Wings that Guard Me

Chapter 20 Raphael

School hasn't even started yet and I hate it. That's right, it's the first day of school and I'm standing outside the front doors. I spent most of yesterday convincing the office that they don't need my paperwork or my parents. And of course by "convincing" I mean I have a thing layer of power settled over the office so that whenever they feel the need to double check my records they will just pull out a random students' records and see what they expect to be mine. It's a tedious process but necessary.

"Hey Raph!" I turn at the sound of my name. Tony is walking up to the school now. There's a girl walking next to him. I recognize her but I can't seem to pinpoint where or how I know her. Her choppy brown hair that ends at her shoulders compliments her face nicely. I use my superior eyesight to get a good look at her while she's still so far away. Her eyes are a lilac color, that's odd, rare. The rest of her face just screams young and innocent, except for the diamond stud piercing on the right side of her nose and her double pierced left eyebrow. If someone wasn't looking closely they'd miss these because the stud is so small and her hair falls in front of her eyebrow. She's shorter than Tony, probably closer to my height. Her skirt and loose blouse combo give off the impression of a sweet girl. But there's a coldness in her eyes that I recognize all too well. There's more to this girl than meets the eye.

"Hey!" I respond to Tony's greeting. He's so cheerful, why is he so cheerful?

"You ready for your first day of high school?" There's humor in his voice as he asks, coming up to stand next to me. I smirk, "It's your first day too." He rolls his eyes good-naturedly at my comment. "Well yeah, but I wasn't homeschooled my whole life."

I shrug and glance at the girl again.shes watching me carefully. We stare at each other for a moment. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! This is Seraph, she moved to the neighborhood about the same time you did." Tony gestures to the girl next to him. I nod in greeting to her and she smiles.

"Seraph, this is Raphael." Tony once again gestures between us. We don't say anything to each other, just stare warily at each other. I know I know her. I have a nearly perfect memory for someone over a hundred and thirty. So the fact that I can't remember her is irritating to say the least.

"Why don't we get your guys' schedules?" He breaks our staring contest and pulls us inside. I already have my schedule but I don't mention this. I just stay close to Tony. While we are in the office I let my mind run through possibilities.
Her name is Seraph, that seems significant. I mean doesn't Seraph mean angel? "Angel?" I whisper to myself in realization. Her head snaps up to look at me. "What did you say?" Her voice is urgent.

"Seraph? As in angel?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at her reaction. She stiffens and struggles to school her expression. "I'm not an angel." I smirk at this response, that's what I thought.

"I never said you were, Angel." She clenches her jaw and turns away from me. I smile, very proud that I've managed to upset her. Maybe school isn't going to be as bad as I thought.

We exit the office as the first bell rings. We all glance at our schedules and head for our first hours. We have the same first hour, what a coincidence. Or as coincidental as it can be. We arrive at our first class and find our seats. I look over at Seraph and smirk,winking at her. She clenches her jaw and turns away from me, showing me her back. I chuckle at her irritation. She's making this too easy.

I'd forgotten how much fun this is. Just messing with people. Purposely pushing buttons and testing people's limits. Playing with people until they break. But she's strong. She won't break like any other human. And that is intriguing. I'm glad I decided to stick around. This is going to be fun, I'm not bored.

We get through the day without much communication between the three of us. Most of it was between Tony and Seraph.

That is until lunch, by this times I've observed enough to know my angle now. And this is going to be quite the entertaining year.