The True Stories of Dream Fairies: Bloom

by Heather Lynne Shida

  Chapter Ten: Flying Practice

  A whole month had passed since the day that Curtis had been taken to see the Ancients. Though Curtis had been proud and triumphant upon his return to school that day, Bea and Catherine had noticed a major change. Curtis had become more withdrawn and had even been shutting out his sister and friend. The two had started by asking him to share with them the details of his new private lessons at the Great Hall. After his return from the Ancients the Royce family had been informed that Curtis would now be attending private lessons every day after school, as a way of helping him handle his magic. This news had made Bea happy and also a little envious. But no matter how much they pestered him, he had disappointed them on numerous occasions by simply replying that it was nothing special. After a couple of weeks of pestering him they had given up on talking to him about his lessons and instead tried to keep things light and fun. This had been failing them too as Curtis barely laughed or even smiled these days. His once energetic build had faded away to leave slumped shoulders and a slight tinge of darkness under his eyes. Everyone at school assumed Curtis was working so hard doing magic, magic that they could only dream of, that the general reaction had been one of jealousy and silent awe. No one dared tease Curtis anymore. Even Veronica had completely laid off. Bea and Catherine had racked their brains trying to figure out what was going on. Catherine had been so bothered by the patrol fairies watching the kids that she added the situation with Curtis to her list of reasons to hate the Ancients. Bea had often found herself nodding in agreement with Catherine as she would rant, but inside she felt wrong. Bea had been taught for so long to believe that the Ancients were right. She had always seen them as a force to follow and respect. She hadn't ever really given much thought to the way things were. These days she found herself thinking more about what everything really meant.

  One thing she knew that she really believed in was what her mother and the other fliers did. Dream fairies' purpose, if you could call it that, was to give dreams to the humans that lived on earth below. Not just normal dreams though. Humans made their own kind of dreams while they slept. But dream fairies gave them special dreams. These special dreams were dreams of hope. It sometimes sounded silly when Bea tried to voice these ideas aloud, but when she thought about what her mother did, and what eventually Bea herself wanted to do, she would swell with pride. Giving the humans hope seemed to be the most noble thing a fairy could do and the fact that the Ancients were obviously the ones that had guided the dream fairies in their missions over their many years of existence made Bea feel that the Ancients had to be right. So if they were behind the fliers and dreams how could they also be doing things that were wrong?

  Bea never voiced her thoughts to Catherine. She joined in with Catherine's angry discussions, and it wasn't as though she herself wasn't feeling the same frustration. Many nights she had been going to bed feeling very confused.

  Catherine and Bea had just spent another afternoon after school together, talking in Bea's room about Curtis. They had packed up Catherine's homework, having barely even touched it, and headed down the hall. Bea was going to walk her friend to the pod station when they ran into Mr. Featherstone who had just returned from work. Mr. Featherstone was a bird partner. The fliers, when going on missions, did not simply fly out on their own to give dreams to humans. They worked together as a team with a hummingbird. The bird and flier would meet up after the flier took a stone to earth. From there the flier would mount the bird and they would fly towards their destination. The hummingbirds had gone through a special training and would be given a fairy partner that would work with the bird and a flier on missions. Even though Mr. Featherstone had met Mrs. Featherstone while at training, and the two of them worked on the missions, he was not partnered with the bird that flew with Mrs. Featherstone. That was generally not allowed. His job was something he enjoyed and he generally returned from his days at work tired, but with a feeling of satisfaction. Today he looked tired and his skin was taunt across his face, clearly showing the dark circles under his eyes.

  "Hey, dad!” Bea greeted her father as she grabbed a pod bubble from the bowl on the counter. "You don't look good, you feeling OK?"

  Mr. Featherstone smiled at her and said, "Yeah. Just had to donate today. It always leaves me feeling a little worn out you know. I need some cookies, we have any?"

  Bea's hand shot to Catherine's arm as she squeezed it tightly. They stared at each other for a moment with expressions of enlightenment and then Bea started pushing her friend out the door.

  "Yeah, dad, I think there is something in the cupboard. Gotta go. Catherine needs to get home." Bea waved to her father as she had Catherine slid through the door and outside. The minute the door shut behind them they had turned to each other in excitement.

