Dragon Amour (Dragon-Half Breed Book 1)

by Robin Ambrozic

  “What are you doing with him?” Several of the remaining underclassmen were beginning to make their way over to pet Cooper. He ate the attention up.

  “Your dad left him at our house, said he had a late last minute meeting to go to. That’s why I’m late, sorry.” He bent down and took my hand and lifted me up. His hand was warm and it began to spread through my arm into my body. “Hungry?”

  My head nodded absently as I continued to lose myself in his eyes.

  He walked me over to a table.

  “Hey JJ? Cooper isn’t supposed to be in here, health code, so take one of the tables by the door, please.” Connor stepped away from where he was petting Cooper and washed his hands.

  “Okay. Cooper, come.” Cooper followed us over to a table that was next to the exit and we sat down. “Lay down.” He obediently laid under the table.

  “We’ll just grab a snack, Mrs. Wasabi is having orange chicken and noodles for dinner, wanna eat at our house?” He asked.

  Of course I did, but I had to play it off. “That’s really nice, but I’m sure Dad will be hungry when he comes home after his meeting, I should go home.”

  He smiled, “No worries, he’s coming to our house after his meeting, so there you go, settled.” He reached under the table and petted Cooper.

  “Well, put that way.” The giggle that escaped my lips sounded stupid in my ears and my face flushed.

  “What’ll you guys have?” Connor asked when he approached the table.

  “Just some fries, ranch and water.” Gabe ordered.

  “Got it.”

  We sat in silence and it was golden. I’ve never been with someone where you could just sit and enjoy their company without speaking, but I had to control myself and not just stare at him the whole time. Shortly, Connor brought our fries, ranch and water and we dined. We chit chatted about this and that as he secretly fed Cooper fries under the table. I asked him about how he liked school so far and other things, he politely answered, but I have to confess I didn’t hear many of his answers. My eyes lingered on his face absorbing every detail; the perfect way his eyebrows laid again his brow, the flawlessness of his marble smooth skin, the rich fullness of his hair and the depths of wisdom and kindness in his eyes to get much out of the conversation. But, during one stretch, I got caught not listening when he asked me a question about something and I nodded. His facial expression told me that my action didn’t fit what he was asking, but then he laughed and it made the awkwardness all better, since his laughter made me laugh.

  Then the moment was broken by the sudden appearance of a duffle bag being thrown onto the table. Gabe just managed to get the fries and ranch out of the way.

  Brooke plopped down into the empty chair, I scowled at her.

  “Can I have some of those?” She reached for the basket of fries, but Gabe held them at bay and looked at me. I shrugged and he handed them over to her. She quickly devoured them.

  “Ah, am I tired.” She stretched.

  “Did you send Dean to the hospital?” That was the boy she checked during practice.

  She actually looked a little embarrassed. “No, but I did apologize to him afterwards.”

  “What?” Gabe asked and she told him about what happened today with Set.

  Gabe shook his head. “Why do you let him bother you? You know he does stuff like that to provoke you. That’s what they do.”

  They?

  “I know, but it’s still pretty inconsiderate, we are supposed to be keeping a low profile.” She said.

  He smiled. “This is a low profile for him. You ready?”

  Brooke nodded and grabbed her stuff.

  “JJ’s coming over to eat.”

  Brooke’s face lightened, “Great.”

  We got up and left.

  He walked me to my car, explaining that my Dad had dropped it off before coming to their house with Cooper, and then he followed Brooke to hers. Not too happy that Gabe decided to go with Brooke, though they probably wanted to talk family business, my mind raced with excitement of getting to spend more time with him. Cooper sat obediently next to me in the jeep with his modified harness for the seatbelt. His breath steamed up the windows while the smell of fries drifted from his side. I wondered why Gabe used the word ‘they’ to describe Set.

  We pulled into Brooke’s driveway about an hour later. The snow had let up from earlier in the day, but the roads were still very slick. I got out, Cooper bounded passed me to explore the same areas he always explores, while we made our way to the house. Brooke went in and Gabe waited patiently for me and held the door open, which was super nice.

  “Thank you.”

  His smile made me feel warm. I kicked off my shoes at the door, and used the towel given to me by Brooke to wipe Cooper’s feet off. He bounded off to the kitchen as Mrs. Wasabi’s happy voice greeted him in Japanese along with’ Ajax’s bark.

