Maddie stood outside Shannon's with Ryhdian as she held her hands in his pockets. "The towns pretty nice we always go to the same Kafe." She said humming as she looked at him.
"I've never been to a Kafe before. I'm sure it's nice. I also want to thank you for showing me around." HE said his hands in his pockets.
"Anytime. Besides if you're going to be hanging around you should know how to get around."
"I'll have you know that I can take care of myself." He said nudging her arm.
"Oh yeah, hunting in the woods looking like a mad man is taking care of yourself." She said rolling her eyes.
"No one sees me when I hunt. Part of growing up in the wild. You stay away from humans. They don't see you and you don't see them."
"You had to have seen some humans. I mean, you don't look like the wild Wolfblood's." She said humming.
"Because my mother made me clean myself up so I could blend in better?" He asked chuckling a little. "She hated humans, but she wanted me to be presentable."
"Hated?" She asked carefully as she looked at him.
"She's accepted them a bit more though she's not a fan." He said as Tom came up to them. "She'd like to meet you some day."
"I think I'd like that but let's wait on that considering we'll most likely need to talk about the whole betrothal thing. What exactly we're going to do about that."
"Right." He said nodding as Shannon walked out as Maddie waved to her.
"We can talk about that later. Right now. We're going to be actually teenagers and go to the Kafe. Get milkshakes and junk food." She said as Shannon nodded.
"Yup and seeing as the three of us have lived here our whole lives you have no better tour guides than us." Shannon said as she linked arms with Maddie.
"We don't get many new people around here. As you can see. We don't have much to do but it's pretty easy going." Maddie said as she looked at the other's. "So, you guys ready?"
"Yup!" Shannon said nodding as they headed towards the town with Tom and Ryhdian following behind them.
"Oh Ryhdian." Maddie said as she glanced back at him. "You can control yourself…right?"
"Yeah." He said nodding as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I do have slight aggression issues, but we should be fine. It's a Saturday there shouldn't be too much activity."
They looked at him and blinked shaking their heads. "If it gets too much just let me know." Maddie said gently as she looked at him. "You'll be alright."
"I will." He said nodding as she smiled at them.
They talked with each other Shannon and Tom explaining what there was to do with Maddie interjecting every so often.
Soon they made it town and Shannon started pointing out every place there was. "Our school's not far from here." She said as she looked towards it. "What do you do for school?"
"We're taught by the elders and our parents. Mainly the laws of the wild. We do have math and what not reading, writing. Though it's probably not up to your standards."
"That makes sense. In the wild you don't have much need for what we do. But in case they need it they teach the basics." Maddie said nodding.
"Anyone up for a milkshake?" Tom asked as he tilted his head.
"Always." Shannon said nodding as Maddie chuckled and looked to Ryhdian.
"Have you ever had a milkshake before?" She asked tilting her head.
"I can't say that I have. We don't have those in the wild and never stayed in one place long enough to get it from a town."
"Then you're in for a treat." She said as she pulled him towards the Kafe with the other's following.
Tom headed inside with Shannon and greeted the worker. "Afternoon." He said waving his hand.
"Afternoon you three. Whose this?" He asked as he looked at Ryhdian. "Haven't seen you around boy."
"He's new." Maddie said as she looked over at him. "A family friend." She said smiling at him.
"Oh well isn't that nice." He said nodding. "So, shall it be the usual for you three?"
"Yes, and we'll get Ryhdian a vanilla milkshake." Maddie said smiling as the other's nodded.
"We've been showing him around today." Shannon informed as she smiled.
"From what I've seen so far it seems pretty nice here actually." Ryhdian said smiling. "Tom, Shannon and Maddie have been great hosts."
"I'm glad to hear that. I'll get your milkshakes started for you now. If there's anything else just ask."
"Thank you." They intoned as the door chimed and the three K's walked into the building.
"Oh no." Maddie said closing her eyes as she sunk down in her seat.
"What is it?" Ryhdian asked as Tom and Shannon looked to the door.
"It's the three K's." Shannon said rolling her eyes as they turned back around.
"The three what now?" Ryhdian asked tilting his head. "What's so bad about them?"
"The three K's. Also known as Kay, Kara, and Katrina." Tom said as he crossed his arms. "Shannon used to be friends with Kay and Kara for a while."
"Then they became popular." Shannon said huffing. "They think they're the coolest girls in school. So does half the school."
"Well, I don't think that." Ryhdian said smiling at her. "I think you're much cooler than they are."
"Thank you." Shannon said smiling as the milkshakes were brought over.
