Chapter 1

It was a normal day in the coffee shop, people were staring at me, and I was enjoying a
nice warm cup of Joe. If you’re wondering why people were staring at me, it’s because I am,
quite literally, a Beautiful Jay. That is my species. If you think I’m lying then look it up. Anyways,
like I was saying, it was a normal day for me.

“What’s up, Margaret?” I asked as the waitress walked by.

“Oh, just the usual. How about you, Rylie?”

“Well, I need to find a new job, again. And before you ask, yes, I threatened the boss. I
couldn’t help it.” I shrugged as she filled my coffee. “Thanks, Margaret.”

“No problem. Let me know if you need anything else.” I thanked her again and let her
continue on with her job. Then the door swung open, and a blue jay and raccoon walked in. I
knew their names and a little about them since they’re regulars, but I had never really talked to
them before.

“H-hey Margaret!” The blue jay said. He likes her. A lot. Almost too much. I felt bad for
the guy because he could actually be very charming when he wasn’t trying to talk to Margaret. I
walked over to the table that the two were sitting at.

“Mordecai, right?” I asked as I sat down on one of the chairs. He looked at me,
confused. I took a sip of my coffee. “Your name. It’s Mordecai, right?”

“Oh, yeah. And you’re Rylie, right?’ I smirked at him.

“Wow. I’m impressed. I didn’t think you paid attention to the people here. I mean,
besides Margaret.”

He blushed a deep, deep red. “I-is it really that obvious?”

“Yes, it really is.” I chuckled. “You know, I might be able to help you get with Margaret. If
you want.”

“Um… sure.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. I stood up to stretch and ask for
another refill of coffee when I heard a breathy woah. I looked over at Mordecai and saw Rigby
next to him.

“What?” I cocked my head slightly to the right and crossed my arms.

 “Your feathers… they’re the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.” Mordecai said, the end
of his sentence trailing off. I could tell that Rigby wanted to touch my feathers, so I giggled and
held my wing out to them.
“Go ahead, you can touch my wing. I really don’t mind.” He grabbed my wing and pulled
it closer to his body. “Woah! Dude, careful!”

“So, do you have a plan to get me and Margaret together? Or are we just going to wing
it?” Mordecai said. I smirked at him.

“That joke could not have been any stupider. Also, Rigby, can I have my wing back?” He
reluctantly agreed, and I chuckled at him. “So, I was thinking that I could kind of coach you on
some stuff, and then set you free into the wild to talk to Margaret. But, we can do it in whatever
way you want.”

“Do I get to sit in on these quote-unquote lessons?” Rigby asked. I adjusted my shirt and
cleared my throat.

“Ask your brother. I really don’t care, but I feel like he might.” I looked at the bird.

“Well, I guess you can sit in. But, I’ll kick you out if you start acting weird or something.
Do you want to do it at the park? We live in the house there, so we can do it in the house if we
need to.”

“When do you want me to start teaching you? I could start now, within the next week…
Really whenever you want. I don’t have a job, so I can come over anytime you need.” I said as I
stood up to leave the Cafe.

“Wh-what if you just came over now? I mean, I don’t really have any work to do today, so
my schedule is mostly free.”

“Why do I not believe you when you say that you don’t have very much work to do?” I
smirked and said to Mordecai. He smiled back at me and I could feel my cheeks heat up
slightly.

“Well, let’s go! Bye Margaret!” Rigby exclaimed.

When we got outside, I was expecting to take a car back to the park, but instead we rode
in a little white cart. I must say, Mordecai was a very crazy driver, but that only made the drive
more fun. We pulled up to the house and I hopped out of the cart. I looked around the outside of
the house, but didn’t find anything interesting enough to make a note of.

Mordecai held the door open for me, and I entered the giant home. I stared in awe at all
of the different things in the house. He led me up the stairs to his room, Rigby following close
behind. I could tell that he shared the room with the raccoon, which was surprising, considering
the size of the house. I mean, surely there’s another empty bedroom that he could use. But,
then again, maybe they chose to share the room.

“Okay, where to start, where to start. I guess we could start with the things that Margaret
likes. Full disclosure to Rigby, though, if you use this information to take her from Mordecai, I
will personally hunt you down and make you break up with her so that she will date Mordecai.
Now, Margaret likes flowers, romance movies, well, really any movie. She has never been
camping, I am her best friend, she likes parties and pizza, and board games. Umm…. I think
that’s about it, at least for now. I don’t want you to get too much information and be
overwhelmed by it.”

“Is she single right now?” Mordecai asked with hope in his eyes.

“Yes, actually. But, even if she wasn’t single, I would still encourage you to tell her how
you truly feel about her.” I smiled at him and sat down on what I assumed was his bed.

