Kaylee’s gaze drifted to her hair brush lying on the side of the sink. She picked it up and, holding it like a guillotine above her arm, brought it down. Again and again, harder each time until her arm felt like a pulpy mass of bruises. Kaylee peered closer at the skin. It hadn’t changed at all. Not a single scale or claw had appeared.
Kaylee almost laughed at herself as she started the shower. She was clearly going crazy. Girls didn’t spontaneously transform into scaled creatures and catch barns on fire. That kind of insanity only happened to people like her Uncle Randy who she’d met only once when she was little, and not on the best of terms. Everyone in her family knew Uncle Randy was a few cards short of a full deck.
Something clacked! at the bottom of the tub as Kaylee stepped into the shower. Something like…
Kaylee peered down at it, forcing her herself to breath, forcing herself not to freak out.
A single black scale stared back.
“Jade’s waiting for you outside,” Jeremy said when Kaylee entered the kitchen. She tossed her backpack on the chair near the front door and scooped up a couple pastries that had popped up from the toaster.
“Protein!” Her mother shouted from her office across the hall where she was undoubtedly putting together the final pages of her latest engineering project. “There are cheese sticks in the fridge!”
Jeremy smirked at her, watching her fumble around the kitchen as she pulled her lunch together. “You have the weirdest friends.”
“I do not, squirt.”
“Do too. Jade was waiting out there since five this morning. I saw her creeping around our bushes when I got up to pee.”
“Jeremy! Seriously, too much info!” Kaylee said, shoving his head as she swept past him. She ignored his comment about Jade sneaking around—the little pest was probably lying—and went to the kitchen window. Jade was sitting on the front porch steps. Kaylee tapped the window and held up a hand. Five minutes. Jade rolled her eyes but nodded.
Kaylee finished off the pastry and downed a glass of milk. Jeremy was busy disemboweling his omelet at the kitchen bar. She tapped her non-existent watch. “Don’t you have middle school starting soon? I thought one of the perks of you starting sixth grade was you were out of the house earlier.”
Jeremy grinned. “Don’t you wish?”
“I do. Now scram. I have to go.”
“You both do,” Kaylee’s mother said, sweeping into the kitchen. She brushed her hair back and adjusted her suit before pulling her lunch out of the refrigerator from the exact same spot where it’d been every morning for the past ever.
Brianna Richards was the sort of woman for which everything had a place, whether it was food, the garage, or how the day’s schedule was run. In their house, her word was iron-clad, her plans for everything plotted with an efficiency and precision any general would die to have. Kaylee chalked it up to her engineering mind. Kaylee also figured she hadn’t inherited any of that meticulousness, if her room was anything to go by.
Her mom finished adjusting her shoulder bag. She snapped. “Up, Jeremy, or you’ll be late. Can’t have two out of my three children’s first days off to a late start.”
“I’m leaving with Jade,” Kaylee said, slipping on her shoes.
“Wait just a minute, young lady!”
Her mom gripped the sides of her arms and planted a kiss on Kaylee’s forehead. “Your father says he’s sorry he couldn’t be here, but time and toddlers wait for no man, manager of the daycare or not.” She kissed her again. Behind her, Jeremy blanched.
“I’ll be coming for you next, young man,” her mom said, her eyes never leaving Kaylee. “Also, Kaylee, Reese says to ‘be chill and have fun’. Though I hope starting college doesn’t mean he’ll be having too much fun himself.”
“Mom…” Kaylee whined. “Can I go now?”
Her mother held her a little longer, their eyes locked. For a moment, Kaylee was afraid that if she looked any closer she’d see how Kaylee’s eyes had changed. She’d confirm what Kaylee wasn’t ready to accept.
But then her mom hugged her fiercely and pushed her to the door. “Call me if you join a club or something and need a ride after school.”
“I will. Love you.”
Her mother turned to Jeremy. “Your turn, young man.”
Jade practically bounced up from the front porch. “She emerges! Ready to go?”
