over the table, whispering in one furry triangular ear. "What were you thinking about, huh?"

Ian felt a little caught off guard. What was he thinking about? His heart was beating so fast now, he felt as if he might fall over. The pup tried to focus, get his thoughts together. His ears were ringing with the weasel kit's words, and he was beginning to feel dizzy. He took a few deep breaths while Danny patiently waited for his reply, silently handling the scalpel.

"I... uh..." He said, looking out the window, steadying himself on the table. "I was just thinking about the frog and all, and... ugh... I'm a little... faint."

"Hey, it's alright. Sit down." Danny gave him a weak smile and patted his partner on his curling paw. His voice was very even and reassuring; it almost made the puppy feel better just hearing it. "You're shaking all over." he whispered softly.

Was he? Ian looked around the room frantically, but everyone was absorbed in their own work. He sat down and looked at his paw, gulping softly. He was shaking. A lot. Another couple of deep breaths... and Ian was calming down.

"I do that too, when I get excited. It feels fun, huh?" Danny's eyes were kind of wide, now, and he was looking at Ian with a sharp, intent gaze. It gave him a few chills, but he did feel a little better.

"I don't think so. It gets hard to think. My mom says it's because I'm par... para.... para-something."

"You just gotta learn to take away the bad feelings that come with it. Then you'll only have the good parts." Danny said in an excited whisper. His little paw was turning the scalpel over and over in his paws. "I'll bet you can do that. I can tell. You're probably good at it already."

"The good parts?" The wolf cub watched the scalpel, transfixed now. It was shimmering in the light, the way Danny turned it in his fingers. Good at what...? he thought.

"What subject do you like the best? Math?" The scalpel carved a small notch in the corner of the table as kit spoke.

"Uh... Science, I guess. I mean, not all of it. Really, just animals. Feral animals." As Ian watched Danny play with the surgical instrument, he began to feel himself slipping into a lucid sort of state. His mind was clearing. Another notch carved itself into the table.

"Why's that?"

"Well... I um..." Ian's voice got very quiet, and he looked wildly over his shoulder, to make sure no one was listening. None of the kids were even looking at him. "I like to pretend sometimes... that I'm a feral wolf, you know? No one laughs at what a feral wolf does. He just does it. And no one watches. A feral doesn't care what people think."

Danny's smile widened even more. Ian could see a few sharp teeth. A little bit of his old nervousness began to return, but he forced himself to stay calm.

"Next time you get excited..." He carved another line into the desk, leaving a little scarred spot. "Just pretend you're a feral wolf. Then you don't have to worry."

"O-ok."

"Do you want the frog?" Danny said, picking it up gingerly.

Before Ian could answer, the teacher was announcing the end of class.

"Alright, guys!" Mrs. C called out to her cherished students. "That's all the science we got for today. Don't worry if you didn't get done, we can pick it up again tomorrow... Please bring your frogs to the front! It's time for lunch!"

All the cubs spoke excitedly to themselves about lunch and frogs and stuff, and lined up to turn in their specimens. Ian looked in the box, and then on the table. The frog was gone! But where did it go? Oh no...

"Ian? Where'd your frog go?" The panther was standing right behind him, looking over his shoulder. Ian's tail tucked itself between his legs, but before he could answer, Danny spoke up for him.

"David and Kyle took it Mrs. C!" The weasel kit pointed to a nearby group. "They were gonna swap mine, because they messed up!" Danny crossed his arms and made a face at David, a skinny little mouse.

"David..." Mrs. Carrington sighed in a disappointed tone, motioning for the young rat over to her desk.

"What?" David said.

---

Ian sat alone at a lunch table, eating his piece of birthday cake that his mom had packed him, and looking at the froggy that Danny had shoved into his paws the minute he got out of class. Had that weirdo known it was his birthday? How would he know a thing like that? And even if he did, why would he give Ian a present like this?

