At first, Miriam didn't really care that Mat, Key, and Tilli were all staying at Faraday, but when she got on the bus, she realized Ayan was sitting with the rest of the team at the back, while everyone else sat toward the front. Among them, she saw Jo, but her cousin was fortunately engaged in a conversation with another Providence House student. Miriam walked slowly down the aisle, scanning for anyone else she knew, but the simple fact was that she had very few friends at Faraday.
Then Ayan waved her over. At first, Miriam wasn't sure she would be allowed to sit with the team. She figured they would be wanting to talk strategy before the game and wouldn't want anyone distracting the game. But Ayan's other friends welcomed Miriam, and they talked about everything, not just strategy.But Miriam couldn't stay with the team after they arrived. She found her way to the stands with the other students, making a point to avoid Jo, and watched the game play out. Faraday got ahead pretty quickly when players from Granite Bay fumbled the ball twice in a row, dropping it on their side of the circle. But Miriam wondered if this had been a fakeout when they came back in the second half and forced Faraday to take three more point.
Ayan surprised them when they went for a fourth, taking a nasty shock to the shoulder to block the ball, which tumbled over the line. One of the Granite Bay players gave it a swift kick to get it back into the air. If it hadn't been for that narrow resuce, Faraday might have won.Miriam had had little ocassion to attend sporting events before. Certainly her uncle had taken her to see great examples of martial arts, but at those times, she had been more concerned with technigue than who she hoped to win. Now, she found herself surprisingly disappointed that Faraday had lost the match. She could hear her uncle's voice in her head, telling her that she shouldn't care about frivolous things. But some part of her preferred the simple, carefree concerns of her peers than the web of politics that surrounded her uncle's estate.
There was less conversation on the way home. Ayan fell asleep against the window, and Miriam looked around the bus for something to keep her mind busy on the ride home. Jo sat a few seats in front of her, hunched over a book. Against her better judgement, Miriam took the empty seat next to hr cousin, who looked up in surprise.
"I guess you didn't notice I was on the trip." Miriam didn't look at Jo. As much animosity as there was between them, she didn't hate her cousin."I didn't." She wished she could hear emotion in Jo's voice as easily as she could hear truth. Was she annoyed Miriam was there? Or was she just stating fact? Regardless, she had come for information.
"You said before that Mat was a liar."
"Yeah?" Again, she couldn't tell if it was boredom or frustration in Jo's voice.
"Why?"
This time, Jo paused long enough that Miriam knew the question surprised her. "Antony told me."
"Antony?"
"Yeah. He said he knows Mat's lying about who he is, not that he'd give me any specifics." Her voice rang true.
Miriam considered these words and made one more desperate attempt to defend Mat. "How do you know Antony's not lying to you?"
"I would say that I didn't but..." She ducked her head to force Miriam to look at her. "If you really thought he was, you wouldn't be talking to me, would you?"
