Chapter 8 Beware of Rumors

Mia's POV

I stayed in bed until dinner time.

Mom always used to say, no matter what happens, you have to eat first.

I figured maybe I'd feel better on a full stomach.

As soon as I got to the dining hall, I headed straight for the dessert section and grabbed a slice of chocolate cake. Sweets always cheer me up.

I was thinking about whether to grab a piece for Draven too, when I saw him walk right past me without even glancing my way.

I thought he hadn't seen me, so I kept calling his name, but he didn't look back once.

Instead, everyone else in the dining hall turned to stare at me.

I felt embarrassed, so I just stopped calling out.

I finished getting my food and carried my tray over to sit across from Draven.

Without even looking up, he said, "This seat's taken."

I had no idea why he was suddenly being so cold toward me.

But I could feel his indifference, and I felt humiliated. I had no choice but to walk away.

I sat alone in the corner of the dining hall, and people around me kept shooting me mocking looks.

I didn't get what was so funny. Did they have nothing better to do?

Draven finished eating quickly and walked past me without a single glance.

Croak suddenly buzzed. I thought it was Draven and quickly pulled it out.

But it was Lyra.

[You should check the school forum. And just so we're clear, this doesn't mean we're good.]

That's when I remembered the school forum was even a thing.

I typed in the address and opened it. There was a pinned post at the top with the title: The Dragon and His Little Follower.

That title gave me a bad feeling right away.

I clicked on it and was completely stunned.

It was full of photos of me and Draven together us eating in the dining hall, sitting next to each other in class, him walking me back to the dorm.

There was even one of me getting burned by fire.

And every single caption was mean and insulting.

Even though the dragon fire hadn't actually hurt me, the caption read: Dragon's biggest fan enjoys getting burned by dragon flames.

There was also a photo of me soaked head to toe after the sea creature spat water at me.

The caption said: What happens when the dragon's sidekick messes with a sea creature.

The comments were nothing but insults and mockery.

[Look at her, trying to be the dragon's little follower. What a clown!]

[She probably heard the dragon's loaded, right?]

[Watching her desperately suck up to the dragon is honestly hilarious, lmaooo!]

Reading those comments and replies, I was shaking all over.

I looked around the dining hall and finally understood why everyone had been smirking.

They'd been laughing at me this whole time!

I noticed the person who posted it didn't use a name — just a snake icon instead.

Liam came to mind immediately. Who else would do something this disgusting?

I was furious. I wanted to dump my leftover food right on his head.

Just as I was about to storm over to the boys' dorm to confront him, he walked into the dining hall.

Perfect. Saved me the trip.

I marched up and blocked his path.

He still had that smug, mocking look on his face. "What's up, dragon's little shadow?"

"It was you, wasn't it!"

"What are you talking about?" He put on this confused expression that made me sick.

I shoved my phone in his face. "You posted this, didn't you?"

"Hahaha, thanks for showing me such a good laugh, but sorry, that wasn't me."

He tried to step around me to grab a tray, but I planted myself right in front of him.

"You're such a coward. You'll do it but won't own up to it. Besides spreading lies, what else can you even do?"

Liam was clearly angry now. He pointed at me and said, "You think latching onto Draven makes you something special? He'll get tired of you sooner or later!"

He glanced around and said, "Where's your dragon master now? How come his little sidekick isn't with him?"

That was it. I was done. This snake had been humiliating me over and over again.

I flipped my tray and dumped the soup right on his head.

Everyone around gasped and immediately pulled out their phones to take pictures.

The smug look on Liam's face was gone. He looked completely shocked and furious.

He shoved me to the ground. "I'm going to make you regret this!"

His ice blades appeared in his hands again. I sat on the floor and slowly scooted backward.

Two of his ice blades came flying at me and pinned my clothes to the ground, holding me in place.

I was scared, but I didn't regret setting him off.

If you just keep backing down from someone like him, he'll only think you're easy to push around.

Even if standing up for myself came at a cost, I could handle it.

The last ice blade came flying toward me. I shut my eyes.

I knew this time Lyra wouldn't be there...

But after a long moment, the pain I was bracing for never came.

I opened my eyes. Draven was standing in front of me.

His whole body was burning hot. The ice blades pinning my clothes started to melt.

The blade that had been flying toward me dissolved into water the instant it touched him.

There was something like fire in his eyes. Liam stumbled back several steps.

Liam tried to hold his ground. "Draven, why do you always have to stick your nose in other people's business?"

Draven wasn't interested in talking. He raised both hands, flames forming in his palms. "Do you want to die?"

The students eating nearby panicked and rushed out of the dining hall.

Liam finally looked scared. He turned to run, but Draven's flames hit him square in the back.

His jacket caught fire instantly.

Liam ripped it off and started rolling on the ground.

It was such a ridiculous sight. Plenty of people saw it, and some even took pictures.

I felt a lot better watching that, but then I saw the flames still burning around Draven.

I stepped up behind him and wrapped my arms around him. "Draven, that's enough. Put the fire out!"

It seemed like no one had ever touched him while he was releasing flames before. He froze for a moment, and then the fire slowly died down around him.

He turned and looked at me. His expression was hard to read.

Then he just left me standing there and walked out of the dining hall.

I couldn't figure out what he was doing. He saves me and then ignores me?

I ran after him right away. "Draven! Stop!"

I got around in front of him and blocked his way. "Why do you keep avoiding me? Is it true what they're saying that you're sick of me?"

"Of course not!" The words came out before he could stop them. "Aren't you the one who's disgusted by me?"

I had no idea what he was talking about. "What are you saying? Why would I be disgusted by you?"

"I heard your conversation with Lyra. She told you everything, and you..." He seemed to struggle to get the words out. "Your parents might have been killed by a dragon too. So you'd pull away from me just like the others."

"I didn't—"

He cut me off. "Everything Lyra said is true. My father was working with the dark forces. If you're disgusted by me, if you're afraid of me, it's okay. I'll leave the school."

Then he turned and ran. I couldn't catch up.