My life had grown quiete boring after we'd all chipped in and bought the house.

Iggy had opened a bakery and Nudge was currently a talk show host on who's that Star? so we had a steady flow of income.

I worked at the local library. I didn't really want to do anything else because the library was calm and quiet.

I also worked part-time for Iggy. I was part of the vocals (Angel called it the entertainment). Every Friday and Monday we would all go down to Midnight Wings Café and sip on coffee while serving others.

The only reason a accepted the job was to spend more time with the kids. They were growing up so fast, somebody needed to take care of them.

Angel was currently a freshman in high school. She was the star swimmer on the team, and had straight A's. she now went by the name Abby.

That's my girl!

Gazzy went by the name Michael. he was actually the one to pick it to, not me. He was now a junior, going to the same school as Angel and Nudge. His chosen sport was baseball, he was the star pitcher.

Nudge was a freshman in college. Monique didn't really get attracted to activities like the rest of us. She was currently going to a fashion school, still living at home.

Iggy went to Culinary College to open the shop. All I did was make it through two years of high school.

All in all, we were still together. I expected Nudge to be the first to go, but I guess she realized how incomplete w were without the six of us, so she simply stayed on board the freak Train

Toot toot.

After my heavenly shower, I grabbed my swimming suit, yanked it on without a look, and went outside.

Lately, I'd been doing laps in the morning. They helped me calm down and really see things better.

Slipping on my blue flip flops, I began to roll my hair up into a bun. Another bad thing about long hair: it sucks in the water. It sticks everywhere!

"Morning Max!"

I turned in the direction of the deep baritone.

Gazzy was sauntering over to me, a girl attached to his hip.

Oh yeah, Gazzy had been dating Emily for two years now. She knew about the wings, and thought they were a gift from heaven (I know, I'm planning on taking her to the doctor soon).

"Hey. You guys planning on going out somewhere?" I asked in a light tone.

Emily's smile widened. Uh-oh. That was never a good sign. That smile meant shopping.

"Yeah! Nudge, Angel, and I were planning on taking you with us! We're going down to the mall!"

Go figure.

"Um… I can't. I was planning on going to Home Depot to pick up some flowers."

Lame excuse I know. But I couldn't deal with all of the makeup and clothes for eight hours.

"OK, then why don't we stop off after the mall. That way, you can be with us!"

Ugh…

Emily was one of the sweetest girls I'd ever met. Her golden hair went down to her collarbone, showing off her slender body. Her emerald green eyes always had a happy sparkle to them.

Gazzy'd better not hurt her.

"Yeah…sure…why not?"

Oh dear lord, kill me now!

"Great! I'll see you later honey!"

With a sweet kiss on the lips, Emily had skipped from Gazzy's arms.

I snickered at his lonely expression. They'd taken steps (I can hear that much) lately, and Gazzy always hated to see Emily gone.

He turned to me then. Gazzy had recently shot past me and was now a sixteen year-old boy that was taller than me. It always annoying that everyone is taller than you.

"Hey Maxi. What's up?" he said with a smirk.

"Well, first of all, don't cal me that for the millionth time. Second, I'm going to do a few laps before I go to hell."

Chuckling to himself, Gazzy gave me a one-armed hug before walking off.

His hair had been buzzed short recently. He wasn't much of a fan of the curls.

I sighed. Everyone was growing up and leaving behind.

I'd already done most of the hard work. Now I just floated on the water's surface, letting thoughts consume me completely. this was what I looked forward to everyday. To float and be free.

I didn't fly anymore. Iggy always let the kids out to fly everyday, but I couldn't go. It reminded me too much of him.

So swimming was my number-one source of exercise. Sometimes I ran track with angel, or I played ball with Gazzy.

Even Iggy sometimes went on a jog with me. He played basketball (go figure I know) with the kids all of the time, so his source for exercise was covered.

"Max! Good morning! Iggy's got breakfast together."

"M'kay Angel!" I called back.

Slowly making my way to the ladder, I thought about our little shopping spree. Maybe I could pick something up for Fang as well.

I know it sounds weird, but for the past three years, I have been buying Fang birthday presents. They all stood neatly wrapped in the back of my closet.

Once on the patio, I turned and smiled at my home. It was quite large. We had two sliding glass doors leading to the pool; one in the kitchen and one in the basement. Once in the basement, you wound up the steps to the kitchen. Then, the hallway lead to all of the rooms. Our living room was downstairs.

I wiggled my way through the kitchen door, ignoring the smells of breakfast assaulting my stomach, and practically sprinted to the bathroom.

The swimming suit the girls had picked out for me was a bikini.

I know it sounds shocking, but I'd actually let the girls buy my wardrobe.

It was only because they wouldn't leave me alone about it though.

As soon as I made it to the bathroom, I smiled. There, on the towel rack, was a change of clothes.

I stripped off the bikini (which was brown with tiny blue polka dots) and quickly ran my blue towel through my hair.

Then, I yanked on my clothes. My shirt was a soft pink, with a slight v neckline and a brown belt going around the waist to hug it closer. My jeans were a light blue, tight but comfy.

My stomach grumbled loudly.

"MAX!!! Hurry Up! I'm Hungry!" came Nudge's desperate call.

We never ate alone anymore. We always had to be together to eat.

Emily always stayed with us because her parents had been killed in a fire ten years ago. Now, she lived with her aunt, who was too drunk all of the time to care.

So, she basically lived with us. She stayed in Gazzy's room (I trusted him) and only went home for a week's supply of clothes.

Sighing loudly, I looked in the mirror one last time. I didn't look too bad…tired is all.

I always looked tired though.

I opened the bathroom door and stepped down the hall, ready to face another day.

Another day filled with loneliness and hurt.