"I don't want to go," Nathan said for the twentieth time at least, helping little Sandy put on her coat and shoes so she was ready to walk to the elementary school which was only a little ways down the street.

"Then don't go. The doctor said you should rest so go back to bed," Sally said as she flipped through a magazine, not helping any of the children get dressed leaving it to the older kids.

"I have a lot of schoolwork I have to catch up on," Nathan pointed out, pulling a hat over Tommy's head so his ears wouldn't get cold.

"Then go," Sally said in response, waving a negligent hand in the air while Nathan helped look for Mikey's glasses which he'd lost somewhere in the orphanage.

"Bit I don't want to go. Everyone is just going to be staring at me, talking about me, and-"

"Boy, did you mistake me for a psychiatrist? I'm not going to help you make your desecion. Go to school, don't go to school. Just make up your mind and leave me be, okay?" Sally snapped, muttering under her breath about how Nathan could be such a whiny little girl.

Ms. Sandra B. Sally was once a happily married woman who had dreams of settling down, having kids, growing old with her spouse, and dying peacefully laying next to her husband until the end of time. She used to be kind, compassionate, and even sweet, until she caught her husband with another woman. Now she was an unfeeling woman who owned the orphanage and interacted with the children like a business woman. She mainly left the older kids to take care of the little one's if her hired helpers weren't around to do it which led to Nathan having to think like an adult. He had already missed so much school and, whether he liked it or not, he had to return eventually. No matter when he decided to go back to school, it was going to be awkward and everyone would probably be talking about him for who knows how long, so he might as well get it over with so everyone could talk it out of their system and move on.

"Alright, everybody. Let's head to the school before we freeze our butts off," Nathan said with a smile, all the kids laughing and giggling as they followed him outside. "Never gets old," Nathan teased one of the awkward middle schoolers who smacked their hand over their face in embarrassment.

"Please stop," the kid asked causing Nathan to laugh.

It didn't take them long to reach the elementary school where they dropped the little one's off but one of them gripped Nathan's hand, refusing to let go even as the teacher urged her into the warm classroom.

"What's wrong?" Nathan asked, carefully kneeling down so he didn't open his stitches. "It's Art Day. I thought you loved Art Day," Nathan said with a smile, rubbing her red cheeks with his gloved hands.

"Are you going to be okay?" little Annie May asked, hugging Nathan's hand to her chest. All the kids were a little traumatized by the attack on Nathan with quite a few insisting to sleep in the same room with him. "No more doggies!" Annie demanded one Nathan assured her he would be alright, Nathan trying not to laugh as he adopted a serious demeanor for her.

"I swear on Mr. Bunny, I will not go anywhere near any doggies," Nathan promised, Annie making him swear on all her little stuffed animals before she finally went into the classroom.

Nathan and the other older kids made their way to the bus stop where Issac was already waiting for him. It also seemed like everyone was waiting for the orphanage kids to arrive who came in a small group every morning. They weren't trying to make it obvious, talking animatedly amongst themselves, but it was painfully obvious that they were all watching Nathan's every move. Unfortunately for the gossip hounds, it wasn't obvious that Nathan had been in any accident as he was wearing thick coats just like everyone else or they would have been taking pictures of him too.

"How you doin'?" Issac asked with a very bright smile that was a little strained. He had quite a few people who had never even looked at him before trying to ask him what had happened and if Nathan had been on his death bed.

"Alright, I guess," Nathan said with a shrug, glancing at the people around him who were taking peeks at him every chance they got before looking away when they made eye contact with the young man. "None of the popular kids suddenly break up or pull any legendary pranks that'll be talked about for weeks?" Nathan asked hopefully. He didn't care about celebrity gossip but he kind of hoped there would be a scandal that would take everyone's attention off him, both teenagers and the adults.

"Nope. Everyone's happy and well behaved," Issac said with a sigh causing Nathan to hang his head.

"Just kill me now," Nathan said just as the bus appeared around the corner.

Everyone piled up onto the bus and just like that, the day started. The minute Nathan plopped his butt on the bus seat, there was two middle schoolers poking their head up over their seat looking back at Nathan asking to see where the wolf had bitten him. Three girls from the high school were sitting in the bench adjacent from Issac and Nathan with the one on the end asking quietly if Nathan was okay.

"You won't faint at school, right? My mom's a nurse so I know a little about medical care if you need it," the girl said politely, the girls she was sitting with giggling to themselves whispering too quietly for anyone to hear.

"Dude!" one of the football players hissed to Nathan as the middle schoolers got off the bus. "Is it true you became some hounds chew toy?" he asked with a chortle, all of his friends laughing amongst themselves at the imagery.

"Wow. Just... wow," Nathan said in response, Issac glaring at the football players which only just made them laugh harder. "Is it too late to stay home?" Nathan asked as he slumped in his seat.

It only got worse when they arrived at the school. Unlike the kids waiting for the bus, everyone was openly staring at him with wide eyes like they just saw a unicorn, talking amongst themselves whispering about him wondering if the wolf story was really true, whether Nathan was faking it to get attention, and even crazier stories that Nathan couldn't even wrap his head around.

"I heard an axe murderer attacked him on his way home."

"Are you nuts? The police said it was a wolf attack in plain English. Can't you read?"

"Wasn't it just a big dog? I've been bitten by a dog and it wasn't that big of a deal."

"I heard his heart stopped. The doctor almost pronounced him dead and turned off the machines."

"Do you think he'd show me the stiches if I asked him?"

