Fortnight Field Academy

Chapter 12

To my surprise, the inside of the building was identical to ours. When I lived here, everything looked old and decrepit. I guess whoever donated the money to the school gave enough to redecorate all of the dorms.

Slowly, I trudged up the steps to the second floor, hesitantly making myself visible.

Aimee sat alone on the loveseat. Again, I was taken aback. She usually traveled with an entourage. God, this meeting kept getting weirder and weirder.

"Phoenix," she said, uninterested. "Why don't you have a seat?" Even while going through a major change, she still found time to carefully apply her pounds of makeup. However, she didn't bother with her clothes. She wore an oversized shirt and sweatpants.

I dragged one of the cushy chairs from the table across from her and plopped down. "So," I began in the nicest way I could, "how's your day going?"

"Let's cut out the pleasantries and get to the chase," she snapped.

"Okay then. What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to make a deal."

I don't think anything else she could've said would have shocked me more. I decided to see where this was going. "Um alright. What is it?"

She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Now that you're some amazing dragon half- breed, you're gonna be a pretty big deal around here. Maybe even bigger than me. And neither of us want that to happen."

There was some truth to her words: I certainly didn't want to become the "it" thing around here, but once people found out, they were sure going to talk. "Well it's not like we can stop everyone from gawking me, so what exactly do you propose we do?"

"Glad you asked," she said in a snarky tone. "I'm offering you a high status. Hang out with me and my friends, enjoy all the perks of being popular, and become my protégée of sorts. Stay under my wing while I run the school. This saves us both the trouble because if you come close to taking my place, you'll have to deal with me, and trust me, you don't want that to happen." She raised one of her eyebrows and gave me a knowing look that almost said, "I know a hundred different ways to destroy you."

As much as I hated to admit it, Aimee's plan was actually kind of smart. Using me to boost herself was a brilliant way to neutralize a potential threat. It would also help me fly lower under the school news radar. But did I really want to be her little bitch? Who knows what kinds of crazy things she'll have me do. I guess I really didn't have another option; it's either this or compete against her, and getting on her bad side definitely wasn't a good idea.

"Well?" she asked impatiently. "What do you say?"

Brushing off the fact that I might be making one of the biggest mistakes in my life, I said, "Okay. We have a deal."

Aimee flashed a pearly white grin. "Great! As a sign of faith, why don't you come to my party this Saturday? It's in the boys' dorms, building four, room 203. Get there around seven so I can introduce you to everyone."

A party the first weekend after school started? Wow, I guess these people didn't mess around when it came to this stuff. "Alright. I'll be there."

She stood up to leave. "Good. Oh, and also bring your roommates. I'm looking forward to meeting them." She walked down the stairs and out of the building without another word.