It all started when we got on the bus. I was already was having a bad day. First I forget my lunch money, so I went to class starving. Secondly, I was embarrassed in front of the whole class when I got the answer wrong (which by the way was one of the easiest questions). Oh, you thought it couldn't get worse? Wrong! I was just sitting on the bus, minding my own business, when this kid comes walking by with a hamburger ( why? I have no idea). And he trips and spills the contents of the hamburger all over me. Yep, just a wonderful Tuesday. So here I am, sitting in a crowded, smelly bus, with hamburger juice all over me.
   Well, at least I've got Otsana. Otsana is my best friend. We've known each other since 1st Grade. Friends come and go, but Otsana always is there. She has has long, auburn hair and lots of freckles on her face. Her eyes are a playful green with sparks of gold in them. She always wears this necklace with a broken shell on the end. Why? I have no idea.
I guess I better introduce myself. I'm Ula. I have light brown hair, but darker than Otsanas'. I have turquoise eyes, and gray around the rim. I'm more of a T-shirt and jeans kind of girl. I usually wear a necklace with a silver key on it. I don't know what the key goes to, though. I'm pretty tall, at least taller than Otsana.
   But back to the story. I'm sitting with Otsana in the front of the bus. We like to sit up front because when we get to the destination we are first to get out. She looks over at me and smirks.
"Relax, what could possibly happen at the zoo that ends in our intimate death?" She says. She always knew I was afraid of animals. They are just so unpredictable. One minute Fido is a well behaved puppy, and the next minute he's a viscous, rabid demon.
" I guess so." I say, though I don't feel reassured.
" Unless, you know, all the Tigers get out and attack us!" Otsana teases as she grabs my shoulder, mimicking a Tiger.
" Not helping" I reply, " but we're almost there anyways so let's get it over with". Almost on cue the bus jerked to a stop. We both flew forwards and hit our heads on the seat in front of us. I look over at her, and can't help but smile because the hair she took hours to prepare, is all messed up. I stifle a laugh as she smirks.
   As we exit the bus I couldn't  help but notice that the zoo seemed run-down. The paint was falling off of the ZOO sign. Most of the trees surrounding the entrance were dead or dying. And there were hardly any other people there, just a small family and a strange figure with a dark hood. As we approached the Ticket Booth with our class, Otsana and I fall back in the group. I noticed Otsana staring at the man with the dark hood.
   "Is that guy giving you the creeps too?" Otsana asked warily.
   "Yeah, but don't worry about it," I say, "see we are already going in". We catch up to the group, but not after Otsana glances back once more. As we walk in, I can't help but feel on edge. To our left is a rinky-dink gift shop, with products so old Dinosaurs could've bought them. Past them was a food stand. You know how, with food, appearance is everything? Well they clearly didn't know that. The nacho cheese machine churned slowly, and the chips had dust on them. Even the cotton candy had lost its fluff.
   To the right was a bunch of paths, leading off to different exhibits. In order from right to left, they said; THE FEARSOME FELINES, THE GENTLE GIANTS, THE AMAZING AVIARY, THE AUGUST AQUARIUM, and THE COLORFUL CANINES.
"Did you check out those signs?" I asked Otsana, while giggling.
"Yeah, my favorite is" she paused for effect, and changed her voice to a dignified tone, "The August Aquarium". We both laughed, but was soon stopped when four boys rampaged through us.
"Ugh, jocks" I complained. I had never liked Jocks. They always thought they were better than everyone just because they could play sports. They only dated the shallow popular girls, them dumped them the next week. The teachers always let their ignorance slide. All the hallways were dangerous because of their fighting.
"Come on class! Please act like the 8th Graders you are!" Mrs. Follmer said. If you couldn't tell, she is our teacher. She's alright, since I've always gotten along with strict teachers. Otsana, not so much. But a familiar voice cut through my thoughts.
   "Hey guys, you'd better hurry up. You'll want to get a good spot so you can see the wolves" Rudi says as he runs up to us.
   Rudi is.... different. He's what you might call a social outcast. He has jet black hair and pale skin. On his left ear he has a silver piercing, from what I've heard it was from a dare. He has an eye color I don't usually see, deep gray, like a violent storm cloud. Around his eyes it is sunken from lack of sleep. He usually wears a leather jacket with black jeans. But today he sprung more with a casual look, a gray T-shirt with blue jeans.
   "Yeah yeah we're hurrying" Otsana mocked. Even Rudi couldn't help but smile. We walked under THE COLORFUL CANINES gate and into a large, forking path. Mrs. Follmer led us on the left path, which gradually became an upward slope. When we got to the top, there was a large door, surrounded by a large, heavy duty fence surrounding a large trench.
