Chapter 7 - Jealousy and Insanity

When Mom dropped us off at the go-cart track, Fang and I looked at each, and in his glance I could tell he was thinking along the same lines as I was. With what we had just figured out about Monique developing powers, maybe it would have been better if we had stayed at home to keep an eye on the situation. I mean, who could guess if they'd have returned to normal and try to use us as real life dolls for their crazy makeover sessions? Then again, maybe Itex has sensors on all their previous experiments with powers and was waiting for Mo's to arise. Now that we're gone, would Erasers attack our house to get to Mo?

Neither Fang or I liked the risk that we were taking by being here, but there was really nothing we could do at the moment. I sighed.

"What?" Fang asked. "If we're going to be here, let's at least try to enjoy ourselves."

What could I say to that?

We paid the admittance for the derby at the front entrance. The cashier gave us instructions to go inside the entrance and wait to be met by a worker who would tell us how to work the cars and give us the rules of track. He gave us our change and two wristbands.

The race track was indoors, a nice, cool location for teenagers to escape the summer heat and let out their crazy wild sides before they were legally able to drive—we couldn't get out permits in Maryland until we were sixteen-and-a-half. There were a group of kids mingling in the lobby, waiting for our instructor to arrive. Large groups of teens talked amongst themselves animatedly, anxiously waiting for their turn to kill their friends on the track. Fang and I stood awkwardly next to each other.

"I wish it weren't so crowded," I mumbled, almost to myself.

Fang raised an eyebrow. "Claustrophobic?"

"I never used to be," I said self-consciously. "Being around people I don't know makes me antsy."

I thought that Fang might have laughed at that statement, but all he said was, "I know what you mean."

I didn't really have time to interpret the words as a girl in a black polo and black short-shorts came strutting out of the track entrance. She had bright red hair pulled back in a ponytail and a small, pixie-like body. Looking over the crowd once, her eyes settled on where Fang and I were standing for a fraction of a second longer than I would have liked.

"Welcome to Racer's Edge, my name is Jasmine, and I'll be your helper throughout the course of the night." Was it just me, or did her eyes keep flicking toward Fang? "Before we let you go out on the track, I want to instruct you on the rules of the road. Absolutely no tailgating or running into someone in front of you. You may bump your neighbor for positioning, but not to push their car off the course. You must follow the flow of traffic. No sudden stops, and if you need a break for any reason, you may pull off to the side where you got into your cart. Failure to follow any of these rules will result in a warning or having you banned from driving for the night."

"They really don't enforce the rules too strictly," I whispered to Fang. "They just tell you that to scare people."

He was watching Jasmine intently.

"Any questions?" she asked at the conclusion of her speech.

"Let's ride!" someone shouted impatiently in the crowd, causing the group to snicker under their breaths.

"Okay, then, you can follow me to the track." She lead the heard of us through a pair of dark double-doors and into a well-lit den that contained a twisted, tire-rimmed track. Along the pit stop, twenty cars were lined up poised and ready to be driven.

We were instructed to get into our cars but not to press anything until we had been told how to harness ourselves to the seat belts properly and were told which pedals did what. Fang got into the cart just in front of mine, and I watched as Jasmine came down the line making sure everyone understood what they were doing. When she got to Fang, a goofy grin spread across her face.

"Are you getting along alright?" she asked sweetly. She bent down to check his seat belt.

"I think I'm good," he said, not paying a lot of attention to her. (Thank God).

"You know where everything is?" she persisted.

I glowered at her and coughed, trying to remind her of what her job was and that it did not involve flirting with Fang. She looked at me just then, as if remembering suddenly, and came over to me.

"I'm sorry, are you two on a date or something?" Did she really have the gall to ask me that? But instead of being pissed, my face flushed.

"No, of course not!" I said, started. "We're just friends."

"Oh." She looked back at Fang, who was looking at the two of us. She didn't even bother to check if I was fastened in properly, but she went by me to the next car.

"Bitch," I muttered under my breath.

Fang smirked, giving me a knowing glance. My cheeks reddened again before I challenged, "What? You don't actually like her, do you?"

"Jealous, much?" I could tell he was taking way too much pleasure from torturing me. I glared at him and sunk lower into my seat. He was going to pay for this on the racing track.

