by Cheree Alsop
“I want to throw this away,” he said into the headset.
“I know,” Trent replied, his voice resigned.
Alex spoke his thoughts aloud. “If I don’t, I’m still going for a ride. I might be gone for a while.”
“Be gone as long as you want,” Trent said. The relief in his voice that Alex might not actually get rid of the chip Jaze had trusted him to place was palpable.
Alex let out a breath of resignation and put the plastic back in the gas cap. He climbed onto the motorcycle again and started it. “Tell them not to look for me unless I call them first,” he said, his tone firm.
“I’ll tell them,” Trent replied quickly, as if worried Alex would change his mind. “Uh, Alex?”
“Yeah?” Alex asked. He ran a hand over the smooth gas tank, his emotions at war.
“Will you be back today?”
The concern in Trent’s voice brought a small smile to Alex’s face. “I’ll be back tonight, I promise.”
“Good,” Trent said with so much relief Alex could practically hear him smile. “I won’t bug you anymore. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Thanks,” Alex told him. He paused, then said, “And you never bug me.”
Trent gave a little huff of laughter. “You’d be the first,” the small werewolf replied. “I’ll talk to you when you get back.”
The receiver clicked off. Alex started the engine and continued down the road. The thought that his ride was being monitored bothered him, but the fact that he could take out the chip at any time gave him at least some sense of control. He knew the motorcycle was probably far beyond the protection Jaze felt he needed. The fact that he rode by himself at all said something about the dean’s trust in him. Alex didn’t want to abuse that. He needed to ride the motorcycle. He wouldn’t press Jaze’s trust and lose his freedom.
Chapter Nine
Alex followed the horizon to a city whose buildings reached the sky. He slowed as he entered the outskirts. Though he had been to big cities several times on missions with Jaze’s pack, entering by himself had a completely different feeling. He had a sense of being small and insignificant as he drove between the buildings. Vehicles rushed by, honking at him if he drove too slowly. He had to concentrate on stopping at the red lights and starting again without killing the motorcycle. It was more difficult with drivers waiting impatiently behind him.
An overwhelming sense of claustrophobia filled Alex as he wound his way down the busy streets, waiting for crowds that hustled across the walkways as soon as the lights changed, and sometimes before. Instead of conspicuous as a werewolf, he felt completely ignored, just another light post or parking sign that meant nothing to the droves of people that massed along the sidewalks intent on unknown destinations.
Alex felt a slight longing to be one of them, to have a place to go amid the rush of traffic and pedestrians. He wondered at the families who lived in the huge apartment buildings and got distracted watching children playing along gutters where water rushed to drains beneath the roads.
For the first time in his life, Alex lost all sense of direction. Smell couldn’t tell him which way was home. He had taken so many turns and detours trying not to get killed in traffic that he found himself in the middle of the city without any idea of how to get back to the Academy. He knew he could call Trent, but he balked at the idea. He didn’t want to admit defeat, to let those at the Academy know he had gotten himself lost. It was his first time out. He would figure out how to get back.
Alex found a small park of grass and trees nestled among the buildings. He parked the motorcycle near the end of a row of cars and shoved the key in his pocket. Even if he was green to city life, he knew better than to tempt thieves with such a machine.
Eight or nine boys and girls close to his age played soccer in the middle of the grass. Laughter from younger children who hung and climbed on the playground nearby filled the air. After the chaos of the city, the park felt like a sanctuary. Alex sank down onto the grass and watched the kids play. The feeling of the early morning cool green blades beneath his fingers calmed the whirlwind in his mind so that his thoughts were clear again.
The ball rolled close to his knee.
“Kick it back,” someone yelled.
Alex looked up to find all of the kids his age watching him. He feared in that moment that they knew his secret, that they had realized he was a werewolf in their city, an enemy to be dealt with.
“Kick us the ball,” a boy wearing a red shirt called. The boy jogged closer. There was nothing intimidating about him. He merely watched Alex curiously as though his lack of response was puzzling.
