Puppy Love!

by Sienna Mercer

  ‘Packer.’ For once, the leader of the Beasts looked seriously impressed. ‘You are one radical dude. But you’re also a dumb dude. I mean, it’s cool that you tried, but we all need more experience before any of us’ll be ready for the daredevil thing.’

  ‘Right,’ Daniel said. He shook himself out, breathing hard. ‘Oh, well. Worth a shot, right?’ Might as well pretend it was intentional!

  ‘Right.’ Kyle grinned. ‘If you were looking to become vulture-food. Now let’s get back to camp.’

  Daniel jogged back, his heart still hammering in his chest. He had to learn to focus – he almost ended up a werewolf-shaped splatter on the ground. As he loped along, he was surrounded by a crowd of Beasts, all of whom slapped him on the back in admiration. When they reached the group of fires, he found his dad waiting for him.

  ‘So?’ There was a funny expression on Dad’s face – a mixture of hope and guilt. ‘What did you think of your first real run?’

  That it was pretty boring until I accidentally jumped off a cliff, Daniel thought. Then he winced. I can’t tell him that! ‘It was fun,’ he said, and did his best to sound convincing.

  He couldn’t tell whether or not he’d succeeded. Dad only shook his head and reached out to ruffle Daniel’s hair.

  ‘You’ll need to cut this soon.’

  ‘Oh, come on!’ Daniel groaned. ‘I just cut it last weekend!’

  ‘You’re a wolf now, son . . . whether you like it or not.’

  Dad must have seen the doubt on Daniel’s face. ‘You will enjoy this next part, though. I’m sure of it.’

  ‘What is it?’ Daniel asked.

  ‘Just look.’ Dad pointed up at the sky.

  The clouds were finally beginning to part, revealing a large, white, nearly-full moon that illuminated the two dozen of Pine Wood werewolves as they pressed close together, craning their necks to gaze up at the sky. Moonlight shone down on them, bathing their faces and sending shivers up and down Daniel’s body.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Daniel breathed.

  His dad didn’t answer in words. He just put one hand on Daniel’s shoulder, opened his mouth – and howled !

  Every wolf in the gathering joined in. The sound wrapped around Daniel like a demand, pulling a response up through his body. He tipped his head back and let the howls erupt from his own throat, high and raw and true, twining around the others in the pack. Howling filled the night, eerie and melodic and hauntingly right, drawing all the werewolves together . . . and Daniel was a part of it.

  Every inch of his body tingled with excitement. A wild joy swept through him, strengthening his howl. This wasn’t about being macho. This wasn’t about being physically strong. This was music, perhaps the most beautiful music he’d ever heard . . . and not only was he feeling like a real werewolf for the first time ever, but he was also suddenly getting a really good idea.

  He could make howling a central part of his band’s sound. It would give them an extra special edge, it would make them unique . . . and, even more than that, it would be a genuine tribute to a side of himself that he’d never quite understood until right now.

  As Daniel gave himself up to the night and the moon, he realised: this werewolf gathering wasn’t so bad after all. In fact, it was actually kind of awesome!

  Chapter Four

  It was forty minutes before school started when Justin stepped through the main doors the next morning. Normally, if he was up this early, he would have been yawning and complaining, but this time, he was actually early on purpose.

  With less than a week until Homecoming, he was sure to find Riley here, organising . . . something. And no matter whether it was the Game, the Dance, or Debi’s campaign, he knew he wanted to see her at work.

  He was whistling cheerfully as he turned into the first hallway – and was nearly stampeded by the Beasts as they thundered towards him.

  ‘Packer, my man!’ Kyle bellowed. His playful jostle sent Justin slamming into the lockers behind him. ‘Are you ready to run again after school?’

  ‘Um . . .’ Justin straightened, hoping he hadn’t left a dent in the lockers. He was pretty sure Kyle must be referring to last night’s gathering – but what about it? All Justin’s happiness at getting to school early suddenly faded away. He was a doofus for leaving so early – if he had been his usual, lazy self, at breakfast he would have been able to ask Daniel what had happened. Then he would have known what Kyle meant by ‘ready to run’.

  He did the only thing he could think of. He gave a shrug. ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Sounds like fun.’

