one week
As so often lately, Dylan was the reason I ran into my room and slammed the door. And yes, this is Maximum Ride talking, tough girl extraordinaire. I figure I'm allowed to act my age once in a while, especially given I'd lost Fang just a week ago.
Yeah. Lost. It hurt to think he'd promised to come back to me, so I preferred to just think of him as gone. Sure, he'd been my right wing, my other half, the best and only friend I'd ever had, but he wasn't going to return to me in the foreseeable future just because I wished he would.
He'd said twenty years. It might as well be twenty lifetimes. If either of us lived that long we'd be thirty-four, and I was barely fifteen now. And that was one big if.
It was all Dylan's fault. Fang leaving. Me falling to pieces every ten seconds.
Worst, two strangers living with the reduced flock - Dylan I could handle. Having Jeb breathe my air was intolerable. He knew better than to open his mouth, but far too often I saw a look of pity in his eyes.
No one pities Maximum Ride and lives.
I couldn't exactly kick him out, though. According to Angel he had nowhere to go. I didn't care about that. Let him live on the streets for a while, see how it feels.
The other thing she said was that he had to stay with us for a while. She wouldn't say why, in typical Angel fashion, but she did insist he stay.
I wasn't quite ready to trust her after the whole incident with Doctor G-H, but Jeb was out of commission for the moment. With one and a half working arms and no weapons, he didn't stand a chance against six mutant children.
Given how oddly quiet he seemed lately, he might not even fight back...
I threw myself down on the bed and screamed into the pillow. It didn't help much, but I did feel a little better getting some of my anger and frustration out of my system. If only I had a Fang-shaped punching bag.
I'd wear it out in a few hours.
I heard a knock on the door.
"Max, are you okay?" Dylan called.
Dylan was the absolute last person I wanted to see. I couldn't keep Jeb out since he had a direct line in with the Voice, but Dylan... Dylan I could and would keep out.
I threw my alarm clock at the door, making a satisfyingly loud bang.
"Go away, Dylan!"
There was a pause, and then I heard his footsteps creak away down the stairs.
Good riddance.
Right after Fang left, Dylan had been unusually nice to me. Now, every time I turned around he was trying to help me with something. Or complimenting me. Or trying to hug me.
Maximum Ride doesn't hug. Especially not some idiot who thinks he can just replace Fang with a few kind words, a smile, or a hug.
Newsflash: nobody replaces Fang.