MAX POV
It was the last day of the eighth grade Washington DC trip. We were on our way back to the school so our parents could pick us up. Everyone had the last-day-of-DC jitters. Because the day after DC was graduation. Technically, graduation was at night but still...this was the night that everyone picked their date for the graduation dance. The graduation dance isn't as big as prom but until then...graduation dance is as close as it gets.
As I stared out the window as cars drove by I could hear cell phones going off, ringing every second and the high pitched "O-M-G!!! NO WAY? THAT IS SO CUTE!" Because their best friend that just called them, got asked to graduation by their crush. I hope I get asked. I don't want to go to graduation alone.
While all of this going on, next to me sat Victoria. She was one of the girls that I roomed with during the trip. Behind us were Maggie and Eryne. I roomed with them as well. I didn't really want to sit next to Victoria. I didn't really like her. I didn't know much about her. I would have much rather sat next to Eryne or Maggie, but they sat next to each other. Anyway...Fang, surprisingly, also had the last-day-of-DC jitters and was telling his roommates and, apparently, mine that he wanted to ask Lissa to the graduation dance. But he didn't know how.
"OMG! FANG!!! Lissa's like one of my best friends! I have her number on speed dial. Let's call her and then you ask her!!!" exclaimed Victoria .
"Uhhh...I..I don't think that's a good idea..." stammered Fang, blushing as Victoria called Lissa.
"Hey Lissa!!! What's up?..." Victoria said as she waited for Lissa's answer. "OMG! No way! That is so funny! Wait...Fang wants to talk to you," Victoria smirked and handed Fang the phone.
My heart felt like it was stabbed too many times to count and I still didn't die. Like...whoever was stabbing my heart was laughing at my expense. Like they lived off other people's pain and seeing me in pain like this was heaven to him while I crumbled to the ground slowly but painfully dying.
"Oh...uh...Hey Li---Lissa. How's it going? Uhmm... I was just wondering if you were going to the graduation dance with anyone." Fang said blushing the whole way through. There was a long pause and Fang's roommates and my roommates sat there, eagerly waiting for an answer. I sat in my seat staring out the window as if I weren't hearing a thing, even though I was listening to every word that I could possibly hear. Since a bird's hearing is greater than a human's, I heard what Lissa said. She said..."Of course I'll go to the graduation dance with you..." and with that Fang said..."Cool. Okay...see you tomorrow."
Fang closed the cell phone and handed it back to Victoria.
"Well..." Victoria asked pleading Fang to tell them what Lissa had said.
"She said YES!!!!"
Everyone practically jumped out of their seats when they heard the news. They were all so very happy for Fang. But I didn't jump for joy. I just sat there leaning my head against the window watching the road as each car passed by. A tear ran down my face. No...NO! Why are you crying! There is no reason to cry. You're just going to make a fool of yourself if people see you crying. Pull yourself together. Just say it to yourself...You don't like Fang. You don't like Fang. You don't like Fang. YOU DON"T LIKE FANG!!! Now stop crying. Don't let them see you crying.
And with that last thought, I quickly wiped the tear off my face. I felt like I just died. Right then and there. Right in front of all my friends to see and yet...no one would know. I felt like my heart couldn't take the stabbing anymore. It was stabbed too many times and it just didn't want to feel any more pain. So it gave up. It didn't care anymore. It didn't want this rotting feeling that's been in there forever to be there anymore.
After what felt like an hour, they finally calmed down and everyone started to fall asleep. The trip from DC was really long and we had been up since 5 in the morning so everyone seemed pretty tired. While everyone dozed off I stayed awake. I was starting to relax from before. Maybe I should just forget about it. The only reason Fang asked Lissa is because he likes Lissa. NO! He LOVES LISSA!!! He doesn't Love you so just get over it. Your dating Sam. Sam is a nice guy. You love him.
I winced as I my mind told me that I "loved" Sam. Did I love Sam? Or was he just a friend? Well it didn't matter now. Now I'm going to the graduation dance. ALONE. Then, it just hit me. I could ask SAM!! DUH!!! I quickly called Sam and asked him to the graduation dance. He said yes and I was happy again. I was also very tired but I couldn't go to sleep. I guess I am just too emotional right now to doze off. I turned my head to see who REALLY was sleeping. Victoria was knocked out because she was so tired. Eryne and Maggie were the same. I looked over to Fang and his roommates who were out cold as well. They must have been up all night.
I sat there thinking about Fang, about all the times we went through together. The one memory I hated the most was when I caught Fang kissing the red headed wonder. The way his hands slowly slid up her back, holding her closer. The way he angled his head so that they could kiss better.
