Page 38

Arthur

The day before the race,Perry and I took a walk around the Luna property with Jupiter in the lead, sniffing around the trees and bushes. She was still enjoying the novelty of her wolf form, and it seemed like she was spending more time shifted than not. Perry walked closely by my side, his fingers intertwined with mine. I did what I could to keep my mind present, to enjoy this moment with them. It was hard not to find myself back at the track, analyzing the races in my head.Do I enter this turn at this angle? Or just slightly less? This speed? Gregor seemed to respond thisway...

"Doyou recall the time we first met?" Perry's soft voice called me back from the madness. I looked at him, and he returned an inquisitive glance and began to swing my handplayfully.

"The very first time?"Iasked.

"The very first time."

All thoughtsand anxieties of tomorrow melted away as my thoughts drifted back in time. The White Tree Track was at the center of itall.

"Ido,"I said. It was a memory I'd pushed out of my head for the past thirteen years, along with all the others, so I was surprised how clearly I could recall it now. It filled me with a tingle of nostalgia. "I was in pre-academy," I said, "hardly the same wolf I was today. I was at the White Tree Track watching the races, and I snuck down to the bike bays for a hope at a peek at wolf-cycles. That's when I saw you. I noticed you because you were holding a bag with the Sycamore Creek school logo, and I wanted to know who else at my school was interested in wolf-cycles. I introduced myself to you, and we talked about thebikes."

"Talked?"Perry laughed. "You mean, argued? We disagreed on practically everything! You said the 486z 'Claw' was superior to the 'Vector' model because of its fuel system. Our debate got so heated that we got kicked out of thepits!"

"Okay,you remember this better than I do, apparently," I said, laughing. "I remember having a great conversation with you about the bikes, getting so involved we were asked to leave, and then continuing it all the way back up to thestands."

"People were annoyedbecause we were blabbing while the races were going on, yelling over the sound of theengines."

"Iremember none of this,"I admitted. "I do remember the feeling of wanting to keep talking to you, though. Of really having a lot of fun talking toyou."

"You foundme the next day at school. I didn't realize you'd seen my bag, I was wondering how this weirdo had found me at myschool."

"Really?"Iasked.

"Yes! I had no idea."

"But we became friends after that."

"Best friends,"he amended. "Couldn't get you away fromme."

Ismiled,remembering. "It wasn't long before I had a huge crush on you. Huge. I was afraid to ruin our friendship, so I didn't sayanything."

"You were just shy,"Perry said, poking me in my side. "If I'd had a crush on you at that time, I would've saidsomething."

"You didn't havea crush on me?" I asked, with feignedshock.

"Igrewup with the idea that I already belonged to an alpha. It's odd to think I actually felt proud about it back then. My parents had convinced me it was something to look forward to. I was pretty prissy about it, if Irecall..."

Inodded."You were sort of cold about your feelings. You didn't let people get close toyou."

"Iguess it was a defense.I knew I was promised to Gregor, so I never gave romance a thought. I always just believed it was something that wouldn't happen for me. What a shock, when I realized I was falling foryou."

Inodded,silently. I knew he'd struggled, but it was a story he'd never toldme.

"It feltlike nothing made sense. How could my parents do this to me? That was all I could think. How could they imprison me like this? I wasn't supposed to fall in love with anyone else. I was supposed to marry Gregor, and I would fall in love with him. The shit I'd imagined about him, what I fantasized it'd be like. It makes me want to throw up. I'd been convinced thatIwas lucky, being arranged to him. I was in denial about it for a while. I didn't want to admit to myself that I could actually be feeling something for you. I considered breaking off our friendship so manytimes."

"You tried,"I said. "Our last year at Sycamore. You went cold on me, all of asudden."

"I'msorry I did that to you," he said, squeezing my hand. "I thought I would be saving myself, when I did that. It was stupid, and selfish. And I realized very quickly that trying to break things off was a lost cause. I was already indeep."

"That whole thing gave me courage,"I said. "I realized I shouldn't be afraid of what would happen. I was going to lose you anyway. And almost losing you as a friend, I realized I'd much rather lose you as alover."

"It gave me courage too,"said Perry. "It was a catalyzing moment, wasn't it? And then we both planned to tell each other we were in love on the sameday."

Ilaughed."Fate has always had a way of fucking with us, Iguess."

He stoppedand tugged me close to him, wrapping his arms around my waist. "I have something to tell you. Two things,actually."