Another female worker along with Jasmine stood posed off the side of the track. "When the light turns green, you can all take off one at a time in the order you're lined up. Watch the lights, and when the red flag is waved, that means that you have ten minutes before closing. Have fun!"

The traffic light was on red, but slowly descended through several bulbs of yellow before finally reaching green. The first cart took off, followed by the ones behind him. By the time I finally got out, Fang has a few seconds head start and I was trying desperately to catch up with him. It was hard with so much congestion on the track, but I could still see him ahead of me.

I tracked him for a while, making sure that he was not expecting me to do anything to him. I maneuvered through the less experienced drivers and trailed Fang with a determination.

On the fifth lap, some idiot rammed me into the tire wall, causing my cart to stall. He sped away cackling while I was trying to withhold a stream of profanities. I tried desperately to restart the cart, but it was a dud after the collision. One of the workers had to help me restart it while Fang was getting away.

I sighed. This night was going to be a total bummer, wasn't it?

When I was finally able to get back on the track, I couldn't tell where Fang was. Since I wasn't allowed to sit on the track and wait for him to come around again, I had to keep going and hope that he would catch up to me or vice versa. I drove slowly, always looking my shoulder to make sure the person coming up behind me wasn't him.

I chugged up a hill, came done in a spiral and ducked under the bridging track above. The path was wide enough so that only two cars could drive side by side, but most people battled for positioning and were not there for the recreation. I recognized some kids from school, but no one I knew personally.

Driving on the track was a freeing experience, but I didn't like the limitations of the road. I always though off-road driving would be more fun, like ATVs in the dessert, or dirt bikes. Or the fun of riding a horse through the countryside.

Just then, someone came flying by me, but not without giving me a nice little bump. Looking back, the person smirked at me. Fang. I grinned evilly and sped up.

I was tailing him pretty good, even though he was trying to shake me off. I thought he knew what my intentions were, seeing as it was pretty obvious on my face that I wanted to ram him. However, the chase was just as fun as the satisfaction of catching up.

We were coming up behind a driver, and I made a move that put me beside Fang. We stared at each other, and to my utter surprise he grinned. One of those rare Fang grins that makes the world stop out of sheer shock that he is able to make such an expression and because it took your breath away. Boy, that kid had a good smile. Not that I'd ever admit it to his face.

That was my opportunity. I had to get him now, just to show him who ruled the track. But when I made my move, Fang looked in front of him and his eyes widened. As I jerked my wheel toward him, he came to a sudden stop, and I saw why—the driver in front of him had slowed down. I still had momentum and ended up ramming the front of his cart and the tail of the person in front of him, causing the three of us to spin out of control.

I jerked in my seat until I finally came to a stop, but for the most part I was unharmed. When we were all stopped, Jasmine and the other worker came running to us.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked, frightened upon recognizing Fang in the crash.

When we all confirmed that we were unharmed, Jasmine eyed me with disgust. "What you did out there was reckless. I don't want you back on the track for the rest of the night."

"What?" Okay, I knew I caused a crash, but was that any reason for her to kick me out? Some kid made my cart stall and yet they hadn't punished him. Why was it my luck to be blamed for this?

Oh, right. Because I was a jealous idiot. That's why.

"Fine," I huffed, and stormed out of the track. I was glad that I didn't have any items with me so that I could maintain my dignity.

When I left the track, I really had no idea what to do. Was I allowed to wait in the lobby? Did I have to sit outside until closing time? I peered out through the window and saw that it was just dusk, and I knew Mom wouldn't expect us to be done already. I didn't want to wait outside, so I took a seat against the wall.

Just as I was going down, I saw a shadow walk by in the distance.

I didn't have time to think about what it was, because just then someone came in through into the lobby from the track.

It was Fang.

I looked up at him questioningly. "Why'd you leave?"

He shrugged. "It didn't seem fair that I would get to ride without you. Besides, we were here together."

I glared at him for his choice of words. Why does he torture me like this? "So? You have that red-haired wonder to keep you company."

He shot me a look.

"Oh, come on! You saw how she was eyeing you."

"Wow, you really are jealous." Fang, to his credit, looked a little shocked, meaning that he was really surprised.

"So what if I am?" I snapped. Realizing how bad that sounded, I added, "I mean, it's not like you needed me to keep you company. You don't need to try to make me happy."

