Feathers and Stones

Chapter 13 (Mandy)

 "Okay hold up. You two are friends?!" Maison is having a hard time processing this. I could see why.

My smile fades and I sigh. "Maison, listen-"

"No, you listen!" He snaps at me. "This girl is trying to kill Jay and you decided to be friends with her?!"

"If you'd let me explain." I try to argue.

"I can't believe you, Mandy."

I sigh. I notice Jay and Tay walk over to us. They seem a bit confused.

"What's going on?" Tay asks. Jay just glares at Rikki. Rikki glances at him but she doesn't react.

"Mandy's a traitor." Maison says, glaring at me.

Tay and Jay look at me.

"I'm not a traitor!" I say, "Just let me explain!"

Maison stays quiet to let me explain myself.

I sigh. "I don't agree with her actions," I say. I pause and look at the others. "But I can understand why she would take such actions."

There is silence.

"I'm sorry." I say putting my head down.

I feel horrible. And to top it off Jay probably hates me now (which now that I think about it is probably a really bad thing). But I know Rikki's reasons for doing what she's doing. Jay couldn't control his powers, he's dangerous with them. And he knows that.

Jay sighs. I look up at him. "So," he say, "now what?" he looks at me. I look at Rikki. She nods and walks over to Jay.

"Your friend and I have talked." She says, "She made me rethink some of my actions towards you." She looks away. "I was a little harsh. Heh, sorry 'bout that...I guess."

Jay smiles at her.

"But don't start thinking I don't hate you anymore, 'cause I still do." She says. Jay's smile goes away. "As much as I want to, I won't stab you in your sleep."

"Oh, okay," Jay says a bit awkwardly. "That's...comforting...I guess."

"Or will I?" Rikki smirks.

Jay backs away from her.

"Rikki!" I cry.

Rikki laughs. "I'm kidding!"

"Better be" I says. Rikki gives me an innocent smile.

Things have been a bit crazy for the Crazy Cul-de-sac Club (Pun not intended). The whole incident with Rikki at the store made everything spiral out of control. Actually, I take that back, the thing that made everything spiral out of control would've had to be meeting Jay. Or at least finding out he had powers.

Maison is probably going to hate me for the rest of the week for being a "traitor". Jay took it pretty well actually. That or he was just hiding it like all the other things he's hiding. Let's not get into that.

I keep telling myself that everything is going to be fine but I still had a strange feeling deep in me that that is the exact opposite of what would happen.

I sigh and set my pencil down next to me in the grass. I always sat in my yard and drew in my sketch book whenever I was feeling down or just needed to get away from things.

I lean back against the tree and look up at the sky. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. For once drawing was not working for me. I just needed to close my eyes and relax a bit.

I must've fallen asleep or something because when I opened my eyes it was already almost night time. I sit up and ruffle my hair a bit. 'Why did no one wake me up?' I think. I shrug and reach for my sketchbook and pen-

Wait.

Where' was my sketch book?!

I start panicking and looking around for my book.

"We were wondering when you'd wake."

I jump at the voice and look around.

"Up here!"

I look up at the tree behind me to see Rex and Jay looking down at me.

"What?" I sputter, "How?" I am bewildered, "how long have you been there?!"

"Only a few minutes" Jay says, "we noticed you sleeping so we came over to wake you."

"Then why didn't you?" I ask slightly annoyed.

"You looked so cute sleeping!" Jay smiles.

I feel myself blush. "E-excuse me?!" I say, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Rex rolls his eyes while Jay laughs. I notice Jay is holding something.

"Wait," I say, "is that my sketch book?!"

Jay stops laughing, "Oh," he looks at the book. "Right!" he smiles at me. "You're a really good artist." Rex smiles and nods in agreement.

I squeal a bit. "No!" I cry, "Give it back! You're not supposed to see that!"

"Why?" Jay asks, "You're so good."

"I-" I hesitate. Jay jumps down from the tree, with Rex on his head, and hands me my book. I grab it from him and hold it close. "Thanks."

Jay nods. "Hey, you shouldn't be so afraid to show people what you can do." He says, "You have a lot of talent." He winks at me and smiles.

I look up at him. "What about you?" I say. "You have your powers. Yet, you hide them."

Jay sighs. "Mandy, there are some things in this world that aren't meant for the whole world to know. My powers are just another thing to add to that list and you know exactly why."

I stay quiet for moment and look away. "Yeah, I guess you're right." I say, "But still, Rikki is willing to show her powers off."

Jay grunts. "Well she should learn to be more careful with them." He says, "She could get in a lot of trouble if she isn't."

"You speak with experience huh?" I say.

He glances at me then looks away. "I'd rather not talk about it." He said, "I don't want you getting more involved with all this than you already are."

I nod. "I understand."

We stand there in silence for a bit. Jay looks up at the sky. "Hey, it's getting late." He says looking back at me. "We should probably head in. see you tomorrow?"

I look at him. "Yeah, tomorrow." I say with a small smile. He smiles and heads towards his house.

I turn and walk towards the door to my house but stop and turn back. "Jay!" I call. Jay looks back at me. "Are you mad at me?" I ask, "For becoming friends with Rikki?"

Jay gives me a small reassuring smile. "I'm not mad." He says, "I may not be super happy about it but it's better than her trying to kill me." he lets out a small laugh.

I smile. "Heh, yeah, I guess anything's better than that"

Jay smiles at me once more before we wave goodbye and part ways.

I go inside and close the door behind me. I lean against the door and sigh.

I look around the dark room. I pull out my phone and check the time. It's almost nine thirty. I sigh again before heading up the stairs and to my room.

It's been a crazy day. And his is only just the beginning