Wings (13 page)

The first student who saw him stood gaping in disbelief. When the next two did the same, Jak knew he had to do something. He disappeared into the janitor’s closet and with a little of his own personal magic, he was wearing khakis and a shirt much like theirs when he came out.

Headmaster Serling’s office was the most luxurious room Jak had ever seen. He had a deep red carpet with golden swirls on his floor and long velvet drapes on his windows. Portraits of old humans decorated the walls along with photographs of the headmaster and a lot of smug-looking human men and women. When his secretary showed Jak into the room, the headmaster was looking out the window with his hands clasped behind his back.

“I understand that you want to attend our school,” he said without turning around. “You realize, of course, that Worthington is a highly respected institution and we require much of our students. Because we provide the finest of educations, we are inundated with applications.”

While Jak listened to the man prattle, he let his gaze wander around the room. The two high-backed chairs facing the headmaster’s desk looked inviting, and when he raised his head and sniffed, he could smell them from where he stood. Approaching the closest chair, he ran
his fingers along the arm. It was made from the hide of an animal.

“Therefore, we must be highly selective in our acceptance procedures,” said Headmaster Serling. “In order to be accepted, you must pass a stringent exam, provided that we have an opening in the class for which you are applying. What grade are you in, Mr. … I don’t believe I heard your last name.”

“Catta …” Jak flinched. He’d almost given himself away by telling the human his clan affiliation. “I’m Jak Catta.”

Headmaster Serling took the seat behind the desk and gestured for Jak to take the one across from him.

“I’m fifteen years old,” said Jak as he curled up on the chair. “I’m in the grade for fifteen-year-olds.”

“I see,” said Headmaster Serling, although he looked as if he didn’t like what he saw. He was watching Jak with a most curious expression when he set his hands on his desk and leaned forward. “I’m sorry to tell you, Mr. Catta, that we have no openings in the ‘fifteen-year-old grade.’ “

“But I need to start school today,” Jak said.

“That won’t be possible,” said the headmaster. “You may see my secretary on the way out. She’ll be happy to give you an application. However, in all honesty I must say that chances are slim that there will be any openings in the foreseeable future. Even if there were, you wouldn’t be able to start until the beginning of the next semester.”

“You don’t understand,” Jak said. “I have to start
today. I’m a very good student. I study hard and learn quickly.”

“I’m sure you do,” said the headmaster as he slid his hand across his desk and tapped a silvery box. “Miss Throckmorton, please see this young man out. He would like an application for admission.” Taking his hand off the box, Headmaster Serling pointed at the door. “Good day, Mr. Catta.”

“They won’t let me go to school there,” Jak said, throwing himself onto one of the kitchen chairs. “Headmaster Serling said that I had to fill out an application and wait until the next semester starts, and even then they probably won’t have room for me.”

“What? I never heard of such a thing!” Gammi said.

“Here’s the application,” said Jak. He dropped a wadded-up paper on the table. It rolled across and stopped in front of Gammi. She swatted it back and Jak pounced on it without thinking.

Gammi set down the tooth necklace she’d been stringing and turned to Bert. “We’ll have to do something about this.”

Bert rolled his shoulders until they made a cracking sound. “Leave it to me.”

Jak was lying in bed reading when his door creaked open later that night. Bert stuck his head in the room and smiled at Jak. “Put that book down and go to sleep,” he said. “You have to get up early tomorrow for school.”

“You mean you saw him?” Jak said, dropping the
book on the floor. “How did you get the headmaster to change his mind?”

“Let’s just say I used a little something that I learned when I lived on the island,” the bear goblin said, smiling a truly frightening smile.

When Jak reached the school the next morning, he was still wondering how he’d find his classes, but he needn’t have worried. Headmaster Serling met him at the door with a class list and the directions and combination for a locker. “Welcome to Worthington Academy, Jak,” he said with a hesitant smile. While the headmaster told him about his classes and what would be expected of him, Jak noticed that the man kept looking behind him and seemed awfully skittish.

“Are you all right, sir?” Jak finally asked.

Even the question made the headmaster jump. “Don’t I look all right? Because I assure you, I am. Everything is all right and you can tell your uncle Bert that I said so. Everything is great, in fact. Here,” he said, thrusting the list into Jak’s hand. “Have a wonderful day. Don’t hesitate to come see me if you have any questions or concerns.”

“Thank you, sir!” Jak called after the headmaster as the man scurried down the hall.

“Hey, kid! Who are you?” called one of the boys who had watched the whole exchange.

“I’m Jak,” he replied. “I’m new here.”

Jak was already walking down the hall in search of his locker when he heard the boys talking behind him. “Did you see the way Serling was looking at that kid?” said the boy who had spoken to Jak. “His old man must be
really
loaded. My dad owns a string of banks and Serling doesn’t even say hello to me.”

“Yeah,” said a girl who had joined them. “It’s only the superrich who can afford to be as eccentric as that. Did you see what he was wearing?”

Jak blanched. True, he hadn’t taken as much time making over his clothes as he could have, but he’d thought they were pretty good. Reading the words on the doors, Jak slipped into the first one marked BOYS and locked the door behind him. His clothes were the same style as the khaki pants and blue shirt he’d worn for the meeting the day before—only the colors were different. As someone banged on the locked boys’ room door, Jak thought about what he wanted his clothes to look like. A moment later both the electric blue shirt and metallic green pants became the matte black that he had favored in the goblin world. He even turned a loose thread into a shiny white string, tucking one end in his ear and the other in his pocket, just like the other students he’d seen.

