Oh, and if you're wondering what happened to Iggy and that tree, you're going to have to wait. It won't be explained until later.

Got it? Good.

On with the chappie, mijn vrienden die met dit verhaal worden geobsedeerd. (That's Dutch. Google it and you'll find out what it means)

We've all been shopping, right? Just a simple go-stroll-through-the-mall-and-be-happy-when-you-see-a-sale-at-PacSun-type shopping trip, right?

Yeah. Mine was far beyond any means of "calm" or "normal." Nudge and Emma had so far dragged me from Belk, JCPenney's, David's Bridal (I had freaked out at the name at first, but then found out they did, in fact, sell regular dresses), some store called Faviana, Classy Lady, Nordstrom, and Macy's.

Yeah. Seriously. And still, I hadn't found the "perfect dress." It was only winter formal. And I had seen hundreds of gorgeous ones and tried them all on, but Nudge claimed "they just aren't you." Okkkkkkayyyyyy. And unfortunately, Emma had to be agreeing with her, which I didn't quite understand cause she's blind.

"How do you know if they're right for me or not, Em?" I asked her as we drove out of the mall's parking lot, Emma's winter formal dress swinging from a hook in the back.

Emma paused for a moment next to me, her text message half typed out, until she explained,

"I'm not sure. But once I felt the fabric and style of the dress, I knew it just wasn't you. And since Nudge was there to help me out by describing it to me," She paused again to squeeze my hand that was on the radio dial, "Don't worry, Max. We'll find the perfect one."

And then, suddenly, she was gone before my very eyes, as if she had never been there. The seatbelt that had been around her was still snapped in, her cell phone still hanging in mid-air. Soon enough, I heard the police sirens too, and watched as an ambulance and two police cars zoomed past and out of sight.

"All clear," Nudge spoke from the back and Emma appeared again, pressing the numbers on her cell phone as she continued to text.

Emma has a strange fear of police cars ever since she was little. She thought it had something to do with the fact that when she was taken to the School- another one located in Wisconsin that we'd already annihilated- by a police car. And all that she can remember before the School was the sound of a police siren.

Emma has cat-like senses, explaining why she heard the siren before any of us did (even with our uber-hearing) and she can turn invisible. The funny part is that sometimes, since she's blind, she forgets if she's invisible or not, and she gives the new kids quite a scare opening doors and fixing sandwiches.

But her powers sure come in use around Halloween, when she gets to play the ghost, and chase kids down Lerner's driveway.

"Hey, there it is!" Nudge exclaimed as I pulled into a small strip-mall. They both climbed out quickly, pulling me out of the comfort of my own seat, and shoved me into the double doors covered in sequins.

The Next Day…

In gym, we were given the chance to sit around and do something to busy ourselves. I think the two instructors were having sex in Coach Dany's office, but that was just my guess. Emma and I were sitting out on the football field, watching (well, I was) Iggy scrimmage with Fang, Nate, and the other guys.

"They have to be. I mean, seriously, have you seen the looks they give each other?" Once I asked the question, I chuckled at my stupidity.

"Of course, Max! The blind chick has seen the seductive looks the gym teachers give each other!" Emma laughed, throwing her black hair away from her shoulder. Emma Nelson was a mix of Asian and Spanish, with straight black hair and sightless violet eyes. I was kind of jealous. Violet eyes? That's just freaking awesome.

She kinda reminded me of Ella, except Emma was older, and her skin wasn't as dark as Ella's. And she was much more mature than my little sister. Thank God, because Iggy needed someone who was calm and collected, him being Mr. Psycho half of the time. "Uh-oh. I smell trouble," Emma nudged me, nodding her head over to the track that ran around the football field. Sure enough, Sam Brown was making his way towards us, a huge goofy smile on his face and his fingers moving sporadically.

I didn't ask Emma how she had known, because I had learned long ago that she could sense someone's footfalls within a hundred feet away.

"Hey, Max," Sam greeted as he finally reached us. I nodded, bringing my eyes away from Sam to the football field, watching the guys continue to play. He dropped down next to me, stretching out his legs, as he watched my face. Just a bit creepy… "So… uh… what are you doing for Winter Formal?" He questioned and I felt my stomach drop.

He wasn't…? I looked over to Emma, who felt my glance, and she smirked. Yeah. He was. Damn him, making this share-every-single-class-together thing even harder.

"Partying. You?" I looked over towards my personal stalker and regretted it. He started batting his eyelashes. What a weirdo…

Who did he get dating tips from? Richard Simmons? Oh, right. He cheated on me with Lissa. Must have gotten tips from her. That stupid, snobby, lying, prissy, gold digging son of a bitc-

"So who are you going with?" Seriously, Sam, quit it with the eyelashes. That's just plain creepy.

"Uhhh… I'm going with Fan-"

"Sweet! So… will you go with me?" Uhhh… didn't I just say I was going with Fang? And did he just rudely interrupt (ahem) the Maximum Ride? Was this kid suicidal or something? Or wishing for someone to pummel the crap out of him?

I caught Fang's eye on the football field and he raised an eyebrow, pointing his finger at Sam, and mouthing, "What does he want?"