  "Are you thinking what I am thinking?" Catherine hurriedly asked.

  Bea was scared. She was so happy what they had discovered, but also confused by what it all meant. "Yeah! I think we know now why Curtis looks the way he does."

  "Yeah!" Catherine's teeth were gritting together, but her eyes were dancing with enlightenment. "The Ancients have been sucking the life out of my brother every time he goes in for his private lessons."

  Bea laughed. She hadn't had a chance to stop herself or think before she did. Catherine was talking nonsense and Bea just couldn't help but laugh. But Bea felt the world change around her the moment she had nonchalantly allowed herself this gut reaction. Catherine's entire body stiffened. She took a few steps away from Bea and a wall went up. Catherine's expression crashed into one of pure disgust and pain, not to mention sadness. Bea had never seen anyone look as Catherine did now and the fact that her expression was meant for Bea cut her like a knife. Bea felt like she was falling as she tried to gather her thoughts and adjust her face to match her intense regret. She tried to touch Catherine's arm as she struggled to find her voice. But Catherine had immediately pulled it away.

  "I'm sorry."

  Why couldn't she speak louder? She needed to make Catherine understand. The seconds seemed to be ticking away loudly in her ears when Bea finally found herself and her pleas spewed forth from her mouth nonstop. She searched Catherine's eyes to find any success as she apologized in as many different ways as she could. Slowly Catherine's stature softened. She allowed Bea's arm to rest on her own. Once the anger had left her face Catherine's eyes were filled with burning tears as Bea tried desperately to get her friend back. Bea felt satisfied to find that things were almost normal again after her sincere attempt. There was no doubt though that the wall that had gone up was still there. Bea tried to accept that for now as she did her best to plough forward.

  Bea chose her words carefully as she said, "Curtis definitely looks as though he has been giving dust."

  Catherine nodded. Bea went on. "He must be giving while he is at his lessons."

  Catherine nodded again, took a deep breath and added, "I am sure they wouldn't want to pass up a chance to get such good dust."

  Bea paused a moment. When she really did think about it, it did seem odd. Her father only looked bad today. He only had to give once a month. Only certified male fairies gave dust. Curtis looked terrible all the time. Was he really giving dust at every lesson after school?

  "It seems pretty weird that they are making him give dust so much though. My dad doesn't do it that much. Maybe that's it! My dad has lower grade dust than Curtis. How often does your dad donate?" Bea asked.

  Catherine shook her head. "Same as your father, once a month." Catherine's mind was set on only seeing the bad in this situation.

  Bea tried to offer other options in as gentle a tone as possible. "Well, Curtis has a higher grade than your dad though, right?"

  Catherine's lips curled into a smile. She was pretty proud of her brother and couldn't deny at this moment that what Bea had suggested was true. Her brother did have a higher grade of dust than Mr. Featherstone did.

  Bea saw a chance to smooth things over with Catherine a
bit more by trying to sidestep into a topic that Catherine enjoyed. "How is that possible anyway, that Curtis has better dust than your dad? I always thought the dust level was the same from father and son."

  "Yeah, Curtis has asked my father about it so much that it has made him crazy. It makes my mother so angry when they talk about it. It is kind of funny," Catherine paused as she let her smile fade. Then she continued, "Do you really think the Ancients just take his dust because he is high high-grade?"

  "Maybe. It still seems a little extreme though. Maybe we should ask Curtis. We know now what is going on. He won't be able to dodge us, you know?"

  Catherine straightened up with reserve as she started towards the pod station. She spoke as she walked ahead of Bea, "Yeah. Let's go ask Curtis. I'm tired of him ignoring me. "

  Bea stumbled to keep up. She couldn't stop her smile from spreading as she followed her frenzied friend. She always enjoyed watching Catherine confront her brother on things and she felt sure that Curtis would finally break and tell them more of what was going on. Bea hoped that this would mean the end of Catherine's speculation and that maybe things could sort of return to normal.

