We end up going to this upscale barber shop that catered to all kinds of hair types and actually had a really cool barber named Jace from Chicago who sits Asa down and listens to exactly what he wants with pictures and everything.
The whole place was silver metal, black chairs and the floor was a polished checkerboard. The type of business guys came to get their beards shaved and trimmed and their mustaches waxed. Maybe one day I would grow a beard or a handlebar stache' just so I could come here.
"You know his hair isn't going to be exactly like yours though, right, little dude?" Jace warns Asa as he's dipping a cape around his neck. "Your hair's kind of wavy and it doesn't have any curls, so it might flip over to one side instead of fluffing up."
"Basically, you might end up looking like a Karen," I reply, my arms crossed from where I stand nearby, observing the whole shit show as it goes down. It had been Asa's idea to come here, but I had talked him into getting a fade, so it was partially my fault.
Instant regret much later.
"Oh no," Jace pulls out the clippers, "We don't allow Karen Cuts in this establishment. Our boy's going to look dapper as hell once he sets foot outside the door. Susie Q better watch out, we gotta a badass hiding under this lion's mane!"
Asa blushes in response then Jace runs the clippers through his hair with a buzz, taking the first chunk off before it flutters to the ground, much to the younger boy's horror.
"Whoa," Jace stares, "Your hair kind of reminds me of feathers, man."
I go to sit down with a magazine in the corner and occasionally peek over at Asa and Jace as he works his magic, but I don't look too much because I didn't want him to think I was checking him out. I was purely doing this out of the goodness of my heart, not because I secretly watched fashion shows at night when no one was looking and actually liked dressing up.
This turns out to be a mistake because when I look up about thirty minutes later, most of Asa's fluffy hair is gone and he looks kind of like he's ready to go square-up with someone, his edges so straight they could cut a bitch. Mouth open in complete shock, he touches his cheeks, then the flat sides of his hair before turning to me, eyebrows shooting up.
I quickly duck behind my magazine, pouting.
"What do you think?" Jace shouts over to me, and the other barbers whistle and holler when Asa stands up and dusts the remaining bits of hair off his lean shoulders. "He looks like he's ready to go to college, doesn't he?"
The thing was, he did look older, I mean. He was still a year younger than me, and it was obvious by how lanky his arms and legs were, but he kind of looked good with his mostly bald head. Not many people could pull something like that off without looking like a total nerd.
I decide to pay for his haircut using the rest of the money on my birthday gift card after that because I felt bad that so much of his hair had come off, but he doesn't seem to mind at all.
"What do you think?" He grins when he bounces over, "It's nice, isn't it?"
I stick my card in the machine, my shoulders turned from him, "It looks good," I say, "And hey, I can actually see your face now. Who knew you were so pretty?"
It's out before I can stop myself.
Asa starts to smile smugly, but before he can say anything to that, I snatch my receipt from the woman behind the counter. "Let's go," I grind out through my teeth, "We still have to drive home through the rain and the storm's only going to get worse."
I storm out of the building and Asa follows, practically on my heels the entire time. Rain continues to pour down in sheets, so I pull my hood up and Asa and I walk back to my car.
"Hey! Look who it is!" Someone shouts, and laughter erupts. "The witch shows his face!"
I turn around and see a group of boys in raincoats standing over by a game shop, the guy in the middle freaking massive, even bigger than I was. "I thought you ate your last boyfriend, Asa!" The big guy shouts, "What are you doing with this guy?"
Asa immediately ducks his head, his arms wrapping around his stomach.
"Nice hair, by the way!" One of the other guys screams, "You look like a knock-off Eminem!"
"Who the hell is this guy?" I demand, and I smack Asa's elbow to get him to look at me. "Why's he talking so much shit about you?"
"That's Ethan Jameson," Asa replies in a small voice, "It's a long story, but this is pretty much normal for him every time I come into town. Which is why I stopped coming so much after Kian died. The attacks only got worse, it wasn't worth it to shop in town anymore."
"Hey!" Ethan screams, "Did you fuck any owls lately, owl boy!?"
His mob of idiots start laughing and slapping one another as if they'd just made the best joke in the world, which they hadn't. It felt like Asa and I were in a movie straight out of the nineties with a bunch of dumb high school bullies getting their jollies off.
"Hey," I tell Asa, and I touch his shoulder, "Do you have any of those leftover pickles from this morning?"
Asa furrows his eyebrows, then he hands me a doggie bag full of soggy fried pickles from this morning. "Yeah," he replies, totally confused, "Why? Did you suddenly get a craving?"
I grab the bag of pickles and draw my arm back, then launch them into the air.
There was a reason I'd been the best quarterback on my team back home. Every season, I'd been a shining star among a bunch of mediocre players. My arm was strong, but my aim was stronger, so even as far away as we were, I hit my target.
The bag of pickles flies through the air, then slams into Ethan's nasty face, exploding all over him and his friends. He screams, starts spitting and scooping pickles out of his mouth and hair, then turns to me and Asa and lets out an unholy scream.
"Run!" I yell, and I grab Asa's arm and drag him towards the car a short distance away.
