Oh, no. With a jolt of horror, Justin finally realised what she was doing: campaigning for Homecoming Queen! And I’ve played right into her hands.
Unfortunately, she was still waiting expectantly for his response, and so was everyone else in the crowd. Justin opened his mouth to speak – then gave up. There was nothing safe to say in this situation.
‘Mmm,’ he mumbled, and smiled vaguely as he skirted around her, aiming to escape.
Mackenzie caught his hand just as he passed her. ‘Just check this out!’ Her legs kicked out, her skirt whirled, and she did a fabulously twirly, dance-y move that sent her spinning right into his arms . . . as if they’d carefully choreographed it . . . together !
‘You see?’ she announced to the crowd, tipping back her head and grinning. ‘What a partnership!’
This time, the applause was enthusiastic.
‘Woo!’
‘Go Mackenzie!’
‘Cute couple,’ someone called out from the back.
Justin gritted his teeth and winced as a whole group of girls converged on Mackenzie admiringly, while the rest hung back to give him speculative looks.
‘Justin!’ Detaching herself from her admirers, Mackenzie hurried after him down the hall, her voice sharp and commanding. ‘Don’t run away! You need to get behind this now.’ As she caught up with him, she grabbed his shirt-sleeve to pull him to a stop. ‘The Mackenzie Express is going non-stop to Queendom. Don’t you want to be on a winning team?’
‘Oh, for . . .!’ Groaning, Justin turned to face her. ‘Mackenzie, what does it matter what I think? What makes you think I’m going to be Homecoming King?’
Mackenzie smiled at him with all her teeth showing. ‘It’s the word on the street, Justin. And trust me – I am very good at figuring out what the little people like.’
“The little people? ” Justin shook his head in disgust. ‘Well, we’re not on a street. We’re in a school hallway, and I’m –’
‘Whatever.’ Mackenzie waved off his protest. ‘The point is, that’s the goss. You have the vote!’ Her smile hardened. ‘And you’re going to take me with you.’
Justin set his teeth together. ‘Even if you’re right about me –’
‘Oh, I am.’ Mackenzie finally dropped her smile, as she crossed her arms to study him like a science experiment. ‘Trust me, I don’t understand it either. But . . .’ She shrugged. ‘I suppose there is something “underdog” about you.’
You don’t know how right you are, Justin thought glumly.
‘So . . .’ Mackenzie gave him a triumphant smile. ‘When are we going to start practising our dance for tomorrow night?’
‘What?!’ Justin barely held back a groan. Where is Riley when I need her? He twisted to look over his shoulder, hoping desperately to see a flash of blonde hair, posters and clipboards. Unfortunately, Riley was nowhere to be seen . . .
. . . But Kyle was. Phew. ‘Sorry.’ Justin faked a smile as he backed away from Mackenzie, nodding towards the group of Beasts who were moving in a rowdy pack down the other end of the hallway. ‘I’m pretty busy with football practice right now. So . . .’ He shrugged, holding up his hands. ‘I won’t be able to squeeze in any dance practice.’
‘You –!’ Mackenzie’s eyes flashed almost demonically. She seemed to catch herself just in time, cutting off whatever nastiness had been about to spill out of her mouth. Instead, her lips curved back into a false smile and her voice turned sugary-sweet. ‘No biggie.’
Her hand snaked out and grabbed his arm before he could escape. She leaned closer, her voice turning breathy. ‘I’ve seen you play running back, remember? I know you have good footwork. I’m sure you can improvise at the Dance tomorrow night.’
‘Uh . . .’ Justin tried to pull his arm free as subtly as he could.
Her eyebrows lowered into a frown. ‘Honestly, it wouldn’t be so bad if that silly girl, Riley, wasn’t being so secretive about the music that’s going to be played at the Dance. How am I supposed to prepare if she insists on being so irritating about it?’
‘What did you just say? ’ For the first time since their conversation had begun, Justin stopped trying to back away. Instead, he stepped closer. ‘Do not talk about Riley like that!’
‘OK, OK.’ Mackenzie flapped a hand at him in dismissal. ‘I’ll see you later, partner. Right now, I have a dress to try on!’