Alex shoved down the feelings of attack and willed his muscles to relax. He stood slowly, glancing from the ball to the group of boys and girls who watched him. At the red-shirted boy’s gesture, Alex kicked the ball back.
“Thanks,” the boy called before returning to the group.
Alex sat back down with his heart pounding in his chest as though he had just survived something death defying. He allowed his guard to relax enough that he leaned back on his elbows. The sound of the wind through the trees vied with the hum of traffic. It felt so strange that such a place survived within the city. To his senses, it felt like the city crowded everything else out, that the buildings, traffic, and the overall hustle of life didn’t have room for such serenity as trees and grass.
Hope. The word brushed through his mind. It had been Jet’s description for the scent of grass. Alex smiled as he smelled it. Perhaps the city and park weren’t at war. Perhaps somehow in this chaotic state, they had found a happy medium, some semblance of peace. Maybe Jet was right about there being hope.
Alex heard the footsteps, but after his last hasty conclusion, he decided to let them approach without wondering if they meant his imminent death.
“Want to play?”
Alex looked up to see the boy in the red shirt along with a girl with blonde hair tied back in a bunch of braids.
The girl smiled down at him. “Paul had to go home. We’re one person short.”
Alex’s instincts screamed for him to refuse. It could be a trap. He wasn’t a human. He might give himself away. “Uh, okay,” he said. His instincts replied that he was an idiot. Alex ignored the feeling and followed the boy and girl.
“I, uh, don’t know how to play,” Alex admitted before they reached the group.
Both of them shot him incredulous looks. “You don’t know how to play soccer?” the boy asked.
When Alex shook his head, the girl asked, “Where have you been that you don’t know how to play soccer?”
Alex thought quickly. “Boarding school.”
The boy nodded as if it made sense. “My cousin went to boarding school,” he told the girl. “He didn’t even know how to play video games.”
“Crazy,” she replied with a shake of her head. They reached the rest of the kids. She smiled at Alex. “Don’t worry. We’ll teach you. It’s easy.” She gestured at the other kids who looked between fifteen to seventeen years old. “These three are on your team.” She pointed to two boys with bright red hair and freckles across their noses who looked similar enough to have to be brothers, and a girl with straight black hair tied back in a bandana.
“Hi,” the girl said.
The boys looked like they couldn’t care less who played with them as long as they got to continue the game.
“Tell, uh. . .”
“Alex,” Alex supplied when the blonde haired girl paused.
She smiled at him. “Tell Alex the rules of the game. This is his first time playing soccer.”
Alex ignored the surprised stares of the others as he followed them across the grass.
“Well, we don’t have goals, so we use our backpacks,” the girl explained. She pointed to the two mounds closest to them. “We can’t let them kick the ball through here.” She pointed at the other two across the field. “And we kick the ball through there. That’s how we get a point.”
“And
a point is good?” Alex asked.
The two boys snickered.
The girl rolled her eyes. “Yes, a point is good. I’m Cherish and these two blockheads are Ren and Steve.”
“Let’s get playing,” Steve, the older redhead said.
Ren nodded quickly. “We don’t have much time.”
“Right,” Cherish agreed. “Alex, stand over there. When the ball gets to you, kick it toward the goal.”
Alex walked over to where she indicated. The blonde haired girl kicked the ball to start, and it ended up straight at Alex’s feet.
“Kick it!” Cherish yelled.
The others swarmed Alex. He kicked the ball without thinking. It sped past those who were rushing him and sailed through the backpack goal. It proceeded to fly through the air until it hit a slide on the playground, barely missing two boys who were trying to climb it.
Alex froze. He had forgotten about his werewolf strength. At the Academy, that kind of a kick wouldn’t bring any notice. In the city, however, it just might be the thing that blew his cover.
“Uh, okay.” Cherish said, staring from Alex to the ball like everyone else was doing.