A bell rang, startling Jak and making him look around in dismay. He saw that the other students were going into the classrooms, so he headed for algebra, the first class on his list. The day went by quickly as Jak discovered just
how much of the subjects he already knew. French class was the easiest because no one had to
teach
goblins new languages. Goblins had to hear them only once in order to pick them up. The teacher thought she was being kind when she lent Jak the CD that went with the textbook and told him to listen to the first three chapters. She said that if he needed any help she’d see about getting him a tutor, but he had already learned most of what she had to teach.

As Jak went from class to class, it occurred to him that any of the blond girls might be the one he had been sent to find. Although he had been given a picture of the girl, drawn by a nymph who had spoken with the goblins who had followed the girl on Halloween, the picture was vague with nothing really distinguishing the girl aside from her blond hair. He tried to picture the girls in his class aiming lightning bolts, but none of them seemed fierce enough to handle it.

Jak went home that night wondering how he’d ever find the girl. It wasn’t going to be as easy as when the headmaster handed him his list of classes; no one was going to give him her name and address. Jak knew he’d just have to watch for something unusual.

The next morning Jak walked in the front door of the academy and noticed a group of girls clustered around a paper attached to the wall. Some were excited and some were crying, so he stuck around, listening for the rumble of thunder in case the girl he was looking for got upset enough to throw lightning bolts. When nothing happened and the girls looked as if they were about to leave, he hurried down the hall to his locker. He was still there when a
girl came running around the corner and slammed into him, sending them both sprawling on the floor.

Jak jumped to his feet. When he reached for her backpack, the girl got up without taking her eyes off him. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m not usually this clumsy.”

“Neither am I,” he replied. “I’m Jak, and you are…”

“Tamisin,” she said, gazing at him with eyes that were an amazing shade of turquoise. Hair the color of sunlight and gold framed her heart-shaped face, which he thought was covered with far too much makeup. Although she was about the same height as Jak, she looked fragile enough that a strong wind could carry her away.

“Are you all right?” Jak asked when she just stood there, staring at him.

She looked flustered as if she suddenly realized what she’d been doing. “Sure, uh … yes. But I should be asking you that. I ran into you, remember?”

Jak suddenly felt the need to protect this delicate creature, even if it was only from taking the blame. “I was in your way,” he said.

A bell rang, and Tamisin glanced at the clock. “Darn!” she said. “I’m late!”

Jak turned to look both ways at the now-empty halls. “I guess that means I am, too. I’m not used to the bell system yet. I just started yesterday.”

Tamisin turned away and started down the hall, but she slowed long enough to look back at him and say, “Go to class, unless you want to get into trouble.”

“Too late,” murmured Jak, wishing he had an excuse to stay with her as he watched her disappear into a room.

Jak wasn’t really sure how he and Jeremy got to be friends. It had happened in gym class when Jak had decided to help the struggling students through the obstacle course. Jeremy had ended up helping, too, even though the gym teacher had been angry at both of them. Suddenly Jak felt comfortable with Jeremy, almost as if they had known each other for years.

They’d gotten in the habit of meeting after Jeremy’s football practice to hang out or go to Mama Mia’s for pizza. Jak had discovered that he loved human food and ate there as often as he could to avoid Gammi’s cooking. She meant well, but even for a goblin her cooking was awful.

The two boys were walking down the street in front of the school late one afternoon when Jak saw Tamisin on the front steps. “Do you know her?” he asked.

Jeremy followed his friend’s gaze and nodded. “Sure. That’s Tamisin. She’s an underclassman like us. Her brother’s a senior. He’s on the football team. Good guy. I’ll introduce you to him some time.”

“Yeah, okay,” said Jak, still watching Tamisin.

“Oh, I get it! Tam is the one you want to meet. Hold on just a second and I’ll call her over. Hey, Tamisin! Over here!”

Tamisin looked up and waved. She was smiling when she reached the curb and said, “Hi, Jeremy. What’s up?”

Just like the first time he saw her, Tamisin wore her hair loose so that it framed her face. Her hair looked like spun silk that caught the sunlight and seemed to hold it. Jak’s fingers itched to touch it to see if it was as soft and warm as it looked. He missed what Jeremy said, but caught Tamisin saying, “ … ran into each other right after he started here.”

Jak smiled, unaccountably pleased that she remembered.

“You should smile more often,” Tamisin said, smiling in return.

Sure that she knew something he didn’t, he nodded and said, “All right. But why?”

He liked the way her hair rippled when she shrugged. “You’ll make more friends that way,” she replied.

A cat meowed and Jak glanced across the street. Cats had been following him everywhere he went, just like they had that Halloween. He liked cats, of course. He couldn’t help but like them; everyone in the Cattawampus clan did. It was just that they tended to get underfoot at the most inopportune times.

Jak turned away from the cat when he heard Jeremy talking to someone else. Two girls had arrived while he’d been distracted. One of them was looking at Jeremy, but
the other was staring at Jak as if he were a piece of pizza and she hadn’t eaten for three days. “You’re the new boy, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said and turned back to Jeremy. Catching his friend’s eye, he jerked his head at Tamisin.

“So, Tamisin,” Jeremy began. “You busy? Jak and I are headed over to—”

The cat Jak had seen across the street had crossed over to his side. Purring loudly, it rammed its head into the back of Jak’s knee, almost knocking him off balance. “Don’t do that!” Jak said, trying to push the cat away with his foot.

He forgot all about the animal when he heard the new girl say Tamisin’s name. “… Why are you here so late?” the girl asked, smirking. “Were you getting extra help today or was it detention?”

Startled, Jak turned to Tamisin. If they had detention here, did they have a pit as well? He couldn’t imagine someone as frail looking as the girl with hair like sunshine at the bottom of a hole that sunlight never reached.