This was what I got for being nice to the new kid and inviting him to hang out. Reading through my comics collection in my bedroom, we'd been arguing all morning.
"You're so stupid," he said for maybe the millionth time. "If you could be invisible, why would you choose to be a shapeshifter instead? You could just go wherever you wanted in secret."
"Because," I said, trying to maintain my composure, "maybe you want to be seen. Like there's the girl you think is pretty but she only likes really tall guys. How is it going to help to be invisible? Isn't that your problem already? That you're invisible to girls?"
"Well, it's not like the girls are crawling all over you, either."
"I meant the universal you," I said. "Oh, jeez, what time is it?"
"Yeah, it's getting late. I gotta go."
I saw him to the door. We walked outside together. I could tell he was still mad at me. I had won most of the arguments hands down. We probably wouldn't be spending any more Saturday mornings together.
"I still think superfast speed beats stretch-ability," he said.
I shrugged. "Maybe. But not for a girl."
"You think about girls too much," he said, and then he unfolded his enormous wings and took off into the sky, his beating pennons lifting his heavy body higher, falling a bit, then lifting him still higher, until a wind gust caught him and he glided in the direction of his house.
Seems slow and sweaty, I thought, and teleported back to my bedroom.
The End
This story was first published on Wednesday, October 17th, 2012
We hope you're enjoying
The New Kid Is No Angel by
James Valvis.
Please support Daily Science Fiction by becoming a member.
Daily Science Fiction does not have a paywall, but we do have expenses—more than 95% of which are direct payments to authors for their stories. With your $15 membership, less than 6 cents per story, we can continue to provide genre fiction every weekday by email and on the website to thousands of readers for many years to come. You may also choose to support us via patreon.
Tell me more!
Support Daily Science Fiction
Please click to rate this story from 1 (ho-hum) to 7 (excellent!):
Please don't read too much into these ratings. For many reasons, a superior story may not get a superior score.
4.9 Rocket Dragons Average
Please join our mailing list and
receive free daily sci-fi (your email address will be kept
100% private):