“I got it!” Ren yelled.
“No, I got it!” Steve countered. Both of them took off running.
“Glad he’s on our team,” Ren called over his shoulder.
“No kidding,” Sarah, the blonde haired girl, said. She gave Alex a closer look. “You sure you never played before?”
Alex shook his head quickly. “I’ve played football a bit.”
Tanner, the boy in the red shirt who had asked him to play in the first place, nodded. “I bet you’ve got a killer arm. You’ll have to stop by and play a game with us sometime. We hang out here most mornings before school.”
Alex gave a noncommittal smile.
After several more points were scored in which Alex was very careful not to overuse his strength, Cherish called the game over.
“We usually grab breakfast at the café before school,” Tanner told Alex. “Want to join us?”
Cherish and Sarah nodded encouragingly.
Alex’s stomach growled, reminding him that he had left the Academy too early for breakfast. “Uh, okay,” he said, unsure whether he was pressing his luck.
“Great. We’ll show you where it is,” Tanner replied.
When Alex made his way to the motorcycle, several of the soccer players joined him.
“This is your ride?” Josh, a boy with curly brown hair asked.
At Alex’s nod, Sarah said, “Dibs!”
Several of the others groaned.
Alex didn’t know what they were talking about until she climbed onto the back of the motorcycle.
“Are we going or what?” she asked, breaking Alex from his stare.
“Um, yeah,” he said uncertainly. He handed her the helmet. “You should probably wear this.”
“Good call,” Tanner said, still waiting on the curb. He studied Alex in a new light. “Be careful.”
“We will,” Sarah replied. She tried to buckle the chin strap, but couldn’t figure it out.
Alex helped her, aware every moment that Tanner was watching with his arms folded.
“Am I safe now?” Sarah asked. Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement at the prospect of the ride.
Alex couldn’t help but smile back. “As safe as you can get on a motorcycle,” he replied.
She laughed, showing straight white teeth.
“You guys coming or what?” Cherish demanded as she pulled alongside them in a green car with a scratch that ran from the front bumper all the way across the doors to the rear.
“Lead the way,” Sarah called. She waved at Tanner who climbed moodily into the back seat of Cherish’s car.
Steve honked the horn of a black jeep behind them. “Yeah, yeah,” Cherish said. She drove to the stop sign and waited for them to catch up.
While they were waiting for traffic, Alex tipped his head, “Are you trying to make Tanner jealous?”
He glanced back to see a smile cross Sarah’s face. “You think it’s working?” she asked.
Alex nodded. “I think he might want to kill me when we’re done.”
Sarah shook her head. “He’s not like that, but sometimes I wish he was.”
Alex pulled carefully onto the road behind Steve. “Why?” he called back, confused as to why she would want someone to fight over her.
Sarah’s hands slipped around his sides. He was very aware of her pressed against his back. “Sometimes a girl likes to know she’s worth it,” she shouted over the roar of the motorcycle engine.
Alex pulled into the small café parking lot. Tanner was there before Alex had even turned the key to the off position. Tanner unbuckled Sarah’s chin strap and tossed the helmet harder than necessary at Alex. The boy then lifted Sarah from the motorcycle. Alex watched Tanner open the door for her at the café. Sarah looked back when he wasn’t watching and winked at Alex.
“Girls,” Cherish said, walking up.
“You’re a girl,” Steve said from behind her.
Cherish laughed and flicked her hair behind her shoulder. “Yeah, but I’d rather play soccer or soft ball. Guys just get in the way.”
“You got that right,” Ren said, crowding past Alex and Cherish as they tried to walk through the door.
“Watch it,” Cherish said, shoving Ren in the back.
Ren stumbled into Tanner, who bumped into Josh and the red-haired girl he had his arm around.
“Idiot,” Josh said, slugging Ren in the shoulder.
Cherish shook her head. “See; always in the way.”
