Chapter title inspired by This Charming Couple, an old 1950s movie. Original quote is Ken saying, "Blue eyes mean, 'Love me or I die.' Brown eyes mean, 'Love me or I kill you.'"
Listen to I Know What You Buried Last Summer (Taking Back Sunday VS Senses Fail),which is a mash-up by The Legion of Doom. That quote is part of the song.
Fallen
Chapter Three: Obsidian Eyes Mean 'Trust Me Or I'll Kill You'
(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)
"Wheeeee!" Angel exclaimed as Iggy slammed the brakes in one of the parking spaces to the school we were all heading off to. For some reason, this school was from grades 6-12. I'm not sure why, but I guess it worked. "Let's go again! Let's go again!" she cried giddily, acting younger than her physical age.
I glanced back and saw Angel pumping her fists excitedly. Gazzy, on the other hand, looked as though he was going to throw up. "I'm feeling sick… Really, really sick," he groaned, tumbling out of the SUV. "Safe my ass…"
As for me... I was used to this crazy driving because of Jeb. Eh. It didn't matter.
I opened my own door, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. Seeing a bunch of people everywhere, I assumed that the first class of the day hadn't started yet. "Will you be okay, Gazzy?" I asked, a bit hesitant to get any closer to him.
He gagged, which I backed away at. "Nah, I'll be throwing up all over Monique Angelo for spazzing my ear off," he told me with a grin. I raised an eyebrow, but Gazzy simply ignored my look and gestured towards Angel to come along.
"C'mon Ang, we're gonna be late," he called to his younger sister, beckoning her over for the second time.
Angel practically skipped adorably to Gazzy. "Okaaaay!" She glanced at me and waved. "Bye Max! Bye Iggy! Have a good day at school."
Gazzy grunted and repeated what she said, but in a less… angelic voice.
As soon as they were safely out of sight, Iggy tugged on my arm. "How about we get you to the high school side's main office?" Iggy became quite mischievous looking, and dragged me into the school, much to my dismay. Seriously, I've been getting annoyed in practically every single way. Jeez.
"Okaaaay!" Iggy shoved me in front of him and pushed me down the hallway, really, really pushing my patience. "So, this is the Principal's Office."
Indeed. I read the sign.
"Talk to him or the secretary! I'll leave you to it!" Iggy patted my shoulder and whispered, "Take care, new sistuh!" In a second, he vanished.
"Ugh. No one's ever helpful it seemed," I muttered softly to myself. "Especially Fang…" I stepped closer to the door, my hand on the doorknob. "God, I'm going to kill him! Guardian Angel my ass!" I cried, quoting Gazzy from earlier this morning.
"You called?" I heard what's-his-face whisper in my ear.
"WAAAAAHHH!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, practically jumping 50ft. in the air due to shock. (Well, that'd probably be impossible since there was such a low ceiling in comparison to my height – okay, okay, you get it!) Luckily no one was close enough to have heard (or cared). "Jeez…" I gripped the doorknob again, and opened it, ignoring Fang's snickering.
When I opened the door, I instantly glanced all around my surroundings. In front of me was a desk that had a nameplate saying, "Secretary: Lina Nguyen" and sitting behind it was a pretty Asian woman in her 30s. In front of her desk were cushioned seats that looked pretty comfortable. Along the walls were interesting modern paintings depicting… I actually have no idea. Not that I actually give a crap anyways.
The woman herself, Miss Nguyen, had unnatural, but nice-looking curly red hair flowing over her shoulders. Her face was completely unblemished, which was pretty interesting considering she looked somewhat older than me. Other than her hair, she looked like a rather normal person working at a school… I hoped she was normal. I've had enough of this Guardian Angels crap.
The secretary looked up at me. She smiled and nodded politely. "Hello. I'm Lina Nguyen, but you can just call me Lina or Miss Nguyen or any other name you can think of." What a fun secretary-lady! "Are you…?" Miss Nguyen looked down at her notes and continued. "Maxine… Batchelder?" Was it me, or did she just pause before saying my last name? "You wouldn't happen to be related to Maya Batchelder, would you?"
