Perched

I sat perched on the red tin roof of tobacco stained barn eyeing my surroundings. I love the elevation here, sitting higher than everyone else down below. This spot allowed peace and quiet while also giving the perfect vantage point to spy on everyone at the bonfire below and their true intentions. My sister insisted on this party, ensuring that I would be able to see everything from up here. I could spy on Colton’s intentions to see if they were true or if he was just another horny teenage boy. It also gave me the perfect opportunity to see if Madison was truly a friend and not the enemy trying to keep me close.

“Nothing helps coaxing the intentions of teenager like beer, fire, and farm equipment,” I can hear Natalie saying in her over the top country voice as she pitched me the idea. She wasn’t wrong. A little boos and they all forgot who was and wasn’t there anyway, and true feelings and emotions began to surface. They were all oblivious to my ability to shift into the magnificent barn owl, and I liked it that way, but adding the alcohol was an insurance policy that they would likely forget I had gone off for a little bit during the party.

I knew what would happen if they knew I could shed my skin for these white and gold feathers. They would be just like the last town we left. People are all the same no matter where you go. They want what you have, even if you can’t give it to them, and if they can’t get it they will try to use you in anyway they can. For me they try to put me in a cage. It’s what happened before in Salley, it’s a miracle we were even able to get out of there before they caught me. That is why I have to be more careful this time. I have to sit here and watch and listen to everyone just to know if this town will be safer than the last three.

As I zoned in on the conversations around the blazing ball of heat below, the first thing I noticed was that Courtney was not a friend to Eva, in fact she was plotting against her for some time. The nuances of high school girls was crazy, but the underhandedness could be spotted if you just knew where and how to look. Courtney would smile and all laugh at all of Eva’s jokes, but she was jealous as hell. I couldn’t blame her. Eva was head cheerleader and the captain of soccer and volleyball teams at Montgomery High. I am sure it had nothing to do with her last name being the same but she was also sixteen and looked like at any moment she could walk a runway with Gisele. Eva had long tan legs, and dark auburn hair that went well below the middle of her back in waves. She was the complete opposite to Courtney who was five foot two in the boots she was wearing, with a short blonde bob. Courtney was beautiful but she wasn’t even a shadow to Eva, and it didn’t take this elevation to see it was eating at her. What I did see was that Courtney slipped something in Eva’s drink, and that was not something I could sit up here and watch take place. I had to change back, and quickly, but as I went to spread my wings, my eyes caught another’s, and I knew instantly this night was going to be trouble.

“Here pretty birdy,” he said snidely pushing his dirty fingers together as if to offer a treat to a parrot, “Here prettttyyy birdy do you want peanut.” Obviously this was not the smartest of the guys my sister brought over but I eyed him, and something in the way he looked at me gave me a chill, and rightfully so because a second later a half full beer can came whizzing by my head. I took off up in the air away from the blaze and the laughter from the bonfire.