Chapter One
It was a simple thing, really. The Flock and I were just going to move in, have a couple months of normal time, you know; the fun stuff! But noooo……Instead we had to go to Forks, WA, with my mom and sister. Not that I have anything against moving in with my mom and Ella. No, I was thrilled about that part! But it was truly the reason that we were moving in the first reason. Charlie. He is my mom's new hubby and her other half now. Well, a third she says. I'm her other third. She keeps reminding me that I'm important to her but still, I don't like the idea that I have to share her with someone new! And not only that but now I have a new person to keep my wings from! That meant I can't just walk into my own home, flop on the couch and spread out my wings anymore. Noooo; now I have to hide them against my back until he's out of the house. Oh, and that's not the worst of it! Guess where we have to go now! It starts with an "s" and rhymes with uncool. School, in case you're too slow to figure that out.
I now have to go to school with a last name other than the one that I'm so damn proud of. I'm proud to be a Ride because I am the one and only. But now…well, now I'm a Martinez or a Swan. That's Charlie's last name, BTW. Swan. Yeah, like we don't have enough animals in the family. Heck, I'm a bird and Ari was a wolf-like thingy that we like to refer to as Eraser. But no; we just had to add another type of bird. So now I'm Maximum Ride Martinez Swan. Nice, right? Yeah, sure. The Flock and I were still pretty much runaways and fugitives for so many things. Emphasis on the "so". And now Ella and I have a new sister, too! Her name's Bella and according to Charlie, who I've only met once at the wedding, she's in a pretty serious relationship. Sadly for him, Bella wasn't able to make it to his wedding because she'd been in the hospital that weekend for falling down the stairs and out the window or something. I'd been a bit suspicious but when I noticed cookies I'd forgotten all about it.
Yep, I'm a cookie junkie; especially chocolate chip cookies! God, those are so my fix. But anyways, to start the whole story off, let's begin where I was just now getting to Forks with my Flock. Nudge was telling us, as usual, she was hungry when we saw the sign. "Welcome to Forks," I murmured gloomily. I wasn't in the best of best moods. "Relax, Max," Gasman said. He gave a shrug that seemed out of place on his eight year old little boy body. Fang must've taught him the "cool shrug". See, Angel was ten, Gasman was twelve, Nudge fifteen, Iggy eighteen, Fang eighteen and I was technically seventeen. "If anything happens, we can beat their butts from here to Germany!" He said and gave a mock fighting stance to prove his point. Or something. "I'm sure we can, Gazzy," I said and sighed. Even I, the leader of the Flock, couldn't keep them from being exposed to so much violence it would seem necessary in the long run. Yep, I'm just that good. Sigh. "But let's keep it on the down-low, right, guys?" I said to the Flock as we swooped into a forest.
I had a map with me and this forest was clearly about a mile away from the house. "Yeah, 'cause we are so good at that," Iggy snickered. I shot him a glare that was obviously a waste on a blind kid. Total, our talking, partially-flying Scotty dog, stirred in his sleep in Iggy's arms. Angel's was already filled with Celeste, the Angel bear that she had "persuaded" a buyer into buying for her. "Are we there yet?" He groaned. "Almost, Total," Angel said cheerily to him. He gave a dog-equivalent of a grin and went back to sleep. I rolled my eyes at the dog's laziness and began to fold in my wings. I pulled on the gray and red sports windbreaker that my mom had given me as a present the last time we'd visited. It was soft on the inside and on the outside the sleeves and hood were red while the torso and back was gray. On the black were letters on the bottom reading "Ride" in red paint. It was a nice custom present and I was overjoyed when I got it. Lately I'd cut my blond hair to shoulder length and it had curled naturally. I pulled on the red leather fingerless gloves and fixed the Velcro. I wore "fashionably torn" jeans, as Nudge would say and red and gray high tops. Thank God for gel soles when it came to shoes. I had the shoelaces tucked in so we could make a quick getaway if we needed one. Fang, according to Angel, seemed to like the jeans. After that came a little evil mind-reader snicker.