  “Come on.” Brooke grabbed my hand and led me upstairs. Gabe waved and went to the kitchen.

  “Shouldn’t we stay down stairs?” I said in protest.

  “You can ogle my cousin later; I want to show you something.”

  Surprised, “I’m not ogling anything, how dare you say that?”

  “Tsk, please, you’d jump him right now if he’d let you.”

  “Whatever, bitch.”

  Brooke laughed and continued dragging me to her room. We entered and she shoved me towards the bed and shut the door. “Here, now close your eyes.”

  I closed my eyes, “Don’t make me lick your finger or anything?”

  “We’re not freshman, jeez.”

  The sound of rustling floated to me as I began to imagine sitting next to Gabe for dinner and not having to stare at him across the table. The thought of getting to enjoy his company and maybe brush up against him a few times made my skin goose pimple. Joyous!

  She sat down beside me and her breathing was heavy. “Okay, look.”

  The object she held in her hand was wondrous. The first thing you noticed was the dark jade color of it. Brilliant greens moved and flowed inside the jelly bean shaped stone that was the size of a honeydew melon. Jetting greens exploded against the surface then cascaded down like fireworks on a warm summer’s eve. Over and over these explosions happened, mesmerizing the watcher as the greens began to pull you into them.

  “What is that?” I breathed with awe.

  “Beautiful isn’t it?” Brooke whispered.

  I nodded, speechless.

  “It’s an egg.”

  “Egg?”

  Brooke laughed. “More commonly known as a dragon’s egg.”

  “What?” My hand reached out and touched it. Warmth radiated from it like a sock direct from the dryer. “Wow.” “Here.” She held it out to me.

  At first I didn’t want to take it. Something about it made me feel it was too fragile to handle, but once I took it, the outer surface felt like a really smooth rock picked up from a river or stream bed. The warmth intensified and began to pulse like a heartbeat making the colors move inside. My eyes watched it and I began to imagine that the plumes of color were pulsating like blood flowing through arteries.

  Warmth seeped into my hands and began to warm my entire body. A deep sense of calm and tranquility enveloped me like a blanket and all my troubles drained from my body. I pulled it up to my breast and closed my eyes.

  Thump….thump….thump.

  I couldn’t tell if it was my heart or coming from inside the egg.

  “How did they make this?” my whisper sounded unusually loud.

  Brooke giggled. “Don’t you remember how one is made from ninth grade?”

  Normally, I would have had a retort for her, but the calm going through my body wouldn’t allow me to. My eyes sleepily opened. “Ha, ha. There are no dragons, so tell me?”

  A knowing smile appeared on her face. “So sure are you?”

  “Just tell me?”

  “We need to have that discussion sometime, since you are in love with my cousin.”
>
  “Tsk, whatever.”

  Brooke laughed. “Do you know what a lava lamp is?”

  “Yes.” “Just a more sophisticated one.” She stood and took it from me. I reluctantly gave it up.

  My body continued to feel warm, though the feeling of tranquility began to slowly leave my body. I sighed contently.

  Brooke placed it on a pedestal on her dresser. I was surprised I didn’t see it when I entered the room, but when she placed it down, my eyes had trouble focusing on it. Frowning, Brooke took my hand and led me from the room.

  Dinner was ready and it smelled wonderful. Mr. Wasabi greeted me warmly, and led me to a seat next to him. As everyone else began to sit down, Set walked in with all his arrogance and purposely sat next to Brooke. She gifted him with a hard stare that produced a smile from him.

  “Still bitter?” Set asked smugly.

  Brooke ignored him and asked for the rice bowl.

  “No arguing at this table, Set.” Mrs. Wasabi told him.

  Set bowed his head in acknowledgement of her authority.

  “Is my Dad joining us?” I asked Mr. Wasabi as he passed the rice bowl to me.

  “Yes, he should be here shortly. Lobster?”

  “Please,” I took the lobster dish from him and scooped a portion of the casserole onto the brown fried rice. Normally, I don’t eat a lot of fish, in fact there were a lot of things I didn’t like to eat, until I started coming to the Wasabi’s house.

