Alright. Here ya go: capitulo numero ocho. Chapter number eight!

I really hope you like this. I did a few... riskay things, but whatever. Not that bad...

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"Fang, merge! MERGE! MERGE, FANG!" I screamed at him from the passenger's seat, looking frantically behind us then back at him. We were getting on an interstate and while Fang may be a better driver than me, he SUCKED at merging.

"There's a car right there," he pointed to a small hybrid. I gaped at him- there was room!

"YOU CAN SO! We're running out of lane!" and we were.

Nudge's hand shot onto the car horn. We all winced and I heard Gazzy scream out the back window, "MOVE IT, CREEP!"

We were SO going to get rear-ended.

By some miracle, Fang managed to FINALLY get into the North-bound lane of traffic without killing us. I sighed and melted in my seat. If I get any more stressed, my feathers will fall out.

In the seat behind me were Nudge, Angel, Total, and Akila. Behind them, Mary, Eve, and Jonah sat quietly, taking in the sights. If you squinted really hard and stared long enough, in the way, way back seat you could see the Gasman and Iggy. Iggy had his head on the glass, sighing because Gazzy was really loud. He kept yelling at other cars.

At one point, he threw out a tomato. I don't know where he got a tomato to throw, but it hit this poor old lady's windshield after she had almost swerved into us. Nudge laid on the horn again. I had enough. "TOUCH IT AGAIN, NUDGE."

Nudge shrunk in her seat. Good.

"So, Fang. What's wrong with you?" I asked him. Ever since we had left the beach-house three hours ago, Fang had been sulking. He glanced at me with his empty stare and went back to driving. I arched an eyebrow. "Fangy? Fang-fang? Fannnng?"

"What?" he mumbled, still focused on driving. I had decided we should go north for awhile. For some reason, my instincts said north.

"Why are you sulking?" I asked.

"I'm not sulking."

"You are..."

"...Not..."

"...Not sulking. Therefore, you must be sulking. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." he lied. Clearly, he was hiding something. His voice sounded far away.

I sighed then got an idea. I leaned over, tapped him on the shoulder, and his head slowly swiveled to me. I was nine inches from his face which is a much smaller distance than you think. A blush crept into his cheeks. "Tell me tonight."

He gulped and suddenly Nudge's hand shot by my face again. Her shoulder connected with my jaw, knocking me back into my seat, and a horn went off while our car swiveled to the right, clunking me into the glass. "LAY OFF THE HORN!"

"He almost drifted into the left lane- that wasn't OUR horn! STOP FLIRTING AND FOCUS!" I blushed and straightened in my seat, staring straight ahead. I managed to tilt my head enough to catch a glimpse at Fang. He was trying not to smile.

I smiled, watching him try not to.

Nudge mumbled in the backseat. Angel giggled. Why? Use your imagination.


The time was 6:49 p.m. It was still light out as Fang turned into the Chik'fil'A (sp?) parking lot. "Drive-thru or sit-down?" he asked.

"SIT-DOWN" was the group answer. He frowned and pulled into a parking spot. We all unloaded from the van and Angel sprinted inside. Iggy laughed very loudly while he said, "Nice parking."

Fang's face fell and he looked down at the white lines on the pavement. He frowned. "My parking is fin-"

Fang whipped around and glared. Iggy waved his hand in front of his face, smiling. Gazzy was the last out of the van and we all headed inside. Angel was already waiting in line, impatiently, and had already ordered. The cashier looked nervously between her and us.

I walked up first. "Two number... eights, large fries, and a small chocolate milkshake."

I stepped aside.

"A number one, a number three, and a large lemonade, please," Nudge shot a dazzling smile. The clerk winced, obviously blinded.

"Three number sevens. Coke," Fang was quite the talker today.

Gazzy stared intently at the wall. I panicked. Dear god, this could NOT be good. "A number ten, a number eight, two slices of cheesecake and... uh... another slice of cheesecake."

The cashier blinked. "So three cheesecakes?"

"No, three slices."

"... I meant that."

"Sure."

...

Iggy walked up, stood quietly, then said, "What would you recommend?"

"Uhh... the number four, maybe...?"

"What does it look like?"

"... its chicken tenders."

" Yeah, okay. Three of those and a Pepsi. And cheesecake sounded good..."

The poor, acne-ridden kid never saw us coming. There's a lot of that going around lately.

"Can I get two number ones? Jonah, what do you want?" Mary asked, holding Eve's hand. Eve looked around, her big, icy eyes took everything in. The cashier gaped at them. Mary and Eve blinked. Yeah, okay, so Eve looked inhumanly cute and Mary had an inhuman quality about her. Stop star-

"Stop staring. I'll have a number six with lemonade, thanks," Jonah added confidently as he looked back at me and grinned. Even though they didn't necessarily look it, they all had this unnaturally foreign aura to them. Not French foreign, but you know- other worldly. "You paying?"

"Huh? Oh, right," I mentally shook my head and paid the cashier. Five minutes later, we had our food and were sitting down to eat when the voice popped back into my head.

-Maximum, how are the students doing? Are they well? Have you been feeding the smallest one?