  ‘Yeah?’ Kyle eyed him, frowning. ‘You look like you could use a Pick-me-up.’ He reached into the pocket of his jacket and cracked open a Tupperware box. ‘Here!’ He held out a morsel of raw meat. ‘I was saving this for lunch, but I think you need it more than I do.’

  Ugh! Justin swallowed hard, backing away from the dripping red meat. Do not gag! he ordered himself. ‘Um . . . actually, I just remembered,’ he mumbled. ‘I have to go help Riley with something.’

  ‘Ha!’ Ed chortled. ‘First Mackenzie, now Riley! Packer, you need to make up your mind, you player !’

  Wolf whistles chased Justin all the way down the hallway. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans and walked even faster. He didn’t let himself turn around to argue, even when they started taking bets on whom Justin ‘l-o-o-o-oved’ more, Riley or Mackenzie . . . because he could feel that his face had turned bright red with embarrassment. The last thing he needed was to give them even more fuel for the fire!

  When he finally found Riley five minutes later, he let out a sigh of relief. She had taken over an empty classroom as Base Camp for all her organising, and as early as it was, she already had three tables pushed together and covered with construction paper, markers, ribbons and notebooks. Debi, Sarah, and Eileen were all sitting at the tables, helping her make posters.

  When Justin stepped inside, Riley gasped. ‘Justin? What are you doing here?’

  Justin shoved his hands deeper in his jeans, hunching his shoulders as all the other girls went silent, staring at him in obvious shock. Was this a no-boys-allowed zone, and no one had warned him? ‘Um, I thought you might need a hand with all the –’

  ‘I can’t believe you’re offering to help organise the Homecoming Dance! You must be the First Boy in the History of Boys to actually volunteer!’ Riley flew around the desk and threw her arms around him. ‘You’re amazing!’

  ‘Well . . .’ Justin’s voice came out in a near-squeak as she let go of him.

  The hug had been wonderful . . . and he really liked impressing Riley . . . But he shuffled sideways, nervously. Was he really going to be the only boy here?

  Then the door opened again behind him. ‘Hey, Riley.’ It was Daniel, giving a casual wave to the group of girls. ‘Need some help?’

  ‘I can’t believe it.’ Smiling, Riley hurried over to hug Daniel, too. ‘The Packer twins are the best.’

  Justin breathed a sigh of relief. He was not going to be the only boy after all . . .

  But, he had to admit, it had been nice – a scary kind of nice – to be ‘unique’ in Riley’s eyes, at least for a moment.

  Daniel shook his head in awe as he looked around Riley’s Base Camp. Now that he and Justin had both settled into their jobs for the morning – drawing giant wolves to symbolise the football team on the banners that would hang in the auditorium – Riley was back in constant motion, like a bee that couldn’t stop.

  One moment, she was badgering Debi to sparkle up her T-shirt for her Homecoming Queen campaign, and the next moment she was checking drawings and inventories for the Dance. Her binder of notes looked so huge, he wouldn’t be surprised if she had stayed up all night working on them.

  As he watched her guzzle an energy drink, he shook his head sympathetically. Man, did she look tired.

  ‘But Riley . . .’ Debi looked apologetic as she cut another long strip of ribbon. ‘I’m sorry. I really do want to help. I know how hard
you’re working. But I just don’t know about actively campaigning. I mean, what if everyone just thinks I’m being pushy, or obnoxious?’

  ‘Like Mackenzie, you mean?’ Justin snorted. ‘Trust me, you can’t look pushy next to her.’

  ‘This is true,’ Sarah said, nodding. ‘Mackenzie has the pushiness and the obnoxiousness covered for our whole grade.’

  ‘And doesn’t the Homecoming Queen get treated like a Queen for a whole week after Homecoming?’ Daniel added. ‘That means every girl in our grade would have to be part of her Court.’

  ‘Ouch.’ Eileen shuddered.

  ‘That means that Mackenzie will have an entourage,’ Riley said. ‘A school-sanctioned entourage.’ She gave Debi a stern look. ‘Most girls who get voted Queen don’t take advantage of it . . . but Mackenzie is not “most girls”.’

  ‘Do you really want to sit back and let that happen?’ asked Sarah.

  Debi bit her lip. ‘Let me think about it.’

