Flames {Book One: The Deadly Dream}

Part Two: I Fail at Sword Fighting

Between english exams and a crazy demon, I'd take the exams any day.

It was the end of the day, I was almost done with my exams and then I would be off to the Caribbean!

Reality had different plans.

I was sitting there, stuck on question two. My best friend next to me was eating his exam. Classic Jules. When he gets nervous, he eats stuff. Whatever he can get his hands on—tacos, candy, even tin cans. I find it weird, but hey, weird stuff is always happening to me.

We took our exams in the cafeteria, because there was more space in there. I never liked this, the smell of food always gets me distracted.

I wasn't fond of cheating on tests, but I was really stuck. I glanced over at another boy's paper. He was Jacob Preston, a smart but bratty boy. He glared at me and shouted to the nearest teacher.

"Mr. Smith, Faren in looking at my exam!" he shouted and everyone turned towards me. My face turned as red as my rooster origami paper. I looked down at my own exam, embarrassed and ashamed.

"Is this true, Mr. Quinn?" Mr. Smith asked.

"Yes sir," I mumbled. I was a terrible liar.

"I can't hear you," he said, just to get me annoyed. Teachers always seemed to hate me. None of them cared about my talent in art. All they cared about was the regular common core stuff that was plain and time consuming.

"I said," I started raising my voice, my embarrassment turning into anger, "was that I did in fact glance over at Jacob's exam. But I see no point in taking it anyways, seeing how this is not going to come up in my life." I waved around the test, and Jules eyed it hungrily. "I suggest we get to decide what classes we take, and start expressing individuality!"

"Mr. Quinn!" Mr. Smith exclaimed angrily, "Be quiet! Others are trying to take their exams, and unlike you, they care about the important things in life."

"Whatever," I said and looked over at Jules, who was looking at my test. I sighed and tore off a piece for him and he ate it hungrily. His brown hair fell in front of his face as he licked his fingers. Jules was a weird kid, but I liked hanging out with him anyways. We were the two oddballs, and that was what I liked best about him. He didn't care what others thought about him, he just did what he felt.

I stared at my exam, trying to remember the correct grammar to use in a compound sentence. But I was getting bored and the words were jumbled on the page, and I groaned in frustration. I was just about to eat my exam too, out of frustration, when Jules looked up, sniffing at the air.

"What are you smelling?" I asked him softly. I noticed Mr. Smith glaring at me from a distance.

"I smell..." he stopped, his ears seeming to perk up like a dog's. "Faren we need to go. Now." Jules started to stand up, his hand grabbing mine.

"Wait where are we—" I started to say, but I was interrupted by the wall exploding.

Rubble was blasted inward, crushing tons of people. We got lucky somehow, and only got covered in dust and knocked down to the floor. Jules landed on top of me, crushing my stomach. People were screaming and scattering in the large cafeteria. I have to admit, I felt like I wanted to scream too, but I kept cool, brushed the dust out of my eyes, and pushed Jules off of me. He was already getting up though. What had made the explosion? If someone had put dynamite right there, I wanted to thank that person for causing a disruption in the middle of the exam.

Okay, that was rude. I'm sorry for the part of the sixth grade that had been killed in the explosion.

I was curious. I wanted to see what caused the explosion. I took a step towards the rubble, as I heard Mr. Smith call to students, and Jules steadily getting off the ground. My eyes were fixed on a figure barely visible by the rubble, black and mysterious. I put one foot in front of the other, not paying any attention to my classmates or Jules yelling at me. The air tasted like dust, but I barely noticed. I was drawn to this thing, whatever it was.