“You should tell me a bit about yourself, since I think that we’ll be spending a lot of time
together.”

“Well, I was born and raised in Idaho on a farm, I have many hidden talents that I’m sure
you’ll discover throughout the time that I interact with you and your friends. I am a Beautiful Jay,
the species of bird, not like a compliment. I love to wrestle and play video games. I also love to
go on random adventures. I think that’s about it. What about you, mystery man? I mean, if I’m
going to try and set you up with my friend, I want to know a bit more about you.”

“I love video games, doing things with my best friend here, Rigby, throwing parties, I
hate working, and would rather slack off. I am more responsible than Rigby, I am 23 years old,
and I love coffee and soda. Oh! I also work here, helping take care of the park.”

“Well, Mordecai, I guess we can work on how you approach girls. Now, just pretend I’m
Margaret. Let’s see how you do.” I crossed my arms and looked at him. “Come on, I don’t have
all day. Well, actually, I do, but that doesn’t matter, just go.”

“H-hey Margaret.” He said, walking up to me and rubbing the back of his neck. “How are
you?”

“Oh hey, Mordecai! I’m doing pretty good. How are you?” I said, imitating Margaret.

“Uhhh… uhh… I’m good? Wait, no, I’m doing bad, wait…”

“Okay, let me stop you there. You need to be confident in yourself and your answers.
Just be yourself . Speak your mind. It’s all good, though, just try again.”
 “Mordecai! Rigby! Get down here! Now!” A new voice shouted from downstairs. I looked
at Mordecai, confused, and then stood up off of his bed.

“Ugh our stupid boss is calling us, Mordecai.” Rigby said in a very annoyed tone.

“Dude! You can’t just say that about Benson! If he heard you, he could fire both of us.”
Mordecai punched Rigby in the arm and I chuckled.

“Should I leave, or do you want me to stay here? I can come back later, if you need.” I
rubbed the back of my neck and looked Mordecai in the eyes.

“You could come downstairs with us, if you want. I’m sure my boss won’t mind too
much.” I followed the two downstairs and into the living room.

“You haven’t done any of the work that you need to do yet! And who is this? Another one
of your friends?” The man who I could only assume was Benson, said. I looked him up and
down, and then proceeded to glare at him.

“This is Rylie. And I don’t remember you saying anything about jobs that I had to do.” He
placed his arm around my shoulders and I did the same. I hadn’t noticed until now that Mordecai
was only a tiny bit taller than me.

“Good to see you finally got a girlfriend-” Mordecai cut Benson off before he could finish.

“Oh no no no no no… She’s not my girlfriend! Not that I wouldn’t want her to be, but
we’re just friends.” I laughed at his attempt to not offend me.

“Dude, it’s fine.” I ruffled his hair. “I’m just glad that I actually got the opportunity to talk to
you. You’re pretty chill, and you’re sweet, too.” He blushed and I punched him. “Don’t make this
weird dude!”

“Heh heh, sorry. Oh! I should take you around the park so that you can meet all of our
friends!”

“That sounds fun. Let’s go do that.” He pulled me outside by the arm and we got into the
cart again.

“Wait! Guys!” I heard Rigby shout in the background. Mordecai slammed on the breaks
and I scooted closer to Mordecai so that Rigby could fit on the seat. “Ooh. Someone’s getting
close. Maybe a little too close.” I punched him in the arm as a warning. "Ow! You punch harder
than Mordecai!"

“Thanks for punching him for me, Rylie. I would have, but I didn’t want to miss and hit
you.” Mordecai said. I smirked at him and shortly after we saw a man with a large pink head.
 “Hey Pops!” Mordecai said as he slowed down the cart. “Rylie, this is Pops. Pops, this is
Rylie.”

“Ooh, hello! I am the son of the owner of this park. Your feathers are absolutely
exquisite!”

"Thank you, Pops! You look quite dashing yourself." I said and smiled at him. He giggled
and covered his mouth with his hand.

"I had no clue you knew such fancy words, Rylie." Mordecai said.

"You better watch your words, dude. I throw a mean punch." I waved my fist around in
the air. He chuckled and I cracked into a smile.

"Let's go find the others so you can meet 'em." I nodded at him to show that I was ready
to go.

After a little while, I saw a smaller house in the distance. Mordecai stopped and got out,
and I followed him. We went up the steps and knocked on the door.

The door opened and I saw a large yeti. "Oh hey Mordecai and Rigby. Who's this?" He
said.

"This is Rylie. She's our new friend." Rigby said before Mordecai could say anything. The
yeti held out his hand and I shook it.

"I'm Skips. Nice to meet you, Rylie."

