A.N. Hey, guys! First of all, I just want to apologize for taking forever to update this story. I've been having intense writers block, and I'm sure almost all of you know what I mean when I say that I know where I want to go with this story, but the words are just not coming out the way I want them to! Gah! It's so frustrating!
But I think I'm back on track, now, so expect sooner updates for this chapter! Thank you guys so much for the reviews/follows/favorites for this story- I'm always happy to read your opinions on it!
Chapter 3:
'Max,' The Voice chided unemotionally inside my head, 'Learning is important. You should take advantage of any chance you get to learn new information.'
'You should also take advantage of any chance to not talk to me,' I thought back, tapping my foot impatiently on the carpeted floor of the classroom. 'That seems pretty important too.' I could swear that I heard The Voice sigh over the noise of Mr. Justice's ranting lecture about how "incomprehensibly world-changing" Napoleon's Code Civil was.
Mr. Justice was my world history teacher- a balding, old, red-haired man in his late fifties. He had a thick French style mustache and large brown glasses that always hung down on his nose. Teacher-wise, he was my favorite. I wondered if it was his eccentric teaching style and I-don't-care-what-anyone-thinks personality that made me like him so much.
Too bad I just hated world history all together.
"It opened the gateway to religious freedom, the closure of serfdom- a benchmark to the destruction of the feudal system as it stood!" Justice exclaimed, pacing in front of the projector and moving his hands wildly about as he talked. He flipped to the next slide in his PowerPoint to reveal a picture of a document with the words "CODE CIVIL Des Francais" on it.
"The Laws changed French government altogether. Government officials were no longer given jobs based on their family name and status, they were based on whoever was the most qualified to do it. In fact, privileges given based on birth were also banned, meaning that just because a family may be wealthy "sophisticated" individuals of high social rank, they were no longer guaranteed those rights." Noticing that most of his students were spacing out, Mr. Justice paused his pacing. "In this day in age, it would be like some of you kids being denied acceptance into this school just because your daddies have money," He supplied.
Some of the kids who heard him gasped and looked offended. One even muttered that his father would hear about this. I tried not to snicker. That was another reason I liked Mr. Justice so well- he said what he thought, even if it was offensive. I could totally relate to that.
It was no secret that Virginia Prep was a charter school that focused less on academics and more on how much the kid's parents were willing to pay to get them in. Since Anne works with the FBI, she was able to get us registered for this school based on her high status and connections with the government. Plus she had a crap-ton of money; hence her 'Gone With The Wind'-esque estate.
"That was just an example," Justice reassured, placing his hands up submissively and smiling. "I know that you wonderful students have every right to be here." Something was telling me that he thought the exact opposite.
A kid raised his hand. "Ah, Mr. Henrics," Justice noticed. "Do you have a question?"
"Yeah. Wasn't Napoleon like… a short dwarf or something?"
The class laughed, and Justice smiled. "Actually, Napoleon was about 5'4. That's about your height, isn't it?" I joined in with the class's laughter as Jason Henrics grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest. "Moving on," Justice continued, resuming his pacing, "the Napoleonic Code was not the first set of laws with a civil legal system in a European country. But it did strongly influence the laws of countries that were established during and after the Napoleonic Wars."
Another click and the slide changed to show a picture of a white statue of a man with olive branches behind its ears, wearing a fancy looking toga. "Believe it or not, the codes were actually based on the Corpus Jurus Civilis- another word for Emperor Justiniun's 16th-century Roman Law. Because these old laws were confusing...BLAHBLAHBLAH."
His voice trailed off in my mind as I tuned out. 'Listen to what he is saying,' the Voice encouraged. 'You never know if this information can help you later on.' At least, I think it was encouraging. It was hard to tell.
'If it was current events, maybe,' I disagreed, putting the finishing touches on a feather I was doodling into my notebook, 'or recent news, or something that actually applied to saving the world. But learning about a short Frenchman from the 1800's doesn't exactly help me with my so-called destiny.'
'Yes, but think about the world you are saving, all the trials and errors that had to be experienced in history to make modern life now possible.'
I blinked, frowning as The Voice continued.
'Just think about it for a minute, Max- humans continue to learn and change with every challenge and problem that they encounter so that they can adjust how they'll react to similar situations in the future. The world works in the same way- the mistakes and accomplishments in our history are applied to the present. It's all about adaptation. You, for one, would know about that all too well.'
I mentally snorted. 'Ya' think?'
'...The future of the world depends on the past, Max.'
Mr. Justice droned on, but The Voice's words echoed in my head. I felt like they had had a double meaning to them. Justice flipped to the last slide, a painting of Napoleon Bonaparte himself, sitting in a chair. Napoleon was dressed in French regalia, an emotionless expression on his face. I watched as Mr. Justice stood in front of the class, his hands folded behind him.
