Life Continues to Confuse Me
Part 1
"Ella, you demented, little were-monkey!"
I guess you could say that things had calmed down after the demise of ITEX. It was over, or at least I hoped it was. I could barely comprehend a life where the flock and I weren't constantly darting around the world in a permanent state of fight-or- flight. We were now free to live a normal life, or at least as normal as a bunch of bird kids could live.
It took months for my lavish doses of paranoia to dwindle. As much as I didn't want to, the flock had split up. Me, Fang and Iggy (The 93's as we were called) stayed with my mom in Arizona The rest of the kids left with Jeb to his home in Canada.
However, before what I call "The Greatest Divide" Nudge tapped into the financial system of the defeated ITEX Corporation and helped us all to a nice out of court settlement. We each had an investment account with a million dollars in it. She explained that this was money that was going to grow until our eighteenth birthday when we could cash it in at any time.
The 93's attended St. Peter's High in Arizona, it was okay but I never felt that I truly fit in anywhere. Iggy made tons of friends. Maybe because he could see himself as anything but perfect and it showed.
One thing that I have to mention is that Fang and I became a lot closer. Like, closer-then-brother-and-sister-unless-you're-in-West-Virginia close. It was quite a relationship. We never kissed or held hands, but we would do things like hang out and share a bed.
No, not like that! I mean, after years of sharing a dog crate and then huddling under a blanket together, it was comforting to have each other there. We'd tried to sleep in our own rooms, but it always would end with one of us knocking on the others door. The other would sigh in relief and say "Come in." and pull the blankets up for other.
This arrangement also made the night terrors that plagued us easier to deal with. Everyone knew that I had them, but the nights were Fang would toss and turn, moaning and sweating were our secret.
This was one of those nights.
Fang had woken me up when he started thrashing on the right side of the bed. I pulled the comforter and sheet up and tapped the side of his face gently.
"Fang... Fang... It's okay... I'm here... It'll be alright...", I said softly. The Furrow in his brow deepened.
"Max?" He asked strangely, still trapped in unconsciousness.
"Yes, Fang, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving. I'm right beside you." I assured him.
He stopped thrashing and eased back to sleep. Most of his terrors stemmed from the time before I met him. It was a time when he had to face the 'white coats' alone, with nobody to hug or comfort him. He just need to know that he wasn't alone and they'd subside.
I looked at the clock... It was May 11th now. I was 18 years old. I laughed slightly and turned over to face Fang and fell asleep.
It was an okay day, I suppose. There wasn't any presents or cards. Not that I truly care about that sort of thing. Although... sometimes... I think that it would be nice. No, instead I had my greatest weakness: Mom's chocolate chip cookies. Which is where I am now...
So I'm holding the basket in my arms snarling at the other 93's who are trying to get there hands on my cookies. Fang cautiously reaches forward and lets out a low 'Ow!' when I nip his finger. Iggy starts to laugh.
"Maximum, I said share those cookies!" I heard mom say laughingly.
"No! Mine!" I said like an over grown three year old.
Ella rolls her eyes and pokes me in the side, on reflex I drop my side a bit sending a few precious cookies over the side of the basket. Ella practically plucks them out of the air and laughs.
"I'll have to remember that." Fang says and reaches for one of the cookies in her hand.
"No! Mine!...Uh... I mean... Get your own cookies." She says and giggles.
"Ella, you demented little were-monkey!" I exclaimed.
In response she merely sticks out her tongue. It is here that I notice that the guys are shoveling cookies out of the basket. "Hey!" I yelled at them, but it was more of a deflated exclamation. They laugh. I look over at Ella "Traitor."
Finally, I give in and the four of us sit on the floor indulging in what I call "GDC's" (Global Domination Cookies.)
Dr. Mar- I mean, Mom, comes in and looks at us. "I never would of thought that I would one day have four teenage kids, all of them around the same age, arguing on the living room floor over cookies."
"Yeah, but three of us are perfect angels..." I said as I inhaled another cookie.
"Oh yeah, Iggy's no angel!... He's more like a bat." Ella says.
"Oh, sure, pick on the blind guy, why don't you!" Iggy says jokingly.
This is how I wish to remember my stay here. The four of us joking around, the smell of fresh baked GDC's and mom smiling softly over us.
Then I realize that soon I'll be leaving. I'll be alone. And a shade of sadness comes over me. I stand up.
"Guys, I have an announcement." I say firmly. For a moment all eyes are on me. "I'm leaving." I say.
The guys look at each other Iggy stands up. "So am I."
I look puzzled. "I'm going to the Virginia School for the Blind and Deaf. I didn't want to tell you on your birthday."
Tears prickled the back of my eyes. "But... You can't just go. We can't..."
"Split up?" Fang asked. There was something wrong. His voice was that stoic un-personable tone he used when he was upset.
"Fang?" I asked him, concerned.
