Calling All Angels

Chapter 1

Waking up to the sound of children's laughter was definitely a new experience for Heather.

It took a moment for her brain to register that no, she wasn't going crazy, there was definitely some kid laughing close by. Pushing herself up on her elbows, she glanced across her room, trying to blink the heavy sleep from her eyes. Everything seemed to be in order, no ghost kids peeking out behind the boxes and stacks of clothing or anything, but her eyes quickly settled on the set of windows, accidentally left open from the night before.

Bingo.

It seemed like someone was leading a rather lively lesson right below her bedroom window.

With a smile, Heather collapsed back into her warm cocoon. Today was the first day of lessons and, despite students (only 4 at the moment, but enough to have Charles bouncing off the walls with excitement) trickling in over the course of the weekend, Heather had managed to forget all about it. But that didn't matter. Charles, Angel, Sean, and Alex had taken the few students they had, with Erik and Raven volunteering to step in for extra material and practice. Hank was, well, Hank and had multiple projects going on. Teaching wasn't exactly his top priority. There was no room in teaching for her, Riptide, or Azazel – at the moment, Charles would hastily remind them, at the moment.

Not that she was upset though.

No, how could she be upset when she got to lay in her comfy bed all morning when she got to be woken up by the sound of laughter and not a blaring alarm. No lesson plans. No stress. As she stretched, joints cracking, she reminded herself to send flowers to Charles as a thank you.

A quick glance at her bedside clock told her that it was 8:30.

Even though she wanted nothing more than to stay in bed, Heather's body was demanding coffee. She just hoped that the others had left her some. Dragging herself out from underneath her quilt, Heather maneuvered herself around the multiple cardboard boxes that littered the room. Despite being rather spacious, the room she occupied wasn't exactly built to hold the entirety of Heather's apartment. She was getting really tired of this obstacle course, but she hadn't really found the energy to find a place for it all, even after living here officially for just over a week. Later, she told herself, as she nudged one particularly heavy box out of her way so that she could move to close the windows.

Hearing more laughter, she stopped for a moment, out of curiosity, and peered out at the yard below her. Alex, grasping a football, ran a hand through his sweaty blonde hair before motioning the other person to go long. Satisfied with the distance, he pressed his lips together and launched the ball. The redheaded little boy – Scott, Heather reminded herself, Alex had called him Scott – ran with all his might and jumped, little arms reaching and reaching until –

He caught it. Despite a slight fumble, he caught it and lifted it up for the world to see. Both of them let out a whoop of excitement. Even Heather couldn't help but smile.

Sure, it wasn't really a lesson, but it was nice to see brothers reunited.

Heather hummed to herself as she dressed in a simple plaid skirt and a long-sleeved white blouse, as she tucked her copy of The Violent Bear It Away under her arm, and as she strolled through the long, heavily decorated hallways. The day seemed to get even better with her discovery of a full pot of coffee in the kitchen. She made herself a cup, using her favorite lilac mug, stirring it until it reached the perfect light brown color, and leaned against the counter, relishing in the brief silence, the peacefulness of the morning. She continued to hum her happy tune as she walked through the halls again, coffee mug and book in hand. Her original plan was to find and bug either Erik or Raven, to show off her lack of duties, but, as she walked through the designated hallway of classrooms, she decided to have a peek into her own – maybe even relish in its emptiness. She snickered at that thought.