I sat there on the bus thinking about that memory for a couple minutes before I realized an ocean of tears were pouring down my face. I didn't want anyone to see me so I took the hat that Fang bought for me at the souvenir shop that had an American Flag on it out of the bag and quickly put it on. I lowered the hat so that it covered my eyes a bit. Even though everyone was sleeping, I didn't want anyone to wake and see me all puffy-eyed with tears streaking down my face. So I kept the hat on and went back to looking out the bus window. Before I knew it, we were at the school again. Everyone got off the busses, got their luggage, and looked for their parents. Fang and I saw Anne.
"Anne, is it okay if I fly home?"
"Okay, what about Nick? Is he flying with you?"
"Uh…no. I just want to fly alone. Uh…I'm okay though. I just...uhh...wish that the trip wasn't over yet. Uhmm...I just want to have the chance to fly before heading off to bed tonight. I'll see you at home, okay Anne?"
"Okay. Put your luggage in the trunk. I'll see you at home."
I opened the trunk and threw my suitcase in.
"Hold on there." A voice said as I was about to close the trunk. It was Fang. He looked at me and smiled a tired smile. He threw his suitcase into the trunk too and said:
"Anne told me you're flying home. Why?"
"Uhh…I just want to. You know...fly before going to bed. It just relaxes me."
"Oh okay...I'll come along. Let me just go tell..."
"No Fang."
"What?"
"Uhm...Fang...I don't want you to come. I just need to clear my mind and relax. Uhmm...Okay? I'm sorry. I just want to go alone."
"C'mon Max. I want to fly too. Just because you want to fly alone doesn't mean you will."
"Fang! Please! Just let me do this one thing without you there! I'm a big girl! I can handle myself!"
And with that last sentence I ran as fast as I could across the street and around the corner and into the trees. I made sure that no one could see me take off. But since I took off near the school I had to fly low near the trees because the sky is too open around the school. The feeling of flying, the wind in my face and hair, feeling as if nothing in the world mattered. Flying was probably the only thing that could make me feel a little better after what happened today. I flew all the way home. Fang and Anne got home before I did because I took the long way home. I didn't want to get home right away. Flying was just so relaxing. It made me feel good inside. When I neared Anne's house I saw Fang sitting on the front steps. I landed in the nearest tree hoping that Fang didn't see me. But he did.
"Hey there stranger," he said looking up into the tree.
I looked down and saw him smiling as he waited for me to come down. I jumped down and landed right beside him. "Hello." I said not looking at him.
"Max...Are you okay?"
Wow. He just jumps right to the point. "Yeah. Why?"
"Well you seemed a little, what's the word? Oh yeah, you seemed a little 'flustered' about something...?"
"Well I'm not flustered, whatever that means. I'm perfectly fine and there's nothing wrong with me. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to bed." I did a running jump and unfurled my wings and flew up to my bedroom window. I flew in and shut the window. I sat on my bed with my wings still open. I pulled my legs to my chest and hugged them. I put my face in my knees and started crying. Why am I crying? You're such a baby!!! To the flock you're a strong mother-like person and now you're crying every chance you get! Even my mind was getting mad at me. I must be going crazy. I sat on my bed curled up like a ball while my wings where still unfurled when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I knew it was Fang coming up the stairs and I knew that he was going to come into my room and make me talk with him. So I quickly opened my window and flew up to the roof. I left my window open to give him the hint that I went flying. I heard my door open, a sigh, and then my door shut. I sighed and lay down on the roof. I stared at the star-filled sky and made a wish. I wish that one day my pain will end. That I will feel pain no more.
The next day I found myself on the roof of Anne's house. "Ugh...what am I doing on the roof?" I yawned and got up. Then last night came back to me. "Oh...now I remember." I flew down to my bedroom window. I flew into my room and checked my alarm clock. 5:13 am.
"Up a little early, aren't we?"
I spun around so fast that I fell and hit my head against the chair. I shut my eyes waiting for my head to hit the floor but it never did.
"Hehehe...A little jumpy too."
I opened my eyes to see Fang holding me in his arms looking straight into my eyes, smiling.
"Can you put me down please?" He put me down. "What are you doing in my room? Did you sleep here?"
"Uh...yeah. I was waiting for you to come back from your little flying trip, but you never did so I went flying to check where you were. I found you on the roof so I went back inside and waited in here until you came back in, which is now..."
"Oh...you were worried about me?"
"Uhh...yeah. Uhm...why don't you go back to sleep. It's still early."
"Nah. I can't go back to sleep once I wake"
"Same."
"I'm going to get ready for school. Since there is still a lot of time I guess I'll take a shower." As I was about to open the door to leave my room Fang said:
"Are you mad at me?"
"Why would I be mad at you?"
"About yesterday? You know on the bus? When I was asking Lissa to the graduation dance...?"
