*I DO NOT OWN: CLUE OR MAXIMUM RIDE & CO! THE PLOT IS MINE THAT'S IT, SO DON'T RUB IT IN! XD*
I have changed the ages of the Maximum Ride Characters. They are as follows:
Max: 16
Fang: 17
Iggy: 16
Nudge: 16
Gazzy: 13
Angel: 10
His lips were moving, but I wasn't registering what he was saying, too caught up in the emotions and thoughts swirling in my head. How was it that I had fallen to this, so consumed by my feelings for him, this thing known as a crush, that everything around me seemed to be permeated with him?
"Nudge? Nudge!"
So, if you haven't figured it out, I'm Nudge, the perceived Chatterbox of the world famous Flock headed by our oh so fearless leader Max and her best friend turned soul mate, Fang. Now, you're probably wondering why I say perceived Chatterbox. That's because, contrary to popular belief, I actually can carry on extremely serious and borderline poetic conversations. It just so happens that I haven't had the opportunity to hold a conversation like that with anyone of the Flock...well, anyone that isn't Iggy. He's my best friend but seeing as I've developed this crush on him from the time I was eight until now...well it isn't that hard to figure out why I hang around the pyromaniac is it?
Shaking myself back into reality, I turn my attention back to the strawberry blonde Adonis I've come to fall for.
"Yes? Sorry Ig."
He gives a slight chuckle, and a comical shake of his head.
"Off in Nudge's World, I see. Well, if you can manage to stay focused, would you like another cooking lesson today?"
Fighting the butterflies flittering between my vocal chords, I answer.
"Yes, of course Ig. When?"
"I was thinking we could do it now."
Now? Right, Iggy is a firm believer in the "no time like the present" thing.
"Now works for me, just give me ten minutes to fix my hair and change into cooking lesson attire and I will be ready to go."
Iggy smiles and nods his understanding before walking into the kitchen.
Breathe Nudge.
'You know, if you just tell him how you feel-'
"Angel, how many times do I have to tell you about mental privacy?" I reply loudly, walking up the cream carpeted stairs two at a time.
'Sorry Nudge, it's just...I hate that you won't tell Iggy how you feel. I mean, it's not like he has a crush on anyone else.'
'Anyone else here Angel, anyone else here. He may be interested in a girl who doesn't have wings and gee I don't know hasn't been raised around him like a freakin sister and 3 years younger than him.' I retort angrily.
'You do realize you're talking to a mind reader right?'
'You do know that Iggy and I constantly trick you by either blocking you or giving you confusing thoughts, right?'
I pass by Angel's door quickly, trying to stop her from dragging me into her 10-year old clutches.
This mental conversation isn't new, it's the same conversation I've been having with the little mindreader since I was 11.
'Yeah, but you slip up sometimes.'
'And how many times has Iggy slipped up?'
Silence.
I open the green and purple door of my bedroom and lock it behind me.
The scent of pine and redwood trees faintly wafts through the room, mixing with the flowery scent of garden in our backyard.
Pulling my hair out of the messy bun I had it in, I walk into the bathroom adjacent to my room and click on the light.
I stare at my reflection, analyzing my features.
Mocha skin, dark coffee eyes, curly dark brown hair, and plump, pouty lips.
"Nothing special, really." I sigh, taking out my purple paddle brush and running it through my hair.
'You shouldn't say that about yourself Nudge. You're a human-bird hybrid. You are beyond special.'
"No, I'm a winged freak."
Angel sighs mentally.
'Nudge...there's something I should tell you.'
'Not now Angel. Iggy is downstairs and I told him I'd only be a couple of minutes. I don't want to keep him waiting.'
'But-' I block her out before putting my brush down, and leaving the bathroom.
It's just the tiniest bit sad that I come to a 10-year old for advice on a relationship that is nonexistent. It's sad that I come to a 10-year old about anything to do with love-like emotions in the first place really.
Snatching a random t-shirt from my closet, I pull it on over the tank top I'm wearing before dashing out my room.
I can't keep him waiting any longer.
I wish I could be rid of him, well not him but the emotions I feel for him. I was hoping it was just a crush, something that would fade in time. I mean, as a kid you go through many crushes before you finally meet that one person who just turns your whole world around and makes you see things differently. I wish I could find that person soon, someone who makes me want to be a better me, someone who can make me see me differently, more beautifully.
But I don't have that person.
I mean, sure Iggy does make me want to act different. I can be myself around him, no pretending to be the Chatterbox or act like a little kid.