"Let's just keep our heads down and hope they don't try and interact with us." Maddie said as she took her chocolate milkshake giving Rhydian his as Shannon and Tom took theirs.
"You know we won't get out of here without a comment." Shannon said as she looked at her. "But I do love how hopeful you are."
The other's chuckled a little before one of them called out. "Hey, blondie, I think you're at the wrong table. The cool kids are over here."
Ryhdian looked at them and raised an eyebrow as Maddie suppressed a growl. "That's Kara. She's, their leader." She said as she looked away.
"Ahh." Ryhdian said nodding as he hummed. "I'll be right back." He said as he started to get up.
Maddie's eyes widened as she looked at him. "What no, Ryhdian don't!" She said trying to stop him, but he was already halfway over to them.
"Oh no." Tom said shaking his head. "This is going to bed bad. Can we stop him?"
"There's no way for us to stop him without me having to expose us." Maddie whispered as she watched Ryhdian.
The K's looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Well, it seems you've come to your senses. Pull up a seat…uh…I didn't get your name."
"The names Ryhdian, Ryhdian Morris." He said politely as he nodded to them. "I wanted to ask you nicely to leave my friends and I alone."
They all gasped as they looked at him. "You're actually friends with those losers?" Kay asked her arms crossed over her chest.
"I am actually." He said nodding as he clenched his hands. "Now, I'm going to go back to them. I'd really like to enjoy my time here in peace."
"Oh girls." Kara said awe slightly. "I think they're on a double date. Isn't that the sweetest." She said as the other's awed mockingly.
"You know Maddie I didn't think you'd go for someone like him. I mean we've all known boys like him. They only want one thing and then they'll dump you." Kara laughed as the other's joined in.
Katarina made a confused face afterward and asked what she meant as she twirled her hair.
Ryhdian was almost sitting down when he heard them making Maddie freeze as she gripped his arm.
He'd tensed at their words and laughter as he clenched his fists around the chair and table.
"Ryhdian." Maddie said warningly as she looked up at him. "You need to calm down."
Ryhdian looked at her as he clenched his teeth and closed his eyes taking a few deep breaths. "Okay." He said nodding as he slowly sat himself down.
"Good." Maddie said softly as she squeezed his arm gently. "You did good by the way. No one's every really stood up to them before."
"Shannon has in a way but it's mainly just throwing insults back and forth." Tom said as he put an arm around her.
"It's really the only thing I can do until we graduate." She said as she leaned into Tom a little sipping her milkshake.
Maddie nodded as she glanced at the other's who seemed to be looking at fashion magazines. "They make my blood boil sometimes."
"I can see why school is stressful with people like that around you all the time." Ryhdian said as he sipped his own milkshake and hummed. "This is actually really good."
"Wait until you try the other flavors." Tom said chuckling a little.
"I got chocolate if you wanna taste that one." Maddie said smirking at him slightly as he chuckled.
"Maybe later, I'll focus on this one for now." He said smiling at her as they continued to talk.
Once they were done with the milkshakes Tom paid for them as Ryhdian looked a little embarrassed. "Hey, sorry man I didn't even think about money."
"It's alright, I got this one." Tom said waving his hand at him. "Come on, it's getting late we should probably head home."
Maddie looked out the window and nodded. "We have to figure out what we're going to do tomorrow. You can either hang out in the woods all day and wait for us to get out of school. Or you can hang out with my parents."
Ryhdian listened to her and hummed as he put his hands in his pockets and headed out of the Kafe. "What if I went to school with you?" He asked raising an eyebrow.
"How do you think you're going to be able to go to school. You're not even enrolled in school." Shannon said after they left the Kafe.
"I have my transcripts from the last school I was at and my homeschooling." He said humming. "I could enroll."
Maddie looked at him and blinked slightly before punching his arm. "You've been planning this all along." She said huffing.
"It was my mum's idea. She wanted me to be prepared to be able to get close to you." He said chuckling a little as he rubbed his arm. "You hit hard."
"Serves you right." She said shaking her head as they laugh and walk Tom home.
Soon after they walk Shannon home talking about what school would be like with him there and the K's comments about him and Maddie.
After they dropped Shannon off Maddie and Ryhdian headed back towards her house. "So, you gonna sleep in the woods tonight or on our couch?" She asked her hands in her pockets.
"I'm not sure yet. I may go for a run before bed." He said humming as he looked up at the sky. "I enjoy running at night."
"It's really peaceful but if you plan to go to school tomorrow you need to get sleep."
"I will." He said chuckling as they made it to her house and greeted her parents telling them about their day and what Ryhdian planned to do.