Kat Lupin: Wolf Girl

Dad’s patrol car is too quiet. Like graveyard quiet. I sit next to him, neither of us talking. It’s soooo awkward. He keeps his eyes on the road while he drives, and I’m glad. I don’t want him looking at me right now. Finally, after what feels like hours, he asks, “You want to tell me what you were doing behind the grocery store?”

“I don’t know,” I say with a shrug. I stare at my shoes, just in case Dad decides to throw a glance my way. “Exploring, I guess. Never saw the back of a market before.”

Dad makes a humming “Mmmm” sound and my heart skips a beat. He knows I’m lying. He’s a cop. It’s his job to sniff out lies.

But if Dad suspects I’m being dishonest, he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t even ask about Justin or Killer Paw, which makes me think they ran away so fast, Dad didn’t even see them.

“Did you hear the wolf?” Dad asks.

My heart isn’t skipping beats anymore. It has come to a complete stop. “Wha… What wolf.”

“There were reports of a howling wolf within city limits,” says Dad. “Probably the same wolf that broke into the grocery store the other night.”

Or maybe the howler was a teenaged creep named Killer Paw, I think to myself. “Is that why you had your lights and siren going?” I ask.

Dad nods as he makes a right turn. “I was hoping to scare it away. Can’t have a wolf roaming around right when schools are letting out. Who knows what would happen if some fourth grader stumbled upon it?”

“I don’t like to think about it.”

Dad takes his eyes off the road for a split-second to glance at me. “If you did see a wolf, you’d let me know, right? Or if anything else weird was going on, you’d tell me wouldn’t you Kat?”

“Sure Dad,” I tell him. But I can’t look him in the eyes when I say it. I keep staring at my shoes.

***

The next day, I search the whole school for Justin. I should thank him for helping me, but he never shows up. Maybe his parents called the school office, saying he was sick (Although, it’s hard to imagine Justin even having parents). Maybe Killer Paw hurt him so bad in their fight Justin had to go to the hospital. Maybe he’s dead, his belly ripped open by savage werewolf claws.

Oh, no! Not that.

I shake the image from my head. I don’t even know the kid, not really. But for some reason, picturing him gone makes my stomach clench up.

When the final bell rings, I head straight for the school library. Sarah jogs up behind me, catching up.

“Want to hang at my house after school?” she asks. “We’ve got a Mario Cart 8 for the PS5.”

“Sorry, I can’t. I’m going to the library to study.”

Sarah scrunches up her eyebrows at me. “Wait, did you just turn down Mario Cart to study? Kat, what’s going on? Have you been taken over by aliens or something?”

I stop in the middle of the hall and pretend to gaze at all the ribbons and prizes in the Silver Rush trophy case. “You know my dad has a trophy in here,” I say, tapping the glass door. “See, there it is. That silver one with the dorky little basketball guy on top. His team won the state championship that year.”

It was all true. My dad still brags about that trophy, which makes Mom do the eye roll thing. Emily is probably in the gym right now, practicing her free throws. And it’s not even basketball season! She’s just like Dad. Sometimes, I wish I was too.

“Don’t change the subject,” Sarah says. “You’ve been acting weird for days. Kat, what’s happening to you?”

I keep my eyes on my dad’s trophy. I can’t look at Sarah. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Come on. We tell each other everything.”

“You’ll think I’m a wacko.”

“Too late,” says Sarah, grinning. “I already know you’re a wacko. So just tell me.”

I scan the hall, making sure no mean girls are close by. “I’m going to the library to find books on werewolves.”

“Okay,” says Sarah. “But that’s a strange subject for a book report. Halloween’s more than a month away.”

“It’s not for school, Sarah.”

That earns another eyebrow scrunch from her. “Then why are you looking for a book on werewolves?”

I take a deep breath and let it all out. “Because I’m turning into one.”