And with that "stare" of his, those milky blue orbs, though unseeing, make me feel as if I could be his world. It's not true, I know.
I'm not the one, not his little sister.
My foot slips, and suddenly I'm falling through the air, and the cream carpet of the stairs is getting closer.
An arm wraps around my waist and the side of my face collides with a firm...something.
My nose is soon filled with the wood and smoke scent I've come to know all too well over the years.
Iggy.
My heart is thudding in my chest and a mixture of panic and relief washes over me.
"Nudge, are you alright?" Iggy asks concerned.
I nod.
"Yeah, guess I'm just a little clumsy today."
Iggy nods, before smiling.
"Hopefully that clumsiness won't effect our cooking lesson, hm?"
"I certainly hope not." I mumble to myself.
Iggy's arm is still around my waist, and I'm still pressed against his chest.
"Umm, Iggy? I can walk down the rest of the stairs. I'm not gonna fall and die or something." Reverting to Chatterbox mode, in case anyone's listening or stumbles upon us.
"Oh...yeah, right." His arm unwinds slowly from my waist and as he moves back, I'm aware of just how warm his body is, and just how disappointed I am at the loss in contact.
Scampering down the last five steps, I walk swiftly into the kitchen, pulling out a few cake pans and a lemon.
"So, what is on the menu for today's lesson?" Iggy asls, sauntering in behind me.
Taking a deep breath, I launch into a "classic" Nudge moment.
"Well I saw this really cool recipe online about lemon zest cheesecake and another one for bon bons and oh can we do both? Oh! Even better, can we make lemon zest cheesecake bon bons? I think that would be so-" My words are cut short as Iggy's hand clamps over my mouth.
"You don't have to pretend, the door is closed and I let everyone know that we're having a cooking lesson so to steer clear of the kitchen for awhile. Relax Nudge."
A calm and loving feeling washes over me before melting into this jumbled mess of excitement and relief. Another one of the many side effects of him. My emotions are a thousand at a time, instead of just the usual one or two.
His milky sky blue eyes are practically boring into mine and if I didn't know any better, I'd say that he could see me, but that's not possible.
"Thanks Iggy."
He smiles before removing his hand from my mouth.
"Now, let's get started on this cheesecake and then some bon bons, yeah?" He says, clapping his hands together, a habit of his when he switches over to his "Let's get down to business" mode.
"Sure." I begin to zest some lemons to chill while Iggy takes out eggs and cream cheese.
"So, what shall be our lesson topic of discussion today? Philosophy? War? Death? God? Love?"
I'm jolted by the last one.
"Love?"
"Alright, love it is!" He says cheerily, cracking three white eggs expertly against the medium sized stainless steel bowl in front of him.
Placing my own bowl in the fridge, I begin measuring out the cream cheese, still trying to figure out why Iggy would ever want to talk about love, especially during a cooking lesson.
"Well, what do we want to talk about that has to do with love?" I ask, curiousity getting the better of me.
"How about Max and Fang? They're always entertaining."
This is true. Their journey from friends to lovers was both taxing and irritating, and I am not talking about on them. I mean on us...mostly me. I could see that they had some extreme emotions for each other, but Fang is about as cold as a freezer at times and as conversational as one too; Max is so jumpy between emotions she could be labled borderline neurotic. Besides, I can't protest the topic. When it comes to the strawberry blonde beside me, I can deny him nothing. Anything he could ask of me I'd do without a second thought, just because it's him.
Oh God, help me.
"They have a pretty nice relationship, don't they?"
I nod.
"Yeah, I mean a relationship is perfect when you know that someone you care so deeply for, cares for you just as much. There's no way they could break up either, they work too well together; they understand each other too much to not work together. I'm jealous really."
I give Iggy a soft tap before handing him the now filled cake pan, the smooth overlay of white cream cheese sitting delicately inside, not even baked and the smell is already making my mouth water.
"350?"
"Better make it two, our stove cooks a little faster than others." I reply.
Iggy nods before sliding the pan onto a rack in the Kenmore.
Washing off his hands, he turns back to me.
"What makes you so jealous of them? Don't tell me you're lonely Nudge."
"Of course not Iggy, I have you...and the Flock." It isn't a complete lie, but it isn't the complete truth either.
"Then what makes you so jealous of Fearless Leader and Mr. Silent?"
I smile hearing him use the nicknames I dubbed the duo with.