"Nice to meet you, too. So what do you do here?"

"I'm a groundskeeper. Which reminds me, Rigby, did you mow the park?" I looked over at
the raccoon.

"No, but can I do it later when we're done introducing everyone to Rylie?"

"Sure. Just as long as you'll actually get it done." Skips sighed.

"Sure thing. Now, let's go find Muscle Man and High Five Ghost." He jumped into the
passenger seat and Mordecai and I followed soon after.

"Hey fart face! What are you doing with that girl?" I heard from behind the cart. I turned
around to see a green man, followed by a ghost with a hand on top of his head.
 "Okay. That's Muscle Man. He's a little bit of a jerk, so just play it cool." Mordecai
whispered. I turned back around and tried to stay calm.

"I said 'what are you doing with her?'." Muscle Man was now right beside the cart and I
looked at him. "Hey sweet cheeks." I looked away after he said this.

"Dude, you're making her uncomfortable. Just-" I cut Mordecai off before he could finish.

"Let me out, Rigby. I wanna talk to Muscle Man, here." I said and crossed my arms. Rigby
let me out and I walked around the front of the cart to Muscle Man.

"What did you want to say?" He asked.

"Rigby, get in the cart. I want to make this quick." I said. Before Muscle Man could say
anything else, I punched him right in the nose and jumped into the cart.

"Go go go!" I shouted at Mordecai. He stepped on it and I heard the huffing and puffing of
Muscle Man behind us.

"Wow! I had no clue you would do something like that! It was totally awesome!" Mordecai
said. I laughed and then looked behind us one final time.

"Sorry if I caused any trouble with that. I just couldn't stand him. How do you out up with
that everyday?" I looked at the two guys sitting next to me.

"Yeah, I don't know. I guess we just learned to live with it." Rigby shrugged.

"Well, maybe he won't mess with you guys anymore. At least, I hope not." I rested my arm
on the back of the seat.

When we got back to the house, we went right into the living room to play some video
games. I sat in between Mordecai and Rigby on the couch.

"Oh man. We don't have an extra controller." Mordecai said and waved his arms around.

"Well, lucky for me, I brought mine. I'll just run upstairs to get it from my bag." I stood up to
go get it, and Rigby spoke up.

"I'll come with you!" He said and ran after me. I giggled.

When we got upstairs and into their room, I found my bag on the floor.

"So… how have you been?" Rigby looks nervous.

 "Dude, are you good? You look like you're about to pass out." I said and walked over to
him.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Okay, if you say so." I shrugged it off and grabbed my controller. "Okay, let's go."

When we got back downstairs, Mordecai was full on laughing. I gave him a confused
smile and sat down on the couch.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing…." He managed to get out.

"You sure?" He got up and grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet and led me into the
kitchen.

"Okay, okay. Don't freak out, but Rigby likes you!" He burst out laughing again. I smirked
at him.

"No way! How could he? He only just met me!"

"I guarantee it. He only ever gets nervous around the girls he likes, and always wants to
be around them. I could hear your conversation, you know."

"I guess so. What should I do? I mean, it's not like I really even know him, so I don't like
him."

"Okay. We gotta make him jealous. I don't know if he'll stop liking your or if it'll make him
like you more, but we at least need to try."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" I crossed my arms.

"We gotta kiss. It's the only way."

"No! I'm not kissing you!" I joked.

"Fair enough. I mean, any girl who does falls in love with me." He chuckled. I punched
him lightly in the arm and giggled.

"How are we going to execute this plan, hmm?"

"I say, we go out there, play some games, eat some food, and then watch a movie.
During the movie, we'll hold hands and then you'll pretend to fall asleep. When I quote- unquote
wake you, then you'll tell me you had a great time and we'll kiss. We'll see what happens from
there."

"And how old are you, Mr. Mordecai?" I asked and crossed my arms.

"I'm 23. Why?"

"I just gotta make sure you aren't too old for me, just in case I do happen to fall in love
with you. But you're not, so we shall see what happens." I was about to leave when he grabbed
my arm.

"Hold up, how old are you?"

"I'm also 23, so you don't have anything to worry about." We both walked out and sat
back down on the couch.

"What was that about?" Rigby asked.

"Oh, nothing." I looked at Mordecai and smirked. We grabbed our controllers and started
playing. I was way better than them, just as I predicted.

"How?! That was the tenth game you've won!" Rigby crossed his arms in anger.

"At least Mordecai won one, so it's not like I completely dominated you, even though I
did." I giggled and then set my controller down.

"Hey, you got any good movies?" I asked.

"We have this one, 'Ello Gov'nor'. It's pretty good." Rigby said.

