Page 7 of Wings of Destiny

I walked into my apartment and made my way to the shower, stripping off my running gear as I went. I turned the water on high and scrubbed away, using my favorite peach scented shampoo.

Twenty minutes later, I was out of the shower and finishing my makeup: basic winged eyeliner with a light coat of mascara, smokey eyeshadow, and lip gloss. Once I was done, I threw my hair up in a loose ponytail, my go-to. I pulled a pair of jeans anda clean black T-shirt out of my closet along with my Converse. A reliable combo.

I checked my phone for the time. Seth, his newest girlfriend, and Derik would be there any minute. I ran through my mental checklist: keys, phone, wallet.

Check, check, and check.

As I peeked out my window, I saw Seth’s gun-metal grey Honda Accord pull up. I locked up and headed downstairs.

“Hey there, Erin! Car’s kinda packed, sorry ‘bout that.” Seth got out and opened the rear passenger door for me to get in. I slid in next to Derik and offered a tight-lipped hello. His eyes beamed as he took me in and slid his arm around the headrest.

Great. I did a mental eye-roll.

“You’ve got to show me how to do my makeup like that!” Libby exclaimed, overly excited about the premise, considering she was already gorgeous. Short blonde hair, pixie nose, big green doe eyes, body like a swimsuit model. Me, on the other hand, plain brown hair, grey-blue eyes, and average face; easy to blend in, very forgettable. I gave her a small smile and nodded. I appreciated the compliment and knew it came from a good place but…I never took compliments about myself well and didn’t know how to really react toward them. They always felt forced or like they were said out of obligation rather than being genuine; I knew I wasn’t much to look at or think about. And Libby was gorgeous with a bubbly, magnetic personality. I was just an awkward girl who usually had her nose shoved in a book.

Wow. Slow down on the pity-party there, Snow. It’s been a whole five seconds.

I gave her a small smile. “I, uh, I watched a few videos online a while back. I can see if I could find them to send to you?” I added awkwardly, a pinch of heat flared on the apples of my cheeks.

Seth put his car in gear and we headed off. I snapped my attention to the side, grateful for the reprieve. I watched as thebuildings and small cityscape passed by the window; I zoned out with the hope that Derik would ignore me. It seemed my thoughts had been answered; he didn’t try to speak to me the entirety of the short drive and I got lost in the scenery that followed us. The warm weather from the day had followed into the evening leaving the sky clear with a picturesque sunset of coral, lavender, pale yellow, and the deepest blush. I sighed.

It’s been awhile since I’ve gone to the movies.

We parked close to the theater entrance. Derik got out first and made his way around to my side of the vehicle and opened the car door; it threw me off a bit.

Wow. Playing the gentleman. Weird.

Usually he was kind of a dick and a creepy one at that. Politeness was not in his genetic make-up from what I’d seen. “Yo, Snow, you comin’ or not?”

Ah, that was more of what I’d expected.

I got out and Derik shut the door behind me. Seth and Libby had already made their way to the entrance. Libby giggling at something he said as she looped her arm through his; I bit back the jealousy that rang in my heart.

Not yours.

Best friends, Erin. You have no claim and no right to the guy.

Calm your tits.

I shook my head at myself, I was being ridiculous.

“I saw some reviews on this thing, sounds like it’s pretty scary. Might need someone to hold your hand, Snow.” I side eyed Derik and caught his creepy Cheshire grin as it spread ear to ear, a glint in his eye.

In your dreams.

“I’ll be fine. Thanks though.”

“Suit yourself.” He shrugged and slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. We grabbed our tickets from the boothin front of the concession stand and gave them to the lobby attendant before our group walked lazily to our movie.

As we filed into the theater, the hair on the nape of my neck stood on end. My body tensed and the feeling of being watched washed over me. I whipped my head around and searched for the source of the eeriness that coursed through me and found nothing. The only people in sight were the staff at the snack counter which were preoccupied with bored chatter between them as they counted down until the end of their shifts.

“You good there, Erin?” Derik’s concerned voice caught me off guard.

“Yeap, I’m fine. Just thought I saw someone I knew.”

Derik cocked an eyebrow at me as I quickly stepped by him and led the way to our seats. Libby and Seth were already huddled together and giggled at the movie trailers on the massive theater screen.

The movie wasn’t overly terrifying, just your average thriller. Libby curled up with Seth the whole time with her face hidden in his chest and boy did he lap it up. Derik on the other hand, to my delight, jumped up about halfway through saying he had to run to the bathroom and stayed there the remainder of the film. Prior to his abrupt exit from the movie, I caught him wanting to make a move a few times and I swatted his hand away repeatedly. Needless to say, I was rather relieved when he ran off.

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