Wolf Heart

Chapter 2

Lorie called out to her from the other side of the street, and she broke her attention from the I-Screen on the other side. Ava waved her down, and smiled when Lorie bounced in greeting and continued on her daily jog from each end of the town. Ava headed off one of the beaten roads to the other pieces of rural areas, where few houses dotted the lanes, wrapped in their own little lots. Her destination, a well-maintained, old cottage, with a garden of bleeding hearts Mrs. Matthey meticulously cared for.

Ava rushed up the small cobble path to their front door, ringing the bell before sending Meryn a quick text through her compearl.

'I'm here! Ready to roll?' It took several minutes for Meryn to answer her text or the door. Her previous energy sizzled out of her arms as she sent one more text, 'Meryn?'

The door clicked, and she smiled when Mrs. Matthey answered, "Oh, hello, Ava. How are you today?"

Ava laughed. "I swear I'm not here because of a health problem. Is Meryn home? We were supposed to go to the gym together today before school started."

Mrs. Matthey's smile faltered. "He is home. He's in his room. Give me a moment to—"

"I'm here... Mom," Meryn said with a twinge of hesitation. He leaned to the side with a grin. "What, you thought I'd skip out on you, Ava? No way." It grew to almost painful levels. "Don't worry, I got your text, just needed to... write some more stuff down." He bounced past Mrs. Matthey, who studied him in concern. "Besides... I've got some juice for you if you're interested."

"Meryn," Mrs Matthey asked as Meryn stepped for her. "Are you okay?"

Meryn glanced back at her. "I'm okay, Mom. I'll be back home for dinner." He turned back to Ava. "Shall we go, Cap'n Ranier?" he teased with one final bounce off the step as Mrs. Matthey shut the door with one last curious look at her son.

"Captain Ranier?" Ava asked as she took the lead away from the Matthey cottage on the bend. "Where is this coming from?" Hand on her friend's shoulder, she tipped her head. "Has James said something about my secret project?"

Meryn brought a finger up to his lips with a wry grin. "I shan't spill a secret. Where is James?" Energy returned to her friend as he walked circles around her while they made their journey to the gym.

"On the Starcross pitch," Ava repeated. "We can head over there after we're done. Are you excited for the new quad? You got accepted into the martial training classes, right?"

Meryn hesitated, and then his smile died. "Oh, well..." He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I got accepted, and I really appreciate you doing this for me."

Hm. Ava continued on the road, back into the heart of Eastpoint. "By the way, what's this juice you've picked up?" Arms crossed, she leaned closer to him, and he shimmied out of her way. "If it's about Jon's super secret battle plan, everyone knows it by now."

Meryn gave a short gasp. "Oh, no no no, Miss Class Rep." He smacked his hands together. "Much better than that. I heard from a very reliable source that we're getting a new student for this quad, and get this!" He jumped closer to her. "I've heard they're from Kestra, from the big city itself. I wonder how they'll cope with us 'country-bumpkins', as Jon reportedly told us is what his aunt feels whenever she comes for business from Kestra. It must be quite a change."

"Forgetting the climate differences? I think that'd be the hardest thing to get used to. I've heard Odaport is boiling," Ava asked with a grin. "Who was your reliable source? This is the first time I'm hearing it, and I also have sources."

His lips curled into a sheepish grimace. "I... uh, volunteered to help set some of the school up — I overheard the principal and one of the teachers talking about it. And then I overheard Mrs Matthey— my mom," he corrected. "My mom on the phone with someone, they mentioned Kestra and something about being happy to see each other for so long."

"Being nosy, are we?" Ava chuckled.

"Hey, you're the Class Pres." Meryn wiggled his fingers. "You're the one who's going to have to make the new kid feel welcome and that joyous team spirit, go Eastpoint Direwolves!" He pumped his fists with a small jump. "Jon's been getting super excited about this varsity season."

"So I've heard from James." Ava nodded at the fitness center with attached modules to connect it to the largest supermarket. Keycard out with her information, she slipped it into the door of the smaller gym meant for the students of Eastpoint Collegiate. It registered her entry with a beep, and she waited for Meryn to do the same.

"Hey, Ava!" Ollie called from their rock climb.

"Don't fall!" Meryn said.

"Quiet?" Ava asked.

"Well, seeing as the starcross players are all on the pitch and everyone else is... who knows where." Ollie shrugged from the high rungs. "I found the perfect time to go to the gym all by myself for a little while."

"Sorry for interrupting," Ava joked as she led Meryn to the open mats. "Mind if I put on some tunes, Meryn?"

He waved his hand, and she headed for the podplayer, double checking with Ollie, who appeared too focused on their own rock climb. Infopod slipped into the slot, she bounced back when the drumbeat fizzled back to life. This should get some pep into his step. "You ready, Meryn Matthey?" In her stance, she relaxed her legs and readied for the impromptu match. "We've been training all over the break, you've got this."

Meryn brought his fists closer to his chest. "... I can try."

Ava rushed forward with the beat, following the steps of a foundation. Meryn dodged, ducked, but never went for any opening she let him have. As she tried to get around Meryn's nervous defense, he continued to flick his gaze upwards to the climbing wall. Ava hooked his elbow, pushing him to the other end of the mat.

"You feeling alright, Meryn?" she asked while the music fell into a whisper.

"Uh... I'm okay!" he said with a wave of his hands. Ava lunged forward to flick him on the brow, and he gasped. "Hey, that's cheating."

"I have to keep you on your toes somehow." Ava followed his direction to Ollie, who finished their climb and sat on the top rung, taking a drink of their water. "Don't like the audience?"

"It's not that—"

"It's okay, Meryn, I'm not looking. Too high in the clouds." Ollie laughed at their own joke, and Ava shook his head at them.

"You've got nothing to worry about, Meryn," she pointed out.

Meryn frowned, then shrank away from her when she went to continue their session. "Actually... I'm not really in the mood to keep going right now — if that's alright with you, Ava. I'm just..." He shifted on his legs. "Guess I wasn't really feeling it today, y'know?"

"That's fine, Meryn, but..." Ava jumped when he stepped off the platform, and the initializer and podplayer went silent. "Do you want to talk about it? What's up?"

"Ollie apparently," Meryn muttered, but the quip fell flat. "I'll see you later, Ava."

Her friend escaped the sectioned gym, and Ava behind on the platform as it hummed, waiting for a new opponent.

"That was strange," Ollie commented. "For Meryn, I mean."

"Yeah..." Ava waved her hand at Ollie, who returned the gesture. "See you at school, Ollie." With no one left to fight, she jumped off the platform to rush out of the gym.

Meryn was nowhere in sight in a group of familiar faces.

Did he go to the pitch?