Dragon Academy

Chapter 1

Harley stood in front of the peeling blue doorway of her apartment, staring down at the letter blankly. She had read it a few times, but she still didn't get it. The Academy for Uprising Dragon Trainers? What was that? She pulled her hood up farther and ducked her head, unlocking the door and entering her home.

It was a small, run down apartment. It was a definitely a dump, but the rent was cheap. She threw down her purse, a leather messenger bag, and it flopped off the chair onto the floor. She sighed and sat on the cracked black countertop in the kitchen. Then she looked back down at the letter. Harley re-read it again, then jumped up and looked at her calendar. She wrote down Academy Meeting on the date August 31st, and under it, 1pm. She didn't know why she did, but she had decided to go.

One month later, she opened her eyes and looked at the clock.

8 am.

She leapt out of bed and threw on her black jeans, grey shirt, and black leather jacket. Then she sat on her bed and pulled on her two leather boots. Then she grabbed her bags, and ran out the door.
DC was a few hours away, so she wanted to start driving early.

On the way, she grabbed breakfast from Chick-Fil-A. She stuffed the Chikin Mini's in her mouth and washed them down with orange juice. As she drove, she turned on the radio, flipping through the channels until she found a slow song and hummed along. She slowly ate her hash browns, and eventually pulled into DC. The traffic in the city was terrible, and it took her forever to make it in. She watched the minutes tick on, and managed to pull into a parking lot.

The clock said 12:48.
She grabbed her bag, got out, and began to run. She was almost there, when she tripped, and slid on the concrete.

"Ow!" Harley said, tears springing forth in her eyes.

Harley lifted her head from the asphalt to see a boy standing above her. It seemed he was her age, but he was obviously a 'good boy', while she was more of a 'bad girl'. The boy held out a hand and smiled at her.

"Sorry. Someone should have warned you about that step."

Harley looked back to see no step, then realized he must have been trying to make him feel better. She took his hand and let him pull her up.

"Thanks. I-" She cut off when she saw the boy was several inches shorter than her. "Wow. You're short."

The boy raised his eyebrows so they were hidden under his slightly shaggy brown hair. "Yeah. I know."

Harley looked past him to the monument. "Look, I gotta go. I'm late to something. But thanks."
Harley nodded over his head.

"Me too. You're welcome, by the way." Luke waved to her.

Then they both began walking in the same direction. They threw an awkward glance at each other, but soon realized they were headed the same place. When they stopped at the Monument, Harley turned to him.
"Did you get a letter too?"
The boy nodded and held out a hand.

"I'm Luke," He said as Harley shook it.

"Harley," She replied.

"It's nice to meet you, Harley." Luke said.

"Likewise," Harley said with a small smile.

As she approached the Monument, Harley let out a sigh. She had no idea why she thought this was a good idea. Driving here all the way from Pennsylvania was a bad idea. She assumed whoever left the letter just wanted to kidnap or mug her, so she had prepared for that. She kept one hand over the open pocket of her messenger bag, and tried to scan the crowd for a threat.
Harley stopped by the monument and glanced at her phone to see it had literally just turned 1:00. She sighed in relief.