Kaylee unconsciously pulled on the wrist cuffs of her shirt, making sure the long sleeves covered her arms completely, even though there was no way whatever had happened yesterday would happen again. It couldn’t. It wasn’t real.
“Ready as I’m going to be.”
Scarsdale Public High School sat on the northern edge of Scarsdale, perched on a hillside like a conqueror’s castle. It was a thick building and, according to Kaylee’s older brother Reese, was three stories of glass, brick, and the gasping final breaths of adolescent dreams. Whatever that meant.
An inner courtyard split the school into two halves, creating a center quad where students could mingle between classes. Kaylee had visited a couple times before for freshman orientation and thought it was big, but not all that intimidating.
But it had never looked bigger or more intimidating, Kaylee realized, than it did when she was actually attending it. It leered over them as they approached and went inside. Jade chattered the entire way to the lunch room where they’d split up to go to their first classes. Kaylee tried to listen and collect her bearings at the same time, managing to grunt at all the right times. At some point Jade managed to shift the conversation to Kaylee’s date, which she’d been badgering her about the whole walk and, coincidentally, Kaylee had been avoiding the entire walk.
“But what was it like? Details, please!” Jade pressed, sliding into a lunch seat across from her. The cafeteria was crowded. Clusters of students had taken over the tables stretched across a wide room, greeting each other after the long summer. Kaylee saw a few kids she recognized from middle school, but nobody she knew well enough to talk to. For the millionth time she felt an immense rush of gratitude to have Jade sitting there with her so she wouldn’t feel like a complete nobody.
“Kayleeee,” Jade said, nudging her arm. “The date? You promised you’d tell.”
“It was fine,” Kaylee said.
“Fine…” Jade repeated, clearly thinking much farther into that answer than Kaylee had meant. “Fine as in ‘I can’t wait to go again’, or fine as in ‘I’m moving out of state to escape this monumental creep’.”
You are an abomination. I’m giving you this one chance to get away.
Kaylee glared at the table, letting Brendan’s words turn over in her head again and again and again until they left bruises on the inside of her skull. The more she thought about them, the madder she grew. No sword-wielding wacko was going to tell her what to do. “It was just fine.”
Jade sighed. “I guess that’s good. Not all dates can be The One. At least you didn’t have to call me to bail you out.”
No, but Kaylee had almost called the police on her walk back. Multiple times. And each time she’d stared at her phone, playing over how a conversation like that would go:
“Sure, officer, he had a sword. Not like a prop but a legit sword and he attacked me with it, and yes I summoned a storm to defend myself—yeah, a storm—a full-blown storm, for real. But really who wouldn’t do that in my situation?”
No…even in her imaginary scenario the police were hanging up.
Without warning, Kaylee felt a pair of eyes on her. She looked up in time to catch a boy with broad shoulders and dark hair leaning against a pillar across the cafeteria. The boy didn’t drop his eyes when hers met his. He continued looking at her for a moment, then smirked and sauntered off.
“Who was that?” Kaylee asked, pointing.
“Who?” Jade turned around just in time to catch a glimpse of the boy before he rounded a corner out of sight. Her eyes narrowed.
“Oh. Him. Just ignore him,” she said quick
ly. She turned back to Kaylee. “Annnway…” She pulled out a piece of paper. “I hope you remembered to print off your schedule. I’ve got biology my first class so that’s upstairs. What’s you—”
“Hi!”
Kaylee looked up to find a bubbly blonde girl staring down at her, her teeth model perfect, her skin practically glowing under the light. She wore tight jeans and a fashionable T-shirt that hugged her body in all the right places. She was, Kaylee hated to admit it, exactly what she imagined a high school cheerleader would look like, stereotype and all.
“Oh, hi,” Kaylee said. She shifted uncomfortably as the girl continued beaming at her, showing no indication of moving. “Uh…did you want to sit down?”
“Thanks, but I’ll pass this time,” the girl said brightly. She stuck out a hand. “I’m Dani, one of the Student Council members in the Meet n’ Greet program for the new students. I’m a freshman like you.”
