Fire Dancing For Icey Dragons (Obscure Academy #15)

Chapter 1

ZARA

A cold cup of decaf tea sits on my desk, barely touched as I work out the blocking for the new routine I'm planning. Something's wrong with it, and I can't tell what it is. Perhaps it's as simple as worrying that the Sapphire Sparks squad doesn't actually have what it takes to pull off the ambitious routine. We almost got knocked out in the last round of the competition, partly because of Grace and Mandy getting their wings out mid-routine. It's not against the rules for us to use supernatural elements, but it is frowned upon by some of the judging panel as a kind of cheat, and I'd rather not let that happen again.

I let out a groan of frustration and tear the sheet of paper out of my notebook. It's kind of satisfying to scrunch it up into a tight little ball and remove any trace of my poor planning from existence. I throw it in the direction of my bin, but it bounces off the rim and falls to the ground.

Apparently I can't do anything right today.

I pick up my tea and take a sip, forgetting it's gone cold and grimacing in response. I should switch to drinking it properly iced, at least then I wouldn't have this problem. I set it back down, resolved to make myself a fresh cup in a few minutes.

The door to my room creaks open and I look up to find Yuri in the doorway.

"Still at it?" my best friend and vice-captain asks.

I look down at the blank sheet of paper in front of me and run a hand over my face. "I don't normally struggle this hard with it."

Yuri shrugs and enters my room, sitting on my bed as if she owns the place. Which she certainly doesn't. Though neither do I. And it'll only be my room for another few months anyway, after that, I'll graduate and leave Obscure Academy forever.

"Maybe you're overthinking it," Yuri says.

"How can I not? This is the final chance I've got to lift the trophy as cheer captain," I point out. And my last chance to follow in my mum's footsteps.

"And maybe that's why you're overthinking it," she responds. "There's so much riding on getting this routine right that you're blocked. You need some time away from cheer."

I hate admitting it, but I think she might be right. "I suppose I do need to finish working on my dissertation." I eye up my laptop, hating the essay I have to write with more passion than I ever thought possible. And I've been a competitive cheerleader for as long as I can remember, I have a lot of passion.

"Oh no, that's not what I meant at all," Yuri says.

"I have to do something productive," I respond.

"You have to do something fun," she corrects. "You shouldn't spend your last months of freedom locked in your room working on your dissertation or cheer routines."

"I'll have fun when..."

"When what, Zara?" she responds. "When you're dead? Because with the rate you're going at, that's exactly what's going to happen."

I sigh and run a hand over my face. "That's not what I was going to say."

She shrugs. "You might as well have. You're all about cheer. And the squad knows it too."

"Well, it's important. If I want to be a coach, then I need to know what I'm doing."

Yuri gives me a look that I take to mean she's not impressed by my approach. "All work and no play leads to a very boring dragon."

I snort. "Except that I'm a dragon, that inherently makes me interesting."

"You're an ice dragon and it suits you," she responds. "Anyway, I actually came to ask if you wanted to head into town. There's a food festival on and I heard they've got a great food truck serving kimbap. I've got a real craving for it today and I don't want to make it myself. Oh, and some chips."

I raise an eyebrow. "That's an unusual mix."

She shrugs, clearly not caring. "Come on, Zara. Live a little."

I look down at the empty sheet of paper and consider the dissertation that I'm definitely not writing. "All right, fine. I'll come into town."

Yuri lets out an excited squeal. "Great."

"But you've got to back me when I tell the squad about the new training program."

She laughs. "You know I would anyway, even if you are a bit of a cheer dictator."

"Someone's got to do it."

"I pity the cheer squad that ends up with you as a coach. They'll win, but they'll be miserable doing it."

I frown, not really sure how to respond to that. I don't want to make people miserable, but I do want to lift the trophy, and those things seem to be at odds with one another.

"I'm going to get ready," my best friend says, getting up. "We'll leave in an hour." She doesn't give me any time to reply as she makes her way out of the room.

I lean back in my chair and sigh. She's not wrong about me needing to get out of here. Spending more time agonising over the routine isn't going to make it magically fixed, even if I want it to be.

I look over at the photo of my mum with an eight-year-old version of myself with my very first cheer trophy, a pang of grief going through me even if it's been nearly ten years since I lost her. "What would you do, Mum?" I ask.

I can almost hear her laugh in response and tell me that life was about more than just cheer in the same breath as telling me all about her days as part of the Obscure Academy cheer squad and how she met my dad while here. She's the reason I became a cheerleader in the first place. Dad says that I was already tumbling at three, and at five I wanted pompoms of my own.

A tear runs down my cheek and I wipe it away. Mum was always my biggest supporter, and cheering makes me feel close to her in a way that's just not possible any more. She'd understand why I'm so determined to win the competition this year, but I know she'd also tell me that I need to relax a little bit, especially when I'm clearly blocked on the routine I'm supposed to be putting together.

"All right, I'll relax," I say to no one, getting up and starting to get ready to go into town. Hopefully, I'll see something that will unblock me and let me get to the end of my routine while I'm out with Yuri. It won't be the first time that's happened, and I just have to hope that it'll be true this time.