*Part 1* of _the boy who howled last_:---*the boy who howled last* Chapter 1: The Scars in the DirtThe village of Oru-Kai sat on the edge of the Whispering Woods, and every kid in Oru-Kai knew three rules: 1. Don’t go into the woods after dusk. 2. Don’t speak to wolves. 3. And never, ever be born with gray eyes like Kael.Kael was 13. He wasn’t tall. He wasn’t strong. And he had gray eyes. The elders said gray eyes were the mark of the “wolf-touched.” Bad luck. A curse.So every market day, the kids made him their sport. “Wolf-boy!” they’d shout, throwing mud. “Go howl for us!” They’d push him into the dirt by the well and laugh while he wiped his face. His only friend, Amara, would try to help, but her parents forbade it. “Stay away from him,” they’d say. “Before the curse jumps.”Kael didn’t howl. He didn’t talk back. He just went home to the small hut he shared with his grandfather, Duro. Duro was the only one who didn’t call him cursed. He was old, hands shaking, but his voice was steady. “Let them laugh, boy,” Duro said one night, stirring soup. “Wolves don’t cry when sheep bleat.” “Grandpa, why are my eyes like this?” Kael asked. Duro looked at the fire a long time. “Because something in the woods is waiting for you.”Kael didn’t believe it. Not then.Chapter 2: The HumiliationThe breaking point came during the Harvest Festival. Every year the village chose a “Child of Plenty” to light the great bonfire and ask the spirits for a good winter. It was a huge honor. This year, the elder’s son, Tunde, was chosen. Tunde hated Kael most of all. During the ceremony, with the whole village watching, Tunde pointed at Kael in the crowd. “If the spirits want a child,” Tunde yelled, “let’s ask the wolf-boy!” Everyone laughed. “Come on, Kael!” they chanted. “Light it! Howl for us!” Kael’s face burned. He shook his head. Tunde grabbed him, dragged him to the pyre. He shoved Kael’s hand toward the torch. “Do it, curse,” Tunde whispered. “Or I’ll say you tried to burn the village.”Kael dropped the torch. It fell in the dirt. The fire didn’t catch. Silence. Then boos. Then stones. Not big ones. Just enough to sting. “Get out, wolf-boy!” “Go back to the woods!”Amara looked away. Duro closed his eyes. Kael ran. He didn’t stop until the trees of the Whispering Woods closed around him and the sounds of the village faded.He sat under a tree and cried for the first time since he was 5. “I’m tired,” he whispered to no one. “I’m so tired.”That’s when he heard it. A low breath. Then another. From the dark, two golden eyes opened.Chapter 3: The WolfThe wolf was massive. Bigger than any Kael had seen in stories. Its fur was black with silver at the throat. A scar cut across its nose. Kael should have run. But he was too tired. The wolf didn’t attack. It sat. It watched him. And then, impossibly, it lowered its head until it was level with Kael’s. Kael reached out, shaking. The wolf didn’t flinch. His hand touched fur that was warm, like holding sunlight. “You smell like rain,” Kael whispered.The wolf made a sound. Not a growl. Almost like a sigh. Then it stood, turned, and walked into the trees. It looked back once, like: _follow_.Kael did. They walked all night. The wolf led him to a cave hidden behind a waterfall. Inside, the walls were covered in carvings. Wolves. Boys with gray eyes. A circle. A crown made of bone and claw. In the center of the cave was a stone. On it lay a pendant — a wolf’s fang on a leather cord. When Kael picked it up, it was warm. The moment it touched his neck, the carvings on the wall glowed faintly blue.The wolf sat beside him. “You’re not cursed,” came a voice. Not out loud. Inside Kael’s head. Kael jerked back. “Who said that?” The wolf blinked slowly. _I did._ Chapter 4: The Truth of the ChosenFor three days Kael stayed in the cave. The wolf — who he learned was called Ash — taught him without words. The Whispering Woods weren’t haunted. They were a border. Long ago, when the first villages formed, a pact was made between humans and the wolf spirits who guarded the forest. Every few generations, when the border grew weak, a child would be born “wolf-touched.” Gray eyes. Able to hear the wolves. That child was meant to be the Bridge. The Chosen One who would renew the pact and keep both sides safe.But humans forgot. They got scared. So they started calling the Bridge “cursed” and driving them away. And without a Bridge, the border was tearing. That’s why crops were failing. Why the cold came early. Why strange shadows moved at night. “You’re the last one,” Ash told him. _“If you don’t take the pendant to the Heart Tree at the next

