Birth of the Dragon
The New Girl
When Dakota’s mother said they were moving to a little country town, Dakota had seriously underestimated just how tiny it was. It barely contained everything it needed, and the nearest college was over an hour away. Apparently it was her mother’s dream to move somewhere like this, but Dakota missed the everyday bustle of the city.
The family’s new house was a glorified cabin and was in dire need of repair. It was very close to school, but that wasn’t shocking; it probably only took half an hour to walk from one side of town to the other. Dakota sighed and tugged at the bottom of her uniform’s shirt, trying to get it to not sit strangely on her hips with no luck. She wondered how everyone else in her school looked. Judging from the appearance of the town itself, the other students were most likely going to be messes. She hoped so, anyway. If that was the case, she wouldn’t have to bother with hair and makeup. Dakota did herself up anyway, just in case. She put her firetruck-red hair into a nice bun and adorned it with a small black scarf. She ditched the heavy eyeliner in case the school was strict and kept all makeup natural, with just enough mascara to make her baby blue eyes pop.
Dakota didn’t expect her new school to be good and she was still disappointed. It was one small building, the white paint on its wooden exterior had mostly flaked off, and there not a single other noticeable detail about it. The fields were large, at least. It seemed most of the students were congregated outside, even the little grade one children. What now?
One person in particular took Dakota’s interest. He was a tall, slim boy with blonde hair posting some kind of paper against a post. Despite the hair colour, his features were quite foreign, reminding Dakota of an Egyptian. It looked like a missing poster to her from this distance, as it had a grainy photo of a girl on it. She walked over to have a closer look. The girl’s name was printed under her picture. Alex Fall, it was. She looked remarkably like the rather tan boy, so she must have been a relative. “Are you okay?” Dakota found herself asking him.
The brother jumped at the sound of her voice and fumbled with his papers but managed not to drop them. "I'm fine, thank you. Ah, you haven't seen her have you?" He said, whilst he handed her a poster. Dakota gave a sympathetic smile.
“Sorry, I haven’t. I’ll keep a lookout, though. How long has she been gone?” It seemed like the town was too little to have someone go missing, but there was a forest surrounding it, so maybe it could happen. Dakota genuinely hoped this Alex girl would be found safe.
"A whole week, I'm so worried and there's nothing I can do." His words came tumbling out as though they were fighting to escape his tongue, his voice’s volume was raised and he struggled to rapidly suck in breath. Dakota instinctually reached for him, placing her hands on his shoulders.
“Breathe,” she instructed, breathing out and in slowly and steadily as an example. “She will be fine. Alex will be alright, okay?”
He copied Dakota and breathed in deeply several times. "Thank you." After another breath he gave a small smile. "I'm Bash."
“Dakota.” She took her hands away from him and instead clasped them together in front of her. “It was no problem.” She smiled brightly. “I just moved here, but you probably guessed that.”
"I had no idea actually; we only just arrived here as well. How are you finding it?" Dakota almost laughed at herself; it was stupid to assume everyone had lived here their whole lives.
She struggled to find the words. “It’s very,” Dakota paused, trying to think of a satisfactory adjective, “quaint.”
"More of a city person are you?"
“By far,” Dakota answered with a small chuckle. She was definitely not well-suited to country living.
Bash began to speak but was cut off by the school bell sounding for class to begin. "You better go before you get in trouble, thank you again by the way." He was off before Dakota could ask him how get to her class.
Somehow, Dakota managed to just make it to her first class on time. She got some looks from other students as she approached, as though they were wondering who she was. Dakota had to admit the attention made her feel a swelling of pride in her chest. She felt like she was a mysterious, beautiful character in a drama, only she was surrounded by actual teenagers instead of unreasonably attractive thirty year olds in school uniforms. So there was a lot more body odour and acne involved.
There were a few students who looked nice enough, but the others steered clear of her. Dakota told herself it was because they were intimidated, but God knew the reason why. The teacher introduced her quickly to the class, and half-heartedly asked them to look after her and make sure she was fitting in. Dakota doubted there was anyone who really cared that much, and she noticed Bash didn’t head to school, so they couldn’t band together. She wondered if he was even a student; he didn’t have the uniform, and he did look older.