I mumbled, "Legally… yes. That's my name…" I averted my eyes to look about the room again, but I soon had to look at the secretary again, wondering how she knew my sister. I had a weird feeling that she was going to end up getting me into a lot of trouble. I shook the thought away. But then again, my gut feeling is normally right. "Yeah, Maya is… um, was my twin sister."
"Legally?" she repeated in curiosity. "Is there a name you prefer to go by?" I nodded. "Will you tell me it? Or write it?" She seemed to catch the sadness in my voice because she didn't mention Maya again.
I stalked over to her desk, feeling Fang's ever-so-annoying presence close behind me. "May I borrow a pen?" I asked in my politest voice. Fang's irritating chuckle filled the air, but Miss Nguyen didn't seem to hear it. I was beginning to think he was all in my imagination. But surely not… Uh, right?
Quickly, I scribbled my new name onto the blank piece of paper she had in front of her. I examined the secretary again, and felt myself click my tongue against my mouth, a motion I did when I was annoyed. Jeez, even the school secretary was prettier than me!
Fang seemed to feel my emotions. "Max, don't be so jealous," he whispered in my ear, gripping my shoulder softly. I felt his breath right next to my face. "As much as I love a red-haired lady, my heart is unconditionally and irreversibly tied to yours." Of course Fang would say something like that. The weird thing is, his voice sounded completely honest and passionate. Then again, this was Fang we're talking about.
I lifted my right hand and hit it backwards as hard as I could right into Fang's nose. "Stupid, stupid angel," I muttered under my breath.
Miss Nguyen looked at me with a confused expression. "Is there something wrong, Miss…" She stared down at what I wrote. "Ride?"
"Sorry! I, uh, get muscle spasms," I lied happily, jerking my shoulder upwards to smack Fang in the jaw.
"Ow." Fang cursed loudly and hit me atop the head, causing me to jolt forward.
"Uh-huh, just muscle spasms, Miss Nguyen."
She pursed her lips, but nodded anyway. "Okay. Are there any medications I should know about regarding these…" She paused and cocked her head to the side, but shook her head and looked back down at her papers. "These, err… Muscle spasms?"
"Well, nah, my doc said that I, uh, just need to take some pills in the morning," I quickly came up with. "But that's all the stuff I do at home, so it's all good," I said, emphasizing the "all good", in a tone so she knew to drop it.
"Hmm…" She didn't seem convinced, but disregarded it and looked back down at the papers. "I suppose that's all I'll need you for today, Miss Ride." She handed me a piece of paper that had a bunch of names, numbers and classes on it. "This is your schedule and this –" –she handed me another paper– "–is a map of the school and where each class is."
I grinned and happily took the papers, jerking my left arm backwards where I assumed Fang was. He grunted and cursed again, so I knew that I hit him pretty well. "I'll be off, then." I stood up and gave her my thanks.
She nodded and gave me a small smile. "Have a good day, Miss Ride." I turned to leave, but froze at the next thing she said. "And you should be more careful with those…muscle spasms you have. Wouldn't want to hurt such a… heavenly being like the one you have."
I continued on and out of the room, pretending that she didn't say any of that. How weird… Did that mean Miss Nguyen could see Fang?
"Fang," I mumbled under my breath just as the first bell rang. I had to find Iggy before classes started. "Fang, did you hear what she said?"
"No, I didn't," he grunted in a wounded voice. I glanced back at him and realized he was clutching at his crotch area. "You do realize this was…a painful experience for my reproductive system, yes?"
I gasped, and tried to stifle my giggles. I know, I should've been more focused and caring, but it was funny! "Jeez, Fang. What's wrong? Got an immense hard-on that needs attention?" I teased, walking backwards to the general area where I guessed my first class was.
Fang stuck his tongue out, but was still obviously hurt. "Ha, ha, very funny. Just know that I'm not the one that has Jack Johnson and Patrick Stump in the same dream," he retorted, gritting his teeth together.