  Gabe came out of the kitchen carrying a large bowl of steaming soup. He placed it on the table and sat down next to me. Brooke winked at me, I flushed, and stared hard at her – begging for her silence.

  “Would you like some?” Gabe asked me.

  “Please.”

  He scooped some into a bowl and passed it to me.

  “What’s the fallout from today?” Brooke asked Set.

  Set placed his steak down, which was extremely rare, wiped his mouth and answered.

  “Nothing, since Garrett started the incident. The principal was very understanding when Mrs. Wasabi and I argued our case.” Set’s eyes seemed to grow a little darker brown. “He needed a little persuading to allow me to stay.”

  Set’s smug expression rubbed me the wrong way.

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  Set’s eyes grew narrow, “Means we won’t be having any other problems at Valor.” He leaned back and ravished his steak again.

  Brooke rolled her eyes, and shook her head at me. “Just ignore him.”

  Set smiled, blood ran down the side of his mouth. He wiped it away with his finger then succulently sucked it. “Nice.” He moaned. “This should interest you, Blue.”

  Brooke bristled but didn’t say anything.

  “I’ll be seeing you in the playoffs.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “What?”

  He leaned back, “Guess word got out about my awesome right cross on Garrett and the hockey coach came to talk to me as I waited to talk to the principal.”

  “It’s too late in the season, CHSAA won’t let you.” Brooke informed him.

  He shrugged, “Guess the president of Valor is in pretty tight with the CHSAA president.”

  “Dad? This isn’t fair. That is an unfair advantage.” She complained.

  Set laughed and it was hardy and deep. “And you aren’t?”

  “Not like you!”

  “Afraid I’m going to make you look bad? Dispel the aura of the only female goalie in the state that can’t be scored on?” Set rubbed his eyes and made crying noises.

  “Set.” Mr. Wasabi cautioned.

  Set stopped. “It’s not that big of a deal. With our prized possession on loan, I’ll be too occupied to really help. But if we do see each other.” He ran his thumb across his neck.

  I stopped. The sweet tasting lobster dripping with butter that sparkled in the table light on the fork mere inches from my mouth, lost its appeal. “Kill?”

  “Set.” Mrs. Wasabi warned. The authority held in that one word made the hair on my neck stand up.

  Set scrunched his face, but said nothing in retort and returned to his steak.

  Mr. Wasabi patted my shoulder. “No worries, dear. Set is over exaggerating his assessment of the situation, don’t trouble yourself.”

  I looked at Gabe, he smiled and nodded, but Brooke had a troubled look in her eyes. I couldn’t tell if it was because Set was on the hockey team or because he threatened her.

  Suddenly, my Dad came walking into the room.

  “Dad.” I got up and hugged him. He kissed me on the forehead then hugged me back. Cooper weaved in and out of his legs until he petted him.

  “Hey boy.”

  Ajax whimpered from the side until Dad pet him too. Ajax ran off upstairs followed by Cooper.

  “Hello, Mr. Ritter,” Mr. Wasabi warmly stood and shook his hand. My Dad returned it warmly, then embraced Mrs. Wasabi who fussed him into a chair and began to dish food onto his plate.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Wasabi.”

  She continued to dish food, “You eat dear.”

  Dad nodded and took a fork full and ate it. She smiled and disappeared into the kitchen.

  “How did your meeting go, Mr. Ritter?” Gabe asked.

  Dad finished chewing, took a drink from his beer that had suddenly appeared when Mrs. Wasabi came back from the kitchen, wiped his mouth and spoke, “I hate meetings.”

  We laughed.

  “It wouldn’t be so bad, but they argue over little stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with what I’m doing. Oh, well, it’s a paycheck.”

  Everyone laughed again and the night continued pleasantly.

  How to Get Asked to the Big Dance (and not make a fool of yourself)

  We’d been back at school for about two weeks and Friday’s classes were abuzz with talk about the Welcome Back Dance. The Faculty and student body were in full decoration mode. Everyone knew the dance doubled as a fundraiser for the school, therefore, students took extra care in making sure everything was perfect per the instructions of the student body government. The student government, known as The Council of Twelve, were the ones tasked with making sure everything about the dance went off without any problems.