I just smirked and turned my attention back on Sam, "Of course, Sam. I'd love to go with you." Lie number one.

He fell back, eyes wide with amazement, "Seriously? But aren't you going with-"

"No, he said it would be okay." Lie number two. And guess what Sam did? He friggin BOUGHT my excuse!

"Sweet, Max! I know we'll have an awesome time."

"Mmm… I think so too, Sam." Lie number three. God, this kid was so easily fooled.

"Okay. Well… uh… great. I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow then. See ya!" Sam ran off then, giving Emma the perfect chance to smack me over the head if she desired to. And which she did.

"Ouch! What was that for?" I played innocent, rubbing my head (even though she couldn't see it, which in that case was kind of pointless).

"You know damn well what that was for! What the hell are you thinking, going to formal with Sam? Are you high?" She grabbed my chin and pulled it close to her face. "Open your mouth and breathe."

"Why?"

"Alcohol test. I want to make sure you haven't overdosed on Vodka or something." I shrugged, breathing into her face, and she wrinkled her nose, "Ick. Nope. No alcohol. But you do require some mint gum or something." I rolled my eyes, then finding it useless, punched her lightly on the arm.

"Shut up. And do I want to know how you can check for drunk people?"

She laughed, glancing over in my direction so we could have some sort of eye contact- and she wasn't too far off either- and simply said, "Iggy." Ahhh. No need to emphasize on that one.

By the time we had finished discussing my plans for Sam, (What? You think I was gonna tell you now? Nooo. You get to sit back and enjoy the show just like Fang), Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome had made his way over to where we sat and crouched down in front of me.

"What was that about?"

"Sam's going with me to the winter formal."

Fang's face is like a rainbow sometimes, with as many colors as it changed in that one split second of silence. Until it turned just about black as he busted out, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?"

"Williams!" Coach Dany shouted from across the football field. And Fang didn't even apologize, which he usually does to not get Dany on his ass, as he narrowed his eyes at me.

"What are you thinking, Max? Are you psycho? Why would you want to go with him? Are you going back out or something? Are you insane? What did he do to you? Did he hypnotize you or something? Have you been drinking?" I smirked at the question.

Fang looked over to Emma, "Did Sam replace her or something? Is this Max II? Did you feed her crack? Did you fill her system with alcohol?"

Emma hid her smirk, simply shaking her head, and answering, "No, Fang, he didn't replace her. This isn't Max II. I didn't feed her crack. And I did not get her drunk."

Fang was silent for a moment, blinking once, until he turned his attention back towards me, "Then what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you going with Sam to the dance? Are you nuts? Why are you doing this to me?"

I just shrugged, biting my bottom lip as if I was holding back something terribly life-changing. Which, I kinda was if you thought about it, but it wasn't my whole big scheme with Sam. It was a charming little scheme to get Fang to kick his butt without getting in trouble, Sam to get in trouble and cry, and me to feel totally awesome. Nice, huh? "What is it, Max? What did he say to you?"

I love it how Fang caught on so well. Otherwise, this wouldn't have worked at all. I turned my head away, looking the other direction, and said quietly, "Nothing, Fang. Don't worry about me."

He, he, he. Fang, you are so in trouble. I know you too well. If there is one thing that Fang didn't understand or like, it was that if told him to not care or worry about me. Yeah. I don't know either. He just gets really hyped up about it.

"Max, tell me. Right now. What did Sam say to you? Because if he did anything to…" He slowed down for a moment and I heard the bell ring in the distance. Three-thirty. Time to leave.

"Did he threaten you, Max?" His voice was soft, but I could see his eyes tensing and his jaw tightening. I looked into the chocolate irises, where I could see my pitiful-looking reflection, and simply muttered, "Yes."

"What did he say?" He turned to Emma this time and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I didn't hear him say anything besides about the dance." Which got Fang confused, because Emma could hear a blade of grass blow three miles away.

"Max, what did he say to you?"

I shook my head, tears slipping out of my eyes, "I ca- can't tell you, Fang."

"Why not?"

"Cause… he threatened to… kill the Flock…" I caught Fang just before he could jump up, and I whispered, "Fang, don't. Not yet. Just wait until tomorrow morning. Then you can kick his ass."

"Why wait? It'll teach him a lesson. The sooner, the better."

I shook my head, "He's probably watching us right now. I don't want him to get the idea that you know. So just act like I broke up with you or something, okay?" I glanced around, happy that for once Sam was in the vicinity. He was walking past the soccer field, pink backpack swinging against his legs.

And if you just thought to yourself 'Pink?'… yes, pink. Hey, it's Sam, what do you expect?

Fang nodded, kissing my forehead as he snuck a look to make sure Sam wasn't looking, and walked off.

Emma waited until Fang had disappeared behind the cafeteria before busting out laughing, "Dude, do you know how awesome that was? That was amazing. Seriously. Sam is going to regret asking you to the dance." I just nodded, helping her up, and we walked together back to our lockers.

I hummed some new song to myself as I twirled the combination of my lock, thinking of how incredibly awesome the next day was going to be.

"I'm going to show him what a little girls made of
Gunpowder and lead…"

Last song lyrics: "Gun Powder and Lead" by Miranda Lambert