Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Wings characters. Tamani for right now. Caelia, Arlan, Caelia's mom and the teachers are my characters.
This is after the four books in the Wings series so if you haven't read them, you may be a little lost with what's going on with the characters from the books, but I can't stop you from reading this so read away.
Flowers
About seventeen years ago
Marion pulls her cloak tighter around her. She looks around frantically, making sure the sentries don't hear her. She looks down at the seedling, sleeping silently in her arms. She moves stealthily through the forest. When she hits the road, she puts the seedling down on the edge to make sure someone would see her. She smiles down at the seedling, but when she opens her eyes, it reminds her so much of Laurel that pure hatred courses through her veins.
Marion isn't a killer, but she does want revenge for being kicked off the throne. Bright lights come around the corner, piercing through the thick line of trees. Marion turns and dashes into the forest, crouching behind a bush so she isn't seen. A machine she'd heard was a car stops a few feet from the seedling. An evil grin creeps across her face as a human woman gets out of the vehicle and crouches by the child.
She looks around as if looking for someone, but she doesn't seem to notice Marion. The woman picks up the note that Marion wrote. Marion had the note memorized. It said: "I do not want to keep this child, but I don't have the strength to completely give her up. I am writing this to whoever finds her. Her name is Caelia and she was just born. Please take care of her, but be warned. She may be more than you bargained for."
"Caelia," Marion hears the woman whisper.
She slowly moves farther into the forest, her feet moving like they were made to sneak around. When she's in denser forest, she stands, removing the cloak from around her. She breathes a sigh of relief, her blossom spreading out to full length. A smirk works its way onto her face as she makes her way back to the gate, back to Avalon.
Present Day
"Caelia, if you don't get your butt out of bed, you're going to be late for school," my mom shouts up the stairs, loud enough that people down the block could've heard her.
I mutter under my breath as I lazily pull myself out of bed. I look out my window to see that it's snowing. I smile, knowing that I'm going to love today, but everyone else will complain that it's too cold. I jump out of bed and look at the calendar I pinned to the wall near my door. I check the date and see that today's December 20th, only one more day before winter starts which is my favorite season.
I walk to my closet and pull off my pajama top. I look in the full-length mirror in the corner at my back. The bump is still there, but I don't worry too much. I haven't told my mom about it. She'd go into the 'real mom' speech.
I was adopted. My adoptive mom found me on the side of a road. Whenever something bad happened to me, she'd talk about how it's my real mother's fault and that she never should have just left you on the side of a road. Then she'd get all teary-eyed and tell me that she never would have found me if my real mom hadn't left me on the side of a road. I've experienced that speech enough times that I didn't want to experience it ever again.
I put on a bra, ignoring the bump as best as I can. I pull on a purple T-shirt and change into a pair of shorts that go to my knees. I slip into a pair of flip-flops and head downstairs. As I'm walking down the stairs, I try not to fall on my face as I put my hair into a ponytail. I head to the kitchen where my mom is making breakfast. She looks up from the coffee she's sipping and smiles as me. When she sees what I'm wearing, her smile fades.
"Do you always have to dress like you're going to the beach when it's winter?" she asks, staring at my flip-flops.
I nod, laughing as she shakes her head, not knowing why I'm dressed the way I am. I don't get it either, but whenever I don't dress like I'm going to the beach in the wintertime, I get really hot. It's really weird, but I don't mind. I head to the fridge when I see what time it is.
"Shoot, I'm late," I say.
I hear my mom chuckle as I grab my book bag and scramble out the front door. I run all the way to school. I stop to catch my breath when I hit the parking lot. The bell rings, signaling I have five minutes before the late bell or as the students like to put it, five minutes before I get detention. I run all the way to the front doors of the school in record time.
I fling one of the doors open. I begin to run to my first period class when I collide with someone coming out of the office. I fall on my butt, the contents of my bag scattering all over the floor. I scramble to collect everything so I won't be late. I grab for a highlighter when someone grabs for it, too. I jerk my hand back as if I'd been burned. I finally look up to see who I collided with. My cheeks redden when I see that it's a guy I've never seen before. A really cute guy, I might add. He hands me the highlighter and smiles.
"I believe this is yours," he says.
"Thanks," I say, accepting the highlighter from him.
He helps me to my feet and I just stand there and stare. His eyes are a deep green color and his hair seems to have a green tint to it. He really is cute. His eyes seem to stare into me as if he could see my soul.
"I'm Arlan. I'm new here. Do you mind if you showed me around?" he says to me, his voice sounding like silk.
I just wanted to wrap myself up in it.
"Uh, sure. I'm Caelia, by the way and I'm really sorry I ran into you. I woke up late and I didn't want to be late for school," I say, right as the late bell rings.
