Here is the third rewritten chapter for If Only I Was Normal. Again, I will be rewriting up to chapter five. If the next chapter sucks, it's because I haven't fixed it yet.
The new chapter will be up when I get six reviews, and so far I have four. Two more and you guys will find out what happens to Max and everyone. (No spoilers here.)
Read and review!
It was midnight. Midnight and he still hadn't called. That lying, backstabbing, hot – the phone ringing stuns me from my thoughts.
I quickly grab the phone, slamming my hand on the nightstand as I grapple for it. My panic has seemed to make all of my coordination evaporate. After a minute, I retrieve the phone and click the answer button.
"Hello?" I ask, hoping it was Fang. I hadn't really checked the caller ID.
"Hey, Max," Fang answers, and I can hear the smile in his voice. I sigh in relief. You do not know how disappointed I would have been if Nudge or Sam answered the phone. "Sorry for not calling earlier. I was waiting for Nudge to go to sleep."
"It's fine," I reply automatically, not wanting to tell him about the freak out I was having just a few moments ago. He doesn't need to know how big my crush is on him.
"Oh, okay good," he says, sounding uncomfortable. Was he nervous? Was I making the emotionless rock speechless?
"What do you want to talk about?" I ask after a moment of unbearable silence. We had spent hours talking to each other on the phone before, why was this so hard now? Was the kiss going to make everything awkward? I really hope not, I'd like to kiss him again soon.
"You know, the kiss," he says, muttering the last part. He sounded as if he had dreamed that event, and I would ask what he was talking about. I knew how that was; I was feeling it myself.
"Yeah, the kiss," I answered. "So, what did it mean?" I'm trying desperately to sound nonchalant, when in reality I was freaking out on the inside. I wanted more than anything to scream, 'Be my boyfriend!'
"I hope it means I can ask you to go out with me," comes his reply. "Or maybe we can skip that stage and go right to boyfriend and girlfriend."
It takes me a second of nodding to realize that he can't see me. "I'd love that," I reply honestly, my voice sounding like a little girl's.
"You do not know how much it took to say that," he admits after a moment of me shrieking happily in my head. "But maybe Iggy will finally give my man card back."
"I hope so," I joke, "Because I really would like to date a man rather than a six year old girl."
"I've always been a man!" he defends, "I fight bears and lions! At the same time and with one hand tied behind my back!" he pauses for a moment, "And the bears have machetes!"
After that it was pointless banter before I hung up. With a sigh, I fall back onto my bed, clutching my phone to my chest. Every single fiber of my being is aching with joy. Even my heart thumps with a happy beat. Any moment a unicorn will come sliding down a rainbow and join me.
Fang Ride is my boyfriend. No matter how many times I say it, it still fills me with delight.
When I do eventually fall asleep, I dream of Fang on a unicorn.
MAXIMUM RIDE
"Ow," I mutter, picking at my back again. The two long, red lines running down it were causing extreme discomfort. Pain radiates from them, sending a steady ache throughout my body. Whenever something touches them, they burn. I remembered Iggy said that I'd get a rash, but this was ridiculous. And they hurt like hell. "You are so dead, Iggy," I hiss when my fingers hit a particularly tender spot. I swear I'm going to kill that blonde pyro. Then his dad is next. Then anybody that helped develop these products at Itex. Then, while I'm on it, just anybody that pisses me off. If you're going to be a murderer, there's no point in going halfway.
I slowly put my shirt on, trying to avoid the red lines. These hurt worse than the tears and fractures I got in my ankle a few years back. At least with the cast I could put sweatpants on and be done with it. With these, every time my shirt rubs the things the wrong way I have to put a cold cloth against them and start over.
Right now, my outfit was black skinny jeans and a red fitting t-shirt. Getting the shirt on was the hard part. But even when it was the seventh time I had to restart, all I could think was, this shirt makes you look like a goddess, this shirt makes you look like a goddess.
Looking at the clock, I realized that I still had thirty minutes until Fang got here, so I logged onto the computer and went to e-mail Iggy.
You are a complete and total asshole. I hate you. You said rash then superpowers, not searing pain and migraines the make you unable to function. But if you do want an update, that's what happened. There are two red lines running up my back that kill. And yesterday I scared the crap out of Fang while he was driving because of some head attack or something. If anything else bad happens, I will not hesitate to murder you.
Max, the girl who may or may not be a murderer of a certain blonde pyro soon
I hit send, and then slipped on red converse, the final addition to my outfit.
I'm satisfied with myself for a few moments before there is a loud knocking at my door. Ella pounds her fists against the wood repeatedly, shouting to be let in. "I need to do you make up!"
I let her slam her hands away for a few moments before replying, "Not in this lifetime!"
The knocking stops for a moment, and I can practically feel her disappointment in the air. Then, she speaks again, "Your hair?"
