Why do I (bang) always (bang) get (bang) sick (bang) on (bang) the (bang) weekends? Sorry I'm banging my head and all that, it's just that I always get sick on the weekends, and I was planning to be healthy so I could update without too many flaws and never having to get up every five minutes for tissues, but allergies just had to show up, so now I have to update while I'm sick. I'll try! But I'm all woozy and sneezy so it might not be as good as you hoped. Ugh, my head….
Well, trying to forget that, thank you so much to Bubble Blower, xxApocalypsexx, S.L. Michaels, fang-is-yummy, Maximum Ride all the way, max ride girl, Hallie Lynette, and Evil Angel of DOOM for reviewing! If it means anything you guys rock my world! And S.L Michaels gets credit for giving me ideas! Better give you what you were waiting for, then. Enjoy!
Quick, wait, one more thing! Attention Twilight fans! There's going to be another Twilight book called Breaking Dawn, and then there's going to be Twilight in Edward's POV called Midnight Sun! (squeal) Can you believe it??!! I heard from S.L Michaels, she's got the details. And there's a preview to Midnight Sun on the internet, but I couldn't find it. Well, sorry to Max Ride fans, now on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: did you think I own it? No? Didn't think so. Plus I don't own the songs I'm going to mention for the reception. It'd be so cool if I did, though!
Chapter Eight: Wedding Bells and Doves
POV Max
Fang and I (with plenty of unwanted help from the flock) decided to hold our wedding in two weeks. That gave us a good amount of time to get ready, tell our parents, and plan the wedding. Fang's dad didn't react the way I thought he would when Fang said we were getting married. If anything he welcomed me with open arms! I'll bet Fang's dad was just happy that Fang found a good enough person to spend the rest of his life with. But that's only my guess.
We thought we'd hold the wedding in the garden, near the bench Fang proposed to me. It would be small, just us and the flock and a few of the servants. I invited Mom and Ella, but not Jeb. Come on, you don't honestly think I'm going to invite my evil scientist dad to my wedding! The reception was going to be in the ballroom (yeah, yeah, he has a ballroom, laugh it up).
And then of course we would need to see what the flock would do. Iggy was going to be Fang's best man, and I picked Rina as the maid of honor. Nudge could have been the maid of honor, but she was younger, and the motormouth thing might ruin it. Instead Nudge was a bridesmaid, and Angel was a flower girl. Gazzy was the ring bearer. Kyle, Dylan, Demi, Tara, Skye, and Taylor would be ushers (they really did want a part in the wedding, and Fang and I couldn't think of anything else for them to be).
Nudge, and Angel (and partially Rina) were very insistent on picking a wedding dress for me to wear. I already picked matching white and light blue dresses for them to wear, but now they wanted to help me find my dress. So the Saturday before the wedding we took a limo into the closest town and went to their dress store. It was kinda chaos from there.
"Max, look at this one!"
"But this one has a train, it would look so beautiful when you go down the aisle!"
"This one's satin, it's really soft and airy."
"How about that one over there? Oh wait, that's on hold. But there might be a similar one!"
"Guys, guys! Let's just take it slow, it's only a dress!" I told them.
"But Max, don't you want to look nice when you get married?" Angel asked.
"Well, yeah, but if you fight over these dresses any more the store clerk will go insane." I lowered my voice so the woman at the desk couldn't hear us. She didn't look like she wanted to be angered. The girls took the hint, and browsed in near silence. We saw some nice dresses, and they made me try a few on, but none of them felt right. My wings were itching for some space in the tight backs, and I felt awkward when Rina made them dissolve into my back. We were about to try another store, but when Demi, Tara, and Skye came in to escort us out, Tara and Skye ran into the racks and made just as much noise as Nudge and Angel were making earlier.
"Tara, Skye, get back here!" Demi called after them. Everyone chased after them, and when we finally caught them, they were looking at one dress with no back, a hem that just barely grazed the ground, and no straps.
"Look at this dress, it would look so pretty on you, Max!" Skye said. I had to admit, it did look kinda nice.
"She's right, try it on Max!" Nudge said. "Just one more dress, I promise!" Before I could remind her that she said that five dresses ago, they all pushed me into the dressing room. Sighing, I shed my jeans and shirt and slipped on the dress. It did feel comfy, especially to my wings, which got to stretch out through the back. I barely had to place one foot out before everyone started grinning.
"They were right." Rina said. "You look great. Fang won't be able to keep from drooling!"