  ‘Let’s all think about it, OK?’ Riley shot Daniel a playful look. ‘Come on, guys. We need to motivate this girl!’

  Her voice came out as nearly a croak, making Daniel frown. ‘How’s your throat doing? All those carbonated energy drinks can’t be good for it.’

  ‘I know.’ She sighed as she turned back to the inventories. ‘But what can I do? I need to stay awake.’

  Daniel traded a concerned look with Justin. ‘Well, don’t forget, you also need to be on your game tomorrow for the Battle of the Bands audition that you signed us up for. So maybe you need to get some more sleep and give up the energy drinks.’

  ‘I will be on my game tomorrow. I promise. I’m going to put that on . . .’ Riley rummaged among her pile of papers and pulled out a crumpled sheet with line after line of scrawled instructions. Some were crossed-out, but most weren’t. ‘. . . my To-Do List!’ She made a note on what little blank space there was. Then she gathered up a massive pile of papers and clipboards and used her shoulder to shove her hair back into place. ‘Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I have some more organising to do.’

  ‘For what?’ Justin asked, half-rising from his seat.

  ‘My next objective,’ Riley chirped, trying and failing to flick a rebellious strand of blonde hair out of her face.

  ‘Which is . . .?’ Daniel asked.

  ‘Going to be taken care of,’ said Riley, as Sarah helped tuck the hair behind her ear. Then her head fell forward in anguish. ‘You know what? I am so busy, I’m not even sure what it is I’m supposed to be doing next! But I’m sure I’ll find out when I get there . . .’ She jostled the clipboards around until the organisation timesheet was on top. ‘. . . Wherever ‘there ’ is?’

  As she hurried away, the school bell sounded, warning everyone that the first period was about to start. Daniel scooped up his books and fell into step beside Debi as they both headed towards Homeroom.

  ‘So . . .’ Debi shot him a mischievous look. ‘It’s a little hard to believe that Daniel Packer is helping to organise the Homecoming Dance – and auditioning to play at it, too! Aren’t you going to lose street-cred with your band mates for getting so into all of this peppy stuff ?’

  Daniel laughed. ‘Yeah, probably.’ He shrugged.

  Debi’s curly red hair bounced around her, brushing against his shoulder as they walked beside each other. Even with the press of the crowd all around them, Daniel’s werewolf senses could easily pick out the light and flowery scent of her shampoo. Better yet, the sight of her teasing grin made him feel more confident than he had since the disaster at the Meat & Greet.

  ‘It’s a little more “mainstream” than we usually like to be,’ he admitted, ‘but who cares? The Dance would be the biggest audience we’ve ever had.’ And helping to organise it means I get to spend more time with you, he added silently.

  ‘That’s true,’ Debi said. She raised her eyebrows. ‘But will it “really rock”?’

  Daniel winced as he recognised the phrase.

  ‘Forget what I said at the Meat & Greet,’ he said.

  ‘Please?’ At least, forget what Justin said when he was pretending to be me. ‘The truth is,’ he admitted, ‘I wasn’t thrilled when I first found out that Riley had signed us up . . . but now that I’ve had time to think about it, I think it’s actually going to be good for us. The band needs experience in performing.’

  Debi nodded understandingly as they neared their classroom door. ‘So this’ll be good practice.’

  ‘Absolutely.’ Daniel lowered his voice as they passed Milo lounging against his locker, typing in a text. Milo had already lost his audition; Daniel didn’t want to make him feel any worse by talking about the band in front of him. ‘If we can just get through the show, the guys can prove to themselves they don’t have to be scared of big crowds.’

  ‘Ha!’ Milo straightened away from his locker, grinning. Obviously, he’d caught every word. ‘For once, Packer, I totally agree with you.’

  ‘Uh . . . you do?’ Daniel looked at him warily.

  ‘Absolutely,’ Milo said. His grin widened into an outright smirk as he added, ‘If something doesn’t hurt a little bit, it’s probably not worth having. Right?’

  Daniel froze.

  He recognised that line.

  It was almost a direct quote from No More Puppy Love, the song whose lyrics he’d been working on yesterday in English class . . . the lyrics he had lost after Milo had ‘fallen’ right next to Daniel’s desk!

  As Daniel stared at Milo’s smug expression, the truth fell into place with a sickening lurch.