  Bea tossed the pod bubble to her friend and let her do the magic, knowing that the result would be a perfect pod. They flew in and settled for the quick ride around the island. Catherine was mumbling to herself the entire way about all the things that she wanted answers to from Curtis. Bea didn't dare interrupt and instead let her mind wander as they sped along. When they arrived Bea was surprised to find that Catherine flew from the pod and kept flying toward her home. Catherine didn't fly often so this was just another sign that Bea was about to witness a huge explosion from her friend. Bea had no trouble keeping up as they flew and was careful to not overtake Catherine. Catherine nearly flew through the front door, she was so determined to reach her brother. Bea stepped into the Royce's home and watched as her friend dashed up the stairs to Curtis' room. Bea thought she knew what to expect next. She anticipated that Catherine would knock and pound on Curtis' door and he would mumble that he was busy. Catherine would pound louder and then her mother would ask her to stop. Catherine was clearly not going to waste any time today. She deftly raised her hand to the doorknob and a sharp line of dust left her fingertip and pushed the door open like a strong wind. Bea was dragged into the room by the wrist as Catherine used the same bit of magic to shut the door swiftly but quietly behind them. Curtis had clearly just arrived home from his special lessons with the Ancients. He was setting down his school bags and barely had time to turn around and realize what was going on when Catherine had used magic again to force him into a chair and it seemed she had even done something to keep his voice silent. Bea had never seen magic like this. Bea stared enviously at her friend as she approached her brother and said in a very low and calm voice, "We are going to talk. No screaming. No yelling. Mother will NOT interrupt us. Do you understand?"

  Curtis' mouth couldn't move but Bea couldn't ignore that his eyes were dancing in laughter. It was such a wonderful sight to see him laugh. Bea nudged her friend and said, "Come on. Let him talk."

  A gentle flick of her wrist and Curtis' entire face lit up into a smile. "What are we going to talk about Catherine?"

  "We know that you have been giving dust at the Ancients. Why? Why every day? That doesn't seem fair. Father only goes once a month. What are they doing to you? You look terrible. You look so tired and you never smile. You don't talk to me anymore. I ask you questions and you never answer me. You have no idea how worried I have been. I have no idea what is going on and then you never say anything and I just keep thinking that the Ancients are doing terrible things to you to make you like this and I just want to go the Great Hall and . . . and . . . " Catherine's entire body was shaking with anger. She couldn't find the words anymore and instead tears just poured down her face. Bea was sure that Curtis' was going to break into a laugh to match the smile on his face, but saw that he had chosen to be more tactful than Bea had been earlier and dragged his sister into a hug.

  Curtis looked up at Bea as he said, "I'm sorry you two."

  He didn't let go of Catherine and so she mumbled from over his shoulder, "What has been going on? Will you tell us now?"

  Bea was watching Curtis' face carefully and she was positive that she saw some of the smile fade from his eyes as he said, "Sure. What do you want to know?"

  Curtis told Catherine and Bea that it was true that he had been giving dust at nearly every lesson. He had been told that this was normal, especially for someone with a high dust grade. He added that he had spoken with his father and his father had mentioned that he knew some classmates with high dust grades that had to donate more often, just for a few months as they worked out what their careers would be. It was almost a kind of training to really understand the quality of the dust and then know what career would be best suited for him. Curtis tried to calm his sister by adding that it was only supposed to be draining in the beginning and that soon he would get stronger and be able to better handle the frequency of donation. "Don't worry. I'll be my normal, loud, obnoxious self in no time. ” He squeezed Catherine into another hug and watched as Catherine's entire being relaxed.

  Curtis, taking notice of the less tense environment, gave a gentle punch to his sister's arm as he said, "You know, you are worse than mom. What kind of crazy things were you thinking about?"

  Catherine gave a sheepish smile as she shared with Curtis some of her crazier theories. Curtis laughed and Bea laughed and then Catherine laughed and they all felt much better than they had in weeks. Bea leaned in as she asked in a secretive whisper, "So, what are the Ancients teaching you anyway?"

  Curtis leaned in as well and replied in a deliberately hushed voice, "Now, Bea, I can't tell you that. It is top secret." He paused for a moment to let them all laugh again and then he went on, "No, really, it's nothing. I am just doing more advanced magic. It is kind of cool. It's like an advanced practical magic class. It's fun, but challenging. I'm not bored, like I am at school, so that's a good thing."

