A/N- On profiles now you can see where everyone lives. It's quite neat, seeing as Fanfiction can see your ISP code…I looked at some profiles, and I'm the only one living in Canada. Just a random note, yeah.
I made a poll on my profile, too, to try out the feature. (It's at the top of the page.) Votes are awesome!
Another note: I sat in the same spot for the next Health class. Yep. And they were changing again.
Perfection is an illusion, I learned that week. The grass really was always greener on the other side.
For the first time in my life I had a true home with a true family. I could go to the park, out flying without having to glance behind me every two minutes, or even just sit and lounge around and not worry about some life-or-death situation facing me. It was perfect.
Yet we all know nothing is perfect. It sounds dark, buts it's true.
There was this nagging feeling in the back of my subconscious- it wasn't like the nudge of Fang's thoughts (which, I noted, he hadn't done in a while) but instead those feelings like you know you're overlooking something critical.
Two days after my 'incident with the shower', as Gazzy came to call it, I sat out on the porch doing nothing, just staring into the depths of the forest. The sky overhead was turning pink in the west, bringing a slight breeze with it, making the feathers on my wings flutter slowly.
"Hey, Max."
I jumped a foot, my hands flying up to defend myself before Nudge slowly appeared behind the shrubbery. "Oh, hey, Nudge. What's up?"
She looked kind of glum, which was usually a pretty bad thing. If Nudge wasn't talking or badmouthing some evil guy we had just fought off then something was irking her.
Her feet shifted, and she looked uncomfortable. "Max, this is kind of…I dunno…embarrassing, but…"
"Nudge," I prompted, "embarrassment means nothing to me, remember?"
She flushed. "Yeah, I know…but…Max, will someone ever, you know, like me?"
I was taken aback at the question. Nudge had never appeared to be interested in those sorts of things…but then again, she was at that awkward stage where boys no longer had cooties anymore.
"What do you mean?" I asked, gently moving over and gesturing for her to sit down.
She didn't take the seat. "It's hard to explain…"
I took in a breath, and wondered why I never went through this phase.
Nudge was starting to come to terms with her being a girl, and her liking boys. She wasn't shouldered with command and could freely move about, weird as that sounds. I was guessing Ella had showed her Cinderella or something. Either way, a part of me twisted about at her question. Did I envy her? I never went through that part of childhood.
"Nudge," I started. "Listen. One day there'll be a really awesome guy who likes you for you."
"But I have wings, Max, wings."
It looked as if she had wanted to say this for a while by the way her shoulders sagged in relief after she said it.
"Oh, Nudge," I said, "That guy will be so nice he won't care. He'll think they're the coolest things in the world, but he won't care about them. He'll care about you."
Her eyes softened. "Really?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Trust me on that one."
She whispered a soft "Thanks," then quickly walked past me into the house, leaving me to contemplate that very, very strange discussion.
"That was a nice thing you did, telling her that."
This time I didn't jump; it was as if I knew Fang had been on the other side of the shrubbery, listening closely. He stood and brushed off the dirt and stray leaves, then took the spot I had vacated for Nudge.
"These kids shouldn't…" I began, not knowing where I was going. Fang picked up my sentence.
"Shouldn't have been through this. I agree. But we all have, and we all have to live with it."
I kicked off my shoe and emptied out a pebble that was lodged there. "Angel should have nothing to worry about except teddy bears. Gazzy should be out skateboarding. Nudge should be idolizing celebrities and only paying attention to fashion. Iggy should be some teen chef prodigy or something."
"Those are a lot of 'should be' statements," Fang said. "But they won't be."
"I know."
We watched the sunset for a few moments, then he said, "Do you want to go out for pizza tonight?"
I froze. "What?"
"With the Flock," he said, looking down. If I knew better I'd say he blushed.
"Sure," I said, trying to shake off the awkwardness. I stood, then paused.
"Can you control the mind-thingy? You know, talk to my head? I haven't been able to do it recently."
Whoops.
Wrong thing to say, Max.
I swore the temperature dropped ten degrees, and Fang looked as if he weren't breathing. "Don't bring that up," he said in a dark tone that raced down my spine, my nerves racing.
I wanted to say sorry or something, but I just couldn't. Instead I shook myself from his spell and went back inside and shouted "Pizza!"
I looked at my watch. Five…four…three…two…one…the Flock (minus Fang) were all assembled in front of me, faces alight with the prospect of pizza.
Mom and Ella had stayed behind, as they were both swamped with work at the vets' and Ella wanted the experience of seeing medical stuff, even if it was on animals. Mom had given us fifty bucks (that could cover a lot of pizza) and off we went.