I put my hand over my face to hide my blush and shook my head. "No way, I didn't dream about them!" I nearly yelled, but recalled we were in a public place.
"Well, I certainly don't believe you," he told me, adjusting his pants and standing up straighter. "I mean, couldn't you have thought of someone better to dream of? Namely… me?"
"Fang! I was having a nightmare and you know as fucking well as I do that I did!" I grumbled, turning away from him and walking off. "I even screamed out your name, for God's sake."
Fang chuckled and leaned in closer, draping his arm around my shoulders. "Ah, so you were having that type of dream about me," he murmured, breathing down my neck.
"Get off me, numbskull," I groaned, swatting behind me. Fang shrugged and pulled away, laughing about something again. With his messed up sense of humor, I wasn't sure what he could be snickering about.
"I'm not even on you, Maxie-Pad!" I heard a voice call in the distance. Iggy appeared next to me and he nudged me with his shoulder. "So, how were your first ten minutes of school?"
I glanced at Fang before answering. "It was… interesting."
"How 'bout your classes?" he asked. I handed him the sheets that Miss Nguyen gave me, which he looked over with much interest. "Oh, we have the first two classes together, but then you lose me at… math, history and... a study period? Lucky!" He looked lower and grinned wide. "But we have P.E. and drama together!"
"Drama?" I repeated with disgust.
Iggy grinned and put his arm around my shoulders. "Yeah, sissy, drama! I love drama. It's, like, the best class ever."
"What are our first two classes?" I asked, ignoring Fang's amused look. What happened to good ol' Self-Defense? I wondered in my head, not daring to voice it out loud, considering what the responses were to my more stupid questions.
"Yes, Iggy, what classes will I be stalking you and Max to?" Fang pondered sarcastically, crossing his arms and smirking down at me.
I lifted my leg and kicked Fang right where it counted – again – but Iggy didn't seem to notice. He had become extremely engrossed in our schedules. "So, our first two classes are Engrish and Science with Mr. Valentine and Miss Aensland." He completely drooled at the mention of this Miss Aensland. "Then all you've got three other classes, and then we have P.E. with the half of the grade and the coaches Wayland, Fray and Lightwood, who are our instructors. Lastly…" He paused dramatically. (Hah! Punny.) "…drama with the twins Toro and Kuro!"
"Eh? Engrish? Aensland? Kuro?"
"What's wrong?" He pulled me along and took me to a random classroom door which had the words Room 13: Valentine on it. "Okay, first class of the day, here we –" –Iggy dragged me into the classroom, Fang following close behind– "–Come!"
The second bell rang just as we stepped into room 13. The man up behind the front desk made a soft tsk-tsk sound and said in a low, demanding voice, "James? You were nearly a second late." The teacher, Mr. Valentine I assumed, had long flow-y, black hair that was almost as dark as Fang's. His eyes were a crimson red, but I wasn't sure if they were unnatural or not – they certainly looked natural. Mr. Valentine had on a black suit with a red tie, looking way more like a grave-digging gunslinger than an English teacher. "And this is…?" He turned to me.
"Uh, Maxim – Maxine Ri – Batchelder," I ended up saying with a stutter.
He let out a low chuckle. "I see," he murmured quietly. "I am Vincent, but as you most likely have realized, I am your teacher, so I assume you're required to call me by last name." He furrowed his eyebrows. "In short, I am your English teacher, Mr. Valentine."
I nodded. "Um, I'm just –"
Mr. Valentine put up a hand. "Do not worry. You have a name you prefer to go by, do you not?" he cut in.
"Yeah." Whoa, what a perceptive teacher. "Here, I'll write it down…"
"Why don't you just introduce yourself to the class?" he suggested, gesturing me to face the multitude of strange faces – minus Fang and Iggy. "Class, attention!" Everyone quickly sat down and looked forward, staring at me with blank expressions. (With the exception of Iggy, who was busy waving at me exuberantly from the back of the classroom.)