  Bea watched as Catherine took in everything little detail her brother shared. She was obviously feeling much better as all of her suspicion left her. Bea watched the two from the side a little and couldn't help noticing that Curtis was still not being himself. There was no doubt that he was trying, trying really hard to make his sister happy. But he was still keeping secrets and Bea was angry at him and herself for noticing. She was so confident on the pod ride there that after Catherine's outburst things would go back to normal. But as she watched her two best friends talk and laugh together Bea really felt for the first time that something had changed that could never be ignored. She had lost herself in this thought when Catherine's voice called her back to reality.

  "Hey! Did you hear what Curtis said? He asked you if you were going to fly in the competition in March?"

  Bea was confused, "What?"

  Curtis smiled at Bea as he said eagerly, "I heard Ms. Hill talking at the Great Hall today with some other fairies. You know, the annual flying competition for prep school fifth year girls to compete in. One of the other fairies was asking Ms. Hill if she thought she had good competitors this year. She had a huge smile on her face when she answered and I couldn't help but think she must have been thinking about you."

  This was something Bea had looked forward to ever since she bloomed. She had spoken to her mother a few times about it, since her mother had participated when she was in prep school. Bea had been waiting for news of the competition when she started her fifth year but was surprised that the topic had come up so quickly. Of course she wanted to race. The three of them spent the rest of the afternoon talking about the competition and flying. Bea felt a kind of contentment as she went home that she hadn't felt in months.

  The next day, after school, Bea said goodbye to Catherine. She wanted to stay behind and try to talk with Ms. Hill and so Catherine went ahead and set off for home while Bea wandered over to the field behind the school. She dis
covered Ms. Hill using magic to put all the tennis balls back into the baskets in the shed from the second year's class earlier that day.

  Bea walked with purpose towards Ms. Hill and her teacher turned to see her and exclaim, "Featherstone! Figured I'd see you here sooner or later."

  Bea came to a halt right in front of Ms. Hill as she asked, "Ms. Hill, I uh, you know, the flying competition for fifth-years . . ."

  "Yes. I was just gearing up to tell you and a couple of other girls . . ."

  "Well, don't you think we are wasting time? Why haven't we been practicing? Why didn't you tell me? I mean, it is in March and that doesn't leave me a whole lot of time. I really think my landing needs improving. Does that matter, my landing? Or is it just about how fast you can go?" Bea couldn't stop the flood of questions and she felt her face flush.

  Ms. Hill laughed. Bea was ready for her to say something that might be cutting and rude, or at least disappointing, but instead she was surprised to hear Ms. Hill agree. "Right you are, Featherstone! Precious time being wasted, should have thought of your position. We should get the other girls together as soon as possible so that we can start working on things. "

  "Really?"

  "Yes! Now, I need to explain this competition to you but why don't I save my breath and tell you and the other two girls. I'll call them tonight and we can meet tomorrow here at the school. How does 6:00 a.m. sound Featherstone?" Ms. Hill was smiling approvingly at Bea.

  Bea stared at Ms. Hill. "6:00 a.m. Ms. Hill? Isn't that kind of early for a Saturday?"

  "Preparation, Featherstone! Never too early. Thought you wanted to get going here," growled Ms. Hill.

  "No, I mean yes. I do want to get started. Sorry. 6:00 a.m., no problem," Bea eagerly replied.

  Ms. Hill's nostrils relaxed as she turned back to the shed, "Good, tomorrow then."

