"Drake?"

"Hello?"

"Drake please pick up."

The phone kept on ringing as Flavia began to lose hope, tears brimmed her eyes as she paced around her dark room. It was late at night and her parents had long since gone to bed, but not before they told her that her brother was at a sleepover at one of his friend's house. Her pacing continued to become faster as her worry grew and her tears threatened to come down.

"Flavia?"

She froze, "Drake?"

"No, it's the lord of darkness."

"Don't you joke with me!" She hissed her eyes flashing dangerously, "Haven Central has been found, sue me for being worried about my friend!"

"Right." She heard him chuckle nervously, "Sorry. Do you know who...?"

She sighed sitting down on her chair, "From the TV I saw pictures of Jennifer, Blake, Coral, Richard and, yeah they are the ones I recognized. But so many were taken, Drake! So many I didn't recognize! There were ten-year-olds being taken! The newest Riders!"

"I know."

"What are we going to do?!"

"I don't know."

"Is Fawn?"

"She is fine, I managed to knock her out before she flew to you." Drake gave a nervous laugh, "You probably felt light headed a few moments ago."

"So that's what it was about."

"Don't kill me."

"I won't, you are keeping her safe."

"I should go to bed. You are staying with your parents?"

"Do I have a choice?" Flavia scoffed, "They'll call the police if I suddenly disappear and they have a tracker on my phone. I'm already saving up to get a new one so I can take that one to Dragon Mountain."

"Tracker?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Flav, you don't think?"

She became pale. She might have been the reason Haven Central was found quickly she checked her notifications to see if her tracking alert had been turned on. Her eyes scanned the screen frantically as she checked every notification from that day and to her relief she found none.

"It wasn't me."

"Ok, good. Goodnight. You have school tomorrow and don't think I don't know about Julian."

"How?"

"Fawn was trying to convince me to let her out."

"Dammit!"

"Just be careful."

"I know. He promised he would keep it a secret."

"Do you trust him?"

"Do I have a choice?" She sighed, "I'm going to keep an eye on him from now on. Don't worry."

-----

Flavia was a morning person. If you asked anyone that knew her they would tell you that she almost never woke up after nine and when she does it was because she had an awful night. They all knew not to talk to her until an hour after the time she woke up no matter when she woke up. Not many were aware of this and it could only be learned from experience, and so bless the poor souls who have to deal with a grumpy Flavia who didn't sleep well.

Her mother opened the door to find her daughter underneath the blankets, sighing she opened the curtains and left the room, she too knew better. Ten minutes later Flavia woke up, her usually bright brown eyes were dull as the lack of sleep showed on her face. This was one of her worst moods yet. With a groan, she left the comfort of her bed and changed into her most comfortable clothing.

Another thing to know about a grumpy morning Flavia. She was also forgetful at the worst ones.

Wrapping her non-existing jacket around her waist she went downstairs to eat her breakfast noticing that her mother wasn't in the kitchen and her father must have already left for work. Her brother would be going to school with his friend's parents because of the sleepover. She ate alone and she didn't mind, the fewer people to bother her in her state of annoyment and short patience the better for them and herself (mainly them).

As she ate her mind raced always landing on the events of the night before. She felt a bunch of emotions as the memories filled her mind; fear, anger, and wonder. Fear of what might happen to Haven North. Anger towards the humans for hurting her kind and dragons. Wonder as to how they found Haven Central and how they entered.

She also had an urge to shoot something or someone.

Preferably someone with green eyes, freckles, and messy brown hair and a few police officers would be good too.

Actually shooting police officers seemed like the best choice, maybe she could bring a few of them to be Fawn's breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

That wouldn't be healthy, Flavia grumbled, Fawn might get a tummy ache.

With one last glare at everything around her she stood up and left the house leaving a note on the fridge. She'll be walking to school since going in the car with her mother would mean talking, and she didn't want to talk she wanted (needed) silence unless it was music. Plugging her earphones, she clicks the first playlist that appeared and made her short walk (fifteen minutes) to school.

Fuck you Julian for seeing my marks. She growled as she kicked a stone, Now I have to walk to school.

