Not Worth It

Six

I feel her presence as soon as she enters the hallway, but I keep my back turned and continue painting. The feeling intensified as she grew closer. It was almost physically painful not to turn around as she stood in the doorway, watching me. The seconds felt like hours, but she finally entered the room. The moment her foot touched the ground, I couldn't contain myself and I spun around to see her. I tried to seem extremely nonchalant.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked casually. Her face became immediately flushed with heat. I was still struggling to restrain myself.

"Not long, why did you want to meet me here?" She asked me in her soft voice.

"I wanted to show you something." I stepped to the side and revealed my painting, and waited anxiously for her reaction. She gasped and a slight twinkle entered her eyes. This left me feeling extremely satisfied with myself, but I couldn't let her see that.

"You don't have to seem so surprised." She stepped closer and half of me wanted to run away to save her from me and the other half wanted to get as near to her as possible.

"Where did you come up with this?" Her voice was filled with awe.

"I had a dream." Was all I could come up with. I felt myself losing control. I don't think I can hold on any longer. All of a sudden, fear entered her eyes as she looked at me. Shit! My eyes must be changing. I need to get a hold of myself. She took a fearful step back, and for some reason I countered by taking a step closer to her.

"Don't be scared." I whispered to her as I attempted to regain control. She looked like she was about to scream, but before she made any noise, I clamped my hand over her mouth, grabbed her arm and pulled her out of view in case anybody happened to walk by.

"If I take my hand off, do you promise you won't scream?" As soon as I saw her nod I removed my hand from her mouth. I took one more deep breath, and felt like I had fully regained control of myself. She looked straight into my eyes, searching. I prayed they were back to normal.

"Your eyes..." I looked at the ground, and took several deep breaths. This hasn't happened in such a long time. I almost gave myself away. This girl was bad news. I couldn't get her tangled up in my messy life. "What just happened with your eyes, why did they start to turn red?"

I let out a small sigh. My eyes only partially shifted. Maybe I would be able to convince her it was a trick of the light, it was worth a shot.

"It was probably just the light." I said slowly, praying she would buy it.

"No, I know what I saw. Your eyes were starting to change color, but now they are normal again. Also, if it was simply a trick of the light, why did you freak out of me?" She caught me. Hopefully a change of subject would make her drop the subject.

"Sorry, I...um...I don't usually show people my art." Acting vulnerable was the key, I did't want her to be scared of me.

"Then why did you show me?" I decided to look at her again, and we made a connection immediately.

"I don't know, for some reason I feel almost drawn to you." I realized I was still extremely close to her and still holding her arm. I let go right away an took a step back. She looked so small in that moment. So small and fragile. She looked uncomfortable and pulled her sleeve down, I noticed that she did this frequently. I wonder if she had something to hide. "I am sorry. This was completely crazy, we don't even know each other."

"It's okay." Was all she said before she walked away. When she was almost through the door, she turned around as if to add in an after thought. "You have my number if you want to get to know me better. Also," She looked at my painting, "That really is a masterpiece." and with that she was gone.

I realized I had been holding my breath, and I let it out. It almost felt like a sigh of defeat. Something was different about this girl. All my time on Earth, and I have never felt such a strange connection with anyone, and with one short encounter, I almost give myself up.

I was going to have to learn some serious self control if I was going to make this work.

Suddenly, I felt a presence. I whirled around to face the windows lining the far wall of the room. There stood two tall figures clad in black. Each had their own set of mighty wings sprouting from their backs. They were huge and magnificent. I felt a itch on my back, along my scars. I used to have my own set of beautiful wings, until I fell, and they were ripped from my back.