"From Napoleon's own words...'The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos... both his own, and his enemies'."
Then the bell suddenly rung as if it was waiting for Justice to finish with his ominous line, and I began to gather up my things. But as Justice hurriedly rambled out our homework assignment for tomorrow over the sound of desk chairs being pushed back, a weird feeling settled in my gut. I couldn't quite place why, but for some reason, I felt a strange sense of foreshadowing.
Greeaatt... Foreshadowing, codes, and double meanings. If my life keeps this up, I might turn into bird-girl Nostradamus.
I slid into an empty chair, slinging my backpack onto the ground beside me. Logging into the computer, I waited for the screen to pop up. I glanced around the library casually as it loaded, profiling my surroundings.
Virginia Preparatory Academy's library was a nice one, almost as nice as the one in New York had been. Everything was in pristine condition- from the dark walnut bookshelves that lined the walls and back corner of the library, to the plush red carpet. The Academy spared no expense when it came to decorating, apparently. The computer section, which I was sitting in right now, was in the middle of the library, surrounded by desks and bookcases that lined the walls. The librarians' desk was straight ahead, giving the staff a clear view of all the students.
Luckily the library was relatively empty, so I pulled out a few coded papers I had taken from the pile at home. A librarian looked up from her work at me, meeting my eyes from over my computer. I gave her a "I'm a perfect little angel who is certainly not going to try and analyze secret stolen documents in your library," smile, and she frowned, going back to her work. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I pulled out my pencil and algebra notebook, flipping to an empty page in the back.
Who cares if Fang wanted me to take a break from figuring them out. He could relax all he wanted. But in the meantime, I needed to be productive. Plus, it was study hall. What else did I have to do?
Homework? Pshh.
Moving the pages to sit beside the keyboard, I rubbed at my temples, trying to dispel the headache I had acquired throughout the day. It was one of those days. The days that you didn't know they could move any slower if they tried. I hated days like this.
And by the time I looked back up, the computer was loaded. I sighed, opening up Google. In the search engine, I entered "Different codes and ciphers."
'Alright, baby,' I thought tiredly, clicking into the first webpage that popped up on the screen. 'Gimme' some answers.'
Over half an hour later, I was gritting my teeth and trying to avoid punching a hole through the computer. Nothing came up. Nothing clicked or made sense with the codes. Zilch. Nada. Nein. And any other synonyms for 'no' that you can think of.
It was so frustrating! It was unbreakable, I swear-
"Hey," A smooth voice replied from beside me, and I jumped. Adrenaline shot through my veins and I spun my head to the right. A boy was sitting in the chair next to mine, logging onto his computer. I vaguely recognized him… And then I remembered. He was in my health class. What was his name again? Shane? Sean?
"Sorry if I spooked you." He continued sheepishly, shooting me a dazzling smile. "You looked pretty into your work."
I hadn't even heard him sit down. Wow- I must have really been focused. Nice one, Max... "Um… It's okay." I replied lamely. He brushed back some shaggy chestnut colored hair from his green eyes. He was kind of cute, actually…
"Sooo, what'cha doing?" He asked, peering over at my notebook. "That looks pretty interesting. Are those codes?" I slammed my notebook shut, and he blinked, looking taken aback. I resisted the urge to bite out 'none of your beeswax'. Then I reminded myself that maybe this was how normal people conversed. I kicked my paranoia down a notch.
"Sorry. But no. It's just homework." I smiled, trying to look convincing. But it seemed to work, because he instantly relaxed and grinned at me again.
"Too bad. I love solving those things." Okay, my paranoia level moved back up. How would he know how to decode things? He was just a kid, he couldn't be working with the school, could he?
"I know it's kind of weird and geeky," he laughed, elaborating. "But I used to play Sherlock Holmes computer games as a kid."
"Sherlock Holmes… He's a detective, isn't he?" I vaguely remembered seeing some of those books in Anne's house. Not that I've read them or anything.
"Uh, Yeah." He seemed surprised that I didn't know. "And the games always had these fun puzzles in them. Some of them were codes you had to solve." A teasing light filled his eyes, and he leaned in, as if he was telling me a secret. "And not to brag or anything, but I was a pro at it."
I laughed. "That is pretty geeky." He chuckled, and I couldn't help but like the sound of his laugh. It wasn't as bright and contagious as Fang's, or as cackling as Iggy's, but it was nice. Carefree.
"Y'know, I don't believe we've ever talked before," he noted, and my heart kicked in my chest, nervousness creeping in. It wasn't exactly a bad feeling… But I didn't like it, either.
"No, I don't think we have."
