A/N: Hello. Hi. How yah doing? I'm great. Just feeling bored is all. Yeah even writers get bored. Why do we get bored? Because no one will take them ANYWHERE! Yeah that's right. No one ever wants to take the writers anywhere. We just sit at home and pretend to be dead. No, I'm just kidding. We don't do that…well, not ALL of us. ~.^
Okay. I feel the need to reply to my reviewers. So here yah go!
-CallMeButLove-: I know. So sorry about that cliffy. I need those to make the story more interesting. And thanks! I luffles my OC's. They're so much fun to write about!
KNDFANGIRL: Wow. Again loving the long reviews from you. Yes. Feel very afraid of the wrath of the chili dogs!
Hoagie: MWHAHAHAHAHAHA! You feel scared of the chili dogs, no?
Me: Uh, me? Nope. Not at all.
Hoagie: I sure do. They scare me.
Me: Why?
Hoagie: They scare me at how good they are!
tmcala: No need to worry. And thanks for the review!
laughyytaffy: I was wondering what happened to you. ~. ^ Anyway, glad that you reviewed the last chapter. Means a lot. Thanks so much!
Okay. Reviews are over. So ON WITH THE STORY! ! ! ! !
Shirley's POV
The last paragraph. Finally I can finish this book.
"I didn't want to move, didn't want to do anything. Fang was not waiting for me out in the living room. Tomorrow morning, when I woke up, Fang would still be gone." I shut the book and left it on my chest. I closed my eyes and breathed silently. No one was here to bother me. The house was completely deserted and I was the only person in the house.
I felt at peace.
"Shirley?"
Well, here's the thing about peace. It doesn't stay too long.
My eye lids opened and I saw my father, clad in red, white and yellow swim trunks. He approached me carefully and fixed his sunglasses. I saw mine sitting on the side table. Instead of those being in front of my eyes, my actual glasses were. I couldn't really read without them, so I had to switch off every now and then. But I hated how I looked so dorky. I hated my reading glasses. I just looked…odd.
I quickly grabbed the other glasses off my face and stuck them into my pocket and put my black sunglasses on. My dad wasn't wet because he didn't really like the pool either, but he still wore trunks. He smiled at me and looked down at the book in my lap. He gently took it from my grasp and read the back of it.
"What kind of book is this?" He questioned, handing it back to me.
I quickly took it back and stood.
"Just a James Patterson book. It's about these kids who were kidnapped or made in a lab. Scientists made them grow wings and one of the scientists helped them escape but they hate him now. It's confusing. You would have to read all of them to understand."
He looked at me shocked.
"All of them?" He asked.
I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, dad. There are six books in the Maximum Ride series. And more to come. This was the last book of the series so far and I just finished it."
"Sounds… interesting. Well, your mother wants you out at the pool. Now come." He demanded.
I frowned at him and shook my head.
I put the book in the inside pocket of my cloak. Yes, I do wear a cloak. That's just who I am.
"I don't wanna come. I hate swimming or being around a lot of people."
He shook his head.
"You have to. I know you hate to be, um, social, but we need everyone there. Starr and Allen need everyone there to do something special. They haven't told us what, but I'm sure it'll be fun. Now come on Shirley or your mother will come and hunt both of us down." He then grabbed my wrist and tried to pull me out of the room.
"No! I don't wanna!" I screamed, holding onto the chair.
My dad just grabbed my legs instead and pulled.
I didn't budge, so he pulled harder.
I tried kicking, but my dad had gripped both my legs together.
All of a sudden he let go and walked away.
I let go of the chair and turned around.
My mother was standing there. I gulped and shoved my hands into my pockets. My dad gave me an apologetic look and disappeared back outside. My mother stormed in, fire in her eyes, and her hands on her hips. She glared at me and pointed to the door. I looked down and walked slowly to the door.
"I have no idea what possessed you to disobey your father and I, but I'm going to do something about it. Now get you troublesome self out to the pool and seated. I will deal with you later. Now get!" She yelled, walking next to me.
I nodded and followed her out to the pool.
She said nothing the whole way. She wore a straight face the entire time and it kind of freaked me out a little. My mother could be scary when she was annoyed or angry. Now I know why my dad hated to upset her, even on accident.
Finally we made it to the boring scene of the pool.
Everyone was sitting in chairs around a super long table.
I spotted my sister talking to PJ and Freddy.
They looked lost, as did most of the people sitting around the table.
My mother suddenly wrapped her hand around my arm and dropped me down into a chair. She bent down to face me.
"Now stay here or you'll be in so much more trouble than you bargained for." Then she went to sit down.
I rolled my eyes and let my head fall onto the glass table.
"Shirley. You okay?"
I looked up to see Sarah.
She was looking at me strangely.
