Chapter 7- Not Looking the Part

  Jett walked into the restaurant he had picked to meet his friends at. He wasn’t about to announce his status as a dragon rider in the cafeteria only to make a scene with his friends. He wasn’t sure what they would do or if they would be friends after. He knew he wasn’t about to spend the entire semester keeping it a secret while Amanda pestered him.

  He was led to a booth and looked over the menu as he waited for his friends. He arrived fifteen minutes early, so it wasn’t a surprise.

  “You have five new messages.” Angie chimed on his shoulder.

  “Still Amanda?”

  “Yes, she sent another two begging for you to use your connections to get her an egg. One threatening to tell Ashley and Bill if you didn’t help her. Another apology. Then a fifth, doubling down on telling Ashley and Bill.”

  Jett shook his head, “I’m glad this will be over soon.”

  “I just want to let you know I have a message drafted offering to give her Layla. I only need you to tell me to send it.”

  “No, Angie, Layla is family.”

  “You’re such a [Nice man]!”

  Jett was scanning the restaurant when he saw Amanda enter the restaurant, frantically look around, then rush over to his table. She slid into the booth and slapped her hands on the table.

  “Jett. You haven’t answered any of my texts!”

  Jett’s head drooped, and his eyes narrowed, “You sent me twenty texts blackmailing me, berating me, and begging me for a dragon egg.”

  “Yeah… and how am I supposed to know which one will work unless you message me back.”

  “Amanda, I don’t have dragon eggs to hand out like they are candy.”

  “Well, I didn’t think you had a pile in your dorm room, but surely you have one or know someone who does. I mean, if someone was desperate enough to give you one, they would definitely give me one.”

  “No one gave me one.”

  “Gave you one what?” Bill asked as he slid into the booth. I looked over to see Ashley walking in the door, only a few seconds behind him.

  “Oh, nothing,” Amanda said, smirking while winking at Jett.

  “Well, that’s not weird at all,” Bill said.

  “What’s not weird?” Ashley asked as she joined us in the booth.

  “Amanda and Jett are dating.” Bill declared with absolute certainty.

  Jett’s eyes went wide, “Are not!”

  Right as Amanda asked, “How did you know?”

  Jett glared at Amanda, “Don’t give them any ideas.”

  Then he turned to his other three friends, “I’m glad you’re here. There is something I wanted to tell you.”

  Amanda put her hand on his, “Darling, maybe we should talk more before we tell them.”

  “You are shameless,” Jett shook his head. “I wanted to let you know, I’m a dragon rider.”

  Bill and Ashley started at Jett, not reacting. Amanda gave a false laugh as she waved her hand, “Oh, what a funny joke Darling.”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I almost didn’t believe you,” Bill answered.

  “Wait, you believe me?” Jett asked. He expected more of a reaction out of them, but they were far too calm.

  Ashley cut in, “It’s hard to believe. If Amanda weren’t so desperately trying to deflect, I wouldn’t believe you.”

  Jett sighed, “Why does no one think I’m a dragon rider?”

  Bill put out a hand, counting off on his fingers, “Most dragon riders are at least ten feet tall, are so rich that they spend all their money on overpriced clothes, and you don’t have the haughty look they all perfected.”

  Jett crossed his arms. “I just bonded with my egg two weeks ago.”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “That could explain it.” Ashley said while shrugging and not meeting anyone’s eyes, “Most of the others will have been bonded for months, if not a year. They have had plenty of time to adapt to the bond. Maybe we should just focus on dinner?”

  “So how did you get your egg anyway?” Bill asked, but all three of Jett’s friends leaned forward, eager to hear the tale.

  “I spent the last five years as a salvager. I cleared out doomed or damaged ships, looting anything of value. It was lucrative, but some of the craft were infested with monsters. Two weeks ago, I found a ship with a large hole in it. I thought a computer error caused it to collide with an asteroid. The only thing was, I went to grab a piece of the space rock, but it turned out to be an egg.”

  All his friends leaned back, crossing their arms. For a moment, Jett wondered if they practiced synchronizing.

  “You don’t have to lie to us.” Bill scoffed.

  “Seriously, as if anyone would believe that story,” Ashley frowned, no longer interested in diffusing the tension.

  “Hahaha… very funny, darling. I told you they wouldn’t find the story funny.” Amanda said, gripping his arm.

  “Wait, why doesn’t anyone believe me?”

  This time it was Amanda who answered, “You want us to believe you are some kind of space commando who traveled through space killing aliens. Then one day you come across a space dragon, loot its egg, and get out unscathed? Space dragons melt ships for breakfast! Literally!”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say unscathed. It ate most of my ship, and not every mission was killing aliens. Sometimes I had to fight the ship’s defenses, pirates, or even-”

  “Yeah, right…” Amanda said as she rolled her eyes.