Kaylee gingerly shook, feeling a mixture of nervousness and calm at the same time. There was something about Dani that screamed nice.
“And you’re Jade,” Dani said, turning to her.
“Do you know each other?” Kaylee said.
“We’ve met,” Jade said as Dani’s smile faltered for a fraction of a second. “Briefly.”
“That’s right!” Dani said. “Jade and I know each other through some…extracurricular activities.”
Kaylee looked at Jade. She was making a subtle slicing motion across her throat.
“You never told me anything about—”
“That reminds me!” Dani leaned in close to Kaylee conspiratorially. “Say, Kaylee, this might be out of the blue, but have you ever considered going out for one of the athletic teams here? I’m on the soccer team myself.”
“Oh,” Kaylee said, instantly regretting lumping Dani into the cheerleading category. “I…haven’t really thought about it, to be honest.”
“Well I heard a rumor that Coach Maxwell is looking to fill some vacancies on the girls’ cross country squad. They’re having open tryouts this afternoon right after school. You should check it out.”
“I don’t really think—”
“Do you have a change of clothes?” Dani said.
“My gym clothes, but—”
“Shoes?”
“She can borrow mine,” Jade jumped in. Kaylee glared daggers at her but Jade merely grinned.
“Perfect!” Dani said, straightening up. “The team meets on the track twenty minutes after the final bell. I’ll be having practice nearby so I hope I’ll see you there.”
Dani put her hands on her hips and surveyed the rest of the lunch room, scouting out her next victim to swoop in on and smother with kindness and suggestions of physical activity. “Well, I’d better go make sure everyone is properly met and greeted. There’s some!”
She waved at some girls who had just entered the cafeteria. “Girls on the team with me,” she explained. “We’re all excited to get back to practicing.”
“Unless there’s another freak thunderstorm like yesterday,” Jade said. Kaylee choked, but tried to cover it with a coughing fit.
“I heard the thunder from my house,” Dani said, nodding. “My dad said lightning struck the Clydesdale farm barn and caught it on fire.”
Jade’s eyes grew to the size of headlights, swiveling on Kaylee. “Oh did it? Somebody forgot to mention that very important detail to me.”
“I…have to get to class,” Kaylee said, scooping up her backpack and starting to walk away. “I’ll see you at lunch,” she said over her shoulder.
“But class doesn’t start for twenty minutes!” Dani hollered after her. Kaylee turned the corner and shifted her backpack farther up her shoulder, just as another tingling sensation raced up the back of her neck. She turned in time to see the boy from earlier disappearing up the stairs.
I’m not having another creep ruining my day, Kaylee swore, plunging upstairs after him.
But when she emerged on the second floor, the boy was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter Four
As far as first school days went, this one was only moderately torturous.
Kaylee hadn’t exactly known what to expect from high school. There were more kids, yeah, and the classes were larger and longer. But people she’d seen in middle school still acted about the same as she remembered, only now they were taller and louder. Teachers still handed out unnecessary busy work and there was still the guarantee of group projects, which Kaylee was sure would end up being like all the others she’d done: with one person doing the work and the rest goofing off and claiming credit.
The first few classes passed quickly, and by lunchtime she was happy to meet up with Jade again, who seemed to have forgotten (or was just waiting to bring up) the incident from that morning. Surprisingly, Dani and a couple of other girls from the soccer team sat with them for a bit before taking off for Student Council stuff. Despite Jade’s insistence that they’d only met once before, she and Dani acted like old friends, sharing the same jokes and talking about things Kaylee had never heard of. Things Kaylee knew Jade would have told her about. Kaylee made a mental note to bring it up casually to her later. It seemed she wasn’t the only one holding secrets from her friends.
By the time the last bell rang Kaylee had resigned herself to at least attempting to try out for the cross-country team. If only because she knew Jade would pester her to death if she didn’t.