Arlan laughs, his eyes crinkling. I sigh.
"I guess I can survive one detention. So, what class do you have first period?" I ask.
He looks down at a piece of paper I just notice he's holding.
"Uh, sophomore English," he answers.
I give a mental cheer.
"You might have just saved me from detention," I say.
He looks at me, confused.
"I have sophomore English, too. I can just say I was helping you since you're new," I explain.
Arlan nods. I start to walk down the hall. Arlan falls in step next to me. We enter the classroom and Mr. John smirks, ready to give out a detention. I explain why we were late and the smirk fades from his face. I smile as I walk to my seat. Arlan sits in a desk a few desks across from me. The class goes by fast, but whenever I looked over at Arlan, he was staring at me. He didn't even pretend to look away or anything. He kept on staring.
The bell rings and I jump out of my seat as fast as I can. I wanted to get as far away from Arlan as possible. He was a creep even if he was cute. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on my side today. Apparently, Arlan and I had the next three classes together, so I had to endure more of his staring for three more hours. When the bell rang for lunch, I bolted out the door, so Arlan couldn't ask to sit with me. I didn't care if he was new. He could stare at someone else, just not me. I wasn't fast enough.
Arlan caught up to me before I could make it to the doors that led outside. I desperately needed fresh air, but I stop when Arlan called my name.
"Hey, I wanted to talk to you," he says, jogging up to me.
I just nod, waiting for him to say what he wanted to, but he just keeps staring at me. Finally, the fear I felt turned into anger.
"Would you stop that?" I yell. "You've been staring at me in every single class and it's freaking me out."
Arlan looks away and I suddenly feel bad. I rest my hand on his arm.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I've just never had that kind of attention before," I say, my voice filled with guilt.
He nods as he smiles at me.
"It's okay. I'd be a little pissed off if someone stared at me for four hours."
I laugh and cover my nose when I snort. Arlan starts to laugh at that. I playfully punch his arm.
"It's not funny," I whine.
"Okay, okay," he says, holding his hands up in surrender.
"So, do you want to eat lunch with me?" I ask, pointing towards the doors behind me.
He raises an eyebrow at me.
"You want to eat outside? But it's snowy out there." It's his turn to whine.
I nod. "I love the cold. Why do you think I'm dressed like this?" I say, gesturing to my outfit.
He shrugs. "I don't know. I just thought you were insane," he says.
I laugh as I pull him out the doors to the snow-covered courtyard outside. The snow crunches under our feet, the sound soothing me. I let go of his wrist and turn to face him. I put my book bag down before I lay down on the ground, spreading my arms and legs out, making a snow angel. Arlan just stands there, shivering.
"How do you survive that?" he asks.
His breath comes out of his mouth in puffs of fog. I watch as he rubs his hands together. I get up and dust the snow off of my shorts.
"I have no idea. I just really like the cold and it doesn't seem to affect me," I answer.
"Can we go back inside?" he asks, his teeth starting to chatter.
I nod as Arlan starts to walk back to the warmth of the school. He sighs as the heat wraps around us. I shiver as if the heat is affecting me like the cold is affecting Arlan. Once Arlan is all warmed up, he looks at me.
"What?" I ask him.
"I want to show you something," he says, not elaborating.
I wait for him to go on, but he doesn't. "Okay, what do you want to show me?" I ask, strangely calm.
"It's a secret, but I'll show you tomorrow. Can I pick you up in the morning?"
I just stand there, bewildered. I know I should be scared or at least feel a little concerned, but I'm not. When I look into Arlan's eyes, I know he won't hurt me. I make up my mind and nod.
"Sure, I can give you my address after school," I say.
"That's okay. I think I can figure it out," Arlan says, mysteriously.
Still, I don't feel fear or concern.
"Okay, then. I guess I'll see you tomorrow," I say, just as the bell rings.
"Oops, looks like we don't have time to eat. Sorry about that," he says, apologetically.
"It's okay. I can always eat at home."
We check our schedules to see if we have fifth and sixth together, but we don't. I show him where his next classes are before I head off to mine. Fifth and sixth period go by in a blur without Arlan there staring at me. When the bell rings in sixth period, I pack up my things and head home. I open the front door, my feet dragging across the carpet. Mom comes into the living room.
"How was school?" she asks.
"Okay," I say.
"Are you all right?" she asks.
I nod. "Just a little tired, is all."
She nods, ushering me upstairs and into my bed. I kick off my flip-flops when she closes the door. I curl up in my blankets when my eyelids start to get heavy as all of the energy I had at lunch disappears. Sleep takes me a few minutes later and I don't wake up until the sun starts peeking from behind the horizon. I sit up, my back hurting. I figure it's the bump, so I take off my shirt to see what's wrong.