Fang was silent, as usual, as we walked along the road with our backpacks on our backs. Mine was red, that being my favorite color, Fang's was black (nice, Fang), Nudge's was Purple with pink stripes (courtesy of mom), Angel's was a dirty white (her color but very easy to get dirty), Iggy's was green with black zippers and such, and Gasman's was camouflage. I had mine with only one strap hanging over my left shoulder and my left hand pulling the strap in a very intimidating rebel way; the fact that my eyes seemed kind of pissed so helped. Nudge could be the only person who dared talk to me in this state. We all admired her for that bravery. "Ooh, Max! I'm so excited! I wonder if Bella's a nice person, I hope she's not like all those step sisters in Cinderella. They were really evil; I mean, do you think she might try to make you scrub the floors? Ooh, that'd be bad! You'd definitely kick her you-know-what and then be quite happy with it. But then again, that was a step-mother and you have a step-father. Maybe it'll be different. Ooh, maybe she'll introduce us to friends at school. But then again, Charlie said that she was more your age so maybe she'll introduce you to a bunch of friends and I'll get some on my own. Speaking of Charlie, he was kind of shocked to see such a big family, wasn't he? I mean, that was kind of funny—," Nudge couldn't finish because I had plopped a hand over her mouth as we arrived at my house. I glared at her until she nodded in understanding. "Not a peep," She said, her voice muffled. I would've laughed had I been in a good mood. Instead I let go of her face with a blank face and began to climb the porch steps with my hand gliding across the metal pipe railing.
I was kind of shocked to see a rusty old red pick up truck in the back but I kept it to myself. Then I hesitated. Should I knock? It's my house but… I couldn't decide what to do so instead Fang opened the door and waved a hand inside with a bored expression. I swear if we stayed a second longer I would've seen him dig through his ear.
I sighed at his casual speechlessness and walked inside. "Mom?" I called out. Almost instantly I heard a giggle. "In here, sweetie," My mom's voice called out. Then almost immediately Ella came sliding past the living room into the entrance way to greet us. "Max! Thank God, you have to save me!" She cried out desperately. I almost panicked but then I peeked into the living room. My mom was sitting on Charlie's lap Eskimo kissing. "You and me both, Ells," I said and sighed as I plopped down my backpack in the entrance way. "Oh, we're so glad you're finally here, Max!" Mom cried out once she saw me. Apparently when she'd called me in she'd been absent-minded. I arched an eyebrow and folded my arms. "Oh, don't be such a spoil-sport," My mom pouted. Yes, Dr. Martinez, who could be just as stubborn as me, pouted. Then, get this little pun/joke thingy; Charlie Swan goosed my mother. Get it?! Goosed, Swan, Swan, Goosed? Ducks!
My eyes widened in horror. Okay, so the School may have trained me to see horrible sights but this one burned my retinas in a way that horrible scientists couldn't have prepared me for. Ever. I squeezed my eyes shut and groaned. Yes, I was defeated in this area. My mom was happier than I'd ever seen her in the short amount of years that I knew her. Fang rubbed my shoulder and chuckled. "Thanks a lot, Fang; you're a real big help," I muttered. He did that very shrug that Gazzy had done outside in the sky but no; this shrug fit Fang as a phone fit a receiver. I sighed and shook my head as I exited the room to the kitchen. Where there were cookies!! I would've squealed on any other day but not today. Why? Why, because we had had another little run-in earlier with our little buddies we like to call Flyboys. I groaned at the memory and smashed a cookie in my mouth. Mom had told us that we had to stay no matter what. They would find us either way, as she pointed out, and it would only be better to stay in one place where we can enjoy the time in between attacks. I reminded her of her safety but she wouldn't take it. She said that if we left, it would be worse on her safety of mind. She would…well; she threatened us, using her as ammo.