Shut up and go away. I don't need your help.

-I think you do. You keep wasting time, Max. Focus on your mission.

Which is what exactly?

-Think about it. What's your mission?

I took a furious bite out of my poor chicken sandwich. The flock all looked at me. Angel watched carefully. To save the world, right? I've already done that.

-Don't get so cocky. You might have woken it up to some degree, but the world is far from saved. Now I want you to think how the students could be of importance to your mission. What can they do that you can't?

... breathe underwater. Tap-dance?

... okay, the first part matters more. Think on that.

You're an as- but it was gone. I swallowed the last bite of my sandwich. By then, everyone could tell what was going on except for the STUDENTS, of course. I looked at Jonah and Mary. "You two. Me. Later. Talk."

We finished our meals and were on the road again in no time.


Fang decided we should park on a back-road and sleep in the van for the night. I disagreed, but I knew the credit card was getting very, very low after that feast. I'd have to steal another one soon. We could DEFINITELY not afford a hotel room, even though parking by the road is sort of creepy and risky in a different way.

He pulled the van off the interstate and drove for about three minutes, until he was on a two-lane road. He parked the van back near the edge of a forest. The flock settled in and I looked back at Jonah and Mary. They unloaded and stood outside the door, waiting for me and our "talk". I glanced at Fang. He looked distant, far-away.

Hurt, maybe.

"Fang, what's wrong?" there was more concern in my voice than I could control.

His dark eyes looked at me. His hand moved to my cheek and rested there. Despite the electricity of his touch, I didn't look away. He looked a little annoyed, hurt, and something else I couldn't describe. Fang's hand fell away from my face and he used it to lean his seat back.

I sensed that was the end of the conversation for now so I jumped out of my seat, feeling a little confused. Jonah and Mary were already sitting about thirty yards away, by a raspberry bush. I strutted over, popped one in my mouth and sat down next to them.

"I have a voice inside my head," may as well tell them now. They didn't seem surprised.

"Yeah, I figured you were nuts," Jonah laughed and Mary played with her hair, braiding it and unbraiding it. Then he added something, a little more seriously. "How nuts are you?"

I was offended. "I'm not nuts!"

"Just checking."

"Right. Anyway, this voice told me to break you out of that School... Aquarium, you know."

"Sure do," Mary mumbled, going for her second braid. "But why?"

"I have a mission 'to save the world' or some clichéd crap like that. It keeps telling me your a part of that mission," I watched their faces for reactions. Jonah perked up a little and Mary started to have that far-off thinking look in her eyes.

"The flock already went to Washington and I did a huge speech on Global Warming. We went to Antarctica, too. Lots of penguins. Lots of ice. How do you think you can help me?" What? I have no ideas. And it is very cold in Penguin-world.

"I'll think on it," Mary mumbled, unbraiding the braid she had just made... hey, that rhymes.

"Same here, but I don't know what I could do... me and the world aren't exactly on speaking terms at the moment," Jonah added quietly.

"Eve's probably wondering where we are. Is that everything, Max?" Mary looked at me, tossing her unbraided blonde curtain over her shoulder. I blinked. That was fast.

"Uh... sure," I said, a little surprised. I was expecting a huge, long conversation but no. No chit-chat for me.

They stood up and walked away. I sat by myself, silently thinking and thinking silently. What the hell did the voice want me to do? SAVE THE WORLD. Okay, I get it, shut up. But why did Mary or Jonah or Eve matter? What could they do? Mary sounded like she was genuinely going to think on it but Jonah sounded annoyed. I wondered why, but not for long.

Fang sat down next to me. Where did he come from?


"Where did you come from?" Max seemed surprised and a little scared. Of course she was, I had snuck up on her on purpose. I broke a twig in my hands and answered.

"A lab. You?"

"Ha-ha. You should be a comedian."

"I've thought about it."

Max smiled. Her smile was... pretty. I could watch it all day. Her mouth would bend mostly to the left and her eyes would sparkle brighter, like a tooth-paste commercial, only much more attractive. Suddenly, the sensation of where my knee was touching her bare thigh intensified (It's summer. Think shorts). Great.

I pulled my knees very firmly to my chest and put my arms over the top. Why, you ask? Figure it out.

Normally I can handle stupid things like driving or kicking someone in the ribs, but when a pretty girl puts her head on your shoulder and sends a shock wave through you... not so much. Max's head was on my shoulder. She sighed heavily and looked up at me with her brown, almond shaped eyes. I gulped.

"Fang. What was wrong with you earlier? No lying. You're a bad liar, even with that poker-face," she smiled. Her face was really close to mine. I could just lean over and kiss her and stop myself from answering, but I couldn't kiss her right now. I didn't want that yet.

I thought about it. Why was I so ticked-off and annoyed? Oh yeah. I COULDN'T BREAK A FREAKING WINDOW AND JONAH COULD. How about how Max said "Tell me later" and then tells Jonah and Mary to talk to her later?

What IS wrong with me? Why am I feeling so... jealous? I really need to punch something right now.

"Fang." Max said.

"What?" I said.

"You're tense."

