Feathers and Stones

Chapter 16 (Jay)

How could they? I trusted them. How could they betray me like this?

Okay calm down. Find your ground. Look around you.

Something you can see. I look around the area. Trees, sky, grass, rocks and bushes. Something you can touch. I crouch down and run my fingers through the grass. Something you can hear. I close my eyes and listen. I hear leaves rustling in the breeze and birds chirping. Something you can smell. I take a deep breath of the forest air. I catch a small whiff of flowers in the breeze. And something you can taste. I open my eyes and look around a bit before biting my thumb.

I let out a small sigh and lean back against a tree. I managed to shake off most of the negative feelings inside me, but some are still there. I close my eyes and try to ignore them.

I just need to think positively. I'm sure Rex didn't mean to use the needles.

Right?

*snap*

I quickly open my eyes at the sound and look around. No one in sight. I'm probably just hearing things. I relax a bit and let out a small sigh.

*snap*

Okay who's here?

I slowly start to get up as I look around. "Hello?" I say to whoever is there, "who's there?"

"Jay?" I hear a familiar voice say. I turn towards the voice and see Rex looking up at me.

"Oh it's just you." I say as I plop back down next to the tree.

"I'm sorry"

I don't look at him. "For what?" I ask.

"For not telling you about the needles." He says, "I only use them when you can control your power."

I stay quiet for a moment. I take a deep breath. "I forgive you." I say, "I just need to be alone for a while."

"You sure?" He asks a bit worriedly.

I give him a small, reassuring nod. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Rex hesitates. He then sighs and says, "Okay, just come home soon. We're all worried about you."

I give him another nod before he turns and runs off. I took that better than I thought I would. Normally I probably would have been too flustered to even listen. I guess Carson's little trick actually does help. If only I tried it sooner.

I wish they were here. They'd make things better. They always did when we were together.

I pluck at the grass and listen to the birds' songs to try to get my mind off of things. I hear the slight sound of a guitar. I listen carefully to the music and hear a soft voice singing along. Curious, I follow the sound.

I get to a wooden fence. I can hear a girl singing along to a guitar on the other side. I try to peek through the cracks in the fence but have no luck. I look at the top of the fence. It's short enough for me to jump up and look over.

I think about whether or not I should jump. I don't want to scare her but I want to know who she is. I debate it for a moment more before deciding to jump up and peek over.

I jump up and grab the top of the fence. I pull myself up just enough to see over it. I see a pool with decorative rocks around it. Sitting on one of the larger rocks was a young girl, maybe about my age or younger, playing the guitar. Luckily she doesn't notice me.

She has dyed pink hair, her roots were a light blonde. She had a white blouse with pink and yellow flowers on it and a yellow skirt. To be honest, she's kinda cute. In a girly, childish way. Okay this just got awkward.

I'm about to jump down when I notice the wood cracking. Oh no! The wood snaps in half and I fall to the ground with a hard thud. Ow.

I notice the music has stopped. Oh darn. I look up at the top of the fence and see the girl staring down at me. I panic a bit. "U-uh, hi! Umm..." I look at the broken piece of fence. "Oh uh I can fix that!" I grab the piece that broke off and put it back where it's supposed to go. "See good as new!" Just as I say that the broken piece falls to the ground. "Sorry..."

The girl stares at me with her bright yellow eyes. I don't know how that having yellow eyes is possible but it is pretty cool. I stay quiet, waiting for her to say something. Oh this is so awkward.

"Did you hear me singing?" She finally asks.

"Uh yeah," I say, "I did..."

She stays quiet for a moment. "Is that why you came here?"

"Uh I..." I hesitate, "uh...yes..." She mutters something to herself but I can't really make out what she said. "So uh...have you always lived here?" I ask trying to break the awkwardness.

The girl looks at me. "Don't cha think you should at least tell me your name before asking further questions?" She says.

Well crap. "Oh uh my name is Jay." I stutter.

"Jay?" She says, "Is that short for something?"

"Not really." I say, "It's complicated..."

"Hmm" she says, "alright well my name is Daisy. And to answer your question from earlier, I just moved here yesterday."

"Oh really?" I say, "I moved here last week."

"So we're both the newbies huh?" Daisy giggles.

"Heh, yeah." I laugh.

"You like it here?" She asks.

I think for a moment. "Yeah, it's pretty nice." I say, "the neighbors are a bit...crazy, but at least I can walk around in the forest when I need some peace."

Daisy looks around in the forest. "Yeah it does seem nice." She says. She looks back at me. "Maybe I can join you sometime"

"You can join now" I suggest, "I mean if you want to."

"Really?" She says excitedly.

"Daisy!" A voice calls from Daisy's house.

Daisy looks back. "Coming!" She calls. She looks back at me. "Sorry I can't right now." She says, "Maybe later?"

"Oh yeah, sure" I say, slightly disappointed.

Daisy Smiles at me. "Yay!" She says before jumping down. "Oh!" She jumps back up. "It was nice to meet you."

I smile at her. "You too" I say.

Daisy gives me one last smile before jumping down and going inside.