"You guys are insane. Absolutely insane," I declared after Jacob had explained his situation with Bella and Edward occasionally piping up.
"Why?" Jacob asked, genuinely confused.
"Why? You're really asking why?" I was no idiot. Believe me. "Do you honestly expect me to believe you?"
Bella huffed in disbelief. "Are you saying we're lying to you?"
"Maybe," I shrugged, raising an eyebrow.
"Do you really think we would do this to you?" She crinkled her eyebrows.
"Well, I don't really know you. I've known you," I gestured to Bella, "for less than a day. I've known your boyfriend and his friend-"
"We are not friends!" the two boys yelled at the same time.
"Okay, sure. I've known your boyfriend and his acquaintance for less than an hour," I stated, rolling my eyes.
"You have to believe me," Jake begged. "I really don't want to get hurt, and I don't think you do either."
"Have you done this whole 'imprinting' business before?"
"No," he admitted.
"Then how do you know it'll cause physical pain?" I raised an eyebrow to prove my point.
"I've seen it. Other people in my pack have had it happen to them."
"Let's just stick to our own experiences, shall we?" I said, frustrated that they are so intent on making me believe this whole 'I'm a wolf and you're my soul mate' thing. "I can take pain. Can you?"
I stormed past Jacob and out the door. As I reached the bottom step, I ran into the woods surrounding the Cullen home. I heard footsteps (the rest of the family, I assumed), so I quickly unfurled my wings and soared. I didn't know where I was going, I was just letting my wings do the work.
When I landed, I was in a familiar place. It was a meadow with tall and short grass, and generally had a soft vibe to it. Fang and I would come here whenever the Flock flew up north west. My feet took me to a small flat area where green clovers grew in abundances. Fang and I would always try to find a four leaved clover, but we never succeeded.
"Any luck?" I shouted over to my boyfriend, who was on the other side of the area.
"Nada," he responded. "You?"
"Same as always," I grumbled. "What if we never find one? It's on the bucket list of all normal humans."
"Hey," Fang said, crawling over to me and engulfing me into a tight hug from the back. "It's okay. We don't need a clover to show that we love each other."
"All our wishes will come true anyways, right?"
"Right. We'll be together for the rest of eternity," Fang whispered and pressed his mouth against mine.
Before I knew it, I was wiping away tears. I knew it. I could never forget Fang, I could never forget the Flock. They dug a deep whole into my heart, and took some of my heart with them. Even though I try to fill it with what they dug out, there will always be a missing part.
Out of the corner of my peripheral vision, something caught my eye. It couldn't be, could it? Yes, it could. I snatched it out of the ground and held it up. It was the real thing! Who would of known, that when I was basking in misery, I would have found what spent Fang and me 5 months looking for?
"Fang, I found one-" I called, but no one was there. Of course. I couldn't even go a split second without being reminded of Fang.
Gosh, I was such a sap. I'm going to be a loser when I grew up. Since I love drinking milk, I'll probably end up at a cow farm and be obsessed with milk. 'Hey kids! You thirsty? Let's see what I have… Skim milk, non-fat milk, strawberry milk, chocolate milk, vanilla milk, soy milk, processed milk…'
I twirled the stem between my thumb and my pointer finger. What was I going to wish for now?
I went back home and jumped under the covers of my bed. I wanted to take a shower, but I was too lazy to peel off my clothes. It was too much work.
Sighing, I reached for a throw pillow and squeezed it against my chest. Is the whole thing about wolves an inside joke with the Forks people? It's really not funny. I felt my eyelids growing heavier and heavier, and then they finally shut…
There was a harsh tapping at my window and my eyes flew open again. What. Was. That.
I peeked out of the curtains and saw that it was Jacob, holding a large rock in his hand. Throwing open the pane, I yelled at him.
"What are you trying to do, break my window? When you break this thing, I hope you have enough money to repair it!"
"Calm down, Max. I was going to the whole romantic 'Romeo-and-Juliet-throwing-rocks-at-your-window' type of thing," he grumbled, dropping the rock.
"What do you want?" I shouted, lowering my voice level a few decibels. "And I don't think Romeo ever threw rocks at Juliet's window."
"Can you come out?" Jake asked, fidgeting. "Like, right now? I need to show you something."
"No. No, I cannot," I said sharply.
"Please?"
"No."
"Come on, please? Please?"
"Ugh. Fine. Just this once," I said, kicking my feet out the window.
