Dragon's Curse

School Arrival

I don't want to talk about it.

Oh, in case you can't tell, this is Mitch. Yeah, hi! I'm not in a very good mood right now. I have my reasons, though. First I was human, then a dragon, then this ugly tree freak. I wonder how Groot feels. Anyways, I went out that night and killed a man. Yes. I killed a human man. I felt really bad after, and I don't know what drove me to it. I just know I craved to kill, and I couldn't wait to just kill the cow, I killed him. Oh great. I wonder how Kalie will react when she eats it and I tell her what it is? Oh boy. She will hate me for sure. Anyway, I dragged the deceased man back into my cave. I sighed in relief. She was asleep. I ripped off the head and stuck it up really high on the wall so she wouldn't see it without a stepladder. I grinned and ate the heart. It didn't actually taste that bad, kind of like a steak with a bit of barbecue sauce. It was great. I smiled, hurled the remains into a tree fifty feet away from our cave, and slept.

"Get your lazy butt outta bed!" Was Kalie beating me awake with a...head? A head that looked like mine...wait, it was my head! My human head! Kalie was beating me awake with my former self's head! Finally, I stood. She threw the head aside and charged me, knocking me to the floor. Her eyes glimmered red, like me when I lost it to the beast within. Was it a sign? She punched me in the jaw, and I raised my hands to defend myself from this powerful onslaught.

"Kalie! Kalie, it's me, Mitch! Please stop! Calm down!" I cried. Her eyes flicked, she whispered something and sliced my head off. I woke up screaming.

"Mitch! Mitch, it's me, Kalie. Please stop! Calm down!" She cried. I heard this and screamed louder.

"Back away! No! Don't beat me with that!" Then I calmed, realizing it was a nightmare. I breathed in and out. "Nevermind. Let's go." I grabbed my bookbag, watching my friends shocked face turn to confusion.

"The school is five miles away." 

"Then let's start walking," I replied, slinging a bag I took over my shoulder. What do you think I was doing at the graveyard? I feasted (no comment!) and stole some stuff. You don't need to know what. She rushed to my side as I sprinted towards the building I knew. "Race ya!" I yelled over my shoulder. She came up behind me. 

"Umm...not to be rude, but your face will scare somebody..." She trailed off, looking at me. I turned and gave her a look. She smiled. I wrapped a cloth around my face so only my eyes were visible, realized she was ahead of me, and sprinted to catch up. Finally, after a mile or so, she relented and slowed. I caught up easily.  

"Tired?" I smiled. She had her hands on her knees, breathing heavily.

"If you aren't tired....huf..huf....then carry me while sprinting!" She challenged, then checked her watch and gasped. "It's 7:38! The bell rings for school to start at...!"

"7:45, I know. I went to school before, you know." I lifted her onto my shoulders and started to run. I jogged, then quickened, and soon I was running pretty fast. I even past a bus, and I giggled as out of the corner of my eye, I saw shocked kids stare out the window. Soon, I saw the building come ahead. I was about five hundred feet away when my legs were starting to give out. I stopped and set her down, chest heaving. She patted my back. 

"You ok?"

"Yes. At least we will beat that bus. Time?" I asked. She gasped again. 

"Holy crap! You should be an Olympic runner!"

"Time, Kalie?!" I asked, tired.

"It's 7:42. You ran four miles ish in 4 minutes!" She said. I smiled and walked kind of slowly to the building, Kalie at my side.  We entered and we went to her homeroom, Mr Kale.

"Sir?" She asked.

"Yes, Kalie?" He looked up and saw her, wincing. I guess the people still weren't used to her look. I loved it. I checked my hood as I plopped next to her, breathing deeply but not desperately.

"Sir, I have a new student here. His name is Mitch."

"The kid that went missing, Kalie?" He had a mop of red hair, bright greenish eyes, and freckles. He looked about thirty, and that's pushing it. Maybe twenty.  She looked at me desperately.

"Hello, sir." I walked up to his desk. The class had desks everywhere, with the main desk up front. He saw me and held out his hand. I shook it with my black, barklike one. He smiled, looked down at my hand, and froze completely. "Sir?" I asked, pretending not to notice. "Sir?" I asked. I repeated this four times before he snapped out of it.

"Huh? Oh. Umm...you said your name was Mitch?"

"Yes, sir."

"Just call me Mr Kale."

"Like the veggie?"

"More or less. You're not the missing kid, right?"

"Me? Of course not." I tried for a smile, but it died in the attempt, leaving a twisted grin in its place. He winced, and I shut my sewn mouth. I looked at my feet, which were in leather black boots. I was wearing all black leather.

"Ok. So, Mitch, you can follow Kalie here to her classes. That ok?" He asked Kalie more than me. I now took into proportion on how high his voice was. He couldn't be older than 29. 

"Out of curiosity, how old are you?" I asked before sitting. I sat as he looked me in the orange eyes. 

"I'm 26." He replied with a silly grin. Aha! I was close. I was seated and kids filed in.

"Hello, students! Have a good weekend?" He tried to smile, but nothing appeared on his face. "Ah. Ahem. Anyway, class, we have a new student! Mitch, please stand at the front of the class!" He motioned for me. Kalie pushed me as I walked uncertainly to the front next to the teacher. He held my left hand up above our heads. This almost hit my hood, making me fumble at the leather to stay and hide my face. A big kid sniggered. I saw the two fools who were with Markov and stuck my tongue out, grinning wildly and wickedly. They shrugged as I went back to my seat. However, the big jerk stuck his leg out, and I tripped, smashing my head on a kids desk with a disturbing smash as I crashed to the floor. My nostrils dripped glowing turquoise blood. I wiped it and rose, shaking.

"Who tripped Mitch?!" His voice rang through the class. I felt a sudden sense of fear and awe for the young teacher. All eyes turned to the big dummy. "Kevin! Was it you?"

"No, sir!" He put his hand in a mock salute, and the cronies giggled. I rose, too late realizing my hood was down and I was facing the class. Half of them gawked at my horns, the other half pointed and laughed at my ugly face. I felt ashamed, embarressed, mistreated. If Kalie deals with this daily, how does she make it in this cruel, unforgiving world? I slumped back in my seat, pulling my hood back up and wiping away the dripping blood.  "Look, the deformed dummy sits next to the deformed freak! What a ton of LOSERS!" He yelled.

"Kevin, to the office now!" Mr Kale snapped, but the damage was done. Everybody but the teacher and my buddy were pointing at me and laughing their guts out. I wiped the rogue hot purple tear out of my eye and set my forehead on the desk, horns almost poking the kid in front of me. The kid faced me, almost got stabbed, and laughed. He yanked on them, pulling my hood off again and pulling me out of my chair, knocking my lower half to the floor. CRACK! My knees smashed the concrete floor horribly covered by hard blue carpet. I wailed as he tugged on them, tugging me by the head next to him. My head was crammed next to him as he cackled.

"Fred! To the office NOW!" He yelled. He was mad, and the laughter became stiffled giggles. He faced me, sliding back into my seat and pulling my hood tight. "Mitch, I'm so sorry." He started, but I stood, shoving my chair back. I sprinted into the unisex bathrooms, took a stall, and sobbed into my hands. I heard Kalie beg the teacher to let her come, but I didn't care. I was too sad.