"Dude, no. Don't you remember what happened last time we watched that?" Mordecai
said.

"Ooh! Looks like someone's too scared to watch it!" I said.

"No, I'm just afraid that Rigby can't handle it." Mordecai chuckled.

"I totally can!"

"Okay, then. Let's watch it." Mordecai said and put in the VHS tape.

The movie was actually pretty good. It was cheesy when it came to the gore, though.
Instead of falling asleep, though, I just cuddled against Mordecai whenever there was a "scary"
part.
 When the movie was over, I stood up and looked at the time.

"Oh my gosh! It's almost 1:00 in the morning! I better get home, but it was a fun evening.
Thanks, guys." I walked over to the door, and they followed.

"We can take you home if you want." Mordecai said and winked.

"That would be nice, thank you." I nodded and we got back into the cramped little cart.

We drove to my apartment and all got out. The two walked me all the way up to my door,
and then I knew it was time to execute the final step of the plan.

"Thank you guys so much, for everything." I walked over to Rigby and gave him a hug.
Then I went over to Mordecai. I rested my hand on his chest and kissed him lightly on the
cheek.

I looked behind him at Rigby, and saw that he looked extremely angry. I felt bad, but I
stuck to the plan and didn't kiss him. I fumbled around in my bag for my keys, and couldn't find
them. I set down the bag, dumped everything out on the floor, and sorted through it.

"Guys… I left my keys at the diner. I can't get into my apartment. What should I do?!" I
was totally freaking out at this point. I had never been in this situation before, and it stressed me
out.

"Don't worry, Rylie. It'll be okay. Just come home with us tonight, and we'll go get your
keys in the morning." Mordecai said and patted me on the back reassuringly.

"Here, let me help you pack up your stuff." Rigby said. He got down on his knees with
me and helped me shove everything back into my tiny bag.

"Thank you both. So so much." We went down to the cart and drove back to the house,
again. On the way back, I held both of their hands. I didn't care what they thought about me, I
just felt safer that way.

"Well, now that we're back, we need to figure out where you're going to sleep." Mordecai
whispered, I'm assuming because everyone was sleeping.

"I can sleep on the couch if you guys get me a pillow and blanket." I whispered back. We
decided that would be the best option, so Rigby grabbed me a blanket and pillow. When I got
settled on the couch, the two went upstairs to their room, and I fell asleep soon after.
 I awoke a few hours later to see Mordecai sitting on the floor beside me. He was awake,
and I didn't want to bother him, so I just closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep.
Unfortunately, I wiggled a little and Mordecai looked at me.

"Dang it. Sorry for disturbing you. I didn't mean to." I said. He stood up and I knew
something was wrong.

"Dude, are you okay?" I asked. At this point, I was sitting up on the couch. Mordecai sat
next to me and I cuddled up to him.

"Rigby won't talk to me. He's really upset because he knew that I knew that he liked you.
And our plan may have just been a reason for me to get under his skin." He rubbed the back of
his neck.

"Some mistakes get made, that's alright. That's okay." I started singing Moral of the
Story by Ashe, hoping it would calm him down. "You can think that you're in love when you're
really just in pain. Some mistakes get made, that's all right, that's okay. In the end it's better for
me, that's the moral of the story, babe."

"It's almost 5, we should get some sleep. But thank you, your voice is very comforting."
We stood up and I wrapped my arms around his neck in a hug. He wrapped his arms around
me, and we stayed there for a few seconds. When I let go Mordecai went back upstairs to his
room and I later back down on the couch.

I had trouble falling asleep after this. I couldn't stop thinking about what happened. So
eventually I just went upstairs and into Mordecai and Rigby's room. I closed the door quietly and
just sat by it for a while.

Then I started to tear up. Of course I did. Right in the middle of their rooms. I don’t
understand why this happens to me. At this point I was weeping, and I was struggling to keep
quiet.

I quietly went back downstairs, cried for a bit, and then brought my blanket and pillow
back into their room. I set it out between their two beds and fell asleep finally.

I awoke at 8:30 to the sound of an alarm. Mordecai and Rigby were still asleep, so I
decided to just sit up and wake myself up. I didn't want to be rude and wake them, so I sat
mostly still. After a few seconds I heard a yawn and saw Mordecai sit up.

“Rylie! You scared me! What are you doing in here?” He jumped back a bit and I
laughed.

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t watching you sleep. I came in here last night because I kept
thinking about what we did to Rigby. I feel really bad, and I don’t know how to make it up to
him.” I locked eyes with Mordecai. I could see the sympathy in his eyes. He may pretend that he
doesn’t worry for Rigby, but I know he does.

