"That's not how the story goes"

Chapter 6

Denis ran down the dirt road, Samantha and their parents behind him.

"Come on!" Denis called. "I wanna get there before rush hour!" Ms. Kopotun laughed. Samantha ran over to Denis. The town came into view.

The kids stopped and ran back over to their mothers. They gave a small pouch of gold coins to each of them.

They ran off towards the town.

"Be careful!" Ms. Kopotun yelled.

-

"What're you gonna get?" Samantha asked. Denis shrugged. "Yeah. I don't know either." The two walked down the street for a while, looking into the stores.

"Denis!" Samantha called. "Look!" She pointed at a small patch of grass off to the side. There was a bench. The boy from before sat on it, the dragon playing in the grass behind the bench.

"It's the boy from a couple days ago! Let's go say hi!" Samantha began walking over. Denis grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"And say what?" Denis mumbled. "'Hi there we spied on you and your pet dragon almost shredded us to pieces.'"

Samantha crossed her arms. "No! We'll say..." She paused and fidgeted with her fingers for a moment. "We'll say that we saw them sitting there alone and wanted to play with them!"

Samantha turned and ran towards the bench. Denis stood there for a couple of seconds before running after his friend.

"Hi there!" Samantha called, running up to the bench. The boy looked up with a piece of bacon in his mouth. The dragon climbed up onto the bench and pressed their head against the boy's shoulder.

"Hi," The boy said. "Can I help you with something?" Samantha shook her head.

"I just wanted to ask if you wanted to play with me and my friend!" She cheered and pushed Denis forward.

The boy looked back at the dragon. Their back was hunched and they looked tense. The boy pulled the dragon into a hug and stroked their head.

"There there," He mumbled. "You can calm down." The dragon relaxed and melted into the boy's chest.

"Good dragon!" The boy cheered. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a treat. He threw it up and the dragon caught it in his mouth. "There's no need to be defensive." Samantha stepped forward.

"Can I pet them?" She asked, smiling. The boy nodded.

"Avoid the mouth though," The boy got off the bench. The dragon hopped down next to him and sat there.

Samantha carefully reached her hand out, letting the dragon sniff her hand first. She scratched behind the dragon's ear and giggled as they pressed their head into her hand.

"What's their name?" She asked.

"Elijah," The boy replied. "And I'm Alex."

"My name's Samantha and this is Denis." She pointed to Denis behind her. He waved at Alex who waved back with a smile.

Alex grabbed two pieces of bacon and handed them to the two. They both took one and happily ate it.

-

They all talked to get to know each other while Elijah played behind the bench. After a while, Denis and Samantha's mothers came up to the bench. They saw Alex and smiled.

"I see you both made a friend," Ms. Kopotun smiled. Denis and Samantha nodded. Samantha's mother looked her over.

"Samantha!" Ms. Ellington called. "You got crumbs on your dress! And is that dirt?" She pulled her daughter off the bench and began brushing things off Samantha's dress.

Elijah poked their head out from behind the bench. They saw Ms. Ellington aggressively pulling Samantha towards her, yelling.

"I told you not to mess around!" The angry mother said. Elijah ran out and growled at Ms. Ellington. She screamed and grabbed her daughter.

"Someone get this rabid animal away from me!" She cried, kicking dirt into Elijah's eyes. Elijah suddenly flinched and buried their face into the ground. Alex ran over.

"Elijah?" Alex mumbled. Elijah looked up, their eyes watering. Alex gasped and looked over Elijah's eyes. "There's pebbles in your eyes!" Alex took out a spray bottle. He gently dripped water on Elijah's face to wash their eyes out.

"Chloe!" Ms. Kopotun called.

"Tsk! We're going home!" Ms. Ellington scoffed and walked away with her daughter. Ms. Kopotun crouched down next to Alex.

"I'm so sorry about her," She frowned. "Is there anything I could do to help?" Denis ran up next the group and hugged Elijah. Alex shook his head.

"It's fine, thank you." Alex said. "My parent's have things to help." He clipped a leash onto a collar on Elijah's neck. He lightly tugged it and Elijah turned to him. The dragon kept blinking, trying to fix their vision.

"Bye Denis," Alex waved. "It was nice meeting you and Samantha."

【┘】

There was a knock on the door.

"Alex!" Mr. Orman called from his bedroom. "Could you get the door? Your mother and I need to finish getting ready for the party!" Alex went up to the door. He opened it. 

A knight stood at the door, a dog tail and ears sticking out from their armour.

"You look comfortable." Alex said sarcastically. The knight lifted their face mask.

"Everything itches," Denis laughed. Elijah ran up to the door, their tail wagging. A clinking sound came from the dragon's tail each time their tail moved. Jewels hung from the end of their tail.

Denis looked at Elijah for a moment.

"You look...different," Denis mumbled.

"I'll explain it later," Alex opened the door more. "Come in, my parents aren't done getting ready yet."

"One moment," Denis said. "I have to tie the horse up."

-

"Sub's waiting at the party," Denis took a bite of a piece of bread. "I managed to get him in."

Alex placed a cup of tea on the side table next to Denis. Elijah laid on the couch, playing with a jewel that hung from one of their horns.

"So, why do they look like they're straight from a museum?" Denis pointed at Elijah. The dragon shot him a glare.

"No- I didn't mean- I'm not saying you look old!" Denis stuttered. Alex laughed.

"It shows wealth and higher class," Alex explained. "The fancier the dragon means the higher the family is class wise."

Alex sat down next to Elijah. "You should see the dragon's in the families above us. I swear if you shined a light on them, they'd glow brighter than the sun!" The two laughed.

Footsteps came down the stairs, followed by the clicking of high heels on hardwood floors.

"Everyone ready to go?" Mrs. Orman asked.

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