Clipped

{Chapter One}

A muffled groan was all I managed as I laid with my face buried deep in my pillow, thinking once again of the envious concept of normalcy. Years of dreaming and wishing on shooting stars and birthday candles, only seemed to result in me waking up every day to the same isolated, life that I have the awful pleasure of living in. One would think that after 17 years, I would have given up on the obviously impossible, the eternally elusive concept of actually having friends, the even further out of reach idea of a someday girlfriend, and the newest idea of the night; not spending Friday night, alone, in my dimly lit bedroom.

"Just shut up, Sky" I growled, banishing the painfully pleasant thoughts from my mind. I rolled over onto my side. Though the action was difficult and made me feel cumbersome, I didn't care at the moment. I Let my eyes wander my quiet, cluttered room, searching for something to occupy my brain, seeing as trying to shut it down with sleep had obviously not worked. A well worn book balanced on my nightstand and even though I had read its old, faded yellow pages many times, I stretched my arm towards it, eager for the true distractions from my own cruel world.

My hand landed on the hard back cover, just as I heard the front door of my apartment open, simultaneously joined by an excited outburst. "Skyler!" A shrill voice chimed, the interruption caused the book to stumble out of my fingertips, and clattered to the floor on its spine, causing a few worn pages to scatter free and rustle among the mess of black feathers I hadn't bothered to sweep up yet. But I wasn't even upset. That voice could unmistakably belong to one person... Lillian. I was happy she was here, but in no way was feeling as energetic as she sounded.

I lazily rolled off my mattress, letting my body melt onto the floor, and stayed there for a moment before gathering my strength. I lifted myself up, readying to leave the gloomy confines of my room. But not before gathering up the fallen pages, and replacing them.I gently set the book back on my nightstand, brushed off some clinging stray feathers and then went to greet my sister.

The smell of something warm and delicious filled my nose as I treaded down the hall.

"That old woman Josie from 224A  stopped by the front desk with this just now, isn't that sweet of her?" Lillian explained as she place a casserole dish on the small table.

I had already eaten earlier that night, in fact my Chinese takeout boxes still visibly littered the trash bin, but I wasn't about to tell Lillian that. I would never in a million years pass up a chance to eat some of our sweet neighbors cooking.

"Ya, thats cool," I greeted Lillian, jumping up to sit on the countertop, knocking over a couple of dirty cups in the process.

"Hello to you too, Skylar. About time you came out of that cave of yours." she teased.

I shrug and smiled quietly to myself. Along with being my adoptive big sister, Lillian is my legal guardian. Seeing as her parents retired to northern Europe, and I'm still a minor who's too lazy to bother with emancipation, the law seems to think that I need one. But I'm honestly not complaining. Her parents used to run the apartment complex before passing it on to her, so we get free rent, and the liberty to have our own place. And if I ever needed anything, her door is only a short walk from mine. For the most part, she lets me do my own thing, and recently she's been staying over at her fiance's place. I'm grateful for the space, but It's nice to have someone check up on me every now and then, to keep the loneliness at bay.

"Put on a shirt and then come help me set the table. I swear, you're molting everywhere." Lillian exasperated. She bent to pick up the fallen cups, brushed a few small ebony feathers off and tossing them in the semi-empty sink.

"I don't molt." I retorted, feeling somewhat annoyed at her need for modesty. I spread my wings ever so slightly as I hopped off the counter, gently pushing her with gush of my wind.