My sisters and I walked to Mississippi's high school that was a few blocks away from our house. I carried my books with me, and a small black backpack. The air smelled of trees, and fresh coffee in the morning. When we reached to the school, I saw David talking to his friends from far away at the school grounds. He noticed me from the distance. I waved at him sheepishly, and bit my lower lip. I had a crush on David for three years now, since I started high school with my sisters. He had the perfect brown hair, and blue eyes that every girl dreams of. Lucy told me it wasn't a good idea to start dating a mundane, but my heart won't stop beating for him. I tried so hard for years to hide my feelings from my sisters, but we're triplets, so it's not easy to hide anything from each other. We feel things.

David smiled from the distance and walked towards us three with glee.

"Oh, here's your annoying boyfriend," Lucy said from behind me which made me roll my eyes.

"Would you stop it you two?" Emily said, "Act normal."

"Oh, we're never normal, and Ella should know that,"Lucy said, and bumped me with her shoulder when she walked past David to school.

"Hi, Ella," David said, and bobbed his head towards Emily. "Emily, good morning."

"I should go," Emily said, and walked past him as well to walked beside Lucy like a little dog.

"They're not happy to see me," He said.

"Don't mind them, they're always in a mood," I said, and smiled.

We walked together towards the school big door, and entered the hallway together. He wore a blue jacket for his football team Blue Bulls, and run his fingers through his beautiful hair. David was a fit football player. Besides him being in a team for football, he had a charity group in school that we both participated in to help students in need. That's why I liked David, he wasn't just handsome, but also sensitive and sweet. We reached out lockers which were beside each other, and it was perfect for both of us. I looked into his deep blue eyes when he talked to me about the charity group, and didn't pay attention for a minute there.

"Ella?" He called.

"Huh?" I answered.

"You seem distracted," He said.

"Oh, yeah, I'm just thinking about the mid exams," I said, which was a lie.

"Right," He said, and smiled. "You can come to my house and study together tonight. two heads better than one, right?"

"Ah, I have a thing with my sisters tonight. Lucy got into some trouble and we're trying to fix it," I said.

"Oh, I hope it's she's not in a big trouble," He said.

"No, just some family stuff that we have to deal with," I said, and nodded my head.

"Lucy is Lucy, right?" He asked.

I laughed. "Yeah, she's always in some trouble. It never ends. Sometimes I imagine what's like to be the only child."

He placed his hand on my shoulder as a gesture of sympathy. "It's not as cool as it sounds," He said.

"Oh, your over protective parents?" I asked.

"Yes, sometimes I wish if they would cut me some slack, you know?" He said.

"I know," I said

****************

Later in the afternoon after school, we walked to the forest to gather some herbs and plants for our house protection. Lucy picked a wild flower, and sniffed it delicately with her skinny fingers. Emily walked behind to look for extra herbs around, and then we heard some owls hooting. We looked above, and check the area if there was anyone around. It looked like we were the only people walking there at that time.

"Owls before sunset?" Lucy said.

"Oh, no, it's bad omen," Emily said with a shaky voice.

"Do you think someone sent this owl?" I asked.

Then we saw a black owl on a tree branch hooting and looking down on us. It's eyes had green rims, and didn't look like an owl that would be in that forest.

"We need to go back, and tell mother about this," Lucy said.

I took my basket that I placed on the ground, and walked the opposite way of where we came from. As we walked, the owl flew behind us as we heard it's wings flutter in the trees. Then it landed in front of us which made us stop walking.

the black owl hooted, and looked at us.

"Stop right there creature of the dark," The owl seemed to say.

Emily gasped. "It talks!"

The owl approached my feet, and looked up to me. "Are you Ella Reed?"

"Yes?" I replied.

"I am the black owl, your familiar," It said.

"My familiar?" I asked the owl.

"Yes, I will be your company through darkness and light,"It said.

"But I was supposed to get a familiar first!" Lucy snapped, and swung her notebook towards the owl, but it quickly backfired, and pushed her to the trees. She moaned from the pain.

"Bastard!" She weakly said.

I giggled. "That was cool," I said.

"Well, thank you, I have other skills as well," He said."In fact, I can sign."

"Sing?" Emily and I said.

"Yes, any song I memorized in my head," He said. "I will sign for you when we arrive at your house, shall we?"

We walked in the forest as the owl flew in the air following route, and lucky was behind us, limping as she walked. I smiled as I looked how she suffered while walking behind us. She had that angry face, like she was about to curse him with the darkest curse of all time. The owl was fun. I already liked him.