13:00
Westlake Elite Institute
The bell rang, signalling the start of lunchtime.
The 'A-Squad', as Aiden called them, entered the cafeteria and took a table.
"Hey, so what kind of sports are done here?" Aether inquired.
After spending so much time with the group, especially the boys, he'd come to feel more at ease, though that only applied around them.
Anyone else was a different story.
"Two days in and the boy wants to play! Quite the ambitious fellow, aren't you?" Aiden said, earning a clap on the back of his head from Austin, who said, "We play the American version of football, the bastard and I," while pressing Aiden's head on the table.
"In fact, we've got practice today, wanna come?"
Aether nodded.
"Great! We go to the field at two." "Okay."
"Alright, this is wonderful and all that, but can you leave me be now? Unlike you, who can survive a month with the multiple layers of blubber all over your body, I need to eat!" Aiden said, struggling to escape Austin's torture.
As he felt the heavy arm lift, he looked at the smiling Aether and commented, "You see what I've been dealing with for the past eight years? Seriously, it's all temper and no intelligence with this one."
Austin's eyelid twitched and he threw a backhanded slap, which never hit its mark.
"You can deal with him on the field. Don't waste your energy," Aether said, having reached across the table and caught Austin's arm by the wrist.
Austin obliged, and Aiden muttered, "Showoff," while the former wondered, 'How did he stop that?'
Aya's voice brought each of them back to the matter at hand.
"All three of you, shut up and eat."
Silence descended on the table.
13:33
Aether met Davina with her friends, walking to homeroom.
"Artemis, can I talk to you for a bit?"
"I'll be right back, girls," she said to the group, who gave her brother more than a few glances as they left.
"What's up, brother?" she asked.
"I'm going to try out for the team, and I want you to be there," Aether told her.
"And if you mess up, shall I laugh?" Davina asked, playing with her hair.
"It's exactly because I despise your obnoxious laugh that I'll fight not to fail, and why I want you there."
She pondered for a bit before saying, "Okay. But only because you're the closest thing I have to a sibling."
Aether smiled. "We're siblings, Artemis, crazy family dynamic aside."
Davina said, "See you outside," proceeding to kiss his cheek and walk away.
14:05
Aiden, Aether, and Austin went to talk to the coach while everyone else had started running laps around the field.
"Coach Armstrong, this is Aether Graystone," Austin introduced.
"The new kid, I heard. You play?"
"I haven't played before, sir, but I'd like to," Aether responded.
"That's alright," Armstrong said. "Let's test you first before introducing you to the game. Walker, you're our fastest man on the team, I want you to race Graystone across the field."
"Yes Coach," Aiden said, beckoning Aether to follow him to the starting line.
Coach Armstrong blew his whistle, and the team came back.
"What's going on, Coach?" one of them asked.
"We've got an aspiring player I want to test."
He called to the duo, "Are you ready!?"
Aiden gave him a thumbs up.
Aether scanned the terraces, and sure enough, Davina was there, and she had company.
Aya was there too, watching.
'Damn it. Now I've really got to impress.'
"Should I go easy on you, pal? Cause I've got to tell you, I'm fast," Aiden said.
"No, let's see what you got," Aether replied.
They got into position.
Armstrong blew the whistle, and the two dashed off.
'Damn, he wasn't joking!' Aether cursed as Aiden passed him.
He gritted his teeth and pushed himself to the max frantically.
Aiden noticed him shortening the gap and went to top speed, rendering Aether's efforts futile.
Aether pushed himself even further after seeing Davina start hiding her head in her hands.
A low growl escaped his lips, and his speed started to increase.
The gap shortened, and Aiden had reached the 20-yard mark, with Aether in the 15-yard line.
Davina noticed Aether's rapid catch-up and started yelling, "You can do it, Mikael!"
The spectators one by one rose with each shortening inch, mesmerized by the shocking burst of speed.
Among the players, Austin chanted, "Graystone! Graystone!" and the team (or at least most of it) joined him in the chant.
Aiden could almost sense Aether's presence right behind him, and he tried to speed up more, to no avail.
Aether's vision had a slight blue tint to it, and he was only getting faster.
By the time they hit the middle of the field, with only twenty yards to go, they were running side by side.
Aya remained seated, but she wore a very surprised expression on her face.
She whispered, "Come on, Aether, you can do this!"
The tie continued for five more yards, then Aether started to slow down.
His vision returned to normal as well.
'No, no, no! What's going on?!' he yelled internally.
"Mikael! Come on!" Davina yelled.
The spectators urged him on, and for a brief moment, his speed picked up.
