The police found me standing and staring in the direction in which the stranger leaped into.
They immediately took me to the paramedics to get me checked out, I was lucky to leave with just a sprained ankle and if it wasn't for the stranger I'd probably be dead.
Tetsu came through the crowd looking worried but was immediately relieved to see me okay. Guilt washed over me and I opened my mouth to apologize but he brought me into a tight hug.
"I'm glad you're okay." He said and the guilt rose.
I didn't say anything and just hugged him back, tightly, and hoped he knew how sorry I was for not listening to him. The police came over to ask me some questions about what happened in the forest and I told them but I left out the part about the stranger and how they knocked the Walker out, something told me it would raise a bit of panic.
Once they were satisfied with the answers they left me, the paramedics gave me some painkillers for my ankle and told me not to put too much pressure on it and I'll be fine.
I thanked them and we headed back to the car, I could already see Tetsu's mind deciding to take me home so I can rest.
"Tetsu I'm fine, I can still go to school," I reassured him.
"How sure are you Zee, what if you had a panic attack, and then what? There was no one out there to look out for you, I wasn't there to look out for you, you know better than to storm off like that!"
I could see the worry and fear in his eyes, the emotion felt overwhelming and the guilt fully washed over me.
"I know and I'm sorry!"
I felt like a child who'd broken a very precious vase and was being scolded for being reckless, and to be honest I was being reckless in this case.
"Zee, mom, and dad have done everything they can to make sure you felt welcomed and felt a part of the family, do you have any idea how this would crush them?" Tetsu gently squeezed my shoulder, although it was faint and anyone wouldn't pay much attention to it, he was trembling.
It was prominent to me as the fear and worry in his blue eyes and my throat tightened from the wave of guilt I was feeling, I did my best to hold back the tears that threatened to spill.
His expression soften and pulled me into a hug "I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I'm just trying to tell you to think before you act and just remember the consequences of your actions. I know you didn't think of it being a big deal at the time but you have to remember some people care and worry about you, okay?" He tightened his hold on me and that was enough to let a tear drop loose, I hugged him back even more tightly and with a tiny voice I said: "I'm sorry."
"I know you are, just be careful and don't be a baka and run into things. Two is enough, three is a crowd" He gave me a gentle flick on my forehead after stepping away from the hug and gave me his small tender smile.
I rubbed my forehead and smiled back at him "I don't know, the twins and I could be like the three musketeers" I said with an outstretched arm as if I was holding a sword, he rolled his eyes and ruffled my hair.
"Hey watch the bangs!"
We both arrived at the car in a lighter mood, the traffic started moving and I was glad he decided not to turn the car around and head home even though I knew he wanted to, secretly it would be a perfect excuse not to write the test but that was just prolonging the inevitable.
We finally stopped at my school, the bell just rang for the first period which meant I was already late and the morning assembly was already over "I'll see you later" I got out of the car and took my bags from the trunk then made my way to the building, being careful not to aggravate my ankle.
"Zee!"
I turned to face Tetsu "Have a great day" he gave me his signature small smile and a thumbs up for encouragement.
I couldn't help myself and giggled, my mood slowly lifting already, I posed drastically and batted my eyelashes "Mi armor, you're making me blush in front of all these people, stop it" I giggled dramatically and he rolled his eyes.
"And you ruined it, bye now" with that said he rolled the car window up and drove off, I chuckled and headed towards the school building.
Everything was now right with the world, again.
Oh, history, the only subject that makes me sick to my stomach and hurts more than my ankle.
"You don't look so good hun, should I go call a teacher? Do you need to go to the nurse's office? Is your ankle sore? Do I need to call an ambulance, oh my gosh you not dying are you?"
"Calm down Carol, little Zee here has an upset history stomach, she always gets like this before a test. I say you laugh that test in its face and bash it with a bat!"
Uma gave me a slap on the back which nearly got me throwing up my breakfast "blegh please...don't do that...just leave me in my swallows" I groaned.
"Here drink this." Carol pulled out her water flask, I took it and gulped down some water which did help a bit, I thanked her and continued to lay down on my desk as she comfortably rubbed my back.
The moment I stepped foot into the school grounds Uma and Carol immediately spotted me limping a bit and got concerned, I told them that I tripped down the stairs and Tetsu wanted me to stay until I was better.
They didn't question it and took my story, I did feel guilty about lying to them but I couldn't bear to see their worried faces, I've had enough of that look for one day.
"It's easy f-for you to say since your always getting straight A's," I stated while doing my best to hold my breakfast down, oh did I mention she's the envy of the town with her grades and how they get her out of trouble?
"Don't worry yourself so much, I'm sure you'll pass the test and do well. After all, you did study so it will all be alright." Carol smiled sweetly.
Oh ya, studying.
Oh no, I think I just tasted my breakfast.
The class door opened and Mr. Smirnov walked in, Carol and Uma made their way to their seats, giving me thumbs up on the way back.
"Okay class settled down, I'll be handing out your test papers, do not turn them over unless I say so. This is an hour paper that covers what we've learned so far about the great Canadian war. We advise this will go towards your end-year mark." He looked at me as he said the last line and placed my test paper in front of me.
Oh yay, I'm going to flunk this test for sure. Why couldn't I have Uma's brain smarts, and Coral's ability to study for hours? I can already hear the angels singing in the heavens and their arms welcoming me.
