Harlan looked up and saw Jake MacKinnon standing there with a drink cup in his hand and a scheming little grin on his face. His friends, including the two Del Zotto boys—Nicholas and Noah, the latter having recently transferred to Redstone from a closed custody youth facility in Prince George—stood behind Jake like a wall, laughing at the soda that was running down the front of Harlan’s pants.

“You should really watch where you’re going,” Jake said.

“But you bumped into me,” Harlan said.

“Are you saying I did it on purpose?”

Harlan wasn’t feeling up to a fight, but he wasn’t about to show someone like Jake MacKinnon any weakness. “You bet I am,” he said.

Jake turned his head sideways to share a laugh with one of the Del Zottos, then turned back around to look Harlan in the eye, his face serious and stern. “Sounds to me like you want to fight.”

Harlan let out a sigh. The last time they’d fought, the darkness had allowed Harlan to partially transform himself into a werewolf without being seen. There was no way he could fight Jake like that in a crowded gym with people all around them.

“C’mon, MacKinnon,” said a voice. “You don’t want to get your ass kicked again, do you?”

Harlan looked over his right shoulder and saw his brother Noble standing off to the side, close enough to say a few words, but far enough away so as not to interfere.

“I just want a fair fight,” Jake said. “No tricks.”

“Yeah, no tricks,” said the Del Zottos, as if they were a single person.

“What tricks? Harlan beat you fair and square!” said another voice.

Harlan turned and saw that Argus had returned from the washroom and had taken up a spot at his left side.

“It’s time you stopped crying about it,” Argus continued, “and faced the fact that you’re just not as tough as you think you are.”

Jake MacKinnon’s eyes narrowed and his face seemed flushed with anger. He took a step forward, cutting the distance between himself and Harlan by half.

Harlan could feel the hair bristling up on his skin and his muscles coiling like snakes in anticipation of a fight.

Just then, Principal Terashita pushed his way through the crowd and positioned himself between Harlan and Jake. “If someone doesn’t start dancing in the next ten seconds, this dance will be over and we’ll all finish out the day back in the classroom.”

There was a groan from the crowd, but people slowly began to make their way onto the dance floor. Most of the dancers were girls, but there were a few boys dancing now, including Michael Martin, who was doing his best to keep up with Harlan’s sister, Tora.