Ella told me that downtown had the best pizza, but to be careful to not stay out too late. We flew over the forest, then veered right and landed on the outskirts of the downtown area, behind a grocery store that smelled strongly of garlic. We walked a block or two, and the downtown core was revealed to us.
It was mainly a long strip with bright stores with neon lights that had yet to light up, and litter covered the ground beside garbage pails. Either way, it was still cool, as we were facing west, and the setting sun gave it a neat lighting. There were some cheap-looking places and other high-end shops, each beside each other.
We found The Pizza Palace, the place Ella had recommended. We had never bothered coming into the city before, being perfectly fine on the outskirts. I had never guessed where the pizza had come from when we ordered in.
It was a shabby place that smelled delicious. A curvy waitress took our order at the counter at the back of the shot, and we sat in mismatched chairs across from each other at a table that leaned slightly to one side. The wallpaper, showing green flowers, was sagging in the corners, and faded pictures were hung around the room. There were three other patrons in the place, each looking equally bored as the rest.
"Not the hippest place to be," I whispered to Fang on my left.
When our five large pizzas arrived the waitress gave us all reproachful looks, as if daring us to eat it all. "Thanks for your visit," she said with a faked smile and went back to help the next customer.
The pizza made up for the lack of service and decorations. We had ordered a few more pizzas and chicken wings, then finally were content with our stomachs full and the surprised face of the waitress.
"That was great..." Gazzy said, licking his lips, while Iggy leaned back, a happy, faint smile playing on his lips.
"Total will be mad he missed that," Angel said, frowning. "Can we take some back for him?"
I nodded, and she piled the leftovers into a small box the waitress left. We paid our bill and left the place, letting the outside air refresh us.
It was a whole different world.
We had obviously been in The Pizza Palace for a long time; the sun was set, and instead of families laughing along the strip, drunk-looking teens wandered along smashing things with beer bottles. The neon signs were lit up, and for a split second I wondered if we were in Vegas or something.
"Woah, guys, lookit thaaa!" A drunken slur came from our left. Some teen, drool hanging out his mouth, was pointing at Gazzy. "He's gotta wing! Betcha they all do!"
I whipped around to Gazzy- one of his wings was poking out the back of his sweatshirt.
"Let's see what they look like up close!" A slightly-more sober friend of his joined, and seven more slobs of human beings came behind them, each looking like they'd had to much to drink.
"Woah," I said. "Really, we don't want trouble. We're just actors for…a new play."
"Wha'everr!" they started closing in on us. We backed away.
See, that's the problem. We're used to fighting Eraser-butt or evil Itex people who want to destroy half the population. Not a bunch of drunk teens on the street who have nothing better to do. There's the whole nobility complex thing going on, I think. It was as if we knew we could fight them, and beat them, but it wasn't a fair fight.
We went into our back-away position: I walked away from them, facing forwards. Fang still faced them, walking backwards, with the Flock between us, eyes to the side. We were covered from all angles.
"Walk away, freaks!" A girl shrieked.
"Losers!"
"Idiots!"
The insults followed us down the strip, when Fang suddenly went, "Ouch!" and Angel cried, "Sorry!"
She had stopped suddenly, and Fang had walked right into her. Her eyes were glued to a bright blue-and-red glittery sign above us: St. Patrick's Bar and Club.
"That looks like fun!" she said, in a trance. I couldn't blame her. Dance music blared and the lights flashed, but it was also a one-way sign to trouble.
"Angel, no," I said. "We have to go home, okay?"
She pouted. "But it looks fun!"
There were two doors: one labeled In and another Out, both in bold lettering. No one was around the doors, just us.
"Come on Max, not for long!"
And before I knew it she squeezed between us all and ran through the In door. "Angel!" I yelled.
I didn't really think, just instead jerked open the door and ran inside with the Flock behind me. I knew immediately there was a problem going on: everything was blurry, flashing, and jammed with people to the brink.
"Got cash?" the bouncer yelled to us, and we shoved a ten into his hands. He added, "You're underage." Fang put in another ten, which got us through with a flourish. Angel must have snaked by him, I guessed.
It was pure chaos inside. Songs blasted while people danced on the floor, with bars lining the two walls with professional barkeepers that threw the bottles in the air and caught them while managing to look graceful. The place was obviously making good money, as it looked much bigger in it. There was a second floor, with two twisting staircases that led up there, several figures leaning over and moving back and forth with the beat.
"Angel!" I screamed, but no one answered. Heck, I could barely hear myself.
We made our way over to the bar on the left side of the room. Fang raised his hand for a barkeep's attention. The man answering us looked about twenty, in good shape, and looked at me a little too fondly. "Hey!" Fang yelled, while the barkeep nodded. "We lost a girl in here- blond, short, you seen her?"
"Nah, sorry!" the guy shouted back while my heart raced. Where was she? Perhaps she had found her way out?
