*All characters copyrighted to Poseidon Simons

Chapter 1

The First Day

Of School

Mrs. Hall steeled herself as the door opened. A full-grown adult was going to be attending a class full of children, and she had been told to treat him like any other child there. She wasn't worried about what she would do, but rather what the children might do. The principal came in, leading the large green common dragon she'd been told about. The class settled down instantly, expecting this to be some sort of special guest, or a talk of some kind.

The principal cleared his throat, "Attention class. This is your new classmate, James Elias." Gasps followed among the students, along with a little laughter and even two students rolling their eyes. The principal frowned and continued, "He will be with us until he learns to read. Until then, I expect you to treat him like you would one of your friends. That is all." He pointed to an empty desk, "James, that will be your seat for the day. Tomorrow we will have something a little more suitable for your size." With that, the principal left, leaving a speechless crowd behind him.

Mrs. Hall coughed and stood up, "Class, begin the writing exercises while I talk with our new student. Books opened and pencils scribbled as she walked over to him. She leaned close and whispered into his ear, "James, before you take your seat, I'll tell you about your class. These children are the special needs kids who were either held back or have disabilities that hinder their learning process. Most of them are very nice, so don't feel nervous. What classes do you have?"

He whimpered softly and whispered back, "Reading and writing. Why?"

She sighed, "Ah...I see. You'll be having recess with us as well, then. If you like, you can stay in and I can teach you while the other kids play."

"Thank you..." James sat down in his small desk and pulled out a pencil that was decorated with musical notes. As he glanced around, she noticed he started getting overly nervous, and she gasped when she realized why, "All these kids are practicing cursive! He probably doesn't even know what letter they're all writing!!" Unfortunately, she had nothing else to teach them at the moment, so she had to let James sit through the class feeling utterly alone.

Player moaned and dug his head in his hands, "What the hell are they all writing?! It looks like some big loop!" The pegasus that was his teacher didn't do a thing to comfort him, so he had to endure the whole thing for an hour before a bell rang. When it did, many of the kids cheered and instantly started talking to each other.

Mrs. Hall had to shout above all the noise to be heard, "Class! You are dismissed for recess!"

The kids all ran out the door...all except one. A small wingless griffin with black and yellow feathers was bent over a piece of paper. Player glanced at the paper and saw those same loops being drawn out. The quality of the handwriting looked to be about the same as his. The teacher went over to the child as soon as all the other kids had left, "Nicolas, you can go out to play too, you know."

Nicolas sighed and set his pencil down, "But I have to learn this stuff. My dad will beat me if I don't..." Player cringed. Another child who was beaten by their parents...Nicolas continued, "I--I need to learn as soon as I can..."

Mrs. Hall put a hand on the boy, "Nick, do you remember why you were put in this class? I've told you time and time again to take it slowly. It's the only way you'll be able to learn it."

"But my dad will hurt me..." Nick started crying.

Mrs. Hall looked like she was about to panic, "Settle down, Nick, settle down! You have to stay calm or you'll have another attack!!"

"An attack? What does she mean by that?" Player watched as Mrs. Hall continued to settle Nicolas down. As soon as he was calm again, he started working on his letters. Player got up and motioned for Mrs. Hall to come over. He whispered when she was close enough, "What's wrong with him?"

She looked at Nicolas and sighed, "He gets emotional...that's a problem since he has a high blood pressure. Those two problems put together give him heart attacks if he starts getting too worked up over something. He can't even allow himself to laugh very much because it would hurt him, the poor dear. Since he has that father of his, he almost never can settle down completely. I've only seen him take a nap twice ever since he's been in my class."

"May I sit by him?"

She looked at Player, confused, "Whatever for?"

"I can understand what he's going through...I--my childhood is something I don't generally share with others."

Her eyes widened slightly, "I think I understand...yes, you may sit by him."

Player nodded gratefully and moved over by Nicolas. Nick was concentrating so hard on the letters he wrote that he didn't notice Player sit down. Player cleared his throat, "Er...hi."

Nick looked up at Player, "Hi..."

A silence fell between them. Player smiled, "So how come you don't want to play with your friends?.."

"I can't play very much...I have heart problems..."

Player frowned a little and tried to lighten the mood, "Are there any games you'd like to play? I wasn't planning on going outside either."

This got the boy's attention, "Do you know how to play checkers?"

Player nodded, "And chess."

A happy smile crept onto Nick's face, "Have you ever heard of pinball chess?"

"No..."

"Wanna learn?"

"Sure. What's it like?"

