Dragonrider Academy: Episode 1

steady myself. Maybe I was really blowing this all out of proportion and he just wanted to see me. Even if giving me attention was just to make his ex jealous, I didn’t care. I would enjoy it no matter how long it lasted, because I wanted to indulge in this new life where I didn’t have to hide in my invisible bubble anymore. A life where Max Green invited me to a party and wanted to talk with me, laugh with me, maybe even kiss me.
My cheeks turned red and I covered my face. I didn’t want to become some lovesick teenager, and maybe Max had an ulterior agenda and I shouldn’t be getting so worked up about it in the first place.
A gentle peck at the window brought me out of my hormone-induced dilemma. I scampered to the end of the room and popped open the glass, letting the humid breeze come in, along with a flittering golden-speckled finch that chittered at me in greeting.
“Hey, Solstice,” I said, not able to get the goofy grin off my face. “Are you going to help me pick out something to wear?”
He landed on the raised end of my bedpost and quirked his head at me, looking at me with his beady black eyes.
I frowned. “Don’t look so judgmental. It’s just a party.”
I didn’t know if birds could have preferences when it came to people, but Solstice seemed like he didn’t like Max. He chirped again when I opened the closet in a low, disapproving pitch.
Ignoring his protests, I rummaged through my clothes and wondered what on Earth I was going to wear. I ran my fingers over the same wardrobe I’d had for the last couple of years, since I’d finally stopped really growing. I didn’t care what I wore. Who did I have to impress?
Tossing out items onto the bed, I started to feel deflated until I came across a cute tank with sequins that my mom had bought me for my birthday. I didn’t know where she thought I’d wear it. Maybe she had hoped this day would come where I’d finally take the leap into the socialized world.
Pulling it out, I drew in a deep breath and held it up to my chest. “What do you think?” I asked Solstice, only to find him perched on my dresser glaring at me.
Solstice bounced on the edge, chittering at me with warning.
“Come on, Solstice,” I complained, propping one hand on my hip. “What’s your problem?”
He chirped again, and this time it sounded exactly like Stay.
“I’m not staying,” I enforced, tossing my shirt onto the bed over the pile of clothes before stalking up to the tiny creature. “I’m going to this party, okay? And if you’re not going to be supportive then you can just flutter right on out of here.” I pointed at the window. “What’s it going to be?”
Solstice bounced a few times, chittered his discontent, and then flew out of the window, crushing my spirits as the room seemed to darken without his presence.
Trying to ignore the sting of rejection, I snatched open the dresser and rummaged for one of my good bras. I found one with the tag still on and I snipped off the overpriced number with my teeth. My mom was definitely not like other moms.
“He’s just a bird,” I grumbled to myself, but even I knew that wasn’t entirely true. Solstice had been with me all my life, at least what I could remember of it. I liked to pretend that my father had sent him to me, a well-meaning spirit to watch over me since he couldn’t be here anymore.
If Solstice didn’t want me to go to the place where my father died, perhaps that was a warning I should have listened to.
But I didn’t.

Wind rushed around my ears and swept my hair from my face as I sped down the dark streets on my bike.
Today, I didn’t care I didn’t have an expensive ride, because I was on my way to a party that Max Green himself had invited me to. Nobody could say I wasn’t welcome, because this was his party, near his father’s place, and even if I wasn’t naive enough to think he didn’t have a secondary agenda, I was going to enjoy myself—and indulge in a secondary agenda of my own. Because if I found myself in my dad’s old office at the resort by the end of the night and uncovered secrets the resort was trying to hide, oopsie, my mistake.
Streetlights glimmered around a sharp curve of the road where I normally turned back. The scent of lakefront fresh air gave the breeze a welcoming component and I found myself indulging in a rare smile of my own as I increased my speed.
Going far too fast to stop, there was nothing I could do but brace myself when I heard a wild revving of a corvette that was only growing in my side mirror. I’d recognize that engine anywhere. It didn’t matter that I had reflectors and lights strapped all over my bike and my body. All my safeguards managed to do were to give Julie a target.
I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see the convertible swerving toward me, but not to hit me. Julie and her friends cackled, their laughter swept away on the wind, as a massive wall of black mud shot up into the air.
Crap.
I swerved and nearly lost my balance as the wave hit, drenching me with cold, wet grime as the corvette screeched off, Julie waving and blowing me a kiss on her way to the lake.
Managing to stop my bike, I shuddered in a breath and tossed my bike down. I flung my fingers and splattered mud to my feet. I looked down to see that my sequin top was impossibly ruined and mud quickly matted in my hair.
Tears threatened to come, but I pushed them down with ruthless determination.
“You aren’t winning this