1.
I sat up, stretching my arms after a whole 4 hours of sleep, more than I'd gotten in a long time. I looked around the room to see the rest of the flock still asleep... except Fang. I didn't see Fang anywhere in the room, actually. "Fang?" I looked around, trying to find him. "Where are you?" As I stood up, Fang came in wearing a blue, button-up shirt and dark-wash jeans, a tray of food in his hand. The top three buttons on his shirt were undone, making him look really hot. Although, since we've gotten older, he usually always looks hot. (Since we don't really know our exact age, we can only assume that we're both 18 now.)
"What? I'm right here." He walked toward me. "And I found a couple of cans of food in the pantry. Figured you'd be hungry when you woke up." He set down the tray on the small table next to the sofa, picked up a plate of food, and offered it to me. "I figured Iggy could make breakfast for everyone else when he wakes up."
I smiled. "You're very chatty this morning." I took a bite of the canned pears. "What put you in such a good mood?"
"What d'ya mean?"
"You just seem... Never mind."
"Max?" Angel called. She sat up and pointed her sweet eyes toward me with wonder. "What's for breakfast?"
"You'll have to ask Iggy, sweetie. Okay?"
Angel nodded. You should just kiss him and get it over with, Angel thought to me.
I looked at Angel with shock. What? I exclaimed.
Angel smiled. You know what I mean. She leaned over and started poking Iggy.
Oh, did I mention that Angel reads minds? And controls them. And puts her thoughts into other's heads. It can get pretty weird.
Fang looked questioningly at me. I just smiled and kept eating.
Iggy got up and followed Angel into the kitchen. They were followed by Gasman, who was probably as hungry as all of us put together. "Do I need to cook for you, too?" Iggy called out to Fang and me.
"No, thanks, Ig. We're fine," I replied, finishing off the instant oatmeal Fang had made. "Right, Fang?"
He just nodded.
I put the bowl back onto the tray and Fang took the tray into the kitchen. I stood up and followed him, stepping over Nudge, who was still sound asleep.
"Morning, Gazzy. Morning Angel," I said when I walked into the kitchen. Iggy, the blind spot in our flock, was working over the stove, a large mixing bowl full of pancake batter sitting on the counter next to him. "Looks good, Ig." He nodded and continued his cooking.
Why do we put the blind guy in charge of the stove? Because if it were any one of the rest of us, we'd all starve. And besides. He's not totally blind. He can feel colors. Like, if he touches something, he can tell what color it is. Pretty insane, right?
As Iggy flipped the first pancakes off the griddle and onto a platter, Nudge came in with droopy eyes and a tired smile. "Do I smell breakfast?" she asked innocently.
"Well, good morning, sunshine. Yes, you do. Iggy's making you guys some pancakes," I replied.
Nudge hurried to the table and sat down, followed by Gazzy and Angel. I served the three some pancakes, 7 each to be exact, and went into the living room. I sat on the couch and turned on the TV as the rest of the flock ate breakfast. I was followed by Fang, who came in and sat down with me to watch the news. Well, if you can really call "on the far other side of the couch" sitting with me. There was nothing on the news worth watching. It was mostly just weather and such.
As the rest of our flock started coming into the living room, I heard a bang come from outside the house. I muted the TV, and everyone got quiet. I looked at Fang, and he looked right back at me. We were both thinking the same thing. What was that?
Max? Angel thought. What's going on?
I elbowed Fang in the side, and he went to the window. As he slowly pulled the curtains away from the window, a face appeared. Everyone gasped.
"Max, what's going on?" Iggy asked.
"There's someone outside."
As the face peered inside, I was able to barely recognize it. "Ari?"