He with Missing Wings

5 / Hate

Twenty-four hours had flown by since Mackenzie's hospitalization, but the wounds were still fresh in the developing minds of Windsor High School. The entire student body rambled on about the bloody accident that left a cheerleader half-dead on top of her porche.

"I heard that Mack tried to oof herself," said a tight lipped biracial beauty named Robyn.

"Bitch, that don't even make no sense. Mackenzie had no reason to attempt suicide. Her dumbass probably tripped on those busted-ass, strugglin'-ass jordans she still be trynna squeeze into," suggested a tall, dark Nigerian girl with maroon nails to match her lipstick. Her parents had named her Stephanie when she was born because they believed that people only respected American names.

"Girl no, it was like some paranormal activity shit. The chick got thrown out the window. There wasn't even nobody around to toss her ass. I just wish that I coulda' been there to do it myself," said a curvy latina named Joel. She wore the cheapest makeup that could be purchased from the town's local beauty store, but would pound you silly just for making a face at her.

Kylel and I grabbed our usual seats beside my besties in the cafeteria. Robyn, Stephanie, and Joel laughed at their own interpretations of the window incident. A demon harming a student was absurd. It was an angel that did it.

"Heyy Chrissy! You wanna celebrate with us? The entire school's gotta extra five feet of space in the halls now that Mackenzie's fat ass is gone," Robyn joked.

"There's... nothing funny about it. It's sad what happened to her," I muttered, killing the light mood.

I could hear Kylel pat his knees nervously. It was almost cute how childish he acted even though he had the appearance of a twenty-three year old man.

"C-Christina I want to go home," he whispered into my ear.

"What? Why?" I asked, oblivious to my friends' staring.

"Um, Tina... who you talkin' to?" Joel probed with a raised brow.

I often forgot that nobody else could see Kylel but me. This was not the first time that I was caught speaking out loud to him.

"Nothin', I just thought I heard somebody call my name."

"Bitch, you wish," Robyn piped with a snicker.

"Only in bed," Stephanie added.

"She pro'lly got some imaginary hunk that she fucks when she aint listenin' to us," Joel remarked with a sly grin.

"With a 10-inch cock," Stephanie slid in.

Kylel giggled. "Such odd girls."

"Shut up," I grumbled, abandoning the lunch table. "I gotta go, tramps. Not feelin' school today. See ya'll tomorrow."

They were confused. Joel probably thought she had said something that offended me. She hadn't. I wished that they could know about my guardian. Seeing Kylel was not enough. I wanted him to be real. I wanted to go out to eat with him in public, and introduce him to my obnoxious group of friends, and spend the rest of my life with him. And possibly my afterlife. It was only a matter of time before those dreams would become a reality.

I decided to skip school for the millionth time. It wasn't like the school kept track of attendance and my mom sure didn't care where I as, so long as I wasn't under her roof. Kylel and I waited at the nearest marta stop to catch the first bus toward home. The bumpy ride would have maintained total silence had I not mustered enough courage to speak my mind.

"Ky, what's wrong?"

Kylel peered out of his window, watching the blur of trees as our bus cruised through the town's capital.