It was a little concerning that Asa Moon was planning on spiriting me away into the woods, when we didn't know each other that well, but I wasn't mad about it either.

I mean, we had met a handful of times before the crash, and we'd talked, but I didn't know him well enough to go live in a tree with him. Besides, there was no way I could squeeze into a bird's nest with his weird little self without breaking a leg in the process.

"Hey, dork? Are you listening to me?" James Dean asks when I'm finally back in my room and he's seated beside my bed, one leg crossed over the other. "I stopped at the bookstore on the way here and grabbed you some books," he says, and then he dumps a few hardback books onto my lap, "I figured you needed something to do while you're being held prisoner here."

"Dude," I reply, and I start flipping through the books, "Couldn't you have brought my laptop or something? What is this, 1994?" 

"Excuse you!" James throws his arms into the air, "A guy tries to do something nice around here and this is how he gets treated!"

"I'm just saying!" I grumble and start flipping through the books. All of them were about different types of owls, so James must have caught on to my change in interests at some point. Eventually, I end up reading about barn owls after comparing some pictures to what I'd seen when Asa was in his other form--which sounded super weird now that I thought about it.

Over the next hour, I learn about how the males sometimes did a super special flying maneuver called, "Mothing" where they hovered in front of a cute girl owl to attract her into chasing him. And how they brought her dead rats, metaphorically bringing her the equivalent of tasty chocolates and sweet-smelling roses.

But as I keep reading, I start thinking about Asa showing up with cookies and smashed brownies in little heart-patterned baggies. How Rowan had mentioned him looking for a tree for us to hang out in. Then, I start connecting the dots one by one. Was this guy trying to make a move on me? Or was it something else?

I decided to ask him about it without actually seeing him face to face, and pull up his dating profile, which I'd bookmarked on my phone, but things had changed. His avatar was a different picture now and he was smiling into the camera with his new haircut, thinking he was so cool.

LikeMic24: Hey, you there? It's Micha.

It takes so long for him to respond that I almost give up and throw my phone back onto the desk. Then a little light on his profile turns on and I see three dots show up.

Birdboy: Omg

LikeMic24: You ran off earlier. Is everything okay?

Birdboy: I'm fine. I'm not even crying or anything anymore. Sorry! That was really embarrassing! But Rowan can be so mean sometimes.

I hesitate, then I start typing up my question, trying to figure out how to word it without sounding weird. Asa seemed determined to make me his best friend, but I was worried about what Rowan had said earlier. If I left and he fell into a depression, what would I do? There was a chance that one day I would have to move back in with my mom and little brother, or to another state if dad decided to pick us up again.

LikeMic24: Where did you really go for a whole week? Why didn't you tell your parents?

There's a long pause between his response.

Birdboy: I went to talk to Kian. His grave's in the city over, underneath a tree. So it takes me a while to fly there. I'm fine, Micha, seriously. I'm just kind of embrassed.

For some reason, I feel relieved at that. So, he wasn't as crazy as I thought, and he wasn't as obsessed with me as Rowan had detailed. But if he'd been in a tree for a whole week watching over a grave while it poured rain, I wondered if he really was as okay as he made himself out to be.

I start to type out a response, but before I can finish, a number pops up on my phone, stilling my hands immediately. Panicked, I fumble with the thing as soon as I see my mother's name appear in bright red letters and, "Man I Feel Like a Woman" begins to play.

"Micha, darling!" She croons when I hit the answer button, "How's everything going?"

"Mom?"