"Woah. Are you sure you want to do that?" Jake asked, holding out his arms like he was about to catch me. "That window's pretty high up."
"Shut up and let me be," I snapped and stepped onto the white water pipe running under my window. Turning around, I shut the glass and jumped down.
"That was… graceful."
"Shut up," I said again.
"No, it really was." Jake smiled. "I really didn't think anybody human could do that."
Who said I was human? I thought in my head, but shrugged. "They say you learn new things every day. What do you need me for?"
"I want to show you something."
"Yeah, I got that." I rolled my eyes. "What is it exactly that you want me to see?"
Jacob didn't respond, and started walking towards the woods.
"Hey, answer me."
No response.
"Gosh, people like you suck."
A chuckle came out of his throat.
I silently followed along and we eventually reached the heart of the forest.
"Okay, nobody will find us here," Jacob said, turning around with a sweet smile on his face.
"Are you going to fucking rape me?" I asked, horrified, holding out a hand. "Because if you even try, I promise I will snap your arms and legs."
"I'm not going to rape you!" Jacob shouted, equally horrified.
"Then why are you so happy that nobody will find us?"
"I don't want any hunters walking in on what I'm doing."
"Are you going to have sex with yourself or something? Because first of all, that's freaking weird, and second of all, how would you do that? Would you need a mirror or something?"
Towards the end of my sentence, Jacob was groaning. "Max, I'm not going to do anything that relates to sex or raping. Just watch, okay?"
With that, Jacob started to take off his shirt and unzipping his pants. "Oh my gosh, are you showing me your penis? I really don't want to see it!"
"Max, shut up! I just don't want to ruin my clothes!"
"Doing what? Arousing yourself?"
"You have such a dirty mind, Max Ride," Jake said, glaring at me.
"Life's better with a dirty mind," I shot back.
He rolled his eyes and began to run.
"W-what? Where are you going now, Jacob?" I yelled, running after him. He kept running, and he stayed ahead of me. I was fast on my wings, but feet? Not so much.
I pushed through branches and leaves that grabbed at me, and continued calling after Jake. Finally, he stopped. I bent over, holding my chest and heaving in huge sighs, gasping for air.
When I caught my breath, I began yelling at Jacob again. "What is your problem? First you act like a rapist and then you-"
But it wasn't Jake looking back at me. It was a wolf. I began to kick at it, falling back into my regular routine of fighting Erasers and Flyboys.
Max, ow, Max, stop! Ouch, Max, quit it! It's me!
"Who's there?" I stopped and looked around, keeping a razor grip on the wolf's muzzle.
Max, it's me! Jacob! And would you let go of my mouth? It hurts.
I looked at the mutt. "No way. You're joking."
Yeah, it's true. I told you, I wasn't lying about being a wolf.
"N-no. This c-can't be true," I stuttered, letting go of the wolf. There can't be more mutants out there. I thought I saved everyone! I knew every single experiment, I remembered every face!
It's true Max. Do you believe me now? Jacob looked at me with pleading eyes.
"Who did this to you? Is there another School out there? Are there more experiments? Who operated on you? Are there more of you guys out there?"
What are you talking about? I go to school on the reservation. Nobody operated on me, it's natural.
"No, not just any school. The School. You know, the one with the whitecoats and experiments?" I was confused. No, I wasn't confused, he was confused. Was his memory erased?
I have no idea what you are talking about. Operations, whitecoats? We don't have anything like it.
"But it doesn't make any sense! Who did this to you?" I asked, frustrated.
It's natural! Everybody in our tribe goes through it. Jacob seemed really lost.
"Wait, things are natural now? I didn't even realize how advanced things are now!"
Max. I don't think you are I are on the same page. Things like becoming a wolf and imprinting have followed my blood lines for more than 400 years, Jacob explained.
"How? How could this be possible?"
That's just how it is. Now, what on Earth are you talking about?
"Nothing. It's nothing." There was no way I was going to tell him about me.
I told you about my past, I trusted you with my family's and my secret. Can't you open up to me? Jacob pleaded.
"No, I can't," I said, standing up.
Max, please. Please trust me.
"I'm not ready to tell anybody about anything. The last time I trusted someone, it didn't end with a happily ever after."
Max-
"Jacob, please. I really can't do this. Not right now. Okay?"
He nodded and sat down on the grass. Laying his paws out in front of him, he dipped his head down. I hope there's a day that comes that you feel safe with telling me your story.
