Adam-
The first time it happens, I’m lying in bed, staring at my wobbly ceiling fan.
Okay, if I’m being fully honest, I was thinking about Autumn. And I was worrying too. Because spending today with her was absolutely crazy incredible and it helped me realize something. I care about her. I care about her in a more–than–friend way. The way Mom warned me against. And I know I shouldn’t be thinking about her like that. Telling myself to knock it off doesn’t help because as soon as I glance over at her photo on my desk, or see the Polaroid of the two of us—the one where we were laughing so hard that tears were pouring down our cheeks. I love this picture because our faces are kinda squished together and while Autumn is beaming at the camera, I’m smiling at her.
The pain jolts me out of my daydreams and I roll off my bed in pain. My shoulders are hunched in agony. Moaning, my vision begins to cloud and I feel like at any moment I might puke.
“What’s happening?” I cry, reaching for my phone. The rational part of my head screams, CALL BAILEE!
So I do.
Thankfully, she picks up and turns it to Facetime. Instantly, her green eyes flash with worry. “Adam?” she asks. “What’s going on? Are you sick?”
I writhe on the floor. “I! Don’t! Know!” My head feels like it’s splitting into a billion different pieces. Everything is spinning and swirling and flopping and pulsing and it hurts, oh how badly it hurts.
“Breathe,” Bailee instructs.
I can’t. My heart is palpitating and my shoulder blades ripple with pain. It’s like knives. And then all of a sudden, it stops.
“Yours will come in bursts,” Bailee says sadly.
“My...my what?” my voice is shaky. I stand up, wobbling, and prop the phone up against the mirror. Frowning, I notice that my shoulder blades are lumpier than usual. Slipping off my shirt, I throw it in a wad on the floor and twist to look at my reflection in the mirror.
Falling to the ground, I scramble backwards.
“Bailee,” I croak, clawing at my bare, horrifying shoulder blades. “Bailee, what happened to me?”
Nothing looks right with her. Her skin looks all too pasty and her glasses too big and bold and her hair to bouncy and frizzy and far too red. It seems like her lavender blouse doesn’t fit her quite right either. The only perfect things are the two twin, snowy white wings that hang like an elegant curtain around her skinny frame.
“It’s your wings,” Bailee says. “They take time to come through.”
Disgusted, I snarl at the two ugly bumps that stick out like two eyesores—which they are.
“How am I supposed to hide these?” I demand.
Shrugging, my sister says, “It’s cold there, right?”
“Cold-ish.”
“Well then, problem solved. Wear a jacket.”
“They don’t wear them all the time!” I’m angry and grumpy and don’t like this reminder that I am not normal. That I am not human and cannot be as close to my friends as I would like. Because of this secret that stands like a wall between us. A wall that I will never be able to break down. A wall that separates me from Autumn.
“Hey, stop complaining. When I was helping Rylee, it was summer. I had to wear baggy tops and keep my hair loose.”
“But you can hide yours now!” It sounds like I’m accusing her of something. Irritated, she pushes her glasses up on her forehead and rubs the bridge of her nose.
“Adam,” she says flatly. “You know perfectly well that full grown wings are made with magic and therefore can hide themselves. Yours need time to grow, and they aren’t magical yet. Give it time and be grateful for the weather.”
“How long will it take?”
Bailee blows a curl off her face and looks like she’d like nothing more than to chuck the phone across the room. This actually startles me because usually, Bailee is so patient.
“They’ll grow every time you help your charge a little,” she says. Taking a deep breath, she asks, “What did you do today to help?”
Her brief annoyance has distracted me. “Hung out all day in the Town Square. But Bailee—”
“Wait. By yourselves?”
“Yeah, but what is—”
“Oh no. No, no, no, no, no.” she shakes her head and runs shaking hands down her face. “It’s happening, it’s happening.”
Confusion crashes over me like a giant, unescapable tidal wave. What’s been going on? Why is she acting so strange again?
“Why did I know this was going to happen?” she moans.
I am so confused. But suddenly, a text from Autumn lights up my screen and chimes with a ding!
Sry about 2day. Want 2 go 2 the park tmrw?
Yes! I text back.
“What was that?” Bailee demands. She’s trying to sound angry, but I can tell that she’s just nervous. Her knuckles are white and there is an indention in her bottom lip where her teeth keep gnawing on the pink flesh.
“Just a text. Chill out, Bee.”
“From whom?”
For a strange reason, I find myself not wanting to tell her. This is a secret that I want to keep myself. I do not want her to find out all the things Autumn and I have shared and the growing friendship between us. I do not want to tell her that I have broken the Guardian Angel rules by falling slowly for a human girl. So I tell her, “A friend. Carson.”
