XXII. Flight
***
"I'm not ready for a relationship."
What the fuck does that mean? She kissed me. She asked me to be the 'big spoon'. She fucking pulled me around like a little fucking toy and she has the audacity to tell me that she's not ready for a relationship? Fuck her.
"Fuck you." I snapped to none other than myself. I was sitting out on the back porch by myself at 3 in the morning, staring out at the dark sky. I couldn't sleep after that comment and after struggling to hit REM for a good four hours, I gave up and went outside. Her precious princess self had fallen asleep right after metaphorically socking me in the throat and I figured she wouldn't notice that I was gone.
"You should." The one and only queen of ice spoke up from behind me. I would have jumped if I wasn't so tired. A small part of me wanted to respond with 'I will' and shove her up against a wall and fuck her until she couldn't think straight. Ha ha. I made a joke because we're both girls and she couldn't think straight anyway.
I looked back at her and she raised an eye at me, her arms crossed over her chest. I recognized the sweater she was wearing and instantly knew she had at least near to nothing on underneath. I chewed my lip and just stared at her. I didn't know if my irritation was capable of overpowering my sexual attraction to this girl.
"Or don't. It's cool, whatever you want to do." She looked down after my lack of response and I just sighed, looking away. Did I want to do what she was implying? Was I okay with just being someone's booty call?
"What if I want to?" I heard the words pass my lips before I even realized I had been thinking them. Shit, I thought. Well, I'm fucked. Or I'll be fucking is more like it.
When she lifted her head, she had a knowing smirk spread across her face. I chewed on my bottom lip, looking up without moving my head. In three quick steps, she was in front of me and with one motion, she was sitting on my lap, straddling me. I met her eyes and it wasn't even a split second before I was grabbing at any place I could reach and letting my lips desperately mold to hers. I wasn't sure what this said about me or about her, but I knew I was fucked from the moment she stepped onto the back porch. I mean, she was fucked.
*
Only two hours of sleep does not serve a girl well and there was no way in hell I was going to school today. Even if they drove me there, themselves, and dropped me off, I wasn't going to school. I would find a nice quiet place in the woods and curl up and sleep. The late night/ early morning make out session hadn't helped my confused emotional state but it sure did wear me out enough for me to knock out before it got much further than no shirts.
Luckily enough for me, when they said they would be gone 'until tomorrow' they meant somewhere around midnight the next night so I decided I wasn't going today. I wasn't sure if I was relieved or disappointed that Alex had decided to go, though. It was almost 1 in the afternoon when I finally fully woke up and got out of bed. I was still laying in Alex's bed when I got up, but I had no idea where my tank top from the morning had gone. Not bothering to check, I just threw on her overly large sweatshirt and went downstairs. I found some cheerios and poured myself a bowl of cereal before making myself comfortable on the couch and watching some television.
Not even an hour and a half later, Alex was walking through the front door, dragging her bag behind her like it was carrying a dead body.
"Down to go flying?" She didn't even look at me as she tossed the bag on the couch opposite me and went into the kitchen. I waited for her to reenter the living room with a bottle of water and set my bowl down. I noticed then that I still had her sweatshirt on and found myself blushing at this.
"Yeah, let's go." I nodded at her, crossing my arms over my chest in a pitiful attempt to cover the easily recognizable logo printed in bold lettering across the chest. "Wait, what are you, anyway?"
"You'll see." She gave me a sly smirk and I made a face, following her back into the backyard. I closed my eyes and shifted for the third time in my life, then turned my small body to face her. Within seconds, a magpie was fluttering at eye level with me. I felt myself mentally smile and wondered how we would communicate while in this form, but just shrugged it off and decided to ask later.
I took off, not wanting to fall behind and stopped for a second to turn and see if she was following me. Just as I glanced back, she shot passed me and I imagined her laugh exploding around me as I chased after her. We flew around for - what felt like - hours just chasing each other back and forth. Eventually I got tired and turned back towards what I thought to be home and landed in the yard. With a great mental sigh, I shifted back and dropped down in one of the metal chairs.
I blinked and found Alex sitting in front of me, the same exhausted but exhilarated look on her face. I closed my eyes momentarily and just steadied my breathing.
"That was fun. We should work on making our connection next time so I can talk to you. Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to not talk?" She laughed and I opened my eyes, laughing with her.
"What do you mean by connection though?" I tilted my head, resting my cheek in my palm. She chewed on her bottom lip and made an awkward face before answering me.
"It's really hard to explain, but I would if I knew how. You should ask Viola. I'm sure she'd explain it to you." She gave me an apologetic smile and I contemplated bugging her to figure out how to explain it to me, but felt too tired to even put up the fight.
"Alright." I simply said, gazing around the area. I got up and motioned for her to join me as I went inside and entered the kitchen. The clock claimed it to be 5 and I figured going up to the room and watching some kind of horror movie or something was the best way to finish the night. Thankfully, Alex agreed.
After switching to netflix and playing the third season of our favorite show, we lounged around on the floor, just gazing at the television. Unlike what I expected, it was comfortable and I ended up dozing off after about four episodes in.
Alex nudged me awake at around one on the morning and I sleepily just climbed into bed with her and let her wrap an arm around my waist as I fell back asleep.
*
When I woke up, I felt disoriented and confused for less than a second before I remembered what happened. I silently shook Alex awake, pointed at the clock, and began getting dressed. The morning was completely silent until we climbed in the car with Theo. He gave me a tight hug before driving towards the school. Him and Alex made small talk on the way, but I barely paid any attention.
On my way to my first class, I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. I almost cried when I saw my brothers name pop up on my cell phone.
"Adam," I gasped, turning the corner and entering the girls bathroom. I locked the main door and sat down on the floor after making sure nobody was in there.
"Adri, mom told me everything. She told me about you being a Siren and her being hired to protect you by your real parents and how you're so special and you're safe now and I miss you so much, Adri, I really really do. And I think you need to come home soon. Even if just to visit." His words were rushed, jumbling together, but I managed to make out the majority of what he said.
"I'll try my best. We have so much to talk about." I whispered, holding back the small sob that tried relentlessly to escape my lips.
"We do. Call me later, okay. I have to go. Mom and dad are talking to some people and I don't know who they are but they look important to so I need to eavesdrop." I smiled at his statement and agreed to call him later before hanging up. I spent all of my first class as a little 'red' jay, sitting on a branch right outside of the bathroom.