  Bea turned and started running away from the school grounds. She knew that she couldn't really fly while there, but once she was a few paces away from the entrance and the pod stations she let her wings out. She wondered how ridiculous she looked, because she was positive that her smile had taken over her entire face. She settled her weight into her heels and let the natural spring force her forward into the air. Then Bea flew. She flew as fast as she could. She turned all of her mental strength into willing her wings to move through the air to carry her around the island and towards home. Bea had never flown home like this before. She had always taken a pod home. When she did fly she had always flown around smaller fields to play and then at school in Ms. Hill's class around the track. Bea expected to find herself tiring as she did after running for a while, but it was different with her wings. They seemed almost happy to be used so much. Perhaps Bea was imagining things, but it felt as though she were going faster the farther she went. Time and the island sped by as Bea's focus was completely narrowed in on gaining more speed. Bea had flown around the outermost edge of the island toward her home. There was really nothing to see but endless sky to her right and rows of houses to her left. Her eyes were barely open as she flew and she had to remind herself that she would need to stop when she saw pod station SW5, which was up from her house. Something else made her slow suddenly though as she saw the station up ahead. A figure had just emerged from the distance, from that never ending expanse of sky to the right. Bea strained her eyes to make out who had just come out of the Edge. It didn't take long for Bea to realize who she was staring at. His robes made him easy to spot. James Zephyr had just left the Edge and was clearly walking towards Bea. He didn't seem to have seen her though as he kept his head down staring with purpose at his feet as he walked, his long thick hair covering his face and slightly swaying as he moved closer.

  "Hey!" Bea shouted without thinking. James' face jerked up suddenly at the sound of Bea's voice. An expression of fear took over his face. Bea watched him carefully, waiting anxiously to see if he would speak to her.

  "You know, you aren't supposed to be back there," she said in a bossy tone. Bea didn't normally bully people like this, unless it was Veronica or someone in her gang. She felt a strange surge of frustration when she saw James though, something she couldn't quite explain. He never speaks to me, or anyone, Bea thought. He's always breaking the rules too. Bea straightened up her back and puffed out her chest. Come on, look at me, she thought as her gaze didn't leave James' hunched figure.

  James lifted his head and for a brief moment their eyes met. "Show off!” James voice was clear and his words seemed to smack Bea in her chest, knocking the wind out of her. But, just as quickly as James had made his searing comment, his shoulders hunched even further. Bea caught sight of the pod bubble as it left his fingertips and James deftly fired a straight thin line of dust at the bubble. Bea was left, struggling to find her voice, as James and the pod zipped away from her on the silver line.

  Bea couldn't believe what had just happened. Perhaps because she had been so excited while she was flying, she felt as though James' verbal assault had literally knocked her out. She hadn't even realized that at some point her wings had shrunk down against her back again as she had floated down to the ground. Bea mindlessly walked towards her home, watching its outline get larger as her feet automatically brought her closer. By the time she reached her front door her mind was sharp and focused again and she paused with her hand on the doorknob. What did he mean calling her a show off? Who was he to talk to her in the first place? Why did he think he was so brave to look her in the eye and say something so mean and cruel and untrue? Bea's once clear mind was now flooded with angry thoughts that kept swimming round and round at a dizzying pace.

  "Hey there! Forget how to open the door?" Mr. Featherstone had just come towards the house and seemed to have been waiting for Bea to enter.

  Bea's anger spilled forth as she snapped back, "Leave me alone!" She turned the knob in her hands and ripped the door open and stormed off to her room, giving her bedroom door a little more push than necessary as it slammed into its frame. Bea slumped down onto her bed. Get a grip, she thought as she jumped up and started pacing her room. I should be used to this, Veronica is terrible to me all the time, she thought. James was nothing more than a freak. Bea thought about James again and a whole new rush of anger took over her.

  By the time Bea was called to the table for dinner, she had gotten a hold of her anger and was trying to push the event out of her mind. She had made the decision that she was not going to let someone like James get to her. Bea saw her mother and father looking at her from the corner of their eyes and knew that her father must have warned her mother of her bad mood. Mr. Featherstone tentatively leaned towards Bea after he sat down. "You OK?"

  Bea couldn't help but smile, her father's expression was laughable. "Yeah, I'm OK, sorry about earlier."

  "What happened?" Mrs. Featherstone asked as she too sat down to eat.

  Bea remembered the last time James Zephyr had been brought up in conversation and thought it best to leave him out of things this time. "Just someone said something that made me a little upset. It's all good now."

  "Veronica again?" Mr. Featherstone asked as he shot a glance at Mrs. Featherstone.

  "Yeah, you know, no big deal really. Sorry I was so upset."

  Mrs. Featherstone placed her hand on Bea's as she said, "I know Veronica is mean to you. But you know, sometimes people that are bullies like that have some . . . well maybe you know . . . someone was mean to her today too."

