Wings of Fire as Humans: Jade Preparatory Academy

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Swordtail Dusk

A/N: Happy Friday the Thirteenth, everyone! 

Swordtail Dusk awoke to someone shaking his shoulder rather violently.

"Come on," Deathbringer said. "School starts in five minutes."

Swordtail sprang up and dashed over to his closet, pulling out the first clothes he could find. He could hear the water running from the bathroom and assumed that it was Clay or Riptide. Most likely Clay, as Riptide was the type of person to wake up late and then still get to school fifteen minutes early. And Deathbringer woke up late and arrived late, but he always arrived looking impeccable. Swordtail, on the other hand, was the type of person who got there late and was still dressed in his pajamas when he walked in the door.

After putting his clothes on, Swordtail dashed out of his dorm room and into the main common room, where Fatespeaker and Deathbringer were hurriedly fixing breakfast. Riptide was gathering up his things and heading out the door, and Peril was sitting at the table, hurriedly shoving cereal into her mouth. Tsunami and Luna were nowhere to be seen, and Swordtail wondered if that meant Glory and Sunny had convinced them to actually wake up and go to class - an impressive feat.

Swordtail grabbed a granola bar and decided that it would have to suffice as breakfast. There was no time to get anything more. He followed Peril out the door, and together they headed down two flights of stairs and through the various twisting hallways to their homeroom. 

"You're late," Kestrel said bluntly when they walked in the door.

"We know, Mother," Peril snapped. "You don't need to rub it in." 

"Don't talk to me like that, young lady, or it's detention." 

Peril snorted. She sat down at her desk and fixed her mother with what was admittedly an intimidating stare - and Swordtail had faced a lot of intimidating stares. "I can talk to you however I want," she informed Kestrel. "It's my mouth." 

"That's it," Kestrel said. "Detention. Meet me here at lunch. You too," she added to Swordtail. 

"Always Kestrel, giving out detentions on the first day," Luna whispered when Swordtail slipped into the desk next to her. "You'd think she'd cut us some slack." 

"Are you talking when I'm talking, young lady?" Kestrel demanded. 

"You weren't talking," Luna pointed out. Swordtail - and most of their friends - stifled a giggle. 

"Well, I was about to," the teacher replied. "That's just as bad. Detention!" she barked toward the doorway as Deathbringer and Fatespeaker entered the room. 

"What!" Fatespeaker exclaimed. "I didn't foresee this! You were supposed to - "

"Shut up and head to your seats," Kestrel barked. "Now, to get started with this lesson - IS THAT EVERYONE?" The entire class whipped their heads toward the door as it opened yet again, and Clay stepped through. 

"Y-yes," Clay stammered. "I'm the last one." 

"Then get in and sit down! NOW!" 

Clay hurried over to the only empty desk in the room, the one incidentally next to Peril. Or maybe not so incidentally. Swordtail's desk was next to Luna's; that couldn't be a coincidence. And Fatespeaker sat down next to Starflight, and Deathbringer next to Glory. Looking around the room, Swordtail realized that all of his friends were sitting next to their crushes. 

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Kestrel continued, striding back and forth across the room. Her shoes made an ominous click against the floor that somehow silenced even the obnoxious Kypselis at the back of the class. "This will be your homeroom for the rest of the year. Most of you already know me, but for those of you who don't, I will not be introducing myself. If you figure it out on your own, then congratulations, you deserve to be here, and if you can't, then too bad." 

Swordtail rolled his eyes. It was the same speech Kestrel had given them last year - though last year it had been in PE, as the Jade Winglet had had Webs for their homeroom. But this year . . . Kestrel was going to be a far worse homeroom teacher than Webs. Swordtail was used to her from PE, but now he would have to start off every day in her classroom? 

This year was going to be the definition of ugh.