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~Claire
"MAX!"
The screaming voice of someone, who clearly wanted me to be moody and sleepy all day, awoke me.
"What?" I demanded, annoyed at being woken before lunchtime on a Saturday. Sheesh.
"It's 10:30!" Jeb told me from the doorframe, a frustrated expression on his face.
"Exactly!" I retorted, yanking the duvet cover over my head.
"Get up! We are going on a family outing in fifteen minutes. Get ready quickly," and with that lovely good morning, Jeb left, stomping down the hall in, I noted irritably, a manner similar to my own. Hold up - Jeb similar to me? No way in hell would I let myself be compared to him.
Sighing, I forced myself to get out of bed, get changed, attempt to brush unruly hair and then go downstairs.
The smell of waffles and cookies was overpowering.
"Hi Maxie," Angel, my little sister, chirped, wrapping her thin arms around me and beaming.
"Hey Ange."
"Daddie says we are going to the zoo!"
"Oh joy," I muttered. Angel gave me one last smile before retreating into her room.
"Max, waffle cookies over here!" I heard Mum call. Hungrily, I swivelled around to find a plate of steaming waffle cookies (yes, waffle cookies) waiting for me. I grabbed the whole plate and quickly munched through them all.
"Max! That was a whole tray!" Mum exclaimed, but her mouth was quirked in a smile.
"Alright, let's go!" Jeb said, coming into the room wearing a pair of Ray Ban's. I fought back a laugh. Ancient dad's and Ray Ban's didn't really work together. "Where's Iggy?"
"Here," Iggy said, entering the room. Seriously, we'd barely been in this house for long but he already knew his way round as though we'd lived here forever.
(Time lapse to zoo)
"Maxie! Come, look," Angel dragged me over to a huge cage filled with trees and plants and stuff. So far we'd been at the zoo for, what, five minutes? And already I was bored.
"What am I looking at?" I sighed, craning my neck to look in every corner. The cage seemed pretty animal-free.
"Over, in the corner!" Angel pointed to the corner of the cage, where I could just make out the grey-white fur of what appeared to be a wolf hidden in the grass. I must admit, it was pretty cute.
I was just about to move closer when a voice behind me spoke.
"Pretty cool, huh?"
I turned around to find none other than the stalker guy I'd 'met' on my walk.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded.
"Chill out," he said, holding his arms up in mock surrender. "I work here."
He pointed to a nametag that read 'Fang'. Strange name.
"Whatever," I muttered. "Angel, let's move on."
"No!" Angel cried, looking up at me with puppy dog eyes. "Please can we watch the wolf for a little longer?"
She was a sucker for cute animals, as I'd found out last year when she'd insisted on 'adopting' a bird that had flown into our window. We kept the bird for four days, and during those four days it had done some pretty disgusting stuff in the lounge.
"Whatever, but not for long," I finally said. Fang was still lingering behind me. I felt uncomfortable, so I moved forward a few paces to stand beside Angel.
God. After five or so minutes he still hadn't moved. I swung around, and practically yelled, "What the hell do you want?"
However, I hadn't noticed a family who had come to admire the wolf from behind Angel and I. They looked at me strangely before hurrying away.
Behind them was Fang, looking amused; the only emotion he seemed to show.
"What are you smirking at?" I snapped. "Come on, Angel, we're going."
"Who's that boy, Maxie?" Angel asked curiously as I—gently—yanked her away down the path. I could see the rest of the fam up ahead. Iggy looked a bit bored—after all, he couldn't see anything.
"Um, no one."
"How do you know him?" Angel sure was persistent.
"I don't, okay? He's just some random guy," I said, a little harsher than necessary.
Angel kept quiet after that.
"Ah, Max!" Mum smiled. "Come take a look at this!"
She pointed into yet another cage which held flocks of colourful birds. Sometimes I wished I was a bird—that I could fly. Then I could escape from … well, everything.
And so the rest of the day went by; be trudging along behind everyone else, not saying anything. Fortunately I didn't see 'Fang' again.
(Time lapse to dinnertime)
"Potatoes, Max?" Mum asked, offering me a bowl laden with roasted potatoes.
"Thanks," I murmured, taking the bowl and piling potatoes on top of my already full plate.
"Who was that boy you were talking to earlier, Max?" Jeb asked, acting as if he genuinely cared. He was a crap actor.
"Um, who?" I asked innocently.
"The boy. Black hair, zoo employee?" Jeb continued.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said.
"Hm."
"Thanks for dinner, I'm gonna finish it in my room," I said, quickly grabbing my plate and hurrying into my room.
I could just here Jeb saying, "She's acting strange."
As I got comfy on my bed and began digging into my food, I peered out the window. It had been raining earlier, when we were driving back from the zoo, but it had cleared up.
Across the street, I could see a boy with dark hair and clothes. He looked up, and I almost fell of my bed.
The boy was Fang.