I find myself weighing the options. Should I stay away from the torture that will definitely be given to me and have hair that looks like rats nested in it, or should I take the hell that Ella has and have hair to match the outfit that makes me look sexy? I guess the latter, but I've never been known to give something up freely, so I add, "Will you be my slave for the rest of the month?"
Her answer is immediate. "Sure, now let me go get my stuff!"
A sigh escapes my tightly closed lips. At least I got out of makeup. A minute later she barges in. "Sit down!"
Fascination plagues my thoughts as she burns my hair with a flattening iron until my natural waves are nowhere to be seen. She takes a step back to admire her handiwork before deeming that I am not yet finished. Groaning, I feel her hands braid a small section of my hair at the front, then pin it back. Finally, she nods at me.
"Done!" She proclaims, and then proceeds to push me down stairs. A minute later the doorbell rings. "Fang is here!"
It's not her words, but the thought of Fang waiting outside for me that sends me running down the stairs.
When I finally reach Fang he smirks and asks, "Excited?" in a cocky way. He knew I was extremely excited, and I could see that he was too.
Ella screams for me to tell her details when I return. Fang wraps an arm around my shoulder as we leave, making the lines send pain radiating down my back, but I smile and lean my head on his shoulder anyways. Pain is just a message, and right now, I'm holding all calls.
There was only one thing that could ruin this date for me. And that would be this shirt plus my back. Together, they're creating a friction that is sending the pain through me so hard I can't think straight. But I'll be damned if my first date with Fang is ruined by a banana.
"Where are we going?" I ask, trying to distract myself from the pain.
"I was thinking movies at my house," he says, taking his eyes off of the road to smile at me.
The conversation is too short, and a second later the pain is all I can focus on again. If we don't get to Fang's house soon I'm not sure I can make it through this night.
It felt like forever, but eventually we pulled into his driveway. He jumped out of his seat, and then ran over to mine in effort to open my door for me. Any other day I would've laughed, being the feminist I am, but today I let him help me out, and then kissed his cheek. "Thank you, good sir," I say playfully.
"Anything for you, m'lady," He replies, bowing and diving in for a peck on my lips. The kiss is next to nothing, but it still sends shivers up my spine. And these are the good shivers, not the painful ones from whatever it is Iggy gave me.
We walk through the front door and plop onto the couch. It feels relaxed, just how I like it. I'd rather be here than some fancy restaurant. We shift positions twice, and that's to get food and start the movie, and then right before the movie begins, I 'accidentally' spill my drink all over my shirt, and have to change into one of his loose, black t-shirts that doesn't rub against my back at all. Oh well.
I cuddle into his chest as it begins. It's some gory, bloody, chainsaw-filled film that ends with about 90% of the characters dead. I'm sure Fang chose this movie to scare the crap out of me so I would cower into his arms. Most girls would be cowering in his arms, but newsflash, I'm not like other girls. I actually like movies like these. That did not mean I wasn't wrapped in Fang's arms, though. I would have been cuddling with that boy if we were watching a documentary on apples.
It was just ending when I hear Nudge's voice from outside saying, "Thanks Mrs. Harolds! Bye J.J!"
I begin to untangle myself from Fang, but he just chuckles and holds me still. After a minute or two I gave up and enjoyed being with him. Apparently, he does not care about what Nudge thinks and the fact that everybody will know about our relationship if she sees us. That girl can gossip up a storm.
Nudge walks in not a moment later, humming some stupid auto-tuned song that's played constantly on the radio. She drops her bag in surprise when she walks in and sees Fang and me cuddling on the couch.
"Hey Nudge," Fang says casually. Instead of a normal reply, you know, that includes talking and words, Nudge shrieked.
"Oh my God!" she screams after the information processes. "I can't believe this finally happened! I've been waiting forever for you guys to get together! I mean, you've both had huge crushes on each other for how long? Finally, it's happened!" she pauses in her rant to pull out her phone. "I need to tell J.J. and Sam," I wince at Sam's name. He had a huge crush on me and made it known very often. This wouldn't go over well with him. Nudge continues to list people, but I tune it out.
In response to the rant, Fang just kissed me softly on the lips. That made Nudge shriek again, this time a million times louder. I spoke up. "God Nudge, are you trying to break my eardrums?"
She waves her hand at me, dismissing my comment. "Shh! I'm gossiping!"
A few more minutes of Nudge's typing and I was done. That and it was already eleven. "Fang, I have to go," I tell him as I stand, and this time he helps me get up.
"Bye Nudge!" I say as I leave. She just looks up to see Fang's arm around my waist, screams, then typed some more.
The drive was almost silent, beside Paramore playing softly in the background. It wasn't the awkward silence that we had been in when we were on the phone, this was a comfortable silence. We were both completely content.
We pull into my driveway, and Fang leans across the seats, capturing my lips with his. It's amazing, just like the first time we kissed. "Bye Max," He whispers, pulling away.
"Bye," I reply, trying to make my voice sound sexy before getting out of the car.
