Dragon Boy

20: Naga

Asim declared his love for Sean after the dance. Sean was quick to reject him.

"You mean he just-"

"Yeah!" Sean interrupted the next morning at breakfast. Asim was not sitting with them. He had, instead, chosen to go on a morning jog. "He was all, 'You kept looking up at me and I felt there was a connection between us and I just went for it,' and I was all, 'Well yeah! You were standing across from me at the punch bowl!' Like, what was he thinking?"

Kyle took a sip of his orange juice while Fledermaus stole a piece of toast from his plate. "Was it you or someone else who told me he's had a crush on everyone at school?"

Sean shrugged. "I'm sure I've said it once or twice." He bit into a piece of sausage and shook his head. "That's going to make things awkward."

Kyle nodded, then stared past Sean a bit. Someone caught his eye. He leaned in closer and whispered, "Here he comes,"

Sean had to stop him from choking on his water. Without another word, without even turning to see if Kyle was right, he grabbed his plate and water the best he could and sank under the table. Drake followed him.

"I feel like there are better ways to deal with your problems, Sean."

"Agree to disagree," he replied.

Less than a minute later, Asim pushed his way through the crowd with a bowl of porridge and berries. "Good morning, Kyle," he said as he sat down where Sean had been. His voice forced some enthusiasm, but his face was tense and his movements stiff. Kyle felt Sean pressing against his legs. Leonidas leapt onto the table and offered Fledermaus a blueberry from Asim's bowl. "Have you seen Sean?"

Kyle felt a fork against his leg. He nodded, taking a sip of juice. "Just missed him," he said.

"Oh." Asim sighed as he stirred the berries into the porridge, revealing streams of cinnamon, too. "Well, did he say where he was going?"

"Probably went to take a nap or something," Kyle said. "It's still pretty early for him."

Asim nodded. "Alright..." He took a small bite of porridge, barely covering half his spoon. He sighed again and asked, "Did he tell you?"

"About last night?" Kyle felt the fork press just a bit harder into his jeans. "Not really."

The tension in his face relaxed a bit, and he allowed his shoulders to sag. He looked funny with broad shoulders anyway, not like himself. "Good."

Kyle reached for another piece of toast, only to find a chunk of it already missing. Leonidas, meanwhile, wiped crumbs and a bit of an orange gel from his beak. Fledermaus looked as though nothing was different. Kyle could tell Asim was upset, but the habits of his dragon made it hard to keep a straight face. "Did you have fun at the dance, by the way?"

Asim hid his face in his hands, pushing his glasses up to the top of his head on his fingertips. He groaned a very long, low groan.

"Oh, Kyle, I fear I made a fool of myself!" he moped. "I felt Sean was leading me on. He kept looking my way, the dim lights revealing the full beauty of those emerald green eyes of his. He hardly danced with anyone, I thought he might have been interested in me, but too shy to initiate. I must say, I had cold feet, too. It wasn't until after everything had come to an end that I worked up the nerve! I confessed I fancied him, but he rejected me! I should have known better than to express my feelings on a whim, but oh, Kyle, I was weak!"