The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

The Usual

From here on out, this story will be told from a different perspective.

[Sophia]

I got a text from Apollo a couple hours later saying he finally got back from the grocery store and he wanted some help putting things away and cleaning up, so I started packing away my tools so I could head back to the house. When I got back, everything was sitting on top of the counter so I set my bag down and started organizing everything. Apollo came downstairs in swim shorts, a large black hoodie and his backpack.

"Oh, are you gonna go out and do some laps?" I asked.

Apollo brushed his long blonde hair away from his shoulders.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure if I wanted to today, but... I should. I'm gonna try and make it quick. You got everything?"

"Yeah, I got it." I said as I opened up some cabinets and started putting things away.

"Did you put your clothes in the wash yet?"

"Uhh... yeah. I'm gonna bring my blankets down, uh- after this."

"Okay, cool."

Apollo typed something on the screen of his phone for a minute before shoving it into his bag.

"Okay, I'll be back in a bit."

"A'ight."

Apollo went out the backyard door and he was gone. I finished putting away the groceries before grabbing my bag and sitting down on the couch in the living room.

Back when we went to school, Apollo took an interest in the swim team, but... he couldn't risk joining. So he decided to go out on his own. See, way beyond the treehouse in the forest, there's this big lake and that's where he goes to do laps. The water is safe to swim in and it's also fun to hang out there in the summer when it gets hot and we need to cool down. I mean, the beach isn't far from where we live either, but the lake is calm and Apollo can do his practices properly.

He'd usually go out on the weekends, because it was the only time he was able to do it. On school days, we were just too exhausted to do anything else afterwards. (Not to mention the pile of homework we had as well.) But since we were out of school now, Apollo's had more time to practice and he's been going out more often. He seems to really enjoy it and he's actually a pretty great swimmer. Sometimes I'll go out with him when he asks me to time his laps. I could never keep up with him if I wanted to, so I just kinda sit and watch while I risk getting sunburnt.

Anyway, as I sat on the couch I fumbled looking for the TV remote and turned on the TV. I took a while to find something good to watch as I pulled my satchel over to my side and pulled out my laptop. I opened it up and started typing away at something, occasionally pausing to look at the TV before turning back to my laptop again.

After a while, I stopped and opened another tab, scrolling through something, ignoring the various pop-up ads that were stuck to the edges of my screen. But as my mind began to wander, an idea started forming. I closed my laptop and set it off to the side, leaving the TV on as I went upstairs.

I started going through all the clothes I had in my dresser. Besides the ones waiting to be washed downstairs, the few clothes in my drawers and the outfit I'm currently wearing... I didn't have a lot. The shoes that I'm currently wearing, they're the only pair I got. (Plus a pair of flip-flops.) I pulled a few things out that I'd consider tossing before pausing to think. And once again my thoughts turned into an idea. I went back downstairs to retrieve my phone from the couch and checked the time as I started texting Apollo.

> Hey man, I'm going through the rest of my clothes and I'm actually thinking about throwing some stuff out. Sooooo I'm also thinking that maybe we look for some better clothes?

> I was originally thinking we could go up to the Spectrum since there's more stores there, but if you're tired of walking, we can just go to the one nearby and wander around there?

> We don't have to go today if its too late, we can get up early tomorrow, just thinking out loud.

By the time I reorganized all my clothes, Apollo had replied back to me.

Actually yeah, I think its about time I get some new clothes! well... actually I desperately need some new shoes. My old Converse, the heels are falling off! What?? Are they actually falling off?

YES! I was gonna throw them out after I got back from the store. I'm wearing my other broken sandals since they're the only ones I have left. Okay, yeah then we DEFINITELY need some new stuff. Will we have time today, or should we move it to tomorrow?

Nah man, I need some shoes NOW. I bet if I can set a new time for my laps, I'll get home and shower quick. Take your time getting ready, I'll probably be ready in an hour or hour and a half and then we'll get going. A'ight, cool.

I shoved my phone in my back pocket and started organizing the rest of my things. I pulled out a purple jacket and put it on before scooping up my bag and heading back downstairs. I waited for Apollo to get home and get ready so we could get going. He said he'd manage to walk around in his old sandals and he'd swap them once he found a better pair. With that, we gathered our things and headed out the backdoor.