Despite how strange it all was Ian felt pretty good. It was the first time in his life he'd ever told someone he wished he was feral. It was a secret that Ian hadn't even told his mom, and his mom knew everything. The puppy's tongue licked a little of the frosting off of his black lips. Birthday cake was good, but... would a feral wolf eat cake? No. A feral wolf would eat something living. The wolf puppy wondered what Danny would say as he picked up the little heart he was keeping in his pocket.

Taking a look to make sure no one was looking, he gently stuck his tongue out, and it brushed ever so lightly against the frog-heart. Euuugh.... It tasted terrible. But no one was looking, and Ian could taste the dye. Without the dye, it would have probably tasted pretty good, he reasoned. With a little hesitation, he licked the muscle again. Letting out a tiny, playful, and inaudible snarl, the wolf cub licked the heart again, and put it in between his jaws.

Ian chewed his heart twice, and swallowed. His grin was wide and toothy as he thought of himself on all fours, muzzle buried in the belly of the frog.... blech. The dye really did taste nasty, no matter how good his daydream was. Ian resolved to find a frog to eat after school. Or sometime soon, definately.

Finished with his cake, he put the frog in his backpack and stood up from the table, heading to the bathroom. He wanted to use the sink to wash his lupine tongue clean, since it was probably all blue, now. He would just tell people he'd eaten a raspberry gusher or lollipop or something.

The heavy wooden bathroom door opened with a creak. It was one of the things in the school that hadn't been updated since the building in the nineteen twenties, so the door was rather heavy, and still had that sliding iron latch that kept the door locked for privacy, even though there were now a few stalls. It smelled awful, because of the poor plumbing upkeep. It made a lot of kids gag, but Ian never minded it. It was a good bathroom to be alone in.

Ian trotted up to a sink and put the backpack down, reaching out with a paw to grab a paper towel. He had just wet the paper and put it to his tongue when he felt a paw on his shoulder.

"Hey buddy." A voice crooned. It was an older kid's voice. And older hyena's voice. Ian's gaze shot up to the mirror. There was John, grinning like it was Christmas morning. His fangs were glinting, white and sharp in the dim bathroom light. They're prefect thought Ian.

"It's nice to see you again so soon, you little retard. I was hoping you'd come to this one." John let out a small cackle, running a paw between his ears and patting Ian on the shoulder. "I never did get to thank you for bumping into me this morning."

"Don't touch me!" Ian brushed the paw off of his shoulder and stepped away from the giggling hyena as fast as he could. He had been feeling so good, but his heart was racing again, and he was already panting as if he was out of breath. He clutched the cross underneath his shirt, inching his way around the hyena, towards the door.

"Oh, you haven't even BEEN touched, puppy." John snarled, stepping in front of the wolf cub, putting one paw on the door and leaning all his weight against it. He stopped to lift the iron latch and slide it into place, locking the restroom. Ian felt his stomach sink.

"But don't worry. If you do me a few favors, I won't play too rough. It turns out my girl is one of those 'abstinent' types, pup." Ian didn't like the sound of that at all. "That's a big word for a retard like you, isn't it? It means she's not fucking me."

John sniggered, stalking forward, matching Ian's backpedaling efforts. His bulky hyena frame was quickly blocking out the light from the bulbs above the mirrors and the light from under the door. The wolf pup let out a nervous whimper, and John shook with laughter he was trying to contain. "So I gotta get it somewhere. And I figure you won't tell anyone. Not if you don't want me to kill you."

One paw slid down the spotted canine's front, undoing his zipper. With a sigh and a little snicker, the hyena let his half-erect dick slide out of his jeans. "The first favor you can do me is to take of your pants and bend over for me, like a good puppy. Can you do that, re-tard? Did you hear what I said?"

Ian's heart was pounding in his ears as John stalked closer and closer, the scent of hyena arousal heavy in the air as he approached. The bathroom was dark, and everything was getting cold. Ian could feel the blood drain from his feet and paws, his little body quaking with fear as the older boy approached.

"I said: DID YOU HEAR ME, PUPPY?" John sounded like he was shouting, but the sound barely made it from the room. It made the wolf-cub's ears ring.

