18:10

"Are we finished yet? I'm way bored." That was Fang, by the way, not me. I was trying to enjoy the situation I was in. Sort of. Okay, so at least I wasn't moping around like a child. And Fang was definitely wallowing in what would have been his childhood days, if of course, we had all been normal and not raised in a science lab.

"Fang, just enjoy it. Besides, we're getting your stuff next," Angel said, slipping on her Bambi eyes. Oh lord, now we were gonna have a lot more fun. Angel with Bambi eyes and Fang trying to ignore them. Fun, fun.

Okay, I admit it. I was at the mall. The big place of shopping and pink stuff and ultimately not Maxness. But I was there, trying to be a good sport about while we picked out furniture. God, it scared me thinking of how much money mom and Jeb were spending on us. (Okay, not so much Jeb. He can spend as much money as he wants on me and he'll never make up for what he and his science groupies did to us. So sorry if I gave you the impression that I might forgive you, Jeb. It's not gonna happen.)

But anyway, it still scared me to think of how much money Mom was spending. I mean, she was buying paint and carpet and wood flooring, (she actually bought mahogany wood to put in Fangs room since he said that tiles were lame.) She was buying new clothes and beds and lamps and tables and chairs and she already spent about a hundred thousand dollars on Nudge's computers. (No wait, the government paid for those.)

Anyway, it was a lot of money, and I felt sorry for her. I was so making the flock write thank you notes for all of this. All of it!

"Max, what do you think?" my mom said, startling me out of my mental note plans. When I looked up, I was staring into a sea of black. Pure black. I had to keep my jaw from dropping.

Fang smiled down at me. "What are you grinning at?" I asked.

"Your face," he said.

"Ha ha, very funny. Just because you're in Fang lala land doesn't mean that you're safe from a punch in the gut." And I was serious this time. Nobody makes fun of anybody within the flock. No matter how many hard feelings are exchanged.

I've at least tried to keep the flock from splitting up again. You have to give me a little credit.

I edged away from the sea of black and went to help Angel and Nudge carry their merchandise. Mom tried to call be back, saying that we were about to go pick out my stuff, but I said I wanted to be surprised and walked away, Angel and Nudge babbling along behind me.

"Look Max," Angel said, holding up shopping basket full of fabrics.

"What are they sweetie?" I asked, trying to pay attention to Angel while still watching Nudge search through the rows of lamps.

"They're dresses," Angel said, and pulled out her bear. "For Celeste."

"That's nice, sweetie. Hey, go get Nudge and we can go pay for this stuff."

"Cool," Angel said, and ran off in the general direction of Nudge.

I leaned against a rack of liquid soap containers and sighed. Shopping wore me out. Fang came up to me from behind, touching me on the shoulder.

"What the…" I spun around, not even trying to cover my surprise. Fang was getting way to good at going unnoticed for his own good. "What was that for? You seriously need to stop popping up behind me like that," I said in a barely audible whisper. Angel and Nudge didn't need to know that he had surprised me twice in two days.

"Oh my god, Max. You're losing your touch. Maybe you need to go live out in the wild while on the run from some Flyboys for a while. Or maybe all you need is a trip to Hawaii," Fang said, completely losing me.

"What is all this about Hawaii. That had nothing to do with the conversation. Besides, you came up behind me," I said, genuinely confused. Why was Fang bringing up Hawaii?

"A certain someone of mild importance just called and said that we need to go to Hawaii. Don't ask me why, but that's just what they said. They said so little about the entire trip that I was surprised that the phone didn't self destruct," Fang said, growing serious. "But I don't see why we have to go. I bet we can work something out."

My discomfort grew as he continued talking. When he finished his ramble, I said, "Yeah, like everyone will willingly consent to go to Hawaii. Like a trip for the government worked out so well last time. We ended up in Florida for crying out loud. If we go now, we might end up in South Bolivia!"

Fang frowned a little, seeing my point. "Yeah, well, I'll talk to Dr. Martinez about it. Like I said, our going is probably debatable," he said. His pupils grew larger as he gazed at me. I don't know for sure, but I think that's a sign that he likes me.

Either way, his lingering gaze was disturbing and I waved my hand in front of his face. "Fang, earth to Fang. Stop staring and help me find Angel. And Nudge," I said, seeing him blink a couple times as if coming out of a trance. He muttered a hurried apology and walked quickly away.

"Oh lord," I thought, and walked towards the clothing section, thinking that if Nudge was anywhere, she was looking at clothes.