Half and half

chapter 9

Chapter 9

The moment Mr. Elko began talking about flight; I knew I had a problem. I could feel a familiar tugging sensation in my back and after a moment, I realized that my wings were yearning to fly. The tugging sensation intensified and I stifled a groan. I thought I could keep it under control when a voice behind me asked, “Mr. Elko. May I go to the restroom?” he peered behind me and nodded. The girl with black hair passed me, accidentally brushing my arm. I yelped in alarm, because I knew that in a matter of seconds, my wings would unfurl. I leapt to my feet, pushing the girl straight into Ethan’s lap -which didn’t seem to bother him much- and sprinted for the door. “Mr. Hunt…” the teacher started. I burst into the cool marble halls and made a beeline for the bathroom. I burst inside, panting wildly-not exactly from exertion. There was a ripping pain in my back and I doubled over. I barely noticed Dimitri enter the bathroom. “Dylan… don’t do this.” He said anxiously.  I gave a high-pitched moan. “Think of Thaila!” he exclaimed. My shirt disappeared. “Okay, don’t think of Thaila. Think of… your hummer.” He tried. My wings unfurled. “No, no, no! Don’t beat them! Think of… your pretty room.” He was pretty frantic. My wings lifted my feet a foot from the ground. “Stop it! Think of a new Mercedes 500 SL.” He suggested. My wings twitched, then became still. I dropped from the ceiling, landing on the balls of my feet. “Yes! A new monster black Ducati. A Lamborghini. A polished new Ferrari.” My wings folded neatly. Dimitri visibly relaxed. I was panting hard. I leaned against the sink, putting my hands on both edges of the basin. Dimitri patted my back, careful to avoid the wings. Suddenly, there was a noise and my wings made me shoot to the ceiling. I hovered there; horrified to see Brad, Mark and Jesse enter the bathroom. They were bantering loudly and chuckling, most obviously drunk. What they were doing drunk at noon, I didn’t want to know. “Ahh…” Brad stammered, spotting Dimitri. “the n-new k-kid right-t?” he asked in a sing-along voice. Dimitri’s eyes flashed and Brad backed up, raising his hands, “n-no its cool-l dude! No n-need to p-pulverize m-me!” he laughed and his friends joined in. Of course, that’s when I fell to the floor with my wings extended. Brad screamed and Mark fled. I staggered to my feet, dusting my jeans. I forced a laugh, “got you!” Brad and Jesse stared at me. “School play.” I ‘explained’. As I had hoped, they were too drunk to figure out what I had been doing on the ceiling. “Ahhhhh, you scared Mark.” Jesse chuckled. His speech was slurred. I shrugged and to my horror, my wings unfurled. “Pretty wings.” Brad admired. He squinted. “Heh. They look real enough.” He burst out laughing, “Dylan the eagle!” he whooped, making a swooping motion in a bad impersonation of an eagle diving. I stared at them. I couldn’t believe they had thought I was an eagle before an angel. I mean, were there black eagles? No! Angels? The really bad ones. Like starcked angels. Finally, blessedly, they left the bathroom. “Urgh.” I muttered. Dimitri gave a nervous laugh. “Try to put them in.” after about two minutes, I succeeded in calming down enough to suck them in. I stood up straight and looked in the mirror. My shirt had reappeared. “What am I going to say to Mr. Elko?” I wondered, peeking at the Dimitri reflected on the glass. “Tell him you need to go home because your grandmother died in the morning.” He suggested. “My grandmother is dead.” I pointed out. Dimitri shrugged, “all the more reason.” I scowled. Then I thought of something, “Hey why did touching that girl affect me so much? I mean I saw…” I trailed off. I recalled the moment our skin touched. I saw clouds, wide golden eyes, fear, being nervous, and a ceremony. Dimitri interrupted my thoughts, “well, that’s because she’s a fallen angel.” I stared at him. “She has blue eyes.” I said stupidly. Dimitri smirked, “yeah they’re called contacts.” I felt incredibly idiotic. “Well, come on, it’s almost lunch.” I said, changing the topic of conversation.

Ten minutes later I was standing in the cafeteria line, holding and empty tray, when I felt her approach me. I stiffened. “Are you okay? Your name is Dylan right?” a quiet, voice. I-as tense as a wooden board- turned slowly. And there she stood, right behind me. Her white blouse so much like the dress from the girl of my dreams, I was alarmed, “I’m fine, thank you.” I said, tense. She seemed insulted. I admit I sounded plain rude. I turned away. So much for politeness and manners. I reached the front of the line. “Cheeseburger or nuggets?” the lunch lady asked politely. Suddenly, I realized I wasn’t very hungry. So ignored the lady and went to the yoghurt stand. A hand reached around me to grab yoghurt and I gasped. The girl’s sleeve had crept up and curling tattoos were revealed. To hide my marks, I’d worn a hoodie with thumbholes on the sleeves, hiding my hand completely with no risk of the marks showing. That, apparently, hadn’t occurred to the girl. So she was a fallen angel. Dimitri was right. I gave a turn, military-style, and stalked off to the table most of the wannabies sat. I slid into a space between Ethan and Dimitri. Dimitri was sulking and I didn’t bother to ask why. Ethan was scowling, and It was such and unusual expression on his normally cheerful face, I asked him about it. His scowl deepened and he said, “I asked, quite politely, Dimitri,” he glowered at the boy, “the reason you both fled astronomy. And he told me to shove my speculations into my-” I coughed, “I get the picture.” I said, trying to get the image out of my head. I jabbed a finger at Dimitri, “and why is he sulking?” I asked Ethan. He scowled again, “because I aimed a punch at his sister.” My eyes widened. Thaila? As if she had been conjured out of thin air, which was totally possible considering her abilities, Thaila materialized in between Dimitri, shoving us both sideways. I crashed into Ethan, making him spill ketchup on his jeans. “Aw man!” he complained. Then he saw Thaila and froze. After a moment, he muttered a quick apology, leapt up, and darted out of the cafeteria. My expression was so pathetic, Thaila took pity. “He aimed a punch at Dimitri and obviously, human reflexes don’t compare against ours, so he dodged and Ethan accidentally hit my shoulder. I was very angry and kind-of beat him up. Just a little.” Dimitri spoke for once, “and I don’t like my fights fought by others.” He snarled. Then he pushed off from the table and sat by my other side. I rolled my eyes, but a commotion broke out before I could say anything. “No! I'm innocent! I’m not drunk!!” a voice yelled, the words slurred together. Then a quieter voice broke out. “I didn’t hit anyone1 I’VE BEEN FRAMED!! Leave! Me! Alone!!!” two security guys came through the doors of the cafeteria, dragging screaming and flailing Brad and Jesse. Then a third guard came through the doors carrying Mark. When Mark passed us, I realized he was singing quietly,

“Do or die, you'll never make me  

Because the world will never take my heart

Though you try, you'll never break me

We want it all, we wanna play this part

Won't explain or say I'm sorry

I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my scar

Give a cheer for all the broken

Listen here, because it's only

I'm just a man, I'm not a hero

Just a boy who wanna sing his song

Just a man, I'm not a hero

I don't care!”