We greeted other seniors with a wave and I looked especially for Kennah, Alexa and Serina. I didn’t see them.
“Are you sure the others were okay?” I whispered to Brooke as we made our way through the hallways to our lockers.
“My dad is a potions master. Taught by a Green Dragon himself. He could put the whole school asleep and no one would be the wiser. Quit worrying. They are probably in class already.” Brooke rushed up the stairs.
“Why are we in such a hurry?” Trying to keep up with her, but she kept bounding up two steps at a time. The climb to the sixth floor was taking its toll on me. “Slow down, I’m not a dragon.”
“I bet you wish you were now.” She called over her shoulder, disappearing around the corner of the next set of stairs.
I stopped to catch my breath. I don’t know why I’m running. I’ve got ten minutes to Dr. Daugherty’s class. What is her deal? Taking in a deep breath, while passing students greeted me, I climbed the rest of the way. When I exited the stairwell, the reason became apparent. Christian stood at our locker talking to her. Brooke had her back to the locker with one foot on it and she played with her hair like a little girl. She giggled and laughed and the whole thing made me want to vomit.
Christian waved to me as I approached slightly out of breath. A smell began to infiltrate my nose that didn’t quite fit. The hallways always contained odors that weren’t readily recognizable with this many students and their differing tastes in fragrances. But this odor had a foulness to it that even was odd for the hallways. I stopped some distance from them, wondering if Brooke’s clothes were the source of it. Nonchalantly, I look around while smelling my armpits and shirt. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but looking back at Brooke and Christian, he was watching me intently, while Brooke blathered on about something.
Cautiously I approached them and the odor increased and began to grow fouler. I’ve never smelt a decaying corpse, but the literature Dr. Daugherty’s has had us read describes it pretty well and this is what it must smell like.
“Something wrong?” Christian asked.
My head turned to the side. “Something smells foul. Do you smell it?”
Christian’s eyes narrowed at my statement.
“I only smell love.” Brooke said dreamily.
“Oh, god.” My fingers fumbled with the locker combo.
Throwing my stuff into the locker, I grabbed the other books I’d need for the first part of the day. “Do you want me to leave this open?”
“What?” Brooke continued to stare at Christian.
When I turned around, Christian’s eyes bore into me. Not like an upset look but a calculating look as if my worth had become more important. The smell grew.
Christian laughed. “Oh, that must be me.” His face flushed with embarrassment though it looked contrived. He pulled two small bottle of cologne out of his back pack. “The guy at the store said that the Rugged Man Musk, would turn the women wild. I was trying to impress Brooke.” He sprayed the other cologne and the smell instantly disappeared.
“Oh, now that is nice.” Brooke agreed. “What is it?”
“Devil’s delight.” Christian’s face flushed even deeper in color.
My eyes narrowed. His flushed skin looked strange. I couldn’t understand what I was seeing, but it looked like his skin was covering a deeper colored skin, almost like a mask. Just as Set’s had. Was he a dragon too? Can’t be. Brooke and Gabe would know. The red coloring disappeared just as fast as it had come. Strange though.
“I’d say you got taken. Hope it didn’t cost too much?” The after smell still lingered like diet coke in your mouth.
He dropped his head. “Fifty bucks.”
“Ouch.” Brooke patted his shoulder. “It’s alright. Thanks for trying, but you don’t need to impress me.” She fluttered her eyelashes.
“God.” I slammed the locker door shut. “I’ll see you in class. Hurry up, you know how Dr. Daugherty treats tardiness.”
“Don’t worry, he loves me.” Brooke winked at me.
I glanced back before rounding the corner; Christian was staring at me. A shiver ran up my spine.
Dr. Daugherty was standing at the window with the rest of the class.
“Dr. Daugherty, Brooke might be running a little late.”
“Because of this?” He pointed out the window.
Kennah was standing with the others, so I quickly put my books down on my desk and went over to her. “How are you?”
