Oh my god, why is this place so green? Seriously, it's like the greenest, wettest place I have ever seen. Not to mention it's cold. This is where we're going to live?
"Angel," I said softly, not wanting to wake the others. She opened an eye and peered at me from under her long blonde lashes. "What'd you say the name of this town was?"
"Forks," she mumbled sleepily. It had been raining nonstop since we'd gotten here, and it made us all a bit drowsy.
"Great," I muttered darkly. "We live in a place named after a kitchen utensil."
I didn't get a chance to mope anymore because the van lurched to a stop just then. I glanced in the driver's seat at Fang, who had fallen asleep as soon as he turned the van off. Exiting the van, I did so quietly, not wanting the flock to wake before I could survey the land.
I looked over our new house carefully, and surprisingly, found that I liked it. It had stopped raining, so I pulled my black hoodie over my head. My muscles ached from sitting in the van for so long, and this was my first chance to really stretch.
I opened my arms wide, rotating my shoulders in a circular motion. I touched my toes and bounced from one foot to the other, suddenly craving the feel of my legs working and my arms pumping when I ran. I glanced back once more at the van and, seeing that everyone was still asleep, dashed for the nearby trees.
Ignoring the path completely, I wound my way through the cold, damp forest. It felt so good to finally run again. Yeah, I absolutely love flying, but running just has this special… feeling to it.
I admit, I should have been paying much more attention when I ran out of the trees and across the road, but I had some things on my mind. But still… how did I not see the car before it saw me?
"Holy sh—" I swore as my hands shot out to protect my body from the oncoming car. I noticed it was a Rabbit when it jerked to a stop. I know, I know, but I kind of have a thing for cars. My hands smacked down on the hood in an attempt to steady myself.
"Oh jeez, are you ok?" a husky voice said from inside the car. A door opened and a guy around twenty or so jumped out, rushing to my side.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, taking my hands off the hood.
"I'm really sorry," he said, taking a step towards me. "I didn't even see you."
I smiled sheepishly. "Yeah… that's my fault. I didn't even look before I came out of the trees. I just kinda kept running."
"Why were you running in the woods?"
"Why not?" I asked, becoming wary for some unknown reason. "Is there a law against running in the forest?" He looked surprised for a second.
"No, but people usually run on the road," he said, laughing. "Or at least on the path."
"Well, I'm not 'people'."
"I guess not. I'm Jacob Black," he said, sticking out one of his large, brown hands.
"Max Ride," I replied slowly, taking his hand. It was calloused and very hot. Pulling back slowly, not sure what was up with him, I turned and headed back across the street, aiming for the trees.
"Hey!" I turned. "You live around here?" I hesitated shortly before nodding. Not wanting to answer any more questions, I left then, sprinting through the trees.
He seems… nice, I thought as I ran. Not that that has ever stopped anyone from trying to kill me. Still, it would be nice to know someone around here. I hate being the new kid at school. Not that we've ever had a choice… Being the new kid is just like being the shiny new toy that everyone wants to touch and play with. There's no privacy whatsoever.
While I thought this over a bit more, I emerged from the trees exactly where I'd entered them. It's times like these that I live my navigating skills.
"Max, you wanna help us out?" Fang said from the van.
They were unloading; something I really did not feel like doing. Groaning, I walked to Fang's side and grabbed a few bags. I grudgingly followed him into the house, my arms full of everyone's crap.
I swear, hours went by, but we still got practically nothing done. Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy were too distracted by the sounds of the nearby ocean to be much help. Iggy went with them down to First Beach, happy for something to do. He had previously been sitting silently by the van.
"Hey neighbors," a man said in a deep, rumbling voice. Fang and I looked over and saw Jacob Black coming towards us, pushing a man in a wheelchair slowly in front of him.
Jacob looked somewhat surprised when he saw me. But his expression changed and he smiled broadly before coming to a stop in front of us. I kept my facial expressions in check, but I still caught Fang looking quizzically between Jacob and me.
"Hey," Fang said.
"Billy Black and this is my son Jacob," the man in the wheelchair said gruffly. He looked a lot like Jacob, but older, and somehow wiser looking. While Jacob had a smooth face, Billy had wrinkles that just made him look strong, with a little bit of a regal touch.
"I'm Max, and—" I started, but Fang elbowed me slyly and gave me a look. I turned to Billy and Jacob, holding up a finger before letting Fang led me a few feet away.
"What are you doing?" he hissed.
"What?"
"You told them your name why?"
"Why the hell not? We're gunna be living here, so what's the big issue? If anyone wanted to find us, they would have by now, or they would have at least been waiting at the house when we arrived. Fang, we've known that we were moving here for two weeks," I pointed out.
"Yeah and what if they are them?" he whispered furiously.
I frowned. "I seriously doubt it Fang."
