Dragon's Wings

Chapter 1

As I fall against the hard white floor, a grunt escapes my lips while all the school books I'd been carrying scatter. My flailing arms fail to catch me and my head smacks against the ground. The headache I've had is now ten times worse.

"Hm, just as I thought," Hiroko says arrogantly with a smug smile on her face. She places one hand on her hip and taps her black heeled tennis shoes. "All you are is a pathetic nobody." Slowly, I get up. She's going to make me late for my next class. A quick wave of embarrassment rolls through my body and my face flushes red. I want to do something to her out of spite but I keep my head down. Doing something out of anger won't accomplish anything. It'll just give Hiroko what she wants, a reaction.

"God, what a loser," Kelsey, Hiroko's personal clown, joins in. Her mini skirt is ridiculously short. Nobody but a sick pervert wants to see her butt cheeks.

"A pathetic loser with no friends," Stacy, clown number two, sighs in mock sympathy. I bite my lip. Well, what Stacy said is kind of true. I don't have any friends, but whatever. I'd rather have no friends than have have fake friends like Hiroko has. Plus, my grades are better than hers. A small sly smile graces my lips as I bow head, causing my light auburn hair to shield my face.

"At least I'm not failing," I retaliate. That's a sore spot because Hiroko's dad came in one day, ranting on about how his daughter is a disgrace and has shamed the family name. His family has always had the best grades and has been the most successful business owners for generations, but with her failing grades, Hiroko's father is ashamed of her. She's Japanese, so I think that's an important aspect to their culture, carrying out the family name or something.

"Shut up you nobody!" Hiroko screams hot with anger and kicks my stomach. Pain ignites in my stomach and I grind my teeth togther. I know the stupid teachers won't come to my aid because of how crappy this school is. Absolutely no one cares about their students here. She kicks me a few more times while digging her heel into me and I curl tight in to a ball. "That will teach you to ever talk to me like that again," she sneers.

"God, what a *****," Hiroko curses as she walks away.

I cough and lift myself up on my hands and knees as my stomach lurches. I'm doing everything I can not to throw up. "Oh my God, are you okay?" An unfamiliar voice asks me. Footsteps rush toward me. "Hello? Can you hear me?"

I look over at a boy with messy black hair kneels by me wearing a worried expression and I glare at a him. "Nothing is wrong with my ears you idiot. I was just kicked pretty good. Plus I'm-" I inturrupt myself with a fit of coughing.

He sighs, "You should go to the Infirmary."

I scoff, "Yeah? And what is the nurse gonna do? Stick a band aid on me? Honestly, I don't even understand why we have an infirmary here in the first place."

"I know that, what I'm saying is you should go so you can bring back a note or whatever they give you to the teacher so you won't be marked tardy," He says with a roll of his plain brown eyes. "You know how picky the teachers are about tardies." That's actually kind of smart. I try to stand up but pain reignites in my stomach again. I lose my balance and begin to fall, but the boy's arms catch me. "Maybe I should help you over."

I grit my teeth. "Yeah, well maybe you shouldn't." I abhor people thinking I'm weak and useless. I can take a beating just fine. Beatings like this occured daily when I lived with my Dad. In a drunken rage he would beat mom and I repeatedly. This is minamal.

"Now I'm definitely helping you," He says and flashes me a smile.

With a grit of my teeth I intensify my glare. He's one of those boys; the type of boy who thinks he can flash a girl his smile and suddenly they're in love with him. "Whatever," I mutter and push him away from me. "But don't touch me." He replies with a curt nod.