Guardian

The next morning at school Sonny talked with me at my locker about the Beatles her icons. The only thing I knew about the beatles was that they made that catchy song Hellogoodbye. Anyway, I couldn't think because I thought about what happened with Solomon and I.

"Hey are you listening to me?" she asked.

I turned to face her she was wearing small black sunglasses that hung on her nose.

"Yeah." I said.

"Then what did I say?" she asked.

I turned and saw Solomon standing at his locker and unlocking it.

"Can't remember." I said closing my locker and going towards Solomon.

"Hey." I said to him.

He looked from his locker back at me.

"Hi." he said and fixed his glasses and pulled out his text book.

"Look, I'm sorry about the other day. I didn't mean to piss you off or anything." I said.

"You didn't piss me off." he said.

"Hey Sam what are you? Oh hi Solomon." Sonny said in a dry voice.

"I'll be a sec. Look is there anyway I can make it up to you?" I asked him.

He looked up at his locker and I saw a spark in his eye.

"Maybe I'll think about it." he said and slammed his locker shut.

"Okay, see you at lunch?" I asked him.

He nodded and then walked away.

"Dude what are you doing talking to dweeb boy like he's a person?" Sonny asked me.

"He is a person anyway I did something bad to him yesterday so I wanted to make it up to him." I said.

"I don't understand why I hang out with you." she said and sighed.

"Come on let's get to class." I said to her.

"Yeah." she said.

I sat in class unable to concentrate because I had this weird feeling that whatever Solomon was going to choose was going to make my parents a little uneasy, what if he asks me to go with him to the underworld. Or worst meet his dad. Wait I'm getting ahead of myself it's not like it's a date. He'll probably choose for us to go to the computer store or something to that nature.

"I know how you can make it up to me." he said placing his lunch tray in front of Sonny and me and then taking a seat.

"God." Sonny muttered.

"What?" I asked him.

"I want you to go skateboarding with me." he said.

"Skateboarding, can you even stand on a skateboard?" Sonny asked.

"I live near a skatepark I've been there maybe once or twice." Solomon said to me.

"I don't know how to skateboard but okay." I said.

"I've got to come and see this." Sonny said laughing shaking her head.

"Cool, I'll meet you there after school." he said.

"What is the name of the skatepark?" I asked him.

"Deathwish park. See you then." he said got up and left.

"They actually name a place Deathwish? I wonder why?" Sonny asked.

I knew why the moment I stood in front of the entrance everything was big and dangerous and pointy.

"Maybe we shouldn't go here." Sonny said.

"Hey glad you guys made it." Solomon said next to me.

He wore pretty much the same clothes he wore to school. A pair of gray trousers, with his shirt tucked in and his glasses. He took them off and put them in the pocket of his shirt.

"Are you seriously going to skate here?" Sonny asked.

"Come on it's fun." Solomon said walking in.

After getting in for free after three p.m. the park was filled with mostly pro skaters and intermediates and experts.

"You guys are novice so we should probably start small." Solomon said.

Someone zoomed right past me on a board.

"That works." I said.

There were a rack where you could rent a skateboard. I placed five dollars as a deposite and Sonny did the same and we were handed boards.

"Where's your board?" Sonny asked.

"Hey look over there." Solomon said to Sonny.

She turned and I saw as he pulled a skate board from behind his back and he had on knee pads, elbow pads, and a helmet with black flames on the sides.

"I don't see anything... wait a second where did all that come from?" she asked.

"All what? Come on." he said to us.

We an easy tunnel called the: Hell on Wheels.

"I like the name very catchy." I said to Solomon.

"How many times have you been skating here exactly?" Sonny asked.

"Once or twice." Solomon said.

"You're not worried about I don't know dying?" she asked him.

He smiled.

"It's fun come on." he said and hopped on his board and then went into the tunnel.

"I really don't know how to board." I said.

"Just follow me." he said.

I sighed and hopped on.

"I think I'll go home." Sonny said.

"Oh no you don't come on." I said to her.

We hopped on our boards and followed after Solomon. He leaped out of the tunnel and into a large drop into another part of the skate park. We followed. Sonny screamed. I pretended I was just jumping off a large building. Landing was okay. I felt wobbly being on wheels. Solomon seemed to be having a great time grinding off of the rails and hopping off of high objects.

He skated up and down a half pipe. Doing tricks that most pros only dreamed off. Sonny and I watched.

"I wondered if he was lying about coming here?" she asked him.

"More than likely yes." I said.

My phone started to vibrate and I took it out. It was my mom.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hi honey, where are you?" my mom asked me.

"At the skate park with Sonny." I said.

"You know how to skate?" she asked.

"Learning." I said watching Solomon do a twist in mid air and nailing the landing.

"How's gryphon hunting?" she asked me.

"Oh, yeah no clues yet not even a feather. Did you know what those guys that attacked last night were?" I asked her.

"Definitely hunters looking for the gryphon. That means that the gryphon hatchling is close. Keep your eyes open for it okay." she said.

"Okay." I said.

"And you haven't been around that Solomon kid have you?" my mom asked.

"Mom why are you so prejudice about him?" I asked her.

"Prejudice! I am not! I'm telling you phonixes are dangerous by nature. Stay away from him." my mom said.