"Oh? And why is that?" When I didn't answer Fang frowned. "And why did Jacob smile when he saw you? Care to explain that?"
"Simple stupid," I hissed. "When I was running, he almost hit me with his car, so we talked."
"Max…" He broke off what he was about to say and looked to the sky, his face grim. "You've gone soft."
I gaped as he turned his back to me and walked swiftly away. I had the urge to run after him and start an outright fight, but it might freak the neighbors if there was suddenly two flying kids in a fist fight.
I rubbed my temples and walked back to where Billy and Jacob were waiting silently by the van. I was grateful and slightly amused when Billy didn't look in the least interested in what had just happened. Now here was a man that knew how to mind his own damn business. I like him already.
"Sorry, he's just…" I couldn't find the right words, but thankfully, Billy shook his head and smiled.
"Don't worry about it. I know how they are," he said, looking up at Jacob and chuckling. He looked back to me and stared at my face for a few seconds, but under his scrutiny, it seemed much longer.
"So are you going to school here or in town?" Jacob asked.
"In town. Where did you go?" They both smiled, though I had no idea what was funny about that.
"I go to school here," Jacob said, still smiling. I cocked an eyebrow.
"How old are you?" I asked cautiously.
"I'm sixteen," he said, hanging his head a little.
"Yeah right," I said skeptically.
"No, really, I'm sixteen."
"And on steroids, right?"
"Nope. No drugs here," he said, thumping his chest with a fist. Billy shook his head, his shoulders shaking with laughter.
"Uh-huh." I was still a little skeptical, but whatever. "Well, then I guess I won't be seeing you at school."
"No, I guess not."
"How old are you?" Billy asked me.
"Eighteen," I said, rounding a little. Since I didn't know when my birthday actually was, I decided I was close to eighteen, if not there already.
"Well Max, I just wanted to drop by and give you this as a little welcoming gift and say 'hello'," Billy said, handing me a large brown paper bag. "It's fish fry. My friend Harry Clearwater made the best fish fry around, but Sue made this. His wife and kids lives just around the corner there, but they're a little busy this week, so I had Jacob here just grab you a bag for them."
I smiled and took the bag from Billy. "Thanks, that was very nice of you. I appreciate you coming by, really." I turned and headed for the house. "Bye."
"Bye Max, we'll see you around," Billy said. Jacob added his goodbye and they left, going into a house down the road.
When I entered the house, Fang was there, ready to ambush me. He grabbed me around the waist and flipped me over his broad shoulder before I could react. I hit him in the back, yelling at him to put me down before I really started wailing on him.
"Max, will you just shut up?" he snapped, dumping me on the bed.
I stopped squirming and looked up at him. I studied his face, searching for anything out of the ordinary. I sighed when I didn't find anything, closed my eyes, and lay back on the bed. Fang still held onto my waist, so when I lay back, he fell smoothly onto the bed beside me.
I didn't look at him, not sure I wanted to see his face anymore. When I didn't try to make conversation, Fang got up. I opened my eyes to see him standing tall over me. He was frowning down at me, his face tight.
"What were you thinking Max?" he said. "What stupid thought made you think it was ok to tell them your real name? Not to mention whatever else you decided to tell them after I left."
I propped myself up on my elbows, but kept my face turned away from him. I didn't approve of his attitude, and he needed to know that. When I didn't answer him, Fang growled menacingly and leaned over me. He held himself up over me, his hands on the bed beside my arms, his face right in front of mine.
"We're not in hiding anymore Fang," I said slowly. "I want us to be able to live like normal people."
"Too bad we aren't normal people Max," he growled.
"Maybe we could be if you just gave it a chance," I implored quietly.
"We can't take chances Max!" he roared. I hated fighting with Fang, but he made it so easy sometimes to be angry with him. "You should know that by now Max. We can't afford to take any chances anymore!"
"Why the hell not? No one has come after us in years Fang! Years!"
"Like that makes a difference! Last time we thought we were safe, they found us anyways! Do you remember that? And what happened because of our carelessness? Angel got kidnapped, we lost our home, you got shot, and we all ended up in cages yet again."
"That was one time!" I screamed in his face. "We made it through all of that Fang! We're still here, aren't we?"
Fang stood and sneered down at me. He shook his head and walked to the door. "Yeah, but that won't last long with the new you as leader, will it?"
"F you," I whispered, my eyes watering. Fang had never questioned whether I should be leader or not before. He may not have always agreed with my decisions, but he'd never said that I shouldn't be leader before.
I rose from the bed, suddenly more tired than I'd been this morning. I left the house as quickly as I could. I didn't want Fang to see me. Only he could make me cry. Yet, he had never purposely made me cry…
I went down to the beach, taking the road instead of going through the woods again. No point in giving any neighbors any reason to question how well I knew this place by showing up at the beach from the woods, without a path too.