  Bea laughed through her nose. "Yeah, sure mom, I don't know anyone who would dare be mean to Veronica."

  Bea sat upright as she suddenly remembered her wonderful news. "Hey, mom, you know about the flying competition for the fifth-years in March?"

  "Of course! I totally forgot about that. Did Ms. Hill ask you to participate?" Mrs. Featherstone's voice had changed from the tense motherly tone when talking about Veronica to one now with girlish excitement.

  "Yeah, well, I mean I asked her about it. Curtis had heard Ms. Hill talking about it at the Great Hall
and so he brought it up yesterday. I made sure to ask Ms. Hill about it today after school. Turns out she wants to start practicing tomorrow at 6:00 a.m.!"

  "Ooh, that's early," Mr. Featherstone said more to himself than anyone in particular. It was no secret in the Featherstone household that Mr. Featherstone hated mornings.

  "No, not early at all, perfect! Oh, you are going to have so much fun!” Mrs. Featherstone reached her hand across the table to squeeze Bea's.

  "So, tell me again about when you competed." Bea asked eagerly.

  "Oh yeah, well it's been around for centuries. Well, probably almost as long as dream fairies have lived on the islands. The competition is so fun. I raced for my school and that was one of the first times I got to really fly as fast as I could. You are really going to love it," Mrs. Featherstone smiled.

  Bea thought for a moment about telling her mother how she had decided to fly home as fast as she could today. But then James' face flashed before her eyes and she saw the afternoon's events a little differently. Maybe she wasn't supposed to be flying around as fast as she could in front of everyone. "Mom, do you fly around the island sometimes?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well, I mean, you know we can't fly at school, but do other fairies like you fly from place to place?" Bea had a feeling she knew what her mother's answer was going to be.

  "I fly back and forth here and there. Outdoors only, of course. Usually just when it is myself or other female fairies. You know how it goes." Mrs. Featherstone replied.

  "Do you ever fly really fast?" Bea asked sheepishly.

  Mr. Featherstone laughed. "You know your mom flies fast. She's a flier!"

  Mrs. Featherstone laughed too and then turned to Bea. "Do you mean, do I fly fast when I am just going from one place to another?"

  "Yeah."

  "Bea, did you fly home from school today?"

  Bea's faced flushed. "Yes."

  "Did you fly home fast?” Mrs. Featherstone's voice was kind, but clear.

  "Yes."

  Mr. Featherstone cleared his throat. "I thought we raised you to have better manners. You know that it is rude to fly fast around the island."

  Mrs. Featherstone's face melted in an expression of concern. "Bea, it's OK. We all want to try once. I'm surprised you haven't done it before now. I tried to speed around as fast as I could practically the day after I bloomed." Mrs. Featherstone turned to her father as she continued. "I'm sure she was just excited about the idea of flying fast for the competition . . ." But Mrs. Featherstone couldn't finish as she was interrupted by the phone.

  Mr. Featherstone got up to answer it and Bea watched her father as he nodded his head.

  "We just finished speaking to her about it now. It won't happen again. Thank you for your concern." Mr. Featherstone placed the phone down and came back to the table.

  "That was the patrol fairies. They had taken notice of your flying home from school today. They mentioned it was at a speed that was far too fast to be considered normal . . ."

  "Did they say how fast she was going?" Mrs. Featherstone had interrupted Mr. Featherstone with such a huge smile on her face that he had trouble keeping a straight face himself.

  Bea's eyes darted back and forth from her mother and her father. Was she going to be in trouble? What were the patrol fairies going to do?

  Mr. Featherstone seemed to be waiting to answer. Was it out of anger? Bea couldn't deny the way his face was glowing. Her heart stopped racing in fear as she leaned forward on her seat.

  Mr. Featherstone's mouth split into a huge smile as he said, "Seems our daughter here was going nearly as fast as a pod."

  "What?" Mrs. Featherstone had leapt up in excitement and in the process had knocked over her drink. She pulled Bea up out of her chair into a hug. Bea watched from the corner of her eye as her father shot some dust at the table and the drink and glass returned themselves. Mrs. Featherstone let go of her and instead cupped Bea's face in her hands as she whispered, "I always knew you would be fast. Just like the Ancients told you."

