Hi everyone! Here's the first chapter! I have a feeling I'm going to get asked this, so: No, this is NOT my version of Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel. This is just a post-FANG fic. That's all.
Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.
Enjoy, and please review!
The Perfect Lie
Chapter One: News
"A tall decaf coffee, please?"
"Comin' right up."
The blonde-haired girl smiled at the guy across the counter. He thought she was cute; slim, blonde, and green-eyed. And apparently, she thought he was cute too. He usually preferred red-heads, but not a lot of them had been around the coffee shop lately.
"I'm Lily," she said, pulling her hair out of her ponytail and letting it fall across her shoulders.
"Nick. Oh and that's gonna be $3.49" said the dark-haired guy. He turned to one of the other workers on duty, Ryan, and told him to make the tall decaf coffee for "the lovely Lily". She laughed, pulling money out of her wallet. She handed it to him, and their hands touched.
"Thank you," she said, laughing.
"You're very welcome," passing her her change.
"Are you almost done with your shift?" she whispered, raising her eyebrows persuasively.
"I have five more minutes." He said. Ryan tapped him on the shoulder, and handed him the decaf coffee.
"Ryan," Nick muttered, turning his head towards Lily.
He sighed. "Fine, I'll cover for you. But if Kat notices you not at the register, you better be back here in two seconds flat."
"No problem. And thanks."
"Here's your decaf and…I'll be out in a second." He said, half-smiling.
She bit her lip. "Great."
XXX
Okay. So this guy's name wasn't really Nick; it was Fang. He worked at Starbucks full time because he had never gotten an education, and his looks were known to bring in extra business. Fang would've hated his job if it weren't for girls like Lily, and on top of that, he had decided last week that he was going to bounce from his job in a year. After that, he would find another one and another one and another one until twenty years would pass and…
RIIING!
Fang flinched and put his hand into his pocket. He pulled out his phone and hurriedly set it on vibrate. He looked around, and made sure that no one had noticed. Fang then looked at the screen, checking the number. Nope; he didn't know that number. It was probably just some prank-phone callers. He pressed the "end" button and slipped his phone back into his pocket. Fang slipped past some busy workers, and opened the latch in the counter. He walked around it, and scanned the crowded café for Lily. He found her near a window diagonal from him, sipping her decaf coffee.
"Hey," she said, her lips close to the lid of her drink.
"Long time no see," Fang said sarcastically.
She giggled, and put her cup of coffee down on the table. "I needed my afternoon high. I have a biology class in a little while."
So she was one of those college students at NYU. A lot of the other girls Fang had met were too. Fang always saw a lot of them pass through regularly, but never Lily. They always had this slightly snobby persona about them, and all seemed intelligent beyond their years. Something Fang would never have.
"You want to be a doctor?"
She shook her head and almost gagged on her coffee. "No, not exactly. I'm going to be a nutritionist, so I need a science requirement."
"Nutritionist? Well, that sounds pretty cool." Fang said.
She brushed her fingers through her long hair. "Yeah, it sort of is. You go to NYU too, right? Are you a freshman? A sophomore?"
Ah, the question Fang always got. "I'm a-"
"That stupid phone again." Fang removed his vibrating phone from his pocket.
"Sorry," he apologized.
Lily shook her head. "No problem."
Fang looked at the screen to check the number. Hmmm; it was the same person calling from a few minutes before. He thought nothing of it, and pressed the "end" button. Just a bunch of bored kids.
"I'm a sophomore. I'm majoring in Literature and Journalism."
Her eyes widened. "Wow, that's amazing. I wanted to major in English, but everyone knows you can't make a living off that. I tried to convince my parents to let me do Journalism, or go pre-law but they just weren't gonna let me."
Fang frowned. "Sorry to hear that."
Lily shrugged. "Ah, I'll get over it. So," she said, changing the subject and smiling at him, "Are you from the area?"
"Yeah, I'm from Queens. I commute in and out every day," he lied. "What about you?"
"I'm from Ft. Lauderdale."
"I've been there. Have y-"
Fang reached into his pocket. "That goddamn phone! I'm sorry."
She laughed. "Really, it's fine. That happens to me all the time."
He looked at the screen. Okay, now this was weird; the person had called him for a third time in a row. Fang seriously didn't think at this point that some kid would prank phone call the same person in a span of ten minutes; there just wasn't any fun in that.
Fang started to stand up. "Actually, I should take this. It's my dad. He usually calls me back and guilt trips me into calling him more often. It annoys the shit out of me."
Lily held up her hands. "No problem. I don't have to leave for another fourty-five minutes. I'll be here," she said, licking some coffee off her lips.
He smiled in thanks, and headed to the back of the café, near the bathrooms.
Fang pressed "send", and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
"Fang?"
He was taken off guard. First of all, he didn't know this number, second, the person knew his name, and three, he didn't know whose voice this was. Fang really didn't want to deal with this right now.
"Who is this?" he said.
The person, a woman with a slight Hispanic accent, laughed at the other end of the line.
"You probably just don't remember my voice very well; it's been a few years. But if I said my name, you would know who I was. Fang, its Doctor Valencia Martinez."
XXX
He could feel the blood draining from his face. He took a few seconds to compose himself, then, "I'm sorry…what?"
"It's Doctor Valencia Martinez. I'm a member of the CSM and I'm…Max's mother."
Fang swallowed. He had tried to avoid that name for three and a half years.
He tried to sound polite. "Hello, Dr. Martinez."
She chuckled.