She kept on grumbling under her breath with her head down her eyes followed the stone that kept on finding its way in front of her feet. Why couldn't that stone disappear from the face of the earth and simply let her walk without giving her the worry of tripping and falling face first to the concrete? If she gained a broken nose she was suing the people who made the stupid sidewalk.

She really needed sleep.

She froze before kicking the stone into a nearby bush to not bother her anymore. She had PE that day and she had zero energy to actually do the subject. Was it too late to burn down the school? Surely she could graduate through an online course. She didn't need PE to graduate, right? She knew better; however, and that very moment she hated that she knew better. Maybe she should have stayed at home? No, she had a Spanish test.

Sometimes she hated being such a good student.

Lost in her thoughts she went unaware of someone grabbing her arm until she was in a dark hallway. Her eyes widened before her training kicked into action, she ducked underneath her capturer grabbing their arm and twisting it behind their back. They yelped in pain just as her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she saw who it was.

Julian.

She really really needed to sleep if she was using her training against him.

"Sorry." She grumbled before picking up her bag checking that her computer was safe. "Don't do that again or next you might find a dagger against your neck."

"Noted," he stretched his arm. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Training."

"Training?"

"That's what I said." She narrowed her eyes, her patience was running short, but it seemed he didn't notice or if he did he didn't care.

"Where and why do you train?"

What is this? Twenty questions?

"Shut up please." She growled her patience was gone, "I had the worst night. I'm usually a morning person but right now I want to and will rip your head off if you speak again unless asked." Her eyes held a fire that said that she wasn't joking, "Usually I let people learn this themselves but right now this is my worst mood yet, you wouldn't want an arrow through your eye, right?"

"No, I wouldn't."

She yawned and rubbed her eyes, "Why drag me here?"

"Your marks."

"You are not seeing them."

"No, I mean." He pointed at her almost bear arms.

Her eyes widened, she wasn't aware she chose a yellow top that, while it had long sleeves they were more string than anything. Her marks were in full view, this was the kind of shirt she would wear with Nalia and/or other Riders.

She really needed to sleep.

Her hands landed on her waist to find that she didn't tie any sort of jacket, hoodie or sweater around her waist.

God dammit! She scolded herself, Did anybody see me? I should probably leave. No, people are already coming. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Throughout her small panic attack, she didn't notice the hoodie being waved in front of her face until snapping fingers brought her back to the real world.

"What?" She blinked as her eyes landed on the hoodie in front of her. It was gray and clearly worn before she also noticed that it had something writing on it. "A Gryffindor, hu?"

Julian rolled his eyes but a smile formed, "Take it. You need it more than I do."

Grabbing the hoodie, she handed her bag over before putting on it on. "I feel like I'm betraying my houses." She grinned folding the sleeves of the hoodie, it was too big for her and as much as her friends would question, her questioning was safer than exposure. "Who would have thought a Huffleclaw would use something Gryffindor."

"Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?" Julian stared at her before adjusting the collar of the hoodie, "Seems fitting. Thought Slytherin also seems appropriate."

"Really?" She paid no attention to the hand fixing the collar, but everything seemed a bit hotter than before. "What makes you say that?"

"You seem like the type who thinks before acting, and probably has an idea of someone else's plan." He explained taking his hand back, "But that's my opinion."

"Thanks, I'm taking that as a compliment." She mumbled as she took her bag and left the corridor. "And thanks for the hoodie."

"Nobody can know that you are a Rider." He whispered behind her as they joined the student body, "I'm going to help you keep it a secret."

"Thanks again." She blended into the crowd leaving Julian behind as she headed to her locker.

She was met by her friends' awaiting stares as her eyes landed on her locker. She grinned and waved at them, Paula waved back with energy, María gave a forced smile and Nalia didn't do anything. She had seen the tired look on Flavia's eyes and she knew better than to even breath around her. Any other day she would question her friend as to why she didn't sleep but she knew the reason this time. After all, she was the one who dragged her out of Haven Central before the police could take her.

"Good morning Flav," Paula chirped, "ready for Art? I have this amazing idea for the background of my portrait! It is going to be amazing!"