I look in the mirror and gasp. Five small white petals are growing out of my back, looking like a white orchid. I stare at my reflection, not moving. I stand like that for a few minutes before I touch one of the petals with a shaking hand. My hand brushes one petal and I feel it as if I touched my leg or arm.
"So it's real," I whisper to myself.
Then the shock subsides. I stare at the flower coming out of my back. It's beautiful and doesn't scare me.
"Now I know what Mom was talking about when she said I was special," I laugh.
I stare at it for a few more minutes when I remember Arlan's coming.
"How am I going to hide this?" I whisper to myself, frustrated.
I spot my winter coat sitting on my chair. Mom must have put it there. I grab it and put it on. The bulkiness of the jacket hides most of the flower, but you really can't tell I have a flower growing out of my back. I hear a car pull up and stop in front of the house. He's here. I slip into my flip-flops and head downstairs. I leave Mom a note before I head out the front door.
Arlan's leaning against his car, wearing a winter coat like me. He smiles at me when he sees me. He looks puzzled when he sees my jacket.
"Why are you wearing a jacket?" he asks me.
I shrug. "I don't know where we're going so I just wanted to be prepared," I answer, quickly.
He nods and opens the passenger door for me. I climb in and put my seatbelt on when I realize that he did find my house without any help. I don't ask him how he knew where I live. Instead, I stare out the window as Arlan starts the car and we pull away from my driveway. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know I'm being nudged by Arlan, telling me we're here. I get out of the car, looking around. We're in a forest.
"It's beautiful," I whisper.
Arlan nods, keeping silent. We walk down a path, not speaking. We come to a clearing and Arlan stops and turns to me. He doesn't say anything.
"Is this what you wanted to show me?" I ask, wondering what we're doing out here.
He shakes his head, confusing me even more.
"Well, sort of. I wanted to show you the forest, but I wanted to tell you something," he says, quietly.
He falls silent as if he doesn't know whether to tell me or not. I just wait until he decides. Finally, he does something. He kisses me. The kiss starts off slow, but suddenly turns passionate. I kiss him back. I deepen the kiss even more, if that's even possible. Arlan pulls away.
"Wow," he says.
I nod, not knowing what to say. Then, Arlan drops the bomb I think he was going to tell me before he kissed me.
"I'm a faerie," he whispers, barely loud enough for me to hear him.
"What?" I ask, thinking I heard him wrong.
"I'm a faerie," he says, louder.
Suddenly, we're surrounded by about ten guys who don't look older than 20-years-old. The oldest one, who looks like he is 20, walks towards us. Arlan steps in front of me as the man sighs.
"Arlan, what are you doing?" the man asks.
I look at Arlan, wondering how he knows these people, but he's looking at the man.
"I'm talking to my friend," Arlan answers, never taking his eyes off of the man.
The man is only a few feet away from us now. I pull away from Arlan, falling to the ground. He kneels down next to me.
"Are yo-," he stops.
He's looking at my arms where his hands were touching me. I look down and see glitter or something sparkling on my arms. He stands up and steps away from me, looking from his hands to me and back.
"Arlan, what's wrong?" the man asks.
I sit there, stunned. To answer the man, he holds his hands out to him which are also sparkling. The man stares at Arlan's hands, then at me. The man takes a step towards me, but Arlan stops him.
"Don't touch Caelia. Let me do it," he says.
The man steps back as if Arlan had hit him.
"Caelia?" he asks.
I nod, standing up. "I'm Caelia," I say, being stunned speechless for the second time in only a few minutes.
Arlan walks over to me. He stands in front of me and unzips my jacket. I don't even realize he does it. I look down and stare, horrified that I only have a bra on. I realize forgot to put on a new shirt. I'm shocked into not moving and the jacket slips off completely, exposing my flower. Everyone gasps and Arlan takes a step back from me.
"Oh, goddess," the man mutters under his breath.
He stares at me for a second when realization and recognition form in his eyes.
"Is it really you?" he asks.
I just stare at him, not knowing what to do. He walks over to me, putting his hands on my shoulders.
"Caelia, do you know you were adopted?" he asks me.
A shiver goes down my spine as he says those words.
"How do you know I was adopted?" I say, accusingly, pulling away from him.
He stumbles backwards, surprised.
"It is you," he says.
Then he's hugging me and kissing the top of my head. I don't pull away because it just feels right.
"What's going on?" I ask when the man pulls away.
"Caelia, you're a faerie," he says.
I just stare at him, waiting for him to continue.
"I'm Tamani, but you can call me Tam or better yet, Dad. Caelia, you're my daughter." Tamani says.
I would really appreciate it if you reviewed. This is my very first chapter and story, so I would like to have some feedback. If you want the next chapter please review.
