Fly Free

Chapter 3 | Zoe

A glimpse of Ryder in a prison like cell filled her mind at the last second before the flashes of images exited her mind. Thinking through the pain of a headache that blared in her head, Zoe used her photographic memory to analyze the last picture. She held her head in her hands before a sneering Ms. Rogers, Zoe tried to remember what the picture had looked like. Ryder was kneeling on the floor with his head bowed, but he looked like he was... resisting? But resisting what? His face was covered in dirt, and there was a bloody gash along his cheek. Zoe began noticing thousands of bruises and gashes all over him. A large bruise on his shin, another near his shoulder, a long deep cut running along his forearm. Zoe grimaced, and tried not to focus on the wounds. Wait! Zoe thought noticing something a little different about Ryder. Large brown, falcon-like wings were sprouting from his back. Ya, Zoe thought being very Zoe-like, just a LITTLE different.

An angry, hissing voice cut through her thoughts, "the mistress was right!"

"Excuse me?"

"You'll become a big problem if you continue to associate yourself with the same people," Ms. Rogers said in mock patience,

"Again, excuse me? What gives you the right to tell me who to be friends with?"

"I can make your life very miserable really easily, and I am not afraid too!" Ms. Rogers warned.

"Can't wait to find out how!" Zoe exclaimed sarcastically.

"Want me to tell you how?"

"I'd LOVE too, but I've got to go. Have fun with the other students!" Zoe snapped turning around, and heading to the door.

She had just laid her hand on the door handle when Ms. Rogers called out, "It's about that stupid Charlie!"

Zoe scowled and slowly turned on her heel. "Let's get one- well three things straight. One, you will never use Charlie or any of my friends as a bargaining chip. And two, never ever say the word stupid in the same sentence as Charlie. Three, I haven't talked to Charlie since- well for a while. So just back off!" Zoe said in a dangerous voice. However, beneath the anger and annoyance Zoe was dying a little inside... add up grief from the past and the pain from the stupid subject and you get a feeling like you've just died 44 times.

Ms. Rogers was laughing. Laughing! "Easy there, Cruz," she said eventually, "I'm on the same page as you. I-"

"Yeah. There is, because I don't take that as I joke. Understand?" Zoe cut in the dangerous tone in her voice still present.

"Uh huh. Right, but do you want to hear what I can blackmail you with or not."

"I'm still here aren't I?" Zoe said impatiently.

"If you want to hear, I need you to let me push you out of the window after I tell you."

"Weird request," Zoe said bluntly.

"Just trust me on this,"

"Well that's ironic," Zoe said rolling her eyes, "seconds ago you were Ms. Hissy-hissy, and now you're all 'just trust me'. Ya sure! I'll trust you after you tell me that Ms. Hissy-hissy was a dream."

Ms. Rogers just smiled and shrugged. If Zoe didn't value her time in this school, she would have landed a punch on the lady right then and there. She was a little touchy on the 'stupid' subject, so she was already a volcano about to erupt, and this lady wasn't helping her case.

"You haven't manifested yet! And it's almost the end of the year. Most have at least shown signs of manifesting by now!" Ms. Rogers said. As if Zoe didn't already know that! She wanted to scream in her face that she had shown signs of manifesting, but what would she say?

"And?" Zoe prompted.

"I can make you manifest by pushing you out of the window."

Ouch. Zoe thought, she knows how to hit a soft spot...

"Deal," she said after awhile.

Ms. Rogers smiled, "nice to see another elf that has at least some sense." As she talked she stood, and gestured for Zoe to follow her.

"Everything you saw in your head a few minutes ago, I saw too. Everything that happened in there doesn't HAVE to happen. If I just change a little bit of the events leading up to those moments, they won't ever happen.

"This could mean making... less than good ones happen or the happy ones that would shape the quee- the elf you will someday be.

"Let's not forget what you saw at the end, and those happy memories in the tree as well."

If she made friends- or at least not-make-enemies-with this elf, she could stop the last image from ever happening. And making sure those... good memories did. Other than the fact that Ms. Rogers seemed to think that they were more than necessary for Zoe to grow, Zoe herself longed for them. Again for reasons that went unspoken. Underneath her signature, silver necklace that had a girl kissing a pegasus inside of a heart, her own heart beat wildly as her mind raced. Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. One thing Zoe was never good at.