I had hesitated but I reluctantly gave in. We would stay with her no matter what. It was for her safety seeing as a Flyboy attack would be a risk but this outcome would be definite. I sighed again at the table and grabbed at another cookie when I heard footsteps. They were still upstairs and almost silent but I was proud to announce secretly that I'd trained my senses so that I could hear, feel, smell and taste most things that others cannot. The Flock didn't know because then they would want to too and that would be…well, let's just say my secrets with Fang would not be secrets anymore. I paused and wondered what it could be. Then my question was answered a second later when they came closer to the stairs and more audible to the human/raptor ear. It was my new sister. "Oh, Bella, you have to come meet Max," Charlie said from the living room. He seemed to have recovered after a self-conscious throat-clearing courtesy of Bella and her blushes. I snickered at her self-consciousness and scooted my seat back. "She's in the kitchen," Mom said. I could practically hear mom blushing. She didn't have that "bond" with Bella yet that made her not-so-self-conscious.
Soon enough a tall pale girl came into the kitchen. It only took a second for me to analyze her. She had dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, pale freckled skin, a tall gangly body and was wearing a quarter-length sleeved green blouse unbuttoned with a black camisole showing her torso. She wore a pair of dark jeans and ratty socks. She seemed like my kind of girl. "Max," I said with a smile and held out my hand. I know what you're thinking. Max, shaking a hand and smiling?! The apocalypse is here; hurry, honey, get the guns and anti-lotus repellent. "I'm Bella, it's nice to meet you," She said with a blush. I knew what she was seeing because I saw it every time I looked at my reflection. A tall, skinny girl with average toned skin and blond hair. She's got to be a looker, right? I mean, have you ever met a blond who's not?! And Fang's actions seemed to tell me that I can get even the roughest of boys. "Nice to meet you, too," I said and sat back down. I didn't feel like standing. "Max! Max!! You have to see this!!" Nudge shouted excitedly. I exchanged a look with Fang. What could she have found? But then again, that would be answered as soon as she could get in the same room as us.
Fang and I walked out of the kitchen and out what was supposed to be the back door. But it wasn't. It was a door to an unfinished half of the house, two stories high like the rest of the family. In that unfinished part was the wood outlining of the alleged walls and some clear plastic covers to conceal it from rain. It was almost finished; all you had to do was put in the rest of the walls. The floor above was already built and there was a staircase leading up to the second floor. It covered half of the backyard but there was still a fair amount of space out back. "This must be where we'll be!" Nudge explained. "Yep, Nudge," I said and rolled my eyes. It was a sweet gesture and it really touched me. Nudge immediately ran out of the unfinished half and I heard a very audible "oof" as she seemed to tackle Charlie. "Oh, you're so awesome, Charlie, doing all this for us! We're really happy that you're part of our family and…." I tuned out the rest of her rant. It was her form of gratitude so I didn't interrupt but instead I explored the new half of my new home. Then I realized everyone was gone except for Fang and I. "It really is a nice gesture," Fang said softly as he came up beside me. I nodded. For a second we had swapped places and I was the silent type as he spoke my thoughts. "But are we going to be able to stay here, truly?" He asked with a soft lost sigh. I was examining the far wall of the structure. "We should at least try, Fang," I said as I stared absently at the opposite corner of him. "We can try but we can also fail. We might not be able to come back if we fail this time." Fang said. "But if we don't at least try then I'll have nothing to come back to. There's Ella, of course, but mom…she would be…" I trailed off sadly.
Fang nodded and I continued to breathe. "Max, what are we going to do?" He asked. This was his equivalent of asking for help. For asking for a map when he's lost, for asking guidance. This was his cry for help. I nodded. "We're going to make this work. That's what we're going to do, Fang." I said. "What if we're exposed?" Fang asked quietly. He was fading into his silent self. "Then we'll live with it and beat anyone who opposes." I answered. "We can't just up and leave anymore, Fang. The kids need a home."
He seemed to accept that with a nod and ten steps out of the room. As I listened to everyone's breathing and chatter I couldn't help but feel lost myself. I was the leader but I felt lost on a daily basis. I was hardly a leader.
