Bluebirds Without Wings | Julie and the Phantoms

Green

They both went through and walked to her shrub where she kept her binoculars. He had no idea how they always ended up back there. "It feels weird today," she told him, listening hard. "I don't know if we'll see any."

"We can still try," he told her. She looked at him and smiled, before a flash of an idea came across her face. She put the binoculars back in place and motioned for him to follow her. He felt like even if it wasn't his duty, he would follow her wherever she wanted to go. She was enchanting in that way, and it almost made him sad to not be able to let her know. The guilt barely let him enjoy the buzz of infatuation.

They walked for a while in complete silence, but it wasn't bad. They heard a few bugs and every time the Princess thought she heard a bird, she'd stop and listen before continuing her walk. She ran the last couple of feet out of the dense woods and to a clearing on a cliff. "Look," she told him with a huge grin. "It's beautiful here." Luke caught up to her and overlooked the huge forest below them. The skies were still a bright blue in the background of it, the blending seamlessly with the green at the edge. It seemed never ending. "This land belongs to Willie's kingdom. I wonder how many animals live in there, unharmed," she muttered.

Luke didn't say anything, and he watched her stare out, her eyes huge with wonder as if it were the first time she saw it. Maybe it was different when you show someone you're friends with something you really like. You see it a little differently. A little clearer.

She looked up at him and caught him staring, Luke not looking away from her for once. He didn't breathe, thinking it would help his brain not stutter. Maybe it was just her that made it hard to be normal. They stared at each other before finally, Luke felt himself blush and look back at the view. He knew there was a satisfied smirk on her face. She knew what she was doing, and it was eating him alive that he couldn't bring anything up. "Don't stand so close to the edge," was all he told her as he stared out.

"Why?" she asked, stepping to stand right at his side. Her arms was pressed against his already, and neither of them moved away.

"Because."

"You care about me?" she asked him. Of course I do.

"Your dad would be real mad if you fell off a cliff, you know?" he told her. She somehow got closer to him, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. He had no idea what she was doing or what to do. He knew he had to move away as fast as possible, but he couldn't do it. He couldn't move his feet or step to the side or pretend to have a coughing fit.

She whispered to him, "You're not hard to read." Luke's breath hitched. He tried so hard when he got to the academy to keep to himself. He hadn't shared any information about home with anyone, rarely a word or two about his parents. The only way he could connect with people were through basic hobbies and occasionally, opinions and emotions they shared. Here the Princess was, cracking him right open when he was fighting so hard to stay closed. He had to stay closed. He couldn't let her in deeper than what she was. Yet he couldn't get away from her.

"Alex and Reggie tell me the opposite." Princess Julie turned her body to face him, but he didn't dare turn to face her. She took off her visor and stood on her tippy toes to put it on his head, Luke bending down a little to help her. She stuck it straight up instead of having it above his forehead where it should be. "I don't get the point of visors," Luke said. "Just buy a whole hat."

"That's what Nick's dad used to tell me," the Princess said. Luke forgot for a moment that Nick's dad was a dead knight. It was hard to not like Nick. If he were to end up with the Princess, his life would be the perfect blockbuster movie. And here Luke was, pretending that he could protect the Princess better than Nick would. He was a scam. "He would also tell me I could do better than his son." Luke looked at her, an eyebrow raised. She shrugged. "I don't know. He was really good friends with my parents. That's how he got his wife the job. He was a great man. He was just a little strict with Nick. Expected a lot from him. I think that's why Nick doesn't always go for what he wants. He's still insecure." Okay so maybe his life wouldn't be movie perfect.