"Yeah. I just don't wanna be here. It's so boring!" I told her, propping my head up with my arm.
She smiled and patted my back.
"You make it boring, Shirley. You have to actually do something to make it fun."
I shook my head.
"What's so fun about a pool full of water?" I asked her, sitting up more.
She shrugged.
"Dunno. But lots of people think it's fun. So why not try it out?" She smiled and I grinned at her. Maybe she was right. It did seem boring, but lots of people enjoyed it. I never really understood so I never really tried it out.
She then turned back to talk to Sydney.
Ugh. Sydney. A teenager that seems to have everyone's trust. Well she would never be trusted by me. She's a teenager and shouldn't be trusted. End. Of. Story. No way will I ever trust her or any other teenager for that matter. Nuh uh. No way.
"Hey, Shirley?"
My eyes slowly faced the teenager I was just thinking about.
She smiled at me brightly and leaned over the table. Sarah was pushing herself back in her chair so I could see Sydney better.
I glared at the blonde.
"What?" I asked curtly.
"Can you get Yuki and Parker?" She asked, pointing to the oriental girl next to me and the black haired boy across from the girl. I crossed my arms and looked more deeply at her. She waited for me to do something but I simply did nothing.
I cleared my throat.
"Why?" I asked casually.
She rolled her eyes and put her hands up on the table.
"Because I need to tell them something. That's why."
I shook my head.
"Why would I obey a stupid teenager like you? I obey no teenager and I would never obey you." I spat out to her. She glared at me harshly and Sarah pushed her back so she wouldn't jump out at me. Then the Gilligan girl turned back to me and sneered. I blinked at her in surprise.
I let my arms fall to my sides at her expression.
"Shirley. Just get them. We're not on duty right now. Now just get them!" She whispered, well whispered/yelled, at me.
I did as she wanted and turned around.
Yuki was chatting with her father when I tapped on her shoulder.
She stopped and turned around, a broad grin on her lips.
Wally didn't look too happy with me interrupting their father/daughter talk, so he rolled his eyes and waited for her to return to the conversation.
"Yes?" Yuki asked, batting her thick, long eye lashes at me.
I rolled my eyes.
"Get Parker. Sydney wants you two." I told her.
She nodded joyfully and tapped Parker's arm.
He stopped talking to his brother, Mark, and turned to the ebony haired girl.
"What?" He asked nicely.
"Sid wants us."
He smiled and the two looked over at the older girl.
Sydney was leaning over the table and me and Sarah were pushing back on our seats to let the three talk. But no talking went on. Sydney only did hand motions to them and the two nodded. I watched the whole scene between the three and something didn't seem right.
After Sydney went back to her normal posture, the other two did as well. Sarah sighed happily and straightened up, followed by me.
"What the heck was that all about?" I asked her.
"Nothing you need to worry about. Not everything is you business." She said, smirking as she turned to talk to the teenage blonde.
I growled under my breath and laid my head back on the table.
Sarah's POV
I giggled to myself when I said that to Shirley.
He would usually get all mad if someone said that to him, but he can be like that sometimes.
Sydney was in a conversation with that Dawson kid when I faced back around.
She laughed at what he said and he smiled.
"Really? That's so funny!"
I giggled at her and she faced me, a playful glare on her features.
Dawson peered over her to look at me.
I waved to him and he smiled at me.
"Hi. I'm Dawson." He said, reaching over to shake my hand.
I grinned at him and shook his hand.
"Hi. I'm Sarah."
Sydney rolled her eyes and stood up.
I shrugged and moved over closer to talk to Dawson.
"Isn't you mom that Starr lady all of our parents came to visit? She must be real popular." Dawson started laughing and I blushed. Did I say something funny? I don't remember saying anything funny. "What? What is it?" I asked shyly. He shook his head, calming down his laughter.
"Nothing. Just that my mom is popular, but not all the people she knows are her friends. She's not too social when it comes to other people. Now I know where my brother gets it from. So, which ones are your parents?"
I looked around.
My mom was sitting next to my brother, talking to Fanny, and my dad was at the end of the table, laughing at his own jokes. I smiled and pointed to them. Dawson nodded and smiled.
"So your mom is that calm lady and your dad is the one with the corny jokes?"
I nodded sheepishly at him saying my dad had corny jokes. Now I knew he wouldn't like my jokes. I got mine from my dad.
"Uh, yeah." I replied quietly.
"No. That's okay. My parents aren't always cool either." He scrunched down when a woman walked by and grabbed his head. She bent down to him and frowned, an annoyed expression was on her face. He smiled at her weirdly and looked down.
"What?" She said slowly.
He looked up.
"Nothing."
She gripped his head tighter, but not too hard though.
"Dawson?" She egged on.
