Silver Starling

Iy!

"Nothing can dim the light within." _Maya Angelo

It was December. Two months had passed since Layne and I had that date; we still were friends, of course. He joined Jaden and I outside once in awhile, but the man had other friends besides us, so we couldn't hang out all the time. Sometimes Roxie would join us too, but whenever Jaden and Roxie were around each other it gets somewhat awkward. In October, Jaden turned seventeen, and for his birthday, Mrs. Beckett taught him how to drive.

The day after the beginning of winter break, Jaden and I decided to go to the mall and do random Christmas shopping; on the second floor of the mall, there was a crowd of kids that all looked familiar. They were kids from my high school. I asked one of the people back in the crowd what was happening, he told me there was a fight between Nadene Parell and some pink haired girl. Nadene Parell is what I call the top witch at our school; her best friend Melenie Gabel is the second. Nadene is the witch of all witches. She thinks she's the queen; I think she's a witch. The weak bow to her, for they think there's nothing they can do, and the popular follow so that they can stay up in the ranks.

Jaden and I found our way to the front to see Nadene and Melenie on side of the verbal fight, and a familiar pink haired person who uses words as weapons, Iyla.

"Don't think you can get away with spilling this over me!" Nadene pointed her finger at Iyla. There was a giant blotch of green on her white shirt.

"I did not spill that stupid drink of yours! You bumped into me and dropped that disgusting green slosh on yourself," Iyla responded.

"You are such a #*?!%" Nadene screamed.

"I may be a #*?!%, but being a #*?!% is better than a $/@€ which you are because I'm pretty sure that the only thing you do at school is £@|{ everyone who lets you," Iyla flipped her off.

Right then I had to interfere, "Come on guys you shouldn't fight. Nadene, maybe you should just get a new drink. And you," I pointed at Iyla and I saw a slight smile on her face, "please stop fighting."

Some person in the crowd shouted, "The peace princess has interrupted the cat fight!"

Nadene narrowed her eyes at me, "Sterlling do you really think I would let this #*?!% off the hook! She called me a $/@*€ and spilled my drink on me!"

Iyla imitated Nadene, "Yeah Sterlling. I really don't want to end this fight." Her voice was drowned with so much sarcasm the crowd laughed.

Nadene looked a little bit embarrassed by the whole thing, "Whatever." She left and the crowd slowly dispersed.

Once the crowd was gone, Iyla and I looked at each other for a couple of seconds then squealed and ran into each other for a hug.

"Iy! Oh my god, Iy what are you doing here!" I hugged her one more time.

She squeezed me back, "I'll tell you Li, but after you tell me your friend is." Her eyes studied Jaden, and I remembered that he was with me.

"Oh right, Iy this is Jade. Jade this Iy," I introduced them to each other with the nicknames only I called them.

Jaden stepped in and reintroduced himself, "Nice to meet you, the name is Jaden Ayers." He held out his hand.

Iyla took it, "Iyla Evens, I'm also Sterling's cousin. Do you mind if I learn more about you while we eat?" She pointed to the nearest café, which Jaden agreed to.

Giddy as a puppy, I watched my two best friends meet each other, with two cups of coffee on the table, and yes, both of them were mine. They started to talk about something which wasn't interesting, and I zoned out and played on my phone.

The last words I heard were from Iyla, "Keep it a secret, okay? Promise." She held out her pinky finger for Jaden to take. Jaden sighed and took her finger and linked it. "That's a promise, so you'd better keep it." He nodded.

Wondering what happened, I perked up, "Secret? What secret?"

Iyla looked at me with disappointment, "If I'm telling your new best friend, that means it's a secret from you Ms. Nosey." I pouted, Jaden hit the back of my head, and Iyla laughed.

~ • ~

In the end, neither Iyla nor Jaden told me the secret, whatever it was. But the one thing Iyla told me was that Jaden looked really pale, so she told him he should eat something. I don't think that was very helpful to my questions though. Jaden had already headed back to his house, and I invited Iyla for a sleepover over; she had contacted her mom for permission of course. The first thing we did once we got inside was to ask for my mother's permission.

My mom ran over for a quick little hug the moment she saw Iyla, "Iyla! What are you doing here? How's my little niece?" I coughed to get my mom's attention. "Ah yes, hi Sterlling."

"I'm doing great, but I was hoping that I could sleepover tonight, can I?" Iyla clasped her hands together. I kept saying "Please" over and over again until she said something.

"Iyla, do you have my sister's permission?" my mom questioned. Iyla nodded; my mom sighed, "Okay, you can stay. Come down when I call you for dinner. Got it?" We nodded enthusiastically.

I don't know how long Iyla and I spent time catching up with each other; all I know is that we haven't done this in forever. It was already morning, and Iyla's dad was waiting for her in the car.

"Hey, hey, Li," Iyla poked me as we walked to the car, "I'm going to the Christmas party!" She leaped into the car, leaving me jumping all the way to my room.