The Heaven Project [Completed]

...Surprise? *Eva*

"I think," Connor says, being the first to break the silence, "we should talk about what happened."

"I might get called to the Council now. Don't be surprised if I just vanish one day," I say. Connor crinkles his nose and looks away.

"Ev, can I tell you something?" Connor says after a few moments of silence.

"Of course," I say almost automatically. Never in my life would I have thought I'd be in this situation.

"This is going to sound like really cheesy and stuff but...there's something about you that makes me feel different. Around you, I don't have to hide anything. You bring this sense of calmness wherever you go. Even when I can't think straight, you help me through it. Now that I've gotten you in some kind of trouble, I...I can't even think about it," Connor says, shaking his head.

"You haven't gotten me in any trouble. It is my own fault that I have fallen for you but I would not change a thing," I say. Then I randomly start laughing. "Fifteen and look what I'm saying."

Connor starts laughing too. Soon after, we're both a laughing mess. I couldn't tell you what we're laughing at. Maybe at ourselves, the world, the Council. I would totally laugh at the Council. They lied to all the angels. After taking an oath to only tell the truth, I don't understand it. Oaths are binding, not allowing you to disobey them. I took the oath when I was entering my training years of school.

I remember when I was 13 and I tried lying to my mother about where I was. I remember not being able to speak, my throat feeling like it was closing until I finally told the truth. My mother grounded me for two months. The kindest person I know was so disappointed in me. I can only imagine what she would feel like if she knew about the Council.

The rain finally let up a bit. Some say the reason it rains is because the Heavens are crying. That's not completely true. I mean, I think Heaven does control the weather but that's not in our province. That's God's court, which I forgot to mention. So technically, there are three provinces. The passed over, the angels and God's court.

"Think we're dry enough to go in?" I ask. Connor wrings out his shirt, water still dripping from it. The look on Connor's face causes me to laugh again.

"Nope...Mom!" Connor shouts. Soon after, I hear footsteps from inside and the front door open.

"Is everything alright?" Mrs. Blake asks, poking her head outside. Her face was pale then it slowly regained its color. "Connor! You gave me a heart attack!"

"Mom, we're wet," Connor says simply. Mrs. Blake rolls her eyes.

"Eva, dear, come here," Mrs. Blake says. I stand up and walk over to her. She smiles at me and looks at Connor. "Since she doesn't scare me half to death, I'll get her dried off."

"Haha," I say to Connor and he sticks his tongue out at me.

Mrs. Blake laughs and says, "I'll be right back Connor. Let me dry Eva first."

Mrs. Blake leads me inside but tells me to stand in the foyer while she grabs a towel and a change of clothes. I don't get how she's going to get me a change of clothes when she doesn't know I have clothes here. A few minutes later, she returns with a towel draped over her arm and a dress. Of course it's not one of my dresses, I only have one and it's solid black. This one is pale yellow. Mrs. Blake dries me with the towel as best as she can, oblivious to the set of wings on my back, then ushers me into the bathroom to change.

"It's probably an ill fit but try it on and I'll see what I can do," she says, handing me the dress. I take it from her and smile.

"Thank you, Mrs. Blake," I say.

"Call me Lily, sweetheart," She says. With that she leaves me to change, probably bringing Connor in.

I don't really know what to do with my wet clothes so I just leave them in a pile on the floor. I'll ask her about it when she comes back. I slip into the dress. It's a basic sundress, no zipper in the back, just a classic slip into. It fits fairly well besides around my waist. I wonder if Mrs. Blake, I mean Lily, can fix it. Right after I thought that, I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," I say. Lily comes in, it's going to take some time to get used to calling her that, and smiles when she sees me.

"I see the dress fits well. Here, let me fix this part." She stands behind me and grabs something out of the cabinet. It looked like thread and a needle. Is she going to sew it? She pulls the dress tight but not too tight, and that's where I have no idea what she's doing. A few minutes, which felt like years, of silence, she snips the thread and puts everything back. "There we go."

The dress fits perfectly now. It stops right above my knees and I notice a flower pattern around the neckline. My brown hair is still damp and hanging in strands. Lily notices and starts twisting it into a french braid.

"You know, I've always wanted a daughter," she says quietly. "Three miscarriages. I was really bitter after that. I thought the universe was cursing me. I forgot to see what was right in front of me. The most amazing family I could ask for, I had all along."

"I'm sorry about your loses. I didn't know..." I say. I don't really know how to respond to this new information. Now I understand why she was so rude although that's really not an excuse. Then again, I don't know how that affects a person.

"You didn't know sweetheart," she says, smiling sadly at me. She grabs a rubber band and puts it in my hair. "There we are. All fixed up."

"Thank you," I say. Lily waves it off.

"Anytime," she says. With a final pat on my shoulder, she leaves me alone in the bathroom.