Riley Andersen

My heart pounded. Adrenaline pumped through my veins. Basketball practice was over, so why was I still like this? Because Andreas Akrietes has a huge stick wedged up his ass.

"You're a ball hog. You don't pass to anyone at all." He pushed me.

"Sure, I do. I just don't pass it to you." I smiled at him. Just keep cool. Don't let him get to you.

His eyes darkened from brown to black, he shoved me. I stumbled back and he pushed me again, sending me into a wall. I growled and went at him, but scrawny arms pushed at my chest, holding me back. I looked over to see Adam Saunders, one of my best friends, holding me back. I relaxed slightly, smiled crookedly. He thumped my shoulder, "Calm down, huh?"

I loosened up and he smiled. I sagged and let out a deep breath. Andreas drawled, "Yeah, listen to scarecrow, Andersen."

I snarled and tackled Andreas. I was straddling his waist, punching his face over and over. My fists felt hot. All I saw was red, bright and liquid. On my hands, on his face, on the floor. A hand grabbed the back of my neck and squeezed painfully. I ignored it, my arms moving in what seemed an endless cycle, right, left, right, left, impact after impact. Then the hand hauled me back by the scruff of my neck, sending me flying back. Arms went around me from behind, holding me loosely but firmly. A voice whispered at my back. "That's enough, Tyson."

My chest was rising and falling rapidly. I was panting. My hands had changed, my fingers long and clawed. I made fists to hide them as I willed them back to a normal shape. Adam kept talking to me, calming me down from my red wave of rage. I started listening to him after a few seconds, the soothing words starting to make sense.

"It's alright, big guy. Let it go. It's okay. Calm down."

I hunched into myself, breathing hard for a few seconds, then letting a long sigh of breath out. I listened to Adam's soft words. I calmed. Andreas was up, bleeding from his nose, mouth, face, still going at me. I tried to push Adam to the side, but someone else got in the way. Will Stone. He's six foot five, stocky, chiseled down to a rock of muscle. Also another best friend. He just stood there, not saying a word. Will doesn't need to say anything. Andreas backed off, muttering curses and touching his face. I went to pull away, and Adam tightened his arms, keeping me there. Adam is lean, skinny as hell but strong. He's one of the best players on the team, and he isn't a scarecrow. He's not noticably muscular though. I could feel his muscles working though, keeping me still. Cording and flexing, not letting me go, not letting me hurt Andreas again. He knew I wouldn't make him get off me. Will turned on me,

"That's enough, Tyson." Tyson. My nickname. I sagged and Will moved faster than you'd think a guy his size could, catching me up. He pulled me up and put my arm over his shoulders, Adam getting my other side. I leaned on them, and they took me out of the locker room. Took me away from the gym, out into the empty hallway. It would be around five or six. Owen hadn't been at practice.

"I wonder where Owen is." I said this softly, not meaning it, not feeling it. I was like I always was after I let my anger get the best of me. Numb. Detatched. I slid my arm off Will, keeping the other around Adam and curling it around his neck.

He put an arm around me, and I chucked him under the chin, a corner of my mouth tilted up to the side. "You good, Saunders?"

Adam smiled at me and nodded, "Yeah, Andersen. I'm good."

Will watched us with a smile wavering over his lips, not saying anything. I slipped my arm off Adam, looking the other way to hide the flush creeping up my neck. Will punched my arm and caught my eye. He knew. He always knew everything. I scrunched up my face and punched him back. He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me into a headlock, messing my hair. Then I heard him.

"Adam," The voice was deep, soft. I froze, and Will let me go. I watched as Jack joined our group, sliding an arm around Adam's waist and kissing his cheek. He looked up and smiled at us, "What's up, guys?"

Adam blushed and ruffled Jack's hair, pushing him off good naturedly. Jack just smiled at him. He looked back at us, brown eyes laughing. I nodded. Will did the same. I forced myself to smile, and Adam piped up, "So we going or what?"

I laughed, a soft strangled sound and watched Jack take Adam's hand, tugging him along as we started walking. I turned and felt Will toss a thick arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry about it, Tyson." He said this so softly, I thought I'd just heard something. But I looked up, and soft golden eyes looked back. He kept his mouth shut, but I knew I'd heard him right.

Looking at the floor, I nodded. When I looked up, I watched Jack and Adam laughing ahead of us, following silently with Will.

