The life of a half angel

The stranger

As I walk back to Stacy's car in the school parking lot, my mind drifted off into a daydreaming state. The sunlight shines onto my face, warming my skin. I hear a whistle in the distance and look up to see Stacy leaning against her car. "Come on little snail, hurry up!". The soft wind blows her blond hair up in the wind as she tries to force it back into a ponytail. I adjust my pace and reach her car in seconds. "You're early. I wasn't expecting you so soon." We both step into her car. "Well, my class was cancelled and nobody took the liberty to inform me, so I spent the previous hour enjoying the sun". I tell her about the biology class but left out the details about the stranger. "So, do you want to go dress shopping tomorrow? We have to hurry before all the good dresses are taken," Stacy asks, as she rolls down her window. I groan, "I don't even have a date, so why should I go dress shopping? I might as well skip prom". She balls her fist and hits me against my arm. "Ouch". I rub my arm to relieve the pain. "Okay, I will join you, but not tomorrow". She chuckles while flipping her hair over her shoulder, "You better join me because I need help to find the perfect dress and I need someone to tell me how beautiful I am. Why can't you go tomorrow?" I stretch in my seat, "Because I promised my mother to help her with the preparations for the next full moon circle". She rolls her eyes. "Can't you just skip that Wicca s**t for one night? I know it's part of your religion, but it's practically just singing and dancing in the woods. How much preparation do you need for that?" I know she doesn't mean for it to sound harsh. She just thinks of Wicca as a bit weird as she grew up as a Christian. Her parents are firm believers and she just went along with it. I took her with me to a circle a couple of months ago. I had hoped to change her mind about Paganism but it didn't. She still thought it was weird, but she accepted that I was raised with a different religion. I was just glad she never mentioned it at school, it would have increased the bullying. People already think that I am a witch and not the good kind. Paganism was more my mother's religion anyway. I just love nature and being with people who have the same respect for it as I do. And besides, as the high priestess of the circle, my mother could use a hand sometimes. My mother dived even more into Wicca after my father left. She worked hard to lead the circles and earn respect from her coven, it was her way of coping with my father leaving. I wonder where my father is right now. Ugh, why can't I seem to remember him!?

Anyway, my mother and I live secluded in the woods. Maybe it's time to take her to a Starbucks to buy her a coffee and make her see that the world isn't as bad as she thinks it is. "Hello? Earth to Alyssa?" I wake up out of my thoughts. "Huh? Sorry, you were saying?" She turns the key and starts the car. "I said that there is a guy staring at you and he is kind of hot". I follow her dreamy look and there he is, the guy from before. He turns away and starts walking. "Do you know this guy?" Stacy asks. I shake my head while keeping my eye on the stranger. Frustration builds up in my mind. He turns back once more to wink at me, before vanishing in thin air. I blink a couple of times. Did he just disappear? Neh, there must be a corner close by or something. "I have no idea who that is, Stacy, I had hoped you would recognize him. I saw him during biology as well". She shakes her head before going over the details for prom. She tells me about date options for me and where we'd meet, yet my thoughts stayed with the stranger. Who was he? And why was he staring? These questions kept me up all night.

It is only 6 in the morning and sleep still won't come, so I stretch and slip out of bed. I grab my laptop and turn it on before grabbing yesterday's laundry to wash it. I throw my clothes on the laundry pile and open the washing machine. As I did, the piece of paper I found yesterday fell out of my jeans. Why would someone write the word half-angel on a piece of paper with invisible ink? And why write my name on it? It's not like angels are real. Stories about angels are just simple fairy tales to keep people in line from making mistakes. I could ask if my mother knows more about this subject but she is probably already busy enough with the full moon preparations. So I place the note onto a side table and throw the clothes in the washing machine together with some washing powder. After I turn it on, I walk back to my laptop and sit on a chair. I frown while clicking on the internet icon. Google knows everything, right? Maybe this could give me some insight. The search bar appears and I type the word half-angel, feeling a sparkle of hope. My hope disappears when the results load on the screen. It is full of fairy tales and children's stories. I close the tabs. It was 100% a joke to bully or distract me or something. I walk back into the laundry room and rip the note apart before I throw it away in my blue trash can. I have better things to do on this beautiful morning than debate the purpose of this note. I tiptoe down the stairs.