Dakota looked around and noticed no-one was exactly roaring to be her friend. She rolled her eyes and wished she hadn’t been forced to move into this boring hell-hole.
The family’s new house was a glorified cabin and was in dire need of repair. It was very close to school, but that wasn’t shocking; it probably only took half an hour to walk from one side of town to the other. Dakota sighed and tugged at the bottom of her uniform’s shirt, trying to get it to not sit strangely on her hips with no luck. She wondered how everyone else in her school looked. Judging from the appearance of the town itself, the other students were most likely going to be messes. She hoped so, anyway. If that was the case, she wouldn’t have to bother with hair and makeup. Dakota did herself up anyway, just in case. She put her firetruck-red hair into a nice bun and adorned it with a small black scarf. She ditched the heavy eyeliner in case the school was strict and kept all makeup natural, with just enough mascara to make her baby blue eyes pop.
Dakota didn’t expect her new school to be good and she was still disappointed. It was one small building, the white paint on its wooden exterior had mostly flaked off, and there not a single other noticeable detail about it. The fields were large, at least. It seemed most of the students were congregated outside, even the little grade one children. What now?
One person in particular took Dakota’s interest. He was a tall, slim boy with blonde hair posting some kind of paper against a post. Despite the hair colour, his features were quite foreign, reminding Dakota of an Egyptian. It looked like a missing poster to her from this distance, as it had a grainy photo of a girl on it. She walked over to have a closer look. The girl’s name was printed under her picture. Alex Fall, it was. She looked remarkably like the rather tan boy, so she must have been a relative. “Are you okay?” Dakota found herself asking him.
The brother jumped at the sound of her voice and fumbled with his papers but managed not to drop them. "I'm fine, thank you. Ah, you haven't seen her have you?" He said, whilst he handed her a poster. Dakota gave a sympathetic smile.
“Sorry, I haven’t. I’ll keep a lookout, though. How long has she been gone?” It seemed like the town was too little to have someone go missing, but there was a forest surrounding it, so maybe it could happen. Dakota genuinely hoped this Alex girl would be found safe.
"A whole week, I'm so worried and there's nothing I can do." His words came tumbling out as though they were fighting to escape his tongue, his voice’s volume was raised and he struggled to rapidly suck in breath. Dakota instinctually reached for him, placing her hands on his shoulders.
“Breathe,” she instructed, breathing out and in slowly and steadily as an example. “She will be fine. Alex will be alright, okay?”
He copied Dakota and breathed in deeply several times. "Thank you." After another breath he gave a small smile. "I'm Bash."
“Dakota.” She took her hands away from him and instead clasped them together in front of her. “It was no problem.” She smiled brightly. “I just moved here, but you probably guessed that.”
"I had no idea actually; we only just arrived here as well. How are you finding it?" Dakota almost laughed at herself; it was stupid to assume everyone had lived here their whole lives.
She struggled to find the words. “It’s very,” Dakota paused, trying to think of a satisfactory adjective, “quaint.”
"More of a city person are you?"
“By far,” Dakota answered with a small chuckle. She was definitely not well-suited to country living.
Bash began to speak but was cut off by the school bell sounding for class to begin. "You better go before you get in trouble, thank you again by the way." He was off before Dakota could ask him how get to her class.
Somehow, Dakota managed to just make it to her first class on time. She got some looks from other students as she approached, as though they were wondering who she was. Dakota had to admit the attention made her feel a swelling of pride in her chest. She felt like she was a mysterious, beautiful character in a drama, only she was surrounded by actual teenagers instead of unreasonably attractive thirty year olds in school uniforms. So there was a lot more body odour and acne involved.
There were a few students who looked nice enough, but the others steered clear of her. Dakota told herself it was because they were intimidated, but God knew the reason why. The teacher introduced her quickly to the class, and half-heartedly asked them to look after her and make sure she was fitting in. Dakota doubted there was anyone who really cared that much, and she noticed Bash didn’t head to school, so they couldn’t band together. She wondered if he was even a student; he didn’t have the uniform, and he did look older.
Dakota looked around and noticed no-one was exactly roaring to be her friend. She rolled her eyes and wished she hadn’t been forced to move into this boring hell-hole.