what I was going through. Like she knew that she was unraveling everything.
I couldnât get enough air in my lungs.
She was crazy. That was the only explanation that made sense. My mom, who up to that point seemed like the best mother ever, my own personal version of the Gilmore Girls , the envy of all my friends with her beautiful auburn hair and fabulous dewy skin and quirky sense of humor, was actually a raving lunatic.
âWhat are you doing? Why are you telling me this?â I asked, blinking back furious tears.
âBecause you need to know that youâre special, too.â
I stared at her incredulously.
âIâm special,â I repeated. âBecause if youâre a half angel then that would make me what, a quarter angel?â
âQuarter angels are called Quartarius.â
âI want to go home now,â I said dully. I needed to call Dad. He might know what to do. I needed to find my mom some help.
âI wouldnât have believed it either,â she said. âNot without proof.â
At first I thought that the sun must have come out from behind the clouds, suddenly brightening the ledge where we stood looking out, but then I understood, slowly, that this light was stronger than that. I turned and shielded my eyes from the sight of my mom with light beaming off her. It was like looking at the sun, so intense my eyes watered. Then she dimmed slightly and I saw that she had wingsâenormous snowy wings unfurling behind her.
âThis is glory,â she said, and I understood the words she said even though she wasnât speaking English, but a strange language like two notes of music played on every syllable, so eerie and alien it made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
âMom,â I breathed helplessly.
Her wings extended like they were literally catching the air and pushed down once. The sound they made was like a single heartbeat low in the earth. My hair blew back with the force. She lifted off the ground slowly, impossibly graceful and light, still glowing all over. Then she suddenly shot out over the tree line, tucking her body up and moving fast across the entire length of the valley until she was only a bright speck on the horizon. I was left stunned and alone, the rock ledge empty and silent, darker now that she wasnât there to light it.
âMom!â I called.
I watched her circle around and glide her way back to me, more slowly this time. She swept right up where the mountain dropped off and hovered, treading the air gently.
âI think I believe you,â I said.
Her eyes sparkled.
For some reason I couldnât stop crying.
âHoney,â she said, âitâs going to be all right.â
âYouâre an angel,â I gasped through the tears. âAnd that means that Iââ
I couldnât get the words out.
âThat means youâre part angel, too,â she said.
That night I stood in the middle of my bedroom with the door locked and willed my wings to appear. Mom had assured me that Iâd be able to summon them, in time, and even use them to fly. I couldnât imagine. It was too wild. I stood in front of the full-length mirror in my cami and underwear and thought of the Victoriaâs Secret models in the Angel commercials, their wings curled sexily around them. No wings appeared. I wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole idea. Me, with wings sprouting from my shoulder blades. Me, part angel.
The thing about my mother being a half angel made total senseâas much as my mother being some kind of supernatural being made sense, anyway. Sheâd always seemed suspiciously beautiful to me. Unlike me with my brooding stubbornness, my flares of temper, my sarcasm, she was so graceful and even-tempered. Perfect to the point of being irritating. I couldnât name one flaw.
Unless you count lying to me for my entire life, I thought, allowing myself a flash of bitterness.