   "This way kids," Mrs. Follmer said as she ushered the kids through the door.
   It was not what I expected. The path was a bridge leading over a valley of trees and plains. A sparkling, shallow river was coursing through one side of it, and a cave on the other. I assumed that the staff fed and interacted with them there. The trees mostly surrounded the valley, but some made up a small forest directly under the bridge. A large field took up most of it, plenty of running space for the wolves.
   But the most stunning things were the wolves. A whole pack of fit, sleek wolves running through the sparkling creek. Nipping at each as they romped around. One of the wolves snarled at a smaller, Carmel colored one. The larger wolf was a silver color with light brown spots. He had a large build and seemed very fond of another wolf. She was a dark brown, almost black. The most amazing thing, though, were her eyes. They were a golden color, like Apple Cider.
"The gray wolf and black wolf are siblings" said the Zoo keeper, reading my thoughts " Their names are Denali and Aquene. Denali is the alpha, and Aquene is beta".
"They are amazing, aren't they?" Rudi asked. I noticed he was particularly watching the Carmel colored wolf.
"Yeah, they are so intelligent" I replied, leaning closer to the edge with Otsana and Rudi, "They even make ranks in their pack, it's like our government-!" Just then the Jocks came barreling by, and shoved right into the three of us. We hurtled over the edge, falling towards the ground. It kept getting closer, almost upon me. Duck and roll I thought as I hit the ground.
* * *
Ugh, I thought as I sat up groggily. My arm was sore from when I had fallen on it. No broken bones, but I was in pain. I looked around, I was in a field. Tall, soft grass surrounded me. Otsana and Rudi were sprawled out on the grass a few feet away from me. Then I suddenly remembered where I was.
"Otsana.....Rudi..." I said quietly, "get up, quickly". I crawled towards them slowly, careful not to make any sounds. I looked up, a lot of kids were surrounding the edges of the bridge. While at the same time Mrs. Follmer was frantically talking to the Zookeeper while he was messing with his radio. I was almost upon Otsana and Rudi when they began to stir.
Crunch. I froze. Rudi groaned as he turned on his side. Off in the distance I heard a faint snarl. I continued to crawl until I heard yip on to my left. I looked around to catch a glimpse of a blurred gray shape. I stood up slowly, gathering my bearings. I was about four feet away from the two of them. If I moved now, I might not make it to them without being caught. But if I left them there, they could get hurt...
But the universe apparently didn't want me to decide. Four full grown wolves burst out of the tall grass. The silver one, Denali was facing directly at me. While Aquene and the Carmel colored one were at my sides, and a mud colored one at my back. For a moment all was silent. Until, I remembered the Hamburger grease, and apparently they smelled it. Denali snarled and the others barked. They started to circle the three of us, each one darting closer, and then back. But Aquene was the first to strike.
She bit me as she darted past. Not a full on bite, just a small nip on my shoulder. But enough to scare the crap out of me. Denali was next. He pounced on Rudi and Otsana, but I didn't want them hurt. I charged at Denali, all logic put aside. As I reached them, Denali had scratched Otsana and Rudi and ran back to the other wolves. They didn't seem to be hurt bad, but it was clear they were in pain.
For awhile all was calm. No one moved, not us, not the wolves, not even the Jocks. But what seemed from out of nowhere, the Carmel Wolf pounced on me. He bared his teeth, it was inches away from my neck. Yolo was the only thing I thought as I slapped the wolf across the side of the face. He flew a few feet, and landed with a yelp. That didn't help the situation. Denali, Aquene, and the mud colored wolf advanced on me.
   The wolves stopped, and perked their ears up. Very faintly I could hear a high pitched whistle. They lessened their stance and turned towards the cave. I thought I saw a human face in the door window, but I couldn't be sure. The wolves turned and ran towards the cave, even the Carmel wolf ran. Their tails wagging as they caught pieces of meat from the door.
   As soon as the wolves were occupied, three ropes dropped down. And on them three firefighters. They attached harnesses to Otsana and Rudi, and I grabbed on as they pulled the ropes up. I couldn't tell where we were going, but I soon saw the bridge under us. All the students gawking at us.
                                                                             *                         *                           *
   I sat on my hospital bed, thinking about Otsana and Rudi. I don't even know why I was in the hospital. I mean, I just got bit. Nothing a band-aid can't fix. I turned towards the TV to see the news on, they were reporting about us. I've always wanted to be on the news, but not like this.
   I look down at the spot on my left shoulder where I had gotten bit. But something was different, the scratch was no longer there, just a tattoo of a wolf.

==================================================================================
How was it? Sorry if there are any grammatical errors, but I hope you liked it! Tell me if I should continue!