"Isn't that what you were planning to do? Weren't you planning on just leaving m-us behind?" He asked. "Were you really planning on even telling us or would I wake up to the guys saying that you just packed up and left?" He accused.
"No. It's not like that." I said hurriedly.
"No, Max. It is like that. You guys can go. Just leave. I'll stay here with Ella and Dr. Mom." He stated coldly, and then he just stormed off. If I didn't know that he was extremely angry, I'd think he was having a tantrum of some sort. At this point I knew there was no arguing with him. I got up and went out the back yard. I needed to fly.
My wings spread out and I caught the gust. I held my face up to catch the last warm rays of the sun. Then I went sonic and left everything behind if only for a little while.
I don't know how far I went but, after a while I came back. I touched ground and stepped into the house. Unfortunately, I wasn't alone. Fang was standing there in the dark room. I knew he was waiting for me. I turned to him and sighed.
"Fa-"but I was cut off. I was speechless. I didn't know what to think. Fang was kissing me. I felt panic flash through me and I tried to push him away. What I didn't expect was for him to gently bring his hand to my cheek and hold me there. Even more to my surprise, I realized I had stopped struggling.
The kiss was strong but tender. I brought my hands to his chest and started to kiss him back.
I couldn't believe this. It was like I was out of my body screaming at myself. What was I doing? This was Fang for crying out loud, but... I couldn't imagine anyone else I'd want it to be. Further shocking myself I managed to lace my hands behind behind his neck and deepened the kiss.
Some time later, seconds, minutes, hours... eternity, I don't know, but he suddenly stopped. He looked at me in a way he never had before.
"Wh-what is it?" I asked, breathless.
"Don't go." He said softly. If it wasn't Fang, I'd think that he was pleading with me. I stared into his dark eyes trying to string sentences together.
"But... I-" His expression changed.
"Please?" He said huskily, barely above a whisper.
I looked at him, speechless. I closed my eyes and nodded solemnly.
He brought his hand down. "Thank you, Max." He said and without another word, he walked away.
I stood there in the dark listening to the soft shuffling of his steps until he closed his bedroom door.
He just walked away. After what he- we just did, he just walked away. Like it never happened. I was so confused I just stood there trying to get my breathing under control. After a few minutes I walked to my room, closed the door, turned off the lights and sat on the edge of my bed letting tears of confusion and frustration slide down my cheeks.
Angrily I shoved my hands to my face and wiped them away. I am Maximum Ride, I do not cry. Crying is for normal girls. Long ago I had accepted that I am not, nor will I ever be, a 'normal' girl.
Silently I leaned over and lay down on my bed. I was still caught in thinking about everything that had happened when it came; the soft two tapping of Fang at my door.
Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves I said "Come in."
He stepped into the room, dressed in his soft flannel pajama pants and a gray t-shirt. I looked up at him. He closed the door behind him and walked over to his side of the bed. I held the blankets up for him and watched as he got settled, then I let them fall over him.
He looked over at me. "Good night, Max"
"Night, Fang." I replied and started to ease myself into unconsciousness.
"You scared me today." His voice whispered into the darkness.
I sat up and turned on the light. "What do you mean I scared you?"I snapped.
He looked up at me for a moment and lowered his eyes. He wasn't going to reply. Go figure. I turned off the light in a huff and lay on my side.
"Max, you're in your street clothes. Go change." He said and turned over.
I stopped for a second mentally debating what to do. I sighed and threw the covers off of me and sat up. I slipped my hand underneath my pillow and yanked out my pajamas.
With a grunt I took off my shirt and pulled the night gown over my head then ripped my jeans off.
"Happy?" I asked smartly. I got no reply. Rolling my eyes I lay back down, yanked the blanket over me and proceeded to pass out.
I woke early in the morning and yawned. When I went to stretch something unusual happened. My hand hit Fang. One thing about Fang, he's up at the butt-crack of dawn and he's never there when I wake up. I looked over, surprised. Not only was he there, but he was awake. Awake and... staring at me.
"WHAT!" I yelled.
He smirked and said, "Good morning to you, too."
"Sorry, it's just... You're still staring at me. Do I have a booger on my face or something?" I said exasperated.
"No." He said. Fang still had the infuriating smirk on his face.
Okay, this was getting weird so I got up and went to my dresser. I pulled out a hoodie and a pair of jeans. When I turned around Fang was there, right in front of me. For a moment I thought he was going to kiss me again but he only did something incredibly odd. He sniffed me.
"Okay... Weirdo. I'm going to take a shower now... Do I need to lock the door?" I asked warily. He only smirked.
Fang and his smirk were really starting to creep me out. I stepped into the bathroom and started the hot water. Closing the door, I undressed and slipped into the shower with a sigh. Hot water is very, very good.
By the time I stepped out of the bathroom I was clean, dressed and minty fresh. To my relief, Fang wasn't in my room.
I tossed the towel into the hamper and grabbed my CD player and gym bag. As was my custom I ran down the stairs and out the door. As usual, I was late for my workout.
