Hidden Wings by Cameo Renae

through the main house. That was a gutsy move. I hope he didn’t get caught.
    Where was my new home, anyway? Alaska was a humongous state. I could be in the interior, on the coast, near the North Pole or somewhere down south? I had no clue. I probably could have known if Malachi hadn’t done that sleeper thing on me. So rude! He was definitely going to hear it from me later on. And such was the story of my life. My new life anyhow.
    I sighed, and finally decided to get ready and see what the new day would drag in for me. More questions, perhaps? It sure wasn’t offering a bright, cheerful morning.
    I dug through my suitcase and found my favorite jeans, a long sleeved white shirt, and a purple sweater. I hoped it would be enough layering, as long as I didn’t step outside. Then, for sure I’d be a big purple popsicle in a matter of minutes.
    I drug my tired body into the bathroom, and paused on my reflection. The scar on my cheek was almost completely healed. Maybe a bit of magic was rubbing off on me.
    I quickly dressed and decided to head down to the kitchen because my stomach wouldn’t stop rumbling and felt a little acidy.
    As soon as I stepped out the door…
    “Hi!” a cheery voice called from across the hall. There in the hallway stood a cute girl, with bright blue eyes, long light brown hair that came down just past her shoulders, wearing a very large smile.
    “Hi” I replied, returning the smile.
    “You must be Emma,” she said bouncing towards me. She had on dark blue jeans and a light blue hoodie.
    “Yes, and you must be…Courtney?”
    “You know my name?” She had a look of thrill in her eyes, which made me giggle. She paused, cocked her head to the side, and placed a finger to her cheek like she was trying to think. “I’ll bet Kade told you about me, didn’t he?”
    “Yes,” I said.
    “Did he say good things about me, or did he say I was a brat? He always tells people that I’m a brat, but I’m really not.” Her eyes narrowed as she waited for my answer.
    “He didn’t say much about you, but he definitely didn’t say you were a brat. He actually said you were pretty cool.”
    “Really?” Her face lit up and she sighed in relief. “Well that’s good. I’m really, really glad you’re here! It’s been pretty lame not having any other girls around. I’m almost fourteen. Have you met Caleb yet? He’s my brother. He’s sixteen but he’s super boring and lazy. He doesn’t like to do anything fun. He just lies around most of the time, and reads or plays video games,” she said with an exaggerated, scrunched up face.
    This girl was a talker. But I knew how to deal with talkers. Jeremy was a talker too, and I’d become accustomed to tuning him out and nodding like I was listening. I wasn’t too worried about Courtney.
    “No, I haven’t met Caleb yet,” I answered.
    “Well, he’s probably sleeping, anyway. Like I said… he’s lazy,” she said throwing her hands up in the air, rolling her eyes.
    At least she was entertaining.
    “So, are you going down for breakfast?” she asked with wide eyes.
    “I guess.” I wasn’t sure what plans were in store for me. I wondered if my Aunt Alaine was up yet.
    “Good. I’ll go down with you. Today is Thursday, and on Thursdays Miss Lilly makes chocolate chip pancakes. She’s the cook and her pancakes are to-die-for.”
    So…this Courtney girl was hyper and animated and used her hands to accentuate her words. I could tell she was going to keep me very, very busy here, which might not be too much of a bad thing.
    We made our way down the stairs and headed toward the kitchen. As soon as we turned down the hall, I could smell the sweet aroma of bacon beckoning us. When we entered the kitchen a stout, round woman, with dark hair tied up into a messy bun, turned and faced us.
    “Ahhhh! Hello Courtney. How are ya’ this fine mornin’?” she said with a grin. She had some kind of accent, but I couldn’t tell which.
    “Fine,” she