Kiara

Chapter 1

Kiara

Written By Hillary Brookes

Copyright 2007

Chapter One- Kiara

A teenage girl sat quietly, searching the horizons for a glimpse of sunlight.

"I'm gonna have to tell him sometime." She whispered.

"Yes, you will." A red-scaled dragon landed beside her. He was about as tall as a backpack.

"Spark, not now!" groaned the girl. "You're always giving me lectures!"

"I'd have thought you would have gotten used to it by now." was the cold reply.

"I miss my old dad."

Sighing, the dragon said, "You were just like your mother when she was your age, Kiara."

"Say that one more time, and I promise you, I'll sock you in the muzzle."

"Okay, okay. Where have I heard that before? When you were thirteen?" Kiara smiled, remembering that day. It had been a very special one. The dragon had taken her on his back by night, leaving a note for her foster parents saying that they could live normal lives again. Shortly after, her wings had started to sprout from her back, until this very day – they were fully fledged. He had been her mentor and had looked after her ever since she was a baby. Now she lived with her real parents. Now she felt like an orphan. Her smile turned to a frown. Why did she have to be a fairy?

"I can't tell him I'm a fairy! Don't you understand? Scott won't believe me!!"

She had gone to a mortal school for all her life. That school was where she had met Scott, and mow they were best friends. He was a very down-to-earth sort of person, so she knew he would never believe her.

Unless I show him my wings . . . . she gulped. This would prove to be hard work. She was interrupted from her thoughts by her watch.

"Oh my gosh! Is it time for school already?" Kiara grabbed her pack, slung it over her shoulder, and flew towards the school. "I'd better not be late!" In a moment she was hovering over the school. She sat on the roof and opened her backpack. Aside from her school supplies and books, she always kept an extra t-shirt in there so that she could hide her wings, which glittered a shining silver. She bent her wings in the usual crumpled position, and hurriedly slipped the t-shirt on. The school was more wide than high, so the roof was fairly low off the ground. She jumped and landed in a crouching position, taking her pack with her.

She straightened up and walked into the school just as the bell rang.

"Kiara, where the heck were you?" Scott demanded as she went to her locker.

"Nowhere you wouldn't expect." she lied.

"Fine. What's the explanation for the five lates in a row, then?"

"Well . . . "

"Gotcha! Where have you been going?"

Kiara pretended she was too involved in her locker to answer his question. She got her books and binders, and then went into the classroom for attendance.

"That girl is full of surprises." Scott muttered. He collected his own binders and followed her.

Once he was seated, Scott noticed a note on his desk. He smoothed out the crumpled paper. His black eyes scanned the note:

I'll tell you everything at recess.

Kiara:J

He looked at her. She was seated at her own desk, getting her pencil case and binder out of her backpack. It was time for French class to begin.

I hope she tells me everything. It's high time I knew. Scott thought as he pulled out a pencil and paper.

All through French class, Kiara wasn't listening to Mr. Fognel, their teacher. She was wondering how she was going to break it to him, without him thinking her a lunatic.

Okay, Scott, I know this might sound crazy . . . No, definitely not. She was startled from her reverie by a harsh voice.

"Kiara! What is the French translation for the chapter we are reading in The Hatchet?"

"What?"

"Not listening, I see. You'll have to work on that, missy. It can get you in big trouble someday." Shaking his head, Mr. Fognel dismissed the class.

"You, not listening!" Scott exclaimed as they headed to art. "Kiara, the goody two shoes! I can't believe it!"

"Neither can I." mumbled Kiara. She went to her art table. She took out her notebook and started to doodle, since she was done the other work. Pulling up a chair, she drew her mentor. Spark had the same glistening scales, and, smiling, she added some steam to his nostrils. He was always in a bad mood, or so it seemed. Then, surprising herself, she drew a figure with blonde shoulder-length hair, hazel eyes, and wings in the form of a silver rainfall. She colored in her well sketched pictures absentmindedly and realized that she had drawn her fairy self. She covered it with a sheet of paper quickly, but not before Scott caught sight of it. He uncovered it and looked.

"This dragon is very good, Ki." He said approvingly, and then noticed the fairy. "This looks like an exact replica of you. Except with wings." He laughed quietly, and then caught on so quickly that the girl started when she heard the words. "Does this have something to do with recess?" the fifteen-year-old asked uneasily.

"Kind of." The rest of the classes went by so fast that Kiara could've sworn that she had fallen asleep during the last two.

That would make time pass reasonably fast.

Soon it was time for lunch. The hungry girl ate and drank her fill, and then went to join Scott at his desk. He was eating alone.

"So, are you going to spill it soon?" he said calmly.

"Fast." Kiara promised.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Happy birthday. You're fifteen now, right?"

"Yeah." she cringed. This was the reason she had to tell him. It was another one of those silly rules., to tell Scott that she was a fairy. Not that it was important to Kiara. She had always thought that rule was the stupidest rule in the book. It said specifically: Any fifteen-year-old must tell their friend/friends they were fairies on their fifteenth birthday.

What's the point? She asked herself.

Once outside, she said to Scott: "C'mon, this way." She led him around to a corner that was abandoned—barely anyone went there. "Scott, this is probably going to sound like I'm half-drugged, but I've got to tell you this: I'm a fairy."

"Are you mad?!" Scott shouted. "What happened to the old Kiara I was friends with?" He searched her face for a single symptom of silliness, but with no success.

She's dead serious. He realized.

"Show me your wings." Scott demanded.

"C'mon, up here." The girl seated herself on the roof, and beckoned for him to follow. He obeyed. She got up and went to the middle of the flat surface, so that no one would see. As Scott watched, she took off the t-shirt covering her to reveal a tank top with a slit down the back; and out of the slit came her wings, long, slender and dazzling.

"Oh . . . my . . . gosh. Does this mean I've been friends with a fairy since grade one?" He obviously was very amazed, mouth open, and eyes popping out of his head.

Kiara giggled. "No," she admitted, "Only three years."

"You were a mortal until thirteen?"

"It's a long story." The fairy explained. "I'll show you to my home." Without another word, she called for Spark.