• Have you ever sat in court, waiting for the judge to tell you who you were going to live with, permanently?
    Let me tell you. Its even more boring than it sounds.
    My Mom sat next to me behind one of the tables up front. My dad sat behind the one next to us. I had brought my iPod, but my Mom yelled (kind of...) when i pulled it out the first time, so I decided to ignore it burning in my pocket.
    There weren't even whispers. Nothing. The silence was deafening. I couldn't take it. Then, as I was about to burst, the judge knocked his little gavel.
    "The verdict is..." he trailed off, and looked at me. I remembered when they asked who i would rather live with when I was five, and my parents were getting divorced. I had said, rather childishly, "Wait, Mommy and Daddy are not going to live in the same house?" I had been in denial. Now, I had to choose for real. I wrote down my answer.
    "She will be living with her Mother, based on both her choosing, and the jury's votes." The judge said (I never bothered to learn his name. He was just another of the worthless charactors in my life story.). My father looked over at me painfully. I mouthed something like, "See you at christmas." Which was, now that I realize it, extrememly rude.
    My Mom grinned. She hugged me and my brother. I looked up at the judge. He got the message. "Court dismissed." he said, knocking his little gavel yet again. I got up and trudged out of the stuffy courthouse.

    My Mother decided to tell me after court. We had unpacked my stuff into my room, and B.B. (I occasionally call my brother that; it was a silly nickname that caught on when we were really little.) went to go study at Randall's house.
    Mom had asked to talk. As we sat in the parlour, I felt the tension mount. She sighed. "Your half angel. There. I said it."
    My mouth dropped open. The first thing running through my mind was Dude, your Mom's crazy. I couldn't believe her. The shouting started. I remember fuzzily yelling things like, "Are you crazy?!" and "Where is my real Mother? She isn't crazy!" etc., etc. Then the tears came. I collapsed on my knees, hands covering the face. B.B. walked in just then, and then, seeing me on the floor, backed out.
    Then my back started itching. I couldn't remember when. It just grew and grew, until it felt like feathers tickling my back. I reached around, under my shirt, and sure enough, there were feathers. I plucked one. "Ow." I muttered. It was pure white, like snow. Holy. Crap. Sadly, that wasn't the only thing falling apart in my life.