Wingspan(Paranormal, Young Adult) MAJOR EDITING**

Forty five

"shh." i scold josh. "don't let them hear you say that." i quickly look around to make sure no one stood within hearing range.

i didn't want problems just because joash was another loud mouth. quite frankly Toby was more than i could handle as far as problem kids went.

if i was a nuisance because of all my 'troublesome actions' then getting blamed for josh's clever and funny zings would be a predictable drag.

my comment didn't faze josh one bit.

Josh shrugs and i noticed a light in his eyes despite the poker face expression on his face. josh leans on the counter with his bare forearms and gestures using his clean hands to the group of model case specimen clones in front of us.

okay. so i would never admit it out loud but josh had a point.

it differentiated based on taste and style preference but the end result was all the same. girls and boys at starkhouse wore similarly exclusive logos that all spoiled rich kids did that in my opinion were an outdated source of revenue.

of course i tended to go along a more biased approach seeing as how i never aimed to associate with people who had 'zero cool' syndrome.

maybe it was because i never made it a thing to constantly worry about my outward appearance and in the process forget about the people who really mattered in my life.

unlike them i wasn't filthy rich. i wasn't even 'doing well'. -if anything i was just barely getting by with the money i made giving readings thanks to my medium-ship abilities and even that wasn't enough to keep me from being hungry all the time.

i guess it was a good thing that along with free board came daily meals that didn't fit into a box.

not to mention how close starkhouse was to my grandmas street. if i was ever in the mood for one of my grandmas decadent concoctions then all i had to do was get a weekend pass, catch a taxi outside of school grounds and make it back before anyone noticed i went missing.

i was a hermit who didn't mind putting on yesterdays pants even if they had mustard stains on them. i was comfortable in my own skin enough to forgo cosmetic powder and i wasn't ashamed of that fact.

i may have been naturally pretty enough to get away with not wearing makeup but i was still uncomfortable by the way josh focused on me. it made me self-conscious and that just made things worse.

josh chuckles for no apparent reason. When he does it no one glares him down. "look around. the're all hypocrites with no real organic perspective on anything of value. that's why i like you, ebony. you're opinionated and you have decent morals. not to mention you don't talk much which is better for me because i love to talk all the time."

i look at him perplexed of the given name.

i'd never been a nickname referring girl and yet despite how many times i told him so josh never listened or cared.

i had black complexioned hair like my grandmas family. or as josh cited my hair was like an adaptation of a starless night, it was inky coal-black, soot and all.

it skipped a generation with my mom and went to me.

coincidentally i didn't just inherent my grandmas facial features; according to family lore my mother was a fluke thing since she didn't contract the ability to predict the future or posses intuition of any kind.

if you asked her we (her blood family) had problems because psychics weren't real they were sick people who needed serious psychological help.

i couldn't blame my mom on that one. when a person claims they're psychic it isn't something you can grab fast. even i needed to see something before i believed it. i understood why mom was weary i just wished she could have been open minded enough to see me in action.

overall, it was a lost cause to rebuke josh. plus, no else called me by ebony except him so i didn't see the harm. but if he ever said that name in front of anybody i might have to rethink how refreshingly awesome josh was.

josh shrugs his narrow shoulders dismissing what i took as a complement.

coming from josh that was a once in a moment conversation never to be repeated. "thanks, i think." i tell him still unsure. i look him in the eye not fully certain of what he was trying to prove.

josh grins in that megawhatt charm of his. he peels himself up from the counter space and walks directly in front of me.

josh bumps me in the shoulder lightly. "see ya later ebbs and loosen your stance up a bit. your anxiety is a dead giveaway." josh winks at me, gravitating toward a sea of people that were already retreating back to their tables.

and because he was that cool no one said a word to josh as he cut them off and grabbed his items from the counter top.

i looked out for josh and lost sight of him once two girls stepped up and took claim over his spot in line.