Alex realized when he got to the cash register that he didn’t have any money. The only things he had actually bought in his life were when Nikki took them shopping for each other at Christmas, or the occasional week before school to get new jeans. He couldn’t remember the last time he had actually paid for something with cash.
“That’ll be five seventy-five,” the girl at the register said.
Alex was about to apologize and retract his order when Cherish leaned past him and slid a five dollar bill and a one dollar bill across the counter.
“You don’t have to do that,” Alex said, embarrassed.
She shrugged. “I noticed you seemed a bit short. Don’t worry.” She winked. “I mow lawns on weekends with my brothers. It pays well.” She jerked her head toward the soccer group who now sat around a table laughing and eating their breakfast. “I’ve covered for a few more of them than they’ll admit.”
“I really appreciate it,” Alex told her.
“Thanks for helping us finish our game,” she said. She picked up her tray loaded with three breakfast burritos, tater tots, a breakfast sandwich, and a cup of orange juice.
Alex picked up his tray that contained a breakfast burrito and tater tots. He paused at the condiments to get ketchup.
“He’s really cute,” he overheard Sarah say while the guys talked animatedly at the other end of the table about something that sounded like football.
Jen, Josh’s girl, said, “Yeah. He’s like the bad boy my parents always warn me about. With his hair and his motorcycle, he could take me away any day.” She flicked her bright red hair behind her shoulder.
The other girls giggled.
Alex looked up to find all four of the girls watching him. They ducked their heads and burst into laughter again.
Alex hoped his cheeks weren’t red as he made his way to the table. Jen patted the empty chair next to her.
“I saved you a seat,” she said, peering up at him through lowered eyelashes.
“Jen, cut it out,” Cherish scolded her.
Chapter Ten
Alex took the seat and pretended to be interested in his burrito. It felt surreal to be surrounded by so many humans, yet to feel like he wasn’t such an outcast. He shared his tater tots with Jen and Sarah who said they hadn’t gotten any themselves because they were watching what they ate.
“Why do you need
to watch what you eat?” Alex asked. “Are you allergic to something?”
All three of the girls burst into laughter. Talking slowed at the other end of the table. Alex glanced over to find the boys watching him and the girls with serious expressions on their faces. He searched quickly for a topic that would dissolve the tension he felt from them.
“I’ll be heading out after this. I’ve got to get home pretty soon,” he said.
“Oh, really?” Tanner asked in a tone that let Alex know the boy was very interested in him leaving. “And where’s that? Pretty far?”
Alex nodded. “Over by Haroldsburg. It’s a little place.”
He knew he didn’t image the disappointment that crossed the girls’ faces or the relief on the boys’. Since he was no longer a threat, they didn’t seem so bothered by him.
“How long have you been riding your motorcycle?” Josh asked.
“Not long,” Alex replied. “A friend gave it to me.”
“That’s some friend!” Steve said.
Ren nodded. “I’ve never seen a bike like that.”
“It’s custom,” Alex told them. “A Trent Rushton special.”
“Now I know what I want for my birthday,” Josh said.
Everyone laughed. “You’d have to save up your money for like fifty years,” Cherish said. “Good luck with that.” At Josh’s chagrined expression, Cherish explained, “He has an obsession with spending money.”
“So I like clothes,” Josh told them. “I look good. Feel free to hate.” He plucked at the material of his shirt. “Dress the best.”
His friends burst into laughter, teasing him. Alex couldn’t help feeling like he had been given something priceless, a glimpse into a normal life with a normal group of friends. At the Academy, it was easy to forget that life continued outside of the walls and forest.
If the genocide hadn’t happened, perhaps he would be just another student out playing soccer in the middle of the city before school started. His parents, or who he had grown up thinking were his parents, would be there waiting for him and Cassie when they got home. Life would be extremely different. Alex forced down the wave of regret and sat back, smiling when Josh kissed Jen on the forehead and Cherish threw ketchup at Steve.