‘Grrrrr . . .’
Anger burned like fire in Justin’s chest as he watched Mackenzie stride away. The growl that rumbled through his chest was as feral as any he’d ever heard from Daniel. He had to force himself not to chase after her, just to explain exactly how wrong she was – about everything.
Forget her, he ordered himself. Riley’s going to make sure that Debi wins. That’ll show Mackenzie exactly what the “little people” think of her.
He swung around – and found Kyle standing right there, less than half a foot behind him! Sometimes, he really hated werewolf super-speed.
Sighing, he reached up one hand for the stinging high-five. ‘What’s up, dude?’
‘What’s up with me ?’ Kyle raised his eyebrows. For once, there was no smile on his face. ‘The question is, Packer . . . what’s up with you ?’
As the leader of the Beasts studied him through narrowed eyes, Justin had to force himself not to squirm. He felt like he was being held under a magnifying glass. Yet again, he cursed himself for his mistake at the gathering last night. Why hadn’t he been more careful with his phone? If Kyle figured out that Justin had been lying the whole time about being a werewolf . . .
‘I’m fine,’ he said heartily. ‘Totally fine! In fact, I’m lu-fine . . .’ He tried not to wince as he thought about just how dumb a word ‘lu-fine’ was.
‘Oh, yeah?’ One corner of Kyle’s mouth twitched upwards. ‘And you’re really ready for the game tomorrow?’
‘Dude, I was born ready,’ Justin said . . . and wondered how he could stop talking in clichés and made-up words.
It seemed to have worked, though. Kyle gave him a toothy grin. ‘Well, if Mackenzie’s there as a cheerleader, and she makes you growl like you did just now . . .’ He clapped Justin on the back. ‘The other team won’t stand a chance!’
The rest of the Beasts crowded around them, bellowing with laughter, and Justin’s mouth dropped open.
‘Wait a minute,’ he said. ‘I’m not . . . I mean, Mackenzie isn’t . . .’
Chris Jackson shook his head at him. ‘Try a new one, Packer! We’ve all seen how much time you’ve spent with her lately.’
‘That’s just . . . that’s . . . oh, forget it!’ Justin cut himself off, groaning silently.
If he told them he didn’t have a thing for Mackenzie, they’d just go back to teasing him about Riley. That would be worse. There’s no point giving them any more ammo!
Anyway, what he really wanted was just to get to Riley, as soon as possible. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘It’s great to see you guys, but –’
‘Packer’s right,’ Kyle said. ‘That’s enough about his love life! The gym’s empty right now, so we should run some quick drills, make sure we’re sharp enough for the game tomorrow. Come on!’
The Beasts roared their readiness and stampeded off in a group, their thundering footsteps echoing through the halls. Giving up, Justin let the group sweep him along towards the gym.
He would have to find Riley a little later, and hope that he was not too late.
It was a full hour before the Beasts were finally ready to head home. By then, Justin had to use all his energy just to stand upright at the top of the school steps, weathering a set of farewell high-fives that threatened to send his aching, wrung-out body crashing to the cement.
The moment that he saw the last Beast disappear around the corner, Justin let himself slump, breath whistling out of him. He turned to head back inside the school, almost moaning with relief. Finally – finally! – he could find Riley and spend some time helping her out.
At least, that was the plan.
Unfortunately, his legs refused to obey orders. When he tried to turn, they stayed stubbornly rooted to the ground. His upper body twisted . . . but his legs didn’t. Hopelessly off-balance, he started to fall.
He grabbed hold of the wall just in time to keep from plastering himself all over the cement steps.
At least the Beasts didn’t see this! He’d managed to keep up with them all through the drills, no matter what the cost in pain. But now that the drills were over, his body was refusing to play along with the pretence.
Ignoring the snickering from Milo and his friends as they passed him on their way out, Justin hobbled into the school building. He had to hang on to the wall with every step.
Too bad Mackenzie Barton isn’t here to see me now, he thought, and shook his head ruefully. If she saw me moving like this, no way would she stay on my case about that dumb, stupid dance!
