Chapter 7: Discovery, part II

Drake went on to his classes and the day was pretty uneventful. That is, until last period.



Drake was sitting in class, and as was the tradition with new students, the teachers had apparently been introducing a new student in all of the kid's classes.



"Class, I'm sure some of you might have heard by now, but we have a new student joining us. I know it's late in the year, but as she's just moved here, she'll be finishing up the year here before graduation. Come on in sweetie." said the teacher.



A girl walked in through the doorway and the room went silent, awestruck was more like it. She was tall, 5'9" by Drake's judging, and she had long, flowing red hair. From what Drake could see, she had Hazel eyes, which made her hair stick out even more against her pale skin. She wasn't too pale, just the right amount of pigment was gone...she was the most beautiful girl Drake had ever seen in person...and still very high up period.



"Class, this is umm...what's your name again, dear? I keep forgetting, I'm bad with names you see." asked the teacher.



"Fern. My name's Fern Ashebury. And thanks for the intro." she said serenely.



"Right, this is Fern, everyone. Now, Fern, if you would, please take a seat...next to Mr. Trager in the back there. sorry, it's the only vacant seat left."



"No problem, I have good eyesight anyways." she said, smile on her face.



"She's gorgeous! I can't believe she's sitting next to me, kick A!" Drake mused



As she approached Drake, she smiled at him and sat down. Just as she got close, Drake felt that familiar spark of tingling in his hand.



"No way! Her too, how on earth can there be three of us at the same school, and all meeting the same day?"



"Uh, hi. Name's Drake, Drake Trager." said Drake



"Hey, nice to meet you." she said, smiling at him with one of the most flirtatious grins Drake had ever seen in his life.



"Hmm Hmm!" the teacher loudly cleared her throat. "Please open your books to page 563, and we can begin."



They both blushed and turned away from each other. They didn't speak or even look at each other for the remainder of class. In fact, the moment the final bell rang, Fern jumped right up and hurried right out of the room.



"Odd...oh well...I can try and talk to her later, I guess." mumbled Drake



Drake got up and made his way to his locker to get his stuff and head for home. When he got there, there was a red slip of paper sticking out from the vent. He opened the locker and saw a Red sheet of paper, formed in the shape of the Flame symbol, the symbol that would more than likely be on the crystal of fire... and it's owner's hand, presumably. On it was scribbled a note, obviously written quickly, probably in the 5 minutes since he had last seen Fern.



"I know who you are, and what you are. Don't worry, I won't be as awkward as that other girl was in the library... you can count on that. We'll have some fun with our talk, mmk?"
~I.A.



"Well, this'll be...special, eh? I better go find Erika." thought Drake.



When Drake got to Erika's locker, he found her just closing her door.

"Howdy, partner." she said, grinning

"Howdy, yourself." he countered. "Ready to go?"

"Yup, where to?"

"Well, he said to meet him where I first met him, which would be the park by my house. I was thinking we'd go there first...if he's not there, I'll call him."

Drake caught a glimpse of a red flash in the corner of his eye. It went around the corner, and out of sight.

"Hey, did you hear about a new girl today?" asked Drake, beginning to walk out the door to head to the bus.

"Yeah, she's in my class right before lunch. She's gorgeous. The stupid jerks in my class wouldn't stop staring at her the whole period. I had to fight just to get past them after class so i could leave the room...she sat right behind me."

"Hmm, sounds like her to me, haha. She sat next to me last period. OH! Speaking of her...look what she popped in my locker." Drake said, taking out the note.

"I thought her name was Fern, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah, it is...why?"

"Well, the note is signed 'I.A.' not 'F.A.' either she's got a sibling who's name that starts with 'I', or her name actually starts with 'I'...or it just wasn't her." said Erika.

"Yeah...I noticed that. But also look at the paper..."

Erika gasped. "It's shaped like a flame...Do you think she's like us too?"

"I'm thinking so...I felt the same feeling when she sat by me that I did when you got on the bus this morning...and then this. Wait a sec...didn't you feel something too?"

"Nope, not a thing...she sat behind me, but not right behind me...like 3 seats back, and she went around, not straight back...I don't know why."

"Well, I guess we'll find out...but she left really suddenly after class...I didn't have a chance to even talk to her and she left...presumably to leave this in my locker."

"How did she even know where your locker was?" asked Erika, noticing that the bus was almost to her stop. "Oh, and is it closer to get off here, or by you?"

"By me. And I have no idea..maybe she asked someone?"

"Yeah, maybe..." she said, motioning to the driver to keep going. "Sorry, wasn't paying attention. I'm at another stop today!"

The bus reached Drake's stop five minutes later.

"Wow, I had no idea you lived this close...cool." Erika said.

"Umm, before today, I doubt you knew I even existed. I get on the bus before you, and off after. Anywho...here we are. The park is a couple blocks south of here. Do you mind if we stop here so I can drop off my stuff first? You can leave yours here too and pick it up when you go home."

"No problem, that'd be nice." she said, smiling. "You want me to meet your parents already?" she asked deviously

"Har har. My parents are on their "second honeymoon" anyways...not here until tomorrow afternoon. Come on in, grab something to drink if you'd like...I'll take this stuff up to my room." said Drake

"Mmk, I'll be waiting mister!" she hollered up the stairs after Drake.

She looked around a bit and found some pictures on the fridge. His parents and sister along with him in a candid family picture at Disney World, a shot of his sister with her boyfriend, apparently.

"Very nice, Drake... looks like we've got more in common that I thought." she mused

"She'll be home in a few, if you want to meet her..." Drake said from behind her

"Holy crap you scared me, boy! I almost peed myself, haha. You're sneaky, huh? I can learn to like that, I guess." she said, chancing a glance over at him.

Drake was looking at her with a perplexing look on his face. It almost seemed like he was actually enjoying being around her. She wasn't really used to that at all. Erika had friends, but they were only really a group of people she ate lunch with...she had no classes with any of them, and they rarely talked outside of the cafeteria. They hadn't even ever exchanged phone numbers before.

"What's with that look, Mr. Sneaky? Haven't you ever seen a girl before?"

"Not in my kitchen...not one that I actually get along with." he said darkly

The front door banged shut, and moments later the girl in the pictures on the fridge stepped into the kitchen.

"Ah-ha! Trying to sneak a little after-school nookie in while mom and dad are gone, eh? I won't tell as long as you don't mention anything about me and John, alright?" she asked

"Uh...ok, I won't mention anything, but I wasn't doing what you thought, perv. Gah! Everyone's always got to be trying to have sex and do drugs, right? Wrong, sis. There are a few decent people out there. By the way, this is Erika, she's on my bus. We're heading to the park, if that's alright with you." ranted Drake, storming out of the house, leaving Erika and Drake's sister behind.

"Umm, nice meeting you. see you later!" Erika said, bolting out the door behind him, making sure to catch the handle on the way out.

Drake was standing in the driveway, smiling at Erika.

"What the heck was that all about?" asked Erika

"Meh, Hailey's just a prude...she goes around acting all high and mighty, just because she's in the popular crowd and all... I can't stand her most of the time, and don't even get me started on her friends." he retorted

"So that's what you meant before about not getting along with girls."

"Ha, yeah...anywho, the park is this way, ready?"

"Lead the way, maestro." smiled Erika.

FIN Ch 7