The next day he heard a sound coming out of the intercom that was sitting on the nightstand next to his bed. He assessed that it was more annoying than a regular alarm clock. A loud low-pitched buzzing that lasted all of ten seconds was enough to make him release the fire inside. Fortunately, he was able to keep it at bay, but what followed the buzzing was even more annoying.

Hey, Fireboy, are you up for an early workout? It was Reese's voice, and the sound made him roll his eyes. We can see what you're really made of.

Drake looked at the clock to see it was five minutes before six. He held the bottom down and roared into the device. "Do you know what time it is?"

If you're scared, we can skip it, Reese's voice chimed in through the intercom once again.

He slammed his finger down on the com so hard it slipped to the end of the stand and nearly fell to the floor. "Hell no!" Drake shouted into the intercom. "I'll be down in ten minutes!"

He threw the comforter off himself and stumbled to the bathroom for a shower. He was not a morning person and wished to kill anyone who was. Obviously, this annoying goody goody was, so the fight was on.

He deliberately turned on the cold water to wake himself up. He wasn't worried, because he found his dragon powers warmed up his body fairly quickly. After he finished showering, he just finger dried his hair and made the hair in his mohawk fall down to the side, giving it a lazy, messy look, but he didn't care. He was going to get back at Reese for the crack he made about him being scared. He wasn't afraid of anything, only of himself, but even that he was starting to accept.

He put on a pair of sweats, a t-shirt and some workout shoes and headed down to the gym. When he came through the door, he saw Reese lifting the small dumb bells. The kid was fit, but not as strong as he was. Still, he wasn't going to get overconfident, even the strongest can lose a fight if they're too arrogant.

He walked over towards Reese where Denny, Jordon and some of the other boys who were congregated in the same area. Reese looked over, seeing Drake approach.

"You're late," he said which made Drake roll his eye.

"You going to put me in detention?" Drake asked sarcastically.

Some of the younger boys laughed out loud. It wasn't very often that anyone spoke to Reese so disrespectfully. It wasn't because he was Professor Faigon's son, but because he was a true leader and cared about the welfare of his followers. Drake had those qualities as well, but it looked like he was not going to be ordered around by anyone.

"Very funny, Drake," Reese said as he had a look of satisfaction on his face.

"So, what's first?" he asked holding his arms over his chest. "I love a good morning workout."

"Alright," Reese said and threw one of the small dumbbells at him. He caught it with ease, but still looked surprised that Reese had thrown it at him. Reese picked up another one of the same size. "Two at the same time." He handed this one to him. Drake took it reluctantly. It seemed this kid wasn't as predictable as he thought. "Think you can handle that?"

"I'll give it my best shot," Drake said sarcastically, while lifting the dumbbells in the air. Reese stood back watching Drake as if he was his trainer, looking down at his timer every few seconds.

When the timer buzzed, Drake raised one of the dumbbells in the air and said, "How'd I do?"

"Just fine for a warm up," Reese said and picked up one of the small weights and placed it back on its rest. "Now, for the big machine." He pointed to the bench press and Drake gave him a smirk.

"Bring it on," Drake said and followed Reese.

Drake laid down on the bench and took position. "You'll do fifty to start." Drake rolled his eyes. Fifty pounds was nothing. He could do that in his sleep, but he decided it was best to humor the boy. Reese took the position of spotter, and Drake lifted the weight with no problem.

"Anyone can do fifty, even a girl," a boy named Evan said snickering.

"Shut up, Evan," Reese said in a scolding tone. With that, Drake dropped the weight on the bar. "Giving up already."

"No way, man, it's too light," he said and stayed on the bench and crossed his arms.

"Okay, how much?" Reese asked.

"Two hundred to start," Drake said and Reese looked amazed.

"Fine," he said and added the extra weight to the barbell.

That's three hundred pounds," one of the younger boys whispered to the boy standing next to him. Well, if that was the way this spoiled little rich boy wanted to play it, then so be it, even though he had never lifted that much weight before. There was no backing out now, unless he wanted to be shown up. He didn't particularly like Reese, but he didn't hate him either. If anything, he envied him. He had a family, a real family. That was something Drake never had but always longed for.

He laid back on the bench, ready to lift more weight than he ever had before when he heard the whispers of two per-teen boys. "Ten bucks says he can't do it."

"He's a dragon," the other boy said. "You're on."

"Easiest ten spot I ever made," the kid said with a chuckle.

That statement triggered something in him, and felt his whole body burn. The anger flowed through him, and all he wanted to do was show these kids he was more than good enough to be among them.

He pushed the barbell up, letting his rage guide him, and before he could stop himself the fire sprang through his body setting the barbell on fire. It flew from the grip of his fingers, and all he remembered hearing was the screams of multiple voices. He sat there frozen not really seeing anything, only hearing the chaos he had caused.

"It hurts!" he heard the boy who made the bet against him scream.

"Stay calm, Tony," Reese said, trying to tend the boy's wounds as best he could.

Drake remained in a haze not able to even move. "Professor Faigon is on her way."

"What is she going to do?" Drake finally said will sitting on the bench.

"Heal him, after what you did," Reese screamed at him.

Drake rose to his feet, wanting to flee the gymnasium, but he saw Reese's mother running towards them. She looked over at Drake who had a guilty look on his face and over at the injured boy. He had burns on his arms and face and he was howling in pain.

"Keep him still," she said and knelt down next to him. She held her hands over his wounds and a blue glow came over her body. Drake didn't know what to make of it. He had never seen anything like that before. The boy's wounds slowly healed until they were replaced this smooth undamaged skin. It was like the incident never happened.

What happened next Drake wasn't expecting. The pain the boy had seemed to enter her body and the grunted in pain. A few painful moments passed and it looked like she had recovered. She stood up, a bit shaky but still able to walk. She stepped over towards Drake. "What happened?" she asked in a quiet tone.

"It was an accident," he said and ran towards the outside entrance of the gymnasium.

Marianna looked on just as Drake walked out of sight. "Let him go, Mom," Reese said, while still attending to the injured boy.

"Take him down to the infirmary," Marianna said to her son who looked surprised. "Doctor Franklyn will attend him." With that, she walked away leaving her son to shake his head in disbelief. 

To Be Continued...