Everyone murmured their agreements, except for Freddie. His mouth hung open.
His dragon laughed.He'll say we have to hold hands next.
Mr. MacLeod's dark eyes stared right at him. Freddie quickly bobbed his head. "Yes, sir."
"Good. Then listen for your name, and when you hear it, come up to me and Miss Fletcher."
As Mr. MacLeod began yelling out names, Freddie watched as the group of potential human student partners got smaller and smaller.
And then there were only two girls and one boy.
Oh, no. He didn't want to be paired with a girl. His friends would tease him over and over again.
But then the last boy was paired off and then the other girl. The only one remaining was the girl who kept swinging her arms and staring at everything in a funny way.
Fantastic. What should've been a great day would be embarrassing. Not just because he'd be forced to watch out for a girl, but because she was one of the weird ones.
"Freddie Atherton and Daisy Chadwick."
They were the last two, but still, Freddie dragged his feet as much as possible. Mr. MacLeod had noticed, too, because he raised one of his eyebrows. The eyebrow raise was almost as bad as the throat clearing.
It meant the teacher would watch him extra closely or give him tasks no one wanted to do.
He resisted a sigh. Mr. MacLeod gestured toward the little girl bouncing in place. "Say hello to your student partner for the day."
The human girl didn't wait. She grabbed his hand and shook it. "Hi, I'm Daisy! I've been waiting to come to Stonefire for weeks and weeks. Are you allowed to shift? Can I see your dragon? Dragons are so pretty, and shiny, and oh. Okay, Miss Fletcher. I'll try to be quiet."
Freddie glanced at the human teacher, who was shaking her head.
Interesting. Maybe Daisy got in trouble a lot, too.
His dragon chimed in.That means maybe she's the fun one.
If she ever stops talking.
Give her a chance.
Daisy squealed. "I saw your eyes change! That's weird, and cool, and um, what does it mean? We don't learn a lot about dragon-shifters."
Mr. MacLeod gave him a gentle shove, meaning he needed to make an effort.
It was going to be the longest day ever.
Still, maybe he'd get a chance to talk to some of the boys later. So he answered, "It means I'm talking with my dragon."
"Oooh, your dragon. I wish I had a dragon. Then I'd always have a friend with me. I love my best friend, Lucy, but she couldn't come today. But if I had a dragon, she'd be with me always. I'd love that."
To be honest, Freddie hadn't thought of it that way much. It was just something that happened.
His dragon said,I like her. Be nice.
Mr. MacLeod said softly, "You're right. It's nice to have someone always with you, Daisy. And you can ask Freddie more questions later, but for now, let's start the tour, okay?"
She nodded, her curly hair bouncing. "Okay, Mr. MacLeod. I'm ready."
The dragonman blinked, and Freddie did his best not to laugh.
If the human could surprise Mr. MacLeod, she might be okay. Not the greatest, but okay.