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PROS
1. Always kind to people
2. Names his dragons
3. The fact that he wouldn't make number 2 a sexual joke
4. Cute red hair
5. Cute smile
6. Cute everything
7. Makes me laugh
CONS
1. Too oblivious to notice my feelings
2. Rumors could hurt my reputation
3. Girlfriend
4. Girlfriend
5. Girlfriend
6. Girlfriend
7. Red hair
My lists helped me gain control of the rational side of my mind, but right now all they could do was mirror my confusion. I felt a little old to be making lists about boys, but they usually helped me feel better. Usually.
I knew there were more important things in the world. I should probably focus on world suffering, or keeping in touch with Ditto and James, and my family, but my brain seemed awfully selfish as I holed myself away from everyone. Red hair had a way of sticking to your eyelids even when you closed them.
To combat it, I got out a pen and paper.
Dear Mom,
Take a breath. Let it out. Repeat. I am fine. I love it here so far.
I paused, looking at the words and suddenly realizing they'd come out without me thinking. But they were true. I did love it here. I was wrapped up in my current situation without realizing this is what I had worked for. I had spent weeks in agony waiting for my letter of acceptance here, and now I was taking it for granted.
I can't work with dragons for a few months, which I know you're probably pleased about. Summer here is beautiful—grass as far as you can see. Reminds me of your gardens back home.
I stopped to take a breath. I closed my eyes and thought of our backyard at home, where I'd spent days lying on the grass with Ditto and teasing James about his extreme fear of bees.
Hope that you're doing well—I'll write a longer letter when there's more excitement here. I'm going to ask about the visiting schedule like you asked. If you can come, I'll need some due notice to clean my room.
Love you! Hope work is good, tell Danny I said hi and he better not be stealing things from my room,
Your favorite daughter
(Bailey, but I'm sure you gathered that)
I was closing my last parentheses when there was a knock at my door.
"Come in!" I said, pushing my lists under the letter to my mother.
"Bailey!"
"Pam!" I mimicked, looking up at her. "Where's Richard?"
"Flying. Noah recruited him for Quidditch tomorrow."
"I certainly hope I'm not as rusty as I feel," I said, flexing my limbs.
"Don't hurt yourself," she chided in a motherly tone. "You're playing with a group of overgrown men who deal with forty feet dragons for a living."
"Thanks, my nerves are soothed," I said with a smile, rolling my eyes.
"So who's on your team?" she asked.
"Um so far me, Richard I suppose, Noah, Charlie and Gallo," I answered.
"Oh that's nice," she said, settling for a spot on my bed. "You seem to be...getting along well with Charlie's group."
"Yeah, they're really nice. Not like some of the macho guys here who try to push me out because I'm a woman."
"Yes, very nice. And they're cute too," Pam said, examining her fingernails, which I happened to know weren't even polished.
"Oh, well, sure..." I said, looking at her with an scrutinizing expression. Was she trying to get me to talk about Charlie? Because I was very much not in the mood.
"Can I show you something?" she asked, tugging the bottom of her green shirt down.
"Alright," I said, feeling odd about the situation, but following her regardless. She smiled and grabbed my arm, almost pulling me out the door. I knew her room was four doors down from mine, and I guessed that was where we were going since she led me to the right, instead of the stairs.
"What's in your room?" I asked.
"Your date is waiting in there."
I paused, freezing and looking at her slowly. She must know by now that there was no date happening. Unless she didn't know it was Charlie. Which meant she thought it was someone else. And some poor guy must be in there, trapped by her, waiting for a date with me.
"Who's in there Pam?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Someone you'd get along with," she said suspiciously, shrugging noncommittally. For a somewhat manic person, she could be oddly calm about things.
"I thought you'd give up by now."
"I don't give up on things."
I braced myself, taking a deep breath. I felt oddly self-aware, realizing that I desperately needed a new haircut, that my clothes were wrinkled, and I had bags under my eyes from reading most of the night.
I pushed the door open just an inch and tried to look in without alerting whoever was on the other side of the door. Past the neat piles of books on an equally neat desk, I saw a boy with bright blonde hair and glasses staring at his hands.
"Pam," I hissed, closing the door. "Dale is in there."
"I know. He's ready for your date."
"You must be joking."
Her silence made my stomach plummet. "Tell me you're joking."
"I'm not."
I gaped at her, at a loss for words. She was standing smugly, giving me the strangest look which I could only decipher as a mix of innocence and satisfaction.