Nick explained as he got out a chess board, "It's a game I made up with a friend. What you do is you get three lines to set up all of your pieces, and you have to flick them at the other person and try to knock down their king and queen." He started setting pieces up as an explenation, "Here, like this." He flicked a pawn at the queen, smiling when he knocked it down, "The queen controls the pawns, and the king controls everything else. Knock the queen over, and you aren't allowed to flick the pawns anymore. Knock out the king, and you can't use any of his pieces. If you run out of pieces to flick except you king and queen, you're allowed to flick them both once. If you flick any piece and it doesn't fall over, you're allowed to flick it again. You're also allowed to make one mistake. Y'know, like accidentally flicking over a piece you hadn't meant to touch."

Player nodded, "So, after that, if you flick any more of your pieces over, they're gone?"

"YEAH!"

"Sounds fun. Go easy on me, okay?" Player started setting up his side, watching Nicolas set his up and seeing just what kind of strategies the boy used. Recess came and went very quickly for both of them.

Mrs. Hall watched James and Nick play their game over and over again, grateful for this adult who seemed to know how to handle kids. It was the first time in months Nicolas had tried laughing again, and he was able to keep himself from getting over excited. When the bell rang for reading to begin, she let James sit down by Nick, moving the girl who had been by him to a different empty chair. As was the girl's problem, she moved very slowly, unsure of herself. Soon everyone was seated again, and class began.

It was interesting. Whenever James looked like he was struggling with a word, Nick would help him and whisper it. Whenever Nick started getting upset, James spoke soothingly and did his best to comfort him until Nick was calm again. The two looked like they were the best of friends almost instantly. Halfway through the class, James started shaking. Nick took it for him not understanding a word, and read the sentence, but James didn't stop. After a few more minutes, James raised his hand, "Yes James?"

"May I be excused to the bathroom?"

"Certainly James."

"Thank you." James got up in a rush and went out the door. Mrs. Hall watched him as he started running for the bathroom.

"He's sick? He didn't look it when he came...maybe he's just nervous." She waited for a few minutes, watching for James until he reappeared. When he did he looked much better. He smiled and waved at her, and she closed the door. There weren't any other disturbances for the rest of the day.

Kia came by and took Player home, "How'd it go?"

Player groaned, "I was nervous, scared, and have never felt more out of place, but I did learn a new game."

"Hmm?"

"A boy named Nicolas showed me how to play pinball chess. It was fun..."

"Is that so? Then it wasn't that bad, was it?"

"Things would have been better if I hadn't had to take that medicine today!"

"Well, you have to take it every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until Billy can find something better for you. It's got to be better than that horrible shaking, doesn't it?"

"Yeah..." Player sighed, "Are we gonna practice today?"

Kia grinned, "I thought you'd change the subject soon. C'mon, we've all been waiting for you the entire day!"

*All characters are copyrighted to Poseidon Simons

Chapter 2

Meeting Gina

Player sighed as he walked into the classroom the next day. A few kids looked up, surprised to see him still there, but no one said anything. A much larger desk was at the back of the classroom, with Nick waiting happily beside it. The girl that had been moved the other day was sitting in front of them, and the desk he'd been in at first was already occupied. He walked over and sat down, "Hey Nick."

"Hi James...Do you wanna play pinball chess at recess again?" Nick asked hopefully.

Player smiled, "Why don't we go outside to play it? Sound good?"

"Yeah!" Nicolas smiled and began practicing his writing. Mrs. Hall set a piece of paper down on Player's desk.

"James, would you please write out your name for me?"

"My name?..Are you sure you want me to? Because the last time I tried it kinda...kinda looked bad."

"Well, I'd like to see where you are. I won't say anything."

"Okay..." Player wrote his name out as carefully as possible, holding his breath as he waited for her reaction.

She just chuckled a little and set it back down, "Okay. Here's what we'll do. Do you see this?" She set another piece of paper down, "The letter A. On this piece of paper, I want you to write out the capital and small case of this letter. When you're done, work on the letter B." She set down another sheet of paper, "If you think this is too easy, do it anyway. We're going to get through each letter at least once before we get into words."

"Okay..." Player carefully began writing, keeping himself busy until the recess bell rang. The moment it did, everyone ran outside. Player and Nick waited to ask if they could take the chess set, then headed outside as well. He shivered slightly, but only from the sudden change in temperature. Their game attracted a few kids for a while, but they were mostly left alone. A purple dilophodragon, the girl who Player had moved the other day, came by once as well. "Hi there."

"Hi..." She looked around nervously, "Umm...some of the kids say you're Player from the band...are you?"

Player could see by the look on her face that she suddenly wanted to be somewhere else. He grinned, "Yeah, that's me."

"But then why are you here? You're a grown up..."

"Yeah, but I never learned how to read or write. I don't really like to talk about it."

"Oh..." She looked back and forth, still unsure.

Player sighed and stood up, "You wanna try?"

"I don't want to stop your game..."

Nick nodded, "It's okay. James and I just finished a game. We were setting up another when you came by. Here, I'll show you how to play."

