Wingspan(Paranormal, Young Adult) MAJOR EDITING**

sixty seven

i snicker. now who was being paranoid. "who? wesley? of course not." Chanel had no idea what she was saying.

Chanel bolts past me by in a diagonal. the fireflies shooting and sparking from her hands.

"they can't see you, ya know." i roll my eyes playfully.

Chanel whirled past me flying post haste. after giving wesley another careful side-long glance chanel stopped short of breathing on his face and rushed by my side. "actually, i forgot that i was supposed to be some place." Chanel tells me abruptly. she smiles but i could tell it was strained thin. "sorry hun, but if you're getting kicked out then i better get to cracking."

i laugh, knowing Chanel had a thing for being on time. i shrug my shoulders. "suit yourself." i tell her and watch as she disappears, floating away into the ghostly plane, the only dimension accessible on earth.

the space around me turns still, the air no longer broken up by different seeable energy. everything was focused and pristine and as i looked around at my surroundings i saw things with a more concentrated lens.

the trees were tall and foreboding, quiet eyes in the woods that were just creepy enough to get my attention. my Heels Without Meals didn't bother to check if i was following her or not and so of course she didn't see when i had stopped to say hi to my friends.

this was my last chance to be around them and suddenly my throat clogged with unsaid words. saying goodbye was just too painful.

i couldnt bear to tell them how grateful i was for accepting a freak like me into their group or that i would look for them in the streets.

instead i swallowed the ball back down my throat and smiled at them. they would be surprised when they didnt see me in class but after time they would forget a girl named Aislin existed and somehow that nasty truth helped me to accept my fate.

"hello boys." i smile once we cross paths but make sure to keep eyes on the Amazon Model. it was clear that she wasn't going to wait up so i had to make it quick.

"hey." wesley stops me unexpectedly. a stack of workbooks in his arms. "we were just on our way to the library. want to come with?"

since chanel was gone i didnt have to worry about how much i could let wesley and mason overhear. it would have been difficult to explain why i was talking to myself.

"seriously, A. you dont want to be here. this place gives me the goose bumps." mason grins. but i had a feeling mason only said that last part as a gag. i was waiting for the abonimal snowman to show up and finish off his one-liner parody.

wesley looked at me. his expression soft but causal. "im tutoring and this imbecile will hang back and watch. you wanna join in on the fun?"

"yeah, well im the robin to your batman." mason sticks his tongue out.

i shake my head no. "i'm running late." i apologize. "talk later?" i yell leaving them behind.

"sure. no problem." this time wesley was slow to smile. he looks at me and furrows his eyebrows.

mason waves back at me and i do my best not to turn around.

i was of average height and because of that i had to sprint just to keep up with the tall Amazon.

i run and catch up with my executioner. we get to the building and after two knocks the door opened and i was called.

i finger with the thin chain of my star necklace and walk past Legs and into the room. without saying another word to the professor the unfamiliar girl with skin the color of dark caramel closes the door to give us privacy.

"i was told you needed to see me." the professor was at her desk with a quill in hand signing what i presumed to be student letters.

"relax, take a seat." she dips the quill in a tin of ink.

as i drag my feet across the room i get a good look at the handwritten three-fold pages. sent home letters were never good and i wondered if my parents would get one too. i grimaced. i hoped not.

it felt so good to be away from them. like i had more of a say in my life instead of handing them my power and doing what they said even if i didn't want to.

i do as the professor says and sit down on a blue sofa contemplating the worst. "did i do something wrong?" the anxiety was ridiculous. my brain was coming up with some pretty impressive scenarios each one more terrifying than the last.

the professor looks up at me. i couldn't gauge her reaction. "young lady im sure you're aware that dr. Cambridge has been asking for and looking in to your status ever since you have arrived. as your health professional she is quite eager to check up on you and further explore possible options and important steps towards getting the proper treatment to improve your overall health." says the headmistress. she takes a pause and momentarily stops writing. she fiddles with her cat eye retro glasses and smiles kindly.

"as i have told your parents you have progressed rapidly in each of your academic classes and are showing signs of progress and improvement. today i have invited your parents to further discuss where you are at. i summoned you to my office because i thought you would want to know what we were saying about you since this is your future we are talking about."

"they're somewhere here right now. are they coming inside?" i start pulling at the sleeves of my sweatshirt to calm myself down. it was old and strips of thread were already sticking out. i loved it.

"you can eat something in the meantime." the professor continues writing.

she had plenty of snacks in cylindrical jar vases with lids but i had declined polightly with the excuse that i wasn't hungry.

although a generous offer i was far too nervous to eat anything even though my stomach was growling at the sight of sugar dusted rainbow candy strips that caught my eye. apparently not even the sight of colorful fun looking candy distracted me from how serious this conversation was going to get.

we weren't talking about three tardies in a row that would end in expulsion. dr. cambridge thought i needed to stay in her in-care facility for special treatment and then i would have no choice but to take the meds she would prescribe for me once i was all hers.

i had been there done that. three whole months i had gone to her counseling sessions and regularly at stated periods swallowed in front of scrubs whatever the doctor had filled the plastic cup with. i doubted my sanity could handle going back.

if dr. cambridge didn't think i was capable to be on my own did that mean my parents agreed and they were here because they wanted me back. the professor seemed convinced that i was doing fine so at the very least i had her on my side.

what little good that did because although the professor was the dean of stark house who had suggested that i go to her school instead, i wasn't sure if my parents would listen to anything she had to say.

if they wanted their daughter released i would have no choice but to go back home with them. since i wasn't eighteen yet i basically had no authority over my life and that sucked big time.

someone knocked on the door. inside my stomach a tight ball of worry and dismay tangled into a knot the size and weight of an iron stoned fist.

not knowing what to do with my hands i clenched them so tight my fingernails created half moons on my sweaty palms. the time was now. they were here and ultimately my parents would be the ones to let me stay.