my friends
Avery tapped her pencil against her desk. Tap. Tap tap tap. Tap. She stretched her dark, purple-magenta wings and turned around to glance at the clock. 17 minutes left. She sighed, and began to twirl a strand of her thick red hair.
Avery was used to being the first one done with her tests, but today it felt like time was crawling at a snail’s pace. Which was a bit silly, Avery reflected, considering it wasn’t like she was anxious to get her exam results. Avery was a straight-A student, and she always did well on tests. Always. 8th-grade semester one finals would be no different.
Finally the teacher, who was sitting at a sturdy mahogany desk at the front of the room, called for the students to take their tablets up to the front of the room for final grading. There was a rustle as students got up from their wooden stools and walked toward the front of the classroom. Avery set her tablet down on the growing pile of electronics and headed back to her desk. Everyone seemed to be in a rush to sit back down, and Avery held her wings close to her back in an attempt to not get tangled in another student’s wings. At last, everyone returned to their seats.
“Now, you all be good students while I go evaluate your test scores,” the teacher said in a commanding voice. Mrs. Crest was a tall woman about 34 years old with long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, and deep brown wings that had a reddish hue to them. “That means behave,” she added, narrowing her bright blue eyes at a pair of boys who were known to be mischievous. Then she opened her office door, and went inside.
Within an instant, the room descended into chaos. Students rushed over to friends’ desks to chat about things from the latest gossip, to what answers they got on the test. Paper airplanes were flying above. With a chuckle, Avery realized that if the ceiling were any higher they’d be jumping off desks and flying around.
After about 15 minutes, Mrs. Crest finally came back in. There was an even louder ruckus as students clambered back to their stools. Avery ran her hands through her hair with impatience.
“Congratulations students, most of you did very well,” Mrs. Crest said. Avery heard a few students sigh with relief. Thinking the teacher was done, Avery began to get up. “There are a few of you I would like to talk to after class. Avery Clay, Camilla Billingsley, and Fiona Brinson, please meet the principal and me in his office in 30 minutes.” Avery slammed back into her chair and the color drained from her face. What had she done wrong? She couldn’t have failed her finals, right? She didn’t hear Mrs. Crest’s dismissal. In a confused haze, she walked mechanically out the door and into the halfway.
***
30 minutes later, Avery sat in the soft chair in the principal’s office. Avery had never been inside the principal’s office before. It wasn’t a large room. There was a mahogany desk like the ones the teachers sat at in the classrooms, and behind that there was a small window with white curtains that let light in.
In front of the desk there were three stools, the rightmost being where Avery sat now. In the middle was Fiona Brinson, and on the far left sat Camilla Billingsley. Fiona had light blond hair cut in an A-line bob, and was wearing a simple purple T-shirt and medium-wash jeans. Her wings were a deep yellow-gold that complimented her hair nicely. Avery didn’t know much about her. All she knew was that she sat a row behind and a few desks to the left of Avery in class.
Camilla she knew even less about; she was known to be quiet and to always sit in the back of the room, unlike Avery who always chose the front row so they had never conversed. She had long, dark hair and medium-toned skin, and her wings were a very dark green that flashed teal and blue when the light them at the right angle. She wore plain skinny jeans with a plain white tank top to match and a jean jacket. An extra stool had been pulled up next to the principal’s behind the desk for Mrs. Crest.
Several moments passed in silence. Finally, Fiona blurted out, “Just tell us how badly we scored.” Her despairing face was a reflection of both Avery’s and Camilla’s.
Mrs. Crest laughed. “Badly? Why, you three are here for quite the opposite reason!” She paused. “The principal and I have been watching you three for a while. We planted extra questions at the end of your tests, and all three of you answered them correctly.”
All three girls’ brows twisted in confusion. “Why?” Camilla asked.
“What do you mean ‘why’?” Mrs. Crest replied.
“I mean why did you plant those questions at the end of our tests? And why is it important that we answered them correctly?” Camilla pressed.
“Because those questions were a test to see if you qualify to transfer to Wings Academy next semester,” Mrs. Crest answered. All three students drew in a sharp breath. Wings Academy was the most prestigious dragonfolk high school and it was extremely difficult to get in, mostly because students’ evaluations weren’t based on their test grades. Avery was sure of this because her older brother, Ryan, had gotten in last year and Avery knew for a fact that they did not pick him for the letter written on his final report card.
