I glanced around the room as my teacher began rambling off the first-day-of-school drill. The walls were covered in pictures, some done in pastel, some done in marker, others in pencil. I couldn't tell if they were things the students had done or not, but I guessed that they were. About five minutes through the period my attention span was worn out and my mind began to wander. I was totally lost in thought as the bell rang. I blinked in amazement and grabbed my bag as the rest of the class shuffled out of the room and into the hallway.

As I got outside the classroom, I found Janet standing by the door waiting for me.

"Heya." She smiled. "I see you found your class okay. Come on, our next classes are near each other, so let's a bit."

As we made our way down the halls, she began rambling off about places, people, activities, clubs, social groups, who is who, who isn't who, what is where, and basically any other type of gossip you could ever dream of hearing within the time period of a seven minute passing time. As we got close to my locker, I suddenly noticed a difference in hall activity.

"Move." Janet quickly shoved me to the other side of the hall. I looked up to see that most of the students were on the same side as us. In fact, I think it was safe to say that ALL of the students were on this side of the hall. All but one, I noticed as we headed down the hall. I tried to make my way through the mass of students, but it was a lot harder then I thought it would be.

"Why are we all over here?" I asked Janet quietly. She just motioned to the other side of the hall. I glanced over to see what was there.

A young man, he looked about 17, was walking down the hall. He had long blue hair that was kept back in a ponytail, and a few bangs hung down in front of his face. His eyes were a vivid green color but they looked a little upset. He was wearing a school uniform, the male version I mean, and carrying a handful of books. I was about to ask Janet why he was the only one on that side when a shout arose from the crowd.

"STUPID DRAGON! WE DON'T WANT YOUR KIND HERE!"

I blinked. "He's a dragon?" I whispered to Janet. She turned around and gave me a look that made me feel like I had suddenly grown a second head.

"Of course he is! Can't you tell just by looking at him? The hair, those eyes.." she grimaced in his direction, "I could spot one from a mile away!" I watched him pass.

He looks just like anyone other person to me..

I suppose he could feel my eyes on him because he glanced up in my direction as he waked by. I turned my head and pretended not to notice. If Janet acted that way towards him, then I suppose that I should just ignore him.

At that moment I caught sight of something flying through the air in the corner of my eye. I turned back in time to see the man fall to his knees. He was holding the side of his face in his hands; the books he had been carrting were scattered all over the floor around him. Many of the people in the crowd started laughing and shouting out a bunch of things. I could only make out a few voices though. Then I noticed a small orange rolling among his dropped books. Written on the fruit in crude handwriting, read the phrase: 'Dragon Hate.'

"Come on, Kate. Let's get to class." Janet grabbed a hold of my arm and began to pull me through the now laughing crowd. A pang of pity struck me as I took one last look at the man, but I pushed it aside and forgot about it as Janet dragged me away.

Why do they hate him, Tellka?

"It's just because he is a dragon, Kate. Don't get involved."

Is it right?

"What do you mean?"

I mean, what they're doing. Is it right to hate him? Just because he is a dragon?

"Just forget it, Kate."

Janet pulled me out of the crowd and I broke off my conversation with Tellka.

*****************************************************************

"Jack?"

"Here."

"Lucy?"

"Here."

Mr. Jamerson was calling out attendance as I glanced out the window. I liked my seat. It was right next to a large picture window. Being on the second floor of the school, the view from the window was actually pretty good. It wasn't a little window, like you might expect, but a large one. And a clean one at that. The second floor of the school seemed so high up, that it was no surprise of how much of Windia you could see from a window in one of its classrooms. I watched the people on the street coming and going as they carried on their day routines. Yesterday at this time, I wouldn't have been here... Think of how much I'm missing...

"Think of how much you are gaining. I never had a chance to get an education like this when I was your age."

That might be because you were living in the forest when you were my age.

"Small complications..."

"Kate...."