*TRUE BEAUTY* _A story about Sage, James, and the face she was afraid to show_*Chapter 1: The Glitch Girl*Sage Okoye was 16 and invisible. Not the cool invisible. The “lunch table alone, hair in a messy bun, hoodie 2 sizes too big” invisible. At Crestview High, she was known as "Glitch Girl" because in 8th grade her projector died mid-presentation and she turned red and said “uhh… technical difficulties” for 3 minutes straight.So Sage did what any logical teen would do: she disappeared into YouTube at 2am. Contour. Color correction. Cut-crease. Baked under-eyes. She practiced on her face every night. By 10th grade she could turn herself into someone else in 20 minutes.The day she posted her first TikTok: “$15 drugstore glam transformation” It got 4.2M views.By 11th grade, Sage wasn’t Sage anymore. She was *@SageGlam*. 2.1M followers. Brand deals. The girl who “turned intolerant into a goddess” with a beauty blender.Teachers didn’t recognize her. Girls who ignored her now asked for selfies. Boys who called her Glitch Girl now slid into her DMs.There was only one rule Sage had: *No one sees her bare face. Ever.* Not even her best friend Mira. Not even on FaceTime. Filters only. Ring light only. “Because the second they see the real me, they’ll remember I was Glitch Girl,” she told her mirror.*Chapter 2: The Cold Boy*James Carter was the opposite of invisible. 6’1. Dark curls. Varsity jacket but never zipped up. Sat in the back of every class with headphones in. People called him cold. Because his mom left when he was 12 and his dad worked 3 jobs, so he raised his little sister himself. He didn’t have time for drama. Or makeup tutorials.He first noticed Sage because she was yelling at a broken eyeliner in the girls bathroom. “Stupid wing! You were perfect on camera!” James was in the wrong bathroom. The boys one was flooded. Sage screamed, covered her face with her hands. Full glam. Lashes, the whole thing. James just said: “There’s paper towels by the sink,” and left.Sage spent a week panicking that he saw her mid-rant. He didn’t post it. He didn’t even look twice.Weird.*Chapter 3: Lab Partners*Fate is cruel. Fate put them as lab partners in Chemistry. James: shows up, does the work, says 4 words total. Sage: shows up 30 min early to do her makeup in the lab mirror, terrified someone would see her before 1st period.Week 3: her foundation spilled in her bag. She had a brand shoot after school. She couldn’t go out bare-faced. She’d die.She was in the bathroom scrubbing her bag when James walked in to grab his backpack. He saw her. No makeup. Red eyes from crying. Breakouts. The real Sage. Sage froze. “Don’t look at me.” James blinked. “...You okay?” “Don’t. Talk. To. Me.” He grabbed paper towels, handed them to her, and left. Again.That night he got a DM from @SageGlam: `if you tell ANYONE I looked like that I will end you` He replied: `i have a sister. i’m not dumb.` Sage stared at that message for 20 minutes.*Chapter 4: Secrets Over Fries*They started staying late to finish labs. At first it was silent. Then James asked: “Why do you do the makeup thing?” Sage: “Because people like the goddess. Not me.” James: “My sister likes your tutorials. She uses them to feel better after chemo.” Sage’s heart did a weird flip. James started sharing too. About raising his sister. About working nights at the garage. About how people think he’s cold but he’s just tired. Sage started sharing too. About the comments that said “you’re so pretty but bet you’re ugly without makeup.” About being scared.They’d sit on the bleachers after school sharing fries and secrets. James never asked to see her without makeup again. Sage started... not hating that.*Chapter 5: The Leak*It all blew up at Winter Formal. Sage was the “Glam Queen” host. Full beat. Dress. 500 people watching her livestream. In the middle of her speech, the lights flickered. Someone from the AV club tripped. The projector turned on. And it was a photo. From 8th grade. Glitch Girl. Bare face. Messy bun. Red.The gym went quiet. Then whispers. Then phones out.Sage ran. She didn’t stop until she was on the roof. Crying. Bare face. Because she’d wiped it all off in the bathroom.The door opened. James. In his tux, tie loose. “Your sister’s live is blowing up,” he said. “She’s defending you in the comments.” Sage didn’t look at him. “I’m done. I’m a fraud.” James sat next to her. “You’re not a fraud. You taught my sister how to feel pretty when she lost her hair. That’s not fake.” “But you saw me,” Sage whispered. “And you didn’t laugh.” “I didn’t laugh,” James said. “Because you looked like the girl who shares fries with me.”He didn’t kiss her. He just handed her his jacket. “Come on, Glitch Girl. Let’s go home.