Fly Away With Me

“Lillian get out of this damn house!” Aunt Sophia yells through the house at me.
I cringe just hearing her voice. My bag is packed and I sling it onto my back. Now the goal is to get out of the house without encountering Sophia. Before I leave the room I open the window for Alex. He stretches out across my bed in the morning sun.
“Please behave yourself today, I’ll see you after school” I tell him softly scratching behind the gorgeous ginger cat’s ear.
He meows back at me quietly as if he is replying.
“Food and water is in the usual spot” I say before opening the door and checking the hallway.
It is clear. I shut the door behind me then open it before closing it for good and start to creep through the house. Just as I reach the front door I hear her behind me.
“Get out of here” She yells before going away.
She must be in a good mood this morning then. I sigh then run out of the house. Ever since she agreed to let me move in she has only ever complained about me or yelled at me.

I arrive at the school gates right on time. Students avoid me, as always. It doesn’t bother me. This is the way I wanted things to be after, well after, umm, when that happened. I dump my bag in my locker and pull out the books I need. My wings ache under my plain red shirt with a few black patterns streaking across the front. I haven’t stretched them for a while, maybe tonight I could sneak out to just go for a small fly. What moon will it be tonight? New moon. Perfect time to fly but aren’t these stupid things on my back the reason I am so unhappy? I sigh and shut my locker door then reopen it before closing it again. Finally I put the lock on it. I rearrange my books in my arms so that the largest is at the bottom and the smallest is on top before walking towards my home class.

Once the teacher finally decides to arrive she lets us in and I walk through to the back row. I place my books quietly on the desk and sit down. Other students forward in talking with one another and seem to throw their books down. Why can’t they just place them down? I ignore it and sit quietly at my desk. No one ventures past the third row. They all avoid me like the plague but this is the way I wanted it.

The teacher, who’s name I can’t remember, dismisses the class but asks if I could stay behind. I walk to the front of the class.
“Lillian, the school councillor asked me to tell you that she would like you to drop in today before your first class” The teacher tells me.
I thought I was past all of the concerned glances from teachers and curious looks from students, guess I was wrong.
“I don’t need it” I say
“I’m not saying you do just go anyway, you might change your mind” She says
“Do I have a choice?” I ask
“Not really, this is for your own benefit”
I sigh then nod.
“Only if you leave me alone after I go, deal?”
“Are you aware that you are only a fifteen year old girl?” She tells me crossly
I nod. I feel a lecture coming.
“Well then I am not going to make ‘deals’ with you, I am an adult you are just a child”
“And because I am ‘just a child’ I am not a person, I know I’ve heard it all before” I tell her before leaving the class.
Well I’ve been told I’m not a person lots of times, not always just because I am underage. I make my way over to the councillor’s office. Her office is upstairs from the sports office. I knock on the door and wait for her to allow me entry.
“Come in” She calls no bothering to get up.
I open the door then close it behind me twice. She raises an eyebrow at my behaviour.
“I’m glad you agreed to come Lillian, take a seat” She tells me motioning at the chair in front of her desk.
“I only agreed so you would stop asking to see me” I respond as I sit down.
I move the chair to the side so I can see the only exit clearly.
“Why did you want to see me?” I ask once I am content with how I am sitting.
“Well I wanted to help you because I heard what happened to you a few years ago” She tells me looking at me with sympathetic eyes.
I look down pulling my sleeve down as I try to stop the grimace coming to my face.
“That isn’t something I like to think or talk about” I reply finally.
“But you might find it helpful to talk about what you went through”
Why can’t anyone let me deal with my past the way I want? I want to just bury it. There is no reason to make me remember those dark times.
“I know it is very traumatizing to lose your family and no one else will know what you tell me” The councillor tells me.
I ignore her as I look at the terrible scar on my left forearm. She doesn’t know what it is like, why does she think she can help me? They forced me to see a councillor when it first happened and it didn’t help, why would it help now? I run my finger tips over the scar. It didn’t heal very well because I had to patch it up myself. I couldn’t have gone to a hospital because then he would have found me. My thoughts have become so cryptic since then but it is the only way to keep me somewhat sane.
“I have to get to class” I say standing up with my books.
“If you ever need someone to talk to please visit me” She tells me.
“Can I have a late slip for class?” I ask.
Once she has filled out the slip I take it from her. She watches me curiously as I close the door twice on my way out. Everyone finds me strange and I don’t blame them, I am strange.