"Oh." I walked over to my bed and sat down. Fang was standing in the middle of my bedroom. "Why would I be mad at you?"
"Well...you didn't talk to me the whole bus ride home. You didn't want me to fly with you. And when I came to your room to say goodnight, you weren't there. Instead you were sleeping on the roof!"
Fang's voice got louder and louder with every time he spoke but not loud enough to wake the rest of the flock and Anne. There was anger in his voice. And I didn't know why.
"Also the whole bus ride home you were crying!!! Then you come back to your room and cried again and you wouldn't tell anyone. WHY!??!?! What the hell is wrong?!?!?"
Now he was practically screaming at me. Surprisingly Anne and the rest of the flock still didn't awake from Fang screaming. At this point, tears were racing down my cheeks as I saw so much hurt and anger in Fang's eyes. I felt the same pain I felt on the bus. I felt as though my heart was being stabbed and whoever was stabbing my heart was laughing at my expense. And not before long my heart would be in so much pain that it would give up. With each passing second I could hear my sobs getting heavier and heavier. I wrapped my arms around my knees as I pulled them to me. Stop Crying! Fang just wants to talk. Relax. It's okay. He just wants to talk. My mind was trying to calm me down. And I did.
"How did you know I was crying on the bus? You were sleeping!" I said starting an argument.
"I was worried about you. And I noticed that everyone started to fall asleep. So I pretended to. That way I could watch you, make sure everything is okay, without you noticing."
"Well, like I said before! I'm a big girl! I can take care of myself. I don't need someone watching me all the time!"
"Oh yeah!?! If you're such a big girl then why can't you just tell me what's wrong with you?"
"There is nothing wrong with me!!! I'm perfectly fine!" At this point, we were outside on the roof because we didn't want to wake everyone. My eyes started to become watery and I could feel my cheeks real heated. I was about ready to scream at the top of my lungs just to let off some steam.
"Okay...then tell me why you were crying!!!" Fang was starting to get really annoyed. And so was I. He wouldn't stop pestering me about it. And I knew he wasn't going to give up. So I might as well tell him.
"I was crying because...because..."
"OUT WITH IT!!!"
"I was crying because of YOU! Okay? Happy? I said it! I was crying because of you!"
Fang stood there in shock. I was afraid his eyeballs were going to pop right out of their sockets.
"Everyone, on the last day of DC, were all hooking up because of the graduation dance! And everyone was talking about you and Lissa going to the graduation dance together and how it would be so cute! And how you should ask her like right there on the phone! And then you did! And everyone was so happy! And then everyone wouldn't stop talking about it! And no one even cared that I wasn't 'joining in on the fun'! No one cares about Maximum Ride!!! No one cares!!!!"
"Is that why you were crying? Is it because you think no one cares about you, Max?"
"NO! I was crying because you asked Lissa to the graduation dance and not me!!!" Tears were falling every which way off my shaking face. I put my hand to my mouth so quickly that I practically slapped myself. I was so surprised and scared at what I said. I jumped off the roof and unfurled my wings and hoped that Fang wouldn't follow me. As I was flying, tears were falling off my face as new ones took their place. "Why did I say that? He must think you're a complete...mph!" Fang caught up to me and kissed me so passionately that I forgot to flap my wings before I realized that I should stay in the air.
"Fang...I...I'm...sorry." I said in between kisses. We were still flying and kissing. Tears were still falling down my face. But this time, these were tears of joy. I've never been so happy in my entire life. I felt as though whoever was stabbing my heart had given up. He took all the pain away as he left. I realized that once and for all that I LOVE FANG and that Fang LOVES ME!
We kissed until air was a matter of life or death. The both of us were still floating in the sky gasping for air.
"Wait...you asked Lissa to the graduation dance...but ya' kissed me?!?!?"
"The only reason I asked Lissa to the graduation dance was because..."
"OUT WITH IT!" I said smiling.
"Okay...Max...I've LOVED you for a very long time. And every day I resisted the urge to do what I just did to you because I was afraid that it would ruin our friendship because you didn't feel the same way. And right now I'm still confused about the whole thing. I'm not sure if you do feel the same way that I feel about you."
I stared at Fang in shock. He really loved me. Oh my gosh! He really did. I started to laugh a little while my eyes started to water. I could see a hint of red creep onto his face. I flew closer to him and said, "I've loved you, too."
He grabbed me and kissed me. When he pulled away I was a bit sad.
"Maybe we should get back before everyone wakes up and doesn't find us there." he said.
"Good Idea."
We flew back to the house holding hands. We went into the house through my bedroom window. When we came in, there on my bed sat four mutant bird kids with smiles across their faces. Fang and I stood there, in front them, holding hands blushing. Realizing that they knew the whole time.