I nodded. "My name is Maximum Ride," I said firmly, making sure I kept a straight face. "But people just call me Max."
In the back, Iggy started giggling, which caused the whole class to erupt, save for Fang, who was busy sulking in the corner. Mr. Valentine easily took control though. "Class! You will be serious for our new student. This is no way to be acting to a new transfer!" he exclaimed, slamming his fist onto his wooden desk. The sound was so loud I thought that he had cracked the desk in half.
Suddenly, the whole class quieted down. "Good," Mr. Valentine murmured, "Good. Now, Maximum, will you please tell us where you were from and why you moved to San Diego?"
"I was from Atlanta, and I moved 'cause my dad had gotten transferred because of his work," I explained.
Mr. Valentine nodded. "I see." Then he turned to the rest of the class. "Now, all of you be nice to Max." He glanced back at me. "Go take your seat next to James. That will be your permanent seating for now."
I followed his orders and got glares from pretty much every girl in the room. Was Iggy one of those popular guys that all the girls swooned over? I shivered involuntarily as I sat down. "Hey, Ig," I called out softly, nodding at him.
"Yo," was all he said back before taking out supplies for the class.
I also got out supplies and binders and random stuff, but, of course, my Guardian Angel had to make it hellish for me.
As soon as the lesson started, Fang shoved me off my chair and sat in it himself. Luckily – or unluckily, I dunno – none of the class realized it. I stood up slowly and glared at him, but all he did was pat his lap, as if I was... Oh HELL no.
"Take a seat, Miss Ride," Mr. Valentine called from the front desk. Most of the eyes in classroom turned to look at me.
"Yes, sir," I replied, cautiously sitting in Fang's lap. I tried my best to concentrate on what Mr. Valentine was lecturing about – how Shakespeare was actually an early form of modern English and not Olden English – but stupid Fang kept distracting me over and over again.
"How distracting am I?" he asked, leaning his head against my back gently.
"Very," I mumbled back, trying to take notes on why Shakespeare wrote Othello. I couldn't concentrate at all.
Fang chuckled and sighed into my back, but miraculously didn't make any other snarky comments until the class was over.
Soon, the bell for the end of class rang and Iggy shot up from his seat. "Mr. Valentine! I have a question to ask, if you don't mind." The rest of the class shuffled out to their next class, but I stayed close behind Iggy with Fang on my tail. "Oh, Max, you can go on ahead. This is only gonna take a minute."
"But I don't know where my next class is," I reminded him.
"Oh, right!" He nodded in acknowledgement and then turned back to Mr. Valentine. "Err, is it okay if I skip out on the class trip this weekend?"
Mr. Valentine raised an eyebrow. "What is your reason? I clearly recall you not being able to wait for it." He glanced down at the papers on his desk. "We are going to a root beer factory…"
Iggy fidgeted a little and then looked back up at him. "Well, some things came up. My, uh… My family's not really doing well, and I also need to get Max used to San Diego…"
"Ah, I see," he murmured in response, nodding. "I understand. I will take you off the list as soon as possible." Mr. Valentine leaned down and scribbled something on a Post-It note. "I hope your family recovers from… What has happened, James."
Iggy smiled. "Thanks, Mr. V. You're awesome." I made a mental note to ask what happened to Iggy's family.
Mr. Valentine nodded his understanding as the two of us left the classroom.
Iggy patted my shoulder and led me along to our next class, which took place in room 15, right around the corner of the room we just left. "Here we are… My favorite class of the day," he murmured in a mesmerized voice. "Science…with Miss Aensland…"
"Hmm…" I heard Fang hum behind me. "I wonder if she's a cute red-head. It certainly would explain why all the boys are swooning over her." His voice turned just as amazed and awestruck as Iggy's! THAT'S saying something.
Under my breath, I grumbled about how annoyed I was with his random remarks. "Ig, what's so great about –"
He slid the door open and shoved me inside, quickly standing next to me. "Hi, Miss Aensland!" he yelled, almost in my ear.
