Wings by E. D. Baker Read Free Book Online Page B

her in. While the cat hopped onto the bed, Tamisin spread her wings wide, sighing with relief as the cramped feeling faded away. Since no one else was home, she kept them unfurled as she headed for the basement, the only room that was big enough for what she had in mind.
    The room was long; it ran the length of the basement and was half as wide. For all the years Tamisin had been dancing in it, the room had seemed to be big enough for just about anything. It wasn’t until she’d put on the music from her dance solo and was trying out some new steps incorporating her wings that she noticed how low the ceiling was. She’d found that beating her wings while she leaped gave her added distance, but it wasn’t easy to coordinate the two kinds of movement. Although it was tiring, she did it over and over again, getting better with each try until, suddenly, she was airborne. It lasted only a second longer than her usual leap, but it was enough to make her hit her head on the ceiling and keep her feet off the ground farther than she’d ever done before. Wantingto prove that she hadn’t imagined it, Tamisin stood up and tried again. This time she actually felt suspended in the air before she went too high and hit her head.
    With a whoop of excitement, Tamisin tore up the basement steps to the two-floor entryway at the front of the house. She’d have gone outside, but someone was bound to see her. Although the entryway wasn’t very big from front to back, it was the tallest area in the house and the only one where she wasn’t likely to hit her already sore head. For the rest of the afternoon Tamisin practiced beating her wings, thrilled that she was able to go higher. It was true that she could fly, but it was her secret and hers alone. She wouldn’t tell anyone about it, not her parents, not Heather, and certainly not big-mouthed Kyle. For the first time in her life, Tamisin was convinced that being different could be a truly wonderful thing, and she didn’t want anything to spoil it.

    Tamisin went back to school the next day with a forged doctor’s note. With her wings tucked against her back and the knowledge of what she could do, she felt special and important in a way she never had before. Her wings were her overwhelming secret now, making her feel as though she no longer had to hide anything else. For the first time in years she wore her hair pulled back and her face scrubbed clean of makeup. She didn’t care if everyone saw her ears or her spreckles.
    Her mother had had a hard time getting Petey out of bed that morning, so she didn’t look at Tamisin longenough to notice the change. Heather was a different story, however. The first thing she said when they met in front of her house was how great Tamisin looked.
    “I’ve always thought your ears were cute,” said Heather as they started down the sidewalk toward school. “It’s about time you stopped covering them. What made you change your mind?”
    “A lot of things,” said Tamisin. She felt guilty for keeping her wings a secret from her best friend, but she still remembered how Heather had laughed when she heard about the fairies. Maybe Tamisin would show Heather her wings someday, when they weren’t so new. There was one thing they could talk about though. “Guess what I learned yesterday,” said Tamisin. “I was adopted.”
    “No!” breathed Heather. “You weren’t really, were you?”
    Tamisin nodded. “My parents told me all about it. They thought they couldn’t have any more children after Kyle was born, so they contacted a lawyer when they saw his ad in the paper and adopted me.”
    “Wow. That’s big. Are you okay with this? I mean, it is pretty earthshaking news to find out that your parents aren’t really your parents.”
    “Tell me about it. I don’t even know what to call them.”
    “Petey wasn’t adopted though. I remember when he was born.”
    “Nope,” said Tamisin. “I was the only one.”
    “Do Kyle and Petey