We made our way to the parking lot. There were only a few cars left, and everyone turned to Will's black mustang. His parents we're big shot lawyers and constantly off on business or vacation, leaving behind a bank account that was constantly growing for Will. He barely ever touched the money, except to pay for house maintenance, because it wasn't his responsibility to take care of their stuff. He worked and saved his own money, paying for his own groceries, bills, whatever.

Will unlocked the car, and I walked around to the passenger side, crawling into the seat and sighing. I heard Adam and Jack climb into the backseat, Will dropping into the drivers seat next to me. He started the engine and drove out of the parking lot, onto the road and away. We stopped at a light a few minutes later, and all I heard was soft laughter and kissing from the backseat. God damn it.

We were listening to the radio, and My Own Worst Enemy came on when the light flashed green. I cranked up the volume and started screaming the words,

"Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk? I didn't mean to call you that. I can't remember what was said or what you threw at me, please tell me! Please tell me why my car is in the front yard, and I'm sleepin' with my clothes on, I came in through the window last night, and you're gone."

Will and Adam joined in, "It's no surprise to me, I am my own worst enemy, 'cuz every now and then I kick the living shit outta me. The smoke alarm is goin' off and there's a cigarette still burnin'! Please tell me why my car is in the front yard, and I'm sleepin with my clothes on, I came in through the window last night, and you're gone," I drummed my hands on the dashboard, bobbing my head to the beat, Adam leaning over my chair and screaming in my ear, "Please tell me why my car is in the front yard, and I'm sleepin' with my clothes on, I came in through the window last night. It's no surprise to me, I am my own worst enemy, 'cuz every now and then I kick the living shit outta me. Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk? I didn't mean to call you that."

It ended and we all grinned, laughing and relaxing together. Jack piped up, "Who sings that? That's an awesome song."

I looked into the rearview mirror at him, "Lit. My Own Worst Enemy. Great band."

"I noticed." He grinned at me. The guy wasn't that bad, I was just a jealous piece of shit. It made being nice hard.

"Yeah." I forced a smile and looked ahead, watching the car infront of us. Squinting, I leaned forward, looking more intently. "Don't those guys go to our school?"

Will peered ahead, narrowing his eyes. "Yeah. Soccer team, I think."

We ended up at yet another light, the car infront pulling off the road into the Mobil station on the corner. We all watched quietly as three guys climbed out. Adam sucked in his breath, "Ooh, the one with the longer brown hair is hot."

"What was that?" I watched in the rearview mirror as Jack slung a posessive arm around Adam, pulling him back from the window and against his chest, kissing at his neck. Adam settled against Jack, leaning his head back on his shoulder and kissing his cheek.

Adam smiled innocently, "Nothin'."

"Good."

I growled under my breath and went back to watching the soccer guys. None of them looked overly familiar. My gaze drifted over the gas station, not really looking for anyone in particular. Then a car pulled up next to us. A flash of rust-colored hair, a deep laugh. Looking over I saw Owen, who'd missed basketball practice. Owen who never missed practices for anything, who was walking around healthy and fine, talking animatedly to someone next to him. Leaning forward in my seat, twisting my head back and forth, I finally saw who was next to him. That girl from lab. Terry? Tina? Whatever. Owen didn't even notice us. I smacked Will's arm, pointing out my window. He looked passed me and seeing Owen, went to honk the horn. I smacked him again, "Shut up, stupid! Look at who he's with."

Will craned his neck, looking for whoever I was talking about. He stopped moving his head when he saw her, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "Taylor?"

"I thought her name was Terry."

"It's Taylor." His voice was clipped and I knew he didn't want to hear anymore arguing about Terry/Taylor's name. Fine by me. I didn't really care.

"What's Owen doing out? With someone? He missed practice."

"Looks like he skipped practice. Intentionally. Don't worry about it, Tyson. You can get on his case if it happens again." Will winked at me and thumped my shoulder. I just shook my head. Like I would ever get on Owen's case? He was our Alpha; Our pack leader. He protected and watched over us. And he didn't owe us an explanation for missing practice. Not that that would stop me from asking. He might be my Alpha, but he was my friend first.

The light had probably changed twice by now; Luckily no one had been behind us. Now someone was, and they were leaning on their horn, screaming obscenities. Will drove on after flipping him the bird, everyone quiet for a few minutes. Then I turned the radio back up, and we sang the words to the songs we knew and made up words for the ones we didn't.