In the Skin of Dragon

Chapter 2: Emily Swift

“I thought that today would never end. It was extremely boring.” Kendra complained after we heard the last bell ring announcing the end of the school day. It was finally Friday which meant we had two free days and we could simply enjoy our time. I guess I forgot to mention that it was still summer so we could go out to get some sun and maybe spend some time going to the pool which was one of the things we were allowed during the summer.

Once we turned fifteen, we had to help with the work of our parents as the option for us, to stay in the same field, so usually during the summer break we didn’t have much free time. Our break was for one month and the rest of the time we spent working. I heard that a long time ago they had two months break during the summer and they could do whatever they wanted. I wish this was true and still valid even nowadays. I would enjoy some free time doing nothing.

“Tell me about it,” I replied to her and followed her to her car. It was a very old Fiat and to be fair, I was surprised it was still working. Only a few families in our neighborhood were allowed to purchase new models of cars.

“Move with that rubbish bin.” I heard a high-pitched voice from behind us. “What do you want Emily,” I replied to her instantly. I could not stand her voice. It was so annoying that it even hurt my ears. “I want to go home but this stinky broken car is in my way.” There was no way Kendra’s car was blocking hers since we were still in the parking lot and Kendra parked her car perfectly in the lines.

“Emily, just go bother someone else. We are not interested. Kendra’s car is still in the parking bay so there is no way it is bothering you or blocking you.” I pointed with my finger to her nice clean car and I was sure it was even a completely new car because she has been using this one for just a week or so. “I need more space to leave since I don’t want to scratch my newly painted car.” She said with her annoying voice and I rolled my eyes. I really could not understand how she could be like that.

“Well, maybe you should learn how to drive first, princess,” Kendra replied to her with the nickname she gave Emily. In the beginning, I thought it was funny but later I realized how Kendra meant it. Only dragons had the status of princes and princesses so calling someone a princess meant putting her in the same place as dragons which was something unforgivable for humans. If the guards heard her talking to Emily this way, they both would have a big problem, not like Emily thought about it since she thought herself a princess.

“I know how to drive,” Emily replied angrily with her screeching voice, and this time I had to cover my ears to protect them from the pain. I didn’t understand how she could manage such a sound with her voice and up to now I would even swear it was impossible.

“Apparently it’s not good, if you need the space of another parking bay just to be able to leave with your car.” Kendra decided to add more fuel to the fire and I was really curious how much Emily would be able to handle before she started her typical drama and stormed out of this place. “How dare you speak to Emily this way?” Tamara, one of Emily’s three minions, spoke up defending her queen bee. I was starting to think that maybe Kendra would make Emily prove her point and push Emily to show us her driving skills. I was sure she would only scratch both cars but since Kendra’s car’s paint was messed up anyway, I knew she did not care. She just wanted to push Emily to her limits any time we saw her as always.

“What is going on here?” I heard a familiar voice coming from behind us. The knight came to rescue but sadly I knew he was not coming to our rescue. “Those two worms don’t want to move this rubbish bin so I can go home,” Emily complained to Andrew, making her puppy eyes on him. I knew she had a crush on him the same as I did except, he already recognized her existence but because I was the best friend of his sister, who he resented, he didn’t recognize my existence. In his eyes, I didn’t exist.

“You need my help? I can take out your car.” Andrew offered her without taking a look at us. I saw Kendra making a disgusting face and I was sure right now she had a million comments about her brother. I took her arm pulling her closer to me to stop her from her intention to say something mean to her brother.

“That would be so sweet of you. Thank you.” Emily was melting from the look in Andrew’s eyes and at that moment I really wanted to be in her place. I wanted Andrew to look at me the same way as he was looking at Emily right now. I could not stand this anymore and pulled Kendra away.

“Where are you going? We need to leave too.” Kendra was protesting but I didn’t pay her any attention. When I was sure we were finally far enough from them I turned to her. “Why do you always have to be like that in front of your brother? You know I have a crush on him.” I scolded her but I didn’t mean to be rude to her or anything like that. “He is not good enough for you. And if you think that Emily has a chance with him you can’t be more wrong.” Kendra said sheepishly but I could not miss the tone when she was saying that her brother is not good enough for me. I liked how high she was thinking about me but at the same time, I could not imagine anybody else beside me for the rest of my life but her perfect brother.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked seeing that Andrew had moved Emily’s car to the road meanwhile and she was now giving him a sweet and thankful smile batting her lashes. “What I mean is that because of my father’s reputation and the name he built as a carpenter they have already chosen the perfect wife for my perfect brother.” I could not miss the sarcasm in her voice when she used the word perfect as a description for him. 