"I'm Sam," He said, extending a hand for me to shake.
I reluctantly took it, a blush forming on my cheeks. "Max."
He grinned at me and turned back to his computer, opening up his browser. "So… You moved here from Michigan?" Sam conversed, his eyes locked on his screen as he navigated Virginia Prep's website.
"Yep. My parents are missionaries, so we've moved up here to stay with my aunt while they're away." The flock and I had rehearsed that explanation a number of times- so much so that we could probably say it in our sleep. And along with our own made-up parents, we also went under fake names. I was just Max, not Maximum; Fang was Nick, Iggy was Jeff, Nudge was Tiffany-Krystal, which was a lot shorter of a name than what she first wanted- Gazzy is Zephyr (which is soo much better than Captain Terror), and last but not least, Angel went by Ariel. And since we were all expert liars and connivers, it was no problem for us to create new identities for ourselves.
What can I say? We were pretty crafty. But hey, a bird-kid's gotta' do what a bird-kid's gotta' do, right?
"Do you like it here? You must miss your parents a lot."
"Yeah, it's nice here. And I do miss them," I lied smoothly. "But my aunt is cool, so it's not bad."
Sam smiled at me. "I wish I had a cool aunt. All of mine are debutantes who are only interested in garden parties and yippy little dogs."
"What's a debutante?"
"It's like a beauty showcase for the rich and glamorous." He said it with a dramatic eye roll, and I giggled. And I immediately looked away, blushing red. I'm Maximum freaking Ride- I don't do giggling! What has gotten into me?
"That sounds awful," I empathized, and he nodded.
"Yeah, it's really fun to spend time with them." His voice dripped with over-exaggerated sarcasm. "They keep trying to convince me to join them."
"They want you to be in a beauty pageant?" I asked, dumbfounded.
"Hey, it's a party. Not a pageant. And even though I've told them time and time again that I don't want to do it, they still keep insisting." He began imitating his aunts. "Sammy! You'd be the perfect little gentleman! And in a nice tuxedo and tie, you'd make all the little ladies want to dance with you!'" I burst out laughing, surprised by how easy it was to talk to this random guy, and he joined in.
"Shhh!" A shrill old lady shushed us from the large library desk, startling us both.
"Oops," Sam chuckled.
"Samuel!" The librarian scolded again in a hushed voice. "This is study hall. That means that you should be silent and study!"
"Yes, Ma'am," He said sweetly.
"This is the third time this week you've been using this period unproductively. Consider this your last warning, Samuel, or you'll have to have a talk with Headmaster Pruitt."
"I swear, this will be the last time, Mrs. Forrester." While Sam was being reprimanded, I took the opportunity to close down my webpage. I put my notebook and coded pages back into my bag. Hopefully it would be an out of sight, out of mind kind of thing and the topic wouldn't come up again.
"Are you leaving?" He asked, noticing me putting my stuff away. His eyes flickered back to the librarian, cautious of being lectured again.
"Um… yeah. I have to go to my locker." I actually had been planning on doing some homework for the night with the last ten minutes I had left this period, but for some reason I was feeling kind of off-kilter and a little bit strange. Again, it wasn't a bad feeling, but… I don't know. I just didn't feel like myself. And because 'myself' is the thing I trust the most in the world, it made me uneasy.
Sam looked like he wanted to say something more, but instead he gave me a small smile. "Okay," he said. "See ya' later."
A weird disappointed feeling settled over me as I stood up, swinging my backpack over my shoulder. "Yeah. See you." I pushed my chair in and turned, walking towards the doors.
"Hey, Max?" Sam called after me.
Unwanted butterflies fluttered in my chest. Get it together, Max! What's your problem? "Yeah?"
"Do you mind if I save you a seat in health class tomorrow?" My face heated for the nth time that day, and I suddenly wanted to be outta' there. But instead I nodded, surprising myself.
"Sure."
Sam beamed at me, and I turned away, pushing through the doors and out into the hallway. And as I walked towards my locker, I couldn't fight the large grin that broke out across my blushing face.
A.N. Aaaand scene! What do you think of Sam? Like him? Hate him? Want Fang to totally show him up?
Leave a review and let me know!
Also, sorry for the informative history lesson at the beginning! It will play a part later on in the story, so just bear with me!
(!PLEASE READ!)
I'm trying to get my writing style down because I have a few ideas for books/stories that I'd love to write in the future, and any advice you'd like to give me about my writing would be greatly appreciated! If there's anything you've noticed in my writing that you think I should change or work on, let me know!
You could leave a review or PM me if you'd like with your comments, and it would help me out a lot. Constructive criticism is great; don't worry about being offensive- Anything helps!
Thanks, guys! (: