Sarah and the Steam Dragon

10th District, Pan City

Tuesday, October 2nd 2046 AD

The day dawned bright and clear, for once there were no rain clouds in the crisp morning sky. Sarah was waiting at the corner of two streets, tall residential towers rising thirty and forty stories around her. There were people everywhere, some adults going to work, others were students like her heading to school.

She leaned against the front window of a café, checking her phone. A steady stream of adults went inside and came out carrying their coffees and tea in takeaway cups. The wonderful aromas of freshly baked cakes and pies drifted over her, making her stomach grumble. Her mother had made her a filling breakfast of porridge and toast, but she still drooled at the lovely smells.

“Sarah!” called a girl’s voice and she looked up as Carmody came running over, her school bag and massive lunchbox bouncing on her back. Sarah waved in reply and waited for her breathless new friend to reach her.

“How did you sleep last night?” asked Carmody once she got her breath back. “It took me ages to drop off. I kept seeing Andrew in the basement, all blank faced. It really creeped me out”

“Yeah, I know what you mean” agreed Sarah. She had been thinking about a lot of stuff last night too. The girls had chatted on their phones for a bit last night, which had helped them both. Yet Sarah had to keep some things to herself for now. She did not know how Carmody would react to the idea of Stanley, a dragon from another world that only she could see.

Some things were too crazy to share, even with friends.

Together they started walking towards their school. It was a short walk, only taking them ten minutes. It was the first time Sarah had a friend to walk with to this school, since her younger sister went to a different Elementary school. Her older brother was enrolled at the High School, being two years older than her. Both schools were in the opposite direction to her Junior High, so they went their own way to school each day.

Sarah did not mind that, as her little sister Carrie could be really annoying at times. She loved all girly stuff, like pink dresses and dolls. Not Sarah’s preferences at all.

Her brother Brent was taller than Sarah, stronger and as far as she was concerned the most evil person alive. For some reason they had fought like cats and dogs for as long as she could remember, much to her parent’s dismay. They told them it was normal for siblings to have a little rivalry, but the all out war between Sarah and Brent often came to blows. No one had actually died yet so Sarah didn’t understand why it upset mom and dad so much.

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Sarah asked Carmody as they neared the front gates of their school.

“Just a little brother, Vance” said Carmody. “He is a real sweetie and always waits at our front door for me to get home from school”

“Yeah, I do the same thing with my big brother” admitted Sarah. “I wait until he comes through the door then I hit him from behind!” She laughed at the happy memories and Carmody gave her a wide eyed look.

“You know, you can be pretty strange at times” her friend said.

=====

The courtyard in front of the main entrance was a riot of students, some parents and the occasional teacher trying to keep order. The 10th District Junior High had over a thousand students all together spread over the three Years. Yesterday had been Testing Day for the Year Sevens, and the Year Eights did theirs on Wednesday. Year Nines had Testing on Fridays.

That meant Tuesdays and Thursdays had every student in the school at once and it was very noisy. Sarah really preferred the Testing days, especially the Mondays, when the snobby Awakened would be out of her hair. Having to do revision classes was better than dealing with Angelina.

Carmody and Sarah pushed their way past the mass of chattering students, trying to reach the spot she normally caught up with her friends Lilly and Achmed. They had almost made it, with Sarah able to see the little black hat Achmed always wore above the crowd, when a dreaded girl in pigtails pushed herself in front of them.

“Well, if it isn’t the new school hero, Sarah Nevermore” declared Angelina, deliberately getting her name wrong. Angelina was tall, slender and always very well dressed, even in a school uniform. She had long black hair tied in pigtails that stuck out from the side of her head, and a face which was thin and pointed like a ferret. At least that was how Sarah always thought of it.

“Everyone is talking about how Andrew Frobisher went missing all day, and it was you that found him” her arch enemy added.

“I just ran into Andrew in the hallway, I didn’t actually find him” said Sarah in exasperation. “Even a dummy like you could have done that”

“Excuse me, did the NOMA just call me a dummy?” said Angelina coldly, flexing her left and right hands in anger. Sarah knew she had made a big mistake because Telekinetics used their hands to direct the power they could summon.

As a Grade Two Telekinetic, Angelina could lift nearly twenty kilograms with her mind and throw it over one hundred meters. She could punch Sarah in the stomach with as much force as an adult boxer and do it from across the courtyard.

Sarah knew this was bad. If she spoke up, Angelina would get even angrier. If she ran away, it made her look like a coward. If she hit her, Angelina could probably put her back in the Nurse’s office.

She had decided on the last option and go down fighting when a metal bucket of water from the main foyer, a red one labelled for Fire Emergencies, appeared with a pop over Angelina’s head. It was tilted upside down and drenched Angelina from head to foot in freezing cold water.

Her rival screamed and spun around, looking in all directions at who had done this to her. A wall of laughing faces met her, as she was very unpopular with just about everyone. The fire bucket clattered to the ground next to her, so with a snarl of anger she flexed her hands and it lifted by itself into the air, then slowly crumpled it into a metal ball as she viciously closed her fists.

“If I find out who did this, they are next” she warned the sea of students watching her. She dropped the crumpled red metal ball to the ground at her feet.

“Angelina!” called out a stern voice and the sea of boys and girls parted to reveal a glowering Mr Albright. “The use of Abilities is expressly forbidden on school grounds!”

“But Sir, someone used their Ability on me first!” she wailed, wet, angry and embarrassed all in one. Her pigtails drooped sadly from her head and water dripped from her skirt onto the courtyard paving.

“I saw only you, threatening the other students” he said coldly. “Come with me to the Principal’s office now.” He beckoned imperiously to her then turned and marched towards the main doors, assuming that Angelina would follow without question.

The soaked girl gave a final glare at the assembled students and then squelched after Mr Albright, water drops trailing behind her.

Sarah released the breath she had been holding all this time and slumped in relief. Who could have thought Mr Albright would save her?

Lilly ran over to stand in front of Sarah, with Achmed joining her soon after. Lilly was grinning from ear to ear and hopping from one foot to another, clearly excited beyond words. It was Achmed who spoke first as her friend seemed incapable of it at the moment.

“Guess who got tested as a Grade Two Teleporter yesterday?” he said, rolling his eyes towards Lilly in case she did not get it.

“Wow! Congratulations Lilly!” Sarah said enthusiastically and gave her friend a hug. Then she remembered Carmody and called her over. The other girl had been standing to one side, uncertainty and loneliness clear on her face.

“Guys, this is my new friend Carmody. She is from Class Three, a Year Seven like us. We kind of made friends yesterday”

Lilly and Achmed looked her over, glanced at each other, then smiled at Carmody.

“We find her acceptable” said Achmed. He addressed Carmody and put out his hand to her.

“Welcome to the gang” he announced and shook Carmody’s hand, then Lilly presented hers and Carmody duly shook that.

“Ah, Thanks” replied Carmody. “Is it always this formal?”

“You are the first new member ever” explained Lilly with a laugh, “So a formal welcome seems appropriate”

The school bell rang, signalling they had five minutes before classes started for the day. Like a stampede of wild animals, the students surged as a group towards the main doors. Sarah and her friends joined the charge and thus began a new school day.

=====

Miss Abrams had finished calling the attendance roster when a polite knock at the door grabbed the attention of the class. The door slid open and the School Principal, Mrs Abela, entered with a young man dressed in the school uniform.

“Good morning, Miss Abrams” announced the Principal, “This is the new student I messaged you about. He is transferring to our school from private tutors so please make sure he is looked after”

“Welcome, Eric” said the home room teacher. “My name is Miss Abrams and you have been assigned to this class as your home room. I will also be your English teacher”

The young man in question was of average height for a boy, a bit taller than Sarah she estimated, with close cropped hair so blonde it was almost white. He had a slim but athletic build, fine features and piercingly bright blue eyes. As confirmed by the excited chatter from the girls in the class, he was also rather good looking in an aloof way.

“Good morning, Miss Abrams” said Eric in a calm and measured voice. “Thank you for agreeing to my placement in your class. My Guardian had been advised you were the best Year Seven teacher at this school, so he insisted I was put into your home room”

“Oh, well you are very welcome” said a flustered Miss Abrams. Eric had a deliberate way of speaking but he was certainly polite. Sarah watched with some interest, but her mind was full of so many other dramas at the moment that a cute new boy in the class was very low on her list.

The Principal made her goodbyes and left, leaving Eric standing alongside Miss Abrams at the front of the class. Miss Abrams looked around the class, comparing the few vacant seats and the students who sat next to them. A number of the girls were all giving hopeful looks at Miss Abrams, practically begging her to place Eric beside them.

There was a seat next to Sarah, left deliberately empty for all of this term by the teacher. Sarah was not upset by that, accepting it as a natural consequence of her often extreme behaviour. Plus she did not want any strange, cute new boys sitting next to her right now.

She was looking out the window instead of focussing on the classroom, wondering where Stanley was and what he had eaten for breakfast. Unfortunately her obvious indifference to the new student had swayed Miss Abrams to a decision.

“Eric” said Miss Abrams right beside her, “This is Sarah Evermore. Sarah will be your guide around the school and introduce you to all your teachers”

“Huh?” said Sarah in alarm and looked at her teacher. The new boy stood next to her like a soldier on parade.

“I am pleased to meet you, Sarah Evermore” he said and stuck out his hand for her to shake. “I am Eric Hargreaves and I am looking forward to learning everything you know about this school”

Sarah numbly shook his hand and watched in quiet desperation as he settled himself next to her. He drew a very expensive looking datapad from his bag, synched it to the school’s wireless net access and sat at attention, ready for the lesson to begin.

“How come I am so popular this week?” muttered Sarah darkly and slumped into her seat. Life can be really tough for a teenager sometimes she thought.

=====

The English lesson ended with no sign of Angelina and the students started packing their things away, preparing for the next class. Sarah hoped she was missing, presumed drowned, when a knock at the door heralded the arrival of Miss Kansari, the School Nurse.

“Sorry to interrupt” she said to Miss Abrams, “I just wanted to let you know that Angelina has been sent home after the incident this morning. The Principal will be informing her parents”

“My goodness” said Miss Abrams, “Was it that serious? I thought she had just gotten wet”

“There was an altercation with another student” said the Nurse and her gaze involuntarily went to Sarah, which made Miss Abrams look at her too.

“Oh, Sarah” her teacher said, “What did you do this time?”

“It wasn’t my fault, Miss!” said an angry Sarah. Her reputation as the class troublemaker was a distinct disadvantage at times like this. Everyone naturally assumed she was the guilty one! The fact that she often was the culprit was not the point she thought to herself.

“Angelina started it, Miss” offered Lilly, coming to stand with her friend. “She was threatening everybody with her Telekinesis after she got wet”

“That’s right Miss Abrams” added Achmed, joining his friends in a united stand.

Miss Abrams narrowed her eyes, her superior teacher skills coming to the fore.

“I see” she said slowly, watching Lilly closely. “The gang of three strike again”

“Whatever do you mean, Miss?” asked Lilly, starting to squirm under the teachers gaze.

“After she got wet” their teacher said, repeating Lilly’s own words.

The second bell rang, indicating the students needed to be at their next class.

“Look Miss, we have to get Chemistry and you don’t want Eric to be late on his first day, do you?” chimed in Sarah. The afore mentioned Eric had been standing quietly at the back of the room, watching everything but making no comment.

“Ah, no, of course not” agreed Miss Abrams. “Go on then, you three. Make sure you look after Eric”

“Will do, Miss!” called out Sarah and grabbed Eric by the arm. He did not understand what she was doing and for a moment Sarah found him as immovable as a tree. Then he swung into motion and followed her and her friends out of the door.

Their teacher watched them go, wondering for what would be the first of many times if pairing Sarah and Eric had been such a good idea.

=====

Chemistry class had been easy for once, with Eric assigned by Handsome Hanson as her partner. The teacher had already known that a new transfer student was coming, so he left Sarah to take care of Eric during the lesson.

Lilly and Achmed were always paired up, which used to make Sarah so jealous. Her friends were smart and got good grades in all their classes. Sarah got passed around from one classmate to another, depending on how badly she messed up the previous class.

Today she had Eric and he may be strangely quiet but he really knew his Chemistry! Every experiment, every question from Mr Hanson, Eric could do it all. Sarah thought he must be one of those genius level kids that could not interact like a regular person.

“So Eric, where did you go to school before today?” Sarah asked, as Eric methodically cleaned and packed away the chemistry equipment.

“I was educated by my tutor at home” he answered, his voice flat and even like it had been all morning.

“Must have been boring for you” she replied. “Did you have any friends that you hung out with?”

Eric paused in putting the beakers back on the shelf.

“No, I did not have any friends. Only my tutor and the instructors”

“Seriously?” Sarah gasped. “Didn’t your parents let you have any friends at all?”

Eric stood in front of her, his blue eyes regarding her impassively.

“I have no parents, Sarah. My Guardian is responsible for my care and the tutor and instructors taught me all the skills I require”

“Woah, so you are like an orphan? That must be tough. No wonder you are so weird” Sarah had not meant to say the last bit out loud but it escaped from her mouth before she could catch it.

Eric blinked and his face slowly frowned.

“Am I weird?” he asked, his voice catching slightly.

“Well, yeah” admitted Sarah, embarrassed but honest. “I mean, you are good looking and all, but you really don’t show much emotion do you?”

Eric’s eyes widened as he processed her last statement, then he stepped up close to Sarah.

“You think I am good looking?”

Sarah realised this conversation was heading into some dangerous territory. There was no way she could admit to a boy she found him attractive. And like all boys, he completely missed all the other stuff she had told him.

“Look Eric, how about you join my friends and I for morning break. I am sure everyone is dying to talk with you”

“That sounds satisfactory, Sarah” he responded. “I wish to speak with as many of the students as possible while I am here. Perhaps your friends can also tell me if I am good looking?”

Sarah gave him one of those looks, but Eric seemed completely oblivious. He really was a weird one she decided.