The teacher smiled at him kindly. "Ah, James," she greeted with a thick European accent, putting her hand in her chin and watching Iggy. "I notice that you're as excited as always."
She had straight and long, really unnatural light green hair that flowed to the middle of her back from my point of view. (What's with all the unnaturalness of the staff?) Her eyes were bright and gleaming with amusement, but she reminded me of a girl you'd see on a Playboy magazine. She wore a white polo that didn't have the top three buttons done and a mid-thigh length skirt. Weren't teachers supposed to be as… "school appropriate" as the students?
"It's good to see you today." Miss Aensland turned to me, that same smirk still on her face. "And you are the transfer student, I assume?" Her voice was just as…seductive…? Yes, just as seductive as she looked!
"Uh, yeah. Hi." No wonder Iggy swooned over her! She's freaking… She just had that kind of aura around her that screamed, One day, I'm going to make you have sex with me – and whether you want to or not, you'll love it! "I'm Maximum Ride, but people just call me Max."
She cocked her head to the side and stared at me pleasantly. "I am Madame Aensland," she told me quietly, smiling. "But people either call me by my first name or simply Miss Aensland."
I smiled shyly. "It's nice to meet you." Whew. This lady's atmosphere was…whew.
Iggy nudged me. "Isn't she just…just…awesome?" He jerked his chin up at her, grinning wide.
Miss Aensland giggled and shooed us off. "To your seat, Mr. Sparda. As for you, Max, you may sit where you like once everyone files in!" she exclaimed to everyone else. Once they were all was seated, I started off toward a seat near Iggy, but Miss Aensland stopped me. "Why don't you introduce yourself, Miss Ride?"
I shrugged. "Sure, Miss Aensland," I agreed, staring back at the class. As it quieted down, I felt the hairs on my neck stand up and suddenly, the anxiety was back. "I, uh, I'm Max Ride as some of you probably know. I came here from Atlanta because of my dad's work." I nodded and shrugged again. "Well, that's it, really."
Miss Aensland chortled softly. "You may sit down now, Miss Ride."
I nodded and took a seat next to Iggy, but the person seated on my left side looked familiar… "Dylan?" I hissed, glancing at him curiously.
My old friend from Atlanta grinned goofily at me. "Yeah, isn't this great? I didn't know you moved –"
"Mr. Seymour!" Miss Aensland exclaimed, slamming her ruler onto the desk. "Please, no talking in my class! You need to take notes on dry ice for our experiment this Friday!" Her European accent was so thick I didn't get how someone could take sufficient notes.
Dylan hung his head, but had a clear smirk on his face. "Sorry, Miss Morrigan – uh, Miss Aensland," he apologized. He winked at me and then went back to staring at Miss Aensland's ass.
Poor, poor science teacher. Was every guy crazy for her?
I felt a hand touch my shoulder, who I instantly assumed was Iggy, and grumbled, "Whaddya want?" In an instant, I felt the hairs on my neck stand up. Was Iggy…? No, he couldn't have. I didn't sense him in that way yesterday.
"You can't trust Dylan," Fang whispered into my ear, kneeling down. "Please believe me Max."
"All you've done was cause me nothing but trouble," I murmured quietly. "Why should I?"
He gripped my left hand as I took notes with my right. I tried to ignore him, hoping not to catch any attention. "Listen to me, Max. I have to be the one person you can rely on without fail." He paused and adjusted his grasp on my wrist. "And only me, understand?"
I raised my left arm, forcing Fang to let go of my hand. "Miss, uh, Aensland?"
She turned around from her lecture on the board. "Yes, Maximum?" I heard half the class groan. I'm pretty sure that was because they couldn't see her butt anymore.
"Could I go to the restroom?" I requested in my nicest voice. Miss Aensland nodded.
Fang grabbed my shoulder again as I stood up and walked to the door. "Thank you," he whispered.
As soon as we left the room, I took out my map and headed for the nearest bathroom. "I didn't do it for you…Fangy. I need to use the bathroom!"
