Four Years Later

"Bye Dad! See you after school!" I said, walking outside with Cliff.

"Bye River! Don't forget to beat up anybody who threatens you!" He yelled to me. I laughed and started walking to school. When the door closed, Cliff started talking.

"Is he serious?" He asked. I sighed and nodded.

"Don't forget to put your hoodie on. Don't want them to see the top of our feathers at least." I said. Cliff sighed.

"Why do we have to wear these stupid hoodies. Why are we even walking? Can't we just fly?" He asked. I sighed.

"No Cliff. We wear these hoodies so no one will suspect our wings so we don't get tested on, and don't you think it would be a little weird seeing two fourteen year olds flying with bird wings to school?" I asked. He sighed.

"Okay. Point taken." Cliff said.

"Oh! I can do a double backflip now! Want to see?" I asked him. His eyes lit up as he nodded eagerly.

"Do it!" He exclaimed. Smiling, I set down my backpack and got ready. Jumping up and doing a double backflip, I stumbled on the landing a bit. Cliff grinned and we high fived.

"Awesome." He said.

"I know." I said with a smirk. He rolled his eyes and I put my backpack on. We continued walking. When we reached the school, we stopped, staring at it.

"You ready for school?" He asked me. I let out a breath.

"I guess. Are you?"

"I guess." He mumbled. We walked through the gates and was met with teens in their cliques. There were a few outcasts, but they were freshman. Cliff and I are sophomores, and we weren't at this school last year. We move schools often, so the school board doesn't get suspicious of my dad.

"What class do you have?" I asked Cliff. He looked at his schedule.

"Math. You?" He asked.

"Math. Do we have the same schedules?" I asked him. We checked schedules.

"No, we only have math, Spanish, history, and grammar together." He said. I sighed.

"Alright. Let's get going to math then." I said. He nodded and we started walking to math class.

"Hey losers! Nice pants!" Some kid yelled.

"Yeah! Nice hair! Do you own a comb?!" Another kid yelled. My fists clenched and unclenched. Cliff was grinding his teeth. I knew I had a brush, but that was the one thing Cliff left at his house. My dad never got him a comb, so I let him use my brush when his hair is really messy.

"Why are those stupid feathers on your pants?!" The first kid yelled. Cliff and I stopped, and turned to the three kids. They were in the corner and were all females. They wore baggy tee shirts and skinny jeans.

"Don't mess with us." I seethed. Cliff glared at the girls. The main one, a red head with too much acne, started walking toward us. The other two red heads followed suit.

"Or what?!" She seethed, stopping just an inch away. Our noses practically touched as we glared into each others eyes.

  "You don't want to know." I said. The girl smirked.

  "Hah. New girl is shy. She doesn't want to stand up to a small freshman." The girl said. I clenched my fists and Cliff put his hand on my shoulder.

  "Don't." He whispered into my ear. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out.

  "Okay." I said calmly before saying, "You better watch your back freshman." I said. Once I turned around, she turned to her friends and said sarcastically,

  "Ohh, I'm so scared." I smirked as I walked away.

  "You should be!" Cliff yelled back to her.

  "Oh look, the mute talks." She sneered. I stopped and walked up to her once again.

  "Look kid, I don't even know your name, but I already hate you." I sneered. She sneered back at me.

  "A loser like you doesn't even deserve to know my name." She said, walking away leaving me in shock.

  "Wow. That was awesome. I mean, even though she still won, that was awesome." A girl with teal hair said to me.

  "Thanks. I'm River." I said sticking out my hand. The girl shook my hand and I saw a group of boys approach Cliff. He can take care of himself, so he will be fine.

  "I'm Meadow. Hence why my hair is green." She said. I chuckled.

  "Your hair is teal." I said. She cursed.

  "Yeah. Damn hair stylist got my color hair wrong." She mumbled. The bell rang and we started walking to our classes.

  "Where is the math room?" I asked.

  "I will show you, I have that class too." She said.

  "Hey guys, I don't know where I am going so I am going to chill with you." Cliff said, walking next to me.

  "Cliff, this is Meadow. Meadow, this is Cliff, my, uhh..." I drew out, lost for words.

  "Room mate. We live together." Cliff said. I nodded and Meadow smiled.

  "Cool. I live with my parents." Meadow said. I smiled. All of a sudden, a teacher came up to us out of nowhere and glared at us.

  "Why aren't you kids in class?" He sneered at us.

  "Why are you cheating on your wife?" Meadow shot at him, smirking. He paled and pulled something out of his pocket.

  "Take this. Don't get in trouble." He said as he handed us hall passes.

  "Thanks Mr. Bean!" Meadow beamed. He nodded quickly and walked away.

  Immediately I knew, Meadow would become a very close, if not best, friend.