Chapter 3: Getting to Know Alistair

Chapter 3: Getting to Know Alistair

When I awoke, a girl with short black hair, purple eyes and pale skin above me. She had black wings too.

Alistair stood beside her. “She is coming back.”

“Are you really part angel?”

“No way! I am part raven! Genetically mutated, well descendants of the genetically mutated, I think. Our parents are more bird than human and live in trees around our home.”

“Oh my god! My parents! They must be worried sick!” I exclaimed, trying to get up.

The girl said, “Be our friends and you can come by anytime under one condition.”

“What?” I asked

Alistair responded, “You can’t tell anyone.”

I nodded. “I won’t tell them you have wings.”

Alistair looked at the girl with the short hair “Darcy, let her go.” And then, I stood a bit staggered. Alistair asked me “Will you come by later?”

“Yes, see you then.” I responded. He nodded

I climbed down he stairs and walked out of the house. I saw my parents, still talking to the same neighbors. The neighbors started to look bored. Hannah and Marc were still talking and now holding hands, Marc wasn’t at all bored.

My parents hardly even recognized I left to go explore a cool dangerous house with two bird kids living in it! One, I’ll admit I had a huge crush on, not Darcy. Though Darcy was pretty awesome. Anyways, my parents still moaned to the neighbors.

My parents turned around. They gave me the hardest, most creepy smiles in the entire known universe. I yelled and flinched.

Mom returned to her normal smile. “They have a lovely daughter named Amber. I set you two up for a meet and greet tomorrow. She is a cheerleader!”

I rolled my eyes. Pleasantville needs a cheerleading squad? They are creepily cheerful enough already.

Then dad said, “They also have a son who seemed just your type.” Sure be single for one day and people are already trying to hook me up. I shall never breed with Kens. I would have to love the guy, you know, like Alistair.

There. I admitted it. I like him. I want to know him more than anyone knows him, almost even more than himself. I really hoped an armor-abs guy with a Florida tan, a great hairdo and a low GPA wouldn’t come out of that door.

I saw a boy come out. He flashed his perfect, gleaming, white smile. How the hell was he related to his younger brother? His younger brother was cute, but he was sexy. I heard LMFAO singing “I’m Sexy And I Know It” in the background. I could hear music. Not ideal for my boyfriend, though.

He asked “Don’t you want me?”

“GPA?”

“Good at posing awesomely? Yeah.”

“No. Grade point average is what GPA is.” I responded.

 He shrugged. “I’m homeschooled.”

“Pass.” I pointed out.

I left, for the house at the end of the street- Alistair’s house. My parents followed me “Where are you going?”

“To the mansion!” I exclaimed,

The whole Pleasantville town stopped and gaped. The people watering their lawns dropped their hoses. The people trimming the hedges dropped their hedge clippers. Everything stopped for a good minute. I stormed off to go see Alistair. My parents reanimated along with the rest of the town, the whole town started whispering. My parents started running after me, until they found it futile.

Alistair was waiting. His arms were open. I ran into them to hug him. His arms and wings enveloped me as I hugged him. His head came over mine.

I asked, “Do you hug all of your new friends that way?”

“Just all the friends who come back, to escape because they found refuge here, or they missed me. Especially after I tell them our little secret.” Alistair responded. “That just so happens to be you and the pizza girl.” Alistair whispered. He still embraced me.

I smiled “Well I want to stay.”

“The pizza girl left the pizza on the front stoop and left after awhile. And she never took our money.” He responded

I giggled. “Did you ever creep her out?” I asked.

He nodded. “And it was around the time bird flu made it to Pleasantville. You think we are pariahs now? We were practically monsters around the time bird flu made it to Pleasantville.”

“Did you love it?”

“Oh yeah. It was fun. I would have a spray on tan and pretend I was one of them, and right when we were watching a scary movie I would have my wing creep around a girl and her popcorn would fly. And I would get some of it.”

“Mm.” I responded, “You have me thinking about food now.”

His wings popped back away from me. “I am a human just like every other.” He backed away.

I rolled my eyes. “I meant like pizza, popcorn… Oh sweet, sweet popcorn. I haven’t eaten since I got here.”