  “Alright, well, there is one way to get definitive proof. I will introduce you to Layla, my dragon, after dinner.”

  Bill and Ashley’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. They contemplated why Jett would go so far to keep up the ruse, but eventually gave in.

  “Alright,” Bill reluctantly said.

  Jett shared stories about the first day of classes with his friends, they told him the new torturous physical training programs the school cooked up, and once they got the bill, they headed over to the hatcher.

  Jett noticed his friends trailing behind him, whispering as they walked, though even with his enhancements, he couldn’t quite hear what they said. Once he got to Layla’s cave, he opened the outside door.

  “Be careful, this beast is vicious and always hungry. Every night I process data, my core shivers in fear.” Angie’s speaker cuts through the silence of the night.

  “Not helpful, Angie. Don’t worry, guys, Layla is playful, but she isn’t a wild beast.”

  Jett walked into the cave, spotting Layla curled up in a dark corner, but Ashley, Bill, and Amanda looked around, unable to spot the sneaky dragonling. Bill noticed a half-chewed block of metal, turning it over in wonder.

  “What happened to this metal?”

  Layla’s eyes popped open. Glowing red orbs pierced the black, and a low growl emanated as Layla kept her head low and her tail straight. Then she noticed Jett.

  Her head popped up, she yawned, and her tail started to wag. ‘Momma’s here!’

  Then she looked to the three intruders, ‘With friends?’

  Amanda, Ashley, and Bill were pressed against the wall, not daring to move.

  “Yes, Layla, they are friends.”

  Layla moved over, tilting her head as she looked at Amanda. She sniffed her, and Amanda let out a high-pitched squeak. “Don’t let your dragon eat me!”

  “Layla, be gentle with them,” Jett said, worried she might headbutt them. As weak as Jett was, his body had become far hardier. Layla’s headbutts hit with the force of a car, though one going at low speed.

  Layla nudged Amanda’s arm, and she pulled it back. “She’s going to eat my arm!”

  “No, she wants you to pet her,” Jett called back.

  Amanda placed her hand on the dragonling’s head and gently patted it. “Good dragonling. I’m a friend.”

  Layla snorted in disapproval. Bill and Ashley slowly circled around, Bill petting her neck and Ashley her back. Layla settled down somewhat with the far superior pets.

  “Aww, she’s so cute!” Ashley said, feeling more comfortable, and began using both hands to pet the little dragon. Layla raised her head, soaking in the attention. Seeing Layla’s eyes closed, Amanda slinked away to hide behind Jett.

  “You know if you want to be a dragon rider, you will need to be comfortable around dragons.”

  “I know!” Amanda squeaked, her cheeks flushing red. “She’s just so big.”

  “She’s only going to get bigger.”

  Amanda’s eyes went wide, and Jett noticed her hands wrapped around his right bicep, “She’s already bigger than a hovercycle.”

  “Yeah, well, her mother ate a third of my ship; she still has some growing to do.”

  Ashley and Bill continued to fawn over Layla while Amanda kept her distance, but Jett noticed the tension leave her the longer she stayed. Being more adventurous, Bill grabbed one of the cubes on the ground and brought it over to Layla.

  “Hey girl, are you hungry?”

  Layla walked over and grabbed the metal orb before chewing on it a little and placing it by her bed. Ashley and Bill started picking up all the half-chewed pieces of metal and bringing them to her.

  ‘Momma! They keep grabbing!’

  Jett chuckled. “They have never seen a dragon eat before.”

  Layla let out a rumbling sound of discontent, though to human ears it sounded like a purr. Ashley, Bill, and even Amanda began grabbing all the metal they could to her. Jett couldn’t help but smirk as Layla looked over at him, covered in metal cubes, not understanding why the ‘silly humans’ were bringing her all the metal in the cave.

  Jett was too amused to say anything, and after Layla was completely covered, she decided to ignore the humans and go back to sleep.

  “All right, growing dragons need their sleep. Let’s head back.”

  “Do we have to?” Amanda asked, “She’s actually kind of cute when she is cuddled up in a ball.”

  “I know, right? She’s like a little loaf of dragon.” Ashley cooed.

  “We haven’t gotten all the metal. Should we get the rest first?” Bill asked.

  “Come on, everyone. I’ll let you see her again, but we should go.”

  Jett’s friends dragged their feet as they left, Ashley giving the little dragon forlorn looks as she shuffled out. They split ways. Bill, Amanda, and Ashley were eager to get to bed after a hard day of physical training.

  Not quite ready to settle down for the night, Jett turned on his computer to download a few programs for Angie while he read a few pages of his textbooks. Right as he queued up the programs for download, he saw he had a few emails. He opened his mailbox to see a message from the school.

  “We would like to inform you that you are receiving an offer of sponsorship. You will receive an email from the dragon rider sponsoring you.”