Flavia simply nodded trying to block voicing her thoughts. She really wanted to make her chirpy friend shut up but she didn't want to seem rude.

"Yeah," María rolled her eyes. "In better news! Did you see what happened yesterday? They found one of the places the Riders hide! Right here in Miami! They took so many to the 'Converting Camps', soon they will see the error in their ways and go back to normal!"

Flavia's eye twitched but only Nalia noticed and she decided to intervene before Flavia exploded. "I thought you were a Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff?"

Paula's and María's attention went to the oversized hoodie Flavia was wearing. While María and Nalia were fangirls along with Flavia. María –who was more of a band fangirl rather than books, movies, and series– grinned at the reference. Paula on the other hand simple nodded, she knew the reference because who didn't know Harry Potter? But she was no fangirl.

"Um." The response hung in the air as she slowly backed away, she was gaining her usual energy back. "Yeah."

"Then why are you wearing a Gryffindor hoodie?"

"Well you see-" She checked her phone, "-Look! Class is going to start soon. Don't want to be late!" She left them and headed for their Art class but she didn't lose them, the second she left they were right behind her.

"Explain Flavia!" María urged, while she still wanted to convert them into hating Riders she was still curious. "Come on!"

"I just-"

"Oi! Flavia!"

The four girls turned to see Markus going towards them right behind him were the rest of his friends Julian among them.

"Yeah?" She narrowed her eyes slightly, tugging the sleeve of Julian's hoodie. "What is it, Markus?"

"I was wondering if you could–Hey isn't that Julian's hoodie?"

Everyone froze.

Flavia wanted nothing more than to melt into the ground as she felt her friends' gaze on her. Her brown eyes were slightly wide and her tan face was being adored by a light blush. Could she burn Julian alive? Would that be too cruel? Her eyes darted towards Julian glaring at his green ones as he coughed to get the attention of everyone.

It succeeded.

"I swear Julian if you touched a hair on my defenseless Flavia..." María let the threat hang in the air, Flavia appreciated her protection, but she wasn't defenseless. She also appreciated that even if they had different views that weren't stopping María from being protective of her.

"I did nothing!" Julian defended raising his hands in surrender, "She was cold and forgot her jacket so I let her borrow my hoodie." They didn't bother to remind him where they lived, but then again. This was Flavia and she always wore sweaters or long sleeves.

"Wait," Nalia stared at him, "you like Harry Potter?"

"Like?" Nico snorted with a roll of his gray eyes, "He loves the damn thing!"

"Anyway..." Flavia turned to face Markus but a smile formed on her face at the new information, "You were asking?"

"Right," he grinned showing his bright teeth, "could you help me with the English essay?"

"Sure," she sighed. "How far along are you?"

"The introduction...?"

"That's a question." Her eyes narrowed, "How about we enter Art and you can sit next to me and show me how much you have left."

"That works." He beamed his brown eyes shining, "Thank you!"

"If any of you want help as well just sit around me or something," Flavia told the others seeing the hope in their eyes.

They all beamed at her.

She rolled her eyes and entered the class apologizing for being late before sitting on her usual table. Before Paula, Nalia or María could take a seat next to her Markus, Will, and Nico already around her with their laptops open. Julian simply dragged three more chairs over for the remaining girls and one for himself. Flavia was reading over Markus' English essay and was unaware of the movement. She was also unaware of the looks she was getting from her friends as Julian sat next to her, and that her friends had to sit across from her.

"What do you think?"

Flavia furrowed her eyebrows, "It's good. You have a strong hook and good ideas all you need to do is actually write the ideas into a body and put evidence."

"Um, how do I do that?"

"Well, evidence can be everything. Quotes, facts, research, information, etc." She explained as she began to open up websites to help him, "I find quotes easier since you can break them down and that right away also gives information; however, quotes are also difficult to find, reliable quotes anyway." Her eyes skimmed through the website she opened up, "Here you go. This is a quote from a famous doctor you can double check that by doing some research."

"How much do I have to pay you so you could write my essay?"

The girls snorted as Flavia gave a mischievous grin, "A few hundred dollars plus food."

Markus chuckled, "Ok. Only Julian can pay that then."

