Airborne

by Constance Sharper

  “That’s okay. Lots of smart boys in those classes.”

  “Psh. Why do you care, you already have a boyfriend.” She said loudly enough Avery flinched. Avery wasn’t exactly sure how much Mason picked up from wherever he hovered but that was not something to sing out to the rooftops. She felt her face grow pink.

  “I was talking about for you. You know, just in case things between Nate and you don’t work out,” And Avery would make sure they didn’t. “Plus, it’s not like that. I don’t have a boyfriend.” She added.

  “Come on, Mason visits you every weekend he’s allowed to and probably even the weekends when he’s not. You guys hang out all the time but I never get to see him. Why so mysterious? You’re hiding the fact you guys are dating hardcore!”

  “You’re killing me.” Avery gasped, about ready to suffocate herself.

  She didn’t even want to talk about the Mason thing. Since that kiss, everything had been loaded with mixed signals and Mason wasn’t helping. He’d talk to her-- normal. He’d hold her hand or find excuses to touch her-- confusing. They hadn’t even broached the subject of any potential relationship since the harpie hospital, and the longer the subject went ignored the harder it was to bring up.

  Avery couldn’t decide if the attention came from growing affection or growing loneliness from his isolated existence. And even if Mason might be opening up to the unspoken pink elephant in the room, he still technically had a fiancé and Avery was technically falling too hard for the taken harpie. Leela voicing the whole thing didn’t help either.

  “Well, when can I at least meet him?” Leela asked.

  Avery tried to act causal.

  “I’m not sure that’d be a good idea.” Avery said slowly.

  Avery used the moment to eye Leela without begetting suspicion. Mason had assured Avery that the girl’s memories were unclear and she wouldn’t be able to tell a harpie from a bird. But that begged the question of what Leela did remember. The official story had to be something like a weekend escape with friends. Though against school rules, it wasn’t wholly illegal since Leela was eighteen. And unlike Avery, she hadn’t been gone that long. In fact, the only concerning behavior Avery had seen was a few distance stares with glassy eyes and raging forgetfulness. She wanted time to study Leela, but she continually lost the opportunity.

  Until she knew for sure, she wouldn’t introduce Leela to Mason just in case he looked familiar and triggered something in her mind. She wasn’t sure how her friend would take it-- especially after what some harpies had put her through.

  “Do you…” Avery started but hesitated, knowing her curiosity could lead down a dangerous trail.

  “What?”

  “Do you remember him? Or Mikhail? Eva maybe?” Avery asked at last.

  Leela stopped, the abrupt movement concerning, and pinched her brow. Her eyes became glassy again and she stared at the dirt. Avery suddenly regretted asking but it was too late. Leela took a moment before reanimating.

  “Mikhail? The kid from grade school?” She said cautiously.

  Avery let out a deep breath that she didn’t know she’d been holding.

  “Yea, him.”

  “Very vaguely.” Leela said and went on to chat about some human boy that Avery wasn’t concerned with. Avery’s fear fading, she allowed herself to relax. Her school schedule would be chaotic and she still had a confusing superhuman love interest to think about, but the worst was over.

  They started toward the entranceway doors to Crepuscule Hall when Avery spotted a flash of movement drop from the trees. Recognizing the unmistakable figure of white weaving through the forest, she looked for a way out of the conversation. When Leela took a breath between her chatter, Avery used the chance to interject.

  “Do you want to meet me inside? I think I need to make a phone call.”

  Leela nodded and without missing a beat, jogged inside. Avery waited until the area was clear before trekking towards the forest’s edge.

  “Hey.” Mason appeared from the trees.

  Since the incident at the prison, Mason had cleaned up well. His mop of brown hair still had a sense of disarray but was full and shiny in the light. His face had smoothed over, stress lines all but gone, allowing his skin to glow. He’d adorned another gawky coat, again endearing, that was a mix of multiple colored stitching. His lips upturned when his eyes landed on her.

  “You can’t keep throwing stuff at my class mates!” She chided him after making sure the coast was clear.

  Mason smirked so deviously that Avery had trouble not letting her heart flutter.

  “He’s lucky I missed. I don’t like that kid. In fact, neither should you.”

  “I don’t like him but that doesn’t give me the right to seriously injure him.”

  “Humans are strange.” He pointed out with a superior nod.

  She rolled her eyes and let out an over-exaggerated sigh.

  “Well, you’re living with one now so try and fit in.”

  They hadn’t exactly figured out how this would work yet. Mason couldn’t stay in her room with her at night, but he didn’t mind staying in the trees. He’d already taken to finding a few perches nearby. She could smuggle food out to him and spend time with him anytime she snuck out. The details were sketchy but it could work until Avery graduated. Now after Avery graduated, that was in grey territory. Would he move in with her? While she wouldn’t mind the roommate, how much pressure would that put on their relationship—whatever their relationship actually was? Avery refused to mull about it at the present time.

  “Living with one? I’m living near one. I’m not living with one until she lets me share her room or her bed so I have...”

  “Mason, shut up!” She burned a bright shade of pink.

  He immediately erupted into laughter, apparently finding her humiliation funny. Fighting off embarrassment, Avery began to walk. Those kind of jokes weren’t really funny anymore but quaintly awkward. Mason trailed after her.

  Avery turned the next corner a bit too quick, unaware of the door swinging open on the other side. Her hand shot out naturally to protect herself from the swinging wood. Suddenly the entire door stopped and cracked straight down the center. She felt the unmistakable humming from her fingertips and looked down at her hands marred with the faint tattoo of magic.

  The Willow magic had moved. She knew it. She’d felt it. But she hadn’t exactly died entirely either. The possibility that some magic still lingered seemed more plausible than she wanted to believe. Glancing down toward her hand, she could only manage one strangled thought.

  “No way.”

  She cast Mason a sideways glance and their eyes connected. Apparently her problems were not over yet.