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Chapter 23

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Sophia's hopes of hearing about whether her dad got the new job or not were dashed when she arrived at an empty house following her shift at Albertson's. After fixing herself a couple of hotdogs (plain of course), she settled down on her bed to do her math homework. She completed two problems before the last few days finally caught up to her, and she fell into a dead sleep with her hand still gripping her pencil.

At school, she found two doggy treats on the floor of her locker. The smell was as enticing as ever, but her experiences the day before were still fresh on her mind. She was about to swat them out into the hallway, but a thought occurred to her and she surreptitiously dropped them into her backpack instead.

The rest of the morning went more or less smoothly and she managed to keep any intrusive thoughts of the lupine variety at bay. Even the locker room before gym class was fairly subdued, and she found she actually enjoyed the class when she wasn't making a fool of herself. Lunch turned out to be another disappointing selection and she reluctantly chose the rubbery wafer that the school insisted were hamburgers once again.

It barely even smells like anything and I'm a werewolf, she cautiously sniffed the charred patty. At least mayonnaise is still edible.

Cracking open her environmental sciences book, she turned to the chapter she had a test on in just two hours. She made it several paragraphs before her mind drifted to her brief encounter with Candice the day before. Looking up from her book, she glanced over to where Candice now sat. Her former friend was surrounded by other students and was chatting away.

Turning her head forward, she glanced around her table. There were a few geeky-looking boys at the other end who had a bunch of books, paper and dice out for some sort of pen and paper game. One of the kids rolled a strange looking die and the kids cheered when it stopped.

I wish Shadow could come here, she sighed forlornly and looked back down at her book. And I work tonight and tomorrow night, so no opportunity to even visit the mountains until Thursday.

The thought of the mountains jogged a memory of something her dad had said a few weeks ago about hiking clubs.

I'll see when the Outdoors Club meets. If nothing else, it gives me an excuse to be away from home. I think Ms. Taylor is the advisor for it; I'll ask her after the test.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and she closed her text, still open to the first page of the chapter.

Her environmental science test on a chapter she hadn't read went about as well as she could have expected. She answered as best she could, but had no idea what many of the terms even meant.

Maybe the Outdoors Club isn't such a good idea after all, Sophia awkwardly handed her test forward and swallowed.

Her mind flashed back to lunch and Candice talking to all her new friends and a feeling of determination buoyed her. No, I need to just do it.

After the bell rang, she waited for the majority of the class to file out before getting up herself. Ms. Taylor was at the front of the room paging through the tests. Steeling herself, Sophia picked up her things and walked forward.

"Ms. Taylor?" Sophia started tentatively.

The graying woman's head snapped up in surprise, "oh, yes Sophia?"

"You run the Outdoors Club, right?" Sophia asked and then plowed on when the teacher confirmed. "I've been considering joining for a while and was wondering when their next meeting is."

"Oh, how wonderful!" Ms. Taylor's face lit up. "There's actually a meeting tomorrow right after school in this room. I won't be able to attend unfortunately, but some of the students are meeting to discuss winter activities."

I'll have an hour before I need to be at work, Sophia considered her schedule. That should be enough time.

Ms. Taylor's excitement dispelled much of Sophia's trepidation and she smiled, "I'll be sure to be there!"

Sophia was sitting at the kitchen table after work when she heard her dad's truck pull into the driveway. Excitedly dropping her pen, she looked up from her sociology assignment and turned towards the door to the garage. Her dad opened the door and the kitchen was immediately filled with the smell of burnt metal and beer. She could also detect the faint smell of cigarette smoke on his coat.

"Hi dad!" She put the unpleasant odors aside and stood up. "Did you get the job?"

He stopped in the doorway, blinked and then smiled, "I did! He had me start today; they're really desperate at the shop."

"That's great!" Sophia exclaimed happily. "Will it be full time?"

"Yep! I'll be headed to the shop by eight every morning," her dad told her. "I'll be done at 4:30. Things are going to change around here!"

Overcome by elation, Sophia started towards her dad to give him a hug, but stopped as the smells on his jacket intensified. Instead, she sat back down in her chair.

"I'm going to go to the Outdoors Club tomorrow," she changed the subject. "It's right after school and I'll have time before work."

"Great!" Her dad exclaimed. "You shouldn't have to work so hard anymore with me pulling in the big bucks again."

Sophia smiled, and went back to her homework.

* * *

The school had largely emptied out by the time Sophia stepped into her Environmental Science classroom. Inside, five other students were in a haphazard circle. Some were sitting at a desk and a couple were sitting on the desks. They all stopped talking when she entered and turned to look at her in surprise.

She raised an uncertain hand, "Hi. I'm... Sop..."

"Wolfgirl!" a tall stocky boy sitting on a desk blurted out.

Sophia sighed, "Yes, I'm Wolfgirl."

As if to emphasize that, her brain noted the presence of a few different body odors in the room. They weren't strong, but still detectable to her keen nose. Briefly, she tried separating them into the distinct scents she knew them to be, but frustratingly couldn't.

"Hey girl! It's been a while since we hung out!" A brown haired girl in a multi-colored sweater exclaimed suddenly.

Sophia blinked as she tried to place her, "... Maggie?"