"Huh?" I snapped my attention back to reality and turned to catch the annoyed gaze of my teacher. I felt my face turn red. "Yes?"

"Are you with us today?" A few snickers sounded from the class. I nodded slightly and looked down at my desk, refusing to look at anyone else. I think I was a red as a beet.

"Ray." As Mr. Jamerson continued to call out roll, I hid my face in my arms and waited for it to return to its normal color.

"Here." I looked up to see the owner of the voise, and was surprised to find myself looking at the dragon from the hallway. He was sitting in the far right corner of the room, away from everone else. Or, should I say everyone else was away from him? I turned my eyes back to the window and let my mind wander a bit more. Like every other class, Mr. Jamerson's would be nothing but needless babble about class rules.

The first day of school just drags on forever...

*****************************************************************

"Kate!"

"Huh?" I sat up quickly and turned around the see the small, stern, monkey-like face of Mr. Jamerson. I blinked and tried to regain my wandering mind.

"The bell rang a minute ago.."

I jumped out of my seat and almost knocked my desk over. "Oh, dang, it did?" I went to grab my bag and books.

"Why worry, you have lunch."

I do?

"You do."

Really?

"Look at your SCHEDULE."

Oh. I fished the paper out of my pocket again and glanced at it. So I do. I think I could hear Tellka clapping as I shouldered my bag and grabbed my binder. I turned and headed out of the classroom.

The halls were packed. Where do I go?

"Follow the crowd, half of them are going to lunch." I managed to get myself swept up in the general flow of direction and just let the current carry me. Sooner or later, the river of students ended up spilling downstairs and out into a large cafeteria area. I was behind the school.

The food court itself was kept indoors, but the tables and benches were both outdoors and in. There was a large line of students all going to get food. I got into it, just to see what they served. It took 15 minutes to get through it.

I grabbed a food tray as I approached the line of lunch ladies that would be dishing out my 'daily requirements of vitamins' and looked over the food. There were carrots, milk, sandwiches, yogurt cups, and mashed potatoes. At least, I think they were mashed potatoes.

"Last I checked, mashed potatoes weren't green."

"What would you like?" The first lunch lady looked up at me with tired brown eyes. I shook my head.

"Just... a milk." She handed me the drink, and I quickly got out of line. I began searching the indoor section of the cafeteria for a place to sit with no avail. With a sigh, I headed out to the outdoor section.

As I stepped through the double doors that led outside, I heard a large crash. I glanced over to see Ray standing in a small area of grass, looking down. People were walking around him, but not near him. There must have been at least a five-foot radius around him. I saw that his shirt was covered in cafeteria food. His tray lay face down on the ground infront of him. I heard laughing and glanced around to see who it was. I couldn't tell though, they had already disappeared into the crowd.

I did my best to ignore him as I looked around. I finally found a place to sit. Actually, Janet found me a place to sit. Or, to put it simply, Janet found me. She waved me over to her table, and I sat down beside her and another Windian girl.

"Heya, Kate." She smiled and patted me on the back. Then she turned to the others gathered at the table. "Hey all, this is Kate. She's pretty cool so far, I think." She nodded and began to introduce me around the table.

"This is Lucy," she pointed to the girl seated on the other side of me. Lucy looked up and regarded me with eyes that made me feel like I was taking up her precious air just by breathing. She looked back down at her lunch a few seconds after. "And this is Jason, Justin, and Luke." The others around the table regarded me with a slight nod. I down shyly and opened my milk carton. I guess this group was waiting for me to prove something, but I wasn't sure what. As I drank my milk, my mind began to wander. I was only halfway through the school day and already I was sick and tired of it. I wanted to go home. I also had a few questions. Especially about Ray. For some reason, he couldn't leave my mind. I did my best to ignore him. That's what Janet did. She acted like he didn't even exist, even if he was talking to her at the time. I suppose I should do that. After all, I was new in this school, and I wanted to make as many friends as possible. I guess this was the way to do it.

e-mail author, talonr@hotmail.com