Lying to cover the Pain and Love

Anna didn't know how to respond to all of that. It seemed to her like things between him and Mari were falling apart. Whether she was a succubus or some kind of demon or not, Anna had no idea, and she couldn't tell if she'd broken any kind of spell with her music earlier...but at least he seemed to be coming to his senses about Mari.

"I always felt like something was wrong...about Mari. I never knew how to tell you. I just...something about her feels so fake. I don't want to talk bad about her, I didn't say anything before because you seemed to like her a lot and seemed so happy with her, but now...I can't stand that you're not happy anymore. You have to leave her, James. She's not a good influence for you. You've been drinking, you didn't used to do that...and it's illegal for someone your age to be drinking, anyways."​

Anna sighed and set her forehead against his. "It's not you, James. It's not you." He was destroying himself, and she wasn't about to let him do that, not on her watch. "Listen to me. Something is wrong about Mari. She could be dangerous. She could be a succubus or some kind of demon. You don't know, and neither do I, but there's just something wrong and I can't explain it exactly, I just know."

Her hands went to his shoulders and she held him firmly in her grip. "I'm here because I care about you, James. A lot. You're my best friend, and I'm not going to lose you to someone who you barely know." She wasn't sure what he was feeling, but she was willing to bet that he was pretty confused about everything right now.

Anna pulled away from him a little and unfolded her wings. "Let's go for a flight, it might help clear your head," she told him, turning her back to him and letting her feathery extensions stretch to their full span.​

Something made her smile as his arms folded around her, and she shuddered lightly as his words reached her ears, feeling a wave of heat shoot through her. "I missed you, too," she told him, a clear fondness in her voice. The way she felt for James...was different than how she felt for any of her other friends, like Nix, or Anatolii. Her emotions were a little mixed up, too. The whole ordeal had taken a toll on both of them.

Anna beat her wings and they lifted into the air. The night sky was clear, dotted with stars and a nearly-full moon. She climbed for a bit before leveling out and taking them in a slow circle around the school. From up here, everything looked so small. Anna loved to fly. It made her forget about whatever was bothering her and let her just focus on the area around her. There was no need for words up here. Picking up speed, she tucked in her wings and rolled a couple of times, then leveled out again. Now she was smiling. This was exactly what she'd needed.​

Anna felt her face heat up as it flushed lightly while he spoke to her, snuggling into her shoulder. "Of course you do," she replied. "You deserve quite a lot, considering what you've been going through. And everybody deserves to have a good friend." Except maybe Mari. Anna didn't like Mari very much, especially since she'd taken James away from her for so long and had been a bad influence on him.

At his request, Anna nodded and circled back around to the rooftop where they'd been. She'd been getting much better at landing, using her wings to slow her descent into a gentle one, beating the air as they got closer and closer to the ground until she finally touched down. Once James was off of her back, she folded her wings up neatly and turned to face him. "Feel better?" she asked with a smile. She certainly was.​

Okay...he was acting a little strange still. Anna raised an eyebrow as he took up her hands, looking from them to his face in confusion. The way he said her name made her heart beat faster. And then he was suddenly leaning towards her with his mouth on hers.

Anna had never kissed anybody in her life. This was her first, and she hadn't been ready for it in the slightest. She froze up and made a startled noise against his lips, not sure what to do. She didn't know if she even liked James in that way. Did she?

Her mouth felt hot and tingly when he pulled away from her. It had all happened so fast, her head was spinning and her stomach was doing flips and her heart was pounding in her chest. She was just as confused as him. Anna's hand lifted and her fingers touched her lips lightly as she stood there in stunned silence, staring at the ground.​