Dragon Tongues Snippet

Dragon Tongues Snippet

Aiden stuck his tongue out and opened his mouth wide like he was getting ready for a dentist's inspection. He studied the wet, red surface and then pulled his tongue almost all the way back in, leaving only the tip of it out past his lips. It was just as discolored as it had been the last time he'd looked at it, a strange and unhealthy grey. Now it even looked like the little his taste bud things were becoming a bit wider somehow. He poked at the area with his index finger. Harder, too.

Hearing the door open, he pulled his tongue back into his mouth and quickly tousled his black hair, not that it wasn't messy enough already. He liked the bedhead look because it was exactly what his hair wanted to do naturally. Less trouble. Then he spun around and headed for the bathroom door, casual and slow, even though his mind was running at a hundred miles an hour.

What in the world led to a person's tongue growing hard and dark? It could not be a good thing, whatever it was. Maybe he'd caught something at the dentist's office two weeks ago. Or maybe it had been when he'd snuck that kiss from Mina during that boring video in science about osmosis or whatever.

"Hey, Aiden," one of the students passing by said to him.

He gave a quick, close-mouthed smile and a silent nod, then forged through the crowd a bit faster. Maybe it would be better if he seemed like he had something important to do. He didn't want anyone to see his strange disease. It wasn't hard to seem busy, not at all. He took the stairs two at a time, down to the ground floor and the computer lab. He signed in for a computer, then took a seat and started searching.

He didn't find much of anything that matched his problem. There were articles that explained that tongues could grow darker because of pigmentation issues and articles about hard spots on tongues due to scar tissue from piercings, but he had no piercings. One of the articles mentioned necrosis, so he looked that up, and after seeing a few pictures of decaying flesh decided that he really hoped it was the scar tissue thing because necrosis just loooked disgusting.

"Cat got your tongue?"

Aiden jumped when the words hit his ears. He had been so focused on the computer in front of him that he hadn't heard anyone come up. He swiveled in the chair and frowned. Of course it was Ford. They had been friends once, back in elementary school, but in middle school Ford had become a total social outcast, always dressing in black and writing depressing poetry.

"Or are you looking at all the reasons you shouldn't get your tongue pierced?"

"Leave me alone," Aiden replied.

"Sure," Ford said, turning around. "Have any questions, I'm always glad to answer."

Aiden kept his eyes on his computer. "Yeah, sure."

"Have fun," Ford added.

Aiden waited for Ford to sit at a computer a few tables away before he resumed his web search for some explanation. He didn't get much further, though. The door to the computer lab slammed open, and everyone in the lab looked immediately toward it. Aiden bit his lip when he saw who it was.

"Where is he? Where?" the lovely flaxen-haired Mina Blackwood shrieked. "I'm going to kill him!"

Aiden shrank down in his seat, wishing to become completely invisible. It was not to be.

"Aiden Brandt! I know you're in here!"

"Over there," Ford said helpfully, pointing right at Aiden.

Well, there was no hiding now. Aiden stood and put on his smoothest smile. "Well, hello, Mina. Didn't see you come in."

Someone laughed, but the laugh was quelled by Mina's fierce glare.

"Come," she said through clenched teeth. "Now."

"Certainly," Aiden replied. He picked up his backpack and walked to her, even offering an arm to escort her politely.

She refused the contact, leading him out into the hallway. She only stopped walking when there was no one in sight. Then she stuck her tongue out at him. Aiden might have called it childish, except that he saw the greying spot on her tongue.

"What did you do to me?" she snarled.