“Who chose a wife for him?” I asked curiously. It was the first time I had heard of this sort of arrangement. We didn’t have much freedom in our lives but choosing our partners was something we could do ourselves. “When you are considered as an example in society the regulation office will choose a spouse for you,” Kendra explained and I could not resist cringing. “It sounds like they are trying to breed us,” I commented and Kendra nodded. “Exactly. I have the same feeling about it. The girl they chose for him is exactly the same as my brother. She follows the rules. Never created any problems and did what she was ordered or told to do. They will be the perfect couple.” Kendra made a slight comment towards them cringing while talking about her brother and his future wife.

I couldn’t help but feel sad about this information. Maybe if I could change and start also being an example in society maybe they would pair me with him and I could live my dream but just as I had this thought I pushed it away. I could not do anything like that. I could not accept the rules they were setting for us and live like an animal inside a flock.

“You see? So, you better give up.” Kendra said towards me and I could say she was probably reading my mind and knew exactly what I was thinking about. “Alright, the princess left, let’s go too.” Kendra took my hand pulling me back to her car so we could go home but the only thing I was looking around for was to see if Andrew was still around somewhere but to my disappointment, he was gone. I didn’t notice in which direction he went or where he went.

Kendra stopped right in front of our house. “So, what is your plan for this weekend?” She asked me before I got out of her car. “I thought maybe we could go to the beach and get a nice tan before Winter comes,” I suggested and could already see the excitement in her face. Note the sarcasm in my voice.

“Wow, so your plan was actually to bake ourselves.” She commented back putting a huge portion of excitement into her voice. “Come on. It will not kill you just once.” I begged her. I wanted to go the previous weekend already after our working week but she said she was too tired and didn’t want to spend her time in the sun so we spent it at home doing nothing except watching movies.

“Fine. But we will sleep at your place and I want a horror movie evening afterwards with popcorn.” Oh, and there goes the negotiations. “No ghosts,” I said strictly and I could see she was seriously thinking through her options. “Alright. No ghosts.” She agreed in the end. I really don’t know why she loved horror movies so much and especially anything with ghosts, zombies, and dead people in them but since she practically agreed to take me to the beach the only thing, I could do to repay her was to agree to horror movie night.

“Deal.” I finished our agreement and took off from the car. “I will pick you up at eight in the morning, so you better be ready,” Kendra told me and I smiled at her, happy that I would be able to spend the whole day at the beach. It was not fair to live next to the coastline yet not be allowed to go to the beach except on our free days which were on the weekend. You even had to go early to be sure to get to the beach because we were not allowed to create huge crowds. So not every time you went to the beach, you were allowed to enter. It was based on how many people were already there. Sad, yes, I know, but this was our life as human livestock. We were f*******n to do many things and the explanation we were given was that it was to increase our productivity since our lives were so short.

I ran inside. “Mom. I am home.” I called out from the front door. It was already four o'clock which meant that mom would be up and slowly getting ready for work. My mom worked in a hospital, cleaning up after patients. She could choose whether to work in the senior house or in the hospital so she chose the hospital. Not sure if it was the better choice but she said that not all patients are the same but in the senior house she would be taking care of old people which is little worse than caring for babies. Not sure how she meant it and I didn’t know if I wanted to find out.

“I am up sweetheart.” I heard my mom’s reply. I went to the kitchen quickly and started preparing our early dinner. My mom had to be at the hospital at six pm and was working till six am every day except weekends. So, I always made sure to come home first to have dinner with her before she went to work, and then I had the whole evening to myself. It’s Not like I was going to parties or having parties at home but it was still nice to have time to myself.

I took vegetables out of the fridge and started cleaning them before I cut them. Since our budget is a bit tighter this month, we could not have that much meat nor buy chicken so from time to time we had only potatoes or pasta and stewed vegetables with sauce. It wasn’t much of a meal but it filled our stomachs and gave us energy we needed.

“How was school today?” Mom asked me when she came down. “Good. I am going to the beach with Kendra mom. You want to join us?” I offered her while I was cooking our dinner. Mom came over and kissed my forehead. “It’s sweet of you sweetheart but I will let you enjoy it. I guess I will get some rest properly before next week. Soon the season will start and there will be more sick people in the hospital.” My mom replied and I knew what she meant. It was still summer but in around two weeks the temperature would start to drop and the season for flu would start. Humans are the only ones affected by this and the others blamed it on our weak bodies and immunity so they refused to take care of us during this. There aren’t any human doctors so usually, nurses or people like my mom working in the hospitals are the ones who care about elderly people affected by this sickness.

“Alright mom. Should I bring you some shells?” I asked her and she nodded. “Sure. They would make a nice decoration.” She replied, preparing her coffee.