ROCKETEER

Chapter 13: Flashback 1

       "A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." - Walter Winchell

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"Quid ag... ag..." I stuttered, the candle flickering in the dark of the bedroom.

"Agis." Melody finished for me. I smiled at her.

"Quid agis." Melody smiled and clapped. I put the heavy book down. 

"Do you want to take a break?" I asked her, already gathering up the papers with Latin words scrawled all over them in sloppy, ten-year-old writing. 

"Yeah, I should probably get back to my own bedroom." I frowned, looking up at Melody. 

"Why? The guards don't check rooms for another hour." Mel fidgeted with her fingers. 

"I'm afraid they'll catch us again. We aren't supposed to be talking, remember?" 

I snorted, shoving the book in the table drawer beside my bed. "If they catch us, I'll take the blame. I'll tell them I kidnapped you." We both giggled, and Mel laid down to stare at the ceiling. We sat in silence for a few minutes, the candle flickering shadows across the walls.  

"Emma?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Can you show me your wings again? They're so pretty." 

I smiled and activated my quirk. My wings appeared. The candlelight grew smaller, but the light from my wings lit up the whole room. 

Emma's eyes lit up. She sat up and reached out, her hand sliding through the luminescence of my wings. 

"They look so real, it's crazy I can't touch them." I fluttered them, and Melody's hair flew, gathering at the top of her head. 

"Sometimes I wished I had real wings. You know, with feathers and stuff." 

"I think they're perfect the way they are. You kind of have an advantage, villains can't grab them and drag you around and hurt you." 

I nodded. "I guess so." 

"I heard talk of a new boy here. They say he has wings too, with feathers and everything. Emma's voice dropped. "The guards talk about him like he's dangerous."

"We're all dangerous, Mel. That's why we're here." I said, shrinking my wings back. The walls went dark again. 

"They say he came from Fukuoka. He was all bloody and broken when they found him, apparently, his parents abandoned him and left him for dead." Emma looked over at me. "Do you think he's cute?"

I shook my head, smiling. "I haven't seen him, but if I do, I'll let you know." We sat in silence for a few more minutes.

"You should probably go back, they're fixing to check rooms," I said, frowning.

"Yeah. I'll try to sneak into the library again, we're almost done with that book." I nodded, and Emma got up from my bed. She went to the wall with the air duct connecting our rooms.

"Can you get me up there?" she asked. I went and activated my quirk. I hugged her super tight and lifted us off the ground. She grabbed the duct and wiggled into it.

"Melody?" I whispered. 

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being my friend." Mel smiled back at me. 

"Thank you too." And she disappeared into the dark duct. I hovered, screwing the cover back over. I heard footsteps coming down the hall, so I hurried and flew back to bed, covering myself right before my door opened. 

"She's asleep. I thought I heard voices, must've been the boys across the hall." A gruff voice sounded before my door closed again. 

I smiled to myself, before drifting off on the uncomfortable, too-small bed.

568 words