"Thank you, Jacob." I walked away, retracing our steps. Along the way, I saw Jake's faded blue jeans. I guess he kicked them off while we were running.
Everybody was honest with me, and they told me something that really could have hurt them if it ended badly. But they still told me. If I told them about me, would they accept it well? Would anyone accept an experiment like me?
The next day, I sat down in class and waited for Bella. She stepped into the room, and caught my eye. She ran over to me, kicking over some textbooks and binders along the aisle.
"Look, Max, I am so sorry about yesterday. I know it's hard to believe, but please, just this once-"
"Bella, breathe. I'm sorry too. I know it was rude of me not to believe you, but now I do. Jacob showed me his… you know. Form."
Bella sighed in relief and hugged me. "Do you trust me now?"
I squeezed her back. "Yes. I am really sorry I didn't trust you before- I knew deep down that you wouldn't do something like that."
"Aw, girl to girl bonding time," Mike Newton crowed, walking towards my desk.
"Wouldn't you like some girl to girl bonding time with Bella?" I said. Everybody knew Mike liked Bella. It was brutally obvious.
Mike turned 3 shades of red and smacked my arm. "Shut it, Max."
Bella laughed and Mike ducked his head down and walked away. "He is so obsessed with you," I said.
"He asked me to prom last year," Bella said, smiling.
"He did? What did you say?" I leaned in closer. Mike Newton was hot, and good gossip is good gossip.
"I said that I was going to Jacksonville that weekend," Bella said casually. "But I really wasn't."
"You liar."
"Non-refundable ticket!" she said, raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah, yeah." I waved her off. But I was glad that we were back to normal again.
I walked out of the school and went towards path across the lot. I freaking loved walking. I reached inside my backpack for my umbrella. It was raining, and my wings don't like being wet. Well, welcome to Forks.
I walked down the small step from the sidewalk onto the lot pavement, and I guess I must have stepped into a puddle or something, because I slipped.
I let out a yelp and shut my eyes, waiting for the impact. But it never came.
"Whew, careful there," a voice said. I opened my eyes and met a pair of bright, clear hazel ones.
"Oh, um, thanks." I stood up and pulled away from the guy's arms. He had caught me under my armpits and under my knees.
"I'm Samuel Fletcher, but you can just call me Sam." He had chestnut hair that fell across his forehead.
"I'm Max. Max Ride," I said.
"Cool name," he smiled.
"Thanks."
"I'm guessing you're new here?"
"Yeah. I just moved here 3 days ago."
He gave me a sympathetic look. "So you only had a day to settle in, right? That must stink."
"Yeah, well, welcome to my world," I muttered.
Sam laughed, and we began walking. This was awkward. "So do you live nearby?"
"Yeah. I walk to school every day."
"Oh. I have a car. It rains too much to be walking all the time."
"Way to rub it in my face."
"Well, you'll get a car soon, right?"
"Not until I turn sixteen," I grumbled.
"But I saw you heading to lunch with Bella, and she's a senior."
"I skipped a few grades. I'm only fifteen."
He stopped. "You're a genius!"
"I am? No way!"
"There's not a lot of girls out there who are beautiful and smart," he said, looking me straight in the eye.
I looked away. Eye contact was uncomfortable. "Well, thanks."
"Max!" I heard my name. Jake was at the opening of the parking lot, balanced on his motorcycle.
"Jacob, what are you doing here?"
He took his helmet off. "I'm here to take you home. It's raining pretty hard." He tossed me a raincoat that looked beat up.
"Your boyfriend?" Sam asked.
"No," I said. "Not if I can help it."
Chuckling, Sam ruffled my hair. It felt nice. "Well, that's good. It means I still have a chance."
"A chance at what?"
"At getting you," he said, and pecked my cheek.
Jacob revved his engine. He was annoyed? Good.
"Max, come on! You're going to get soaked."
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Shut up." I slipped on the jacket and took the helmet Jacob gave to me.
"Don't you need one?" I asked, realizing that it was his.
"No. I've done this plenty of times."
"Your funeral," I said, putting the red helmet on.
"Rather mine than yours." He turned to the front, and I blushed. Maximum Ride is blushing? No, I wasn't blushing. It was the rain. I must have… a fever. Or something.
"Bye, Max," Sam waved at me.
"Bye." I waved back, and barely got a good grip on Jake's torso before he sped off.