Chapter Two
I woke up on the floor below Fang's sleeping face on the couch. His hand was dangling down and enclosed in mine. A while ago we'd come to terms with our mutual love for each other but rarely showed it. It was a good thing that in our new cover story, we weren't related. Instead Fang was Nick Fang, Iggy was Igloo Esteem (his choice), Gazzy was Zach Esteem (they couldn't not be related), Angel was Angelina Esteem (again, can't not be related to Gazzy), Nudge was Crystal Carlos and I was Maximum Swan. Nice, right? I'm a duck! I smiled and closed my eyes again. Everyone was in the living room until the other end of the house could be finished. According to mom, everyone other than me was just her friends' children that she promised to take care of. But Fang and I were more than anyone could ever explain. We were more than I could explain. I had realized that far back when we first kissed. I'd tried to ignore it but we could never ignore it for life. Gazzy was on the recliner, Iggy was on the other half of the couch, Nudge was on the ground next to Angel. I smiled as I pictured them with my eyes closed. I rolled over and scooted closer to the couch. I could never be close enough to Fang. Suddenly Fang pulled my arm, pulling me up with it and on top of him. No one woke up. I smiled down at his half-lidded face. "Good morning," I said quietly. He nodded and gave me a peck on the lips. His other hand was wrapped around my lower back and hugging me close to him. It kind of made me want to wake up.
"Good morning to you, too," Iggy's voice startled us both and we blushed. He sounded groggy which meant we had woken him up. "Go back to sleep, Iggy," Fang said with a smile. "How can I when you two are completely out-balancing the couch?" Iggy groaned and sat up. Soon enough the whole Flock was awake and kicking. Fang and I rolled our eyes at each other and began to separate. "Where do you think you're going?" Fang chuckled and pulled me back to him. Our hands went over to his shoulder as if we were in a dance and my other arm almost instantly wrapped around his neck while his other arm wrapped around my waist. Our kiss lingered and afterwards our foreheads pressed together. "Aw, how cute!" Nudge squealed tiredly. Angel was smiling and just watching us, making me blush. "Not when you're on the other end of the couch," Iggy muttered and stood up. "What time is it?" Nudge asked groggily and stood up to look at a clock. She shrugged as she saw that it was about five-thirty.
It was about an hour before we usually wake up. "I'll make pancakes," Iggy said. "Ooh, I know! Let's bring Charlie and Max's mom breakfast in bed. They'll be happy with that," Nudge said and began to ramble as she went to help. Eventually they did bring breakfast in bed and while they were at it they decided to make Bella a tray. I didn't want to wake her since she was a regular teen and it would be hard to get up. But I still brought her the tray. I stopped and knocked on the door, balancing the tray with the glass of orange juice, plate of pancakes and bacon, eggs and sausage on my other palm. It didn't rock. "Yo, Bella, can I come in?" I asked with a yawn. "Um, sure," Bella said and I heard some shuffling around. I opened the door and stopped to look suspiciously. She was lying in her bed on one side but the other side looked unnaturally smooth. Wouldn't she have turned or something to ruffle the sheets? "Anyways, the kids thought they'd make you guys all breakfast in bed." I said and walked over to hand her the tray. "Oh, thank you!" She said with a delighted expression on her face. "You didn't have to," She started. "I didn't; thank the kids," I said and shrugged. I felt a pang of pride seeing as I'd raised them. "I'm just the delivery person. Oh, and tell your BF, he can come back in. I won't tell," I said as I walked out, closing the door behind me. Obviously she'd had a guy in there and he'd made the bed so it wouldn't look suspicious. It'd done quite the opposite effect.