The sun is rising and shows pink and orange colors in the sky. All the lights are off because my mother is still sleeping. I switch them on, place a pan on the stove, and c***k some eggs to make an omelet for the both of us. She joins me five minutes later and asks me questions about school. Maybe she doubts her decision to let me go to a public school. I assure her everything is fine and collect the dishes. After breakfast, I grab my school bag and take a quick shower, Stacy was early today. Grabbing my bag, I run towards the car and jump in. Stacy immediately starts babbling about the color dress she wants and what would look good with her slightly tinted skin color. She debates choosing a red color to make her blue eyes pop. She is also questioning whether to put her hair up or down in curls. I tell her to combine the hairstyles if she is unable to choose, which she gets excited about. "Are you sure you won't be able to make it lys?" She looks at me with begging puppy dog eyes. I laugh because of her expression and shake my head. "I wish I could join you Stace, but I promised and you know I don't break promises. But hey, send me a picture, I can be the judge from a distance?" She sighs heavily and over-dramatic. "Okay, but it's no fun that way". She starts the car and drives down the driveway. The ride is quiet and fast. We are the first ones to arrive in the parking lot, which never happens. I step out of the car and enjoy the smell of cherry blossom trees nearby. Turning around, I see the stranger at the edge of the parking lot. He stares back at me and disappears again. Okay, this really starts to freak me out. Is he stalking me? Or does he want to speak with me in private? Either way, if he keeps on stalking me this way, I might be calling the cops.

The day went by slowly and I am glad to hear the sound of the school bell announcing lunchtime. I walk to our regular table and take a seat between Rachel and Stacy. School prom seems to be the only thing they care about. Apparently, they are trying to match me with Rachel's older brother, his date cancelled, so he is in need of a new one. Great, I am considered second choice and besides, it would be weird to go to prom with the brother of a friend. I try to decline and change the subject. Stacy falls back on another topic I rather try to avoid. The stranger. Rachel looks at me and points with her box of chocolate milk. "You mean the dude you saw during biology?" I nod while looking down at my food. It consists of two slices of brown bread with cheese and ham. Stacy waves a piece of cucumber while staring dreamily through the canteen. "He is hot, I could definitely have some fun with him." I turn around shocked. "Stace, he's stalking me. That's not hot at all!" She shrugs and takes a bite of her food. "Ask him to prom. It seems as if he wants to talk to you, so give him a chance. Who knows, he might surprise you. It might work out and then you have to join us with the dress fitting." I empty my can of coke and throw it in her direction. "Hey, that's not fair" she pouts while Rachel and I laugh. The classes continue but the stranger never shows. I expected to see him afterwards in the parking lot but there is no sign of him. Stacy sees me looking and winks at me, probably thinking I accepted her advice. Which I do not, of course. I wonder what he wants. I put the thoughts away and step into Stacy's car. She turns on the radio and starts singing out loud. People turn around and watch her sing. Instead of feeling ashamed, I decided to join her singing and close the car door behind me.

Stacy drops me off at home and drives off. I yell for my mom but there is no reply. She probably went out to collect herbs or something, so I start cooking dinner. There is spaghetti on the menu today. We have our own little vegetable garden with tomatoes, so I make the sauce from scratch. I peel the skin of the tomatoes and make sure to remove the seeds. My mother has not come home before dinner so I decide to leave a plate in the microwave for her. My mother has a love for collecting fresh herbs. She taught me which plants were edible, which are used for their scents, and which were poisonous. She told me that fresh herbs were stronger than regular store-bought ones. I don't think she likes stores in general, she only visits stores once a month where she collects everything we need for the following month. I always love to see the passion in my mother's eyes while gathering herbs. It is rare to see her happy and passionate these days. There are days she complains a lot, especially now that she gets sick more often. The door opens and closes as my mother comes in. She places the basket with herbs on the counter and hangs her coat. I find some basil in the basket and use it to decorate her food. After dinner, we change into our white robes with silver belts, these colors represent the connection between the moon and the light within us. It is mostly worn by the females in our circle. There aren't a lot of men within our group but the ones present wear black with silver. The black stands for the night and the warriors of the goddess of the night.

We walk into the woods and join the rest at the stone altar. My mother lays the collected herbs and flowers on the altar. Every herb has its own property, for example, rosemary for protection and removing negativity. She uses dried and crushed eggshells to create a circle of protection around our members. This way, there is no pollution to the environment like salt has. She places five candles on the altar. Red for fire, yellow for wind, blue for water, green for earth, and purple for the spirit that binds. She also places water, incense, dirt, and some burning oil around the circle. Then she uses an athame to draw a protective sigil in the sky before singing an old unknown song. We take our places in the circle and listen to her song. A flow of energy seems to pass the circle. We are ready for the ritual.