The Angel of Outer Banks

Moving

I stared wistfully out the window. Over the passing buildings, Bare rocky cliffs staggered along the horizon. My heart ached at the sight. I knew how much I would miss the boiling desert. I watched the sidewalk dance in the heat.

Venice Beach to Kitty Hawk, I thought, What a downgrade...

My mom stared at me through the rearview mirror with a concerned expression and turned down the radio. To everyone else in the world, her name was Lana Del Ray, but to me, she was Elizabeth Grant, or simply just Mom.

"It won't be so bad, sweetheart." She said with her airy, musical voice, "I got us a multimillion-dollar house right on the beach. It even has a pool!"

"Mom. We had a golf course, three sportscars, a horse, and a three-hundred-thousand dollar chandelier, do you really think a pool is going to cheer me up?"

She sighed in defeat, and turned back up the radio, humming along to it and tapping her not-so-skinny fingers on the steering wheel.

My dark mood pulled my eyes back to the sight out of the window. My wings shuffled under my polo. They always tensed when I was mad, and my mom must have heard it.

She turned back down the radio. "I have something important to tell you, Rogan."

"What? Do we have a slip-n-slide too?"

"No, this is serious. The Outer Banks are different than The West Coast. People there are more concerned with wealth, and if you end up on the wrong side of the island, you could get hurt just for being rich. You're at even higher risk because you are Lana Del Ray's only son, and if the press got hold of what might happen to you, it will be over for both of us."

I rolled my eyes, "Mom, I've spent my entire life hiding my angel powers. Hiding how rich we are will be a piece of cake."

...

I think I kept my eyes closed for most of the way between the airstrip to our new house. I never liked flying, even though I am an angel.

When I stepped off the private jet, I felt suffocated by the trees that surrounded me on all sides. I felt cool winds push their way over me, threatening to take the luggage from my frail arms.

I stepped up onto the huge white porch, and then into the house. It was smaller than our older one. The chandelier on the ceiling looked like it had been made from glass instead of jewels. At least our house had been pre-furnished. I walked up the stairs and into my room, and I felt like a caged bird.

Maybe once I was on the beach I could feel free again. Maybe they would be similar to the ones back home. I zipped open my suitcase and whipped out my really rad swim trunks, pulling them on with fervor.

I slung my matching beach towel over my shoulders, adequately hiding my wings, lest I come across a passerby on the way to the shore.

I hopped out of my room and began rocketing down the stairs.

"Hey, Mom! I'm-" I stopped in my tracks when I saw my mom standing at the door, speaking to a man that I had never seen before.

"I'm Ward Cameron, and this is my daughter, Sarah." The man said, shaking my mom's hand, "Me and my daughter just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood."

He was a tall gray-haired man, with a bright white smile. Typical white collared appearance.  It was hard to see through the man's charming demeanor, but with my angel sensibilities, I got the sour inkling of something sinister. I felt an unusual level of envy toward me and my mother.

Beside him was his daughter, I assumed. A sparking blonde with a suppressed wild side.

"I'm Elizabeth Grant, but you can just call me Eliza, and that's my son, Rogan. Come here, sweetie."

I stalked down from where I was perched on the stairs, and did my best to be cordial, despite my mood and my clothes.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you." I said. Being rich usually involved a lot of lying. I turned to my mom, "I was just about to go hit the beach, to see if it was the same as back home."

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, the man's daughter making eyes at me and my chiseled abs. It wasn't unusual for people to act that way when they saw me. Sarah was at an especially poor disposition, being as she had to resist not only my charm, and soothing angelic voice, but my figure as well.

"Well, go ahead, I hope you two don't mind." She said to our neighbors, "We've just got here, and it's definitely been a long flight."

I walked past them in the doorway. My eyes were suddenly set on the glimpses of sand and darkening sky between the trees, but I turned and saw Sarah, jogging up behind me.

Great, I thought, I won't be able to get any swimming done at this rate.

I turned back around and ignored her, quickening my pace down the walkway.

"Hey!" her voice called from beside me, "So where are you and your mom from?"

"California," I answered begrudgingly.

We walked through the tree line. My eyes could barely make out the edge of the sea from the murky waves. I blinked slowly, and with closed eyes, I briefly felt at home again with the sound of the water.

"California." She echoed beside me, "Are the beaches the same in California?"

"Not really." I replied, "The sun sets over the water. How do you even watch the sunset here?" I asked.

"You could watch the sunrise in the morning." She offered, "It's better to watch a new day start than an old one end, right?"

"I guess." I shrugged.

"Would you like to watch the sunrise with me tomorrow?" She asked, looking at me, "I could bring my friends if you'd prefer."

I wasn't sure why, but I found myself nodding along with her idea.

"Sure."