  The Council of Twelve are a very dedicated group of students that really care about the academy, though sometimes they had a tendency to be a little over zealous on things. But to their credit, those that make their way onto the Council of Twelve, usually ended up in politics.

  Mr. Resler did a great job of keeping them in-line, though he always allowed them to express their ideas for the dance. The dance also acted as a fundraiser to help on school trips, students that have trouble paying for uniforms, or any number of community outreach programs or charities.

  A huge sponsor was Alien Inscriptions Technologies. A Colorado based think tank and technologies company that was pretty amazing. The founder and current CEO, Sean Donahue, was an original Apollo Academy graduate when it first opened, and rumored to be a recluse. It was said that he only came out to this event, though he was known to be quite amiable towards his employees. Alien Inscriptions Technologies sounded like a great place to work too. It had its own golf course to entertain guests, mostly entrepreneurs from Japan and China, a full restaurant for the employees, and a nine hour, four day work week with a paid lunch. Mr. Donahue was always friendly at the dance and he was known to dance a mean salsa. Unfortunately, it was a chore for his personal security to keep the reporters out. He doesn’t like the media.

  While I sat in one of the lounge chairs in the sleep room before my Latin class with Dr. Zang, I reflected about the dreams I’d been having since Brooke had shown me her plasma egg. They’d been very strange. Most of the dreams were about deep lush fields of grass or rice, forests of bamboo, and some of the most beautiful oriental architecture that I’d ever seen in pictures or in movies. But the most disturbing or exhilarating thing was how real everything felt. The wind blowing on my face, the warmth of the sun, the feel of the rice on my hands m
ade me believe that I had visited those places at some time in my life, but I never had. The sheer vividness and brilliance of detail left me breathless as I awoke each morning. Those dreams made me feel alive, in-touch with my thoughts and feelings, and I felt more at peace than I had before my mom’s death. I pulled my jacket up around my shoulders. But there were also the nightmares. Horrific images of things indescribable by vernacular or pictures, would from time to time consume the tranquil scenery and blot out the light with wholesale destruction that would leave the land in ruin. Often in these dreams I would be standing on a mountain or a ledge. I’d watch a blackness race from the horizon across the land, like locust on a crazy eating frenzy, and begin rending the flesh from every living thing. Then upon consuming everything in sight, the swarm would turn and race towards my bastion of hope. At these times I would stand, fear freezing my body in place, and stare in horror as the mass of black would surround me like sharks circling their prey. That’s when the red eyes would appear in the maelstrom. Horrific points of light as bright as any molten lava spewing forth from a volcano; angry, filled with hatred, bent on destruction; a visage of death.

  I would try and force my gaze away, but the sheer ghoulish nature made it always impossible to look anywhere but at the red eyes. Like the target of light you stare at when the ophthalmologist checked the pressure in your eye, the red eyes would take over your vision. Consuming everything you had been thinking or wanting to think and leave you empty. Afterwards, I’d drift in a sea of red lava, my body slowly swirling around until being consumed. Finally, I would sink down below the lava and wake up screaming in imaginary pain. At these times I’d have sweat drenched sheets and Cooper looking anxiously from the foot of my bed. These would be my only indication that I had woken up in reality.

  My body shivered and I tried not to close my eyes as the TV droned on in the lounge. I wasn’t sure why these dreams would creep up from time to time and very glad that the nightmares were infrequent at best. The bell rang and everyone began to leave for class. Grabbing my backpack I followed the masses to class.

  After class I made my way down to the lunch room. Dr. Zang had us watch the crappy Hollywood version of Troy and pointed out all the inconsistencies between the text and the movie, though she mentioned several times about how fitting Brad Pitt was as Achilles. In the lunchroom the elementary classes and their buddies were already there eating. Several of my friends waved to me. Christian and Catherine waved also as they sat down to eat. I noticed that Catherine had on a very nice dress and couldn’t stop watching the door to the lunch room. Several people walked in, her face rose in excitement and then fell as if the right person hadn’t shown yet. Smiling, I sat in my usual spot, gave Brooke a wave as she entered, where I noticed Catherine’s face brighten immediately and began fidgeting in her seat. Christian smiled, spoke softly to her, and tried to calm her down. Brooke came over and sat down, soon followed by Kaylene, Alexa, and Carly.