Unchained

Chapter Thirty Three

I saw Sean again at the library.

I didn't take the bus home, so I bid farewell to David and decided to go to the library. Things weren't getting any better at home and I sure didn't want to come home another day to see my mom pigging out on junk and crying in front of the TV. Or when my dad was home and my mom out, he would be muttering curses in front of his computer, completely ignoring me or snapping at me whenever I'd walk past. In other words: home sucked. I didn't want to be there anymore, and if I could live somewere else, I'd love to. 

I was rooting through the paranormal novels, when I pulled back a book from the shelf. Now, the shelves at my library are connected - one side has books and the other side does too, and in the middle there's nothing so you can technically see through it. Well, when I pulled back the book, someone on the other side of the shelf pulled back a book too, and guess who it was?

"Sean?" I squeaked.

Sure enough, Sean Radke himself placed the book in his arms and looked at me.

I expected him to frown, turn away and yell behind his shoulder, "Get away from me, Avaley! I hate you now!"

Instead, he smiled. And so did I. "Hey!" he said, grinning wildly. "Why don't you come over here, where the more interesting books are?"

And I did. I scrambled to the aisle he was in and he was standing there, grinning at me. Maybe he forgot about everything. Probably not, since I practically got him killed at the mall... Sorta. More or less, right?

"Why don't you sit down?" he asked with a welcoming look. And then he slumped to the floor, gesturing for me to sit with him. Against the bookshelf. In the middle of the aisle.

Indeed I did, I sat down next to him and tried to get my heart to slow down.

"So I haven't seen you for a while now," he said, shutting his book and grinning at me.

"Yeah," I said. "Just really busy at home."

We sat there awkwardly, me staring at the books on the shelves and Sean... Doing something. I waited for him to ask me what happened at the mall, but nothing came.

"Well, if you need anything from me, you know where I am," he said. "But if it makes you feel better, I've been real busy, too."

"Tests? Debate?" I asked.

"Both," he admitted, running a hand through his hair. "My life can be really stressful at times."

Tell me about it. 

"Sean? Oh, there you are!" a girly voice cried and before I could comprehend my emotions, that same frilly girl from the mall walked into the aisle, looking at me. She was wearing super short shorts and a sweater that had a Pepsi logo on it. Her air was thrown in a messy but stylish ponytail and she carried some mathbooks. "Um... I was just gonna say that I found us a table?"

Sean straightened. "Oh, right! Avaley, this is Roanne, Roanne, this is Avaley."

"Hi!" she chirped at me.

"Hi." I said.

"Avaley's that super cool girl I was telling you about," Sean told Roanne, nudging my shoulder. I felt my face grow warm.

Roanne just stared at me. "Oh. Cool." she said. She grinned at Sean. "Well, I'm gonna go wait for you at that table of ours. If we hurry, maybe we can grab some dinner like you said!" she she waved, turned and headed out of the aisle.

Dinner? Really?

Sean chuckled nervously, scratching his head. "Yup, that's Roanne."

I opened my mouth to ask who she was, but then Sean asked the dreaded question, or made the dreaded statement.

"So... I saw you at the mall a couple weeks ago."

Gulp.

What should I do? Go along with it? Or just lie, lie and lie?

"What?" I said, my mind stalling. I couldn't lie to Sean, he'd see right past that! Plus he was really smart and knew me fairly well, but not as well as I knew myself.

"The mall," he repeated, giving me a strange look. "I saw you there. I was on a field trip with the debate team, so..." Ugh. So that Roanne girl was in debate, too? Another reason for Sean to fall into her arms.

And then, by some sheer luck, a librarian wheeled a cart full of books into the aisle and saw us. "You! Kids! Go and hang out somewhere else!" she barked. "Not in the middle of the aisle!" and Sean and I scrambled up, chuckling nervously, as he walked out of the aisle.

"So, you didn't answer my question." Sean said as I wandered mindlessly around the library. It looked like he was going to follow me until I could answer.

"What question?" I said stupidly as I grabbed a book about parakeets off the shelf.

Sean snatched it from my hand. "Avaley, something's up. I can tell this from 1 - you got a book about parakeets, and you don't like birds. 2- you keep evading my questions. And 3 - you really seemed to hate Roanne when you met her."

Dang, he was smart.

I took a deep breath and faced him. "Sean, I just really can't talk right now, and the reasons being are: 1 - my parents are going through a divorce." Meanwhile, my mind racked for words. "Uh... 2 - I'm really stressed with... school..." not a lie. "And 3 - I didn't hate on Roanne. I barely know her."

Sean just stared at me, as if trying to get the answers from my face. "Avaley, I'm just worried about you," he said honestly. "I mean, we haven't seen each other for a while, and I do understand that things are busy. But next time, be more truthful with me. I don't want to see you get hurt."

Too late for that.

"Thanks, Sean," I said. "But... I just really need some me-time right now. I really appreciate everything you've done." and I summoned a smile on my face.

Sean gave me a small smile. "Well, Avaley, if you're getting bored of me you could have just said. Nah, I'm joking." and he gave another horrifically beautiful smile, making my heart plummet into the depths of the unknown. "So I'll see you later, then?"

"All right." I said sadly and he smiled one last time before turning and heading to that table where that Roanne girl sat. She cheered happily as he sat down next to her and sent a strange look my way, and as I squinted at her I realized she was sneering at me. As she saw my look of anguish, she turned back to Sean and flipped her hair, babbling about some unknown subject.

Ugh.

I exited quickly, trying to blink away tears of frustration and emotion. I was heading for the bus stop when I passed a TV shop, and peered through the windows curiously to see what was on the news.

I froze.

"... ameteur footage was able to capture this scene," the anchor woman said and the screen cut to a new footage, a video, shaking strangely. I could hear people talking but I could barely function as I realized the person in the video was:

Me.

It was me, soaring through the sky, a look of excitement on my face. I recognized my clothes and realized that was the day David threw me out the window. I was flying over the city, small enough that no one could (thankfully) recognize me, but I knew it was me instantly.

How could I have been so stupid? I had flown under the clouds, so people saw me.

The headline screamed: Is this flying person real, or a hoax?

Meanwhile, the anchor woman said, "If you know who this mysterious flying person is, please talk to law enforcement. We don't want this superwoman to get too excited." and then the report switched to the weather, and people around me began to walk away, sad that the mysterious person footage had ended. But there was probably billions of views on the Youtube video that person uploaded... And that video was of me.

I didn't dare take the bus home. I ran as fast as I could, not caring if anyone saw me. But it didn't matter - if they got the footage of me flying, I was as good as dead anyway.