[IC] Winter Bliss (SmallWonders & Cupcake)

[Cupcake]

Zak's head was clear when he walked into class the first time this week. Wednesdays were usually his Mondays. The old wooden desk creaked as he set his backpack onto it and began rummaging for his textbook. He did not want to be in school, but his mother always disagreed with him and made him go anyways. How could she understand what he was going through? She was more human than he was, and would never understand what it was like to have Romanian wolf blood to course through her veins.
His mother was part of a full Romanian blood line until one of her ancestors decided to mingle with a human. Blasphemy he thought to himself. He stared at the empty desk to his right, wondering if he should just move closer to the window.

[SmallWonders]

Holly walked into the room behind the teacher that had led her there. She was silent as they spoke to each other, her head bowed and staring down at her feet. After a quick introduction to the teacher in which she didn’t speak, she was simply told to sit in one of the spare seats. Most people were there already and she could feel the curious eyes of her peers staring her down. Tugging her long sleeves over her hands selfconsciously, she headed towards the back of the class to one of the free desks there. That way, she wouldn’t feel the gazes on her back for the remaining lesson time.

She dropped her bag by the seat, slipping into the chair silently before pulling out her things. Her hair fell over her face and she brushed it back, irritated by the orange blur it cast over her vision. Without her glasses, she was legally blind in one eye and with far from perfect in the other. Pushing her glasses back up, she opened her books and pretended she was busy catching up to avoid any questions and unwanted social interactions.

[Cupcake]

Zak saw a flash of color in his almost gray vision. He raised an eyebrow, watching her walk to the empty desk in the back. He grabbed his bag and walked further to the back. He checked his watch. He had a few minutes.
He set his bag beside the desk, and brought his eyes up to the new girl with the reddish-orange hair. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable, but something about her just screamed out 'trouble'.
And she was in it.
"Are you naturally a red head?" he asked, flashing a smile at her.

[SmallWonders]

Holly looked up at the voice, finding that someone had followed her there. She’d seen him sat towards the middle of the room. That was strange. She wasn’t that interesting. “Y-yeah… Why?” She mumbled, playing with one of the strands to distract herself. She wasn’t very good at talking to people. After what had happened when she was younger, she had found it hard to make friends at all. The majority of her class just didn’t pay attention to her after she ignored all their efforts. This time, she wasn’t going to make that mistake again. She’d been very lonely and this was a fresh start.

[Cupcake]

Zak shrugged his shoulders. "Just wondering... It's nice," he commented then shifted in his seat. "We don't have that many natural red-heads here," he chuckled. He looked at the front of the room as the teacher wrote the assignment for the day on the board. He wondered what had attracted him to her, and what made him speak up. Usually he was always by himself or with the classmates in his pack, but she was the first human he had started a conversation with in god knows how long. "My name is Zak," he said, opening his book to the assigned page. He never cared that much for math.

[SmallWonders]

"Oh..." Holly ducked her head again, starting to feel a little overwhelmed. In so many years, the only people she'd ever spoken to were teachers and her parents. It had been a long time since she'd spoken to anyone her age and longer still since she'd conversed with a male. "Uhm... My name's Holly." She introduced herself with a small smile, curling her hair around her finger and looking away quickly. She felt awkward and unsure of herself, especially since she could see wondering eyes on her. It might have been because of the fact that she was new but the way they looked at Zak made her wonder if it was just that.

[Cupcake]

Zak shuffled together a small smile and grabbed his book from his bag. He opened it to the page on the board and looked at the assignment. He looked over at Holly. "Want to partner up?" he asked. In his mind, he kept asking himself what he was doing. He always works alone, but for some odd reason, he gathers up courage to talk to the new girl. He shifted his eyes away from Holly, hoping for a rejection so he wouldn't humiliate himself. He could see his packmates in the room giving him scornful looks. He shouldn''t get close to any human.

[SmallWonders]

Holly looked a little surprised, her eyes wide. "Really?" She asked, her fingers twisting together nervously. "I mean... If you want to, then okay." She smiled slightly, looking up and pushing her glasses back up again. He wasn't looking at her though and she looked away, her hair falling back over her face as she bowed her head again. "B-but we don't have to. I uhm... I can work on my own." She added on quickly, letting him get out of it if he so wished. She wasn't going to force him to work with her and she was sure he was just being polite because she knew no one else there.

[Cupcake]

He shook his head. He didn't want her to feel unwanted in a new school. He moved his desk closer to hers and pulled out paper. "I'll help ya out." he smiled. His keen senses picked up where he was just as nervous as her. He picked up a scent. It was old, maybe from years ago. The smell made him wrinkle his nose. It almost smelled like mildew on wood. A cabin perhaps? Without thinking he blurted out, "Did you used to live in a cabin? Surrounded by forest?" he asked.