“You could have just told me you felt bad, Rylie. It’s really not that big of a deal.” Rigby
said. I turned around and saw a coy smile on his face, along with a little blush.

“Well, I truly am sorry. I hope you can forgive me. And Mordecai. I know he feels bad,
but I don’t know if he’s willing to admit it.”

Rigby came and sat down next to me. “It’s fine, you guys. I really don’t care anymore. It’s
just good to know you were sorry for it.”

“Oh! Let’s go and get your keys, Rylie. We can get coffee while we’re there, also.”
Mordecai jumped up and we all headed downstairs. We decided that we would get breakfast at
the diner, so we all jumped in the cart. I was wedged in between Mordecai and Rigby, but I
didn’t mind. When we got to the diner, I hopped out and went inside to start looking for my keys.

“Hey Margaret. Have you seen my keys?” I shouted at the waitress.

“Nope.” She shrugged, “Did you leave them here yesterday?”

“Yeah.” I started looking around by the table that I was at and the table that Mordecai
and Rigby were sitting at yesterday.

“Hey Mordecai and Rigby. Want some coffee?” Margaret came around the counter with
three mugs. She set them on our table and poured us some coffee.

“How have you been, Margaret?” Mordecai said. He sounded confident, didn’t stutter,
and was really chill about it. I elbowed him a little to get his attention and then flashed a smile so
that he knew I was proud of him.

"I've been pretty good." Margaret said with a giggle. "How have you been?"

"I'm doing good." He said and looked at me. I could tell he wasn't sure about his answer.
I nodded a little to show that he was doing so good with speaking to Margaret.

"Oh, Rylie. I'll let you know if I find your keys, okay?" Margaret added.

"Sounds good. Thanks." I picked up my mug and took a sip of the hot coffee.

I looked at Rigby only to see him staring at me. When he noticed what he was doing, he
shook his head and looked away. I giggled and then I did something even I didn’t expect; I held
his hand. Not in a friendly or comforting way, but in a boyfriend/girlfriend way.
 When we went to the coffee shop to find my keys, I didn’t expect for things to go so well.
I mean, I wasn’t expecting Margaret to be into Mordecai, and I especially didn’t expect to fall in
love with Rigby. But I did. Am I glad I did? I don’t know, but I think I will soon.

Chapter 2

I officially met Mordecai and Rigby on Monday, which was two days ago. My original
plan was to help Mordecai get with Margaret, but in doing so, I started to like Rigby as more
than a friend. Today, I am going to see if I can get a job at the park where the two work. If I do
get a job, then I won’t have to worry about paying rent for an apartment, I’ll make money, and I’ll
have my own room that isn’t in an apartment building.

“Hey guys.” I said as I walked into the house in the middle of the park. “Do you know
where I can find Benson? I would like to talk to him.” Mordecai led me back into his office, and I
shut the door.

“Oh. It’s you.” Benson barely looked up from his desk when he said this. “What do you
want?”

“I would like to know if you’re hiring anyone. I need a job, and I’ve been having trouble
finding one. I figured I’d at least try this place.” I motioned around the office.

“As a matter of fact, we are short about one person from what we need. I will hire you on
one condition; you don’t have any sort of romantic relations with the others. It’ll distract them if
you’re flirting or whatever when you should be working.”

“Okay. Done. Just one question. Where is my room?”

“I’ll have Mordecai show you.” He pushed me out of his office and Mordecai led me up
the stairs and down past his room. When he opened the door to my room, I winced because of
how disgusting the room was.

“Oh, wow. Do you want some help cleaning your room? Because I would be happy to
help.” He rubbed the back of his neck and I smiled.

“Thank you so much, Mordecai.” I gave him a short side hug and then entered the small
room. Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful to have my one room, but it was definitely a fixer
upper.

“Well, let’s get started.” Mordecai started to pick up the trash and I decided to go and get
the broom and other cleaning supplies.
 After an hour or so of hard work, my room was finally clean. I stood back and took in
everything. The only thing that was left was to get some curtains, a bed, and a dresser for my
room. Other than that, it was now beautiful. The walls were a nice grey color, and the floor was
a dark oak flooring.

“Hey Mordecai?” I said after a few seconds of silence.

“Yeah?” He looked at me with a caring face.

“Would you help me with getting a bed for my room tomorrow?”

“Of course! What time is it? Maybe we can just go now.” He said. I checked my watch
and saw that it was only 1 o’clock.

“Sure, if you’ve got a few hours to spare. I take a long time to pick out things.” I
chuckled. He nodded a yes. “First one to the cart gets to drive!” I shouted and started running
out of the room.

“Oh you sneaky little jerk!” Mordecai shouted after me.