"You're dead, you little turd!" Ethan howls, and he and his friends slam toward us.
Asa and I get into the car and I start it up as fast as I can, laughter tearing out of me much to my surprise. "Fuck you!" I scream out the window as we peel out, onto the road, "I'll see you in school, bitch!"
Ethan turns around and runs for his car and I watch him get inside, but by then I'm taking us back home as fast as I can. The rain was bad, but I thought I could make it.
"That was so cool!" Asa yells, and he sits high in his seat, "How did you do that!?"
"All skill, baby," I reply, and I hold my fist out for a fist bump, which he gladly accepts. "That's how you take care of assholes like that. You hear me? I got your back."
"Micha!" Asa yells, and for a second I think he's about to go all mushy on me and cry and stuff. Instead, I turn to the road and I see a huge tree fall right in the middle of our lane. The next thing I know, I'm slamming on the brakes and we're both screaming as we careen down the side and into a deep ditch.
I hear the whoosh of wings, I see massive speckled feathers, and I think it must be an angel coming to save me. Then we hit the ground and the sound of glass explodes.
I know the crash happens in seconds, but it feels like I'm banging around in the cabin forever before the car actually crashes to a stop, metal squealing, the engine ticking and steaming furiously as everything settles.
I yell out of sheer panic because I didn't know what the hell was going on and my body felt like a glass cage that had just been struck by a baseball bat. I had blood dripping down the bridge of my nose and into my mouth and I was hanging upside down, my arms dangling over my head. A second later, I remember Asa sitting in the seat beside me before we rolled the car into the ditch.
"Asa!" I scream, and I reach for my seatbelt to try to unbuckle, "Talk to me, buddy! You okay!?"
Something flutters out of the corner of my eye and I look over in time to see this fluff ball rolling around a little in the seat beside me. At first, I assume it was some kind of furry animal that had snuck in while the car was upside down, and then I see these spotty, ginger-looking feathers assemble themselves back into order and a heart-shaped face pops up.
An owl. The same fucking owl that had visited me the night before.
The creature takes one look at me with its big dark eyes and makes this confused screeching noise, its wings opening wide and flapping, beak clacking. Terrified, I holler and scramble to unbuckle myself before it can rip my face off and claw my eyes out with its sharp claws. "Asa!" I yell, "Help me! I'm stuck in here with a vicious animal!"
The weird little owl rights itself and cautiously bounces over to where I dangle, his head rotating to one side, and then the other until his face is completely upside down, making me whimper in fear at the sight of it.
But then the weirdest shit happens.
I think I see the light around the owl bend, or maybe my vision goes all blurry. All I know is, he changes right before my eyes and slips into a familiar human shape, these huge wings extending, filling the cab with their sheer size before they fold out of view and Asa Moon appears underneath them, mostly naked from what I can assume.
"Micha!" He shouts, "Oh my God!"
I scream at the sight of him and he screams because I'm screaming, the younger boy flinching away, his arms coming up to shield his face. "Ahh!"
"What the fuck was that! What the hell are you!?" I howl and attempt to free myself until this wave of total agony pierces my lower half, forcing me to grab Asa's bare foot while he panics and tries to get free. At this point, I'm pretty sure both of us were screaming loud enough for whoever drove by to hear us making a commotion.
"Let go of me!" Asa yowls, "I don't have to give you an explanation!"
"Wait a minute!" I gasp after a moment, and I gulp for air. "Do you smell gasoline?"
"Huh?" Asa turns to face me, tears streaming down his bloodied face, and he sniffs a little. Like me, he had also been cut up pretty badly, and his collarbone appeared to be protruding more than usual. "Yeah!" He snivels, " I smell it. I think the car's going to explode!"
"Get me out!" I shriek, and I grab onto him again and shake him, both of us panicking all over again at the thought of the car going up in flames like we were caught up in a James Bond movie. "Get me the fuck out of here before I die, Asa!"
Asa reaches down and grabs my pants again, but braces himself on the dashboard this time around. Screaming, he puts all his weight into trying to free my leg and I push down on his shoulder and try to wiggle myself loose. It hurts, it hurts like a fucking bitch and I feel meat tearing and blood squirting out and dribbling down my leg.
I rip free a moment later and Asa grabs me when I tumble into his arms, gasping for air. "Are you an angel?" I whisper into his ear, and I feel feathers underneath my hands when I hold onto his shoulder blades, "I think I'm dying. I can't feel my leg...holy shit, Asa, my leg..."
Asa pulls me out of the car and drags my body through the broken window. Precious daylight comes into view, the rain falling cold on my face, washing away the blood as I lay sprawled in the fallen leaves beneath me.
"Micha?" Asa leans over me, his beautiful face coming into view along with this pendant dangling from one hand. "You need to put this on."
I reach for it, my blood-stained fingers shaking, "What is it?" I ask him.
"It was Kian's before he died," he replies softly, "I thought it was going to save him."
I let him slip the necklace around my neck, one hand gently lifting my head before setting it down. In one hand, I hold a silver pendant, a small owl. Then I let the rain carry me away into the darkness, the sound of feathers and wings whooshing over my head.
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