"How'd she know?" I heard Bella ask someone as I stepped down the stairs. "I don't know," A velvety voice said. To my ears, it was like relief from all of the other scratchy voices. "Oh, she must've seen the bed so smooth," The second voice said; her BF. I smirked as soon as I realized I had gotten it perfectly right. It would've been embarrassing if I was wrong but then again I'd just shrug and say it was a joke. Fang was already eating at the table, snickering. "What's up?" I asked suspiciously as I sat down next to him. "Gazzy and Iggy…walked in on your parents." Fang chuckled. I gave a face that showed my obvious disgust. "Thank God I'm blind," I heard Iggy mumble as he sat down across from Fang. "But noises…ugh," Iggy muttered in disgust as he picked up his fork. No matter how disgusted he was he wouldn't give up a free meal, especially one he'd cooked himself. He took a fair amount of pride in his masterpiece of food. I grabbed my own stack of pancakes and other foods and snatched up my fork, beginning to gobble down my pancakes. By the time that my mom and Charlie were downstairs, fully dressed and blushing, I was halfway done. "Thank you for, um, breakfast," Charlie said, his face beet red. Fang chuckled some more and continued to softly eat his pancakes.
I rolled my eyes as I finished up my plate. Charlie wasn't the best conversationalist and that just didn't work with Nudge. "So, Bella seems nice; she's nothing like the step-sister in Cinderella but that was just as I expected seeing as you got yourself a dad and not a mom—," I cut her off as I plopped my hand over her sticky mouth. I had to rinse that off as soon as she promised not to speak. "Some of us like the quiet, Nudge," I sighed as I ran my hand under the kitchen sink. "Yep, like monks do. Have you ever noticed how…never mind," She stopped once she saw my glare. I was in a better mood, though.
But even the most patient monk could not be as patient with Nudge as I was. "Nudge?" Bella asked as she walked down the steps and into the kitchen. "That's her nickname," Fang explained. Charlie and Bella seemed shocked that he wasn't mute. I walked back over and stood beside Fang with my arm wrapped protectively around his shoulders. His arm snaked around my waist and he smirked. "Yes, I don't need a parrot to talk," He said and leaned back in his chair. "Enough with the PDA, man," Gazzy groaned. "Hush, at least they've actually gotten around to this," Nudge scoffed. "It was taking them forever," She seemed to be explaining to Bella and Charlie. I rolled my eyes. "Yes because we were always madly deeply in love with each other," I grumbled. Fang looked up into my eyes in slight annoyance but with a touch of amusement. "Always," He muttered and snuggled his head to my hip. Bella and Charlie both blushed. "I do agree; that's enough couple appearance, you two." My mom said. I rolled my eyes but let go of Fang. He reluctantly let go of me too. "But do trust us, Fang can be quite the speech-giver when we need him to be," Iggy snickered. "Well, Max wasn't going to make the first move." Nudge added. I took that opportunity to flick her in the back of the head. "Ouch!" She cried out and rubbed the back of her head. "I'm going to go get changed," I mumbled and went to pick up my backpack in the entrance way. Bella came into the entrance way too. "Hey, thanks for this morning; but how did you know?" She asked. I smirked.
"There's the fact that the opposite side of your bed was completely glass smooth and the fact that I too have a boyfriend, as you've seen." I said and wandered into the bathroom with my backpack. I changed into a black windbreaker, a brown camisole with black lace at the top and a pair of dark jeans. I changed my ratty socks to another pair of ratty socks and then put on my gray and red high tops. As I was tucking in the laces of my shoes there was a knock at the door. "Others have to go too, you know!" Iggy called out. I smirked and opened the door. "Even if you weren't blind, I'm already decent," I said and wandered out into the entrance way. I had to empty my backpack to make room for my "schoolwork" so I emptied it, obviously, into a laundry basket. I just picked out the non-dirty clothes objects and set them on a random area. I picked out my iPod, a dirty worn thin file with papers spilling out that still included the coded sheets that we'd given up on a long time ago. I smirked as I noticed an old skirt that Nudge had persuaded me into buying in Germany. It was just a black and gray plaid pleated wool skirt. But the length of it would not provide me with warmth. Then I noticed another thing; an old I heart NY baseball cap. I took out the ratty worn out cap and rubbed some dust off it. It had barely been pulled out since the time I'd bought it in New York. "What do you think?" I asked Fang as he came out of the kitchen. I plopped the baseball cap on my head and smiled. "Very nice," He chuckled and snatched it off my head. "Hey, give it back!" I cried as he rushed off with it. "Nope," He answered simply and rushed through the kitchen to the other side of the table. Charlie and Bella watched, amused, as I glared at Fang. "Give it," I growled teasingly. He shook his head and put the cap on it. "No fair," I muttered and folded my arms. He rolled his eyes came around the table and kissed me on the cheek.