"Yeah, what she said! You look so nice, Max!" Angel was positively beaming. You'd think they never saw me in a dress before!
"Wow, that looks so beautiful!" Nudge commented. Tara and Skye were too busy giving each other high fives for their success, and Demi was nodding slightly with a small smile. We bought the dress and went back home, where the boys were waiting for us.
A few hours later
"Okay, so we're going to have shrimp, those little cocktail wieners, cheese puffs, and a buffet for food. Now how about entertainment?" Rina went over the list of things we'll need for the reception. Fang and I glanced at each other. He was bored stiff too, I could tell. We just wanted to have a small wedding, nothing special, but then the girls took charge, and suddenly everything had to be fancy and expensive (not like it was a problem, I just didn't want to spend a lot of money).
"Let's have a band play for us and people can dance!" Nudge suggested. "And we could have really slow songs and rock songs and songs that you can dance to, but not that hip hop stuff or country music because that doesn't go with weddings, or do they? I never heard of people who did hip hop for their reception, but I never heard about a lot of receptions, I've never even been to one! I wonder what they're like, I heard about one where Heather's sister got married and she went to the wedding and she said the reception had this huge ice sculpture shaped like a swan and when her sister and her new brother kissed at the end of the vows everyone got to throw rice at them and it turned into a fight between her and her cousins to see who could get the most rice in this one lady's wig and Heather won because she cheated and-" Rina tore a piece of the notebook paper and handed it to Iggy, who stuffed it expertly into Nudge's mouth to get her to stop talking.
"Well, a band would be kinda nice." Rina agreed as Nudge was peeling the wet paper off of her tongue. "Even lower class weddings have them. Who would you want?" she asked us.
"Uh, no one?" I offered.
"Why not?" Angel's face fell, and she gave me Bambi eyes. Dang, I hate those evil Bambi eyes.
"Fine." I groaned. "We can have a band." Angel and Nudge grinned, and Gazzy shrugged.
"You sap." Fang actually said it this time.
"You saw the Bambi eyes." I elbowed him softly.
"I'll say it again. Any specific bands?" Rina prompted us. We both shrugged.
"I dunno. Someone good?" I suggested.
"There are a lot of those types of bands."
"Someone new?"
"Not quite as many, but still plenty."
"Someone we're familiar with?"
"Now we're getting somewhere!"
I looked to Fang. "Any help with this?"
"Nope."
"Look, guys." Iggy sounded pretty bored. "You can get any band in the world to perform at your reception. Is there anyone at ALL that comes to mind when we ask you this?"
"No." Fang and I said at the same time.
"Hey guys. Lunch time." Dylan came in and saw us all gathered around Rina and the list. "Hey, whatcha doing?"
"Planning the wedding." Iggy answered, apparently more familiar with him than the rest of us. "It's taking forever, mainly because Max and Fang can't pick a stupid band to play at the reception."
"Oh. Well, we could do it." Huh? We all stared at him in confusion.
"What do you mean 'we'?" Rina asked.
"'We' as in me, Demi, Kyle, Tara, Skye, and Taylor."
"And you would do what exactly?" I inquired.
"Play music."
"You play?" Nudge was getting impatient.
"Yeah. Well, Demi sings, though she'll never admit it, and Tara does technical stuff, but the rest of us play instruments. We could do it, if you want. You wouldn't have to force us or pay us or wipe our memories or anything."
"He has a point." Rina turned to us. "We know them, why not?"
"What instruments do you guys play?" Gazzy asked out of curiosity.
"Kyle plays guitar, I'm base, Skye plays keyboards, and Taylor drums. And Demi sings, and Tara does technical stuff to make the sounds sharper or louder or whatever."
"Do you have experience?" this one was from Iggy.
"Nope. But we sound pretty awesome whenever two or three of us practice at the same time. In my opinion, anyways." I turned to Fang.
"Should we?"
He shrugged. "It's either that or pick a band at random and have them-" he nodded towards the rest of the flock watching us "criticize our taste."
"Good point." I turned to Dylan. "You're in."
He grinned, apparently enthusiastic. "Excellent! Our first gig. And now that you've agreed, we have a small difficulty."
"What?" I asked.
"Demi won't sing. She's the best of us, but she thinks she sucks."
"Just how good is she?"
"Scary good. Whenever she sings everyone stops and stares at her. She thinks it's bad, though."
"Just drag her onto the stage if you have to."
"Okay!" he seemed pretty content to have to drag his sister onto a stage and make her sing. He turned to leave, but swiveled around. "Oh yeah, lunch is up in a sec."
