Where Ya' Rowing, Rowan North?

Chapter Eleven: I Cried When I Read This. Seriously.

“God, please make it stop!” I muttered under my breath, digging my nails into the old plastic seat and tucking my wings close to my shoulders until it hurt. Jynx sat at the back of the bus, blasting her classic cello music at top notch on her iphone. “Shut that racket off!” I snarled.

Jynx made a face at me. “And turn on what, country music? No, this is much better, trust me. Anyways, I miss Sherman, and this music helps me feel close to him!” She gave the picture of a cello she was clutching a hug. I did a facepalm at my friend. Who would have ever thought that a girl with a jet-black Mohawk and a T-shirt darker than night to match would love Beethoven?

It was about nine o’clock at night, the moon just beginning to rise up above the treetops all around us. We drove down a highway, a tiny little white light amidst the blackness of the pavement and the ferocity of the untamed forest it cut through. The bus swerved gently every now and then as Katie dozed off.

“Oh, hi, Rowan!” Harmony bounced past me, her eyes wide and full of energy. “Guess what? Go ahead, guess!” She didn’t wait for me to oblige as she declared, “I found Five Hour Energy! And I drank all of it!” I turned towards the window and banged my head up against, ‘cause sometimes a facepalm just ain’t gonna cut it.

“That’s very nice, Harmony.” I breathed slowly, my patience running thin. Even though the girls around me, except for the little pain of a stowaway, were my friends, my head was still dreary with an exhaustion that was making me more irritable than a ticked-off moose.

I shoved past Harmony, who reeled around looking surprised, and padded over to where Dragon sat, her legs dangling out of the emergency door. I have to hand it to her, I’ve never seen anybody look so calm sitting on the border between complete safety and a hard, fast pavement. “Hey, Dragon.” I said quietly. She blinked up at me and sighed.

“Hi, Rowan.” She turned her view back to the forest that flew out behind us.

“Its really pretty out there, isn’t it?” I asked, more to myself than to her, not really expecting a response. Little Dragon nodded her head, her ink-colored hair blowing past her and towards the forest, like it wanted to escape the light of the bus and become part of the blackness of the night.

I sat down and dangled my own legs out of the bus, and, even though I knew that my wings would save me should I fall, I felt strangely exhilarated. But not scared. Not at all. It was amazing, the wind rushing around me, but never harming me. I narrowed my eyes, remembering that time, almost a week ago, when I had conjured up a storm in my fury. When I had, figuratively and literally, gained my wings.

I arched a palm out, focusing all of my energy into my hand and shutting my eyes. Come on... come on. I prayed, listening to my heart beating and waiting for something, anything, to happen. My eye shot wide open as I realized that something had, was, happening.

Stuck there, in that little space surrounded by the wind flowing off the sides of the bus, a small breeze flowed off my hand, blue and smooth, like I was waving my fingers over the surface of some nice, calm water and watching it wash over my hand.

“Whoa!” Little Dragon let out a gasp, and practically fell off the bus. “H-how are you doing that?” A massive grin spread over my face. “I don’t know!” The breeze, my breeze, coming from my hands, all but ceased. I drooped. “Guess I need to keep practicing, then.” I breathed, looking out over the landscape that flew out behind us. And suddenly, a strange feeling swept over me as I realized something. Like, really realized it.

The people around me were my friends. Friends. I thought slowly, whispering the word under my breath and feeling it roll of my tongue. And my heart hurt as I realized that that was something I had never had before. I mean, at my old, normal school, I had known people that slept over at my house, that I paired up with to work on projects. But they had never truly cared about me, and, in all honesty, probably would have flinched away if I had actually called them by the title. I let out a small sigh. They hadn’t understood what loyalty was, what friendship was. Then again, neither had I. But now... I was starting to think I did.

“Hey, umm... are you alright, Rowan?” Little Dragon’s voice jarred me from my thoughts and my eyes shot from thoughtful slits to wide and open. She gave me a sheepish, uncertain grin. “You were like... zoning out there for a moment. Don’t... don’t do that thing anymore, if it hurts you.”

I gave my friend a weak, tired smile. “I’m... I’m fine. No need to worry about me.” I fluffed my wings out. I looked down at the pavement that rolled on underneath us. “You know, I’m kinda-”

“Luna, just quit it!” Lily snapped from behind us. I winced miserably as a streak of pearly fire rushed past me and out into the night air. An instant later, there was an cry of irritation mixed with pain. I whipped around, and caught sight of Luna smirking while Lily hung, suspended, above the ground.

Lily looked ready to kill.