Let Me Sleep

Meet Iggy

"You're a moron, Kendra." I don't know where it comes from, but suddenly I'm falling. My bag flips over my head, sliding down the hall. I try to keep my cool, but suddenly it's too much, and then there's blood coating my stinging knuckles, and even more blood gushing out of this guy's nose.

He's crying. And there's a hand wrapped around my wrist, keeping me from hitting him again. He scrambles away as the opportunity presents itself.

I look at the hand around my wrist. And my eyes travel up to the face. A boy. Tall. Extremely messy bleach blond hair, blue eyes, concerned? Scared?

A bluish glowing mark around his wrist?

"You need to stop." He says quietly. All the fight goes out of me, and I let my arm drop. He goes to pick up my bag, and hands it to me. I hoist it over my shoulder.

"Humph." I huff, glaring at him slightly, and a smile plays around the edges of his mouth.

Then, with a short wave, he walks off into the crowd of people and I lose sight of him.

English consumes all traces of thoughts of this boy. My mind decides to wander, and I find I'm doodling his face in my notebook. How I memorized it in so little time is a mystery, and just a bit creepy. Okay, a lot creepy. I've never been good at memorizing anything, or even drawing, for that matter.

The lecture on good writing skills drones on and on and, finally, mercifully, the bell jolts me out of the stupor. Lunch. Finally.

I'm picking apart my salad at the lunch table, where I usually sit alone, when a tray drops onto the table across from me. I drop my fork and it hits the floor, the chatter in the room drowning out the sound. It's the boy, as cliche as you can get.

He's wearing a dark grey hoodie and blue jeans, and black converse.

"Hello." He states.

"H-hi." I stutter, mentally facepalming. I rarely ever talk to anyone, so this could be awkward.

"Why are you sitting all alone?" He asks.

"Well, I'm not now." I reply. He rolls his eyes good-naturedly.

"So you're the famous Blue_Beauty." He says, resting his chin in his palm.

"You're on CommonPlace?" I ask, surprised. He's the first person I've ever met who has a CommonPlace. CommonPlace is a site for anyone who wants to share any sort of writing or art or anything.

"Yeah." He says, and snatches my apple juice. "Castiel24.'

"Like from Supernatural?" I ask, and he nods.

"The one and only." He pops the lid off my juice and drinks it dow to about halfway and hands it back to me.

"So what's your real name?" I ask. "I haven't seen you around before."

"Oh, how rude of me." He smiles broadly. "My name is Iggy. I'm from Heaven."

"The city?" I ask, drinking from the bottle.

"Yeah." He says, then mutters under his breath, "Let's just say that."

"But what's your name?" He continues.

"Kendra." I reply.

"A pleasure to meet you, Kendra." Iggy says, as the bell rings.

"And you." I say, picking up my bag and faling into step with the mass of people leaving the cafeteria. He doesn't leave my side though. Not so surprising, considering that his next class is the same as mine. History.

"What is this?" He whispers halfway throuh the class. "They're getting the facts all wrong."

"And how would you know?" I ask.

"I was there."

"What?"

"Kendra! Iggy!" The teacher suddenly snaps. "Do I need to send you to the principal?"

"I should certainly hope not." Iggy replies. Ms. Clove is taken aback. "It wasn't like this twenty years ago. They actually had the historical facts correct."

"Iggy and Kedra Molotov to the principal's office." The PA system crackles to life. Ms. Clove points to the door, and Iggy and I leave at breakneck speed.

"What do you think they want?" Iggy asks me.

"Haven't the foggiest." I reply.

"Are you from the UK?" He asks.

"I moved here for some sort of foster care when I was four, but initially, yes."

"Foster care?"

"Yeah. My parents died in some freak train derailment." I say, my heart hurting with the memory. "So they shipped me here."

"I was shipped from Heaven because my father disowned me. He cast me away as if I was nothing, in favor of my brothers and sisters." Iggy looks crestfallen, and I can understand why. "I fell from his love and acceptance."

I feel sorry for him. It looks like he lost his whole world, and I can understand that. When I lost my parents, my entire life turned into an ironic train wreck.

"Well, I guess we're sort of in the same boat, aren't we?" He asks.

"Yeah, I guess so." We're at the office now, and we're called in by the secretary.

"Iggy." The principal, a tall, thin, yet imposing man called simply 'Professor' doesn't even seem to realize I'm here.

"Yes, sir?" Iggy stands up straight.

"There's an emergency in Heaven." Emergency?

"Has father gone missing again?" Iggy's face is impossible to read. The professor gravely shakes his head.

"No, it's worse than that." He says. "They're rebelling again, and this time, it's everyone. Angels, demons, Lucifer himself."

"What?!" Iggy's voice mirrors my own thoughts. Angels and demons? Lucifer? What kind of game are they playing? "When did Lucifer get out of the cage?!"

"We think that Zachariah might have sided with him, but he's nowhere to be found, and there hasn't even been a blip on angel radio. Everyone still with heaven is on red alert."

"What's going on here?" I blurt, and both of them turn to stare at me.

"What are you doing here?" The professor asks coldly.

"You called her, brother." Iggy stands tensely.

"Oh. Oh, I see." The professor replies. "Of course. Kendra, meet Iggy. The angel we've assigned to be your guardian."