The Mexican American boy sighed.
"Sorry, mommy." He huffed out.
The woman smiled and walked back to her seat.
I stared after her and started giggling at the boy.
"Mommy?" I asked, my eye brow raised a little.
He rolled his eyes.
"Oh come on. She's my mom. I can call her whatever I want. What's the big deal?" He asked, his face turning red from embarrassment. I giggled.
"Nothing's wrong. Just kinda funny. That's all."
He covered his face up with his towel that was hanging on the back of his chair and I grinned at him.
He peeked out from under the towel and smiled at me.
Sydney's POV
"What do you mean that it's off schedule? I informed you this morning and you said they didn't suspect a thing."
"I know, but the plan is just a bit off schedule because of… other issues."
"That's an excuse, Sydney. Now either you get the plan back on track or I'll have to get someone else to take care of this problem. I can still find out where you are located."
"No! I'll… get the plan back on schedule. Just give me the chance."
"Fine. But I'll be calling later to see how the plan's taking affect. Over and out."
I switched off my communicator and shoved the cruddy thing into my pocket.
Who did they think I was? A personal lackey? I am surely not a lackey, but if I wanted this job I had to do as I was told. And that was to get this plan moving along.
My back hit the back of the tree I was leaning on. I slid down and put my arms up on my bent knees. I had put my jeans back on over my orange swim suit. It had dried and wasn't wet anymore, and I didn't seem like swimming anytime soon. Nothing was right in the world now. I had too much responsibility to handle. I couldn't take it, but I had to.
A sigh erupted from my mouth and I opened my eyes, not even knowing I had closed them.
In front of me was a pair of feet. Orange and black flip flops covered the feet. I looked up slowly to see a pair of dark eyes leaning over me. The person was frowning, his golden hair pushed out of his eyes. I looked away and he sat down on the cold earth next to me. He laid his bulky hand on my knee and smiled at me. I ignored him and he frowned again.
"Sydney? What's wrong?"
I scooted away from him and grumpily stared out at the table everyone was at.
A cool breeze blew by and ruffled my hair, making it blow up in front of my mouth.
I pushed it back and laid my hands back into my lap.
He moved closer to me and leaned up against the tree like I was. He bent his knees and put his hands in his lap, staring up instead of the way I was staring. His dark pools of green kept looking to and fro. I ignored him and scooted over more, only for him to follow suit. I grunted and he glanced over to stare at my face.
"Sid?"
I ignored him again and stood up, walking over to another tree, leaning back on it with my arms crossed and my feet crossed over each other. He got up as well and copied my movements. I rolled my eyes at him and turned my back toward him.
I felt his rough hand graze my back as he tried to comfort me.
All I did was push him away and face my back to him again, staring up at the indigo sky above us.
"What's the matter?" He asked the third time.
I shook my head and started to walk back to the table, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me to him. I looked up at his eyes and they darkened, making my eyes look down. He let me go and pulled my chin up to look at his face.
"Don't walk away from me. Now you better answer me. Tell me what is wrong. If you don't you ain't gonna do anything fun the rest of this trip." I gasped and he smirked. I glared at him and he put his hands on his hips.
I rolled my eyes and he waited.
"I can't. You wouldn't understand." I admitted in a whisper.
"Try me." He challenged.
I shook my head, my straight golden locks swishing to the side.
"I'm telling you. You ain't gonna understand. You're an adult and wouldn't know what I'm talking about."
He sneered.
My eyes widened when he grabbed me again and pulled me up with both his hands up to his face. I squirmed in his grasp, but nothing happened.
"I'm not that old, Sydney Kayla Beatles. Now tell me what is wrong with you!" He snarled threateningly.
I stuck my tongue out at him.
He frowned, letting me fall to my feet again.
"Why do you care?" I asked him.
He shrugged.
"'Cause I'm your brother and care for yah. You're like my daughter, but I can act more brotherly to you instead of being the authority over you. If it's personal I'll leave you alone, but if you just bottle things up inside it can turn out more troublesome than you wanted. Now do you wanna tell me or leave it to yourself?"
I shrugged.
"It's…personal. So I'll leave it to myself." I told him.
He frowned and put his arm around my shoulders, leading the two of us back to the table to sit.
I made myself comfortable and looked over at Starr as she stood at the head of the table, waiting for everyone to settle down. Silence suddenly took over and I looked up at our hostess. She smirked at everyone and straightened herself up.
Hoagie's POV
Starr stood next to me.
Her eyes watched over the group of people, staring them down until they calmed down.
When they did she smirked and made herself more presentable.
It was strange how she was the only one (not counting Shirley), who didn't have a bathing suit on. Instead she wore a pair of black capris and a red tee shirt. She had went in the pool, but had gotten out before anyone else to set the table up with Allen. Her hair was still frizzy, but more curly and calmer.