The Wedding Day
POV Iggy
This tux is not comfy. I could see Gazzy squirming a bit in the itchy fabric, and even Fang looked a little unhappy, even though he was wearing black. I also saw Fang's slight happiness to be getting married, even in the twilight (they decided to have the wedding at twilight). But still, I don't know why we have to dress up, I'm not the one getting married.
"But you will be soon."
"Angel!"
"What? So I heard you. Big deal. It's true, you'll be the one in Fang's place soon." I glanced once again at Fang, who was standing at the little makeshift altar that was actually some pavement near the roses with a canopy above us. Fang looked so nervous for no reason. The priest guy on the other hand looked bored, like he did this a thousand times, and he sure looked liked he lived long enough to have done so. I could almost see my name written with his wrinkles. But back to Angel.
"What makes you think she'll say yes?"
"Do I need to spell it out for you? Wait, can't right now, I'm going to come out in a sec. Got the ring in place?"
"Yeah." I could still feel the ring of doom lodged in my shirt pocket. I couldn't see it, but it felt like a huge weight on my chest. Gazzy (the ring bearer, who ironically has to stand next to me, the best man, who is also carrying a ring) elbowed me, and I looked up to see Angel coming down the aisle, grinning like crazy with her flower petals. She winked at me as she took her place on the other side of the altar and clung to her now-empty basket.
Up next was Nudge, the bridesmaid. She walked in slow motion, looking like a prom queen without the tiara. I think she was overdoing it, but she never did this before, so I took pity. The silence must have been killing her, because when she got to Angel she began rambling in a frenzied whisper, probably asking if she was okay walking down the aisle and when Max was going to come out. But I forgot Nudge as Rina came down the aisle.
Whoa. I thought Rina was pretty in her pajamas. I should have seen her with a dress. The light blue fabric brought out the red highlights in her hair (which was in a bun at the moment), and she almost sparkled with every step. She walked with dignity, probably the only one who did this before. And then she tripped. It was a small one, maybe a wobble, but I was five steps away from my post before she got up again. She sent me a special smile as soon as she got to her place parallel to me, despite her blush. She looked dazzling.
"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself." For once I was glad that I wore this tight tux. Then everyone's eyes were averted when it was Max's turn. She looked great. Not as good as Rina, but I bet to Fang she was eye candy. The white dress just barely trailed off of the floor, and it was strapless and struggling to stay on her figure. But the most outstanding part was that the dress had no back, so Max's wings were outstretched behind her! The crowd drew in a breath, which I would usually think was traditional, but this time it was for a different reason rather than how stunning she looked. The priest guy looked unphased, even when Rina opened the backs of our tuxes and dresses to reveal our own wings (oh man that felt so good!), and began the vows.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join…." He forgot their names already.
"Fang." Fang prompted.
"Max." She followed suit.
"Fine, then, Fang and Max, in holy matrimony. But before the vows, a poem. This one is 'Love' by Shell Silverstein." Ugh, great, one of those boring weddings where there's more talking than reception. Yawn. Apparently Rina thought along the same lines, because the next thing we knew, the priest was talking at super speed, and he sounded like one of those tapes when you fast-forward and the voice is all high pitched and fast. The audience (we don't have much of one, just some of Fang's dad's friends, Dr. Martinez, Ella, and some other people we knew) was either really confused or trying to keep from laughing. I leaned over to look at Rina. She was staring at the ceiling with a small smile and an innocent look on her face. Too innocent.
"Rina." I grinned but tried to look stern.
"What, he was going to do this for hours! I'm doing you a favor, trust me." She gave up all pretenses.
"Well, I was going to ask why you didn't do that to Nudge, but that works too!" Rina giggled, and then remembered to slow the priest down to the vows.
"Do you, Fang Denton, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold-" Rina sped him up a little more. "-as long as you both shall live?"
"Yeah." That's Fang, never says two words unless he needs to. He won't say "I do" if that takes away his reputation. Not even "Yeah, sure." But that's disrespect.
"Do you, Maximum Ride, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health-" once again, Rina couldn't resist skipping just a little more. "-as long as you both shall live?"
"I do." Eh, what else is she supposed to say?
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss." They didn't need any more notice than that. They went right at it, and they looked pretty happy to be married. Everyone applauded, especially Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy. I think they were happy that Fang and Max were finally married.
"I'll say."
"Hey Rina. Enjoy the wedding much?"
"Yeah, the looks on your faces were worth it!"
"Any particular reason you want to read my mind?"