Ian gritted his teeth. "F-f... fuck off." He stuttered, putting on as brave a face as he could muster. The way John's eyes widened was absolutely phenomenal, and it gave Ian a little courage.

"What was that?" The hyena put paw behind his ear, as if he were straining to hear.

"Fuck off..." Ian half whispered, half whimpered.

"Oh, you little fuckin' REJECT, you fucked up piece of brain-dead SHIT!" The hyena moved like lightning, his older, more athletic frame more than capable of moving before little Ian could get out of the way. In an instant his breath was hot on the wolf pup's face, his hand wrapped around his skinny, furry neck. "In case you didn't notice, I threatned to KILL you if you told. Do I have to snap your neck and fuck your corpse to get my rocks off? Jesus! I'm gonna f--!"

There was a moment of silence, and Ian looked up into John's eyes. They were wide open, and his lips were trembling. His pupils were stretched as far as they could go.

John let out a howl of pain and toppled over backwards, clutching his leg, which was now seeping thick red blood.

Danny was on him in an instant, bringing the bloody scalpel down in a high-arching stab aimed right for the hyena's head. John managed to catch the swing with one paw, stopping the gleaming bloodstained edge inches from his left eye. The weasel kit snarled and leaned into his arm with all his weight, forcing the hyena to fight it off with both paws.

The smell washed over the room like an acrid wave, and it sent a shiver down the wolf puppy's spine.

Ian's heart was pounding in his throat, and all warmth had left his world. The edges of his vision were growing white, and he was panting and huffing as if he'd run mile after mile without stopping. He growled, clutching his head and sinking to his knees. The ringing in his ears was unbearable.

Suddenly, a voice cut through the static that made his ears suffer. "You're a wild wolf! Tear him apart! Bite his belly, and rip his skin away. Eat his stomach, kick his balls... ANYTHING IAN."

Danny's voice was soft, a coo almost. But it rang like a bell, and drove away the harsh ringing. The edges of Ian's vision returned, and he got to his feet. His lupine throat let out an almost adult-sounding growl, and he lifted his foot.

His sneaker slammed down between John's legs in a vicious stomp, the strongest the pup could muster. The hyena's back arched and he howled in frustration and pain, his eyes rolling back in his head. His whole body thrashed in terrified suffering, writhing and twitching on the ground like a snake with its head cut off.

Danny struck without hesitation, jamming the scalpel straight into a wide, yellow-ringed pupil.

His closing eyelid did nothing but split itself on the blade in an effort to prevent the sharp instrument from ripping into his skull, tearing away his sight. Danny spat something that the hyena couldn't hear, raising the scalpel to destroy another eye. The kid let out something sinister. It sounded like a hyena's laugh.

And then there was light.

The door burst open, nearly kicked off its hinges by the principal, who threw Danny to the wall in one powerful swing of his arm. Ian backed away, suddenly feeling very afraid. The scalpel fell from Danny's paw and clattered loudly on the floor, and for a moment, Ian thought he saw the weasel kit smiling. It must have been a figment of his imagination. Danny's face was serious.

He remembered very few things after that. John writhed on the floor, clutching his destroyed eye and curling into the fetal position, a little vomit dripping from his muzzle from when Ian had stomped. It had filled his throat. The adults were screaming, someone was grabbing Ian's wrist, asking him questions and yelling into his ear.

The next thing he knew, his friend and he were sitting alone, right outside the principal's office. Danny looked at the wolf pup, and spoke in an uneven, frightened voice.

"I saw him come in here and lock the door on a girl once. She wouldn't do it, so he hit her. I thought he might try the same with you. I saw you before school, you know? The way he looked at you? He wanted you so badly."

"Danny..." The words felt so unfamiliar in Ian's mouth. "I'm really scared."

"You'll be ok, as long as you have your story straight. He raped you. Held you down, said he'd kill you. He stuck it in you and you cried out for help. Do you follow me?"

Ian shook his head.

"I was in a stall, and when I heard you scream I came to help you, which is when he pulled the blade on me. Ok?"

Ian nodded. Danny gave him a shy smile. Both of them felt better.