"Dr. Martinez, I don't want to sound rude but…why are you calling me? How are you calling me?"
"Well, Fang, we…I mean myself, Jeb, and the…the Flock"-flinch-"have found a development."
Fang peaked across the hallway, scanned the crowd of people, until he found Lily looking at him. She raised her eyebrows.
"One minute," he mouthed. She nodded, looking slightly sullen.
"Dr. Martinez, I'm in the middle of something, so if you can make this as quick as possible-"
"No problem. I'm in the middle of something too, so just remember to call me back when you're done." He heard the rustling of papers. "And Fang, I'm sorry about this. I wouldn't have tried to find you if it weren't of the utmost importance."
"It's fine."
"Alright then. So, just call me when you're done? Or I'll just call you in a half hour."
"Okay."
"Well, good-bye Fang. I'll speak to you soon."
He hung up.
Fang stood there for a while, not caring if Lily was beginning to get pissed. All he wanted to do was take in everything that just happened.
Dr. Martinez found his cell phone number. He didn't know how, considering "Fang" wasn't listed in the yellow book and he didn't tell the Flock where he was going three and a half years ago. That was something to ask her when he called back.
The Flock knew something. If it was about him, or they needed his help, he didn't know. But he would find out soon enough.
If he decided to meet up with the Flock again for this "development", he would have to face her. Max. Fang wasn't sure if he could; after taking off for, what was supposed to be twenty years, he didn't exactly think that Max would be overjoyed to see him. She would probably be furious at him.
Or worse; she might have gotten together with Dylan.
Fang rubbed his hands together, dismissing that thought. She couldn't have done that. Regardless of what he had done to her, Max wouldn't go off into the sunset with Dylan. She had hated him.
After reflecting for a while on what had just happened, Fang walked back, wobbly, to where the girl Lily was sitting. When he got there, he saw that she had thrown out her coffee cup, and was tapping the table with her fingers.
"Well, look who's back," she said sarcastically.
"I'm really sorry about that," he said, sitting down in the armchair opposite her, "my dad just wouldn't shut the hell up. Something about NYU calling…I don't know. But I'm sorry."
She still looked incredibly pissed off. She had her arms crossed, and was studying his face.
"Let me make it up to you; dinner tonight, at this really great French restaurant I know. I'll pay for everything."
Her green eyes brightened. "Um…okay. But not tonight; I have another class after Bio. How 'bout tomorrow night?"
Fang smiled. "I'll make a reservation as soon as I can."
Lily smiled. "Alright."
XXX
As soon as Lily had left Starbucks for her Bio class (he had found out that she was a "sophomore like him", a lover of books, a liberal, not surprisingly, and had been student council president at her high school) Fang called back Dr. Martinez. He wasn't ready for what she had in store for him, but now that she had dragged him into it, he needed to know what was up.
"Fang?"
"Yes."
"Hello again. Do you just want me to cut to the chase?"
"Yeah."
Dr. Martinez sighed. "Fang, I don't know how to tell you this."
"Are they in trouble-"
"No no no, they're all fine. It's just that…it was completely by accident but…but…"
"Dr. Martinez, please."
"We…we found your parents."
The words repeated themselves in his mind; Parents parents parents…
"When?" Fang inquired.
"Five weeks ago. We would've called you sooner, but it took a long time to find your number. The Flock would've called you themselves but-"
"How?" Fang still couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Well, long story short, Jeb was flipping through some old files from the School, and found a file of both of your parents. We looked into them, and, Fang, really, they are your parents."
Fang sighed. He had dreamed of meeting his biological parents his whole life, wondering what his life would've been like not being a mutant bird kid. But there was something missing…
"I…we…I stole some files from the Institute…it gave their address-"
"I know. Ma-the Flock told me. It's just that the Flock ran into your mother in Baltimore, and Ma-the Flock could have sworn it was your mother. We looked into it and…she, they really are your parents."
"What are their names?" Fang asked. Fang couldn't believe this, but he wouldn't let Dr. Martinez know that.
"Your mother's name is Josie Carrison, and your father's name is Robert Lorenzo."
Josie. Robert.
"How old are they?" Fang remembered a few years back when Angel, the youngest member of the Flock, let it slip that his mom was a teenager when she had him. He had assumed that his father had been a teenager too.
"Your mom is 34, and your dad is 36."
They were young. Josie must've been sixteen when he was born.
"What are they doing with themselves?"
"Your mother is a teacher, and your father is a lawyer."
"Are they still together?"
"No, Fang. They both have separate families. But we think they're on civil terms, although we can't be sure."
"And…what do you want me to do?" Fang had begun to get angry; this was it? The Flock just wanted to tell him, "Oh yeah, and you have a family!" and just leave it like that?
"This is where it gets complicated. Fang, if you'd like to meet them, Jeb and I can definitely get that done, but if you do…you'd have to meet them at the CSM headquarters."
"Would I have to see the Flock again?"
"Yes. I'm sorry."
Fang sighed again. He wanted to meet his parents. After all, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, but he would have to see the Flock again.
And he knew the Flock wouldn't be happy to see him.
Should he stay where he was, at his crappy job, crappy apartment, crappy life, his only joy flirting with girls, or go back to his past and meet his parents, the two people he wanted to see most, but also have to face his former family…and Max? And what if there was another reason Dr. Martinez was calling him, but she might not want to say in case Fang decided not to go because of it?
"I'll go."
"I knew you would."
How was it? Good, bad? Let me know in a review!
The next chapter should be up soon! =)
