Chapter 5

The egg

I am alone with the dragon, whining in pain, flapping its wings in panic. I slowly walk to the door and open it. I slowly walk into the stall and closer to the dragon. The dragon looks at me and its eyes widen when it sees me. 

I hear Rafe and one of the teachers running in and look at them. 

“This way!” Rafe shouts to the teacher. 

When they are both at the stall, they stop completely and look at me in shock. What are they looking at? I look at the dragon again and see the egg lying at my feet. The dragon is calming down again and it lies down to relax. The dragon closes its eyes and falls asleep. 

Rafe runs into the stall and pats my upper body and legs to see if I am hurt. 

“Are you okay?” Rafe asks. 

“Yes, I am fine. Nothing happened. Except for this.” I look down at the egg and lift it.

“You can’t lift it yet!” Rafe shouts but I already have it in my arms.

My heart beats faster. 

Rafe looks at the teacher. The teacher shrugs. 

“It seems he’s gained the dragon’s trust, it’s even letting him hold its egg,” the teacher says.

What?

I look up at Rafe and the teacher and then I look down at the egg again. I smile. 

“It trusts me.” Rafe and the teacher both look at each other and nod. I look at them both. “What do I do now?”

“You have to take care of it until it breaks and then you get your own dragon.”

“I get my own dragon?!” I shout happily. 

“Yes,” the teacher says. “But you have to take good care of it.” I nod. 

“Yes, I will.” I smile. I look at Rafe. “How do you take care of a dragon egg?”

“I’ll help you with that. We’re roommates. So it’ll probably work out.” Rafe smiles at me.

“It’s also perfect timing for Rafe to show you your room,” the teacher says.

“Yes, let’s go and I’ll show you.” Rafe says and smiles. 

The three of us go out into the big yard again, me and Rafe go into another building while the teacher takes care of the dragon. 

Rafe shows me through the big hallways of the academy and to our room. Rafe opens the door and I follow him in. The smell of the room fills my nostrils, it smells like him. It’s a sweet smell with cherries and something else. 

There was a small hallway with a door to the right, which was the bathroom. At the end of the hallway there’s a small room that Rafe calls a living room. Dad said it was the devil’s cave at home. There are two doors almost right next to each other, one is Rafe’s room and the other is mine. My room is the door to the right. My room is simple but cozy. A single bed, a bookshelf, and a wardrobe. And a window that looks out onto the yard. 

“Do you want to see my room?” Rafe asks.

“Yes,” I say hesitantly. “Are you sure I can?” 

“Yes? Of course. Why don’t you think so?” 

“No reason.” I don’t think I should tell him anything about my father. 

“Okay?” Rafe says a little suspiciously but ignores it. I hope he forgets what I said.

Rafe opens the door and goes in. I follow and go in, I look around. He has a window on that wall in front of us and a few pictures on the left wall, which is the one that separates our rooms. His bed with a blue bedspread is close to the window and faces the left wall, next to the bed is a desk with a computer, lamp and some notebooks and pencils, in front of it is a blue-gray office chair. There are two shelves above the desk with books and plants. His walls are white like mine. He has a wardrobe on the wall that separates the living room and his room. It's really nice. 

“It looks nice.” I say, turning to him.

“Thanks,” Rafe says. “It took a while to put it all together, but it was worth it.” He smiles proudly. 

“Where should I put the egg?” 

“There's a beanbag in the living room where it can stay.” 

Rafe goes into the living room and I follow. He follows me to a black beanbag and I put the egg down. Rafe squats down.

“We have to remember to check on it every day and keep it warm,” he looks up at me. “Can you give me the black-and-white polka-dot blanket?” 

“Uh, yeah,” I grab the black-and-white polka-dot blanket from the couch and hand it to him. “Here.” 

“Thanks.” 

Rafe takes the blanket and wraps it over and under the egg, wrapping it like a burrito.

He caresses the egg as if it were a sleeping cat. Rafe stands up and looks at me. I look at him.

“What are we going to do now?” I ask Rafe. 

“You just need to relax. I don’t have any classes today because I had to show you around, but I can tell you what time your classes are?”