"Just to see what you thought of the wedding and to remind you that you owe me a dance"
"I owe you a dance? I don't think we made a contract saying I owe you one."
"You're the best man, I'm the maid of honor, and naturally they both dance after the bride and groom. Tradition stuff."
I shrugged. "Okay, but I can't dance."
"I know, me neither. I always blow it by tripping. You saw me in the aisle."
"Yeah, but still, should we get to the reception about now? I would never miss an opportunity to see Fang dance."
"Hehe, good point, but first we need to sign the marriage certificate, remember?"
"Oh, yeah, that." Without further adue, we stepped up to the impatient priest waving the marriage certificate up for us to sign. Rina went first, her signature as neat as ever, and after my wobbly script we headed up the hill to the ballroom.
When we got in there, it was packed. The claustrophobia was already starting to sink in because there were so many people in this huge room (Fang's dad invited them all). My breathing got shallower as some wife of a coworker of Fang's dad laughed way too loud, and I started sweating as the warmth of all those close bodies got to me. Then it all disappeared as Rina grabbed my hand and used her thumb to stroke my knuckles.
"Everything is fine. You'll get through." I knew she was using her powers to calm me down, but just her hand soothed me enough. I grinned at her, grateful that I felt better. I'd need it for what I was going to do later.
We made our way to a table at the other end of the ballroom, over by the stage. Nudge waved at us while talking with Angel and Gazzy about who-knows-what, and Max and Fang were watching the room full of people with anxious expressions. Rina gave them a good stare, and they relaxed, just like I did. We took our seats (conveniently moving mine next to hers) right as the band started.
"Testing, testing." It was Dylan (I know that's his fake name, but I'll call him Dylan anyways) who was speaking into the mike and not Demi, which was odd. I thought she was going to sing tonight. "Testing. Little more volume!" he called over to Tara, who was sitting with a laptop backstage. "Okay, now that you all can hear me, let's start with the first dance. I'll be singing this one, and then our professional will come out and make me look pathetic with her voice." A few people chuckled at that. "But for now, let's have the bride and groom come out for their first dance." Max and Fang rolled their eyes, but got up because the applause was so demanding. Kyle started the first few notes to "Hey There, Delilah", and then Dylan started the song while playing base.
"Hey there Delilah, what's it like in New York City? I'm a thousand miles away but girl tonight you look so pretty, yes you do. Times Square can't shine as bright as you, I swear it's true. Hey there Delilah, don't you worry about the distance, I'm right there if you get lonely, give this song another listen. Close your eyes. Listen to my voice, it's my disguise, I'm by your side." The song continued as Fang and Max slowly circled around the room. Neither of them could dance, but it was really fun watching them try! Fang could have grimaced if Max hadn't smiled at him and put her head on his shoulder. So now he looked content. Some other couples got onto the dance floor and copied Max and Fang. I figured I better do the same.
"You wanna dance now?" I held out my hand to Rina. She took it.
"Anytime." We headed next to Max and Fang and started trying to dance. It was kinda awkward since neither of us knew how, but we tried, and eventually Rina ended up resting her head on my shoulder, facing away from Max and Fang. Imagine that, me, Iggy, with a great girlfriend on my shoulder, dancing at Max and Fang's wedding reception. That's kinda weird.
I caught Fang's eye to see if he had fallen asleep yet. Feeling my gaze, he looked back, and unseen by anyone else, he mouthed "your turn." I rolled my eyes and looked away. By then the dance had ended, and we went back to the table. Applause followed the end of the song, and everyone but Kyle took a bow (Kyle just stood there stiffly).
"Okay, now that I have thoroughly embarrassed myself, give me a sec." Dylan said and followed Kyle backstage, coming out a moment later with Demi, still in her dress. Apparently she was being dragged over to the mike, because she kept trying to stop them and say things like "I can't sing!" (I read her lips) Dylan and Kyle just ignored her, and when she tried to tell them one last time Kyle said something like "we had a deal" and left her. She stood frozen, staring at the huge room. She surveyed our table particularly. I sent her a small smile to encourage her, and Rina waved next to me. That made her thaw out.