Kennah smiled. “Little sleepy. Can you believe this?”
“Do you remember anything from last night?”
She looked at me. “Just you getting sick and Mr. Wasabi taking us home. Are you okay?”
Surprised, I fumbled with my answer. “Ah, yeah.”
“As if her ego wasn’t big enough.” Cameron sighed.
“What?” I stared out the window.
From Dr. Daugherty’s class room, you can see the primary school’s playground. Down in the middle of the playground, a bunch of blue haired students were aligned together to spell out Brooke’s name and ‘we love you’.
“Are you kidding me?” I sighed.
“What’s everyone looking at?” Brooke’s voice sounded a bit different.
Dr. Daugherty sighed. “A spectacle of ridiculousness propaganda. But in retrospect not for you.”
“What?” She pushed her way to the window and she squeaked with enjoyment. “Oh, that is so sweet!”
“I think it’s adorable. They need good role models.” Carrina said in her thick Italian accent.
“Yeah, but, Brooke?” Cameron questioned.
“I’m adorable, Carrina said so. And Italians know adorable. Can…” Brooke didn’t even get the rest of sentence out before Dr. Daugherty commented.
“Try to be back before the end of class bell.”
“Thank you, Dr. Daugherty.” Brooke went to give him a hug, but he shooed her away before she could.
We waited for her to run around the building and make her grand entrance. I noticed a person standing by a car in the parking lot that overlooked the playground. On cue, Brooke came running around the building, as fast as I’ve ever seen her run, past the man without a glance, and entered the playground. You would have thought Taylor Swift had entered a concert hall.
The blue haired students erupted into a silent scream and several seconds later the yells of excitement crashed upon the open windows with the force of a thunderstorm. They all swarmed around her. She reveled in it.
“If we don’t win tonight, I think her popularity is going to die.” Cameron said.
Dr. Daugherty returned to his desk. “I think you underestimate her influence. We could lose badly and they will still adore her.”
Cameron scoffed. “Why?”
The class began to return to their seats. I lingered a while at the window watching the man Brooke passed. He turned his gaze up at me, nodded to me, and walked around the building and disappeared. My neck hair rose up, which made me shudder.
Who is that? Do I know him? Oh my god. Could that be one of the people after the egg? I better tell Gabe when I see him.
“Ms. Ritter, will you return to your seat, please.” Dr. Daugherty said politely.
“Sorry.” I returned to my seat and sat down.
Dr. Daugherty continued answering Cameron’s question. “Simple, Cameron. She represents something special to them.”
“But what? She isn’t anything special. She’s athletic, but she’s an average student, not even in the top twenty of our class.”
“Sounds like someone is jealous.” Kennah chirped from the back of the room.
Cameron shot her a nasty look but kept silent.
Dr. Daugherty smiled. “You are missing the point. And thank you for not falling for Ms. Knowles trolling. One, she is a successful woman in a man’s sport. Two, have you watched her out on the playground with them? She knows every one of their names, she knows their histories, and she takes the time to listen to them.”
“We all do that. It’s one of the Tenets of the school.” Cameron grumbled.
“Yes, that is very true. But have you done it with any other class besides the one you were assigned to your junior year?” He asked.
Nobody answered.
“Those third graders are not part of her group, but she can tell you their names, the fourth graders, second graders, first graders, and the kindergartners.” He took in a deep breath. “I’m not saying she is perfect.”
That drew several laughs from the class.
“We all know she’s impulsive, outspoken, tactless at times, and a pain in the administrations ass when she thinks she’s right.”
That reference would pertain to the commotion Brooke caused our freshman year. So, here is the story I didn’t go over earlier about how she came a part of the boy’s hockey team. Since we have a girls’ hockey team, Brooke was supposed to play for them our freshman year. But she knew her skills were far too good for the girls’ team and when she was told she couldn’t try out for the boys’ team, all hell broke loose. She petitioned the board, wrote Mr. Donahue, the Governor, and was about to set up a meeting with Senator Udall, when the board relented. When she got the chance and was clearly the better goalie, she took a lot of grief from the upper classmen and the girls’ hockey team. But to her credit, she took it in stride, said very little about the teasing, and was always supportive of the girls’ team.