"Yep!" Maggie confirmed. "When's the last time we did something together? Sixth grade? Seventh? And you're still obsessed with wolves from what I hear."

Before Sophia could respond, a tall boy with messy blonde hair cleared his throat, "Ms. Taylor isn't here right now; this is the Outdoors Club. Were you looking for us?"

Sophia smiled meekly and nodded, "Yeah, if you're looking for new members."

"We're always looking for new members," the boy responded and waved her into the room.

The end-of-day smells of several people got stronger, but remained a maddening jumble.

When she had found a seat close to the circle of students, he continued, "I'm Craig, club president. Your name isn't actually Wolfgirl I assume?"

"No, I'm Sophia," she replied and shrugged. "But Wolfgirl is fine too."

Maggie laughed, "hah, you used to hate it when we called you that."

"I sense a story!" the stocky boy who had first identified her said loudly.

"Ever since I've known her she's been obsessed with wolves," Maggie recounted. "All through elementary school she had a wolf backpack, wolf lunchbox, wolf folders... And every time she could pick an assignment, she picked wolves. She got in trouble a few times when she went off alone to look for wolves. Anyway, after one such time in fourth or fifth grade, someone called her 'Wolfgirl' and it stuck."

As Maggie finished, the other students looked at Sophia who gave an embarrassed shrug.

"That's tight!" the boy exclaimed.

"Sounds like you'd be a great fit then," Craig broke in. "It's a bit of an off-season for us right now. But we still do a fair bit through the winter. Let's go around and say our names."

"Oh, right, I'm Camden," the large framed boy introduced himself, raising a big hand.

A small girl in a light blue blouse who hadn't spoken yet, gave a small wave, "Katie."

Sophia caught a faint whiff of spearmint when Katie spoke and realized the girl was chewing gum.

"Patrick," a geeky looking boy in thick glasses said.

"We have another guy who's usually here, but he had band rehearsal tonight," Maggie told Sophia. "There are a few others who don't attend the meetings very often, but sometimes come to the events."

"What do you like to do, Sophia?" Craig asked conversationally.

What do I like to do? Sophia blinked.

"Well, I enjoy hiking," Sophia replied slowly. "And yes, I like wolves."

"Good, good," Craig nodded encouragingly. "We don't do much hiking this time of year, but we did go snowshoeing last February."

"Yeah, I couldn't walk for a week," Camden interjected brusquely.

"It was definitely an experience," Craig agreed. "We usually have a ski trip over winter break. That's always a good time."

The sudden presence of spearmint prompted Sophia to turn towards Katie before the dark haired girl asked in a soft voice, "Ever seen a wolf in the wild?"

Sophia hesitated before replying, "Yeah, once, from a distance. It was pretty cool."

"Neat," Katie replied.

"Have to head over to Yellowstone sometime," Patrick piped up. "You're a lot more likely to spot one there. Though there was that one spotted around town a month ago and the ranchers constantly complain about them."

"I certainly wouldn't want to come across a wolf on my own," Maggie commented. "Or a bear. Or mountain lion."

Feeling defensive, Sophia replied tersely, "Wolves are afraid of people. They don't bother you if you don't bother them."

"I need to leave in fifteen minutes," Craig spoke up. "Let's get back to planning a club event."

"We could go snow-mobiling," Camden suggested. "My family has a few snow-mobiles we could use."

Snow-mobiling? Sophia suppressed her disdain. Yuck. Maybe this group isn't for me afterall.

"The school wouldn't allow it as an official activity," Patrick pointed out. "Too dangerous."

"True, but you guys could still come hang out sometime," Camden persisted.

"Ice skating could be fun," Katie suggested. "The park allows skating in the winter. My family often goes."

Craig nodded, "That could be fun."

"I don't have any skates," Sophia replied hesitantly.

"Neither do I," Patrick echoed, relieving Sophia.

Katie piped up, "Chaudoir's rents them out during the winter. They're pretty affordable."

Camden smirked, "I'm down with it. It would be fun seeing Craig fall on his ass."

"Says the guy who couldn't figure out how to fasten a snowshoe," Craig retorted.

"Sure," Maggie agreed. "Why not."

Patrick shrugged, "I've never ice skated before, but I'll try it."

"I..." Sophia started and then gave a shy smile. "That could be fun."

"Alright," Craig said. "Looks like we have an event. Email me what works for you guys and we'll hammer out a date. Sophia, you'll have to give me an email."

"Okay, yeah," Sophia took the slip of paper and pen he held out.

This is going better than I expected, Sophia wrote down her school email. It seems like a friendly group.

"Oh yeah," Maggie said, turning to Sophia. "Me, Katie and a couple other girls are going to check out the winter sales at Bruin's after school tomorrow; you're welcome to join us!"

Surprised at the invitation, Sophia considered it. I have off tomorrow night and I'm trying to make friends. It could be fun... I really should go.

"I..." Sophia started to accept, but couldn't bring herself to finish.

"Maybe some other time," she said instead. "I'm busy tomorrow night. Thanks though!"

"Sure!" Maggie responded, unaware of Sophia's inner turmoil. "I'll let you know when the next girl's night is."

Sophia glanced at the clock and her blood froze, "Oh! I have to be at work in ten minutes!"

"Great to meet you Wolfgirl!" Camden called after her as she darted towards the door.