It seemed to take forever as he shuffled along the hallways, but he finally found Riley in an empty classroom, her head propped on one hand and her long blonde hair trailing in a smooth wave over her face and across a stack of papers on her desk. She didn’t look up when he hobbled into the room.
Good. Justin paused a moment to straighten his shoulders, forcing himself to rise up out of his half-crouched pose. Come on, muscles. Just give me two more minutes of dignity so I don’t look like an idiot in front of her!
He started forward, trying for a normal walk. His legs and back felt like they were screeching in protest, but he locked a smile on his face. ‘So, Riley, it looks like –’
‘Aaah!’ Riley jerked, her arms flailing. Papers flew through the air, scattering across the floor. ‘I’m not asleep! I wasn’t sleeping! I’m just – oh, nooo!’ She let out a moan of frustration as she looked up at the clock on the wall. ‘I totally fell asleep! I can’t believe I let myself fall asleep when there’s so much work to do!’
‘Come on, Riley . . .’ Justin rolled his eyes as he walked towards her. ‘You’ve been working too much, you’ve barely slept for the whole past week. I don’t think the Homecoming Police are going to arrest you for taking a five-minute power-nap.’
‘I don’t know. I think the Homecoming Police are pretty strict about that kind of thing.’ Half-laughing, Riley combed back her hair and dropped down to her knees to start gathering up the scattered papers. ‘Seriously, though, I can’t afford to lose any more time, not even five minutes. There’s only one day left!’
‘Then it’s a good thing I’m here to help. See?’ Justin started to lower himself down to a crouch, to help scoop up papers from underneath the desks.
It was the last straw for his aching legs. They gave out completely, sending him crashing towards the ground. ‘Aaah!’
‘Justin!’ Dropping the papers she’d already gathered, Riley lunged forward to try to catch him.
I cannot fall on top of Riley! With one last desperate burst of energy, Justin yanked his upper body backwards even as she grabbed his shirt . . .
. . . And the sound of tearing cloth filled the air.
Justin landed on his butt with a thump. Cool air filtered on to his chest through the rip in his shirt. A few feet away, Riley blinked at him from where she’d flopped amid a massive mess of scattered papers.
Some hero I am! Justin thought.
There was a moment of silence as they stared at each other. Then they both burst out laughing.
‘So,’ he said, and pulled out a piece of paper from under his legs. ‘Bet you’re glad I’m here to help, huh?’
Riley shook her head, giggling. Her usually smooth hair was mussed, her preppy buttoned-up blouse was wrinkled, and Justin thought she’d never looked more adorable. ‘You know what?’ she said. ‘Maybe you’re right. Homecoming or not . . . we both really need to get some rest!’
Daniel shook his head as he carried even more supplies into Justin’s bedroom that night. This time, his twin had asked for a glass of water, a bag of ice cubes, and a bag of frozen peas from the freezer.
‘Bro, are you sure this is a real medical treatment?’ Daniel asked. He set the peas on Justin’s bedside table and raised his eyebrows as he passed Justin the ice cubes. ‘I have to say, this is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen you do, even for football – and that’s saying something!’
‘Trust me,’ Justin said. ‘I’m ready to try anything right now. Whatever works to stop the pain!’ He pushed himself up on his bed with obvious effort and rolled up the legs of his sweatpants. When the bag of ice cubes touched his bare skin, he let out a moan.
‘All this from a practice session?’ Daniel said. ‘Glad I’m not a werewolf.’ Before Justin could say a word, Daniel winced with realisation. ‘Right, right . . . I just forgot for a minute.’ He sighed and picked up the football that sat on Justin’s desk. It was no wonder that he got confused sometimes – Justin was just so obviously better at the whole werewolf lifestyle than he was! Daniel grimaced as he thought back to the other guys at the first werewolf gathering. They’d all focused so hard on strength and sports. It was definitely better that Justin had gone to the second gathering in his place.
But then . . . what did that say about Daniel?
Like it or not, he had to spend the rest of his life as a werewolf. When was he going to find a way to fit in with the others?
OK, no more thinking about that. There’s no point.
