The Dragon Ember

Chapter Two - Lana

I sat at my desk in literature class, bored to death. The professor was talking about something in Catcher in the Rye. Yawn. What was so interesting about a kid calling everyone a phony his entire life. I sighed. I had already read the SparkNotes anyway, and as much as the professor tried to instill in us that SparkNotes wasn't going to help us pass the class, I still got straight A's on every test. I think she knew.

James caught my eye from across that room and pretended to doze off when Professor Cartwright wasn't looking. I cupped my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing out loud. When the professor turned around, we both put on a straight face. James, or as I like to call him, Jam because of an incident as a kid where he got covered head to toe in grape jelly, did end up taking me to Promendor's, and Reed was right. It was an ice-cream kind of night, a chocolate chip cookie-dough-peanut-butter-fudge kind of ice cream night. We actually had a lot of fun making fun of all the tools that are on his swim team. He took me back home after the ice cream shop closed, and I actually didn't cry myself to sleep. For once.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and I jumped in my seat. The class all looked at me, a few of them sniggered, and I heard a few students whisper something very racist and laugh. I felt my skin flush.

Apparently, Professor Cartwright heard it too, because her focus immediately shifted from me to a small group near the back of the room. "Tanner, Davidson, Foster. The principal wants to see you three to talk about after-school detention." They were about to protest, but a withering stare from the professor sent them scurrying from their seats. I felt a surge of gratitude and satisfaction flow through me. Maybe I should pay attention more in her class.

The class quickly went back to normal, but newfound ethics aside, I bent over to see why my phone went off. It was a message from James. "You excited to get your license?"

I unlocked my phone and quickly texted back. "SO excited!!!! Reed is taking me on Saturday. I can't wait!!!!!"

"I'll be there to cheer you on! Then we'll have to road trip!"

I smiled. "Totally" That was going to be amazing. Three days and I would be able to go anywhere on my own without having to rely on Jam or Reed. I could drive to Acadia National Park or all the way to the Grand Canyon, or even farther to the Redwood Forest. I could just imagine the wind through my hair, the scent of fresh leaves and rich earth filling my nose. Just the thought of it all made Saturday feel so far away.

The rest of the period passed in the same way, as did the rest of the day. I floated from class to class, the smell of grass in my nose and the sounds of rushing water in my ears. I barely heard it when the final bell rang. Jam met me outside the school and together we drove back to my house. Jam and Reed live on the same property as our house, but they lived in a house down the driveway closer to the main road. It had always been that way for as long as I could remember. Same school ever since Pre-K, same dinners, same lunches. Same chickenpox, too.

Jam spent the drive talking about Professor Cartwright and how awesome she was for totally owning Danni Tanner, Connor Davidson, and Thomas Foster. He had the best view for the despair on their faces. "Serves them right. Disgusting."

"Definitely." I looked out the window at the countryside passing us by. Every now and then we'd pass by a driveway into the woods or a house nestled right up against route 15. Some were old, with big oak trees in their front. Some were new, their driveways freshly paved with asphalt or carefully tiled brick. I appreciated Jam defending me from Danni and her friends, but I knew everyone looked at me like I was some kind of oddity. A side effect of living in rural Maine. There were plenty of other Somalian immigrants in Lewiston or Portland, but in more "affluent" parts of the state, hardly anyone has seen a black person, let alone talked to one.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Jam said. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, yeah... I'm fine." I said quickly. "Just thinking about where we're going to go first when I get my driver's license. I was thinking about a road trip to the Grand Canyon."

He let out a huge bark of a laugh. "You're crazy Lana, I swear." He gave me a teasing grin. You'll have to drive for a long time before I think you would be ready for that kind of drive"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "I'm not saying a round trip, non-stop kind of thing." I looked back out of the window, now actually thinking about what I wanted to do after I got my license. "I'm sure all four of us could..."

Jam winced, but quickly tried to hide it and look reassuring. "I'm sure that your mom would be wicked stoked to come with you. We could all take turns driving. I've always wanted to visit the Pacific Ocean."

I poked him. "That's even farther than the Grand Canyon. Who's crazy now. You've only had your license for a couple of months, y'know." My smile faded. "Besides, my mom's never been home for more than a few days at a time, and even when she is home, she's holed up in her office talking to her clients or co-workers or whatever. Thanks for trying, though."

Jam tried not to look at me. I could tell that he felt uncomfortable talking about my mom. He'd always had a pretty uncomfortable relationship with her, too. I saw it whenever she entered the house. She seemed to regard him more like a dog than a person., and she never failed to give him some sort of a chore to do around the house. "Sure thing." He said softly. "Hey, did you want to come over and try out the new Star Wars game with me? Mom got it the other night as a surprise."

I perked up, it was better than being cooped up in the house all on my own, and I always loved their how, how cozy it felt nestled in the tall pine trees. "Sounds awesome. Sleepover?"

"Duh." He grinned.

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