Page 140 of Scars Like Wings

“Hey, Bydie, I know that look. Don’t you panic-attack on us.” Maisie snapped her fingers in front of my face to bring me back to the present.

“We know this is a lot, Bee. I have no idea what you are going through right now. Maisie has some idea given the whole fitch thing, but her body isn’t changing like yours. I know nothing makes sense right now, but we’ll figure it out. Don’t we always?”

Tears tickled my eyes. “Of course, we do, but… but what if…” I struggled to voice my fear, what oddly and maybe stupidly scared me the most.

“But what?” Simone encouraged.

“But what if Quinn doesn’t like your scales?” When Simone and I turned to give her incredulous looks, she simply shrugged. “Byrd is a hopeless romantic. She isn’t exactly the Rosetta Stone to figure out. No offense, babes.”

“Oh, Byrdie. Have you seen how Quinn looks at you? You could grow a second head and she would still love you.”

“Hey, we haven’t said that yet,” I said, sniffling a little.

“Yeah, emphasis on ’yet.’” Maisie pointed out. “You two are one more date and a U-Haul from moving in and getting a third pet together to complete your blended family.”

“Have I told you lately how much I hate you?” I said, but I laughed at her quip.

“There we go, bestie! Feel better? I know you have a lot happening, but we are going to have a blast on this trip! It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience!” Simone cheered.

I nodded. She was right. I did feel better. My besties always knew just what I needed to hear. This was going to be the tripof a lifetime and a much needed getaway. It was time to get it started.

No more tears. No more questions. No more worrying.

Just fun with my friends and my girlfriend.

As the girls finished getting ready, I applied Simone’s moisturizer to my scales, watching myself in the mirror. As soon as I put some on one set of my scales, they glittered and shined brilliantly. Their vibrance made my skin sparkle like I had just put highlighter all over it. It was all gorgeous, like a combination of Maisie’s body glitter and Simone’s mermaid scales. Seeing the holographic effect of them in the light, I felt an insane sense of pride. Sure, I didn’t know what having those scales meant for what I was, but there was beauty in them. They were so unique; I had never seen anything like them before. The more I looked at them, the more I fell in love with them.

They are yours. They are beautiful. They are who you are. Take pride in them.That voice purred within me, giving me a comforting vibration. It had been a while since I had heard her, at least since my birthday. But I couldn’t agree more.

A knock sounded on the door followed by Quinn’s voice. “You girls almost ready?”

I looked over at my girls to see where they were at. Maisie was finishing up tying her hair into a tiny ponytail in her sultry red two piece tied all around her to show off her neck-to-toe tattoos. Simone was taking a selfie in her teal bralette, swim bottom, and matching see-through sarong that went so well with her green curls in their long braid and accentuated her curves almost as good as my own swimsuit did.

Oh, yeah, we looked fine as fuck.

I finished putting on my platform sandals that made me average height and made my way to the door. As soon as I opened it, there stood Quinn. I didn’t think it was possible for her to get morefine, but there she was doing just that. She worea burnt orange sports bra-style swim top and matching board shorts. The outfit revealed so much more of her rosy tan skin that I think my brain was short-circuiting. Her thick tattooed biceps. Her broad shoulders. Her ample cleavage. The packed muscles under her stomach that I just wanted to lay on as she breathed. Her thick thighs and strong legs that I would love to be in between. Her long curls loose and free, in a stunning soft pillowy mane that I both wanted to lay in and pull. Gods, this girl… By the hot darkness of her hazel eyes, I could tell that I was having the same effect on her that she was having on me.

Oh, yeah, fuck that cover up for sure.

“Hostia puta, tu eres una hechicera,” Quinn said under her breath, just loud enough for me to hear, her voice husky and deep.

“What she said,” Cole remarked, drooling over Simone behind me. Cody stood beside him gawking, too. Even Nat had her eyebrows raised at our outfits in admiration. I hadn’t even noticed the others behind Quinn until Cole said something.

“You look fucking gorgeous, Byrd,” Quinn said.

“Oh, thank you! You like it?” I posed for her, only showing her the front. I had a feeling she would spontaneously combust once she saw the back.

“Iloveit. You have no idea.”

“If you love this one, I can’t wait for you to see the other ones. This one is just the beginning.”

“Oh, y’all are so fucked,” Nat said, shaking her head with a snicker.

Soon, we were all making our way down the stairs and out the door to the pool. Dorian was already outside with cocktails waiting for us. We each grabbed one and made our way to the lounge area. The triplets wasted no time taking their shirts and shoes off, backing up toward the house, and doing a running start to cannonball into the pool. We laughed as they resurfaced.

“Are you going to get in the water, babe?” Quinn asked, taking off her sandals.

I nodded. “I’m not a super strong swimmer, so I will probably just lounge on the edge or in the shallow end.”

---