"Uh, hi everyone. That was my brother, Dylan, singing 'Hey There Delilah'. I'm Demi, and I'll be singing the rest of the time. Now just to warn you, everyone has this weird thought that I can sing well. I'll tell you now that I can't. We just had a little deal. So please don't throw too many tomatoes, this dress is my only one!" our little band took that as a cue to start playing. I didn't listen to Michelle Branch much, but I recognized "All You Wanted" almost instantly. When it was Demi's turn to sing, I was expecting some screeching voice or something like that (hey, she said she was bad, what else do I expect?), but it wasn't that. It sounded more like Michelle Branch herself, maybe better. I was a little surprised that she could sing so well. Once she finished the applause was almost deafening. She grinned, surprised, and took a bow. Then she began "Girlfriend" (which I'm pretty sure is by Avril Lavigne), and everyone started dancing. Rina got caught in the music and pulled me on the dance floor, but not before I could place the wedding ring on the table, hidden by the drinks. Otherwise it might get loose and ruin the surprise.
POV Rina
I don't know what Demi/Tali was thinking (still don't know what to call her! Maybe I'll just call her Demi to help me remember), but she was a perfect singer. It almost drove me crazy trying to figure out why she kept all that hidden talent inside of her. When she began "Girlfriend" I pulled Iggy onto the dance floor, even though I would usually never dance more than once. It's a special occasion, why not?
A few songs later, Demi signaled for the band to stop, and turned to face the crowd, no longer afraid of being rejected. "Okay guys, now it's time for the best man to make the toast. Iggy?" Iggy turned to me again as Demi, Kyle, Dylan, Skye, and Taylor headed off stage for a mini break.
"Give me a sec?"
"Sure, go ahead." He grabbed a wine glass from the buffet table and climbed onstage. Demi came up and grabbed some orange juice. "Hey!" I greeted her.
"Hey Rina." She turned to face me, saving her glass of orange juice for the toast.
"That was great singing up there. Why didn't we know you were that perfect?" she blushed.
"I just never thought I was good, I guess. But Taylor kinda heard me singing in the shower and told everyone else, so next thing I knew I was onstage singing at this reception. It's no big, really."
"I think it's big. You guys should think about going professional." By now Iggy was starting the toast, so we were whispering, just like old times. Demi smirked.
"I'm only thirteen! We can't yet."
"You should still consider it. It beats the heck out of serving us."
"Nah, it's not as bad as you'd think."
"Oh, he's about to toast them!" I grabbed a glass of wine from a passing waiter, but Demi whisked it away, turned around, grabbed an apple juice, and placed it in my hand in one fluid motion. I was about to question her, but Iggy was already halfway through.
"Here's to Max and Fang." He concluded, and drank up. Everyone followed suit, me included. Once the juice was gone, I turned to Demi.
"Why'd you do that?"
She wiped her mouth. "Well, you'll need to be as sober as possible for what's going to happen next."
"Which is?"
"Can't say now, I need to go back up. But you'll see!" she waved as she turned to head back to take Iggy's place onstage. As always, she left me utterly confused. But this time I couldn't dwell on it too much, because Iggy came up to me, sweating.
"Nice toast." I greeted him.
"Thanks. I'm not too good at making speeches."
"You were great, trust me." Somewhere, some little part of me actually meant that even though most of me wasn't paying attention.
"Hey, you wanna go for a walk?"
"Sure!" I took his hand, and felt it drip. "Why are your hands sweating?"
"It's the pressure. You get up on a stage with all those lights and all those people watching and listening, you kinda react." He didn't sound completely sure, but his mind didn't say anything otherwise, so I just nodded and followed him out. We winded through a few hallways until we got to the garden. Once the doors opened we both breathed deeply. Ahh, the fresh night air felt so good! Especially to a claustrophobic guy and a girl who had to smell all those ladies' overly-sprayed perfume and feel the heat of all those dancing people.
"Feels great, doesn't it?" I asked Iggy.
"You have no idea." He relaxed for a moment, and then tensed up for some reason.
"Why are you so tense?"
"No reason."
"It's something."
"Maybe. But let's not stand with the door open." He left the mansion into the periodically lit gardens and I followed, suspicious. When Iggy cares about flies getting in the house, pigs will fly and gas will be free. Something's up, I know it.
"So why are you so tense? And sweaty?"
"I already answered."
"But not truthfully."
"I know."
"So do you want to tell me what you're lying about?"
"Nope." Argh, his mind didn't have anything either! Time for last resorts.
"Please?" I gave him the angelic Bambi eyes. "For me?" Hehe, sucker, he was falling for it. Then he turned away at the last second.
"You know what?"
"What?"
"I'm going to tell you."
"The whole truth?"
"The whole truth."
"Everything?"
"Yeah."
"YAY! Let's hear it."
"Uh, maybe you should be seated?"
"Are you stalling?"