I sighed.

"Okay." I said.

"Alright. Got to get back to work. Love you bye." my mom said.

"Bye." I said.

Solomon hopped off his board and flipped it open smiling.

"You guys aren't going to try it?" he asked.

"Actually, no I love my life very much." Sonny said and smiled.

"How about you Sam?" he asked me.

"Me... nah I'm good." I said and then I heard a loud screech and a vibration that followed.

"Whoa, what was that?" Sonny asked me.

"Uh I got to go." I said to her.

"What?" she asked.

I heard a screech and then I saw over head the gryphon.

She looked up and screamed.

"What the hell is that!" she cried.

The gryphon landed on top of the half pipe and screeched loudly.

"Run!" I told her.

She began to run and some of the other visitors did the same. I turned to Solomon who ran behind the half pipe and I saw fire and then he ran out and leaped on top of his skate board.

"Is that the hatchling?" I asked him as the gryphon flew into the air.

"Yeah, got to catch it." he said to me and grabbed my hand.

I hopped onto his board and held onto his waist.

"Where is it going?" I asked him.

He skidded ride. I nearly fell off and he kicked.

"It's following the false call." I told him.

"A false call?" I asked.

"Used by trappers." he said to me.

I saw the gryphon fly towards the woods.

"The board can't go off road can it?" I asked him.

He leaped over the wall with me on it and we were on the grass fire burned a trail for us. I heard the loud screech as he sped up we were just under it.

"How do we catch it?" I asked him.

"Not sure, you try to slow it down. I'll think of something." he said.

"Okay." I said and leaped off his board and onto a tree branch. I pulled myself up.

"Hey gryphon baby come here!" I yelled.

It flapped it's wings and turned towards me.

"You looking for your parents?" I asked.

It screeched at me then it swooped down with open talons. I dodged it and grabbed my sword. It came back for me again. I held up my sword. The gryphon's talons clanged against my sword shaking me to the core. I nearly fell off the tree. It squawked at me angrily.

"Hey I'm trying to help you out. What's your deal?" I asked him.

It flew upward and it screeched at me. The screech was so strong that it blew me off the tree branch. I was free falling to the ground but I held out my hand and caught a branch. I swung myself up and looked to see that the gryphon was flying off again. I followed it.

"Come back!" I yelled to it.

All of a sudden I saw a fire wall come up. And then another and another. It surrounded the gryphon it screeched unable to get away. Then I saw the walls turn into what looked like a giant bird cage. It held the gryphon in place. Then I saw Solomon on the ground holding his hands up. I landed beside him.

"How long can you hold it?" I asked him.

He gritted his fangs.

"Not long summon it's parent." he said.

"How?" I asked.

"Jam your sword into the ground and call the gryphon." he said.

"Okay." I said and I raised my sword over my head and jammed it into the ground.

"Gryphon show yourself!" I yelled.

The ground opened up and there was the crackle of fire and a loud screech and out flew the gryphon. It flapped it's wings towards the fire cage and screeched. The little gryphon screeched back.

"Release my offspring." The gryphon said to Solomon. He lowered his hands and the fire disappeared. The gryphon hatchling flew beside it's parent and the gryphon looked back at us.

"Thank you very much for finding my hatchling." it said to Solomon.

"I helped." I muttered.

They flew back into the ground and it closed back. I lowered my sword and sighed then looked back at Solomon as he changed back into his normal clothes. He grabbed his skateboard and flipped it up.

"We make a good team dude." I said to him.

He pulled out his glasses.

"Yeah guess so." he said and looked at me.

"Well, I guess we better get back to the skate park and explain to everyone it was an hallucination." I said to him.

"Or we can do something else." he said to me.

"Like what?" I asked him.

"Follow me." he said and started to run.

"Follow the leader again?" I asked.

We stopped just near the boundries of the woods and we were ontop of a giant hill. Solomon took a seat and stared into space.

"What are you looking at?" I asked him.

"The sunset. In the underworld we have no sun only a dark moon." he said.

I took a seat next to him.

"I don't understand why my mom's so against you." I said to him.

"Guardians and Phonixes have a long history of hating each other. It's just something we can't control." he said and shrugged.

"That sucks, but you're not like most phonixes." I said to him.

"And you're not like most guardians. An older one would've damned me as soon as they learned who I was." he said.

"Well you don't have to worry about me doing that as long as you keep your cool." I said to him.

He turned to me.

"I will." he said.

I looked back at him. I was starting to feel weird. Besides the way he dressed and his bed head hair, and his glasses. Under all that he was actually kind of cute.

We sort of leaned in like not on purpose but then I felt the buzz of my phone and we pulled away. He looked away turning red. And I was wishing that my phone would've went dead.

"Hello?" I answered the call.

"Did you take care of the gryphon I think I saw it fly by my firm?" my mom asked.

"Done and taken care of." I said getting up.

"I'm home now, come on home you have school in the morning." she said.

"I know I'll see you home." I said.

"Okay bye honey." she said.

"Bye." I said and hung up.

I looked back at Solomon. He stood up skate board in hand.

"So I'll see you at school tomorrow?" I asked him.

"Yeah see you at school." he said.

I held out my hand and he shook it. Awkward but less stressful.