If These Wings Could Fly - Kyrie McCauley Page 0,68
Let’s go.”
And with that, he shoves a travel mug into my hands and we are out the door, driving toward the hiking trails closest to school. We pull into a familiar parking lot, and Amelia and Sofia are already there, waving to us.
“Hey, this is my favorite parking lot in Auburn,” I say.
“What a crazy coincidence, mine too,” Liam says.
I take a sip from the mug he gave me earlier. “Wait, this is hot cocoa.”
“Mmhmm. It’s delicious.”
“Coffee is delicious, and it has caffeine.”
“Coffee is not delicious, you heathen. And you know I don’t drink coffee.”
“What do you have against coffee anyway?”
“Uhh . . .” Liam rubs his hands over his head, which I’ve realized he always does when he isn’t sure what to say. A little spacer to give him time to collect his thoughts. “You know how I can get really stuck in my head about stuff? I worry a lot. Caffeine just kind of amplifies those thoughts.”
I think of the school pamphlets on his desk and his thing with glasses and his perfectionism in just about every area of his life, and it all clicks.
“That makes sense. I’m sorry I was nosy.”
“No worries.” He dismisses the uncomfortable topic, and then gives me his winning smile. “You ready?”
Our hike is quick and breathless in the cold air. Sofia and Amelia are laughing ahead of us.
“Hey, I forgot to ask which pieces of yours are in the show tonight,” I say. We turned in our portfolios a few days ago and decided with our art teacher which ones should be displayed.
“Oh, I’m not actually sure. I really wanted him to pick my moonscapes, but Mr. Taylor liked another set better. What about you?”
“Portrait of an Old Crow.”
“Good, I like that one.”
I think of Joe and my pocket full of gifts, and I smile.
I like it, too.
We reach one of the lookout peaks and find a perfect view of Auburn. It looks so small from up here.
Amelia and Liam start chatting about student council, and I sit next to Sofia, who reaches for the travel mug in my hands.
“Mmm, hot chocolate,” she says after taking a sip. “Good, you drink too much caffeine.”
“I drink the exact right amount, thank you very much,” I say.
“So,” Sofia says, and I can guess what’s coming. “How was last night?”
I look over my shoulder at Liam, but it doesn’t seem like he can hear us. He and Amelia are looking up, and I follow their gazes. There are dozens of crows soaring just off the edge of the lookout.
“Um, fine. Very . . . uneventful.”
“Oh yeah?” Sofia raises her eyebrows at me.
“Well, actually, there was something.”
“Oh my God, I knew it.”
“Not that. Liam said he loves me.” I double-check that Liam isn’t overhearing us.
“Whoa.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s huge,” Sofia says, passing me the hot chocolate again.
“Yep.” The crows are now rising and diving, and it reminds me of the morning in the rain when Liam and I saw them playing. Today it’s like they are surfing the wind.
“And you . . . ?”
“Oh, I panicked.”
“Naturally,” she says, laughing and putting her arm around me. “Take your time with it, Leighton. He’s been smitten with you from, like, day one. And I think you have been, too. But that doesn’t mean you have to say anything you aren’t ready for.”
“Yeah? I’m not being frigid?”
“Leighton, you have the biggest heart of anyone I know.” Some of the crows descend and land in the trees below, and a new batch of crows rise like a dark cloud. Dr. Cornell sent me another update on the crows—some kind of thermal map that experts use to track bird migration habits, and that they’ve used on Auburn. It looked like one giant maroon mass to me, but Dr. Cornell explained in his notes that the birds are mostly drawn to the mountains and the water supplies. Auburn officials are trying to bring in falconers next. They’ll release live hawks to torment the crow populations, encouraging them to leave with a natural enemy.
But crows are intelligent, resourceful. They can problem-solve. I don’t think anything the town tries is going to work.
The crows will leave when they want to.
And when they do, I hope they know better than to come back.
Chapter Fifty
WE ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND THE art show and stand by our drawings. I’m sure there are worse forms of high school humiliation, but not many.
I’m standing next to Portrait of an Old Crow. It’s the best piece I’ve submitted all term, which isn’t saying