Player leaned down by Nicolas, "Nick, is it okay if I walk around for a bit? I'd like to be by myself for a while."

"Okay." Nick turned back to the girl and started explaining how to play. Player walked around a corner and stopped, turned around, and watched them play. Once the girl understood everything, she looked like she had fun. That worry that was constantly on her face vanished while she concentrated on the game. They even played a normal game of chess! She won. Five minutes before the bell rang, Player came out of hiding.

"Hey, I never got your name." He said as they looked up at him.

"I'm Gina..."

"Well Gina, it was nice to meet you."

Kia glanced at the clock again, "I wonder what James is doing now?" Though it was only the second day of his school, everything was too quiet. Even turning on the TV at full volume didn't seem to help. It just wasn't the same without him around...

"Kia? You okay?" Pik asked as he came from the kitchen. They could hear Ralph talking whenever Kia changed the channel, "C'mon, Kia. It's okay. Player needs that school."

"Yeah, I know." She sighed and turned off the TV, "It just doesn't feel the same without him here."

"Heh. He's still here on weekends."

"Oh shut up. I miss the big guy."

"Miss him?! You could walk over to where he is inside an hour and you miss him?!!"

"Yes, I miss him. I'll bet it's the same way your mother felt when you left her house for school the first time."

"Maybe, but she delt with it a lot better than you have so far. You need something to take you mind off of him. C'mon and help me get Ralph to eat."

Mrs. Hall came by halfway through the reading lesson, "James, may I look at the letters you've written?"

He sighed and pushed a small pile forward. Every letter of the alphabet was written down in both capital and lower case, but they still looked sloppy.

"Well, these are better than what you showed me at first."

"Really?.." James looked up at her with a spark of hope, "You think so?"

"Well, yes. Here, see for yourself." She held out the paper he'd written his name on, "Check the six letters and see if it doesn't look like you've improved."

He grimaced, "They look the same."

"Not true, James. In a few weeks you might be caught up with this class!"

His eyes widened at the thought, "Really?..I might be able to read soon?.." There was a dazed look over his eyes. He seemed like he wanted that badly. She couldn't help but feel sory for him. He numbly took the paper from her hand, "I might be able to read and write? I could finally read on my own?"

"Yes James. Just keep working at your letters."

He instantly got out a piece of paper and scribbled on it, practicing each letter over again until class was over. Mrs. Hall smiled and let him work.

Gina slowly walked to the bus after school had finished. She was afraid that Gary, a huge fifth grade common dragon, might be on the bus, but she didn't want to be caught outside if he was coming. He picked on her for her problem whenever he got the chance. The bus was just another opportunity for him.

"Hey Gina! You gettin' on or what?!!!" Gary's voice shouted above the noise. Gina panicked and turned around to see him. He was smiling and walking straight for her, "Make up your mind, Gina!!!"

He was so mean! He knew she couldn't make up her mind whenever someone made her hurry. She clutched her head, trying desperately to decide whether to run or get on the bus. It just made it harder for her to choose, "Stop it Gary!"

"Hurry and pick then!!!!!" Some of the other kids behind her and others on the bus urged her forward, while others tried their best to ignore everything. There were a few kids who were smiling and making things even harder for her to choose, hoping to see a fight ensue.

All thoughts of a fight were gone as a huge common dragon stepped between her and Gary, "Leave her alone, you bully."

Gary stared up at James, trying to mouth words that would not come out.

James continued, "If I see you try that again, you're gonna be in big trouble."

Gary panicked for a moment, then calmed down enough to tell a lie, "But she wouldn't let any of the other kids on. She does that every day!!"

James snorted, "Yeah right, and I suppose you were planning on "teaching" her a lesson? What's your name?"

"Gary..."

"Listen Gary. I know about her problem, and I hate a bully. Do not try to make her fight you again."

"Ye--yessir." Gary said meekly. James slowly pulled Gina aside.

"Get on and leave her alone." Gary jumped on. James turned around to her and kneeled down until they were face to face, "I want you to tell me if he ever does something like that again, okay?"

"Thanks, James..."

He smiled at her, "What? You're my friend. Why wouldn't I want to help you?"

She gasped and hugged him tight before getting on the bus. Gary never bugged her again.

Player waved as Gina left. About that same time, Kia came by and took him home. He grinned at her, "I made another friend."

"Really? Who?"

"Her name was Gina. I like school so far."

She sighed and smiled, "And you were afraid of it at first. Aren't you happy you're doing this?"

"I guess so...I just wonder what'll happen if I become an animal during class. Or what if Nino decides to get a breath of fresh air?"

"Well, you'll deal with that when you come to it. I think you'll be okay."

"Yeah..." Player happily went back to the school each day, commenting every time Kia came by to pick him up on how odd it was that nothing had happened. It wasn't long before Friday came.