He ignored my comment. "Touch the back of your neck," he ordered me.
Heh. I was gonna screw around with him before he instructed me around! Besides, I already checked. I mean, I wasn't stupid! "Why?"
"Just do it!" he murmured, looking at me intensely. That asshole-look in his eyes said he knew I wanted to mess with him. Ugh. I nodded and did so, noticing that I still had that feeling of anxiety creeping around. "Feel that?" he continued. "That's because of Dylan Seymour."
My voice got caught in my throat. He wanted to accuse Dylan? "B-but, it could be because of you, remember?" I countered feebly.
He chuckled and slid his creamy pale hands into his pockets. "It couldn't be. You checked last night…Remember?" His last word was said mockingly. Of course.
I blinked curiously. "You…knew?"
"I've got extremely good memory. Note, I have been around for nearly four-hundred years," he murmured, leaning against the wall outside the bathrooms.
I pressed my back against the one opposite him, thinking deeply. "Four-hundred…"
"But that's not the topic at hand." Wow. Clammy much. "Now… Why don't you believe me Max?"
I shrugged and dipped my head down to take a gulp of water from the little drinking fountain. It was cool and refreshing as it dripped down my throat. I wiped my mouth. "I don't know you," I told him, "but I do know Dylan."
"You… No, you don't Max, you don't," he whispered almost…ruefully. Did he mean I didn't know him or I didn't know Dylan? Or both? In a hiss, he said, "You don't know Dylan. Or Ari Phoenix. Or Brigid Jones. Or Sam Avery or Jeb Batchelder or Valencia Martinez or anyone else you thought you knew. You met Angel and Edward Harmonia only yesterday and you already trust them. For the Deity's sake, James treats you like you've known him for years!"
I gasped. He just named every person I felt I could believe and trust in. "How did you –"
"I told you Max. I am your guardian," he prompted, scowling. "Please, trust me!" he half-begged, looking at me with his onyx eyes, pleadingly.
"How?" I whispered. "How can I trust you? I don't even know you!"
He shook his head violently. "Max, you know me. I've been with you ever since you were born! I've just never…revealed myself to you."
"Are you… Like my…" I swallowed another gulp of water before saying something I knew he was going to laugh at. "Like… a Guardian Angel?"
His face scrunched up in what looked like laughter. "The hell do you think this is? Some kind of a fairy tale?"
I nodded.
"…Reborn much more naïve than…" he muttered under his breath. Why couldn't I catch all of that? "I am not a silly 'Guardian Angel' –" –he air-quoted it– "though I am your faithful Protector as well as a messenger from the Paradise-like haven." He coughed and looked me hard in the eyes. "We are a team called Starlight. We, the…angels, are nothing more than our Deity's servants. We exist to serve Deity and only when we are finished with our job can we ever be freed…of our curse."
"C-Curse? You're cursed?" I stared at him in confusion. "I thought that 'angels' were supposed to be all holy and stuff."
"You stupid girl!" he growled quietly. "You know nothing." He slumped back and looked to the ceiling, probably reverting back to his emo self.
"That's why I'm asking these questions, Fang!" I shouted back, clenching my fists tightly. Shit, I didn't mean to shout that so loudly. Someone was probably going to check up on what was going on…
Fang glared at me. The way his body and wings were stiffened told me he was just as high-strung as I was.
"I want to know," I whispered. "I want to help." And the thing is, I genuinely did want to help. Amazing, wasn't it?
He stared at me with angry, yet saddened eyes and slowly walked toward me. When he was right in front of me, he continued in a voice I had never heard from him before. "How… How can you help me, Maximum, when you can barely help yourself?" he murmured softly, gently cradling my chin his hands.
"Wh-what?" I tried to pull back, but hit my head against the wall behind me.
Fang quickly stood back up straighter, losing all physical touch. "You would not be able to survive without me." He chuckled shakily. "An accident prone is what you are."
"Whaaaaat? I can totally survive without you!" I whined stubbornly, trying to force myself to get over the close contact.
