Alpha Cepheus

     The bus skidded to a stop and Zoe threw open the door angrily. “Well, that was a colossal waste of time.”

“You tell me.” I rolled my eyes and stepped out after her. Digging my hands deeper into my fleece hoodie, my basketball bag bounced against my side as I glared at large school building.

“What are you waiting for?” Zoe slapped my shoulder and nodded to the building while other members of our team got off the bus, dejection in their faces.

“Let’s go.”

Just like the others, I felt no anticipation from what greeted us behind those doors after our massive failure. At least, classes were not over yet.

I bit the insides of my cheeks as I heard the goddamn bell ring. Classes were over for the day.

“Panthers! Panthers! Panthers!” The student body chanted as we sauntered across the hall.

As long as we can just walk into the locker room without a word, we should be fine. It looked like no one has seen the scores yet.

My forced smile fell when I caught sight of him grinning at his phone across the hall. He raised his head then locked eyes with mine, making his way through the chanting crowd.

“Ugh, not him again,” Sam, one of my teammates, groaned.

At least, I was not the only one less than excited to see him.

“I will deal with him,” I said, stepping forward.

“Looks like the Net Rippers are keeping the throne this semester,” he said, his eyes falling on me.

“Reed Hastings, don’t gloat for too long. I will pull the medal off you myself.”

Leaning forward, he smirked. “Oh, I would love to see you try, Phoebe Woods.”

All the phones across the hall pinged with the latest news including mine. Too furious to check, I pushed past him with my shoulder and marched to the locker room with the rest of the team.

“Everybody knows,” Zoe bemoaned, her attention on her phone.

“They were going to anyway,” JoJo said.

“The plan was to win all match this term,” I said, roughly pulling off my hoodie. I could not keep Reed Hastings entitled smirk out of my mind.

Before the term began, I and Reed Hastings had a bet; whichever team won all three match will take home the first Centennial High School gold medal home. The reason I trained harder than ever was to win the bet and watch him put down but that would never happen because someone slipped. Shaking my head, I tried not to blame any of my teammates. Hawkeyes were a talented opponent.

“Girls!” Coach barked into her megaphone, slamming her board against the locker room’s door.

“Hey, coach,” we chorused, forming a line.

“Get on the field! One, two! One, two!”

“But I just took off my top,” Zoe moaned then wore her top.

We jogged in a single line out of the locker room and into the field. The students who were still around booed as we jogged past.

Ugh!

“Three laps around the field. Now!”

Exhausted, I pumped my legs forward, my hair pasting on my forehead. My muscles bunched and surged as I ran, sure-footed around the field. The scorching weather did not help matters either as the sun beat tirelessly. After the third lap, I stopped in front of the captain and placed my hands behind my back, breathing heavily.

“Phoebe Woods, are you captain?” Coach asked, using her ruler to smack my head.

“Yes, sir!” I strained.

“Are you captain?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Lead your teammates. The last match of the heat and you all failed. You should be ashamed of yourselves.” She left, the disappointment evident on her face.

“Fuck!”

“I am so sorry, guys,” Lily pleaded. “This is all my fault.”

“Don’t worry about it. We will train harder for the next match. First, let’s rest before taking two more laps.”

“Two?” They grumbled.

“Make that four laps.”

“Aw, come on. Don’t be an asshole, Phoebe,” Zoe said.

With a sigh, I settled onto the grass and laid down, spread eagle. My eyes fluttered close as I breathed in the earthy scent in spite of the heat. Suddenly, the breeze is cool against my skin and there was not a single sound. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in the forest at night. What happened to the sun? Was this another weird dream?

The forest is oddly still. Gradually, I became aware of the soft pad of feet near me, a dark whisper of fur behind the trees. The large figure stepped out of the trees, cautious and ears shifting. I took a step back when it stepped into the moonlight but oddly, I was unafraid. The wolf stands beside me now, avid eyes of two different colors, fangs flashing in the moonlight. I turned but he followed effortlessly, his movement matched perfectly to mine.

My pulse leaped as I felt his hot breath on my neck. Shivers race through my body, and I know I felt exactly what the wolf felt; his excitement, relief and desire. Taking a step forward, I reach and touch his cold snout. He relaxed under my touch and drew closer with a low whining sound with a slow wag of his tail.

I felt the cold on my skin and little snowflakes fell on the wolf and on my cheeks. Raising my face upward to the sky, I watched the snow continue to fall like small raindrops.

Why was snow falling in the middle of summer?

“Phoebe!”

I gasped and blinked. The sun came into view and the sweltering heat returned. Using my hand as shade, I got to my feet and looked around. What was that?

“Did you just doze off?” Zoe asked, putting a hand on my forehead.

“No, I did not.” I slapped her hand away then said, “Alright girls. One, two! One two! Four laps around the field.”

I followed as the rest of the team began to run around the track field. The weird dream or lapse or whatever that was kept replaying in my head like a broken record. What was with the heterochromia wolf and snow?!

After running, I returned with the girls to the locker room for a well deserved shower. I smelt like exhaustion and two weeks’ dirty laundry. I changed into my school uniform and stepped out with my bag.

“Phoebe.”

“Oh hi, Connor.”

Unlike his twin brother, Connor Hastings was an easy-going, gentle guy who loves to read and is known as the smartest kid in school. His imposing stature seemed to give people the wrong idea about him.

“What’s up?” I asked, picking up the pace to match the strides of his long legs.

“I heard about the match. You okay?”

“I wish I was but I’m not.”

“You can just train harder for the next match, and sorry about my brother. He can be a bit immature sometimes,” he softly said then placed a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, do you want to study for the finals together?”

And miss the chance to actually study so I could stare at your handsome face? “Yes.”

“Great. I will text you later.”

And I will be waiting.

“You still have that on?” He asked, taking my hand in his.

I tried to steady my erratic breathing and replied, “What?”

“That weird bracelet.”

My smile fell as I looked down at the said accursed silver bracelet. It has always been on my hand from the day I was born and any attempt to remove it proved futile. On it were strange writings I never understood. Zoe who is heavy into supernatural believed they were spiritual writings.

I noticed Connor moved his fingers further away from the bracelet on my wrist as he stared at it with genuine curiosity.

“Yeah. My dad said to never take it off, something about promise to my mom,” I lied.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

I shook my head and tried to brighten the mood. “Come on, let’s go.”

Somehow someday, I will definitely get rid of it.