DIFFERENT-WINGED ANGEL

FEATHER #8

"Are you scared?"

"Hm?"

"Are you scared?" Mila repeated her question without irritation, realizing that her friend was again flying in her own thoughts.

"Why should I be scared?" The gray-blue eyes stared at the girl in confusion.

"Well, you two haven't spoken since then, so—" Mila began hesitantly, pushing the front door of the school with her hands.

"So what?" Olivia interrupts her, sighing heavily and not even looking in the direction of the dark-haired girl.

Mila couldn't find a decent answer in her head. They silently continued to walk along the long and crowded hallways of the school. All the students stared at Olivia without taking their eyes off her. Whispers were heard from everywhere about how the girl jumped from one roof to another. This incident definitely became a point of discussion for a long time.

"Why is everyone staring like that?" Olivia muttered indignantly. "If only I could..."

But she didn't have time to fully voice her thought. The girls turned right, and a stranger girl in a butcher's costume, stained with blood, suddenly jumped out from around the corner at them. She let out a high-pitched squeal, almost causing Olivia to fly the hell off this planet out of fear. Mila managed to hold her friend, and she, cursing loudly, rested her palms on her knees, exhaling convulsively.

Mila had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing. But her giggle seemed to be heard anyway, as Olivia glared at her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Olivia asked, turning her gaze to the smiling stranger.

"It's Halloween," she shrugged. "Take the flyer." The girl held out a colored piece of paper.

"What's this?" Mila asked, snatching the flyer from Olivia's hands. "Hmm, party. Sounds fun. We'll be there," she smiled, glancing at the fake butcher.

"Just don't forget about the costumes."

"Sure thing," Mila nodded and, grabbing her friend's arm, walked away.

Not having walked a couple of steps, Olivia exhaled loudly again. "I almost died there."

"I saw that," Mila giggled. "Don't tell me you thought that it was one of the renegades attacking you right at school."

"Then I'll be silent."

<><>

Having pulled out the necessary textbooks without much enthusiasm, Olivia slammed her locker shut, immediately feeling Mila's focused gaze on her.

"What?"

"You'll have to talk to her."

"About what?" Olivia shrugged. "What's the point of talking if I can't even explain to her what the hell happened?"

"Well," Mila drawled absently. "You can't just ignore each other." She suddenly looked behind her friend. "And there she is."

"Who? Grace?!" Olivia squeaked in panic and, opening her locker at the speed of light, hid behind the metal door.

"Someone claimed they weren't scared at all," Mila chuckled mockingly.

"Quiet!" Olivia shushed.

Grace walked purposefully towards them. Standing next to the open locker, she raised one eyebrow questioningly. "Hey, Mila," she said, highlighting the dark-haired girl's name with intonation. "Do you by any chance know where Olivia is? I can't find her anywhere," she smiled sarcastically.