Holden’s Just Wingin’ It

Holden tugged his hoodie down over his wings as he stood outside the tall red-brick building of Maple Hollow Elementary. The flag flapped in the wind above the doors, and kids streamed past him. Chattering, laughing, slinging backpacks over their shoulders like it was just another day.

For them, maybe it was.

For Holden? Brand-new town. Brand-new school. Brand-new species of classmates.

He let out a quiet puff of smoke. “You’ve got this,” he told himself, adjusting his backpack to hide the edge of his tail.

Inside, the hallways were buzzing with life. A group of squirrels zipped by on skateboards. A turtle with oversized glasses clutched a stack of books. A llama sneezed glitter.

Holden tried to blend in. He kept his wings tucked and his claws folded. Just walk normal. Don’t breathe fire. Don’t knock anything over with your tail. Simple, right?

“Holden!”

He turned and instantly felt better. It was Harry, a pudgy, round-nosed hedgehog with a giant smile and a backpack twice his size. They’d met during orientation last week, and it felt like they’d been best friends forever.

“Dude, you made it!” Harry waved him over. “I saved you a seat in homeroom. You gotta see how close we are to the class baby chick.”

Holden grinned. “You have a class chicken?”

“Ya, Her name’s “Hen”ifer. So… There’s that. And, she just hatched!”

They started down the hallway, weaving through a group of chattering chipmunks, when…

WHAM.

Holden’s tail accidentally bumped into a stack of art projects. Paint jars toppled everywhere, splattering a goat’s backpack and knocking over a paper mache volcano.

A lanky weasel wearing a backward cap and a shiny windbreaker turned around with a smirk. His sunglasses were perched halfway down his nose, like he wanted everyone to know he was trying to be cool. “Nice move, Scaly. Trying to knock over the whole hallway on your first day?”

Holden’s ears drooped. “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”

William shrugged, brushing a tiny speck of paint off his sleeve. “Maybe next time use your wings instead of swinging that tail around like a wrecking ball.”

Harry stepped forward. “Take it down a notch, William. It was an accident.”

William held up his paws. “Hey, I’m chill. Just sayin’… dragon shows up, stuff starts flying. Kinda hard not to notice.” He turned and walked off.

Holden sighed. “Great. First day and I’ve already been called a wrecking ball.”

Harry gave him a pat on the arm. “Ignore William. He’s always in a mood. You’ll like my other friend, Franklin. He’s chill. Loves building stuff. Maybe a little too much sometimes.”

“Do his inventions explode?”

“Only when they work.”

They laughed and made it to class just before the bell rang. Holden relaxed a little when he saw Henifer, the class baby chick snoozing under a heat lamp.

The morning flew by in a blur of spelling bees, dodgeball, and a cafeteria line that served their famous “mystery muffins.”

At lunch, Harry waved Holden over to a picnic table under a shady tree. Two kids were already there.

One was the lanky weasel, William, still showing off his backwards cap and a smug grin. The other was a frog with goggles and a smudge of grease on his shirt… Franklin.

“Holden, meet Franklin,” Harry said. “He once built a popcorn machine out of a toaster and a leaf blower. Total chaos! It was amazing.”

Franklin gave a proud little nod. “Yep, and still picking popcorn out of the ceiling in the art room.”

Then the frog leaned back in his seat, directing his attention to Holden while balancing on two legs of the bench. “So you’re the dragon.”

Holden paused. “Yeah… that’s me.”

William gave a dramatic sigh. “Guess they’re just letting anyone into Maple Hollow now.”

Franklin looked up sharply from his gadget. “William, drop it.”

William raised his paws innocently. “What? I’m just saying. It’s been a while.”

He cleared his throat and quickly turned to Holden. “So… what’s it like being a dragon?”

Holden hesitated, then gave a small shrug. “I dunno. Kinda like being everyone’s weird science project and school mascot at the same time.”

Harry snorted. “That’s… weirdly accurate.”

Franklin pointed at Holden. “And you have wings! Those must be awesome. That’s basically a superpower.”

Holden glanced down, his voice small. “Yeah, well… I can’t fly. Yet.”

The table went quiet. William raised an eyebrow. “Wait… you’re a dragon, and you can’t fly?”

Holden shifted uncomfortably. “I’ve just… never really done it. Not all the way at least.”

William leaned forward, clearly enjoying this way too much. “So what do you do? Hop really hard and hope for the best?”

Harry nudged William. “Cut it out.”

Franklin gave a thoughtful hum. “If you ever want help with flying, I did build a wind tunnel out of a leaf blower and a trampoline.”

Holden gave him a half-smile. “Thanks… I think?”

William suddenly grinned, all fake charm. “Tell you what, New Kid. We’re going somewhere after school. Something fun. Not boring new-dragon-finding-his-place stuff. The kind of fun they don’t advertise on flyers.”

Harry glanced at Holden and nodded. “It’s kinda a tradition. If you’re up for it.”

Holden hesitated, then slowly smiled. “Yeah… okay. I’m in.”

William winked. “Awesome. Just don’t bring any parachutes, Scaly.”

Holden’s smile faded a little. He had a feeling he was going to regret that “I’m in.”

But part of him was already wondering: What exactly did they mean by not advertised?

Continued in the full book…