Looking to distract himself, Daniel pointed at the provisions Justin had asked for. ‘Aren’t those cold? That really looks like it should hurt.’
‘No way.’ Justin finished packing the peas and ice around his legs. ‘That last practice is what hurt me – this is some sweet relief. I have to be back on my game by tomorrow, otherwise Kyle will get really suspicious.’ He shuddered, and this time, Daniel didn’t think it was because of the ice cubes. ‘You should have seen the look on his face when my phone started blaring that song of yours.’
Daniel snorted. ‘Did it look like this?’ He stretched his own face into a blatantly unimpressed expression.
Justin laughed. ‘Yeah, kind of.’
‘Then he was probably just reacting to the song,’ Daniel said firmly. He dropped down on to the chair near Justin’s bed, absently tossing the football from hand to hand.
‘What’s up, dude?’ Justin asked as he rearranged the ice packs.
‘Nothing,’ said Daniel, though he could hear how lame that sounded. He went for casual: ‘I suppose everyone else had a similar look, huh?’
‘Are you kidding?’ Justin said, shaking his head. ‘All the other werewolves really dug that song. At one point, I thought they would form their own mosh pit.’
‘Really ?’ Daniel asked, trying to be cool, but suspecting he was failing.
‘Yeah, Daniel,’ said Justin. ‘That song rocked . . . You know, for a sappy ballad about Deb . . . uh, some girl that some guy really likes. The Puppy something or other.’
Daniel allowed himself a dumb grin, just for a moment – well, it was nice to know not everyone thought his music sucked. Did they really like it, or was Justin being polite?
Daniel focused on the football in his hands. ‘Are you ready for the game tomorrow?’
On the bed, Justin aimed a narrow-eyed glare at him from mid-stretch. ‘Dude. Do I look ready?’
‘Right. Sorry, sorry.’ Daniel bounced the football nervously in his hands. ‘I’d stand in for you again if I could, but . . .’
‘I get it,’ Justin said. ‘You’ve got a gig.’ His words were muffled by his blankets as he wriggled underneath them.
‘That’s right.’ Daniel couldn’t help it – he felt a stupid grin stretch across his face at the words. ‘I have a gig! An actual gig . . . The first time I ever played a note, I could hear the roar of a crowd . . .’
Justin grinned at him. ‘You sure that wasn’t just the roar of the neighbours, telling you to keep it down?’
‘Ouch,’ Daniel said, mock-wincing as he put the football back on Justin’s desk. ‘Hey, are you sure you’ll be OK to play tomorrow?’
‘Rock on, dude.’ Daniel gave his twin an encouraging fist bump. ‘Now I’d better go work on my own prep.’
His head was already back in the music zone as he hurried through their shared bathroom to his own bedroom, where his desk was covered with lyric and music sheets – and a single sheet of paper covered with possible song titles. That was what Daniel was aiming for now: his band’s set-list for the gig tomorrow.
Tonight he had to make the final decision on which songs to include. In Sheep’s Clothing had just five songs to make an impression – and to make the band’s first real gig a success! Every single song had to be memorable.
But which ones were the best ?
As Daniel sat down at the desk, a doodle at the bottom of the page caught his eye.
‘No More Puppy Love – ?????? ’
No way! Daniel cringed. What had he been thinking? Not only had Milo stolen the song, he’d completely ruined it with that misguided cover version. How could Daniel ever believe in it again after hearing it suck so badly? Plus, In Sheep’s Clothing hadn’t even had a chance to rehearse it!
And that’s not even the worst part, Daniel realised. No, the worst part was: if they played it at the Homecoming Dance, then Debi would hear it – and she would know he had written it about her.
How could she not? He shook his head at his own idiocy. All those references to red hair. But maybe, if she just happened to change her hair colour between now and tomorrow . . . But he didn’t want her to do that.
She’s perfect just as she is, Daniel thought dreamily. He started doodling more words in the corner of the page. ‘Red like flame . . . red like an exploding star . . . red like a heart on fire . . .’
Stop! Danger! He tossed down the pencil with a shudder. That’s exactly how I got into trouble last time!
Puppy Love! Page 8