We Fight Dragons (Volume 2, Chapter 2) "Breaking board"
At the start of the new school year, the boys all speculated on which desk they would be sitting at. Apparently, Mr Kirk used the start of each year to change the seating, but for some reason this year he Jam and Tobes together.
For the first morning-class of the year, they studied Physics. Mr Kirk was not the sort of teacher to take a straight line towards any topic, so they began with a discussion on how currency was originally created, and then the techniques of glass-making. Jam struggled to see the connection with Physics, but he had come to understand that Mr Kirk would eventually link the ideas together.
When it was time for the first Break, the boys learned that a new girl had joined their year because her family had moved to town. Her name was Tracey, and all the boys noticed her, which upset Emma and made it harder for Tracey to fit in with the other girls at her new school.
So Tracey took the initiative and sat with Jam and his friends at Break, and again at Lunch. This changed the sorts of things that the boys talked and made jokes about, but as a whole they liked it because Tracey brought a lot of interesting stories from the city where she used to live.
Tracey also joined them after school for Shirate lessons, which she was starting as a white-sash, which was the beginners level. She had been paired up with Tobes, and Mr Dawson had reminded Tobes to slow down his techniques and answer any questions that his training partner had.
Tobes was close to getting his black-sash now. His dad explained that part of being a senior was that he was obliged to train the juniors. Tobes didn’t love the idea of having to hold back, but he understood why, and did his best in his normally serious way.
Jam was paired with Zach for the class. When they were about to start sparring Jam noticed that Zach wasn’t paying attention. His smaller friend kept glancing over at Tracey. Jam looked at her and had to admit that there was something about her, and had an idea of what Zach was thinking.
Zach noticed him doing this. ‘Do you like Tracey?’ he asked quietly, barely audible above the huffing and shouts as the others spared around them.
‘I guess she’s cool.’
‘Yeah. She is, isn’t she,’ Zach said with more than enough admiration for Jam to pick up on it.
Jam was annoyed by how easily Zach was distracted. He knew that Zach was a Knight, even though Zach himself still didn’t know it, so he should have been focused on sparring. Jam reckoned that if Zach actually knew he was a Knight, then he would probably take things like Shirate more seriously. It had been difficult keeping the secret all through Summer break, and he was still keeping it now.
They started sparring and Jam was still pondering the problem in the back of his mind when they switched to breaking boards. This gave him an idea. When it was his turn to hold the board he said to Zach, ‘You like her a lot don’t you?’
Zach just blushed.
‘But why do you think she’d want to be your girlfriend?’
Zach was confused. He was unsure if Jam had meant to say something mean, or if it was unintentional.
‘I mean… you’re such a runt! I bet if I ask her to be my girlfriend she will say yes right away. What do you think of that?’
Zach’s face turned furious, but it was a silent rage.
‘Yeah, I think I will ask her out. Right after class.’
Jam watched what happened next like it was in slow motion. Zach stepped forward to front-kick him, and as his leg shot forward Jam raised several boards up together to take the blow.
Zach’s kick struck the boards and CRACKED them all with a sound like lightning. Everyone stopped and stared at them. Mr Dawson was over immediately. This gave Zach time to pause and regain control of himself, although he was still riled up by what Jam had said.
‘What just happened?’ Mr Dawson demanded.
‘It was my mistake,’ Jam hastened to confess. ‘I got a bunch of new boards, but I wasn’t paying attention and thought I was only holding one board, but…’
Jam held up four boards. All cleanly broken.
‘Zach,’ said Mr Dawson sternly. ‘Did you break all those boards?’
‘I… um, I guess I did.’ Zach’s irritation was slowly being replaced by wonder.
Mr Dawson thought about it for a moment, then suggested that Zach not mention it to anyone else until he got home and told his mother and father.
After Mr Dawson had gone to help the other students, Jam confessed to Zach. ‘Sorry, Zach. I didn’t mean what I said about Tracy. I just had to get you mad.’
‘You mean, you got me mad just so that I’d break all those boards?’
‘Uh huh, sorry. But you never would have thought you could, you would never have tried, if I hadn’t tricked you.’
‘How did you know that I could?’
‘I’ve known for ages. Since last year. Haven’t you noticed that you can now run faster than Tobes? And how you didn’t get hurt when we got attacked by those goons in town?’
‘What does it mean?’
‘I can’t tell you, exactly. Your mum and dad have to explain it. But trust me, it’s all good. You’ll love it, but just do me one favour? Don’t mention to your parents that I tricked you. They’d get mad. Stick to the story that it was an accident, okay?’
Zach thought about it, but he didn’t look convinced by Jam’s weak explanation.
Jam played his trump card. ‘If you tell them it was an accident, then I promise I’ll never ask Tracey to be my girlfriend.’
Zach smiled. He liked those terms. ‘Deal.’
The next day at breakfast, Mum and Dad were happy to tell Jam that Zach’s parents had explained to him that he was a Knight, and had gone to the Dragon-stone that evening. Jam could now talk to Zach about it, so long as they were careful who they talked in front of.
When Jam got to school that morning he found that Zach was already there, sitting with Tracey and they were holding hands in the outdoor area. He wanted to talk to Zach, but he wasn’t going to interrupt his friend now.
When everyone else went for lunch, he and Zach waited behind in class to so they could talk in private.
‘Did you have the dream?’
‘Yeah! The dream was crazy. Think about it… our ancestors being all warriors who fought monsters!’
‘Don’t tell anyone else, but Tobes’ dad is also a Knight?’
‘Mr Dawson, the policeman? Huh, you know that kinda figures.’
‘So what we have to do now is find a way to prove that Oli is a Knight.’
‘What if you tried the board trick on him?’
‘Hmmm… too obvious now that we’ve just done it. Your parents gave you to speech about not telling anyone else right?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Well don’t worry, I’ll think of something,’ said Jam, already anticipating the outcome in his head, but being completely unprepared for what was going to happen next.
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