He ran out of the room and almost passed me. I got to the door just before him and
opened it. I ran outside, a little ways through the park, and to the cart. Just then, a blue blur
passed me, so I slowed down a tiny bit. Suddenly, I felt something stop me in my tracks, and I
realized I was falling. But someone caught me.

I looked up to see Mordecai’s face. Somehow he stopped, turned around, and was able
to catch me. I blushed because of how close his face was to mine. His warm, soft wings
wrapped around me, and I didn’t want to move.

“Uhh… Rylie?” He said.

“Y-yeah?” I looked deep into his eyes. He let go of me and eyed me up and down.
“What?” I looked down, but I didn’t see any feathers. I saw skin. Human skin. “What… what
happened to me?”

“I’m not sure. All I remember is I ran past you, you fell, I caught you, and you were
human, not a bird.”

“Well, I need to figure out how to change back. I’ve read about shape shifters before,
and I think that I should be able to change back based on what I know. First, we need to grab
some candles, matches, lavender, and find one of my feathers. Then, we will set up the area
that I will use to change back. So, let’s grab that stuff and get to it.”
 FIrst, I went upstairs and dug around in my bag until I found one of my feathers that I
was saving for this exact reason. I always wanted to make sure that I could get out of this
situation if I ever got into it. When I found one, I ran down to the store to get some lavender. I
grabbed the lavender and ran back to the house. By the time I got back, Mordecai had gotten
some candles from Pops that he had stored in the back of his closet and found some matches.

“Now, let me remember how this works. Okay, so you set it up in your
house/apartment/room, set the candles in a circle around you, then the lavender around you in
a box, and finally, I will hold my feather and light the candles while focusing on the animal I want
to become.” So, we did just that. I set up the candles in a circle on the floor of my room, put the
lavender in a box around me, and held my feather.

“Are you ready?” I asked Mordecai. He nodded a yes. “Now, whatever happens, don’t
touch me or talk to me. Just watch silently. If my focus is interrupted, then the whole process will
be ruined.” I took a deep breath in and then started to light the candles. I thought about the
Beautiful Jay, and I held my feather close to my heart.

After all of the candles were lit, I closed my eyes. At first I didn’t feel anything, but then I
felt as though all of my surroundings were melting away. I breathed in and out at a steady pace,
focusing on the patterns of my feathers and aware of the feather in my hand.

I waited for a few seconds before opening my eyes, only to see Mordecai staring at me
with wide eyes and a wide open mouth. I looked down at my hands, and, relieved to see that I
was a bird again, I jumped up and hugged Mordecai.

“I’m glad to have you back, Rylie.” He said, wrapping his arms around me. I felt him rest
his head on mine, and then breathe in my scent. “Maybe… maybe you could learn to control
that. And, you know, you could be a shapeshifter.”

“That’s a great idea. Hey, I’m going to go and get my stuff from my apartment, but I’ll be
back before sunset. I want you to meet me on the porch, okay?” I said, pulling away from him.

Since my old apartment wasn’t too far away from the park, I just walked back to the
building. I didn’t really have much to get anyways. I had my console, controllers, games, and
that was about it. Everything else had come with the apartment, and I decided to leave it there. I
checked out at the front desk and made the short walk back to the park just in time to put my
stuff in my room and gostand on the porch with Mordecai to watch the sunset.

When I came out onto the porch, Mordecai was waiting for me.

“Come with me. I want to show you something.” I said and grabbed his hand. I pulled
him up onto the roof so that we could watch the sunset.
 “Is this what you wanted to show me?” Mordecai asked. I shook my head no. “What,
then?”

“Watch this.” I said before diving off of the roof.

“Rylie!!” I heard Mordecai shout.

He had nothing to worry about, considering I knew how to fly. I had figured it out
probably ten years ago, when I got my first job. I flew back up into the air so that he knew I was
safe. He laughed when he saw me. I could see the joy in his face even when I was 20 feet
above him in the air. That made me happy. Truly happy. When I slowly landed on the roof, I
looked at Mordecai.

“You wanna go up? I’d be happy to fly you around a bit.” I rubbed the back of my neck
since I had never really flown someone around before.

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course. Just climb on my back and hold on tight.” He did as he was told and I
jumped off of the edge of the roof.

He held on tighter. But, eventually his grip loosened and he relaxed. I was glad that he
trusted me. Apparently he had his eyes closed for the whole time because when he relaxed
and opened them, he must have seen the beautiful sunset.

“Oh. My. Gosh. It’s so beautiful up here. Thanks for bringing me up here.”

“Yeah, no problem. Any time, dude.”

“C-can we go back down now? We’re getting a little high up.”