[SmallWonders]

Holly was immediately thrown back into her memories, her eyes wide with terror and her hands closing into fists tight enough for her nails to draw blood. Her breaths grew quicker and she began to shake, unable to escape from that looming face that haunted every single one of her nightmares. Her eyes squeezed shut and she could almost feel the burning pain and clammy hands on her skin. She screamed, curling up and tangling her fingers into her hair. Her hands tugged lightly, hoping the pain would pull her out of the nightmares as it had before.

[Cupcake]

Zak's eyes widened as he watched her become fearful. Was she traumatized at this cabin? It was clear that she has some post traumatic stress.
"It's okay Holly," he said, trying not to make her fear him. He backed away to give her some room. His fists were clenching as well. Some form of anger built up in him. Who could hurt someone and scar them this bad? This scent was very old, but her memories keep it alive. He shook his head, "don't dwell on then. You are in a safe place," he said, still trying to figure out some way to ease her tension.

[SmallWonders]

Holly was sobbing, tears flowing down her face. She whimpered before she let out another hoarse scream. The class was staring at her now, looking between her and Zak. The teacher quickly made his way back to them. "What happened? What did you say to her?" He asked, eyes wide and worried. The faculty knew her situation. It was all in her file. Zak must have said something triggering.

[Cupcake]

He shrugged his shoulders as he was at a standstill. Now he looked like a bully. He grabbed his bag, ready to head out the door if the teacher said something to him he wouldn't like. "I just asked her if she had ever lived in a cabin." he took a deep breath, clutching the strap of his backpack. He didn't like being seated while a teacher stood above him. He felt challenged.

[SmallWonders]

The teacher sighed, nodding. There was nothing he could do. "Class dismissed. Except you, Zak. You're staying here and helping me calm her down." One icy glare towards the rest of the students made them walk out, looking over their shoulders at the still shrieking girl. Holly trembled, her cheeks wet with tears and her palms streaking blood through her hair. The teacher was panicking a little, unsure of how to make her feel safe. "Zak. We need to pull her out of her memories and calm her down. She needs to feel like she's safe, but I suggest you don't touch her."

[Cupcake]

Zak unclenched his fists. He knew now that something was up. A teacher wouldn't ask a student for help if he thought they were being a problem to them. This teacher knew something about her past that traumatized her. He looked over at Holly, his eyes glimmering. He could feel every emotion she was feeling, almost pure terror, and yet he couldn't understand why. His heightened sense of smell was too strong for something like this.
"Holly," he said, standing up out of the seat. He put his hands on her desk to keep steady. "Have you ever been to the ocean? Have you ever seen white sand on a beach during the sunrise?" he asked, trying to get off the topic of the cabin in the woods. He hoped some new images would calm her down.

[SmallWonders]

It took a while for Holly to figure out where the voice was coming from. It sounded safe so she paid attention to it. She stopped crying out, trembling in silence. It was longer still before she could make sense of what was being said to her. The beach. She'd never been to a beach but she'd seen lots of them before. Her mind conjured them up, splicing them into her memories of that dreadful cabin. It flickered between the all too real memory and the false but comforting paradise. Her hands loosened a little in her hair and she was visibly calming down.

[Cupcake]

Zak nodded his head as the teacher looked at him. He kept his distance but yet so close. "Think of the ocean mist, the seagulls, and a nice cool breeze," he said. She looked like she was easing up, but he wondered if it would be enough to keep her sanity going throughout the day. He wondered if her days would always be like this. She now lives in a forested area, and there were plenty of cabins around these parts. What would she do?
He kept staring at Holly, waiting for her eyes to open.

[SmallWonders]

Eventually Holly calmed down enough to look up at the two people still in the room. Her palms stung and her hair was a mess again as she straightened up. "S-sorry..." She mumbled, her voice hoarse and her eyes still watery. Her glasses had fogged up a little but she managed a small smile, breathing heavily as she worked on calming her heart rate. "And uhm... Thanks." She could still feel terror around the edges of her mind but it was far enough away for her to ignore.

[Cupcake]

Zak nodded slightly. "It's fine... Nothing in life comes easy to us, so we need to make the best of what there is," he said, clutching his backpack and threw it over his shoulder. "How about I take you home? Try again tomorrow?" he asked.

[SmallWonders]

"Are you sure it'll be okay?" Holly asked, standing up and still feeling a little shaky. "Don't you have the rest of the school day too?" She knew she couldn't continue after that little panic attack but she didn't want to get him into trouble because she was feeling selfish. She packed her things away, using a sleeve to wipe the tears from her flushed cheeks as she picked up her bag and swung it onto her shoulder.