"Try giving him a twenty. Thirty if he lets you touch it."

It didn't matter where Nathan was, he kept overhearing people talking about him in the hall, at his locker, in class, even in the bathroom while he was trying to do his business at the urinal two stalls from two other guys. "Did you pee yourself when the wolf bit you?" one of the guys asked Nathan who was staring studiously at the wall trying to finish quickly so he could leave. There were a few brave souls who tried talking to him, some asking him about the incident but a few others just started talking to him like they had been friends forever. One girl even flirted with him asking if he needed help with his homework, which was funny since the teacher had recommended him as her tutor last year for English. The school day already felt long enough as it is but just the first our periods before lunch felt like another two months off his life. He wasn't even safe from his teachers who took Nathan aside before each class and reassured him that if he ever felt faint or sick, that he could come to them any time. "I know you went through a traumatizing experience and I just want to know, I'm here for you," Nathan's math teacher said to him and even gave Nathan a hug who patted her awkwardly on the back in return.

Finally it was lunch time so Nathan and Issac could sneak outside and eat their lunch away from everyone. Except, just ten minutes before the lunch bell rang, it started snowing outside making it impossible for anyone to eat out there so the entire school was gathered in the cafeteria who were all watching, whispering, and trying to talk to Nathan.

"Can I go five minutes without someone asking me if a chunk of my flesh is missing?" Nathan ground out through his teeth as he and Issac shuffled through the lunch line, putting food on their trays as they went.

"Everyone is being rather pushy," Issac consented, glaring at some passing by jocks who asked Nathan to take off his shirt so they could see the "battle scars". "The good news is, at this rate, they'll probably move on by the end of the week," Issac said optimistically, Nathan giving Issac a dry bland look that clearly thought he was delusional as he went to go swipe his lunch card through the card scanner.

"No charge," the lunch lady said blandly, pushing Nathan's hand away who looked at her in confusion. Then he looked even more confused, and a little alarmed, as the lunch lady pulled up her shirt on her right side and slid her pants down just a little so he could see a scar about the size of a baby's fist. "Got bit by a badger when I was a little girl. Took a good chunk out of my hip," she said with a sigh as she stared at the scar before fixing her clothes, giving Nathan a toothy grin. "Lunch is on the house."

"Um... thanks," Nathan said, quickly turning away before anyone felt like disrobing for him again, or worse, wanting to compare "battle scars".

"I didn't know badgers could be so vicious," Issac commented as he tried to follow Nathan when the lunch lady cleared her throat, drumming her fingers on the counter glancing at the card scanner. "Oh. Just him. Makes sense," Issac said with a nervous laugh, cowering under the lunch lady's usual withering gaze of disdain as he quickly swiped his card and bolted after Nathan.

"Dude, I don't think I can take this for another day," Nathan said as they sat down at a table. He could feel dozens of eyes on them, a few calling out to Nathan just to say "Hi!" or ask him to show everyone the bite mark.

"Sorry," Issac said with a sigh, playing with his food when Nathan bumped his foot against Issac's shin.

"Don't apologize. You didn't do anything," Nathan said seriously. Even when Issac tried to apologize anyway, Nathan wouldn't let him saying he had nothing to apologize for. "I'm just a little worked up right now. I'm not used to being the center of attention," Nathan said dismissively, immediately trying to shift to a new topic by asking Issac about Star Wars, when the most popular girl in the school approached their table.

"Hey, Nathan," Veronica Moore greeted as she approached the table, leaning her hands on the table so her chest was on full display. It was practically falling out of her V-neck shirt, several guys sitting around them openly staring at her. She was the cheer captain and was your classic prom queen star who needed everyone to love or fear her. Sometimes both when it came to nerds who did her homework for her hoping she'd go out with them. She didn't even mind when they lied and said they kissed as her boyfriend got all jealous and possessive which she seemed to love. "Could I talk to you for a minute? Just the two of us?" Veronica asked as Issac and Nathan stared at her, glanced at one another, glanced behind them wondering if there was another student named Nathan nearby, before looking back at the blonde realizing that she was actually talking to them. Everyone around them grew quiet so they could overhear the conversation, Veronica batting her eyelashes at Nathan causing many to speculate that he was going to become her next victim.

"Um... what about?" Nathan asked, eyeing her suspiciously. Instead of being enthralled by her looks, he was actually looking around him making sure no jocks were sneaking around trying to pants him or something while Veronica distracted him.

"Well, I was hoping you could show me your bitemark. I've got a thing for guys with scars," Veronica mused with a sweet smile that usually worked with the guys, even worked on most of the tough guys, but she had caught Nathan at the last straw who suddenly let out what sounded like a roar.

"Can everyone please just shut the hell up about the stupid wolf already!" Nathan snapped, throwing his hands up in the air before slamming them down on the table causing the food trays to jump. Nathan glared down at his lap, his heart beating rather loudly in his chest, when he looked up and saw the wide eyed look of surprise on Issac's face. He looked up at Veronica and she had a similar look of shock, taking a step back away from the table. The entire cafeteria that was packed to the gills with students went dead silent and everyone was staring at Nathan who looked around in a slight daze, thinking back on what he had said and how he had said it. "That was a lot louder than I thought it was, wasn't it?" Nathan asked out loud, propping his chin up on his hand.

"Yeah," Issac drawled out, nodding his head stiffly feeling awkward under everyone's gaze.

"Yep," Nathan muttered before letting his head fall down onto the table with a groan.