The Perks of Being a Freak (Editing)

39. Always A Smartass, But Never All That Smart

Two days had passed since I discovered my ability to control the weather. Two days of fiddling with it, creating miniature storms in glass jars and little tornados on the roof. Once I had made a raincloud over Cody while he was showering. If only I had had a camera.

But it had been two nights since I had flown, and I was getting restless. I needed to fly. Sure, swimming was a great physical exercise, and it tired me out plenty, but I wanted the absolute freedom that came with kissing the rim of heaven. 

So I went flying.

It was dusk, and my stars were just starting to appear in the sky. I dove through the air, cutting through it with my body. Arms streamlined before me, I imagined diving deep beneath the surface of the water, cutting down to the bottom, and surging up to burst through the glassy top.

But there was no surface here.

I climbed higher and higher into the air, and then dropped, wings tight against my back. I was close to the ground when I angled out of the dive and began dodging the power lines that criss-crossed the street.

Breathing heavily, feeling tired and exuberant, I landed in an alley and drew my wings tight against my back. I could fly back to my house, but I wanted to wander through the town some more. I drew my hood over my head and walked out into the street. 

I was near the park that Emily and I had gone to earlier in the week, but I was reluctant to go near there again. What if I met the Guy? What if he saw something he shouldn’t see, like the wings on my back.

I shook off my worries and kept walking, hands deep in the pockets of my cargo pants. The ground beneath my feet was still damp from the storm two days past. 

Wandering aimlessly, I studied downtown Newton. It wasn’t a particularly amazing place to live, but I had grown up here, so it was as close to home as I would get.

I felt a prickle across my neck, and realised what a shit idea wandering alone at night was. Honestly. Sometimes I wished that I was a little bit smarter.

I spun to find three figures watching me from a very, very short distance away. One was tall and huge. His eyes were dark and his face in general was menacing. He was the tallest of the three by far, easily clearing six feet.

Another was a girl who looked to be around my age. She had shimmery copper hair that fell in choppy wave to her collarbone. Her eyes were cold.

But it was the boy in the middle who seriously freaked me out. He was wearing the same dark hoodie and jeans that he had on the first time I had seen him. His eyes were still cold, still blue, and he still looked at me as if I had personally, and brutally, murdered his entire family.

“Who are you?”  I tried to keep the quiver out of my voice, and was pretty pleased with the result.

“I think the real question is who are you?” The girl sneered meanly, eyes narrowing. “You’re on our turf.”

Okay, so not all our gangs are friendly.

“Sorry,” I apologized, wanting to bolt. “I was just going for a walk.”

“Yeah?” The brute demanded. “Well walk somewhere else.”

I hated it when people told me what to do.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest. “It’s a free country, douchebags, I can walk where I want.”

“Do you always insult people you meet on the street?” The leader demanded, lips smirking even as his eyes shot daggers at me. I stood my ground, trying not to shake and run.

“Only when they try and tell me what to do.” Chin up stubbornly, arms crossed, legs apart, I adopted the pose Seth called the “Stubborn Ass Little Sister.”

“You might want to listen to us,” the black man advised.

“Or we’ll kill you,” the redhead added snidely. I scoffed.

“Good luck,” I really, really wanted to run. Guys? I think I’m in trouble.

Where are you? Benny demanded.

What’s going on? Rajeev asked. 

They’re stronger than you are, Lia, Emily sounded afraid. Run away.

Not until I get some names. I grit my teeth and glared at the jerks.

“What are your names?” I challenged.

“We’ll tell you ours if you tell us yours,” the black guy goaded me.

“He already knows my name,” I pointed at the guy in the middle, who smirked again.

“Lia, right?” He made my name sound like an insult. Whatadouchebag.

“Yeah. So now you know my name. Who are you guys?” I shouldn’t let them get me so angry. I had bigger problems to deal with. Namely, the wings on my back.

“I’m Mitchell,” the black man jabbed his thumb at his chest. “That’s Jaeb, and he’s Simon.” So now the guy had a name. Simon.

“Well it was nice meeting you,” I glowered at Simon. He needed to get that stupid smirk wiped off of his stupid face with, like, a hammer.

I would totally volunteer.

Part of me wanted to stay, and see where this would escalate, but the greater part of me was afraid. 

I was a coward. 

That’s why, when Benny and Rajeev pulled to a stop beside me, I didn’t hesitate to climb into the backseat.

Maybe I was a coward, but I was also a smartass.

Which is why I flipped the trio off and we drove away.