This earned a pointed glare from Julian but it was ignored, "Really?" Flavia turned around to find Julian next to her with an amused smile, "Do you need any help with your essay?" She cocked her head a teasing smile forming on her lips causing him to grin, her brown eyes held amusement and that spark she always got when she learned new information. "I can make your essay worth an A+++."

Julian laughed, "I appreciate the offer, but no thanks. I already finished mine."

She pouted but turned to face Will who handed her his laptop. "I want to make myself clear on something. I read what Will has done, and then I'm doing on this class' work for fifteen minutes before helping another. Ok?" While her voice held questioning her eyes told a whole other story if they went against that request they would find their essay to be a 0/100.

The boys but Julian nodded while her friends laughed. Flavia grinned and began reading Will's essay doing an occasional edit every now and then. Julian looked around the room, Paula and María were ignoring each other only speaking to one another when they needed something. His friends were chatting as some of them worked on their artwork half-heartedly. Markus was chatting with Nalia who was immersed in her artwork, which was the best out of everyone.

However, his gaze stayed on the amazing art piece for a mere second compared to how long he was observing Flavia. He was intrigued by her and he had been long before he found out about her being a Rider. In all honesty, she was a mystery to him, while all the girls in the class knew more about her than the boys he was sure he knew nothing but her name and how she looked like. He had seen her interact with the other girls and it was clear she felt more trust with Paula, María, and Nalia but Nalia seemed to have her utmost trust.

Now, here he was sitting next to her watching her edit Will's essay and he began to notice little things about her. The way her brown eyes gained a spark when she found something to edit or how her eyebrows furrowed together when she needed to re-read a sentence to understand it. Even the little smirk and smile she formed when she became impressed by something she was reading. And he probably would have noticed more if it wasn't for a cough.

Julian turned to face Nalia and Markus who were both staring at him with a raised eyebrow and matching amusement filled eyes. He gave no excuse or gesture and simply looked at his unfinished art piece and continued to work on it, occasionally darting his eyes towards the raven-head but other than that he kept his attention on the work below him.

It was cheering that caused him and everyone around him to look at Flavia who was grinning from ear to ear. Her eyes filled with pride as she stared at her portrait, it looked exactly liked her except it had blue skin instead of tan and her eyes were purple instead of brown. Her short black hair was adorned with slightly golden lines that formed various shapes. The background was the solid color of a goldish shade that looked familiar, but it also looked amazing against her blue skin.

But the background was not just a solid color.

No, the task was to paint a portrait of yourself and add something that represents you.

Flavia took that task to the heart and her background was not only the closest shade she could find to Fawn's scales but if you looked closely you would also be able to find that very dragon in it. The painted version of Fawn was well hiding and could only be found if you knew to look for her or if you have seen her before.

Only three people saw the dragon; Flavia, Nalia, and Julian.

"That's amazing Flav!" Nalia gasped, Flavia knew she was also talking about Fawn in the background. "I love the background, the color matches so well with the lines on your hair!"

"The gold looks great against the blue skin," Julian agreed.

"Thank you." Flavia grinned and looked at what time it was on her phone, "I can look at one more essay."

Will and Nico fought for the chance but in the end, Nico won gaining a playful glare from the other brunette. The twins were too competitive but once Flavia said that she would look at neither of them Will decided to back down. Grabbing the laptop from Nico Flavia began to read over it leaving notes and a few edits along the way before stopping.

"Wait. Didn't I already check yours, Will?" The boy in questioned grinned.

"I just edited and wanted you to see it again."

Flavia rolled her eyes, "Later." He beamed.

"Done!" Nalia cheered as she waved her portrait on the faces of her friends. "It kinda looks like me!"

"It looks exactly like you!" Markus disagreed, "The eyes and nose are identical."

"Yeah," Paula and María agreed and so did the rest of the table.

Flavia stayed quiet but gave a thumbs up before bringing that hand down and continued to read the essay. Nalia smiles at her friend's gesture and was happy to see that her eyes were shining with energy once more. Yes, she knew that what happened in Haven Central was still in Flavia's mind but reading always calmed her down and the way she kept on tugging the hoodie it seemed that also gave the same effect.

============

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~Dani