Typically during 8th grade finals of the second semester all the teachers observed each student very closely, comparing them to some mysterious rubric. Their system was so intricate and unlike any other that no one, in the whole history of the dragonfolk, had been able to unravel and cheat it. So why had Fiona Brinson, Camilla Billingsley, and her been tested if that’s not how it worked? And better yet, why at the end of the first semester and not the last?
A million other questions swam in Avery’s head, but she decided to only voice the second one. “Why did you test us now and not next semester?”
Before either the principal or Mrs. Crest could respond though, Fiona interrupted. “There’s no way this is right. You’re pranking us, aren’t you? Wow, I thought as adults you would be past teasing children about Wings Academy, but apparently I was wrong.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“Miss Brinson!” Principal Banks exclaimed. “This is not a joke! Wings Academy is an amazing opportunity that is to be taken seriously! We do not prank students with it,” he said sternly.
“Now now, Principal Banks,” Mrs. Crest said, her voice calm as a rippleless lake. “Miss Brinson is just surprised, that’s all. After all, this is the first time this has ever happened, and she has reason to think this is all a hoax.” She looked at the three of us. “However, it is not. You really have all been accepted to Wings Academy, and you will finish the year there with the 9th graders. You will essentially be skipping the second semester of 8th grade,” she finished.
Silence followed. Then Camilla spoke. “I want to see the acceptance certificates,” she said.
“Very well,” Principal Banks said, opening a drawer in his desk. He pulled out three blue folders with their names written on them and passed them to Camilla.
She gently slipped the certificates out. Imprinted in golden wax on the smooth paper was the school’s official seal. At the top the seal read “Wings Academy High School”. Below that there was an open book with dragon wings behind it. And below that was the school’s slogan: “Knowledge is your wings to the future”.
She studied the seal intently for what felt like a great deal of time before she finally turned towards Fiona and Avery. “They’re real,” she said. “See these little words etched into the border?” She pointed at the edge of the seal. “And these swirls in the background?” She pointed again. “A forgery wouldn’t have them. This is indeed the real thing.” She handed the certificates back to the principal.
Indeed the real thing–the words echoed in Avery’s head. She, Avery Clay, has indeed been accepted to Wings Academy–and a semester early, too! It all felt strangely surreal. She had been dreaming of this day since preschool, and to think that it had truly come seemed impossible. Avery wondered if it was like this for everyone who got in, or if the unexpectedness of her acceptance was the cause for it. Surely she wasn’t the only one who felt like she must be in a dream?
After a moment Fiona spoke, bringing Avery out of her reverie. “How’d you know to look for those things on the seal?” she asked.
Camilla shrugged casually. “I read a lot of murder mysteries.”
“How does that–,” Fiona began, but she was cut off by Mrs. Crest.
“Over winter break you will receive a package with everything you will need for school. This includes your dorm room information, campus maps, school crest, and packing list, to name a few things. You will be expected to pack only the things on the packing list, and not more. If every student brought all of their things, dorms would be a mess, and we can’t have that!” Mrs. Crest finished.
“So that’s really it?” Avery asked.
“What do you mean ‘really it’?” Mrs. Crest asked.
“I mean, we go home, tell our parents that we got accepted to Wings Academy a semester early, and start packing? It’s as easy as that?” Avery clarified.
“Yes,” Mrs. Crest answered.
The three students exchanged amazed glances. Even though they had studied the certificates and discussed it immensely, it still felt unreal.
Principal Banks dismissed them soon after, telling them to get a good night’s rest before they began packing. And so Avery found herself in the hallway with two girls she didn’t know having just received the most unexpected news she ever had in her 13 years alive.
“Did that just happen?” Avery asked hesitantly. Fiona, who was shocked into silence, did not answer.
Camilla muttered something that sounded like, “Apparently,” but Avery wasn’t quite sure, so she didn’t say anything.
They walked in silence towards the student pick-up center for a while before anyone finally spoke again.
They were almost to the double doors leading outside when suddenly Fiona said, “Maybe we should get each other’s phone numbers. So we can stick together.” She paused. “I mean, won’t it be easier to transfer if we have each other?” she asked.
Avery and Camilla exchanged a glance, and shrugged. “I guess so,” Avery said.
“Cool,” Fiona replied. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and opened her contact list. “So what’re your numbers?”
Avery and Camilla told her, and they all added each other to their contacts. “I’ll make us a group chat. That way we can all talk together,” Camilla said, pushing a few buttons on her sparkly red phone.
Once that was done, they told each other goodbye and pushed open the dark double doors.