“She inspires them to take a stance, but to do it the right way without slinging mud at the opposition. A lesson our congress could use.” He finished.
No one spoke. Dr. Daugherty was right. There is certainly a way to have a disagreement and find common ground.
I raised my hand.
“Yes, Ms. Ritter.”
“You know she is going to get into a fight tonight, especially with her cousin, Set.”
A wide smile came to his lips. “I never said she didn’t make mistakes. I trust she will make the right decision when the time comes.” He winked. “And everyone knows, sometimes bullies need to be popped in the nose. Go Valkyries!”
The class cheered.
The Hockey Game
Brooke returned to class just as the bell was about to ring. She beamed with pride and excitement. Nobody teased her when she came in and she looked a little disappointed about that. Dr. Daugherty passed out the homework assignment for the next day, knowing full well that it wouldn’t be turned in until the following Monday.
We headed off toward second period. Excitement permeated the halls as students chatted about tonight’s game.
“Hey, I’ll see ya at lunch.” I told Brooke.
She nodded. “Save me a seat.”
We hugged and parted ways at the fifth floor stairwell. My next two classes were pretty entertaining, with each teacher showing their pride in very different ways. Finally, when the fourth period bell rang and everyone headed to first lunch at around twelve thirty, the buzz was beginning to get even more pronounced. Even though the game wasn’t until seven o’clock, you couldn’t get away from the enthusiasm. Going through the lunch line was like going through a buffet for royalty. The culinary students had fixed up something special for the day, and clearly Mr. Donahue must have told them to go all out. Since our school was named after a Greek god and our mascot from a Norse myth, lunch was a combination of foods from Greece and Sweden. Needless to say, the calorie count was thrown to the wind for the day, and everyone feasted upon authentic dishes. My personal favorite was the lamb stew with fresh bread and some kind of fruit tart that was to die for.
Kennah, Kaylene, Alexa and Howard, a junior thespian, came over and sat down.
“Hi, ladies and gentleman,” wiping stew from my chin.
“Hey, JJ.” Howard greeted me.
“I love this school!” Kennah bit into her tart and moaned with pleasure.
“I will certainly miss the food.” Alexa agreed.
“How you feeling?” I asked her.
“Tired. Are you okay? You got pretty sick last night. Should you be eating all that?” she asked concerned.
I nodded. “Yeah, must have been some kind of twenty four hour bug. I felt really good this morning.” My thought was to keep up the charade since the two of them appeared to believe the same thing.
“How’s Serina? I haven’t seen her today.” I asked them.
“She must have gotten the same thing, but didn’t fare as well. She’s at home sick.” Kennah said between mouthfuls and moans.
This concerned me, but I guessed that some people might react differently even to natural herbs just like medicines. “Will she be at the game?”
“I think so.” Alexa answered taking a bite of the fruit tart and moaning with pleasure.
“Did you see the Third Graders?” Howard asked. “It was a circus over there.”
“Yeah, we watched it from Dr. Daugherty’s class.”
“No, what happened.” Kaylene asked.
“I was greeted like a queen.” Brooke announced as she walked up.
I explained to Kaylene what happened.
She smiled. “Only you, Brooke.”
Brooke sat down. “They adore me, what can you do.”
She reached over to snatch my tart, and was met with a slapped hand. “Go get your own.”
“You need to learn how to share.” She said in a huff. Her eye caught sight of Christian. “Don’t wait for me.”
She got up and walked over to him. He greeted her with a hug, but his eye caught a hold of mine and we locked stares. Again, an uncomfortable feeling washed over me, but I wasn’t able to give it any real meaning.
“Have you guys noticed anything different about Christian?” I asked.
“Beside the fact that he is gorgeous?” Alexa acknowledged.
