Chapter 7

We all knew this day was coming; it was obvious for even me. The day that I lost that last bit of my sanity.

That's right. I'm completely insane. I'm kissing Fang. Not pulling away, sparks lighting up against my skin, and honestly I am enjoying myself-until I get pulled back into reality.

Let's take this a step back and look at what I have done here: Fang; dates every girl in school, full of himself, and completely manipulative. Fang; helped me deal with Angel when I couldn't pick her up, caring, and a really awesome kisser. As you have probably noticed, there are two sides of Fang, and one is very different from the other.

When I pull away and open my eyes, I can feel Fang's hand holding mine. His eyes are staring at me intently, looking for a reaction.

Truth be told, I had been a complete jerk to Fang before…but didn't he deserve it? I just don't know anymore! The rain doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon, and the lightning looks dangerous and threatening, so it's not like I can just give him the typical 'I don't understand these feelings so I'm out' act and run away. No, that would be too easy. Instead, I'm trapped in a little cave with Fang, shivering from the cold.

I look up at Fang and see him smile-not that half smirk thing-the actual smile, with perfect white teeth. I can barely see the glint in his eyes, because a fog has arrived and I can't see much, but the obsidian black sparkles with a light of its own.

Hell no. I am not happy about this.

I pull away gently and sit down, leaning against the cave wall. Fang does the same, sitting right beside me.

"Are you cold?" Fang asks, folding his hands across his knees, looking at me intently. I'm trying to hold back the shivers but fail. My teeth chatter from the chilly wind and my soaking wet clothes.

I lift my index finger and my thumb and squish them together. "'Bout this much," I say, "I can survive." I give him a small smile, because I don't know what else to do, and cross my legs. I look at Fang and watch as his expression changes. I can see that he's holding back questions, and that he's confused. I guess he deserves an explanation, but I can't exactly come clean about everything.

"I don't understand…" he says, and he sounds so confused that I almost want to just come out and tell him about everything. I can practically feel myself gravitating towards him.

"Welcome to the club," I say jokingly, but I know I can't just leave it at that.

Fang's eyes light up and I can practically see the light bulb on top of his head. "How about we take turns asking each other question?" he asks, and I nod simply. Am I being too nice? Too mean? And why do I suddenly care about what Fang thinks?

"You first," he tells me, giving me a small smile that takes my breath away. His black hair is plastered to his head from the rain, and his shirt is soaked so it sticks to his body and shows off his muscles. Awkward thought…whoops. And you know what you're supposed to do when you have an awkward thought? You add an s to the last word: Smuscles. Haha. Not so awkward now!

See what I mean about losing my sanity?

I'm about to ask some stupid question like, "What's your favorite color," but then think again. Now that I actually had a chance to get some serious answers, why not take it?

"What did you think of our trip out here?" I ask, smiling a little bit to myself, remembering it like it was just minutes ago. Oh ya, it was.

Fang looked up, rubbing his chin. "Well first I thought, 'This girl sounds exactly like Pocahontas," he gives me a wink and I can't help but snicker at his remark, "And then I thought," his face grew more serious, "Maybe I was wrong to judge you in the first place. You were different from the other girls, and your sense of…" he looked at me suddenly, as if saying, 'Get ready for this. This next word is going to be super corny, "Freedom."

I grin. "I can also sing songs from Spirit," I say, wiggling my eye brows at him. He chuckles lightly. "Do you know all the songs from all the Disney movies?" but then, just as I start to answer, he catches himself and says quickly, "No, wait, don't answer that. That wasn't the question I wanted to ask."

"Damn." I say all dramatically. "I almost had you fooled." He grins but there is a serious look in his eyes. "Where did your bruises come from?"

I sit there for a moment. Of course, I had expected that question, but I didn't know that I'd have this feeling inside of me that wanted to answer the question honestly.

"I…um, well, got into a fight with my-" I catch myself at the last moment, "Boyfriend?" It sounds more like a question then a statement. "We're broken up now." I say, and to make sure I don't sound like a wimp, I add, "I threw the first punch, just so you know. He ended up worse than me."