I immediately grabbed the cap, placed it on my head and stuck out my tongue. But I knew he knew I had planned to do that. You couldn't get anything past Fang. He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Ooh, Max, can I wear it?" Angel asked excitedly. "Sure, sweetie," I said and willingly handed the hat over to her. The table had a nice laugh at that and even Fang chuckled.
Max, watch out at your new school.
I stiffened but only slightly. Still Fang noticed it. "Voice," He mouthed. I nodded and rubbed my temple. I went into the living room and sat in the recliner. Why? Are Erasers with reasons other than to wipe off the chalkboard going to be there? I thought sourly. No and these creatures maybe won't pose a threat, but still don't expose yourself too much. The Voice answered. What type of creatures are they? I asked. But then again, does the Voice ever answer my questions? I sighed and grabbed my now empty backpack. "Shouldn't we get going?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Sure," Bella said and stood up. "Have a nice day, kids," Charlie called out to us. Yes, the truck was very, very crowded. And Bella seemed a bit sad but not really. She was probably sad because her boyfriend couldn't pick her up this morning. The instant we got to within my hearing range, I picked out Bella's boyfriend's voice from the others. I saw him; he had bronze hair, a nice figure, and golden eyes. I couldn't explain him in any word other than gorgeous.
He was hanging around four other people. One of them was a boy who had blond hair, a booming voice and an optimistic, rough attitude. Another, who he had arm wrapped around, had long blond hair, pale (but so were the others) and was especially beautiful (just like the others). Another was a pixie-like girl with black hair sticking out in a short chin-length hair cut. She seemed wistful and spacey but really nice. The boy who stood beside her seemed the exact opposite but she held his hand. He had blond hair, pale skin that seemed scarred in every spot but they seemed unbeknownst to the human eye, and was very stiff and kind of reminded me of…well, me, when I was in warning mode. The whole group had pale white skin and golden eyes. They were all gorgeous. I wanted to know what to call them. "SO, what's your boyfriend's name?" I asked casually from beside Bella. "Edward," She said as she parked the car. "Sorry, we won't be riding with you again. We know you'll miss our company but we won't be." Iggy said. Bella laughed. "And the others?" I asked as I waved a hand in their direction of the parking lot. "You can, um, meet them at lunch." She said absent-mindedly. I smiled knowingly. "Of course," I laughed and began to walk away.
Fang decided to keep a protective possessive act around others. He held me by the waist and pretty damn close to him. When we arrived in the office, he let go. I didn't mind but it left me kind of…cold. "Hi, um, I'm Max Swan?" I said suggestively to the receptionist. "Oh, yes, we've been expecting you kids," She said as she noticed all of us. "You all must be the Esteems, Fang, and Carlos?" She checked. The others nodded when they heard their cover. "Right, well, here's the schedules," She said.
She placed the schedules side by side at the top of her desk for us to get. "Thank you," I said as I picked up my schedule. I immediately checked over all of our schedules. I had two classes with Iggy, one class with Fang and the rest were…well, they were with no one. The kids went off to their school that was only a building away. The schools were connected. I had first hour with Iggy. Then third was with Iggy, and then fifth was with Fang. Sixth period was gym. We all went off to class. I rolled my eyes as all the girls ogled at Iggy. Yes, he was what they would refer to as "hot". The girl he sat next to seemed to be a shy girl. Angela, she said her name was. "Hi, I'm Iggy," He said with a grin. He wanted to see how she'd react. "Interesting name," She giggled and blushed. I rolled my eyes and looked up at the front of the classroom. School was pretty dull 'til lunch. I entered the lunchroom with Iggy flanking me on my left. We were meeting Fang at lunch. My eyes widened as I saw where Fang was sitting…next to Bella at the table where Edward and the others sat. Bella saw us and waved us over. "This is Iggy and Max," Bella said as we sat down. I sat next to Fang and Iggy sat between the tall, booming guy and the pixie-like girl.