My sister is not fooled. She knows that I am lying. And the look in her eyes makes me regret it. But then I remember—she’s keeping her own secrets. So I cross my arms across my chest and try to look defiant. Two can play at this game. And I’m going to win.
Staring down at her hands, Bailee whispers, “I’m just trying to help and protect you, Adam. Bad things are going on here too. If I tell you...will you tell me what’s happening with you?”
“A secret for a secret?” I ask skeptically.
“A secret for a secret,” she agrees. “But you can go first.”
I glance at the Polaroid on my desk. Do I want to do this? I’m not so sure. Noticing small things is Bailee’s specialty.
“I can’t help if you don’t let me in,” she shakes her head.
“Please, will you go first, Bee?”
The sigh she huffs sounds endless. I’m a little surprised that her lungs didn’t explode.
“Fine,” she snaps. “An angel got his wings taken away.”
My eyes go wide. Removal of the Wings are not very common. Whoever this guy is, he must’ve done something bad. “Who is it? What did he do?”
Biting her lip, Bailee says, “Theodoric Kastronov. And all he did was fail to help his charge. The poor human boy had a Monster. It made him go totally insane. Theodoric couldn’t do anything about it, and neither could his girlfriend, Ciara Evers.”
“I know her.”
Bailee nods. “She’s the one who told me. And Adam, she knows Dad.”
There’s a long pause.
“Now,” she sniffs. “Tell me what’s really going on. Does Autumn have a Monster?”
Yes.
No.
Maybe. I’m not entirely sure. I mean, I think so, judging by the wooden expression she always gets when someone brings up her injury or family. But I want to get to know her better. Because I really don’t know.
“I don’t know her well enough,” I say, which is true enough.
Bailee waits.
“But I think she might. Might,” I add, emphasizing the last word.
“You need to be careful.”
“I know.”
“I’m not so sure that you do.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
She hesitates. As if she’s afraid to tell me.
“You have a crush on Autumn Hathaway,” I can hear her voice in my head. But she doesn’t say that.
“It isn’t like that!” I snap angrily,.
But who am I kidding? It’s exactly like that.
As I debate between hanging up and continuing this conversation, Bailee says, “I’m just worried about you. That’s all.”
“I know.”
“Did you ever try that gum?”
I’m so startled by this change in conversation that I don’t understand her question whatsoever. “What?”
“The mint gum,” she repeats impatiently. “Did you try it?”
I glance around and find the green rectangle with a crumpled silver wrapper on my desk.
Gross. How long has it been sitting there?
“It’s gum. It doesn’t expire,” Bailee sees my face.
I roll my eyes but stick the piece of gum in my mouth. As it wads itself into a ball, I gasp.
Bailee laughs her very special Bailee Laugh, which is really more of a chortle mixed with hyena cries and gasping. Her laughs are always so contagious. It makes me smile, despite the modern torture in my mouth. My tongue burns. “What is this?” I demand through the pain and agony. This is a brand new kind of evil, I decide. The dreaded MINT GUM.
“Good, isn’t it?”
“That is definitely not the word I had in mind.”
“Just give it a second. Mint is kind of an acquired taste.”
No kidding!
But as I continue to chew (But DON’T swallow!), I find that my sister is right. And mint is now officially my favorite flavor. What wonderful foods East Creek, Texas has.
“THIS IS SO GOOD!” I groan contentedly. Bailee chortle–laughs again and does her famous, “I told you so!”
She’s very good at that.
“Okay,” she says. “I have a plan.”
“What plan?”
“For you to see if Autumn has a Monster.”
My scowl returns. “I don’t think you’ve been paying attention to anything I’ve been saying, but she doesn’t easily trust. And my main concern right now is to be her friend and confidant.”
“You should be thinking about getting the job done, quickly and correctly. You’re not there to be her friend,” she then coughs something that sounds suspiciously like, “or her lover.”, before she continues, “You’re there to be a Guardian Angel.”
“Mom told me to have fun.”
Bailee’s face hardens. At this moment, her complexion looks like pale ice, brittle and cold, and ready to hurt me. “Yeah, well, Mom doesn’t know. Just get your wings and get out of there. We don’t need anymore...issues.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just don’t get distracted. Remember why you’re there.”
Our moment of fun is long gone. Between the seriousness on her face and the hostility in her tone, I’m having a hard time believing that this is the girl with the crazy laugh.
I’m having a hard time believing that this is the girl I call ‘sister’.
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