Fang stares at me for a second. "You're lying!"

How in the world does he know? "What? No I'm not. I'm not lying."

He raises his eyebrows and sighs. "It's easy to tell, Max. You're such a horrible liar. Your sister," he says softly, "What did she mean at the mall, when she asked about your mom?"

"Aha!" I yell triumphantly, "You can't ask two questions in a row!"

"You were lying about the first one, so that didn't count." He explained. My smile turned upside down. "You don't have to answer it, you know." His voice adds gently.

For some reason, I still find myself answering, "My mom's dead. I just didn't want you to know." I can tell Fang is shocked by the honesty in my voice, hell; I'm even shocked by it.

"I'm sorry." Is all he says.

Now, I've never liked pity, sympathy, or, for that matter, empathy. But this guy didn't say it like I was some charity event, he said it like he knew what I had gone through, and he didn't want to think of anyone else having to bare it. Or, at least, that's what I picked up.

For a while we sit there in silence, it's not awkward, and it's kind of peaceful. I don't think either one of us feels the need to talk. Just sit and listen to the wind howl.

Suddenly Fang's cell phone rings and breaks the silence. "Hello?" he asks, looking at me, 'It's Nudge.' He mouths to me. I nod.

"Yah Nudge? No, I don't want to hear about your new shoes! NO, I'm sorry Nudge, but I don't know if they're on sale right now. What? What are you even talking about? Oh man, can you just cut to the point?"

I hold back laughter as he talks. I noticed how different he is out here than in school.

"Yah, sure. It's alright by me. I'll ask her." Fang turns toward me. "Is it alright if Angel stays over with Gazzy and Nudge tonight? They want to have a slumber party?" he says, listening to the phone intently. "I'll just let you talk to Angel." He says, and hands the phone to me.

"Angel? Hey honey, what's up? How are you? Is Nudge nice?" I ask.

"Oh Max, Nudge is so nice! She made us popcorn and we are watching Tangled and Gazzy has this really cool sleeping bag with a Barbie on it!"

"Angel!" I heard someone scream angrily in the back ground, "For the last time, that is not a Barbie, it is a-" he's cut of my Angel again, "Barbie." Angel finishes, and I wait for her attention to come back to me again. "I'm going somewhere private, Max, where Gazzy can't interrupt my conversations. Anyways, can I sleep over? Please! Would you be OK at the house alone with Jeb?"

I give Fang a sideways look, hoping he didn't hear that last part. "Yah, Angel. Have fun!" I say and I hear her say "I love you! Bye!" Before I can tell her the same, she hangs up, so when I say it back I'm just talking to the phone. Sigh.

I gave Fang a backwards smile and lean against the wall. Without thinking about what I was saying, I said, "Man, it's chilly."

Fang wraps his arms around me and I stiffen. I've never been this close to anyone except Angel. After a little while, I relax, and I don't just shrug his arm off.

I lay my head on Fang's shoulder and drift in and out of sleep, always paying attention to whether the storm as stopped and if the fog has lifted, but every time I woke up, it was still there. I wonder what I would do about Jeb, and the storm, about school and stuff. But whenever I started to get worried about that, I felt aware of Fang beside me and felt Ok again, like I wasn't alone in the situation.

"So," Fang finally says, "Who's Jeb?"

I look up, surprised, "You heard that over the phone? Dammit!"

"Actually, I heard you say it in your sleep, but now there's no point in denying it."

Oh man well this is pretty bad.

Well, I'm bored. I'm tired. But I was so very flattered by your reviews; I just had to write another chapter! –A long one, at that. So please tell me what you think, if you hate it or like it or have a suggestion or whatever. PLEASE REVIEW! THANKYOU! Man, I feel so hyper all of the sudden! It's so crazy, I didn't even have any sugar today-except that bowl of ice cream I had for breakfast. And then I took the cookies and cream carton and ate half of that because it's so dang amazing! You know the motto: Eat desert before you die! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Bye!