used to. ‘It’s good he’s going after her.’
‘Yeah.’ I sighed. ‘I’m glad about that.’
‘Fingers crossed,’ Meagan said and flashed me a smile. Her smile really did flash – she had a mouthful of metal. ‘Hey, you know, we could try one of my mom’s visioning sessions after school and see if we can help your dad. We could get my mom to help—’
‘I have to go somewhere after school,’ I said, thinking about the weight of the ring in my pocket. I’d have to persuade Mrs Jameson to let me meet Isabelle somehow.
‘That’s okay. We’ll go take care of that first, then do the visioning session. After dinner, if we have to.’ Meagan was trying to accommodate me, which said a lot either about how nice she is or about how long we’ve been pals. ‘Where do you have to go?’
She obviously thought I had a dentist’s appointment or something. I felt my gut knot, because there was no avoiding what I had to say. I couldn’t exactly ask Isabelle about the ring with Meagan present. It was pure dragon biz. ‘Um … I have to visit someone. Alone.’
I just wanted to stop her before she planned everything, but I handled it badly. She tensed and I knew I’d hurt her feelings.
Again.
‘I see.’ Her tone said it all. ‘And I suppose that if you’re still staying with us on Halloween, you’ll go to Trevor’s party alone, too?’
‘I told you I’m not going to his party—’
‘Don’t lie to me, Zoë!’ Meagan snapped. ‘It’s bad enough that you won’t tell me things.’
‘But I swear I can’t tell you …’
‘No, you won’t tell me.’ She grabbed the door and hauled it open. ‘I suppose it’s better to find out who your real friends are.’
It would have been great if I’d thought of the perfect reply, but instead I just stood there with my mouth hanging open.
And you know what happened next.
‘Meagan!’ Jessica called and waved from down the hall. ‘Did you solve the bonus questions from math?’
Meagan grinned. ‘Even better! I have the coolest thing to tell you. You’ll never guess what I saw yesterday.’
And they were gone, speculating on the identity of the dragon kid in our school, leaving me behind – me, who could have told them the real story, if it hadn’t been for the stupid Covenant. Even if there was a marginal chance of my not getting exiled, it depended upon my playing by my dad’s rules in the short term. Just the scorch of that dragonsmoke had been enough to convince me that he was serious about reinforcing the rules.
Even on me.
Derek appeared in my peripheral vision when I was opening my locker.
‘Fight?’ he asked. I didn’t have to ask what he meant. I knew he must have been watching our exchange.
‘Kind of.’ I shrugged, as if it would blow over. ‘How was the game?’
‘Central won.’ He didn’t sound surprised.
I wasn’t either.
We ran out of conversation at that point. I got my books for the morning classes, sure that he’d leave.
He didn’t.
He cleared his throat. For the first time I’d ever noticed, Derek looked uncomfortable. He almost shuffled his feet. That made me curious as to what he wanted to say. ‘So, they say you draw.’
Now I was the one watching him intently. ‘Some. Yeah.’
Those eyes were icy blue, his gaze fixed on me. ‘Dragons.’
I swallowed, feeling like I was under a microscope. ‘Usually.’ I felt myself blushing. ‘Call it a weakness.’
‘I don’t.’ I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but he was digging in his bag. He offered a new notebook to me, as if he thought I’d refuse to take it. ‘Draw me one?’
Kids asked me to do this all the time, to embellish one of their notebooks with a dragon. For some reason, Derek’s request felt different, maybe just because he was different.
Intense. That was the word for him.
Like the weight of the world was hanging on my decision.
Or maybe I was making too much of it.
I tried to shake off my sense of foreboding. ‘Sure,’ I
‘Yeah.’ I sighed. ‘I’m glad about that.’
‘Fingers crossed,’ Meagan said and flashed me a smile. Her smile really did flash – she had a mouthful of metal. ‘Hey, you know, we could try one of my mom’s visioning sessions after school and see if we can help your dad. We could get my mom to help—’
‘I have to go somewhere after school,’ I said, thinking about the weight of the ring in my pocket. I’d have to persuade Mrs Jameson to let me meet Isabelle somehow.
‘That’s okay. We’ll go take care of that first, then do the visioning session. After dinner, if we have to.’ Meagan was trying to accommodate me, which said a lot either about how nice she is or about how long we’ve been pals. ‘Where do you have to go?’
She obviously thought I had a dentist’s appointment or something. I felt my gut knot, because there was no avoiding what I had to say. I couldn’t exactly ask Isabelle about the ring with Meagan present. It was pure dragon biz. ‘Um … I have to visit someone. Alone.’
I just wanted to stop her before she planned everything, but I handled it badly. She tensed and I knew I’d hurt her feelings.
Again.
‘I see.’ Her tone said it all. ‘And I suppose that if you’re still staying with us on Halloween, you’ll go to Trevor’s party alone, too?’
‘I told you I’m not going to his party—’
‘Don’t lie to me, Zoë!’ Meagan snapped. ‘It’s bad enough that you won’t tell me things.’
‘But I swear I can’t tell you …’
‘No, you won’t tell me.’ She grabbed the door and hauled it open. ‘I suppose it’s better to find out who your real friends are.’
It would have been great if I’d thought of the perfect reply, but instead I just stood there with my mouth hanging open.
And you know what happened next.
‘Meagan!’ Jessica called and waved from down the hall. ‘Did you solve the bonus questions from math?’
Meagan grinned. ‘Even better! I have the coolest thing to tell you. You’ll never guess what I saw yesterday.’
And they were gone, speculating on the identity of the dragon kid in our school, leaving me behind – me, who could have told them the real story, if it hadn’t been for the stupid Covenant. Even if there was a marginal chance of my not getting exiled, it depended upon my playing by my dad’s rules in the short term. Just the scorch of that dragonsmoke had been enough to convince me that he was serious about reinforcing the rules.
Even on me.
Derek appeared in my peripheral vision when I was opening my locker.
‘Fight?’ he asked. I didn’t have to ask what he meant. I knew he must have been watching our exchange.
‘Kind of.’ I shrugged, as if it would blow over. ‘How was the game?’
‘Central won.’ He didn’t sound surprised.
I wasn’t either.
We ran out of conversation at that point. I got my books for the morning classes, sure that he’d leave.
He didn’t.
He cleared his throat. For the first time I’d ever noticed, Derek looked uncomfortable. He almost shuffled his feet. That made me curious as to what he wanted to say. ‘So, they say you draw.’
Now I was the one watching him intently. ‘Some. Yeah.’
Those eyes were icy blue, his gaze fixed on me. ‘Dragons.’
I swallowed, feeling like I was under a microscope. ‘Usually.’ I felt myself blushing. ‘Call it a weakness.’
‘I don’t.’ I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but he was digging in his bag. He offered a new notebook to me, as if he thought I’d refuse to take it. ‘Draw me one?’
Kids asked me to do this all the time, to embellish one of their notebooks with a dragon. For some reason, Derek’s request felt different, maybe just because he was different.
Intense. That was the word for him.
Like the weight of the world was hanging on my decision.
Or maybe I was making too much of it.
I tried to shake off my sense of foreboding. ‘Sure,’ I
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