Page 259 of Nobody's Girl

I can see it all now. I tell Laura I have to base my life, which it will out-last hers by a few decades or so, on Ally.

I see a slap coming in my future!

Nah, Laura won’t be cool with that. I wonder if I can talk Ally into telling Laura. It’s a much better idea, and if anyone gets slapped then it will be Ally, and I don’t see Laura doing that. No, she’ll probably just cry.

And that makes me sad.

The old guy said I’d get some gifts and I know I have telepathy with Ally, but no one else. This morning I found out I’m a lot stronger than I was before the ceremony.

I’m not sure if playing football in college is such a great idea anymore. I could seriously hurt someone. Plus, using superhuman powers on the field is most likely against some rule, I bet.

I found out about my strength because Laura couldn’t find her flip-flop and asked me to run into the bedroom to check under the bed. The bed in the room we’re in is giant. Solid wood with four large posts and a heavy mattress. When I put my hand on the bottom of the bed to pull the blanket up, my hand caught the frame and I lifted it like it was nothing.

The whole damn bed!

So then I threw a baseball once we were outside. Laura hadn’t come out yet, and Scotty and I were horsing around. I told him about my super-strength and he found a ball. That kid was impressed and more than a bit jealous.

“Why couldn’t I get something like that?” he said. “She’s my sister. We come from the same parents.”

I didn’t know what to tell him. I wasn’t about to say, ‘She loves me more than you.’

That would’ve been rude.

The love thing me and Ally have is weird. It’s not like we used to have, yet deeper. I can’t be jealous about her and Eden.

They were made for each other. Ally showed me the things the other bird-people showed her, and let me tell you there is no way she’s made for anyone but him.

I’ve accepted it. Well, kinda. I have no choice. The faithful sidekick is what I suppose I am now.

How depressing. I must work on what I am.

When I saw Ally this morning coming down that hallway, I didn’t recognize her. She was way out of my league. A grown ass, sexy-as-hell woman is what she looked like.

Her dress and heels had to have cost thousands of dollars. Everything about her screamed, ‘I’m not of this world.’ It made me question my mind. Like, how did I never see that in her before?

I’m sitting at the top of the staircase to be sure I don’t miss them coming in. It’s a sure thing they won’t be coming out of their love nest once they get back in it.

I know I wouldn’t let her out much if I was Eden!

A beam of light falls across the huge, marble floor of the room at the bottom of the stairs.

Don’t ask me what the room is called because I have no clue.

There are so many rooms in this mansion and they call them all something different.

Her giggle hits my ears before I see her. I send, ‘You’re finally back,’ to her.

Ally and Eden walk out of the darkness and into the light over the staircase. “You waiting up for us, Daddy?” she asks me sarcastically.

“You are very late, missy,” I return her sarcasm.

I stand up as they make their way up the large spiral stairs. He holds her tightly to his side.

It used to be me, holding her like that.

I take a step back to let them pass me. Ally reaches out and touches my cheek. “Come to our suite. We should talk about things,” she says, and I follow her like a puppy.

‘Don’t think like that,’ she sends to me.