I took Gracie's bus. She lived far away, an hour's drive. She talked to me the whole time. I just stared at her reflection in the window and watched trees and houses become nothing but a blur in the background of her.

Eventually, she moved under my arm and huge wing. I absently twirled her black hair in my fingers. She just kept on talking. Talking about what she'd wear to prom, what Jackson had mumbled to her in class.

By now, I knew it was useless to try to respond. Gracie was just full of words and never had time to listen. So, I just listened to her voice and the voices dwindling behind us as the bus reached its final stop at the end of Gracie's road.

I got up with her, and she pulled me along behind her. She just kept talking. We reached her little white home. There were no cars in the driveway. Gracie pulled me in with a smirk. As she closed the door, I was suddenly pinned against it.

"Gracie..," I muttered, not feeling very up to it. Not while I was still thinking about that brave girl in the cafeteria without wings. Something about her just didn't feel right.

She ignored me. Her lips met my neck, her fingers lacing in with mine. I tried to push her away. She looked at me with angry eyes.

"Do you not love me anymore?" She snapped.

"No, Grace-"

"That's it!" She shouted. "You must not love me anymore. Or else you'd fuck me like you used to!"

I sighed. I looked down, and she came forward and kissed me.

After that, I did my best to block it out. Block out her lips all over me, and block out the feathers falling around us. Block out her moans and my soft cries of "stop." Block out everything. Block out the world.

When it was finally over, and she was panting on my chest as I lay numbly on the couch, she stroked my hair and drew patterns on my chest. "You know," she said, her breath finally returning. "I love you so much."

I nodded slowly. "I love you, too, Gracie."