The Red Bird

Chapter 11-The Red Bird Is Confused

Did I do something wrong? He's acting really weird... Was it something I said? Probably... I should just apologize and see where that gets me.

"I'm sorry..." I mutter, leaning my head back against the door.

I don't hear anything for a moment, which makes my stomach sink.

"You didn't do anything... It's not your fault," Scott finally says quietly. "If anyone should apologize, it's me."

"For what?" I ask, already somewhat seeing where this is going.

"For not telling you. It's a horrible secret to keep from you, especially when you're in it, but I just honestly don't think you're ready... Or maybe I'm just not ready..."

I open my mouth to ask about it, but then I remember that was what got us into this little mess in the first place, so I just close my mouth and try to forget about it.

We sit in silence for a while until I hear shuffling on the other side of the door. His shadow disappears and I begin to think that I should just give him some space and leave him alone until the door lock clicks and it opens. I fall backward and hit my head on his feet.

"Ow..." I say lamely. He sticks out a hand to help pull me up.

I take it and I pretty much fly up, he pulled on my arm so hard.

I stumble when my feet touch the ground and he grabs my shoulders, steadying me.

"Sorry... I need to get that under control..." he says, laughing a little.

"It's fine," I reply, albeit a little shaken up. It's a bit traumatizing to be lying down one minute and then flying through the air the next.

"Wanna see my new room?" he asks, already steering me towards the door.

"Uh, sure," I reply, once again, pretty lamely. I'm just not doing so hot today... Maybe it's because of our little fight... Aww! Our first couple fight! Except we're not really a couple... I'm not sure why I said that... Stupid author...

What?

Okay... Moving on.

I step into the room to find a pretty normal looking teen bedroom. There's literally nothing exciting in here at all. Just a bed, a desk, and...

Oh. Apparently the closet is ginormous. I was not aware of that... Heather would be jealous...

It has a rack of clothes, but you can push them out of the way and go into a pretty decent sized lab. Of course, it's nowhere near as big as the one in the basement, but it's pretty large.

"Isn't it cool?" Scott asks, making a grand gesture towards the room.

"It's pretty nice!" I say, sitting on the bed in the corner and surveying the room. He sits next to me and we just stare at everything in silence.

Then, out of nowhere, he pushes me backward and I nearly fall off the bed.

"What are you doing?" I ask, not bothering to get up because the bed is actually really soft and I'm reminded that I haven't slept on a bed in like, forever...

He lays back too and turns his head to look at me. "Watch this!" he says excitedly. He flips a switch by his head and the curtains close and the lights turn off, completely darkening the room. Then, a single light flashes on the ceiling, and after that, hundreds more, imitating stars. I watch in awe as shooting stars flash across the ceiling. A galaxy lights up on the other side of the room, and it's the most brilliant mix of colors I have ever seen.

"Make a wish," I say quietly as another shooting star shoots across the room.

"I don't really have anything to wish for," he says distractedly, not taking his eyes off the ceiling.

I can tell he wished about something though, even though this is just a simulation on the ceiling. Or is it? Well, either way, it probably won't come true. Sorry, I don't believe in that stuff. Although, I didn't believe in magic either, yet here we are.

I turn into my little cat form and curl up around Scott's head. He picks me up shortly after and places me on his stomach and absentmindedly pets my back. I purr, even though I really didn't want to. It's more of a reflex now I guess...

It's all really quiet and peaceful and until Heather comes crashing into the room. I spring up and hiss loudly, my claws coming out. I shoot up the curtains and perch on the curtain rod, my back arched and my tail puffy.

Scott turns off the space thing and the lights come back on and the curtains open. I get my paws caught in them, so I end up hanging by my feet off the rod.

Scott untangles my feet and he catches me as I fall to the ground.

Heather just stares for a second before shaking her head and saying, "Your dad called. He needs us all to go to your house." 

Is she sick? She didn't even say anything about the little boy and his kitty moment that just happened.

"Um, okay?" Scott says, placing me on the bed and getting ready to go. I turn back into a human and sit there, staring at Heather. She stares back and shrugs her shoulders before leaving without another word.

"Is she okay? She didn't even say 'aww' or anything like she usually does..." Scott says, jerking a thumb towards the door.

"I know, right? I wonder why your dad needs us there? Maybe it's not for just visiting..." I say, starting to worry.

"Eh, I'm sure it's fine. Maybe she's worried about something else," he says, although he won't look me in the eye. I swear, everyone's keeping secrets from me these days...

At the scientist's house...

"I don't know Gladys, I just feel like we need to do this really soon or we're going to miss our chance completely..." I say to the blank screen. 

The screen lights up to be Gladys' face. She's scowling at me.

"She's just a child! How is she supposed to run an entire country?!" she buzzes, her face contorting into a bunch of angry lines of light.

"Technically, she's an adult..." I say, not looking at her.

"Well, according to old times, she's a child!"

"She's old enough to claim the crown!" I argue back. "These are the old times anymore! There are new rules, and we're going to abide by those rules..."

"Well, we should have Carol change them back..." she says quietly, more to herself than to me.

I decide to use it against her either way.

"Exactly! Which is why she needs to do this now so we can fix all of this ridiculousness before it gets even worse!"

"I still think you should just leave her be... This is going to ruin her life... At least let her grow up to be 18. Old times adult," Gladys says, her voice soft now. Her angry lines are gone and replaced by a somehow sad looking blank face.

"Just imagine what the Queen would do by then... Especially if she knows she exists. That's enough time to let her kill Carol thousands of times over..."

"Please? Just..." Gladys pleads, seeming to be out of ideas for negotiation.

"I wish it could be different, but it has to happen soon." I pause to think of something to keep Gladys happy, even if it's just something for the time being. "Let's at least tell her and go from there, okay? We can ask her what she wants to do. No deadline. Well, maybe a deadline, but it would be her choice either way. Sound good?"

"...Fine... But I will beep angrily the whole time," Gladys says, signing off the chat before I can reply.