“Man, you’re cute. Maybe one of these days I’ll teach you how to fly.” I chuckled. I
landed on the roof and Mordecai let go of me.

“Let’s go inside now. It’s getting cold out here.” Mordecai said. I followed him back into
the house and went into my room.

“Oh yeah. I don’t have a bed.” I said to Mordecai.

“Y-you could sleep with me on my bed, if you want. Heh heh.” He rubbed the back of his
neck so much that I was afraid he was going to rub a hole in it.

“I would love to.” I said.

 I climbed into his bed after him, and cuddled close to his chest. He wrapped his arms
around me, pulling me even closer to him. I took a deep breath in and then looked up at
Mordecai.

“Good night.” I said, planting a little kiss on his cheek.

“Good night.”

In the morning we all gathered outside of the house so that Benson could tell us what
our jobs for the day were. I got to go around and rake leaves with Mordecai and Rigby. We tried
to stay as far away from Muscle Man as possible, considering I practically broke his nose. We
had only been working for about an hour when Rigby started complaining.

“Ugh. This is so boring. We should go get coffee, that would make me feel better.” He
said.

“Dude, we haven’t even been working that long. Although, we haven’t had our coffee yet
today.” Mordecai shrugged.

“Okay. One coffee, to go, and then we start work again. I don’t wanna get fired.
Remember what Benson said? ‘You better get working, Mordecai, Rigby, and Rylie, or else
you’re fired!’“ I said, imitating Benson.

“Wow. You really do sound like Benson!” Mordecai said. I punched him lightly in the arm
and pretended to be offended. He busted out laughing, which made me laugh.

“Ahem,” I cleared my throat. “I have something to tell you guys. I- I won’t be working
here for much longer. I know that I haven’t really told you much about how I grew up, but I
promise that I’ll visit you. I don’t know if I will stay here or if I will move, but I’ll find a way to talk
with you and come see you.”

“Oh. Well, I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but I still feel like you’re
one of us. I hope that one day you’ll be able to work here again.” Rigby said.

I picked him up and hugged him. I was the only person that he would let do that. I never
took advantage of that, though. I would never do it if I knew that it bugged him. Mordecai smiled
and walked over to give me a hug. I slouched into him and let out one final sigh. I was going to
miss these guys.

“Hey Rylie?” Mordecai said.

“Yeah?”
 “You know how you said that we didn’t really know what you came from, how you grew
up, you know, the works. Could you tell us about it?” Mordecai said and looked at me.

“Well, I suppose so. But just you. I only trust you.” I pointed a finger at him.

“Okay. And I promise I won’t tell anyone about anything.”

“Good. Okay… Here we go. I was born in Idaho, but my mother died giving birth to me.
My father wasn’t the best, considering he was a convicted felon and a murderer. He decided he
wouldn’t be a good father when I was three, and left me on the side of a highway. I learned to
survive on my own over the years, making bows, hunting deer, making fires. You know, normal
wild people things. When I was five, a homeless man found me and I joined him on his trip to
Boise, Idaho. About a week later, he left me alone in the cold of winter. Luckily, we were close
enough to Boise that I was able to walk there. When I did get there, a gang attacked me. I
defended myself, and proved that I was worthy to join them. I ran with them for a while, but
when I was eight, they decided it was time for me to go to school. Every day one of the guys
would drop me off, and another would pick me back up. I was put into third grade, but was
quickly put into ninth grade. I graduated from high school within the next month, and went back
to my gang. After two more years, when I was ten, my gang gave me to one of their rich friends.
In fact, that friend was Mr. Maellard. I grew up with him when Pops was already out of the
house, and him and his wife raised me well. They gave me lessons in any self defense
imaginable, paid for four different college diplomas, culinary arts, business, singing, and
dancing, all of which I got within a month or two. At this point, I was only 11 or 12, so I still had
plenty of my life left. I decided to open a bakery, which was funded by Mr. Maellard. Even
though he funded everything, I made the recipes, worked there, and hired the employees. I ran
that for about two years until I got bored of it. Then, I decided to track down my father, which
shouldn't be too hard, considering I knew he was a convicted felon and murderer who had left
their child on the side of a highway. When I found him, he told me he killed to eat. As in he was
a vampire. So, now that I knew my father was a vampire, I was being hunted by other vampires.
I fought them off for a good three years before they stopped attacking me. I was now 18, so I
decided to become a voice actor. I was hired on the spot since I was practically Mr. Maellard's
daughter, and they were afraid of him. About a month later, I was offered an acting position,
which I turned down. I only worked there for another month before being hired as a backup
dancer for concerts and music videos. I did that for a year, and was 19 when Mr. Maellard had
to move here to help with maintaining the Park, not that he really did much. Now, I live in an
apartment, but soon, I am going to London to meet up with Gordon Ramsay. After I come back,
I am going to buy a restaurant and run it, without the help of Mr. Maellard. But, like I promised,
I'll come and visit you, hopefully pretty regularly. But, yeah that's my life story."

