The Heaven Project [Completed]

A Day at the Library *Connor*

"Eva?" I ask, interrupting her mid sentence. "Is that supposed to happen?" I point to the feather in the ground and she looks at it.

"What?!" she exclaims, jumping up from her seat. She carefully picks up the feather. Her hands hold it like it's the most precious thing in the entire world. "There's two meanings for this and I'm not happy with either one."

Tears threaten to spill out of her eyes. It's breaking my heart to see her like this. Completely broken. She's been lied to, thrown here not knowing what to do, fight a demon, deal with bullies at school and now she's losing feathers. Or a feather.

"Please don't cry. You're gonna make me cry,"
I say, pulling her into a hug.

"You don't know what this means," she says, now crying. "Either I'm dying or I'm losing my wings."

"I thought you couldn't lose your wings?" I say. Okay, I know I'm not being very sympathetic. Of course I don't want her to die! I'm just really curious.

"I- I did a little research," she hiccups, "and apparently if you go against the rules or do s-something the Council doesn't like, you lose your wings."

What? What could Eva possibly have done that would make the Council mad? If she upset the Council then the Council has some issues going on. I'm not accepting the fact she could be dying. There's no way my Eva, I mean Eva, could be dying. It's just not possible.

"Maybe...maybe you're losing feathers from stress? That's how people lose hair so maybe it's the same?" I suggest. Eva doesn't say anything. Her cries echo throughout the room. I start rubbing my hand up and down her back. "Shhh Eva, it's okay. You're going to be okay. It's only one feather."

"One feather could lead to another then another then another." Every couple of words causes Eva to hiccup and for her to cry harder. Her sobs aren't allowing her to breath correctly and my shirt is soaked through with tears.

"You don't know that, Ev. Shh, deep breaths," I say. Hopefully no one comes up here. That might be an awkward sight.

"After everything I've been through, now I'm either dying or being rejected," Eva says, completely ignoring my comments.

"No no no, don't you say that." I pull back from her, hands on her shoulders, and look her in the eyes. Her beautiful green eyes are tinged pink and they're puffy from crying. "You are perfectly alright. A healthy, beautiful girl that no one would reject. It's not worth the fret, okay?"

"How can you be so positive?" Eva asks, wiping her eyes with the palm of her hands.

"Because I know you and I have hope. Does that count?" I say softly, brushing the hair away from her face.

"Sure, if you're that kind of a person," Eva says and let's out a humorless laugh. "I'm supposed to be helping you."

"We help each other," I say. Eva smiles but it's not a happy one. More demonic. Or as demonic as an angel can get.

"Guess we're done here, yeah? Figured out my life is a lie so what now?" Eva says bitterly. Then in an actual happy tone, she says, "Can we check out the young adult books now?"

"I would never break a promise. Sure," I say. I'm not going to question the sudden change of moods. I've learned long ago that girls are confusing, especially when said girls are angels. My suggestion: let the girl be unless she could kill you for it. Then be very, very frightened.

"Yay!" Eva cheers and bounds down the steps. I seriously don't get what goes on in that head of hers. Hopefully, she just knows to keep quiet in a library.

I run down the stairs soon after her. She's well ahead of me and is already turning to a shelf lined with books. She pulls one off the shelf and holds it up to me.

"Have you read this?" Eva asks as I get closer. The front of the book reads The Blackhope Enigma.

"Yeah, I read that in eighth grade. Great book. These two kids go into a painting called Arcadia, trying to find someone. I can't remember exactly. All I remember was reading it and being completely absorbed in it," I say.

"I want to read it now. Can I read it?" she says.

"Sure. I brought my library card if you want to check any books out," I say. Eva gives a satisfied nod, holds the book to her chest and moves along the shelf. I follow behind her, looking at a few books along the way.

A few stand out to me like The 5th Wave and The Book Thief. Others just stand out because I've already read them like Asylum, Legend and The Maze Runner. All great books in their own ways. Eva points out a few and I tell her I have them on my bookshelf at home. Then she asks me to rate them on a scale of one to five. I give them all good rates. I don't think I've ever given a book a one rating. It's just not possible in my opinion. It takes a lot of work to pull off writing a book.

"Is Fangirl good?" Eva asks, holding up a green book with a boy and a girl on her computer on the front.

"No idea," I shrug. "Sounded a little girly."

That comment earned me a slap upside the head. I scowl and rub the back of my head.

"Your gendering is very much NOT appreciated," Eva says, tucking the book under her arms. "Moving on." She turns on her heel and begins walking away.

I would like to say I didn't get whacked for the rest of the trip at the library but that would be lying. One time, I think she just hit me just to hit me. After she figured out I didn't get hurt by her little smacks, she's been taking advantage of it. Of course, the girl knows her limits. The strangest thing happened though. She was about to hit me in the face with a book, it was an accident she wasn't paying attention, and her hand just froze five inches from my face.

Eva flipped out and starting apologizing repeatedly about it saying that she should've watched what she was doing and making sure I didn't get hit. I don't really get it because why would she make sure I didn't get hit if her hand froze? I guess she was worried the book would fly from her grasp and continue its course to my face. It was cute though, seeing her all concerned and her checking me for any scratches or marks. I finally assured her I was alright and that it was an accident.

I got Eva to leave the library before she could grab a fourth book. There's a limit at the library but I don't know what it is. All I know is that there's no way Eva is going to finish three books with everything going on. Unless she's some kind of speed reader or she creates more spare time for reading. Never mind, there is a possibility she'll finish them all.

"And that's how it works. That's how you get the girl," Eva sings, skipping the the sidewalk and her wings fluttering causing her steps to sometimes not even touch the ground.

"How do you get the girl?" I ask, almost absently as I kick a rock, sending it skittering across the sidewalk.

"Haven't you been listening?" Eva says, stopping in her tracks and turning towards me. If I wouldn't have been paying attention, I would have run straight into her.

"Uhm, no? I've been kind of spacey. Just thinking about stuff," I say.

"What kind of stuff?" Eva asks, hugging her books closer to her and twisting her torso back and forth.

"My...friends," I say. I wasn't going to tell her what I was really thinking. I was thinking about how her hair bounces as she skips, how her eyes light up when she starts singing, how her wings always try to flutter her around when she's happy or excited. Get it together! It's never going to happen. Just stop thinking about it.

"We made a deal," Eva says with a pout. "You can't lie to me."

"You really, really, really want to know?" I ask. Eva nods, stepping beside me as I pass her. She matches her pace with mine. I take a deep breath before speaking. "I was thinking about you. How I like, like like, you."

Eva's jaw drops.