"Well...where to begin? Well, their journey was by no means ideal, nor is it one that I'd wish for myself, but knowing that the person that you care about, be it a crush or a first love, is there for you when you need them most? Oh I'd love to have that more than anything. I'd love to have their love honestly. The way Fang looks at Max, oh you'd think that she was the only thing in his world; she more than likely is, to an extent. He looks at her and it's like you can see the stars in his eyes and hers when she looks at him. Together they make this little galaxy of their own where it's just the two of them. And Max? She's different now, less neurotic (borderline neurotic) and more calm. He makes her better, and she him. They compliment each other, not just on a physical level, but an emotional one. He sees her as beautiful no matter what, from the times when she's at her lowest to the times when she's at her highest and most amazing." I smile, picturing the couple as they sit together and talk softly with one another, whispering sweet nothings and laughing at jokes that only the two of them know.
Iggy lets out a soft whistle.
"Wow." he whispers.
That snaps me back into reality.
"Sorry Iggy, didn't mean to go all-"
"No, that's not what the whistle was for." I watch his pale hand softly brush the few errant strands of hair in his eyes, away from his face.
I wonder what that feels like, to have your face caressed in such a manner.
Max seems to like it quite a bit, the softest blush always appears on her cheek everytime Fang does that to her.
"Hey Nudge?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I ask you two questions?"
Smiling at his sentence, I nod before giving him a hum of assurance.
Iggy knows how much I enjoy remarking that when you ask someone if you can ask them a question, that technically you mean two, because your first question was asking the person if you could ask them a question in the first place.
"What do you think love is?"
"Love? Love. Well, familial love is what we have in the Flock. We stick together, stand up and protect each other. We pick the other ones up when they fall down."
Iggy shakes his head, his soft flaming locks swishing from side to side with each movement.
"No."
"No?" I repeat.
"I mean like real love, actual love."
"I think real love is when you want to be a better person, not just for that person, but for yourself. That person makes you appreciate you more, makes you see the beauty inside of you even when you think it's hidden away. They make you happy, and change the way you see the world. They're a best friend when you need them and a lover on the other occassions. They don't push you too far and encourage you to chase your dreams and shoot for the moon. Actual love, is being able to have an argument with them but know that at the end of the day, you still love them just as much as they love you and nothing could change that. Actual love is having someone who could build you up to become the highest skyscraper, stretching towards the heavens, or break you down to the dirt of the earth. Yet, somehow, you trust them enought to know that they would never do anything to harm you Actual love is not having to always to say the words because they can tell you do in every touch you place upon them and very look you send their way. Actual love is being able to just sit together in silence, not speaking, but knowing everything that is or isn't wrong with the person next to you." I finish the last sentence softly.
Iggy opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted as the timer on the oven goes off.
"Cheesecake is done!" I chirp brightly.
As Iggy goes to retrieve our project, I skip over to the cupboards and pull out two dessert plates and two forks.
A warm lemony smell wafts through the air, spreading its perfume throughout the kitchen.
"Fridge for 10 minutes and then we feast." The lean pyro announces, setting the timer again.
"We should probably wash the rest of the dishes. I don't want to have too much of a mess once we finish up in here."
Iggy nods again and we quickly fall into our common spots, me washing and him drying.
I watch absentmindedly, as the foamy water laps against the sides of the sink everytime my hands delve into the watery abyss to retrieve a plate, the water going from calm to swirls of white and clear before calming again.
The soft ticking of the clock in the kitchen serves as background music as we work in tandem, washing and drying.
He doesn't have to say anything, but I know that something is on his mind. He wants to say something, it's right on the tip of his tongue just dying to make its presence known in the world. Although, what he wants to say, is a mystery to me.
As the last plate is dried, the timer goes off, a high ringing sound that I swiftly cut off with wave of my hand. Thank you, magnetic capabilities.
"Perfect timing."
Iggy takes the cake from the fridge, makes two small slices in the creamy circle, placing one on each plate, before putting the cake away and walking into the dining room.
I am practically dancing as I stare at the beautiful treat before me.
Grasping his fork, he holds it in the air, a soft smile on his face.
"Bon Apetit, Igster." I chirp, clinking my fork against his before digging in.
The cheesecake is heaven in my mouth, an explosion of creamy citrusy goodness.
"I forget how insightful you can be. Even though you're a 13-year old bird technology genius with an eidetic memory." Iggy remarks.
Ah, so that's what he wanted to say.
"Oh really now?"
Iggy nods.
"What you said though...had me thinking."
Oh...there's more?
"Really now?" I reply, licking my fork clean of the last bite.
"Yeah, what you said about love, describes us almost perfectly."
My fork slips from my fingers and clatters loudly against the white china.
"What?"