"Daniel? Time to wake up! You'll be late!"
Dan continued to drool onto his pillow, wings splayed over the edges of the wide mattress and twitching in his sleep.
His mother groaned on the other side of the door. She rapped against the wood again. "Daniel! It's already seven, you're gonna be late!" She allowed a pause, and heard her son snoring loudly. "Daniel!"
Dan sputtered awake, flapping a bit and wiping dried drool from his chin and cheek. "Shit." He'd slept through his alarm, and would miss the bus if he was delayed another five seconds. He flailed getting out of bed and struggled to fully retract his wings. He pulled a shirt and pants on in record time, and ran out the door. He grabbed his backpack and hurried down the stairs to the front door. He didn't have time to grab breakfast.
Despite spontaneous efforts to get out to the bus on time, it was roaring away down the street just as he stumbled outside.
"Fuck!" He threw his backpack down on the ground in frustration. "Mum!"
His mother was standing in the doorway, arms crossed in frustration. "I told you to set your alarm earlier. I'll drive you…"
But Dan had other mischievous plans. He pulled his shirt off and stuffed it into his bag, grinning to himself. His mother quickly caught on.
"Daniel, don't you dare…"
"I'll get there a lot quicker."
"Don't."
"No one's around to see." He let his wings grow back out, easing into the refreshing spring air. They burned hot and fluttered and singed the grass below him. "I'll make sure no one sees me."
"Dan, you'll never get away with it. Put those away and get back inside, I'll drive you to school."
"I promise I'll be careful!" And at this point, there was no changing his mind. Without another word of warning from his mother, he launched himself into the air.
The fresh wind felt good rushing past his warm wings; they weren't out in the open enough, and he appreciated every gust of breeze. He flapped them as he needed to, soaring through the sky. He approached some low-lying clouds and flew through the vapors. He spun a bit, no longer fearing anyone seeing from down below –they would only dismiss him as a large bird, and go about their lives. No one would ever suspect a fairy.
Dan finally came to settle down in the forest behind the school, where no one would see him. He had to be careful not to set any trees or leaves alight as his wings pulled back into his body. The retraction wasn't comfortable, but it was necessary for this world. And he readied himself for another boring, tedious school day.
"Mr. Howell?"
Dan managed to tear his eyes from the window to his algebra teacher. "Yes?" He rubbed at his eyes. He'd been caught daydreaming, which could only result in being sent up to the board to solve the equation. Ms. Fitz didn't fail to carry out on such a promise.
When Dan was certain he'd failed for the day, he resumed staring up at the sky, wondering why he had to be trapped here and not up soaring through the clouds. He didn't care about math; he wanted to feel the wind on his face and his hot flapping wings. He looked up at the clock on the wall; it seemed to be ticking too slowly, dragging out the needless school hours. He had another half hour before he could go to the UA. That would be a hell of a lot more fun than here.
At three on the dot, Dan ran right from the classroom, down the hall and out the door. His retracted wings were burning for release and he couldn't wait to get on the bus. Once he was on his way to the UA, he was basically home free and could relax a bit.
Dan wasn't the only fairy in his school, but the only one in his year, which made seeing his friends during the day difficult. He wasn't disliked; he had friends, some very good friends, he just needed more opportunity to spend time with them. Then his school days would suck less.
He got onto the short bus with the others. Everyone was buzzing with excitement over what was to come next, but they were bid quiet by the driver. They couldn't risk their cover being blown.
The bus rode away, driving for a long while. Dan watched the view from his window, and never ceased to marvel at the hills and woodlands. This was rather far from home. The bus turned down a narrow dirt road to a dead end in an open field. And if any human had been watching, it might've seemed to have vanished.
Dan stood outside the enormous doors of the Underground. This felt much more like home.
"Dan, you'll be late if you don't get in, quick!"
"Coming, I'm coming!" And he headed inside with the rest of his peers, tired from a long boring day but excited for his next, actually worthwhile lessons.