Love, War, and Flight

Chapter 4 - The Date and Wings

We eventually arrived right in front of a restaurant. Not just any restaurant though; my favorite. Cheddars.

“Wow!” I exclaimed as I got out of the car and hugged Drake. “I can’t believe this!”

“A special girl deserves a special restaurant.” He said as he planted a kiss on my cheek. “And it’s also for your birthday.”

“Thanks.” I smiled as I held my arm around his and headed inside. When we arrived at our table and ordered drinks and entrées, I was still having that horrible thought in my mind. Something’s going to go wrong, I know it.

“You look worried.” Drake said softly, breaking my thoughts and taking my hands. “You’ve been spacing out all night. Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” I assured him, looking him in the eyes. His very pretty hazel eyes, that I couldn’t stop staring at. “Yes, everything’s fine. It’s just…” I had to come up with a subject change. “I’ve been thinking a lot about my parents.” Nailed it.

“Ah, makes sense.” Drake said, letting go of my hands. “I wasn’t adopted, so I don’t know what you’re going through. But you being sad makes me feel sad.”

“Please.” I started, silencing him. “Let’s just have a nice, peaceful evening.”

“Agreed.” Drake said as the waiters with their meals approached their table.

While I was chewing on my third bone of my half rack of baby back ribs, I felt a weird, tingling sensation go up my spinal cord. It felt like… leaves? Flower petals? I didn’t know what it was. I felt it growing, expanding in size underneath my sleeveless, knee-length dress. This was the worst night to wear a sleeveless anything. I didn’t dare look at what it was. I really didn’t want to ruin this almost perfect night.

“Uh, excuse me for a sec.” I told Drake as I stood up from the table and headed toward the women’s restroom. I quickly glanced around for any other people, and unzipped what I could of the back of my dress. I could tell why nobody saw anything.

These butterfly wings just popped out of nowhere, expanding par past my waist on both sides, rounding perfectly at the edges. They were a royal purple color, and very, very sparkly. They were shaped beautifully, and they were breathtaking.

 “Wow…” I breathed, admiring their beauty. When I realized that anyone could walk in at any moment, I folded the wings any way I could without them hurting too much. I eventually wrapped the wings around my waist on the inside of my dress, which had little to no pain. I took a deep breath and headed back to the table.

I could barely pay attention to anything at dinner. All I could think about were the wings, and that I was going to Tanyela. And I wasn’t freaking out as much as I thought I would.

When dinner ended, Drake drove me back to my house.

“Thanks for the movie and dinner. I absolutely loved it.” I smiled as I planted a kiss on his cheek and headed to the door. Drake waved, and drove away. Once inside, I avoided my parents and ran up to the bathroom and locked the door. I undressed myself to where I could see the entire shape of my wings. I examined the details, but the whole time wondering if Ezami knew I had them. I also tried to move them, but that epically failed. I decided I was done admiring them and slipped into my night dress and tip-toed to my bedroom, hoping not to wake anyone up.