The Catcher's Dreams (FEATURED)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: what a glow

"Your homework is incomplete."

It was Crooked Mouth, to Drake's surprise. She didn't deliver messages often – Tall Bun mostly did that.

"I know," Drake said, returning his attention to the rock sitting in his lap. Hesitantly, he lay one finger on its mirrored surface, but there was a hissing noise and he pulled his finger back, slightly burned. "Ouch."

With his other hand he shuffled his journal over, flipping it to the bookmark, to his sleep-scribbled pages. He made his way down to the doodles, under the message The sleeping dragon is waking.

He frowned at the one in the middle, the one he'd assumed to be a shard of glass. He shifted his rock around, and sure enough, it matched his sleep-doodle.

"Weird," he muttered.

"Complete your homework," Crooked Mouth repeated. "It is incomplete."

"I am aware!" Drake shouted. He shifted the rock so she was reflected in it as well, but she looked ordinary and glowless as ever.

"Weird," he muttered again.

"I will have to confiscate that toy if you do not start your homework this instant!" Crooked Mouth threatened.

"It's not a toy," Drake said. "Okay, okay, I'm starting my homework."

He set the rock aside, careful not to touch its mercury. The silence in his head swelled as he peered over one last time. It was unclear and the mirrored surface had an oiliness to it that smudged his features, but there was something.

Not a particular color but a rainbow, pulsing bright and dull. There, watery ginger. And there, maroon. No smells, though – it only existed in his reflection. He tried touching it again, but it stung even more this time.

He did his homework, getting stuck on a few division problems as he stared at his glowless hand. There was nothing there, but there was something in that rock. It was the first time Drake had seen himself with a glow, and he wasn't sure if he liked it.