My waving hand wishes him goodbye before I walk into my house, feeling more content than I had in a long time. I quickly put on my pj's and fell onto my bed, eyes closing as I hit the pillow.
I was almost in blissful unconsciousness when a pain erupted in my back, right where the two lines are.
I hiss in agony, as I try to deal with the feeling of my back being ripped apart. I manage to pick up my phone. The nine and the first one were typed into the phone before the pain suddenly stops. I sigh in relief and lay back down. Not only the pain that randomly attacked was gone, but the pain I had been feeling all night.
I roll over; finally content, only to see a brownish feather staring back at me. My eyebrows furrow in confusion, and then I mutter, "Ella and her fashions."
I push the feather from my bed and then finally fall asleep.
MAXIMUM RIDE
Morning. School. Waking up. Three of my least favorite things.
As I sit up, I realize that I'm going to have to deal with people today. I lay down, only to feel pain. It felt as if I was twisting my back the wrong way. It felt as if I had a third arm on my back, or something odd like that.
I dismiss it as the banana, and vow to tell Iggy at school.
I begin to undress from Fang's t-shirt and sweats, before screaming at the mirror.
You see, the sight before me wasn't normal in any way. That stupid banana had messed me up, and it had messed me up bad.
You may be wondering what happened. Did I actually grow a third arm? No.
Did my back turn purple? Nah.
Was there scales covering my back? No, but close.
There were seventeen foot wings extending from my back.
MAXIMUM RIDE
The wings were quite beautiful, actually. They were light brown then sort of faded to white. But last time I checked, normal humans don't have wings.
A knock on the door distracts me from the feathers. "Max, it's just school, you don't have to scream!"
I don't answer; I was too busy examining the feathers on the wings. They were suitable for flying, but I don't know if I'll be trying that anytime soon. I still have to deal with the fact that I have freaking wings.
I can't tell anyone.
I've read my share of novels. The main character is freaky, so people try to capture him/her. I don't want that happening to me. I don't want to be dissected or on the news or anything that draws attention to me. I just want to date the boy of my dreams and then go to college and have a normal life.
I find a belt and fold my wings as tightly as I possibly could to my back. Then I wrap the belt around them and buckled it. I dressed in my normal outfit and walk out of my room, my eyes darting around. I guess this is what paranoia is.
Ella had made breakfast, and I am still me, so I wolf that down. I leave right after that, making an excuse when Mom objects that it was thirty minutes early.
I walk into the forest behind our house. My feet don't stop moving until I'm in a clearing where nobody could see me. Then, I take off my shirt and the belt and spread my wings. The flapping starts slowly, and then accelerates as my feet begin to lift of the ground. When I'm a foot up, I scream, stop flapping, and crash to the ground.
I can fly.
After figuring that out, I redressed and ran back to the house and waited for Fang to pick me up for school. I was biting my lip, chewing on my hair, and pacing back and forth. I was nervous, to say the least.
Just yesterday I was the happiest girl on the planet, now I'm the weirdest and easily the most scared.
"Hey Max!" Nudge said when she pulled up with Fang. I nod in response earning myself a funny look. All I could think was, she knows.
The ride was silent for Fang and I, but Nudge chattered about pointless things. It made me feel a little more normal.
When we arrive at school, I convince myself to go on as if nothing had happened and I was still totally normal. I have to tell Iggy, though. And maybe kill him while I'm at it for, I don't know, making me a bird-kid!
I climb out of the car and Fang walks around it to meet me. His lips press gently against my cheek, and I pray he doesn't put his arms around my back. Sure, my wings were practically invisible, and I flattened them so that you wouldn't feel them unless you were trying to, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
After I stop panicking, I notice that Lissa saw our exchange, and she didn't look happy. Note, stay away from Lissa.
Over the course of the day, I pick up things. Everything was freakishly clear, as if I had raptor vision, and I could hear exceptionally well. Even my smell was better.
It really helped when I avoided Lissa.
Then finally it was lunch. I was just about to go talk to Iggy, but I felt somebody tug on my arm, pulling me into the janitor's closer. I sigh, and then pray to whoever the hell wanted to listen. Please let it not be Lissa.
I was lucky, it was Fang.
My hand lands on his arm. "You scared me!" I accuse him while he shrugs. I was about to say something else, but I completely forgot about it when his lips were on mine.
Somehow his arms found their way to my waist, and mine wrapped around his neck. My back ended up pressed against the wall, kind of uncomfortable because of my feathers, and he was kissing my neck. We were interrupted by the bell, unfortunately.
I frown when he pulls away. When he sees this, he smirks. "Fang, I have to tell you something," I blurt out, then cover my mouth. Was I seriously considering telling him about my wings? Maybe this whole ordeal is making me insane.
While I have a mental break down, he looks at me expectantly.
"I- I like you a lot," I stutter out, making something up as I went along. He seems pleased with this information, though.
We leave the closet and I finish the day without any other disturbances.
Iggy's house was the first place I went when I got back from school.
"Iggy, we need to talk!"