"Nice to meet ya," The tall, booming guy said and held out his hand with a big grin. I smiled politely and shook his hand. "Max," I said and raised my eyebrows. "I'm Emmett," He said. His hand was cold but mine was radiating heat. "This is Rosalie," He said, obviously knowing the blond girl wouldn't introduce herself to us. She gave a nod of acknowledgement then clutched onto Emmett's arm possessively. Fang wrapped his own arm around my waist and scooted me closer to him. Nice, possessiveness seemed to be a trend these days. The guy next to Bella snickered at the actions. It was Edward. He held Bella's hand, rubbing his thumb over the top of her hand in a loving way. They were more than boyfriend and girlfriend. I saw that in his eyes. They were what Fang and I were. Soul mates. I suddenly felt something nudge at my mind; I'd learned over the years to protect my mind from mind-readers. I began to wonder who it was when I suddenly saw the shift in Edward's expression. It was from amused to curious and confused. It was Angel's look when she first noticed she couldn't read my mind. So, Bella's BF was a mind-reader. "I'm Alice," The pixie-like girl said with a bright wistful smile. I smiled back and shook her hand as well.
"This is Nick," I said. I stumbled over the name, almost calling him Fang. "Call me by my last name; Fang," He laughed and raised an eyebrow at any opposes. No one objected. "Nice name," Emmett said admiringly. I noticed the only one who hadn't introduced himself. "Oh, this is Jasper; he's just a bit shy but, um, I'm sure he'll warm up to you guys," Alice said under her breath. "Oh, well, nice to meet you, Jasper." I said just as softly. Alice looked up, surprised. She hadn't meant for any of us to hear; she seemed to instead have been practicing it before she said. Rosalie and Jasper both seemed shocked but Emmett seemed too much into conversation with Fang to notice. Edward was still confused and Bella was eating. I shrugged it off, knowing they wouldn't get it and began to eat my packed lunch. When the bell rang I began to head off with Fang. I was tired so I leaned my head against his shoulder as we walked.
Alice and Bella were talking behind us. They both had the same hour as us. Then I caught a snippet. "Yeah, Max and Fang make a cute couple, don't they? You should've seen them this morning. It was adorable; they were chasing after a hat." Bella was saying and Alice's tinkling laugh seemed to follow close by as Bella explained the joking manner of us this morning. Though it seemed private at the moment, it was nice to be talked about in this way. As a couple. I sat down in the seat instructed, happy to have Fang next to me. Bella and Alice separated as Alice went a couple seats over and Bella sat down in front of us and next to…Edward? I shook it off. Wouldn't they have been walking together? I knew that their love was new as ever. I ignored it and laid my head back on Fang's shoulder. The teacher began ranting on about something but I tuned him out. Occasionally I'd see Edward glance back at me. Then he muttered under his breath, almost on a whole other frequency that no one could hear. "She's not normal," He said. Then Alice's voice was heard. Fang couldn't hear but I could because of my training. "She's not a threat, Edward. I've seen her future and it's confusing but it's nothing threatening." Alice said. Edward gave an unnoticeable nod and turned back to the teacher. Then the bell rang. I stood up and grabbed my stuff. Then Bella went over to me. "So, how was your day?" She asked. We had gym together. I smiled. "Wait a sec," I said and turned to Fang. He and I shared a long, lingering kiss. "See ya later?" He said, breathless. I nodded and gave him another peck on the lips before turning back to Bella and he left with a slight shake of his head at my teasing. "It's been good," I said as I followed her out the door.