"Max..." his gaze was piercing. I shivered under its severity, suddenly very glad that no one else was in the room with us.

I wanted to ask him a question, but he looked through the window and stared at something seriously.

"What?" I asked.

"Can you call your mom to come get us? I want to see what's outside."

He waked past me swiftly.

"Fang!" I called, but he didn't look back.

I cursed under my breath and pulled out my phone. Did he see what I saw earlier? I stood up and watched him go, wondering what he thought he saw.

"Hello?" Mom asked when she picked up the phone.

"Hi, Mom, I was wondering if you could come pick us up. I think we're done for the night."

"Already? Did you guys have fun, at least?"

Fang was jogging across the road to a line of trees across the street. What the hell was he doing?

"Shit," I muttered away from the phone. I headed for the door and followed Fang as he disappeared in a line of trees. To Mom, I said, "Yeah, it was fun. It just gets kind of old fast, you know."

I heard Mom try to say something, but her reply was filled with static as the woods broke up my signal. I cursed again and stepped onto the side of the road hoping for better reception. "What did you say?" I asked. "The connection was bad."

"I said I'll be there in twenty minutes." She paused and then said, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine," I said, almost too quickly. I could imagine Mom's expression in my mind at my response. "I'll see you soon." I hung up before she could say anything else. If she asked why I hung up, I'd say the call got dropped.

I looked around within the woods and realized that I had no idea where Fang was.

"Fang..." I whispered, hoping he hadn't gone too far in. Was that boy asking for a death sentence? Or was he trying to lose me?

I didn't like the quietness of the woods or how alone I was. I actually missed the crowd of the race track because I knew there were witnesses.

Jeez, Max, what was wrong with me? We probably saw a deer or something and got all worked up.

But where was Fang?

My hair suddenly stood on edge, and I felt a chill run down my spine. I spun around, ready to punch the first thing I saw—

Instead, Fang was standing literally six inches away from me. I yelled in shock and my knees gave out from behind me. He scared the crap out of me!

"What is wrong with you?" he said softly, dangerously. "You're not acting like yourself."

Of course I hated it when he was right, but I was getting soft lately. There was something very wrong with me, and I didn't really know how to fix it. The summer was supposed to be rejuvenating, but instead it was the cause of my slow decline into insanity. I needed to get my act together for the start of the school year.

What had become of the tough Max we all knew and loved?

I sighed, and Fang offered a hand. I let him help me get to my feet.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" I asked, almost bitterly.

He looked away. "No. But I didn't like the feeling I got when I saw it."

We headed toward the edge of the woods, back toward the road. Being out here in the dark alone seemed very foolish. I mean, what were we thinking? This is like rule number one on the list of what not to do for personal safety. It's up there with walking in dark alleys at night.

At the line edge of the trees, I spotted an outline of something dark.

We stopped.

The shape approached us with lightning speed, and I felt my muscles tense. It was thin, but tall, not like an Eraser. Hair whipped wildly, and as it got closer I saw a flash of pale skin, sand-colored hair, but I had no idea who or what it was.

Fang took a step in front of me, looking to protect me, only the thing in front of me didn't look like Fang. As a matter of fact, it was large, hairy, and hulking...

The face turned around, looking at me. It was definitely an Eraser, but it had Fang's eyes.

I don't know if it was out of shock, insanity, or if I had low blood sugar, but the ordeal proved too much for me.

I blacked out.


So I know I said once during NSN that I would not introduce a Lissa/Brigid type character, but I what I meant by that was that there would be no other romantic interest for Fang. I didn't mean that there wouldn't be people there to make Max jealous. :P I know the ending of this is a little confusing, but it will be explained in a few chapters. All I can say is that, no, Fang is not an Eraser. The rest will be for you to determine. :)

With ANGEL coming out soon, I wanted to post this as soon as possible and get your opinion on what you think is going to happen in MR 7. I, unfortunately, will not be able to read the book until Friday the 18th at the earliest. I will actually be going home for midterm break that Friday or Saturday, and I pre-ordered the book online and had it shipped back home instead of here at college so that I could focus on midterms and whatnot. So with me not being able to read it until break, I only have my intuition, ideas, and (spoilers) to look forward to. :P What does everyone think will happen?

-biteoutoflife-