Wings of Fire as Humans: Jade Preparatory Academy

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Riptide Whitewash

Riptide Whitewash stared blankly at his textbook, reading but not understanding. His eyes glazed over, and when he glanced at the clock it was nearly half an hour since he'd sat down. He hadn't gotten a single thing done, hadn't even read a paragraph of the stupid science textbook.

Riptide lifted his gaze from the book and surveyed the room. It was strangely quiet. Starflight, Glory, and Luna were whispering at the table, but they were doing it so quietly that Riptide couldn't begin to glean an answer. It didn't matter. They were either arguing about something stupid, or having an intellectual debate Riptide wouldn't understand.

Riptide sighed loudly, earning a "shush" from the table and smirks from the rest of his friends.

"You can do the homework without reading the textbook, you know," Deathbringer said.

"No you can't," Glory called. "Don't listen to him."

Deathbringer pouted. "Why wouldn't he listen to me, my queen? I'm a genius."

"A pretty stupid genius, apparently," Glory said. "Seriously, Riptide, you need the textbook. I think most lessons covered a lot, but they didn't cover everything."

Deathbringer rolled his eyes in a very Glory-like way. "You're fine without it. I mean, you might miss one little detail here or there, but what does that amount to, really?"

"One detail can be the difference between a passing grade and a failing grade," Starflight announced to general eye rolls - even from Glory. He frowned. "What? I'm right."

"He is right," Tsunami whispered. "But I'm choosing to ignore him."

Riptide snorted against his will, then glanced at her, embarrassed. Deathbringer sent him an amused expression.

Riptide turned back to his work, determined to concentrate. Otherwise, this would be an incredibly long night. Well . . . it was going to be a long night anyway, but if he didn't at least try to get some work done now, he would be up all night.

But he still couldn't concentrate. After fifteen minutes during which he managed to answer one question on the science homework, Riptide slammed the book shut. "I'm going for a swim," he announced.

"Bad idea," Starflight warned.

Riptide knew it was a bad idea. But swimming would feel more productive than trying and failing to absorb this information.

"Can I come?" Tsunami asked, perking up, and Riptide felt his heartbeat accelerate to the speed of light.

"Sure," he managed to squeak out.

She grinned. "Great! I'll get changed and meet you at the pool." She closed her notebooks and headed into the girls' dorm.

"Dude," Deathbringer breathed. "Have fun."

Riptide rolled his eyes, though secretly he was beaming inside. He hurried into his dorm and put on his swimsuit, then grabbed some flip flops and literally ran down to the pool.

He found Tsunami sitting by the deep end, her feet dangling in the water. She smiled at him, and her hair caught the light as she tossed it over her shoulder. "Race you?"

Riptide nodded, not sure he could trust his voice to work.

"On your mark, get set, go!" Tsunami called, leaping into the pool and pushing off on "on your mark". She shifted into a harbor seal after one stroke.

"Cheater!" Riptide smiled to himself as he followed her, sure he was going to lose this race and not caring one bit.

They raced and splashed each other until Tsunami checked her phone and blanched. "It's been two hours," she said, looking panicked. "We should get back to the dorm."

Riptide nodded, less than thrilled. He could have spent all eternity in the pool with her, and he wouldn't have gotten the least bit tired.

But he dutifully followed her over to their stuff and dried off.

"Want to do this next week?" Tsunami asked, and it took Riptide a second to register the question.

"Like, swim?"

She nodded, looking amused. "That is what 'this' meant, you idiot."

Riptide felt himself smiling. "As long as we have the time," he promised. "Over the weekend, maybe."

Tsunami looked satisfied with that. "Great." She sighed. "I guess we'd better get back to work."

As Riptide followed her up the steps and back toward their dorms, he'd never felt happier.