  He hadn’t just ‘lost’ his lyrics. They’d been stolen!

  ‘Daniel?’ Debi touched his elbow, sounding worried. ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ Daniel said numbly. ‘It’s nothing.’

  But all the way into Homeroom, he couldn’t stop remembering Milo’s smirk. Milo definitely had Daniel’s lyrics . . . but how closely had he studied them?

  Daniel swallowed hard as he asked himself the real question: How obvious is it that that song is about Debi?

  And if the answer was: totally obvious . . . then exactly how long would it be before Milo told everybody else at their school about it?

  Chapter Five

  Six hours later, Daniel was standing with his band mates outside the main auditorium. The Battle of the Bands was about to start, but he had never felt less ready. All he could think about was his stolen song, No More Puppy Love . . . and for once, his own band mates really weren’t helping.

  ‘I’m not sure I even want to win this thing,’ Otto was slumped against the wall, scowling. ‘We have, like, three songs that we know. Our set would last about ten minutes – maybe twelve if Daniel freestyled a solo, but that’s it!’

  ‘Yeah, man,’ said Nate. ‘You said you were working on new material – where is it?’

  ‘Erm . . .’ Daniel’s fingers nervously drummed against his guitar. ‘I did have one, but it just wasn’t right. Not for Homecoming. It’s too . . . intense.’

  He couldn’t tell his band mates what had really happened – not right before the audition. The last thing he wanted was to freak them out, too. But why had Milo stolen No More Puppy Love ? And what was he planning to do with it?

  Whatever his plan was, it couldn’t be good. Milo had sworn a melodramatic oath to collect his vengeance, promising all of them that his ‘wrath would be righteous’!

  Is this the way righteous vengeance starts? Daniel wondered.

  But his band mates had other things on their minds.

  ‘“Too intense?”’ Nathan shook his head in disbelief, flicking hair the colour of army camouflage around his face. His latest colour matched his ancient, ragged camouflage coat and his khaki-painted nails. ‘What are you talking about, man?’ he said. ‘We are intense. We’re In Sheep’s Clothing !’

  Daniel tried to smile, but he could feel it twist into a grimace. ‘Yeah, well, Homecoming is supposed to be celebratory, right? We need to play something upbeat.’

  �
�“Upbeat?”’ Nathan looked as confused as if he were hearing a foreign language. ‘What does that even mean?’

  Otto sagged even lower against the wall, his voice solemn. ‘Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t rock.’

  ‘Oh, come on, guys!’ Bouncing on her toes, Riley grabbed Otto’s hand and pulled him upright. ‘We always rock! And we can rock just as hard with upbeat music. We’re In Sheep’s Clothing ! Let’s see everyone project some positivity!’

  Maybe those energy drinks are actually doing some good, Daniel thought, as he watched Riley bubble with enthusiasm. But then she started the ‘warm-up exercises’ and he felt his stomach sink.

  ‘Deep breaths,’ Riley commanded, ‘and positive thoughts.’

  Daniel eyed Nathan, who looked as confused as if he had just been asked to give the square root of 37. When Otto tried to take a deep breath, he almost choked on it.

  ‘Um . . .’ Riley’s voice sounded strained. She traded a panicked look with Daniel. Then she looked back to their band mates. ‘Good job, guys,’ she said, with a nervous smile and a shaky thumbs-up. ‘You nailed it!’

  Daniel just groaned and closed his eyes. We’re doomed.

  Then a familiar, sneering voice spoke behind him. ‘Good luck, guys . . . because it sure looks like you’re going to need it!’

  Feeling his stomach muscles tense, Daniel slowly turned around. Milo was strutting towards them, leading three other guys who were all carrying guitars. They were obviously his new band – and they all wore identical expressions of disgust.

  ‘Is this really the “competition”?’ asked the guy behind Milo. He shook his head in disgust. ‘Seriously?’

  ‘Huh.’ The guy at the back smirked and strummed a jangling chord on his sleek black guitar. ‘Well, this should be easy.’

  The door to the auditorium swung open. Principal Caine stood just inside, her expression cool. ‘Is everyone ready for the Battle of the Bands?’

  Daniel forced a smile and gestured politely to Milo. ‘After you guys.’