I caught myself smiling at her and she whacked me with her hand.
She smirked and I looked over at Abby.
She was staring at me and mouthed, "You deserved it." I rolled my eyes and faced Starr again. The friend of ours looked out over everybody and her husband brought out a large box. He had their eldest son, Joshua, helping him carry the load. I wanted to help, but Starr already knew I was going to and kept me down in my seat.
"Sorry to be lame, but I was bored and wanted to have a little game."
I smiled.
"You'll never be lamer than me." I whispered in her ear.
She nodded and smirked.
"I know."
My mouth feel open, but I smirked at her.
"So Allen and my kids are gonna quickly hand you a small box and when everyone gets one I'll tell you what to do next. But don't open it yet. Got it?" We all nodded and the three children of hers and Allen walked around, placing a small cardboard box in front of everyone.
When they finished, they gave Starr one and grabbed the last ones out of the larger box for themselves.
Allen set the empty box behind his chair and sat down, leaving Starr the only person standing.
All eyes turned to the brown headed woman I liked to call Starr.
"Now when I say open, everyone open your box and pull out the item. I'll explain further in a moment. Now OPEN!" She shouted. Immediately the boxes flew open and everyone pulled out a bracelet. Each bracelet was a solid color and had a number and letter on it. I placed mine on my wrist and listened for Starr to continue. "Now each person has a bracelet. There are some people who have the same color bracelets and number and letter on them as you. So if you would all get into groups that have the same bracelets as you." She instructed.
I looked at mine.
Blue H0.
I scanned the area and stood, looking for people with the same jewelry as me.
A hand had grabbed mine before I had a chance to do anything though. I looked up and saw Starr. "We're stuck. Now let's go find the rest of our group." She said, dragging me away. I followed her and she stopped in the middle of everyone roaming around trying to find their groups. "Blue H0! Over here!" Starr yelled, getting a few people to pay attention.
Her son, Joshua, ran up to us along with my son, PJ.
The two boys stood next to us.
Starr's other son, Dawson, ran over to meet the group.
"How many people are in each group?" I asked her.
She looked around.
"Six. The little two year olds, which are sleeping over there in the baby pin, are too young to play, so it's exactly thirty people. So six people per group. There are five groups." She said, watching out for our final member.
I nodded.
"Who's our last player?"
She shrugged.
"I dunno. I played just as random as you guys did. It's a surprise." She grinned when Fanny came running over to join us. "Fanny!" Fanny smiled and we all just stood there, waiting for everyone else to join their groups.
Edna's POV
Ugh! Where is my group?
I looked at my bracelet again.
Red R10.
Where the heck is my group?
"Eddie! Yo Eddie!" I halted and looked at Freddy.
He stopped in front of me and panted. I patted his back, but he shoved my hand away gently.
"I'm okay. Just need some air." He said, standing up straight again. "What group do you have?" He questioned. I showed him my band. He almost exploded with joy when he started jumping up and down, shoving his band in my face. "Look! Look! We're in the same group! Where's PJ? Is he in our group too?" I shook my head and pointed to PJ. "Man. If he was here we could all be in the same group." I nodded.
"Maybe we should tell what group we're in like Starr did." I suggested.
He nodded and we raised our arms up.
"Group Red R10! Group Red R10!" We shouted in unison.
Immediately I saw both our dads walk over to us, followed by Willy and Mark.
I froze and blushed over.
Freddy looked at me in concern, but when he saw his twin brother he frowned and shook me.
"Eddie! Edna! Snap out of it!" He said trying to get my attention. I shook my head and smiled at Mark as he stood in front of us. I started twirling my hair and Freddy rolled his eyes, crossing his arms.
Mark shrugged and went to talk to Willy.
I let my arms droop and I sighed in disappointment.
"Forget him. He's just a loser."
I glared at Freddy and he shrank down in fear.
"No he's not!" I shouted to him quietly. He glared back and nodded.
"Yes he is. I should know. He's my brother."
"Well, you're not being fair to him. You should be more kind to your siblings."
He glared at me harder and got up in my face.
"What about you? You and Shirley always fight. You're just being hypocritical." He then began to whisper to me. "You're just sticking up for him because you like him! How could you like that jerk face?" I glared at him and stomped away.
How dare he call me hypocritical.
And how did he know I liked his brother, Mark?
A/N: I'm just so evil. I left you at another cliffhanger. I'm not a fan of them myself, but they are necessary. Well, maybe not ALL the time. But I needed it to stop here. So… MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! And the rest of the teams will appear next chapter. You'll find out soon what those teams are for. ~.^
So if you liked this chapter, besides the cliffy, then go! Press the button below. It is calling your name. No really. Listen…