"Dale?" I hissed again, bringing my voice down so he couldn't hear. "Dale is...Dale can barely stand me! And he scares me sometimes. And...no. Just no," I sputtered.
"I know," she said simply.
I was about to continue my rant before I realized what she said.
"What do you mean you know?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"I mean I know! I know you don't like Dale..."
"So what's going on?" I asked, throwing my hands in the air.
"I wanted you to tell me who you liked! I was seeing how far you'd let me go—and nothing! You're so stubborn."
"I thought you knew it was Charlie and you would find out he had a girlfriend and stop."
"Charlie?" she asked, dropping her satisfied smirk and frowning. "I thought it was Noah."
"Oh god," I mumbled, pressing my palms into my forehead. Maybe if I pressed hard enough, I'd have brain damage and I wouldn't even remember who these people were.
"Charlie has a girlfriend," Pam stated as easily as saying dragons had a five X classification.
"I know," I said, resisting the urge to beat my head on the gray stones of the wall.
"And he's three years older than you," she continued, the wrinkle in her brow increasing as she spoke.
"I know," I repeated lowly.
"And when you start dragon care, he will be your superior. Which means—"
"I know what it means! Do you think I've neglected all these facts? That's why we're here. That's why I decided not to challenge stupid Amanda Hughes. I've accepted it, but it doesn't mean it'll go away in a day."
"So you admit this is a bad idea?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and studying me carefully.
"Yes," I said slowly. "But I don't need you to point it out. I need you to be my friend, and tell me Amanda Hughes is a bitch, and that he doesn't deserve me, and all those girly things that sound ridiculous on TV but suddenly seem comforting."
"What's TV?" she asked, her lack of muggle knowledge causing me to smile.
"Never mind," I said, almost laughing, before I remembered what was going on. "What are you going to do with Dale?" I asked, keeping my voice low.
"Oh," she said, glancing at her big oak door. "I thought you'd go have dinner with him. He seems to like you."
"If by like you mean threatens to throw me down the stairs once a day," I said, "and I'm not giving him any impressions I like him. He's awkward enough around me," I said, putting my hands up in defense.
"Well, I'm not," she said matter-of-factly, pressing her lips in a line.
"You're the one who always calls Richard insensitive, and now you're going to leave the poor guy in there without an explanation or even a dinner? How'd you even get him here?"
"I told him you wanted to talk about the research paper he's writing, but it would be too noisy in the common rooms, so you could talk in here and I'd bring you up the dinner because you'd miss it."
"That's an awfully constructed lie," I pointed out.
"I'm proud of the fact that I'm not a good liar," she said, fixing me with a determined look.
"Well why don't you go in there and talk to him about his research?"
"Because in ten minutes, the cook is sending up dinner and he'll think I ambushed him for a date!" she exclaimed.
"Cancel the dinner!" I protested, thinking of Dale sitting in there, looking at his hands, wondering what was going on.
"He's expecting you!" she tried, giving me a wide-eyed look. "I can't believe I dragged him into this, I feel horrible!"
"You could have just bluffed, you didn't have to bring him here!"
"I know, I'm sorry!" she said, covering her face with her hands.
"Okay, okay," I said, putting hands on her shoulders and shaking her. "I'll go in there. You come back in ten minutes. Ten minutes! Say we should leave if we wanna catch dinner."
"Alright," Pam said, nodding frantically. I almost laughed at how panicked she had become over something she put together. "That's a good idea. I'll do that."
"You owe me," I said, nodding and bracing myself. "Wish me luck."
"Bailey, you're seven minutes late," Dale said, checking his watch as I entered the room.
"Sorry," I apologized.
"What did you want to talk about? Pamela said it was something about my research," he said, looking up at me.
"Oh, um, yes," I said, cursing myself. I hadn't read any of his research.
He looked at me for a moment. I smiled widely, hoping to distract him with my usual flippant attitude that annoyed him. I slid into the extra chair Pam must've placed at her desk.
"Well, I was more concerned with the, um, the publication process," I lied, hoping my grimace wasn't showing. "If I...had some findings to write about, does the reserve decide what to publish?"
"There is a review board. They'll publish most things in our monthly journal here, but if it gets more than half the votes, they send it to the other reserves around the country," he answered, giving me a steady look the whole time.
"Oh, okay, well that's good to know," I said, nodding. "And the uh, format? Do you put your findings, then back it up? And include the resources at the end?"
"Yes, but...why?" he asked. "You haven't even worked with a dragon. You won't be publishing anything for at least a year."
"Getting a jumpstart," I said, wishing I had something to drink or hide my face with.
