The hallway flooded with students again.

John sighed and stepped out of the quiet office and into the swarm where his senses were bombarded with the presence of other humans. Body odor, various perfumes, loud talking, and raucous laughter grated on him. Stomach souring, the sickly nerd felt the color leave his face and ran to the nearest trash bin before puking into it. ’Fucking great. As if I wasn’t having enough problems…’ Each retch throbbed in his head and, as he wiped his mouth, the stench wafting up from the garbage can made him dry heave.

’Get a hold of yourself, John.’ With a groan, and a few **** swallows, he shoved himself away from the metal container, stumbling a few steps back before he was able to steady himself. ’Alright. Walk.’ He struggled to clear his head, each thought came in stuttered succession. ’Door. Home.’ His entire body was shaking. ’Bed…’

“John?” Anna, the adorable girl from his chemistry class, was only a few feet away from him. ’She must have still been close to the nurse.’ Though his vision was blurry, her sugary vanilla scent was unmistakable in the throng of body odor and overly floral perfumes at Ashcroft. “Are you okay?” she took a hesitant step towards him.

“Yeah,” he tried to lie before he lost his balance and had to catch himself against the wall next to him. “Er, no. Not really.” The fake smile he managed didn’t last long, and she closed the distance to take his arm.

“Need help getting home?” Her scent enveloped him and he relaxed in the vanilla caramel warmth she provided.

“I’ve got a ride, just gotta get to the door.” He hoped it wasn’t as far a walk as he thought.

She smiled at him, a flush gracing her features, “I’ll help.”

Relieved, John smiled back, “Thanks, Anna.”

Her breath caught, and he could hear her heartbeat skip. “You know my name?”

“Hey look, Nerdman’s got himself a girlfriend,” Frank’s grating voice jeered them from behind.

’Goddammit, really?’ John nodded to the frozen girl next to him, keeping his voice to a whisper, “I got it.” Squaring his shoulders, the exhausted nerd turned to his tormentor. “Get lost, Dickinson.”

“Or what?” the jock scoffed. “Your fat ass girlfriend gonna cry?” A low growl escaped John’s throat unconsciously, and Frank laughed. “You fucking nerd! Growling like some kind of animal? I bet you fucking losers are furries, too.” His two oversized friends came up to flank him, providing the backup he never seemed without.

“Come on, John,” Anna pleaded, gently tugging his jacket sleeve, “let’s just go.”

Frank’s face contorted into a mocking pout. “C’mon, John,” he heightened his voice to mimic hers as best he could, “let’s gooooo…” His voice trailed the whine until he lost it to laughter. The jocks at his side chuckled along with him.

“Leave her alone,” John lowered his voice threateningly. “She doesn’t even know me.”

The laughter died and a few students stopped to watch expectantly for a fight. A scowl twisted Dickinson’s face. “Knowing your name is enough for me.” he barely paused, nodding to his friends, “grab her. We’ll teach her to stay far away from him from now on.” His scowl started to turn into a demented smile as the lackeys moved to grab at the young girl.

Anna gave a startled cry of fear and John knocked the reaching hands away. “I said, leave her alone.”

“Make me, freak!” Frank’s voice was near shouting.

The crowd around them grew, whispered murmurs reaching John’s ears, his vision focused entirely on the bully before him. “He’s so dead…” John could barely distinguish one speaker from another. “Frank’s gonna kill him…” He wasn’t scared like he normally was. “Think he’ll run away?”

’Not today.’ John set his jaw, determined to stand his ground this time, no matter what Frank tried or threatened to do to him.

Apparently sick of the lack of fear, Frank stepped into the Gamer’s personal space, putting his rancid breath directly in the new lycan’s nose. “We’ll make her squeal like the pig she is and she’ll like it.”

Nose wrinkling, recoiling from the stench, the nerd tucked Anna behind him, showing his teeth as he growled again.

“That’s it,” the jock signaled his friends with his hand, “grab the freak.” His sinister grin was reminiscent of a comic book villain. “If he wants to act like a dog, then we’ll beat him like a fucking dog.” The lackeys grabbed John’s arms in a blur of movement, securing their grip before he could react.

He lost track of Anna, but she wasn’t behind him when the first punch to his empty stomach made him double over, the wind knocked out of him in a grunt of pain. “John!” her outcry cut through the crowd, and his mind went blank. He pulled his arms out of the suddenly feather grip of the jocks, launching himself at the source of his emotional anguish since he joined the academy. Frank shouted something John couldn’t understand before he was tackled to the ground by the usually weak, scrawny nerd. With his vision a sea of red, John blindly punched, violently lashing out for all the beatings he’d taken in his lifetime. His unskilled flurry met with surfaces of varying give, every few swings causing a satisfying crunch.

All too soon, the gamer was pulled off his bully. He thrashed against the restraining arms, but the group of people that had him were strong enough to hold their ground. Panting from the effort, John licked his lips and tasted blood. His entire body tensed, mind and vision clearing. ’Oh no…’ With a gulp, he ran his tongue over his teeth, wincing when an overly sharp canine nicked the tender flesh. ’Oh fuck no.’ He looked down at himself, pulling back from the students that were touching him instead of pressing forward. No fur. ’Still huma-’ His hopeful thought was interrupted when he glanced at the bloodied Frank: nose obviously broken, bleeding, and set at an odd angle, fat lip, and blackening eye. Those weren’t worrying injuries, they were normal for just about any fight, John knew that from experience. However, there were four angry, bleeding lines running down the jock’s face and neck. ’No. Those can’t be…’ He couldn’t even think the words, but he knew the truth, for it was undeniable at this point. Taking a slow step back, the frightened lycan turned and ran out of the school as fast as his legs could carry him. This was it. He’d lost control. He’d attacked another student. Worst of all, he’d left behind the one thing he feared.