"No, I just think you should have a seat before I tell you." He pointed to the concrete ledge next to the greenhouse. I shrugged.
"Fine." I took a seat, eager to hear what he had to say. He hesitantly sat next to me and took a deep breath.
"Okay, so you know I'm lying about why I'm all tense, right?" I nodded impatiently. "Well, I'm like that because I'm taking you on this walk to tell you what I was lying about earlier."
"You mean that one where you were somewhere other than the theater that night you talked to Fang about proposing to Max?"
"Yeah, that one."
"So what about it?"
"Well, I was lying to you because I have a surprise for you."
"A surprise? I like surprises." In Iggy's mind, he was slapping himself on the forehead because that way was a weird way to start it. But start what?
"Yeah. Fang says you'll like it, but I'm not so sure." He got even sweatier, and my curiosity increased.
"Like what?"
He sighed. "Okay, obviously I've never done this before, so here goes." He got up, rummaged around in his pockets a bit, clenched something in his fist, and got down on one knee in front of me. Wait, one knee? Could this mean-
"Rina, will you marry me?" Iggy finally unclenched his fist to reveal a gold ring, exactly my size. He smiled at me a bit, waiting for my response. But I didn't need to think anything over. It all became clear the moment I first saw him.
Acting on instinct only, I went down on my own knees and hugged him so hard he lost his breath for a moment. "Of course I'll marry you." I let go and kissed his cheek. He look stunned, feeling the spot, just like the last time I kissed him. Then he pulled me in and kissed me at full force. I loved it. And I couldn't believe he asked me to marry him! I never even saw it coming, never heard it in his mind…wait, that's what he wouldn't tell me! It was all so clear now. But screw logic, I'm getting married to the best man in the world!
We stayed like that for a while, until I realized that everyone would be wondering where we were. So we stood up, Iggy's hand on my waist, and walked up the hill with no talking at all. Nothing needed to be said. When we opened up the grand doors, everyone was still there and dancing to another rock song, Sk8er Boi. Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel looked tired, but they were pigging out on wedding cake. Angel and Nudge were playing with the toy bride and groom that used to be on the top of the cake (and the dolls had wings glued to their backs!), but set them down when they saw us.
"Hey guys! Where were you? You were out there for like twenty minutes, you missed Max and Fang cutting the wedding cake. Plus they did three songs, but they were all slow dancing, so we just sat through it and watched Max and Fang-" Nudge would have rambled on, but Angel gasped when she read our minds.
"You DID?! And you said yes? YAY! Can I be the flower girl again? And if you were Max's maid of honor will Max be your maid of honor? When's the wedding? Can we help again? Will you have the same band play?"
"Angel!" Iggy and I both said at the same time. Jeez, the mind reading has her turning into Nudge!
"Hey guys, what's up?" Max said as she came off the dance floor with Fang by her side. We would have explained but Angel couldn't wait.
"Iggy proposed to Rina and Rina said yes!" Max and Fang looked at each other, then burst into grins (well, not so much Fang).
"I told you she'd say yes." Fang prompted Iggy.
"And I told you she'd say yes." Iggy nodded at Max.
"So when's the wedding?" Max asked me.
"No clue. We'll figure it out later." I responded while I watched Nudge give Angel five dollars (apparently they had a bet on when Iggy would propose to me, and Angel won). Everyone was talking about our engagement while the band played. Demi winked when she saw me. So she knew? For once everyone knew something I didn't. Scary.
But what was scarier was when a white dove flew in through a closed window, over the crowd, and in front of me. Everyone, and I mean everyone, looked at me confused. No one but I knew what a white dove meant. I took the letter tied to its leg, and it through once again through the closed window and out of sight. With trembling hands, I broke the wax seal with the "G" stamped on it. The flock's eyes were still glued on me, though the band started again and everyone continued as if nothing had happened.
"Rina?" Gazzy asked.
"Huh?"
"What's that?"
"A letter from the genie government."
"Why would they write to you? You're free." Iggy asked.
"Just because I'm free doesn't mean they can't contact me." I responded, then started reading. My eyes widened with every sentence. No, no, it couldn't be, I added restrictions! Why would this happen? How could it happen?
"Rina?" I looked up to see Iggy looking at me with worry. In his eyes I could see my reflection, how freaked out I really looked. "What did they say?"
I gulped. "It says Ari 2 was wished free. And he's looking for me."
Okay everyone, it's six in the morning right now, therefore I'm sleepy and will make mistakes. I can't even check it right now, I need to catch a bus in three minutes. But please review and make my day!