His eyes narrowed. "Recall all these incidents: Canada. You nearly drowned in the Niagara Falls. I saved you."
"No! That cute Canadian guard guy was the one that–"
"Who do you think that was?" he interrupted. My jaw dropped, but I quickly closed it. That was…him? "I thought so. Though I'm glad you thought I was cute." He coughed, a flush passing his face, but continued as if nothing happened. "Now then, what else… Ah, Florida."
"No way, you were not there, were you?" I grumbled. This was probably the most embarrassing thing ever. You see, Jeb thought I'd have a lot of fun down in Florida after I messed up in New York (nearly burned down the Empire State Building), changing from a busy city to a fun, littler city down there. Well… It didn't really work.
He laughed huskily and leaned against the wall, our shoulders almost touching. "We were in Disneyworld. You nearly killed yourself on Space Mountain. I can't believe you weren't buckled up correctly –"
"I was eleven!" I mumbled, turning away from him so he wouldn't see my burning face.
"If I wasn't there to turn on the emergency brakes –"
"You were that cute maintenance guy?"
"What is with humans and their adjectives?" he muttered, shaking his head. "Cute, cute, cute. Is that all I am to you? Personally, I prefer handsome, mysterious, attractive, sexy... 'Cute' is too kiddish –"
"Fang," I snarled dangerously.
"Okay, okay," he said, putting up his hands in a calm-down gesture. "My point is, you need someone to help you. Always. Especially when you were in Atlanta –" He quickly clamped his hand over his mouth.
I raised an eyebrow. "What… The drunken bar fight thing?" I realized. "They didn't even… mess me up too much." The truth was, they really did. My jaw was fucked up for a good portion of my morning and I still felt all the aches from being thrown around.
"If it wasn't for me, you'd be in a coma right about now," he said softly, "Or worse. That man… he was about to smash his broken beer bottle right into your skull, Max! Just… Try to be more careful…"
I closed my eyes and tried to see things from his point of view. If I was a… Protector to someone that had a knack for getting herself into trouble, I would be troubled too. After all those incidents, you would have thought he wanted to appear to me faster. "I guess… I understand."
"Good." He put his hand on my head and rubbed it roughly. "Why don't we go back to class? I'm sure it's going to end soon." Fang turned on his heel and started walking away, but realized I wasn't moving. "Max?"
"I still need to pee," I reminded him in embarrassment.
He chuckled and nodded. "Continue on."
"Uh…" He raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to watch me in the bathroom, right?"
Fang smirked evilly. "That's for me to know and you to never find out."
I threw him a glare. "I'll assume that's a yes."
He shrugged and kept walking. "Say what you will."
Lord, Deity, whatever, if I see him anywhere in that bathroom, expect one of your angels to be back sooner than expected.
(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)
Dylan stared at me curiously as I walked into the classroom with Fang right behind me. The ending bell just rang, which seemed to prompt Dylan to come up to me. "Hey, Max," he greeted with a smile.
"End of class, everyone!" Miss Aensland called out.
I waved at the science teacher and then turned back to Dylan. "Hi Dylan," I replied.
"It's, uh, a twenty minute break right now," he told me quietly, putting his hand on my shoulder gently. "You wanna go hang around with me and my pals?"
I saw Iggy appear behind him and shake his head fiercely. "Uh… Nah," I ended up saying. "Iggy promised me he'd show me around. I'd hate to disappoint – oh hey, Iggy." I looked at him pleadingly, hoping he understood I wanted him to finish the conversation.
He didn't need to.
Dylan's eyes narrowed. For a second, I could see a rare emotion in them – anger? – but it passed away. "Hmm…Okay. Just know I'm around if you ever wanna hang…" He shrugged and disappeared out of the room, a frown on his face.
Iggy grabbed my shoulders roughly as soon as we left the room and Dylan out of sight. "You know him?" he exclaimed, staring at me with angry blue eyes.
I tried to ignore all the looks passersby were giving us. "Y-yeah. He was a friend from Atlan –"
"You really shouldn't…" He glanced behind him, probably looking angrily at the people staring at us. "You shouldn't trust him."