"Wow. I would have never thought that your life was that crazy." Mordecai stared at me
in awe.
 "Well, you don't expect that from a lot of people. Oh, before I go, could you help me with
a little something? Actually, I'll also need Rigby's help with this one." I rubbed the back of my
neck, anxiously waiting for an answer.

"Uhh… you night have to run it by Rigby, but yeah, I can help."

"Great! I'll go get him right now. Meet us by the fountain in the Park." I ran off to get
Rigby, hoping that he would be free to help.

When I found him, he was eating a sandwich. "Dude, isn't that like the third sandwich
you've had in an hour?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He said shrugging it off.

"Well, could you come with me for a minute? I need help with something."

He reluctantly agreed, following me to the fountain. When we got there, Mordecai was
talking with Margaret, and he seemed to be doing a good job. I was proud of him.

"Yo, sorry to interrupt, but I need Mordecai's help real quick. It'll only take a minute, so
you can stay and watch if you want." I said to Margaret.

"Oh that's okay." Margaret said.

"Okay, Rigby, I need you to stand right in front of the fountain with your eyes closed. Oh,
I need one of your hairs." He plucked one out and handed it to me. "Mordecai, I need you to
hold this and throw it at me when I start running, got that?" He nodded, and I stood about 10
feet in front of Rigby. "Anndd, now!" I shouted, taking off straight towards Rigby. I justed right at
the last second, throwing me into the water behind him.

"What just happened?!" Rigby shouted when he heard the water splash behind him.

I stood up out of the water. "Well, did it work?" I asked. Mordecai and Margaret stared at
me, and Rigby did the same when he saw me.

"You're… you're like me. I can't believe it. How did you do it?" Rigby asked.

"Well, I had studied shape shifting when I was a teen, and I only recently accidentally
turned into a human. This got me thinking about possibly changing into different animals, and I
figured I would start with a raccoon." I slung my arm around his shoulder, now being the same
height as him.

"You are absolutely gorgeous. I mean, your coloring and everything is amazing. How did
you even get that blue coloring?"
 "I dunno." I shrugged. "I guess it's because my feathers are blue. But now I gotta figure
out how to change back." I looked around curiously, and then I knew how I was going to change
back.

"R-rylie? Why are you staring at me like that?" Mordecai asked.

Without saying anything, I grabbed Mordecai and put him directly in front of a bench. He
close his eyes and handed me a feather, immediately knowing what to do. Rigby took the
feather, and I ran at Mordecai. Before I knew it, I was soaring through the air.

"Ha ha! It worked!" I shouted. I landed shortly after. Apparently, Margaret did not know I
could fly, so her jaw dropped.

"You can fly?! How did I not know about this?" She shook me around a bit.

"I guess it never really occurred to me that I needed to tell you." Just then, my phone
started ringing. "Hold on, I need to take this."

"How are you, Rylie? I've been worried sick about you." I could tell by the stupid accent
that it was Dracula, aka my father.

"I'm good, dad. You don't need to worry about me. Although, just to let you know,I am
going to London in a few days, but I'll give you regular check ups on what I've been doing. So
don't call!" I chuckled. Of course, that was a joke.

"Okay, okay. I'll fly over there to see you, hmm?"

"Dad! I'm not moving there! Just visiting. Anyways, I gotta go, so bye! Love you." I hung
up and walked back over to the others.

"Who was that?" Rigby asked.

"My dad. He just wanted an update on where I was going to be for the next little bit." I
shrugged.

Mordecai looked at me weirdly and I assured him that it was fine, since he knew who my
father was.

"Anyway, I gotta go check out my new building, but do you two wanna come?" I
motioned to Moreecai and Rigby. "I would invite you Margaret, but only two people can
accompany me, and I figured they will be the most helpful. Sorry." I hugged her and we headed
off to the building.
 When we got there, we got in the old rusty elevator and hit the bottom for the top room.
About halfway up, we stopped. I looked around to see what was happening.

"Don't panic, but I think we're stuck." I said in as calm of a voice as I could muster.

"Ahh!" Rigby immediately screamed. "No, no, no! We can't be stuck! Box shrinking!!
Small spaces!!!"

"Oh this isn't good. Rigby's claustrophobia is acting up, really quickly too." Mordecai
walked over to him and tried to get him to calm down.

"How did I not know he was claustrophobic?"