"Skylar,report to the Hunting room! We have spotted some wild mutations",Charlie's voice booms from the speakers,waking me up.

I sit up in bed and let the grogginess of sleep wear off. When I can think clearly, I get out of bed and get dressed quickly. I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth and hair. I glance in the mirror and sigh.

Today is the day. Today I have to choose which of the other male,avian hybrids to be my mate for the rest of my life. But what if the male I choose wont like me?I think.

I briefly examine my reflection in the mirror. I have wavy blonde locks, and there isn't a hair out of place. I notice my bright gray eyes, gleaming with curiosity, and then they flick over to look at the freckles arching over my nose and cheeks. I wonder if a boy will like the face of Skylar Aro. Correction, I wonder if a boy will like my face. I bite my lip in nervous thought. Who will I choose? None of the boys I must pick from are close to me-well, except for Dakota. He's been my best friend at the School since we met and we've always hung out

Maybe-

My train of thought is shattered by Cahrlie saying "Skylar,hurry!" through the speakers again.

I snap back into reality and start panicing. I had let myself get carried away. I run out of the bathroom and out my bedroom,sprinting full speed down the bright and busy hallway. Whitecoates go by mumbleing nonesense and scribbleing stuff down on clipboards. A couple of whitecoates agnolage me with a polite nod and i nod back.

I slow down,not wanting to run into anybody. I take a left turn and go through the doors to the Hunting room.

"Ahh. Finally,Skylar,your here. Okay,well Ruefuss just spotted four mutants on the run. They escaped from another nearby School. They're about eight miles East from here. Now go,shoo,shoo. Be on your way and catch me those mutants" Charlie orders in a joyful and excited voice.

He hands me two Net Shooters and a wistle. "Yes,sir",i say and turn to leave. "And Skylar",Charlie says. "Yes sir?"I turn back around. "Happy 15th birthday. As a little present,you may take one person with you on this hunt",he says cherrily. "Thank you,,"I say with a smile.

I hurry down the hall but this time to Dakota's room,and knock on the door. "Who is it?" he asks. "Its me,Skylar. Charlie said I can bring someone with me on this hunt. Would you like to come?"I ask.

The door flies open and dakota appears. He reminds me of a dog sometimes,with his scruffy black hair. I have to look up at him,he is at least four inches taller than me."Heck yeah,I wana come. I haven't been out of this god forsaken school in ages",he complains.

"Yay!" I say and start pulling him down the hall towards the exit door. "Woah,let me get dressed first",he says.I turn to look at him,puzzled. He only has on a pair of sport shorts. I blush,noticing his well defined abbs. I have to admit,he looks good. He'd been working out latley. Not too scrawny,not too beefy.

"You can come in and wait while I get dressed in my bathroom", he says as he picks a pair of jeans and a DC shirt out of his dresser. I step into his room and sit on his bed. "Be right back", he says and shuts the door to his restroom/closet.

I'm getting bored after a few mere seconds and look around his room. The covers and pillows on his bed are a navy blue color. His room is different from is smaller and has no windows. It makes me feel spoiled,which I am. Charlie likes me best out of all the other avian hybrids. Probably because I'm the only girl. The other seven avian/humans are boys. Im also the youngest. Dakota is the second youngest,making him a target for abuse from the older boys.

The door to the bathroom opens and Dakota walks out. "Ready?",i ask him. "Yep. Lets get a move on. I get punished enough", he says. I hand him one of the Net Shooters. He takes it and shuts his door.

We race down the hallway and practicly burst through the exit. We keep running for another thirty feet and jump in the air,spreading out our wings. They catch the wind and we dont even have to flap. I look down at the trees below us and feel sorry for them. They will never know the joy of flying.

