Wings of Fire... Humans

Chapter 9: Clay

"Peril!" Clay waved at the red-haired girl standing at the door of the cafeteria. Peril waved back and rushed over. "Clay!" she exclaimed. "I'm glad you're finally here," Clay told her.

Peril was his good friend, but she'd had a hard life. When she was three, her mom went to war as part of the army. Peril and her twin brother were placed in the care of their vindictive neighbor, a woman named Scarlet that her mother had thought she could trust.

But Peril's brother got scared and ran away on their first night, leaving Peril to grow up alone. (Don't worry, Sky's okay, though! Remember the boy wearing peach and orange from Tsunami's chapter? It was him! He was placed in an orphanage and adopted by a woman named Wren, because it's canon and I love Wren and Sky.)

When Clay met Peril in last year, she was hot-tempered and hot-headed, getting into fights all the time. But she'd really been doing all of it to rebel against her oppressive and abusive foster mom. Once she'd even stolen the wallet of the former principal, Morrowseer. (He really deserved it, though.)

Because of that incident, she'd been sentenced to a yearlong suspension, and six months of community service. She'd only just finished her suspension, which was why she'd arrived a month into the new school year. (Yes, a whole month. It's been one week since we met Lynx.) Peril had been keeping up with her work at home, however, so she wasn't held back.

"I'm glad I'm finally here, too," Peril said with a smile. "How's your life, now that your mom has come home?" Clay asked. "It's weird. We moved from our house next to Scarlet to an apartment in the city, but Mom and I don't really know how to get along. Especially since she was expecting to find me and my twin brother. So I'm going to be boarding here," Peril explained as they joined the lunch line.

Clay felt sympathetic for her. His own family was great, excluding his grumpy and somewhat selfish mother, Cattail. He had a fantastic relationship with all of his siblings, and his Aunt Asha was the kindest, sweetest person around. He couldn't imagine what it was like to grow up like Peril.

They got their food and headed for the table where Clay's friends sat. "Hi, Peril!" Sunny exclaimed, smiling. "Hi, Peril," Glory echoed with just as much friendliness, to Clay's relief. Last year, things had been pretty rocky when Clay first befriended Peril. She had a bad reputation, after all. But once his friends got to know her, they'd become more of a group.

"Love your hair, Peril," Tsunami complimented the other girl. "Thanks," Peril said, grinning. Her hair was naturally ginger, but she'd dyed it a firetruck red with orange tips fading into yellow, like flames. "That's a cool style. Where'd you get it done?" Sunny asked.

"I did it myself, the day before my mom came home," Peril explained. "I wanted to show defiance against Scarlet one last time, and show my mother what kind of person I was as soon as she met me. No one is ever going to suppress my fire again."

At first Clay thought Sunny didn't know what to say to that, but she seemed to be considering something else. "Guys, there's something I have to tell you," Sunny said after a moment. "What?" Clay asked, immediately worried. "It's not bad news! It's super exciting, actually. I just don't know how to tell you," Sunny assured them quickly. "What is it?" Tsunami interrupted.

"My mom is getting married. She's been engaged for a month," Sunny told them with a wide smile. "Whoa, really?" Clay asked. He didn't know much about weddings, but the idea sounded cool. Especially the feasting. "Is that why Smolder was over on the first day of school?" Glory asked.

Sunny nodded. "He proposed to Mom that day. I get to be a bridesmaid! But the thing is... Smolder has a daughter. He got married a really long time ago to some other girl, Palm, but his mom didn't like her, so she kept them apart. But Palm had his daughter, and she raised her away from Smolder. But Palm died a few years ago, and the daughter— Onyx— reconciled with her dad."

"So you'll have a sister? That sounds nice," Clay commented. Sunny frowned. "I thought so, too. But she's very different from me. I've tried being nice, but she just ignores me. And something about her is just so... off. She was even accused of setting the fire at our old middle school— the one Sora was blamed for. And she's a bridesmaid, too, so I'm going to spend a lot of time with her. I don't know what to do."

Once again, Clay didn't know what to make of the situation. He took a moment to consider what would make him like someone. "Maybe you could... offer her a cake?" he suggested. Sunny laughed. "I wish things could be resolved like that. That would be amazing. If only Onyx was more like you guys."

"As an expert on slightly evil older sisters, the best thing you can do is just let her do her thing," Starflight advised. Sunny smiled at him. "That sounds like good advice. Oh, are any of you trying out for the play? Auditions are this afternoon. We have to sing two verses of a song from a musical, and then we have to do . I've been practicing my solo for days."

"I'm auditioning, since I am obviously the greatest actress to ever live," Tsunami told them dramatically, flinging her arms wide open. Glory let out a string of coughs that suspiciously sounded like "But no singing talent."

"What was that?" Tsunami demanded, whirling around to face Glory. The other girl shrugged. "Allergies," she said innocently. Tsnuami snorted, but didn't press it. "Anyway, I'm helping with costumes," Glory said. "I'm doing tech," Starflight volunteered. "A musical? Sounds cool. I'm auditioning," Peril announced.

Everyone stared at her. "What? Without any practice?" Starflight asked. Peril shrugged. "I know every Hamilton song backwards and forwards. I can even rap Guns and Ships." (For those of you not immersed in the Hamilton world, Guns and Ships is a song with an incredibly fast rap portion. If you can do Guns and Ships, you're basically at the highest level of Hamilton mastery. I can't do Guns and Ships.)

Everyone turned to look at Clay, like they expected him to tell them what he was doing for the play. "Um," he said, "I'm going to... be a member of the audience? And... clap?" Everyone politely stifled their laughs. "That sounds very nice of you, Clay," Sunny told him.

The bell rang as they finished up lunch, and they were leaving when Peril weaved her way to Clay's side. "So, um, are you going straight home after school?" she asked. Clay nodded. "The house feels empty with Marsh, Umber, and Sora gone, but the rest of my family is still there."

They walked in silence, then Peril admitted, "I was kind of hoping you'd stay to watch the auditions." "The auditions? For the play?" Clay asked, then instantly felt like an idiot. Of course the auditions were for the play! Peril laughed. "Yes, for the play. So, um... will you stay to watch my— all of our auditions?"

Clay thought about it. "No, I don't think I can. Reed, Crane, and Pheasant will be expecting me to go home. Sorry." "Oh. I— I get it," Peril told him cheerfully, but she looked crestfallen. Clay frowned, wondering why. It was just auditions for a high school play, right?

So... introducing: Clay the Oblivious! Oh, and Peril.