Ah. So I was. "I see."

"Do you?"

"Yes. Why are you so tense?" Because you annoyed me a little bit and I want to be frustrated with you but I can't do that with your head on my shoulder and this freaking er-

"Fang, are you mad at me?" ouch. That hurt coming from her. I looked down at Max and saw the look on her face. She was really concerned about me. I usually never saw her softer side and was a little shell-shocked to see her being vulnerable so easily. It was REALLY cute.

"No. I'm not," I answered her and felt like I was telling the truth. She kept staring at me and that's when I couldn't stand it anymore. I tilted her face to me and kissed her on the lips. It wasn't a very long kiss, but I felt the electricity even when she pulled away.

"Fang... no... not right now... there's way too much going on inside my head... and-" she was rambling, so I cut her off with another kiss.

"Stop saying no to me, Max."


I didn't want to, as per usual.

I don't know WHAT possessed him to just kiss me suddenly, but its not like I was about to complain. Fang kept on kissing me and I felt my brain blank out. This was completely electrifying and I'll use the same expression twice to describe it: like sticking a fork in a light socket.

His arm went behind my waist and pulled me up and- OHMYGOD- onto his lap.

Oh.My.God. This is chew-the-power-cord electrifying!

I sat very happily like a little lap-dog and let him kiss me some more. Once again, his tongue did something weird. I don't know WHAT, but I mentally prayed he wouldn't do it again.

And he didn't! There is a god! But really, I loved the kiss. His hand was on the side of my face, with his thumb in front of my ear and his fingers on the soft-spot behind it. Fang kept moving his thumb in little circles on my cheek and I practically melted. I even forgot where his other hand was for a second. Then I remembered it was resting very tightly on the small of my back. Very nice. I'll give him a twenty on a scale of one to ten...

... or a million. What was he doing now?

He stood up very abruptly and, holy crap, I came with him. My legs were around his waist and he was using both hands to hold me there!

I had a mini-stroke. Clearly, I was dying from this.

He walked backwards behind the trees and then I remembered that we were in plain view of the van the whole time. I heard whistles.

Shit.

Fang pushed me up against a tree and let my legs down. I was a little sad to have to do that. Ok, so it felt nice being THAT close to him... sue me.

His left hand automatically went to my waist and his other one attached to my neck. He was enjoying this. Definitely. So was I, even if I was giving myself a mental-play-by-play.

Just as suddenly as everything else had been happening, his mouth went to my neck. I shivered as his lips dragged down my skin very, very softly. His head buried behind my mane of hair and I felt him nip the skin over my collarbone. I bit my lip. This was new, very new.

But I loved it. I loved him. I loved everything about him. The color of his eyes, the sound of his voice, his attitude about everything- even his dorkish sarcasm. I loved all of it. I loved him and was perfectly prepared to do just that: love him.

I pulled him tighter to me as his lips went lower on my shoulders. They rested just above my shirt-line and I noticed him pause for a second, like he was thinking of something. I wondered what it was but forgot very quickly. His teeth bit the fabric and pulled just slightly, then he let go.

His lips were back on mine, pressing very tightly. My hands were absolutely everywhere. I couldn't track the bastards if I tried or cared. But when things get loose, they do what they want. The flock was an obvious example, and so is my right hand.

It snuck up the back of Fang's shirt and I felt the smooth, taught skin there. He shivered slightly and pulled away to look at me. His eyes were very lit and alive. I liked that look very much. I smiled with something I didn't know I had and pulled him back to me, kissing a little stronger than before. His hands went up the back of my shirt, too. No clothes between his hands and my skin.

I felt very connected, but limited. I wanted to be closer, so I pushed myself closer. That wasn't helping, even though he was warm and I could feel his heartbeat. My kiss drifted to the sides of his faces, then to his ear. His hair still smelt like sky and sweat (which for some reason, I couldn't seem to get enough of, either).

Don't ask me how it smells. I'll just tell you that it smells like Fang.

My hand trailed up his spine and that's when he pulled away. Fang's eyes were on fire and I loved it. I loved him. I loved the excitement I feel every time I kiss him. I loved not knowing what came next.

He pulled my hand, smiled at me dazedly, then we started walking back to the van.

I love you. I'm ready to love you and I want you can see that.

What I wasn't ready for was the swarm of mutant-bird kids and the chorus of whistles and laughter when we got back.

Shit.

Despite my humiliation, I ended up sleeping with my head on his shoulder.

I am ready to love you. Why do I sound like a bad poem? Oh god. Am I still thinking this?


-SMILE-

Yayness- ROMANCE! I know what you're thinking: "FINALLY." And it seems like our darling Maximum has a bit of a sexy side.

I don't know if I'll make them do anything like that... that would be fun but... you know... completely inappropriate, considering they're 14, almost 15. But that doesn't stop Crystal Crews! Her baby was born yesterday! Yay teenage pregnancy!

So, as it seems, this is chapter eight. I hope you enjoyed. THANK YOU! Please review! Reviews are like MaxXFang and IggyXToph (LMAO, thank you, KK!)- I just can't get enough.

Thanks! Review!