“Oh. Okay.” He stopped backing and smiled. He led me inside.

The house was completely different. It was clean, it was modern, and I was still black. He explained to me “The house you saw was the one we turn on for visitors.” He flipped a switch and pulled me back. “See? The floors and walls change. So we can be scary for the people who expect it to be. I made a ledge so we don’t have to worry about guests accidentally hitting it and not being able to fly, the piece comes out this way. The furniture goes in a storage facility beneath, the walls slide in and out, same with the floor. Is that cool or what?” He explained. I nodded.

He pulled me back onto the ledge while he transformed the room again. I smiled “I didn’t even know that was even invented yet.” “The people that know my parents know people. Especially, the scientists and engineers.” He responded.

He guided me to the kitchen. He asked, “So what are you hungry for?”

“Pizza.” I responded.

He nodded “Cool. I’ll order from that one with the pizza girl that is always so nice. I hugged her with my wings, so she felt more comfortable. I just hugged you because you looked like you needed an intimate hug and I like you.”

“Wow, you like to talk.” I responded.

He nodded “I really do when I find the right person.”

“So am I a right person?”

“Yeah, I am sorry I blabbed about the pizza girl. I do that a lot.”

“It is okay. You were blabbing about Darcy earlier.” I responded.

He nodded “She is amazing, my little sister. We can order some pizza. Let’s do that.”

I nodded. We ordered pizza.

Alistair smiled at me. “So what do you want to do?

“I would like to hear about you.”

“Enough about me! I want to hear about Annie!”

“Oh, okay…” I think my face got hot. I was definitely blushing. “I was born in Massachusetts.”

“Oh, cool place.”

“I just moved. I loathe this place. You are the only cool thing in this backwater Barbie world.”

“Oh, well thanks. You didn’t think ‘Sexy and I Know It’ Steve was hot?”

“No. But he had no brains.”

“I was just taught by scientists. My parents are bird brains, no pun intended.” He responded.

I smiled “That so was a pun.”

“Okay, yeah it was. How did you like it in Massachusetts?”

“Loved the rain, hated the people.” I responded

Alistair smiled “I love it when it rains here. Everyone freaks out.”

I exclaimed “Oh that must be fun!”

“It is! We run outside, Darcy and I run down the sidewalk and back, whoever gets back first gets the drying machine first and gets to scare families on the way home.”

Alistair’s stories were so interesting. He was so much different from every other idiot; he was special, unique and individual.

He heard the pizza get here. He darted there. His wings really make him aerodynamic. He was swift. I thought that was really cool. This time his hair was windblown, so it was perfect.

I ate the pepperoni pizza with him. It was good, but not great. I always dab my pizza so very little to no grease is on it.

When I was just in the middle of a bite, I heard thunder, then rain. Alistair took my hand “Come on, Annie! Lets go run through the rain!”

“Couldn’t we get electrocuted?” I asked, with a mouthful.

He nodded. “If one is stupid enough to go out in a thunderstorm, but there is never any lightning. Only one clap and that is it. So do you want to run with Darcy and I?” He asked. I nodded.

We ran outside. I pulled my hoodie over my dark brown hair. Darcy, the girl with the short black hair and purple eyes met us outside.

“Who wants to go against me first?” She asked

I shrugged. “Can’t we all run together?”

She nodded. “But someone has to run on the street.”

The rain wasn’t so heavy it was like bullets on my face, but it was not a light shower either. It was a good rain shower. Alistair was right, we didn’t encounter any thunder or lightning.

Alistair raced down on the street, while Darcy and I walked on the sidewalk. I did fear for Alistair’s safety, especially since it was rainy, he was running and (most of all) if a car came, it would run him over. He beat Darcy and I there.

Something horrible happened on the way back through. Alistair was still in the middle. There was a car coming that didn’t see him. While the rain wasn’t very heavy, it still distorted vision. So this car came in front of Alistair. He didn’t see it, and it didn’t see him. When he turned around, he saw the car. It was trying arduously to stop, but it just couldn’t. The car skidded to a halt, but just close enough to hurt Alistair. It came right into his abdominal area. This is why he shouldn’t have been running in the street in rain in black. The force made him fall backwards and probably had problems already.