A Wolf in Sheep Clothing

Chapter 1: A new life

A closed room, the sound of water dripping from the ceiling, children running all-around playing, back to the dripping sound, a silhouette of a tall man, face invisible due to the darkness in a trench coat, a kid in a chair tied in ropes, He keeps screaming and screaming but his voice is hollow, no one can hear him except the man who keeps laughing like his sufferance is music to his ears.” Why is this happening to me? Asked the kid in a pained voice. The man stopped laughing and pointed his hand to the side. The scene shifts to an old living room and a person the kid thought he’d never see again.

“Did you go out behind my back again? “ Said the 35 years old man who was wearing blue jeans and a white shirt holding a belt in his right hand with an angry tone. In front of him was a little boy looking at him with fear evident in his eyes, he was no older than 6 years old trembling in front of his father’s mad face.“ I just wanted to see the park, “replied the little boy with a quivering voice. He just wanted to play in the park with children his age, a thing that any 6 years old child would want, it’s completely normal. But for some reason, his father was always angry with every little action the little kid did. Why was he like this? It was beyond the boy’s understanding. But he couldn’t ask him that, not unless he wanted to anger him even further which was literally the last thing he wanted.

“Didn’t I tell you not to leave my sight again? Or did my last lesson teach you nothing? “His tone getting more hostile and his voice rising as he addressed his ‘son’. The boy looked to the ground, tears falling from his eyes knowing that he was about to meet his father’s wrath but there was nothing he could do, no one to talk to, no one to protect him. He was all alone.

“Maybe this time will be a great reminder not to disobey me again! “The father lifted the belt and the boy knew that he was about to be taught another ‘lesson’ and that no one was going to save him so he just sat there like a little animal about to receive his master’s wrath. “You will no longer disobey me Marcel!” 

But before the belt grazed him, I woke up in my bed, in a place totally different than the one from my ‘wonderful’ dream. That man. .. I haven’t seen him in a long time, why now of all times? I looked to my right to see the clock at 12:19 with the calendar showing today’s date. Wednesday, October 1st 2020. I tried to get back to sleep but I couldn’t, his image kept me awake all night. ..afraid that I might see him again. Before I knew it, it was morning. The alar It’s today, I gotta get up and prepare myself. With that thought in my head, I turned it off and got out of bed, did my daily routine, had breakfast, brushed my teeth, got dressed… the whole ordeal. Afterward, I put on my back bag and headed to my destination.

“Today we’re gonna have a transfer student coming from England, would you introduce yourself?”

Asked the woman wearing a black blouse with a tag with a name written on it ‘Kathy Jones’ and a mini skirt. I nodded at her and turned to the rest of the students

“My name is Marcel Jensen; I’ll be a student in this class from this day on. A pleasure to meet you”

“Nice to meet you”, “Likewise “were the common answers while others stayed quiet or simply didn’t care and by others I mean the girl with short black hair and honey brown eyes sitting in the back row. She’s really cute. Great, I’m a fanboy now.

“Your seat is next to Hope there, ” said Mrs. Kathy as she pointed at the girl seated in the back row..

Hope? The irony of that. I went to the back row and sat next to the girl who I now know by the name Hope. I’m gonna be seated next to her for the rest of the year, might as well introduce myself.

“Hi, we’ll be seated next to each other for a while so I figured we should try to get along, my name is Marcel and I came from England, I guess you already know that. ”

She stayed quiet for a moment before she answered ”I’m Hope, I guess you already know that too, well I guess that’s it, Nice to meet you “She replied in a bored tone, she didn’t even spare me a glance, not too friendly, seems like a loner. I shouldn’t judge quickly, looks can be deceiving, I learned that the hard way. I guess I’ll talk to her when the class is over.

After an hour, the bell rang. The students started putting their books back in their bags. “We’ll stop here today. Make sure to review everything for your upcoming test “Said the teacher as she exited the room. Great, my first day and I already have an upcoming test, well I joined a little late so it’s to be expected. I was about to exit the classroom but as soon as the teacher left the room, the other students came to me forming a circle around me bombarding me with questions like “How long have you lived in England?” or “How is it like living a new life in America?” and of course the most common one is “Can you talk in a British accent?” well I guess the last one was asked by the females in the room. You were right Uncle Aaron, girls in America really like a guy with a British accent. Of course, that fact earned a few glares from the boys in the room, one of jealousy but nothing too extreme. Too many questions at the same time, I don’t wanna seem rude but they’re really bothering me.”

Knock it off, you guys! It’s his first day. Don’t gang up on him like that “interrupted a girl with black hair tied in a ponytail and coat black eyes. My savior, it seemed to stop the commotion. The way she’s dressed and the fact that she stopped the commotion with one sentence. She’s either a class representative or a popular girl. People left in groups making their way to the cafeteria, well except for Hope, she was left alone. “Sorry for the trouble, my name is Anna and I’m the class’ representative “she is the representative, my guess was right. I waved her off before I answered “No problem, things like this are normal in high school, they all wanna know the new guy and in this case, he is a foreigner, so I won’t be off the hook for a while”. She laughed a little before she said” Yeah, I’ve been there. Starting today you’re gonna be a junior year student so as class rep it’s my job to show you around the school “.Might as well get a tour “ Sure, I’d love that. “Hope was still there, this is my chance to talk to her. “Hope would you like to join…? “But she walked away before I could finish, she really is a loner.''Ok, we’ll leave the tour for later, because now we need to head to the cafeteria for lunch before the break is over. “I guess I can’t talk to Hope casually, girls are troublesome, and I’ll need to figure out a different approach.