"You have an hour to answer all questions. You may begin and good luck."
I turned the paper over and my soul left my body, who'd have thought my death would have been caused by the history test, goodbye cruel world.
"Okay everyone, pens down. Your time is up."
The sigh of relief washed over the class at the end of the brutal test. Meanwhile, I was dreading every single thing on that paper, second-guessing whether I answered all correctly or perhaps read the questions wrong.
He's so going to kill me. I could already see Tetsu wearing a full samurai suit, katana drawn out, and chasing me down.
Mr. Smirnov started collecting each paper "Before we start with next period, I'd like to make an announce-" 'This test paper won't count for your term mark' "A new student is joining us today and I'd like for you all to give him a warm welcome" The class burst out into excited whispers, more or less the girls but the guys were excited too.
"Settle down before I fail you all." The class fell silent immediately and he was satisfied, he turned to the newcomer "Come in, introduce yourself and find a seat"
The new student stood in front of us and already his presence said bad news "My name's Kai, Kai Becker, nice to meet you all" he dead-panned and that was all he said and the class broke out in whispers again, Mr. Smirnov silenced them again "Ms. Stone please assist Mr. Becker in anything he needs" sir instructed "Aye Aye Caption" Uma responded and Mr. Smirnov just sighed, clearly feeling exhausted by Uma's extreme enthusiasm.
I watched as Kai walked over to the desk in front of Uma-which she was repeatedly patting down-his hair was purple and covered his eyes which meant he was a shifter, all shifters have abnormal hair colors most likely due to the exposure of accident a few years ago that causes all animals to turn into humans and humans to gain superpowers, obviously without its little side effects.
Instinctively I fixed my hair to make sure my pointed ears weren't showing, while Kai didn't hide his and they stuck out like elf ears. It's not uncommon for animals to have pointed ears but there's a stigma that lurked with that certain type of ears.
I caught a few whispers saying what I was thinking, it filled me with an unknown dread, sending cold chills up my spine that I felt guilty about feeling this way.
"He must be one of them-"
"I bet he's going to turn into a Walker-"
"Oh my gosh, look how long his ears are-"
I closed my eyes and tried blocking out the whispers, covering my ears in an attempt to silence them but they seemed to grow louder and louder by the second.
Slowly it became too much for me to be in class as I could feel I was having a panic attack. I felt warm hands on my shoulder, I looked up to see Carol by my side and Uma coming right behind her.
They looked at each other and knew what to do, Carol immediately took charge while Uma helped me up "Mr. Smirnov Zita needs some air, can we take her out please?" She kindly asked, he looked suspicious but allowed us to leave the class.
Carol went for her bag, took out something, and lead Uma and I out, everything was spinning and it was just hard to breathe, I tried to remove the tie and school shirt cause they felt so tight.
"Okay, we'll stop here, just take in deep breathes okay, deep breaths." Uma placed me down and stepped back to allow me some room to breathe, Carol kneeled next to me and gave me a brown paper bag, I took it and started breathing into it "breathe in and out, in and out, there you go."
My breathing was slowly getting better, I leaned back and closed my eyes to calm myself down and stop the shaking, I don't know how long we sat there but I'm sure it was long enough to cause a teacher to pass by and a couple of students.
Carol gently leaned me towards her lap and I obliged, stretched myself on the floor with my head on her thighs and my eyes closed as she gently stroked my head "feeling better?" Uma sat beside her and I nodded.
"We should start heading to class before Mr. Smirnov sends for us," Uma said, I agreed but right now I just don't feel like being in a class "Let's give her five more minutes, and then we'll head back" Carol suggested and I was happy with that plan.
So we sat there on the floor, in silence, not a single word being said while students on errands or staff walked by.
"I have to ask, you don't have to answer the question but what triggered your panic attack, it's just that usually your more in control, again you don't have to answer it," Uma said, reassuring me multiple times so I don't feel pressured in answering the question.
I sighed and sat myself up, pulling my legs closer to my chest, half my face buried between my legs "I saw one today, I saw a Walker" I confessed, and like before I knew their faces were going to scream worry, which was the last thing I needed.
"I'm fine, it didn't hurt me." I quickly reassured them.
"Where was this?" Uma asked.
"The highway by the woods," I answered.
"What happened?" Carol asked with worry laced in her voice.
I took a deep breath and told them everything, including meeting the stranger who saved my life and about them touching my ear, which I blushed and they noticed and told them how they left me by the highway.
"Woah talk about foreshadowing," Uma said, smiling, but it was the sort of smile that made me a bit wary while thinking 'She's got a sneaky plan'.
"Well, I'm glad you're okay but Tetsu is right, you should be more careful next time Zita, I'd hate to lose you." Carol said, squeezing my hand and I squeezed back "I know that, and it won't happen again. I'm sure of it" I smiled and that got her to relax a bit but not fully cause she knew I'd probably still run into danger again.
"Okay I think we should get back to class, Mr. Smirnov is going to start asking questions and I think we all had enough questions for one day," Uma said as she got up and offered a hand to help me up.
I chuckled and took her hand, pulled myself up, and grabbed the paper bag Carol took while Uma helped her up. We walked back to class together and went into our seats, a bird flew above and my thoughts went back to the stranger, I secretly sneak a hand and touched my ear and couldn't help the blush and the small smile I hoped no one saw.