Wildwood Academy

Road Trip

When they got into Crescent City, Rowan’s nerves shot into overtime. This is where her journey will begin. Her brothers go to the coast, finding a parking space to take her to the beach. It’s closed at this time of year, and very rocky, but they go past the signs until they are out of sight. It is night anyway, so Rowan isn’t concerned about discovery, just surprised when her brothers turn into wolves and wait for her to join them.

First time shifting without her parents around, she grins as she takes her form and they run together up the rocky shoreline and stop once the moon is in the sky and they all howl together, bumping, and nipping, and growling playfully as the siblings have one last romp together. Two hours pass before Rowan and her brothers run back and shift back to their human selves, refreshed. There was just something about running around wild that relaxed Rowan. Now she is ready to go to school. She looks at her brothers and it is clear that that is why they brought her here. When they get to the bus station, she takes her uniform off the hook in the van and heads inside to change.

Rowan had been given many choices for her uniform and, ultimately, the one she is wearing into school is a skirt, but she packed dresses, pants, and shorts, all abiding by the school’s regulations. The school’s mascot was a wolf, not surprising to Rowan at all. She did laugh at his name, which was Alfa. After she changes and makes sure her ebony hair is in order and everything looks presentable on her,she hangs up her old clothes on the hanger and carries them out of the restroom and finds her brothers unloading her things. There was a bus nearby that had pulled in when Rowan was inside that was in the school’s colors with a wolf’s head on the side.

Rowan smiles as she does a spin for her brothers and they laugh and clap at her transformation. They carry her luggage to the bus and call out the driver and they begin talking before the driver nods and loads her things into the storage space under the bus. Rowan waits until he is finished and presents her ticket to him. He glances at it and nods and motions to the bus.

Rowan turns and hugs her brothers tightly. The moment had come so fast to say goodbye. They didn’t have words, and they didn’t need them. They said what they needed to say on the beach when they ran and howled together. Rowan lets them go as she turns and steps onto the bus. Surprisingly, she wasn’t the first one on the bus. There are a few others already settled in. Not knowing them, Rowan took a seat alone at a window where she could see and wave to her brothers.

Once the departure time came, the driver closed the doors without another word and they pulled out of the station. Rowan waves to her brothers until they are out of sight. The bus isn’t filled to capacity as she expected it to be, though there is a decent number of students on the bus. Some seemed to know each other, and others seemed like Rowan, new to this entirely and not knowing what to expect.

As the lights of the city faded from view and the landscape was claimed by shadows and darkness, Rowan turns her gaze from the window to the other students on the bus that she can see. There were a pair of girls huddled together in the the front, giggling over something in a book. The one on the left had vivid red hair that was plated down the back, with her curls escaping randomly, despite the care put in to tame them. The girl on the left had dark black hair that looked almost blue, and it was cut into a pixie cut. They weren't paying attention to anyone. Turning her gaze from them, there were quite a few people who had opted to go back to sleep until the bus arrived on the school grounds. Finally, she looked behind her and there was a young man with curly black hair and vibrant honey-colored eyes. He was staring at her!

Turning back around, Rowan fidgeted with her hands until she felt that the eyes weren't on her back anymore. She reaches into her backpack and pulls out the brochure for the academy. It is boring reading, but she hadn't thought of keeping her phone out since phones weren't allowed at school. She had packed it with the suitcases that were in the belly of the bus. She was almost through the third or fourth read through of the tiny pamphlet when she watched the bus enter the Redwood forest.

The sun was rising now, so she looked back out the window as things were coming into view. It seemed odd that a historically famous natural site would allow a campus to be within its domain. Rowan wouldn't argue, it made her feel better to have the woods around her again, even if they were alien to her. She was imagining what it would be like to run through these trees, howling with her new friends. Friends. She hoped to make good connections and get an idea of what kind of pack she could lead. Rowan was so busy daydreaming she hadn't realized the bus had stopped until she heard people shuffling to get their things together and get off the bus. Getting her carry bag and purse, Rowan gingerly steps off the bus. Her eyes were not ready for what she saw when she looked up.