We headed toward the Cafeteria which was down the hallway to the right. On the way, all the boys were staring at Anna along with some girls with admiration. Well, what do you know? I was wrong, she is both the class rep and the popular girl. Most of the Boys were either glaring at me or giving me dirty looks, stupid fanboys, typical high school. We got to the cafeteria, it was quite packed but we managed to make our way through. “Come on, our table is there “I followed her holding my plate in my hand while trying to avoid contact with people. When Anna and I reached the table there were three people already sitting there. ” What took you too long Anna?” Exclaimed the girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes.” Yeah, don’t keep us waiting” whined the boy with black hair and green eyes. “You idiots can’t you see the place is packed, it’s a miracle she managed to get through! “Interfered the third person at the table, a girl with curly black hair and black eyes.

“Sorry for the wait guys, I brought someone. Marcel, I want you to meet my friends. This is Jonathan”

Said Anna as she pointed to the boy in the group. “Hi, I’m Jonathan, pleasure to you! “Replied Practically yelled the boy now named Jonathan with a goofy grin on his face. He’s the energetic kind, seems a little goofy but It there’s something odd about him. “And this is Courtney”.The blonde girl reached her hand to me and said “Hi Marcel, a pleasure to meet you, I’m Julie” I shook her hand back and turned to the last girl in the group. “And this is Lisa. “She nodded at me and I nodded back. “Nice to meet you all “We sat at the table and started chatting while having lunch, basic topics, small talks.

I looked around me to notice that Hope wasn’t there, that’s strange but I paid it no mind. After launch we went back to class. When the school day was finally over, it was time to go back home. ” I have to show him around, go ahead before me, I’ll catch up later” They nodded and bid their farewell while Anna and I started wandering around.”This is the principal’s office, right there is the student’s council.” And she continued her guide, the boy’s locker room, the gym until we reached the girl’s restroom where we heard a commotion in the hallway. “What is going on?” But before she could say anything, I went to check it and she followed after me. There were a lot of people there, I pushed my way through to see a girl there and to my surprise it was Hope. But she wasn’t alone.” Well, well, well who do we have here?” I turned my head to see a guy a little bit taller than me blocking her way along with three others. “Out of the way Blake, I’m gonna be late “But the guy just laughed and looked down at her “Is that how you talk to your senior? “He said in a bit of a threatening tone but she wasn’t intimidated “Just move you mutt, I’m gonna be late for class! “ Mutt. ..that’s a good one, he did not appreciate the insult, his face turned into one of anger as he pushed her down. This guy is a bully, and so are the other three. No one did a thing, they just stood there watching, and even Anna she just looked away.

Some even looked pleased, typical. “What did you call me? “He was about to hit her, and again no one did a thing so I pushed my way through and stood in front of her in a protective manner, “ She said move out of the way Mutt !”I said in a firm tone. “Who the hell are you?” He looked at me with confusion and anger trying to figure out who I was before he spoke again “You’re the new guy, do they not teach you in England not to disrespect those who are older than you? “But I stood my ground which irritated him and the others gave me surprised looks, cowards.”Move!”I looked at Hope but she was giving me a stunned look, was this the first time someone defended her? This school is even worse than I thought. “You obviously don’t know the system here and since you’re new here I’ll let it slide this time. So why don’t you get out of here before you get hurt, Mate?” He said the last word in a British accent.

As if he was mocking me, which earned a few snickers from the three standing next to him but I didn’t like the joke.” Move out of the way, Mutt! “I said, holding my gaze against his, emphasizing every word. “Make me!” He replied in an equal manner. Things were about to escalate. “What is going on here?” A voice came from behind and the crowd started to disperse. “Nothing principal Aaron, we’re just welcoming the new guy,” Said Blake as he spared me one last glance before he left with his friends. The principal looked at me for a moment before he walked away. I approached Hope and asked “Are you alright?”But she averted my gaze and just walked away which surprised me a bit but it was understandable considering that no one ever helped her “It wasn’t a good thing, what they did” Said Anna who stood next to me. ”Yeah, I don’t recall you helping” I replied, she looked at the ground in shame “Thanks for the tour, I’m gonna go home for the day.” I walked away leaving her there and headed toward my home.

“Your first day and you’re already getting in trouble” I heard the voice of my guardian as I walked in the house coming from the living room. “Sorry about that, ‘principal Aaron’”. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Yeah, I thought If I told you, you wouldn’t agree to go to school, which was important because….” Before he could answer I cut him off “have to make friends and have a normal life and stay out of trouble, fine but your school sucks. “He waved his hands in defense” fine, I agree with you with the bullying matter, but it’s a good thing for you, especially if you wanna stay out of trouble and have a normal life. “Well, he does have a logical point, I mean Anna may not have prevented the bullying but no one else did either, she still could’ve done something but I can’t really blame her, she’s outnumbered. The others seem fine, except Julie seems a little oblivious and Jonathan seems to go with her in everything, if it wasn’t for the fact that I didn’t know them, I’d say she’s got him in the hook, Lisa seems like the voice of reason but otherwise, they’re all great, I think I can get along with them. Hope however is a different story, I may not be able to stay out of trouble.

“I’m gonna head to bed. “I said as I walked to my room “What about dinner?”

“No thanks, I’m good. Good night Uncle Aaron.”

“Good night.”

But he got one thing right, I might be able to start over and forget the past. Thanks, Uncle for giving me my new life.