She found the athletic hall and put on her gym clothes and Jade’s running shoes (“These will make you fly like the wind!” Jade had promised. “Will they help me not suck wind?” Kaylee had asked. Jade shrugged, “One miracle at a time.”) then she made her way to the track.
At least thirty other girls were there, stretching and swinging their legs like pendulums while anchored against the wire outside fence. The older ones who were probably already on the team glanced at Kaylee then returned to talking, undoubtedly bored that they had to try out again. Kaylee didn’t blame them. Everyone looked in far better shape than she was. Not that she slacked on her exercise. She ran occasionally, and hiked with Jade whenever she got the chance, but most of the girls looked like they inhaled intensity and exhaled speed.
The girls’ soccer team was warming up on the field in the middle of the track. Kaylee spotted Dani surrounded by a group of friends, all laughing and chatting while the coach set out cones for drills. She caught Kaylee’s eye and waved before giving a big thumbs up. Kaylee forced a grin and returned it, before turning away in case she vomited from nervousness.
After she’d stretched as much as she could, a heavyset man in an alarmingly tight shirt and short shorts walked over, clipboard and whistle clutched in one meaty fist. He readjusted his hat which read Scarsdale Cross Country—We Run Fast!. He looked the group over, his eyes lingering on Kaylee, then grunted as if to say, Well, if this is the best I got…
“All right, since everyone who cared enough to show up is here then we’re gonna get started,” he rumbled. “I’m Coach Maxwell, and you,” he pointed a finger at each one of them, “if you survive, are going to be the clay I mold into fine runners. Runners worthy of representing the Scarsdale name. Runners of excellence. Runners that legend will speak of—”
“Coach?” One of the older girls said. “Are we going to, you know, run?”
Coach Maxwell paused, lone finger still in the air, then nodded and held up his clipboard. “I hope you’ve all stayed in shape over the summer.” His eyes flickered to Kaylee again, who shifted uncomfortably. “Today’s first level of tryouts are going to be an easy two mile run. Tomorrow we’ll do more of the timed stuff and start making cuts from there.”
He pointed over his shoulder to the cluster of woods that bordered the edge of the athletic field. Kaylee had been in there once before and knew it was at least a few dozen acres full of trails, all crisscrossing and merging until at some point they reached a county park. “I left clearly marked signs on the trail for you to follow. If you cut corners you’re cutting
no one but yourself, so think about that.”
He stepped aside and held up a stopwatch. “Okay, I’m done talking. Ready? Go!”
The group ahead of Kaylee bolted like a herd of frightened deer, long legs churning, ponytails flickering. Kaylee sprinted after them, cursing that she hadn’t tied Jade’s shoes tighter.
To be fair, she lasted longer than she thought she would.
She kept pace for the first two hundred yards, matching the lead girls stride-for-stride as they hit the edge of the trees and plunged under the shady branches. There they were forced to funnel onto a single dirt trail and Kaylee was knocked four behind the lead. She kept her eyes down, scanning the ground for stray roots or rocks
This wasn’t so bad. Her body hadn’t shut down yet. Her legs burned, but it wasn’t excruciating. Her lungs felt like a cheese grater was rubbing on the inside of them, but it was a happy, pleasant sort of cheese grater. Everything felt great.
Until they reached the half mile mark. Out of nowhere a stray branch snapped Kaylee’s flopping shoe laces. In an instant she was airborne. She slammed into the ground. Dirt and grime coated her mouth. Thorns snagged her clothes and nicked her skin. Blood welled.
A couple of the girls near the back screeched to a stop. “Are you all right?” one asked.
Kaylee shook her head, aware that the front of the pack was growing farther away, the leaders oblivious to what had happened. She couldn’t feel anything broken, but when she tried to stand her head spun.
“Woah, she might have a concussion,” said one.
“I thought you vomited when you had a concussion,” said another.
“No, that’s hypothermia.”
“Why would you vomit if you’re cold?”
“To warm up with it, duh?”
Dragon's Awakening (Heir of Dragons: Book 1) Page 3