Jax's POV

Soaring

I spot Maxine walking slowly down the hallway, looking depressed. I run up to her.

"Hey!" I say.

"Hey," she responds unenthusiastically.

"What's...wrong?" I ask.

"Oh, nothing," she says, twirling a lock of brown hair around her large finger. When she spots my unconvinced look, she sighs. "Okay. I tried to impress that new girl, Gilly, by asking her if she wanted to go Pegasus flying with me... Of course, she said yes, and I had to back off. You know how I get dizzy when I'm up in the air. Well, apparently she's an expert flyer... Anyway, long story short, she's out Pegasus flying without me."

I pat her arm sympathetically. "It's okay. I'll go and check on her."

I head off in the direction of the stables and lean against the door frame, eavesdropping on Gilly and the stable boy's conversation.

"I already told Mighty and Macho you were taking them," the stable boy tells Gilly.

Gilly laughs. "Like they understand you!"

Umm, yes they can.

The stable boy doesn't look amused. "Of course they do! Pegasi can't talk, but they can understand human thoughts. You should know that if you've ridden before," he says suspiciously, taking the helmet from her.

She starts to protest but stops when I say, "I'll go with her."

Gilly turns around. When she spots me, she does a double take.

"What are you doing here?" she asks me, confused.

I take the helmet that the boy took from her and hand it to her. "I ran into Maxine and she said where you were." I grin mischievously. "So you're an expert Pegasus flyer, huh?"

She juts out her chin. "Is that so hard for you to believe?"

"Yes," I say in unison with the stable boy.

"I'll take Mighty and she can take Macho," I tell the stableboy. "She'll be fine with me." The stable boy nods and heads to the stalls.

I motion for Gilly to join us, but she stands awkwardly in place. It looks as if she's reconsidering whether she even wants to go Pegasus Flying.

I take her arm. "Relax. You can't imagine how easy this is. And the rush of being in the sky and seeing the freedom outside these walls can't be beat."

The stable boy opens a large stall, and I can hear the pegasus neighing. "Mighty and Macho, they're ready for you. These boys are twins," he tells Gilly.

She peeks her head inside and inhales sharply at the sight of the huge, bright white mammals whose large wings are folded to the sides of their bodies. The Pegasi neigh softly as we approach.The stable boy pets the bridge of their noses.

"Hop on. They'll take you up and around the grounds." I stick my foot into the Mighty's foothold and pull myself up onto his back.

Gilly walks over to Macho. She whispers something I can't quite make out, but Macho seems to understand. She pulls herself up onto Macho's back, looking amazed that she had it in her.

"Keep an eye on the time," the stable boy tells us, pointing to the clock on the Pegasus's harness. "Don't leave the grounds since you aren't with an instructor—or you'll get detention—and don't go into the Hollow Woods." He says sharply, "Got it?"

"Got it," we say, and then without warning, the Pegasi's wings begin to expand and we're rising slowly out of the stables and into the sky. Gilly looks as if she's going to throw up.

Gilly laughs, either out of fear or excitement. I can't tell. Maybe it's both...

"Just hang on. I'll tell them where to go," I say as Mighty flaps next to Macho.

Gilly looks down at the school below us. I do the same. Below, I can make out students on the lawns fencing or playing dodgeball or just lounging on the grass.

I pull alongside Gilly. "Pretty cool, huh?" he says."You do this often?" I watch as Gilly's grip tightens on Macho's reins.

"Often enough." She replies.

Sure...

I only use one hand to hold the reins, while I use the other one to pet Mighty's head. "So where do you want to go?" I remember what Maxine told me about Jocelyn. She has no right talking to Gilly like that- "I know! We should have brought water balloons to drop on Jocelyn."

"Maxine told you what happened in class?"

Macho flies closer to the gargoyles. Macho bucks slightly.

"It's okay, boy. They're just statues," Gilly tells him. Macho begins to pull away. "Jax, those gargoyles aren't real, are they?"

Gargoyles?! Real?!

I laugh. "You've been reading too many fairy tales, Cobbler."

"My boots!" Gilly exclaims, flying back to the roof. I follow. "Harlow zapped them off my feet during class and said I'd only find them when I could fly."

"You've got good eyes," I say, landing on the roof first and picking up the boots. She dismounts from Macho and changes her shoes, lacing up her boots quickly. She sticks the uniform ones in the satchel on Macho's side. "So where do you want to fly to next?" I ask. "Any chance you want to see the woods?"

"I thought we weren't allowed near them."

"We're not—technically—but we can fly close enough," I say casually. "Might be your only chance to see a giant up close."

Gilly doesn't say anything.

"Unless you're too scared to go. I wouldn't blame you. My roommate, Ollie, says when he was playing rugby out in the fields the other day, he saw smoke coming from the woods." I shrug.

Gilly touches Macho. He neighs softly. "Then maybe we should avoid that area. Not that I'm scared."

Sure...

I give her a look that lets her know I think otherwise. "Liar! I can tell you're lying because when you do, your nose scrunches up like a little rat."

"I'm not scared!" She insists and jumps on Macho again. "I just don't see the need to get detention. It's not like we're going to see anything wicked going on in a flyby over the woods anyway."

Macho takes off at lightning speed.

Whoa. If she wanted to race, she should have said something...

"Gilly, wait up!" I yell. Mighty trails her by a hundred feet.

Suddenly, Macho dives down, and I hear Gilly scream. He finally slows down at the edge of the Hollow Woods.

"If you wanted to race, you could have just said so," I scold her when we finally catch up. "You could have been killed. You need to—"

"Talk to my Pegasus," Gilly says. "I did. He wouldn't listen."

"Pegasi always listen," I say.

"Well mine didn't and- hey, is that Headmistress Flora?" A small figure is walking towards the Hollow Woods, with black-and-white speckled hair and a robe that matches the leader of our school. "What would she be doing out here?"

Flora has done some suspicious things, but I can't let Gilly know my true identity, so I lie and say "That can't be her. She never leaves her office."

"Oh it's her all right," Gilly replies, squinting at the small figure, which has now disappeared into the trees.

I can't slip and tell Gilly I'm a spy, but she could be right? Why is Flora in the Hollow Woods? Why does she need to act so secretive? And most of all, what is she hiding?