"I'm not stupid Bailey," Dale said, fixing me with a steely look.
"Sorry?" I asked, biting my lip.
"I've read your file," he said, adjusting his glasses. "You had to write three research papers for your application. Despite your...cavalier attitude about your career, your papers are concise and well-crafted. You know the format."
"Um. Well, I just—"
"—Do you have feelings for me Bailey?"
"No!"
My eyes were wide as he looked at me, shocked at the suddenness of my response. He lowered his eyes, scratching his neck. For the first time in my life, I noticed a blush creeping up his cheeks.
"Not because...just because, you're my mentor. And it would be unprofessional, not to mention we don't fit together. We're friends."
"You don't have to say that," he said, shaking his head and looking back into my eyes. "I know what people say about me."
"No," I said, shaking my head, watching my arrogant, self-assured mentor sink in his chair. "You're just thorough and some people don't understand that."
"They call me Stick, Bailey."
"What?"
"Because I have one up my butt."
I stared at him for a moment. It was sad at first, but the simple way he said it, I couldn't help it. I laughed.
He stared at me for a minute, first angry, then confused. I watched his eyebrows morph with his emotions and tried to stop my mouth but it was too late. The ridiculousness of the day was finally catching up to me.
Then to my astonishment, for the first time since we met, he smiled. And laughed himself.
"That's not very clever," I said, finally choking out words as my laughs died down.
"No," he said, shaking his head as his smile faded.
"Well we are friends," I said, clapping his shoulder. "And don't worry, I do not have feelings for you. Annoyance sometimes, a little frustration—"
"—I get it," he cut in.
"Time for dinner!"
We both looked up to see Pam in the doorway, smiling in an over-exaggerated way. I could tell she was nervous by the high tone of her voice.
"Great," I said, smiling to Dale before getting up. "Pam I have news. Dale has agreed to be my boyfriend."
"What?" she asked, looking between us with her eyes wide.
"She's joking," Dale said, shaking his head with his lips in a thin line.
"And we're back," I said, grinning widely.
"What happened?" Pam whispered as we walked down the red-lined stairs, her shoes squishing as she walked to stay a few feet ahead of Dale.
"I'll tell you later," I said, matching her pace as we reached the landing and passed the emblazoned dragon that marked the entrance.
"Here," she said, pressing a paper into my hand.
"What is it?"
"Read it later," she said, smiling at me.
We stopped at the bottom to wait for Dale, who appeared a second later, but had his eye fixed on the door.
"What's that noise?" he asked.
I paused for a moment, hearing dull banging and the muffled signs of shouting. I moved toward the huge barred door to get a better listen. Was it people from the reserve? It sounded more like chanting as I got closer. I looked back to see Pam's face and noticed that other people had gathered behind us, drawn to the rising noise.
Captives no, let them go! Captives no, let them go!
I reached for the latch, my hand suddenly feeling warm against the slick metal. I pulled it open and pushed back the wood.
The cries swelled inward and I took a step backward. Ten feet from the door there was a group of twenty people, equipped with bewitched signs and cans of paint. They were shouting angrily, scowls etched onto their faces.
Free the dragons! They don't tell us how to breed! Leave nature alone!
I scanned the signs quickly, feeling the need to go back inside, but people had crowded behind me. I felt Pam squeeze my arm and I gave her a quick look, frowning. We didn't hurt the dragons. We didn't even imprison them. Usually the ones we found were motherless and we gave them chance for a life.
"Captives no, let them go!"
The shouts grew worse as we stood there, but for some reason, no one thought to go back inside. All the faces blurred together into one angry cloud. There were two girls who stood out with robin blue hair who moved to the front. I took a step back and met a hard chest, blocking my path so I couldn't move any more as they threw the can they held between them.
I didn't have time to duck before it hit me in the chest, splattering red paint all over my body. I choked and spit it out of my mouth, wiping my eyes as I heard gasps of surprise from behind me.
Fucking great.
My mouth tasted like art class and acid, and I looked like I'd gone through a red sprinkler.
"Get inside everyone!"
I heard the yells from beside me and pushed back my dripping hair as I tried to turn around. Just as I was about to go inside, though, I noticed the group coming back from the huts.
"They were with them, inside the fence!" the girl with blue hair shouted to her friends.
Oh no.
Noah, Charlie, and Gallo looked confused as they walked the path back to the castle. They had no real direction to turn as the mob turned to face them. Charlie looked toward the doors and saw me dripping red puddles on the floor and motioned to the boys to turn back, but it was too late.
The mob was heading right toward them.