Aiden was only slightly ahead, and he didn't seem to be any better.
But his pride would not let him quit. He soldiered on, and so did his challenger.
Aether could feel his body about to give in, the energy that had sustained him so far receding within him slowly.
"Coach, wasn't 40 yards enough for the test?" Austin asked Armstrong.
"It was. Thing is, I didn't tell them where to stop. They decided themselves."
Austin stared at his friends with a look of incredulity on his face.
Aiden's body at last gave in a few meters from the 70-yard line, and he fell in Aether's path.
Aether saw it a split second too late, and instinct took over.
He leapt above Aiden and landed on all fours, then bounded as a quadruped twice before getting up and reaching the 70 yard line on his feet.
The spectators cheered, Davina foremost.
Aya smiled, a rare but spectacular sight.
Aether shot his hand into the air, and his body finally gave out.
Austin rushed to the two as Aether's body hit the ground, followed by some of the team members.
As they lifted Aether to his feet, he asked, "Where's Aiden? Is he okay?"
"Yeah, he's over there," the teammate to his left answered, gesturing to the front, where Aiden was lifted up by Austin, who laughed in his face.
They were taken to the benches and given water.
Aether said, "I won," sitting down beside Aiden.
"I fell." "Doesn't matter, I got to the finish line."
Aiden took a big gulp of water and said, "Honestly, pal, I've never been pushed to my limits like that, not for a long time. You're the first to get me so worked up, and you probably would have still won even had I not fallen. I suppose you trained a lot growing up, due to the loads of free time at home and all?"
Aether smiled and said, "You're the first person I've ever raced. And that was my first time running like that."
Aiden sprayed the water he'd just drunk out of his mouth.
"What?"
The coach got to them.
"Top notch performance, Graystone. Normally, I'd have tested you a bit more, but I think you've proven yourself. Welcome to the Westlake Wolves."
"Thanks, Coach," Aether said.
"Pleasure. You can stay and rest while the others practice. Observe, Walker will explain the game and everything to you in the interim. Right, Walker?"
Aiden agreed. "Yes, Coach."
Armstrong left them and blew the whistle, summoning the rest of the team to the field.
Davina got down from the terraces and made her way towards her brother.
"That was splendid, Mikael! Didnt know you had it in you," she said.
"Thanks, Artemis," he answered, then gestured to Aiden.
"Sister, this is my friend, Aiden. Aiden, this is my sister, Artemis."
Aiden extended a hand in greeting. "Hi, A..."
"Davina. You call me Davina," she cut him off, briefly shaking his hand and pulling hers away.
"Noted, Davina," he acquiesced.
"I'll be going back to my friends now, Mikael. See you."
Aether waved a weary hand in goodbye.
As she walked away, Aiden asked, "What was that?"
Aether replied, "In our family, calling someone by their second name is a sign of affection and closeness. I call her Artemis freely, just as she calls me Mikael, because we're siblings. But you can't do the same because you.... aren't family."
"Ouch," Aiden said, feigning being hurt. "But I get the logic behind it."
"Good. So stop staring at her, else her mother will be the least of your problems."
Aiden coughed lightly and suggested, "Why don't I begin explaining the game to you? Where do I start?"
16:00
Aether stared silently out the window of the car during the ride home as Davina recounted the tale of his race against the fastest guy in school.
Alyssa and Erica listened attentively and enthusiastically to Davina's report, and if the boy had bothered to glance at either of them, he'd have noticed the slight look of apprehension when Davina got to the part where his speed skyrocketed.
"That sounds intense," Alyssa commented once her niece had concluded her story.
"Was it really as Artemis described, Mikael?"
He responded, "Words can't do it justice. My body's still....sore," his voice trailing off.
'I feel...fine?'
"What is it, Mikael?" Erica asked.
"That's the problem, Aunt Diana, nothing's wrong. Shouldn't I be feeling sore all over for a few days or so?"
Silence.
"Well? Shouldn't I?" Aether inquired.
"Perhaps... your body is just more special than the rest," Alyssa said carefully.
Aether said nothing else after that as they approached the hill.
20:22
Graystone Manor
Aether put his pen down and took his phone, then sent a WhatsApp message to Aiden, who instantly answered.
[Hey Aiden, it's Aether.]
[Hey pal, what's up?]
[Nothing much. How are you feeling now?]
[Oh, don't get me started, brother.... it's a monumental task just writing my homework.. I'm honestly languishing, though.]
Aether laughed.
[Seems like you intend to use that as an excuse not to do it..... ingenuity]
[You know it]
That conversation lasted deep into the night.
But Aether had the answer he was looking for.
His recovery was way too rapid.