“Yeah, beside that.” And laughed.
“No. Usually, he is very quiet and doesn’t say much. I’m kind of surprised he’s interested in Brooke. She is much too boisterous for him.” Howard said.
“I don’t know.” Kaylene countered. “I’ve seen Christian get a little out of control at some of the parties. But on a whole, I’d have to agree that Brooke is a little outside his normal zone.”
“What? Are you saying Brooke isn’t normal?” I mockingly said.
“I’d say she is really different.” Kaylene said seriously. “She just does things that seem so….unnatural.”
My heart increased in rhythm. “What do you mean?”
“Well…” But before she could continue, Gabe came and sat down next to us.
The girls at the table smiled at him, even Howard had a pleasant smile.
“Hi.” He said.
“Hello.” The table answered in unison.
“Nice to see you with your clothes on.” Gabe said.
My face turned four colors of red as ‘oohs’ came from the table.
“Nothing happened” I blurted out. “Just a prank that Brooke played on us this morning.”
“Your look doesn’t suggest you were opposed to it.” Kennah teased.
My body was on fire from embarrassment. I was speechless.
“My cousin can be very mischievous at times. A most embarrassing moment for myself as well.” Gabe explained.
“Speaking of your cousin, Valor believes that Set will win them the playoff game tonight.” Kennah said. “My boyfriend said the school is having a huge assembly today.”
“So what?” Howard huffed. “Brooke is the best goal keeper in the state. We’ll win it easily. Has she said where she is going to college?”
Gabe answered. “She got accepted into a college in Japan.”
“Japan?!” The table said.
He nodded. “Yep. It’s where my Uncle and Aunt attended.”
“What kind of university is it?” Kaylene asked.
“Business.” Gabe said.
“Do they play hockey in Japan?” Howard asked.
“I think her playing days are over after this.” Gabe announced. He started to continue whe
n Ms. Pendragon stepped into the lunch room and waved to him.
“Hey, I have to go.” He got up.
“I need to talk to you about something.” I told him.
He looked over at Ms. Pendragon and back at me. “I’ll see you tonight.” He waved.
I watched him go. My heart filled with joy.
“Well?” Kennah said.
I turned to her. “Well, what?”
“Is he?” She moved her hand together and then apart. Clearly trying to get me to answer how well hung he was.
“Girls don’t kiss and tell.” I said smugly.
“She doesn’t know.” Kaylene smirked. “Her left eye twitches when she is lying.
My hand shot up to my left eye. “You guys are as bad Brooke.”
They laughed and we ended our lunch talking about the game.
The rest of the day was pretty normal if you don’t include the strange ways that each teacher expressed their own pride in the school. The one that stood out the most and got the most talk of the day was Dr. Zang’s Latin class having to go and recite the Spartan oath of Brotherhood from the amphitheater.
When classes were over, people scattered to do what they needed to do before the game, and I waited out front for Dad. Brooke had to go to a meeting for the team, so I wouldn’t see her again until after the game. I didn’t see Gabe after lunch, and since he had transferred out of Dr. Daugherty’s class to be in my Ms. Pendragon’s class, this had put me in a bad mood. Cars honked incessantly as they left from the student parking lot. Windows were painted with graffiti proudly showing school pride. Dad showed up in the jeep with his bike attacked to the rack in back.
“Hey, sweetie.” He hopped out of the jeep and kissed me on the forehead.
“Hi Dad.” Tossing my backpack into the passenger side.
He put his hand on my forehead. “How you feeling? Toyo called me and said you were sick. Something you ate?”
“Uhm, must have been.” Not sure what else to say. “Dad…” I started, when Mr. Wasabi’s warning came to mind. I hate keeping secrets from my Dad. It’s something that we both agreed upon when Mom passed away. But I didn’t want to put him in danger either. My stomach felt as if it had a huge hole in it.
Dragon Amour (Dragon-Half Breed Book 1) Page 19