The Angel with Papery Wings [prequel]

ch.24

"What was that?" she demanded. I blinked and leaned closer to her, trying to make sure she was the same Angie that tripped on her own feet and had turned cherry red when I walked in on her dancing to Britney.

"You're way to young to be going out with boys," I told her plainly, crossing my arms over my chest. Carlo looked up from his third can of beer. Danny watched us from a casual distance. He seemed to enjoy me and Angie's banter.

Angie coiled back, and looked down at her feet. "He wasn't asking me out," she mumbled.

I laughed. "Well it sure sounded like it."

"We're just friends," she persisted, but quietly at that. I laughed even louder.

Then I knelt down just a bit, enough so that my eyes were level to Angie's. "Honey, boys don't talk to girls just to be friends with them," I told her softly. There were many things Angie had no clue about, things I wished she never had to learn-- or at least, I wanted to be the one to teach her...

Angie played with her hair. Then she looked up at me unexpectedly. Her eyes looked twice as big as usual. If only I could just capture that light inside her irises, hide it in my heart and open it on a rainy day...

"But you talk to me everyday," Angie pointed out. I took a slight, awkward step to the left. Distance. I had to keep my watchful distance, not act like an intruding creep.

Angie stepped closer to me, erasing that distance. Carlo had skulked off to the living room to doze off on the couch. Danny went to do the dishes, completely unconcerned with me and Angie. A part of me wished he would be stricter, enforce some boundaries to help me maintain a protective distance from Angie. And the other part of me wanted him and Carlo and Liam out of the picture. It could be me and Angie one day, just having fun, making each other mad and happy and everything in between.

"Why do you talk to me?" Angie asked, but not in an accusing way. I tangled my fingers through my hair, trying to calm myself down. She doesn't get it. I don't get it. All I know is that Angie isn't allowed to be with other boys. She just isn't.

"I happen to like talking to you. I didn't know that was a crime," I told her. It came off a bit too cold. Angie stormed off. She headed off to her room and when she reached the top, she turned around, just like the day I first met her. 

I tried not to smile because she looked like she was floating, like those papery wings that she hid so well would unravel and help her take off.

"It is," she declared. "And you're a criminal."

I smirked. I liked how such a harsh label sounded so crisp and sweet in Angie's voice-- but I didn't dare tell her how very right she was. I am a criminal. Angie turned her back on me and left to her room. I shook my head at the ground. Whatever had just happened was only the beginning. And I had a feeling I would enjoy and suffer through this for years and years until I found the balls to tell her three lethal words...

***

That annoying Liam kid has been hanging around Angie everyday, for the past few days. All he does is follow her around like a lost puppy. He also tries so damn hard. He wears his fancy little lacrosse uniform to show off how athletic he is. I almost laughed when I realized he was the same kid with the "chicken nugget" hair from a few days ago.

I guess I haven't beaten him up yet because I know Angie doesn't care about him anymore than as a friend. But why would it matter if she did really like him? I can't stop her from liking boys. But, I can stop her from dating assholes and weirdos. Liam doesn't fit either of those categories, which only makes things more confusing. He's persistent, I'll give him that.