I scowled, remembering the conversation I had earlier with Fang. "Why?"
Iggy frowned. "Believe me… I just... Uh, well, he's just… He's not a good guy!"
I suddenly imagined Fang glaring at me with those onyx eyes that plainly said, 'Trust me or I kill you.' A sigh left my lips. "Fine."
Iggy bowed his head. "Wow. That was a lot easier than I thought! Thanks Max. You're the best." He grinned, grabbing my wrist and pulling me along outside the main building. That kid has got to be partially bipolar or something...
"You don't believe me," Fang whispered, tapping my shoulder, "but you believed him."
I shook my head roughly and let myself be pulled by Ig. "Uh-huh, I don't trust you," I murmured quietly.
Iggy looked up. Huh?"
"N-nothing," I mumbled, startled. "Just thinking." I rubbed my back of my neck slowly. Something was up… I was still alerted.
"What were you thinking about?" Iggy asked.
I glanced at Fang as nonchalantly as possible before answering. "Wondering how… I'm supposed to trust."
"Really?" He sounded surprised. "The way I see it… You can't really trust a person until they prove themself to you."
"Prove themself?" I repeated, nudging Fang who had been walking next to me. He growled, but abruptly stopped the sound when I pinched his elbow.
Iggy nodded. "Yeah, totally. I actually don't like the word 'trust' too much."
"How about me?" I wondered out loud. "What do you think about me?"
"Angel and Gaz love you," he told me, putting an arm around my shoulders. "So do I, sissy."
"I'm glad," I mumbled. "I love all of you too."
"Was there someone in particular you were thinking about?" He took a seat on a bench outside, obviously relaxed.
I shrugged, feeling Fang's cold hand near mine. "Yeah. I guess so."
Iggy patted a seat next to him. "Well, I'm sure that person will prove themself to you soon." He gave me an assuring smile.
I sat down next to him, my weary legs giving into the stress of craziness from a span of two days. "I hope so too." I looked up at Fang, whose usually steely face was alert. His body was completely tensed, but his wings were unfurled, as if ready for flight. I stared into his worried eyes, wordlessly asking what was wrong.
Iggy touched my shoulder. "Is there something wrong?"
My eyes lingered on Fang's for a moment, but I swiftly turned my head to look at Iggy. "No… I'm just a little… Uh, what's the word? I'm just anxious. I'm the new kid, y'know?"
"Y-Yeah. I guess so." Iggy didn't seem convinced but didn't ask about it any further.
Fang growled out of the blue. "Max, get away from Iggy."
"Wh…"
"Now! Right now!"
I shook Iggy's shoulder. "Wh-where's the bathroom?" I quickly came up with.
"Didn't you already –"
"Stomach cramps."
"Ah, your monthly –"
"Iggy."
"Okay, okay, don't kill me!" He started to grumble under his breath, but I hit his head. "What was that – oh yeah, bathroom. Just go back into the main hallway and it's around the corner from Miss Aensland…" His voice trailed off, but I raised my hand again to slap him silly. "It's just around Miss Aensland's room, okay?"
I nodded. That was probably the bathroom I was at before. I dashed off in the direction he said to go, trying to spot Fang in the endless masses of students. I was ambushed by crowds of people that I had to unfortunately ignore.
I was in a life or death situation people.
It's not the time for me to start socializing with random strangers, so… Move your ass, or I'll move it for you.
I pushed past all of the people, but kept getting caught up by more and more onlookers. They seriously did not want me escaping my fate. I needed to reach Fang before someone that shouldn't be near me appeared! The hairs on my neck felt like they were just shocked with a million bolts of electricity. It showed that someone who wanted to hurt me was really close to me – and I did not like that feeling. I passed by the principal/secretary office and burst through the front doors of the school.
I found Fang in the parking lot, near Iggy's SUV.
He wasn't alone.
There was a male figure cloaked in darkness opposite him.
(end of chapter three)
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