Earning Wings

A normal ordinary day

Opening my eyes I scowled, something was wrong. Something was off, for one thing I was sitting in a chair and for another thing a blank page was open on my computer. The little cursor blinked waiting for something to be typed. Shaking my head in confusion I stood and looked over to the clock. Swearing I raced to get ready for school before I would loose my ride. The odd computer thing leaving my mind.

Looking around my room I scowled picking up some random t-shirts that were on the nightstand as I searched for my cell, where was it? Pants. I turned and grabbed my pants from yesterday checking the pockets, nope. Sighing I glanced at the clock and left my room racing down the hallway. I frowned as I slid into the kitchen grabbing an apple.

Mom was passed out on the couch, still in her work clothes. Sighing I bit my lip and picked her up carrying her into her room and setting her on her bed.

“Nathaniel.” She muttered in her sleep and I frowned slightly, seeming to recognize the name. It was similar to mine, but not exactly the same.

Shaking my head I decided I could think about it once I was safely at school. Racing out the door of the apartment I smiled seeing Carson in his beat up Ford pick-up truck waiting for me.

Sliding into the car I slammed the door and buckled up quickly as Carson started to drive off.

“Dude, seriously next time I’m just going to drive away.”

I rolled my eyes, “No you won’t, Carson.” I smirked , he made the same threat every morning I was late. Basically every morning.

Carson scoffed, “Yeah you’re right. Maybe I should start meaning what I say.” He paused turning into the parking lot of our school, “Did you hear about the new girl?”

“New girl?” This was news, considering that our town was one of those ‘everybody knows everybody’ towns. In fact we had all known each other since pre-k.

Parking the car he nodded, “Yeah apparently she just moved here. Her parents bought Dracula’s Castle.”

Okay it wasn’t really Dracula’s Castle, in truth it was just one of those old mansions on top of a hill that seemed to have a foreboding presence surrounding it. “Huh.” I muttered not really caring as soon as those words had been spoken. No doubt everyone at school would be sending rumors all around now.

Getting out of the car I slid my back pack on my shoulder as I walked across the familiar green lawn of my school. Theodore High, named after one of our greatest presidents. Carson walked next to me, his messy brown hair falling in his dark brown eyes, just like always. We were both the same height, 5’8”, and tan,. That’s basically where our similarities, looks wise and history wise ended.

Where Carson was about and scrawny and skinny as could be I was muscular and well built, from all those hours of baseball. Carson was outgoing and friendly and I was more quiet and moody. We were friends though, because Carson’s Mom and my Mom had been friends in high school. And because I was popular, Carson was too, even if he was geeky and liked to watch Harry Potter on a Saturday night rather than go to a football game.

Entering the school we both sighed in relief as we saw students milling around the hallways, we weren’t late. Always a relief, being late meant a phone call home. Theodore High didn’t have detention, the teachers knew that your parents would punish you far more severely than any school could. Carson ditched me heading off to the biology lab room to turn in a permission slip for a trip to some career discussion thing, where you’d be able to talk to a biologist and other people from science related careers.

Sighing I headed to my locker to get my text books for the day. Spinning the lock I pulled open my locker and tensed slightly as the familiar scent of lilacs manifested next to me. Looking up I sighed my dark green eyes meeting Courtney’s light grey-blue ones.

“Hello, Court.”

She smiled one of those ‘homecoming queen’ smiles at me, “Morning, Nate.”

Reaching up she tucked a lock of dark red hair behind her ear, somehow without getting it tangled in her silver dangling earrings. Her skin was a pale rose color, with freckles across her nose and cheeks that actually seemed to make her look more pretty. Her hair fell just past her shoulders in loose barrel curls and her bangs swept to the side just barely above her eyes which were framed by lashes that were coated heavily in mascara.

I smiled politely looking down at her, “So is there a reason you’re here?”

Courtney giggled, “Well I go to school here, silly.”

“Court, you know what I meant.” I rolled my eyes slightly at her lame attempt at joking.

She sighed a slightly annoyed expression flashing across her heart shaped face before it vanished, “Well I just wanted to talk to you. About things.”

I sighed, “Forget it, Court. We aren’t getting back together.”

“Fine.” At this she huffed, obviously upset and turned walking off her too short skirt making her legs look longer as she walked away I sighed.

Courtney Abigail Wilcox, Queen of our school. Junior, just like me, and my ex- girlfriend. True we had been dating since the first week of Freshman year, and yes she was indeed my first kiss, but that was the problem. We had stopped dating because we wanted to and had started dating because we were expected to. We had been together so long that everyone had voted us ‘Most likely to get Married’ our Sophomore year. Once I realized that I didn’t like her anymore I broke up with her, two weeks ago, and ever since then she’s been trying to get me back.

Yup, the queen of Theodore High was chasing after me and I was rejecting her. Crazy wasn’t it? I was Nathan Julian Grey, star of the baseball team, ‘mysterious’, and most importantly nice guy who generally cared. Basically I was cute and not a player. Yup, that’s all it took to be popular at my school. Sighing I shook my head in disappointment and headed off to class, Chemistry. And I had Mrs. Abbot, possibly the meanest teacher in school. At least we were almost to winter break, that was nice. Right?

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um so yeah in that picture of the school I spelt Theodore wrong.... sorry bout that