Chapter 3

Mona Walker was happy to be at a new school.

After her parents' messy divorce, her mom got a new job at a new hospital and asked Mona if she would like to move in with her.

That was exactly what she needed: A new start, new school, and new friends.

Mona woke up the next day and smiled to see snow falling from the sky.

Winter, she thought. She absolutely loved it. The falling snow, making snowmen, hot chocolate, and playing her guitar near the fireplace.

She quickly got ready and made her way out the door.

One thing she didn't expect was the ice that was covering the sidewalk.

She fell with a loud thump right on her back.

"Ugh," Mona groaned. She closed her eyes in pain as she tried to get up.

"Are you okay?" she heard a deep voice above her as she opened her eyes.

Porter Jackson, standing above her, with a puzzled look on his face.

He offered his hand as he helped her up from the ground.

"Yeah," she muttered a bit embarrassed, "I guess my boots weren't made for the ice."

"It's okay, it happens," Porter shrugged, "Plus I think the rest of the sidewalk is okay now."

"Really?" Mona question as she turned around. The sidewalk was clear. She didn't notice that before, "That's strange...I swear the sidewalk had..."

"Mona! Are you alright?" another voice exclaimed. She looked across the street to see Carl running towards her.

"Yeah, just being clumsy as always," she smiled, "But Porter was here to save the day."

Porter would usually say something complimenting about how great he was at this point, but instead he just smiled and nodded.

Mona laughed awkwardly as she noticed that Porter didn't look back at her.

"By the way Carl, tell your mom thanks for the cake," she said trying to change the subject.

"The cake?"

"Yeah, she came yesterday afternoon with a welcome cake. That was really nice of her."

"Oh please tell me you did not eat it," Carl groaned, "I love my mom but her baking would take you to the hospital."

"Luckily my mom is a doctor," Mona laughed.

Mona walked ahead of the boys as she continued to admire her new neighbourhood. She was surprised that the sidewalk on their side was clear, but on the other side was still covered in snow and probably ice. Carl took a few steps back to Porter.

"So you won't use your magic to change my mom's pancakes, but you'll clear the sidewalk!" he whispered.

"The sidewalk was hazardous," Porter said.

"So is my mom's cooking!"

"Are you guys coming?" Mona asked looking back.

Carl nodded as he rolled his eyes at Porter.

Porter let the two share the sidewalk together as he walked behind. He listened to Carl and Mona talk about different teachers, TV shows and computer games.

He couldn't help but feel a little left out.

Being an Angel was great, but it sucked knowing that he wasn't going to be around his friends forever.

He once had to learn that the hard way.

At lunch, Carl and Porter sat together in the cafeteria.

Porter wasn't saying much. He just played around with his food and pretended to listen to Carl's day.

"So I was thinking of inviting Mona over for dinner this week."

Porter finally snapped out of it.

"What?"

"Not as a date," Carl quickly said, "Just as a welcome to the neighbourhood thing."

"But, what about your mom's cooking," Porter said, looking for any excuse to not let this happen.

"That's where you come in," Carl smirked, "Just offer to do the cooking for the night. I've heard you are an angel at cooking."

"I can't use my magic like that," Porter stated.

Carl looked shocked, "Since when did you not use your magic like that?"

"Dr. Cassabi has been on my case about my magic," Porter said, "I can't risk not getting my wings."

"Okay sorry," Carl said genuinely, "You should have told me. Is everything okay? You've been pretty distant these past couple of days."

Porter kept silent. He couldn't tell Carl about his history with Mona. It could ruin everything.

"I'm good, trust me," Porter nodded, trying to smile his charming smile, "Okay let's invite her this weekend."

"Okay then," Carl said slowly, "I guess I'll cook. Something easy like spaghetti and meatballs."

Porter nodded. He continued letting Carl talk about how he wanted.

He really likes her, Porter thought. Maybe it was better if the two of them ended up together.

After all, an angel wasn't allowed to date a human.

Jane and Mona finished up their music session and started packing away their instruments.

"So what's going on between you and Carl," Jane inquired, "You guys seem to be getting close."

Mona chuckled, "We're just friends Jane, he's the first person I met at this school."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can't like him."

"I do like him," Mona nodded, "But for now I just want to focus on catching up at school and playing my music."

Jane agreed, "Sounds like a perfectly reasonable plan."

The girls continued cleaning up, but something was still bothering Mona.

"I don't think Porter likes me though," she said.

"Porter? Porter Jackson," Jane exclaimed, "He's the nicest guy you'll ever meet."

"I'm not saying he's not nice," Mona explained, "It just seems like he doesn't want to talk to me."

"Huh, that's strange," Jane said, "He probably just has something going on. Don't take it the wrong way. Carl and Porter always seem to be getting into trouble."

"Oh, okay," Mona nodded. It's not like she knew Porter very well. For all she knew, that was just his personality.

But deep down, Mona just thought that Porter was avoiding her. He never gave her eye contact when they talk, and he always seemed like he was trying to leave every time she joined the group.

Well, not everyone will like you Mona, she thought to herself.

She was happy that she found some friends at Bennett High.