  Mr. Featherstone cleared his throat and Mrs. Featherstone quickly sat down again and did her best to make her face look severe.

  "Now Bea, your mother and I are not happy about getting a call like that from the patrol fairies. Right, Mae?" Mr. Featherstone patted Mrs. Featherstone's hand.

  "Yes, right, no, we are not happy. You are not supposed to fly like that around the island. It is considered rude to fly that fast . . . wow, you were going fast . . . but no, please don't do that again, OK dear?" Mrs. Featherstone pleaded.

  Mr. Featherstone was a little more successful in making his face and voice match the more serious mood as he added, "The patrol fairies did mention that this is your second offense. After the third you are asked to go speak to them in person. You don't want to do that, so try to not get into any more trouble."

  Bea did not realize that the patrol fairies were keeping record of her offenses. She laughed to herself as she thought of Catherine's reaction to this news. She enjoyed the rest of the meal with her parents as they listened to Mrs. Featherstone recount the times that the patrol fairies had caught her flying too fast. It made Bea feel almost as though it was to be expected that she had broken the rules. If her mother had done the same thing, then surely she wasn't really doing anything that bad. But as she lay down in her bed to sleep that night the cold, sneering face of James Zephyr kept popping into her mind. She couldn't deny that she knew, deep down, that she had done something wrong, and that she had in fact been showing off.

  Bea woke up surprisingly alert the next morning after such troubled sleep. She ran into the kitchen to find that her mother had been up as well and had breakfast ready for her.

  "Dad still asleep?" she asked as she ate quickly.

  "Yup, you know how much he loves sleeping in on a day off. You all ready for today?" Mrs. Featherstone asked as she poured her some drink.

  "Yeah, I can't wait."

  She finished up her breakfast and left her dishes in the sink as she grabbed a pod bubble and headed for the door.

  "Hey mom, I might just go over to Catherine's after, is that OK?"

  "Sure hon, just come home for dinner and try to do some homework at Catherine's. You keep leaving things last minute." Mrs. Featherstone pushed Bea's school bag into her hands.

  Bea took her bag and left out the door. Her excitement for the coming practice was filling her mind with nothing else as she floated off the pod in front of the school. She practically skipped to the field behind the school as she imagined herself flying faster and faster around the track. She almost tripped when she saw the field and the outlines of three fairies. It took Bea's mind a second to comprehend what she was looking at. Of course, she wasn't the only one that would participate in the race. Ms. Hill had said that there were others. Bea had let her thoughts erase anyone else from her visions of practice. Bea knew one of those figures across the field had to be Ms. Hill. She could tell it was her from even this distance since her build was bigger and taller. Who were the other two though? She picked up her pace and started into a slight jog as she got closer to the field. Something made her catch her breath as she saw one fairy let her wings out. Bea knew those wings anywhere. It was Veronica! Of course it was Veronica. Bea was almost mad at herself for not thinking of this before. In her class the only person she could think of who had speed to match her own was Veronica. Bea stopped her jog and tried her best to walk calmly now toward to field. She didn't want to show Veronica her excitement as she approached them.

  "Featherstone! Right on time. Alder and Iverson just got here a few minutes ago. ” Bea moved quickly to meet up with the other two as Ms. Hill spoke. Bea of course recognized Laura Alder from her class, with only 23 classmates everyone knew everyone. Laura was a nice girl and Bea smiled at her as she dropped her bag to the side with the others. Bea's heart relaxed to know that she wouldn't be alone with Veronica in all of this. Laura flashed her a smile as well. Bea didn't even bother
to make eye contact with Veronica as she turned to face Ms. Hill who had brought out a board and had drawn on it an elaborate field.

  Ms. Hill rapt the board as she spoke, "The Northwest Community Annual Flying Competition will be taking place this year on March 17, the Friday before you all graduate. This competition includes participants from all eight schools in the Northwest Community. It is a kind of obstacle course, if you will. You can see from the map for this year's course, you are to fly around as fast as you can, but also as adeptly. You all three thinking of being fliers?"