I admire our beautiful wings. Mine are white with silver swirls on the feathers and Dakota's are black with gold swirls on the feathers. Charlie somehow found out how to control the colors and patterns of one's feathers. He said that no other School knew how to do it. And he only tested it on me,Dakota,this kid named Masen,and this other kid named Todd. When Charlie was giving us the bird genes to produce our wings,he added some sort of elixer to them to chemicaly add the colors me and Dakota wanted. We were only five years old at the time. And yes, we wern't born with wings. He took us from our homes when we were little. But that was so long ago that we dont hold a grudge anymore.

"Finally, fresh air", Dakota sighs. I nod happily. "And happy birthday. Your now only 82 days younger than me",he jokes. "I've always been 82 days younger than you", i correct. "oh yeah", he says with mock stupidily.

I suddenly spot something moving in the woods under us. (Thats right, we have raptor vision). "Dakota,look. Right over there. I see the four run-aways",i wisper,just in case one of the mutants have sensitive hearing. He nods. "On the count of three,we both shoot a net over two of them. Then when we make sure we have them,blow the wistle for Char to come and get 'em", Dakota instructs. "You know I hate it when you call Charlie, Char", I complain. "Thats why I do it",he says,flashing me a smile that could kill a blind person. "Got the plan?", Dakota asks. "Yep", I say. "Good. One...Two...Three!", Dakota says and we both tuck in our wings and dive down.

When we get in range,we slow down,startling the mutants. Perfect. I aimed my Net Shooter and pulled the trigger. Yes! I caught two of the mutants. I fly down and make sure the net doesn't have any rips in it. I look at the mutants. One of them has reptilian eyes,sharp teeth,and bumpy brown skin. The other has wiskers on her face,fur all over her body,cat ears poking out of her hair,and a tail. They have very shabby clothes on,and it pains me to see that the other Schools treat their mutants in such poor condition. "Sorry", I wisper to them. I look over at dakota and see that he is finished catching his two.

"Blow the wistle",he says. I obey. A minute later, a helicopter is lowering a large basket down. Me and Dakota put the four mutants in it and the helicopter takes off. Dakota starts flying away but notices I'm still on the ground. "You coming?", he asks. "Huh? oh,yeah",i say,and start flying with him back to the School. I was distracted though by having to choose which boy I was to be with forever. None of the boys know though. Charlie wants it to be a surprise. i accidently bumped into Dakota,and my wing hits his. "Are you okay?",he asks worried. "Yeah,I'm fine",i mumble. "You sure?" "Yes, Dakota!", I snap. He has a hurt look on his face and i immediatly wish i can take it back. "Dakota...I'm sorry. I just have alot to deal with...It's not your fault", I apolagize. "It's fine. I shouldn't of bugged you", he says.

We fly the rest of the way in silence.

When we get back, Charlie has all of the other avian hybrids lined up. All of them with a confused look on their face. "Get in line", Charlie tells Dakota. He does as told.

Charlie puts an arm on my back and makes me face the boys. I look down at the ground,embarrased. After a moment, Charlie says "Today is Skylar's birthday. And I have been planning this day for a long time. Today,our dear Skylar is to pick a mate. And her and that mate will stay together forever. Isn't it exciting?", Charlie says happily.

I look at Dakota and see shock on his face. I look at the others boys' faces and they acctualy look excited. "Okay now,Skylar, pick the boy you would like to stay with forever", Charlie instructs. How did a normal day at the School turn into this?I wonder.

I look at Dakota again. We were best friends before we even came to the School. We came here together,we grew up here together,we even learned how to fly together. I want to choose him because I know him the best.

But I know who Charlie wants me to pick. He wants me to choose Masen. He has dark brown hair,brown eyes,and is easily seven inches taller than me. He never leaves me alone when I'm in the Cafeteria;always pestering me about going on a fly with him. His wings are black,like Dakota's,but they have indigo colored lightning bolts on the feathers. He made a particular game called "Picking Chicken" which involves plucking the primary feathers from Dakota's wings.

I know who I have to pick. I know how to make Charlie happy. But i also know who I want to choose. I take a deep breath and say ,"I pick...Dakota".