Cursed Saint

The Dragon's Scale

He still felt out of it, but he tried to smile convincingly. "Just daydreaming a bit, Mr. Willis. Sorry about that."

Mr. Willis eyed him a moment longer before continuing with his roll call.

"You on something, Josh?" Tom whispered.

Josh scoffed. The action helped him feel more like himself. "Of course not. "Like I said, I was just daydreaming."

"Mr. Willis said your name three times and you just stared like you were on another planet."

"Exactly. Nothing important was happening," Josh said, and Tom chuckled.

Thankfully, Tom stopped his questioning and turned to another friend to discuss a new game that was coming out. Usually Josh would jump right into any gaming discussion, but he chewed on his lip and stared at Mr. Willis as he continued calling out names.

Three times. How could Mr. Willis call his name three times and Josh not respond? He faintly remembered something speaking his name, but it had been in the very back of his mind. A mere buzz trying to compete with all the other noises in the dream.

No, daydream, because he hadn't fallen asleep standing in the middle of school. Though what he saw in his daydream did mirror the dream that he had been plaguing him for a week.

At first Josh found the dream cool, but every time it occurred, it felt more real. The past few nights he had awoken in a cold sweat, awaiting the inferno to swallow him and battling a desperate need to find them, whoever they were. Maybe that was the issue now. Lack of sleep made for more intense daydreams, and those daydreams followed the only dream he'd had for so long.

"Okay, class, since it's nice out today, we'll be playing soccer down at the soccer field," Mrs. Barlo announced, giving Josh a gracious chance to avoid his thoughts. "Follow in an orderly line. Anyone who rough houses will have to sit out."

"Yeah, sure, nice out," Tom grumbled as he and Josh made up the back of the line heading out. "That's why I almost fell on my backside this morning."

"It's not the teachers' fault if you can't handle a bit of morning dew," Josh said.

Tom pushed his shoulder. Josh stumbled away with a laugh. "You know what, Josh? I'll love seeing you survive the game tonight without an assassin watching your back."

"At least you'll enjoy watching me be awesome." Josh laughed harder when it earned him another shove.

Their conversation remained on games as they walked to the soccer field, and Josh could hug Tom. They weren't the closest of friends, but he was grateful to have someone in the class to ground him. The more he talked to Tom, the further away the dream felt.

The class walked across the school parking lot and followed a side road leading to the sport areas. To the left was the football stadium and to the right were the baseball and soccer fields.

When they reached the soccer field, Josh had to admit that Tom was right. The grass was slick, but anyone with an ounce of coordination should be able to handle it. Anyways, it was cool to play in a place specifically for soccer.

"Okay," Mr. Wilson said. He glanced over the class as they formed a line at the field's center. "Gifford, Nelson, you two are team captains this game."

Josh resisted an eye roll. Of course, Brian Nelson and Darren Gifford. At least Mr. Wilson hadn't chosen his football players as team captain's the first time the class played soccer. Two broad, muscled boys broke away from the rest of the students. They smiled while tossing taunts back and forth.