The Absolutely Insane Life of a Completely Normal (not really) Girl

I was able to...

... convince Mom to let me go see Oliver. I had been planning this since the first week I was grounded. I had behaved, not leaving the house to even go to Uston (Okay... that's a lie. I went in my sleep, but Mom never found out, so it doesn't count.) I found a way to hide my wings. I had cut holes into all of my shirts (because those wings under a shirt is uncomfortable as heck), and constantly wear a black leather jacket over my shirt. I was even able to teach myself how to control my fire powers.

After two months of good behavior, I was able to catch Mom in a good enough mood to get her to say we can go. I sent Jane a mental message that I was coming, and she sent back a mental squeal (probably a physical one too). The show didn't start until seven (since it's at an amphitheater), so I decided to just sit back and read.

I was about to finish the book when I got another mental message from Jane: Katie's coming too.

I sprung to my feet and started trying to find something to where. Because of her broken legs, Katie also had to drop out of Oliver. I... also haven't been able to talk to her because I was grounded. It felt... weird wanting to look my best for someone else. Partly because I knew Katie didn't give a flap about appearances, but I was going to nonetheless. I grabbed a pair of jeans, a black and white striped t-shirt, and my black converse. A lump grew in my throat when I realized that this was the exact same outfit that I wore that night at the facility. Even the jeans were the same, dirt holes in the knees and all. I was considering getting another outfit when I felt a breath go down my neck.

"Watch'cha doin," William asked. I barely suppressed a yelp, but I still jumped. William let out a chuckle. He had been coming to visit me all summer, mostly to give news and keep me from being bored. You would think that by now I would have gotten used to him appearing out of nowhere.

"Cut it out, William," I whispered. Mom technically knows that William comes to visit, but I didn't want to risk anything this close to being free from the house, "And to answer your question: I'm trying to figure out what to wear to Oliver tonight."

"You're going to see a play. Why do you need to dress up?" he asked.

"Katie's coming too," I answered. I went to grab the outfit, but William picked it up and flew away with it.

"Cute outfit," William muttered.

"I'm getting another one," I replied.

"Why," he asked, "It's fine."

"Because that's the outfit I wore when I went to rescue Katie," I answered.

"What's wrong with that," William continued to pry.

"Because... Because," I stammered, "I don't know, but it doesn't feel right."

"Lydia," William started, "You know that Katie doesn't care what you look like. She doesn't get held up on those kinds of things. And you've never cared how you look before. Do you think that since you and Katie are now out in the open, that you are afraid to lose her?"

"You sound like my therapist," I muttered. Oh, did I forget to mention that after I came home Mom's been sending me to a therapist? Oops.

"Well... maybe she's right," William persisted, "Katie doesn't care how you dress, and neither do you. Just wear the rescue garb."

"Rescue garb?" I commented, "Really?"

"If you're going to make a big deal out of it, you might as well give it a name," he replied. We both broke out into a small fit of laughter. Afterwards William told me to think about it and left.

I stared at the outfit, and then back at my closet. I sighed in defeat. William's right, of course he is. If there's one person in the world I don't need to impress, it's Katie. I put on the outfit, making sure that my wings are comfortable under the jacket.

As I was finishing getting dressed, Mom walked in. She had changed into a dressier top and jeans.

"You ready?" she asked.

"Let's go," I replied.

®

The play was really good. I mean, I didn't expect it to be bad, but it was really good. We ended up sitting with Katie and her family up at the top (Katie was in a wheelchair, so she couldn't go down the stairs). Katie made sure to make things both less awkward and more awkward at the same time.

Jane, Kathryn, Maria, Eli, and Ash came up to us after the show. Ash seemed a lot better since I last saw them. Which meant they were brooding and/or cuddling with Jane.

I love being with my friends, but something seemed off. I haven't seen them a couple months, and apparently a lot happened in that time. They would constantly make these inside jokes, and while everyone laughed, Katie and I would stand to the side and hope that someone would explain it to us. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey, Katie," I started, "Can we talk somewhere?"

"Sure," she answered. I'm glad she understood the implied alone.

We went down to the bridge where Jane first told me about her paranormalness. It seems like so much has happened since then. I wonder if things will ever be normal again? Well... as normal as things ever were.

"So..." Katie said, pulling me out of my thoughts, "What'cha wanna talk about?"

I stood there for a second, getting my thoughts. There was something I really wanted to talk about... no. Something I needed to talk about. Maybe now I finally have the courage to say it.

"Katie," I started, "There's something I want to ask you. Something I've always wanted to ask you. And I think I can finally ask it."

"Yes," Katie interrupted. Her response shocked me, which in it of itself surprised me. I thought Katie could no longer shock me.

"You don't even know what I was going to say," I persisted.

"You were going to ask if I wanted to go out with you," Katie countered, "And the answer is yes. I will go out with you."

"Oh," I said. (Note to self: Never underestimate Katie. Ever.) "So... do you wanna-" Before I could finish my sentence I heard a thump come from the creek behind us. I ran over, and Katie followed behind as fast as she could.

A boy had fallen into the creek. He looked about 10, and had short, red-orange hair. He wore a black leather jacket, and jeans. He groaned as he stood up.

"Oh my god, there's a child on the ground," Katie said.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I ran over to the boy, completely ignoring Katie. I knew that he came from Uston (How else do you explain him falling into the creek without hearing anything prior to it?), but that came second to the boy's well-being.

"Yeah," he said, "I'm... I'm looking for a girl. Her name is Lydia Lockwood."

"Why are you looking for me," I asked. The boy looked up at me with sudden glee in his eyes. As our eyes locked together, I felt a mixture of amazement and fear stir inside me. Staring back at me were two brown eyes with flecks of yellow and gold inside of them. My eyes.

"My name is Isaiah," the boy said slowly, "I'm your brother.