Fang swore beside me. We all huddled together. "Iggy, stay here with Nudge and Gazzy. I'll go with Max. Do not move from here. I don't like this as it is, okay?"
We all agreed, Iggy looking utterly confused. Without his hearing, or at least, too much of it, he was lost.
Fang and I weeded our way through the crowd, always shouting Angel's name. "You guys must be really trippin'!" a guy shouted at us when we screamed a little too close to his ear.
We collapsed against the bar at the right side of the room, worried like mad for both Angel and the rest of the Flock. If we ever split up Fang and I would never be together, but this time we both had to be. We were the only two Flock members who wouldn't be trampled in all of the moving feet and arms. There was a moment when I swore I saw a flash of Angel's hair, but it had disappeared just as quickly. Fang jumped up on the bar, scanning the crowd.
"You! Get down from there!"
Another barkeep, this time a portly, short man with a stained shirt approached us, and Fang, not looking for trouble, jumped off. He glared at us for a good while, then left to go into a back room.
"Let's go back to Iggy and them," I said, Fang barely hearing me. Then an idea struck me.
Shoving all the energy I could into the thought, I said to Fang mentally, This better?
He looked surprised. Your voice is clear above the music.
So was his; it cut through the sound like a knife through butter. Together we once again made our way across the room, trying not to get smacked by exuberant dancers. We found a stressed-out Iggy, Nudge and Gazzy sitting together, eyes darting around.
"Anything?" I screamed.
"No!" they all said.
The first barkeep came over just as a slower song came on, which meant no more yelling. He looked almost as if he should be some brilliant scholar, not a barkeep. He was making good money, though: his clothes were all brand-name and top quality. "Hey, guys, I'm really sorry about that girl, you know."
He hopped up and over the bar, talking directly to me. "It was nice of you to look for her," he continued, "even in a dump like this."
"Well, er, she's my sister," I lied.
"So...it takes guts to come in here. I'm John, by the way."
And then it came to me: he was hitting on me.
Completely oblivious to a seething Fang beside me, he said so lowly I could barely hear him, "How about going into a little back room and see what happens, dear?"
I couldn't contain myself. I slapped him.
"Max!" Nudge yelled, while Gazzy cheered.
"What was that for?" Fang asked, watching the guy rub his cheek, where a thin beard grew.
"He was interested in me," I said simply. John stood straight again, then looked at me in a whole new light.
"Like it hard, eh?" he said, and grabbed my chest.
Fang exploded so fast at first I didn't know what happened.
He tackled John, then proceeded into punching his guts out. John, unable to keep up with Fang, feebly defended the blows.
"Don't you ever do that again, jerk!" he yelled, while a crowd drew in to watch. What he said next shocked me; then again, I wasn't sure if he said it. I heard a soft, "She's mine."
"Get away!" yelled the second barkeep, the one who was from the other side of the room. He picked up Fang and threw him off John, who had blood over his expensive, blue-silk shirt from his bleeding nose.
"Fang!" a voice yelled, while the lights and music still blared. It was Angel, who wormed her way to us.
"Angel!" I shouted, picking her up. Before anything else could happen, I felt a gruff hand at the back of my neck. The bouncer had grabbed me, holding Angel, in one hand and Iggy with the other, then threw us out the door. We were followed by the rest of the Flock shortly after.
"And stay out!" The bouncer yelled, fitting into the cliché perfectly. He shut the door, the sound muffled instantly.
No one spoke.
Then:
"Max! I'm so sorry!" Angel wailed, stammering. "It just lo-oked like fun, I don't know wh-y I wanted it, but it looked cool! I got lost a-nd tried to look for you but-"
"It's okay, Angel," I said, not really meaning it. "Just don't ever do that again, okay?"
She sniffed and nodded.
Dodging the drunks on the streets we walked back into the surrounding area where we could take off with no risk of being seen, Angel's sniffs penetrating the cold night air.
"I didn't know all that happened in small Arizona towns," Iggy mumbled.
"Well, they do need their entertainment. I bet all the surrounding cities' kids come here," I said.
There was something else on my mind: under the lights at St. Patrick's Fang said "She's mine." What did that mean? Was it even him, or just my imagination, or lyrics to the song playing? I wasn't sure.
That was my first experience when I realized that life wasn't perfect, even living with Mom and Ella. I had been living in this little world, away from everything that my world once existed of. Itex was gone, sure, but someone, or something, would replace it. I could feel it somehow, and St. Patrick's was only the beginning of a very, very confusing period of time I wasn't sure would ever end.
My old life was back with a vengeance, and I didn't realize until later just how much that was true.
A/N- I officially love the new polls feature that you can put in your proile. They're seriously awesome. Anywho, thanks to everyone who reviews!