On Eastday, as Key walked to lunch with Kaylee, Miriam grabbed her arm and pulled her away. "Key, I need to talk to you."
Kaylee waited, a confused look on her face, but Key waved her on. "I'll catch up with you." A few weeks ago, being dragged away by Miriam would have offended her, but she looked at Key when she said it, and that caught Key's attention. "What is it?"
Miriam looked around and waited for most of the students to stream by. "I'm worried about Mat. We haven't seen much of him lately."
"So? He's probably studying. Or maybe he's hanging out with Antony."
"That's the problem. My cousin, Jo, is dating Antony, and I know they'e been spending a lot of time together." Miriam told the ground."
You... don't want my brother hanging around your cousin." This made no sense to Key.
Miriam met Key's eyes. "She's a shifter. And her favorite form is a fox for a reason. She uses people--gets what she wants from them, and leaves. I don't know what she wants from Mat, but she is not good news."
"So why aren't you telling him all this?"
"I think he's more likely to listen to you," Miriam said, breaking eye contact.
Key didn't entirely agree, especially knowing how quickly Matsias had taken to Miriam, but she decided not to argue. She had seen Mat and Antony with a girl about Ayan's height, with skin the same bronze tone as Miriam's. And seeing as Miriam was a truth wizard, she may have known something Key didn't.
Key tried to watch Matsias carefully that night, during their study session. While she and Ayan puzzled through their math homework, Miriam helped edit Mat's history assignment, and Tilli read a book in a language Key didn't recognize. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. When he and Miriam finished, he stood up, stretched, and set off toward the boy's dorms. Miriam gave Key a nervous glance, but Key shook her head. Not only was it a bad idea to confront him about this in front of the others, she still wasn't sure it was necessary. Miriam waited for Ayan and Key to finish the math assignment, and then moved over on the couch.
"Why didn't you talk to him?" Miriam whispered, her eyes on Tilli.
Key cracked open her history book to work on the same assignment Mat and Miriam had just finished. She wasn't worried about Tilli, who she had learned could disappear into a novel almost as easily as Matsias. "It's not the right time. Why are phoenix myths common in Nefrale?"
"Because the first government documents in Nefrale said that all non-human races at the time would be treated equally, but the only known non-human races living here at the time were Mermish." Miriam rattled off the answer the way Key might have rattled off sums to her mother. "You need to talk to him."
Key could feel the other girl's eyes on her. She slid a finger behind the page to hold her place and give Miriam her full attention. "You said you wanted me to talk to him because I know him better, right? Then trust me, it's not the right time." She returned to her homework. "I'll talk to him tomorrow."
But she didn't. And she didn't talk to Matsias the next day. Or the next. A whole week passed, ad she still hadn't asked about Miriam's worries. Part of this was Key's suspicion that Miriam had blown the whole thing out of proportion. It was also due to the excessive amount of time Mat spent studying, even for him. Some nights, after dinner, instead of working on the common with the girls, he went to his room. He carried his channeling objects book with him everywhere and read in his spare time, even at dinner. He also put in extra hours at the school library. She told herself she didn't want to start a problem where none existed, but she was starting to see what Miriam meant. By the time lightning ball try-out rolled around, Key had surprisingly come to agree with the other girl. But pinning down Mat was easier said than done.
Try-outs were held after dinner, and Key was surprised to see how many students had shown up to watch. It seemed that, like Ayan, most of the students had brought friends to cheer them on. Key was glad she wasn't trying out for the team. Even with her electricity girt, having so many strangers watching her would have made her nervous. But Ayan didn't look nervous. She looked determined.
"Ayan!" Tilli shouted over the head of the students in front and waved. Ayan turned and waved back. She stood with Mat's roommate and about a half dozen other freshmen who had decided to try out. There were students from other houses as well, of course--most of them from Westwood. Key recognizes one of them as another boy that Matsias and Antony sometimes spent time with.
"Does that girl have only one hand?" a boy in front of them muttered, and Tilli apologized as she struggled to find room for her long legs behind the other student.
The coach strolled out. He organized prospective players into groups and they played five-minute bouts against each other. Then he had a few play slightly longer bouts and finally selected about a dozen players. The Westwood boy Key recognized was one of them. So was Ayan. Miriam and Matsias whistled and cheered loudly. Tilli once again apologized to the boy in front of her after she kicked him while standing up.
As they exited the lighting ball pitch, Key caught Matsias by the arm. "Hey, what are you up to right now?"
Matsias adjusted his glasses. "Um... I was going to the library before curfew. I've got some extra reading I want to do for channeling objects."
"Great! I'll walk over with you! I need to see if Mr. Depping has a pattern I can use for my sewing project."
Matsias frowned. "I though you already had a pattern."
"And I thought you wouldn't have to study for channeling objects tonight, seeing as we just had a test."
"I... don't think I did too well. I wanted to study, so I'd be ready for the next one." Mat hadn't taken a step yet, but she could see his body slowly pulling away from her.
"Mat, don't play this game with me."
"What game?"
"You know what game," Key said in Zhohu. She wanted to tell them it was the game they played with Miriam--with everyone else--weaving half-truths to cover up secrets Mat couldn't bear to share.
"Key, I'm not lying to you, okay? I want to go to the library to study something, and I don't have much time left. I can stop by after if you really..."
Key cut him off. "It's fine. I'll see you at breakfast." And one more day passed without their conversation.
