The sun was just coming up, shimmering on the lake. The sun bounced off the lake and onto my black fur as I ran.

I looked back to see my pack happy to have their fur warmed up by the heat of the sun after a long night of the cold.
My eyes slowly opened. My body was relaxed from the comfort of my dream. I lay there thinking about how it had anything to do with my life. Why would I dream of a pack of wolves?

Before I could get all the way out of bed, Max jumped on top of my chest. “Wow! Hey boy. How’d you sleep?” I pet his head and slowly traced the scar across his face with my finger. I found Max abandoned and beaten up in an alley when he was just a baby. I took him home and cared for him. It isn’t natural to have a wolf as a pet, but I was attached to him and would never let him go. He felt like a part of me.

“Justin, breakfast time,” my mother called.

“Almost ready mom.” Max followed me as I went downstairs to eat breakfast.

“Hey Justin look at this.” My dad handed me the front page of the paper.

“Wolf spotted in Sparks,” I read aloud. As I read the article Max’s ears perked up at the sound of his kind. I looked at the image of the wolf. “She sure is a pretty one Max.” I lowered the paper, showing him the image of the wolf. She had light gray fur and a small spot of white on her backside.

“Wait a minute.”

“What is it?” my mom asked.
“It says here they are sending some men into the forest to capture it. Why would they want to do that?”

“We can’t have wolves running around our town hurting people.” my dad stated.

“Who said they are going to hurt anyone?” I protested.

“That’s what wolves do Justin,” he said to me.

I got frustrated by his comment and jumped out of my chair, ready to start yelling at him, but then a sudden feeling came to me and I relaxed. “I’m going to school.” I went and grabbed my school bag off the bench. “Come on Max. I wouldn’t want you to hurt anyone.”

Tony and I were standing in Sparks high school waiting for the bell to ring, so we could get to class. It was too cold outside to be standing out there.

“Dude, here comes Vanessa.”

“Great that’s all I need.”

“I don’t know what you see in her, but what I see is hot,” Tony said to me.

“Hey Justin, what are you doing tonight?”

“What do you want Vanessa?”

“Well,” she paused and looked at her friends behind her, then back at me. “I’m having a party tonight and I want you to come.”

“I’d love to,” Tony cut in.

Vanessa looked at Tony disgusted. “I was talking to Justin.”

She looked back at me and smiled.

“I…”

“Great! See you at seven,” Vanessa said walking away happily.

“Dude, you so have to bring me with you,” Tony said longingly.
The bell rang. Tony and I headed to class. As I walked down the hallway everyone was pushing and shoving. “Hey Tony!” Brad yelled out. As Tony turned around, his bag knocked a girl to the side. Her foot slipped in a small puddle and she fell right into my arms. I held her in my arms, gazing into her eyes like endless oceans. I helped her back onto her feet.

“Sorry,” she said with her head down.

“It’s okay. Are you new to this school?” I asked her.

“Yah, I’m still trying to get use to it. I’m Abbey,” she put her hand forward.

“Justin,” I replied, softly shaking her hand. The tardy bell rang and we both suddenly realized how few of people were still around.

“Nice to meet you Justin, and thanks for catching me,” she said walking away.

I stood there and watched her until she turned the corner.

“That’s not cool.”

“What’s not?” I asked Tony.

“You can’t like a newbie.”

I turned and looked at him confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Dude really. I saw the way you were looking at her.”

I ignored Tony and headed for class, all the while knowing he was right.






I was standing in front of Vanessa’s mansion. It was 7:20 and I wasn’t happy to be here. I was encouraged by my parents and forced by Tony to come to the party. All sorts of colors of lights were dancing around to the beat of the music blasting in her house. As far as I could tell, all the seniors were at Vanessa’s party. There was just one person I couldn’t find.

I looked all over the house, the backyard, and the pool and I couldn’t find Abbey, but Vanessa was in the living room all over Brad. When she spotted me she shoved him to the side and started to walk towards my direction. I quickly turned around trying to find an escape route when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned facing Vanessa.

“Hey Justin. Glad you could make it.” She was all over me and I couldn’t stand it.

“Hey, I have an idea,” Vanessa said. “Lets go for a little swim. I’ll go and get my bikini on.”

Vanessa quickly ran up the stairs and I heard a door slam shut. As soon as she was out of sight I ran out of there. I know it’s not nice to just ditch someone, but in this case I couldn’t help it. I went straight for the park, just trying to find a place where Vanessa couldn’t spot me. As I was walking through the park I saw a familiar figure sitting on the bench.

“Hey Abbey,” I said sitting down next to her.

“Oh! Hi Justin.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked her.

“I come here to relax.”

I couldn’t help but to stare into her eyes. Her eyes sparkled, as her long, curly, blonde hair shimmered under the light of the moon. We suddenly heard a howling sound and a wolf emerged from the shadows. Abbey jumped up from her seat, holding onto me for her dear life.

“Don’t scream,” I whispered to her.

“What do we do?” she asked in panic.

I slowly stepped forward. “What are you doing?”

“Shhhh!”

As I took a step forward, so did the wolf. I looked back at Abbey. She looked like she was frozen stiff from fright. I slowly knelt down and put my hand forward towards the wolf. “Come here boy.” I whispered softly. It looked at my hand, and then suddenly started to charge.

“No!” Abbey screamed.

Max jumped on my chest and knocked me to the ground. He started to lick my face and it made me laugh. I remembered that Abbey was still right behind me, and I turned around to look at her. She was just frozen there. Her facial expression was more scared than confused.

“It’s okay Abbey.”

I went to her and gave her a hug. “It’s just my pet wolf Max.”

“You have a wolf as a pet?” she asked hugging me back, still frightened.

“I’ve had him ever since he was a baby. He won’t hurt you.”

She let go of me and looked down at Max who was happily lying on the grass. [His golden-brown fur shining in the moonlight.]

Abbey knelt down and slowly put her hand forward to pet him. I guess she was still scared. Max licked her hand and she pulled back.

“He’s just giving you a kiss,” I told her.

“I know. I’ve just never pet a wolf before.”