We went through the fences and back into the grove, walking out past the treehouse. We walked towards the lake. Now, where the lake was, it's surrounded by steep cliffs, as if the entire area was a bowl. Now, normally if anyone wanted to try and get down there, they could either climb up and down the steep cliff, or they could walk about an hour south where the ground levels out and you can find a spot from there.

And, once again, if a normal person wanted to go wander around a mall, but didn't own a car (or legally knew how to drive one), most people would either take the bus or get a ride from their friends or someone else, so why would the two of us not go with any of those options?

Well... to put it simply..... we can't let people know we exist.

As we started getting closer to the cliff, we could see the edge from a distance and started securing our bags. We pulled both our arms behind us and started adjusting the backs of our jackets. There were two large holes on the backs of both of them.

From within, large feathers began protruding from both our backs. They grew longer and larger. Mine were pure white, small, just like me. Apollo's were much larger, and a soft grey. Sometimes his shimmered in the light, but only at a certain angle.

This is why we can't let anyone know we exist.

Because we aren't like anyone else.

We don't know what we are.

We don't have anyone who can tell us. No parents. No one to teach us how things worked or how to do things by ourselves.

We can't trust anyone, or risk anyone seeing us as we are.

Why do you think Apollo couldn't join the swim team? Yeah, we went to school knowing the risks, and we did it anyway. We got lucky, and despite that whole awful experience,we endured. (You don't wanna know how we got through Gym class.)

Yeah, so we were born with the wings of angels.

But we ain't no angels.

Like I said, we don't know what we are. But... we are what we are.

And that's not even the half of it.

Apollo and I began picking up speed, from a brisk walk to a slow sprint. The cliffs edge was getting closer and closer, but we didn't plan on stopping.

The feathers on our backs rose upwards and started to beat up and down in a rhythm. Kicking up the dust and dirt in small clouds.

Our wings fully unfolded, Apollo began to rise upwards, picking up his legs and leaning forward. I ran straight over the edge of the cliff, diving and letting my wings pick me up, grazing over the lake until I pulled myself upwards and both Apollo and I continued to climb higher into the sky. Sticking to the coast. As long as we can stay high up enough, no one will be able to spot us. From below, people would mistake us for birds. If a plane rolls by, same thing. Or the clouds hide us. As far as distance traveled, this mall we're about to head to is the farthest we've ever flown. We've never dared go anywhere else. We couldn't really... go on a vacation if we really wanted to. Too many factors, too many risks... When we were smaller and we got the hang of the whole flying thing, we had so many ideas, so many places we wanted to see. But as we got older and we learned about these people and how this world works... we realized we... couldn't do any of those things. So we've learned to only stick to our territory. We're so lucky to have all this space to ourselves, but I really wish we could actually... go to more destinations rather than flying around in circles like fish in a fish bowl.

This mall that we're going to, it's one of the biggest we've ever seen and it has lots of great stores we like, so if its clothes we're looking for, that place is our best bet. It's even got a whole ferris wheel in the center! What kind of mall has that?

When it comes to landings, again, we need to make sure we're not seen. We have to land quite a ways away where no one can see us and walk the rest of the way.

We walked, we shopped, we got something to eat. We secured out goods so nothing would fall out as we flew back home. The sun was setting when we pulled ourselves into the air, which was actually a good thing. Makes it harder for people to notice us.

While Apollo understands this, he prefers not to fly anywhere after sunset. He says it's hard to see where he's going, especially if there's clouds. If he can't see me anywhere, it makes him nervous.

I don't mind the darkness, personally. While I like flying through the air in the daytime, I feel safer at night. Sometimes I like to think that if anyone did see me, even for a moment, they'd mistake me for the legendary Mothman and probably wonder what it's doing here in California.

That'd be pretty funny.

When we got home, Apollo and I brought our things up to our rooms and called it a day. I didn't put anything away, I just set the bags down near my desk. I'd spend the rest of the day tomorrow reorganizing everything and cutting off all the tags.

Just another day in the life of two ordinary freaks.