  Bea glanced at Veronica and Laura. She hadn't really given any thought to who else in her class might want to follow the same career that she had known for so long would be her future.

  Veronica stole a quick sneer at Bea as she said in a clear voice, "Yes ma'am. That has been my only plan from the start."

  Bea felt her hands clench as she blurted out, "Yes! I want to be a flier!"

  "Alder?"

  Laura looked a little less certain as she said, "Yeah, I'm thinking about it."

  "OK. Well, this competition is watched closely by the Academy as they choose who will be allowed to enter their training program each year. The space available is limited and so it is often suggested that all those who are thinking of being a flier participate in this competition. I just picked you three girls because you are the best fliers in your class. Do you know of anyone else who wanted to be a flier?" Ms. Hill asked.

  Veronica cleared her voice as she said, "I think I heard Christina mention it as a possibility."

  Ms. Hill laughed a short laugh as she replied, "Meadows? A flier? No way. You have to have flying skills, maybe not necessarily be the fastest, but you do have to show potential. Meadows has neither speed nor potential. I've watched you three carefully over the years and I am positive that you are the only ones in your class that have even a chance of getting into the Academy."

  Veronica smiled and Bea almost wondered if Christina had really even ever said she wanted to be a flier, or if Veronica had just wanted to hear Ms. Hill declare her own greatness over her fellow classmate.

  Ms. Hill now turned directly to Laura. "Alder! You say you are thinking about being a flier?"

  "Yes, ma'am," Laura's voice was quiet and a little uncertain.

  Bea cringed as she watched Ms. Hill glare down on Laura as she spoke. "Now listen here Alder. This is serious business, this competition. If you just think you want to be a flier then you will be wasting your time and my time. I need commitment. You may not be quite as fast as these two here but you are nimble and that can mean a lot. I'm going to ask you again, do you want to be a flier?"

  Bea couldn't help herself from staring at Laura in anticipation. Veronica's stare was set as well and Bea was sure that Laura was going to explode from the pressure. Surprisingly Laura straightened and squared her shoulders as she replied, "Yes, ma'am!"

  Ms. Hill's face broke into a smile as she slapped Laura on the back. "Good, good to hear. All right then. Let's get focused here. Like I said, this competition is about speed and skill. We will meet every day for practice. After school for two hours and then from six to noon on the weekends. Tough schedule but it will be necessary to get you girls ready for the course. We will alternate between speed practice and agility. Today, speed!"

  The rest of the morning was spent in a blur, literally. Bea flew and flew and flew, round and round the track. They took complete laps around and timed their results. They then took to dashing from one end of the field to the other. Ms. Hill focused simply on form, ways that the girls could improve their posture while flying, and advice on where to place one's arms, the angle to keep one's head. Bea kept getting yelled at for letting her feet flap behind her. Ms. Hill threatened to tape her ankles together if she didn't try harder to fly with them snapped tightly together. Bea started to feel the fatigue that had escaped her on her brief flight home. As the hours passed the three girls started to get sloppy and Ms. Hill was losing her temper even quicker than usual. Bea could tell, as her shadow got smaller that it had to be getting closer to noon.

  "All right! Stop! Get over here!" Ms. Hill blew her whistle and waved her arms at the girls as they came to a halt at the other end of the field.

  Bea turned to look at Laura who was clearly beat, but was also smiling.

  "Pretty tough stuff, don't you think?" Bea asked Laura as they walked briskly towards Ms. Hill.

  "Yeah, but it's fun. I've never flown like this before. Didn't really know I could, you know?" Laura added with a laugh.

  Suddenly Veronica appeared at Laura's other side. She gave a gentle nudge as she said, "Thank goodness you are here Laura. It would have been so boring if it was just me."

  Laura gave a confused grin as she looked deliberately at Bea. Veronica didn't seem to notice or even care that Bea was walking right there alongside Laura. Luckily Laura was spared any further awkwardness as they approached Ms. Hill.

  "All right girls! I have to say, not impressed. First day I know, but you all need LOTS of work. Tomorrow we will be working on agility. See you all here 6:00 a.m. sharp!" Ms. Hill quickly turned from the girls as she grabbed the board with the course map and walked towards to school.