Sorry I took so long to update. If I had it my way, homework would be illegal.
Disclaimer: If I were James Patterson... I got nothing. I'm not James Patterson and I don't own Maximum Ride.
Oh and I'm sure all of you were on the edge of your seats about the Vonnegut reference. Well, nobody guessed it –sigh-, but Boaz is a character in the book The Sirens of Titan.
Fang POV
I walked around the park, scanning the perimeter for Max, but I couldn't see her anywhere. I walked around the park again, but she still wasn't anywhere to be seen. Now I was starting to freak. Maybe she forgot, or maybe she hates me now, or maybe something happened to her and she's lying dead somewhere in the streets, dead, or maybe…Man, liking a girl was hard! I thought I worried about things before, but this was a whole new level of stress.
In the end I just stood underneath the tree that Max and I had once sat beneath. Correction, I did stand under the tree until something from the branches of the tree pounced on me.
I heard the leaves rustling, but before I could turn around something hit me in the back. Hard. I ended up splayed across the grass face down with Max sitting on my back smirking.
"Hey Fang!" she said happily. "It was fun watching you freak out earlier!"
I glared at her. "It's nice to see you too Max. Thanks for jumping on me; I really needed that."
She laughed and stuck her tongue out at me, "Whatever I can do to help."
"You wanna get off of me now? No offense, but I think my back is about to break." I said sarcastically.
She faked hurt. "Fang, I am offended! You have gravely hurt my feelings and now you must face punishment. As punishment…" Max raised her fist and I winced. Then, I heard Max take off running, "Last one to the ice cream stand pays," she shouted back to me.
I jumped to my feet and took off.
Damn, Max was fast. I was sprinting with everything I had and she was still 20 yards ahead of me. Usually, no one could beat me.
Max looked over her should and grinned. "I'll slow down, so you can regain some of your self esteem Fang!" she shouted. She wasn't even out of breath!
True to her word, Max slowed down enough that I could catch up with her, but it was still a struggle.
"Wow Fang, you suck. I thought you'd at least be able to keep up with me," Max said playfully.
"It's not my fault you're so damn fast," I gasped. Max smirked and then started sprinting, because apparently, she wasn't sprinting before. Yeah, I know, it's insane.
So yeah, Max ended up beating me to the Ice Cream Stand in a major way. I would've been humiliated, except for, well, she was Max, and Max could get away with almost anything.
Max POV
When Fang invited me to the park I had no idea what to expect. After all, I've never had a birthday party, never been invited to one for that matter, so it's not like I really know what I'm doing. But, to my surprise, I was having fun. Ambushing Fang by jumping from a tree is way more epic than you would expect, and the bonus of ice cream always helps.
"How are you going to eat all of that?" Fang asked, eyeing my gigantic ice cream come.
"I'll manage," I smirked. My love of ice cream plus the fact that I usually never get to eat it means that whoever buys me ice cream will be spending a lot of money. "Oh, and don't worry, I'll pay you back for the ice cream," I said confidently, though I had no idea where I would get the money for paying Fang back. It was only about 5 bucks, but Jeb doesn't really like to provide for his children, so I'm gonna have to scrounge the money up somehow. Maybe I could just "borrow" a couple of dollars from Jeb's wallet. Of course if he catches me I'll probably be beaten within an inch of my life, so maybe that's not a great idea.
Fang sighed, "Max it's your birthday and you won fair and square; just take the ice cream."
"No can do. I repay my debts no matter how small and insignificant they are!" I shouted overdramatically. A few of the Moms and Babysitters sitting on benches turned to stare at me. I stuck my tongue out at them and, I swear, one of them flicked me off.
Fang saw it too and collapsed into fits of laughter. "So much for the nice people in the rich suburbs," he snickered.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," I said while glaring at the lady, "these people are all about image. Trust me, they're evil on the inside." I couldn't help laughing along with Fang.
"Damn it Fang, you're ruining my death glare!" I exclaimed, punching him. The lady was now staring at my awkward combination of laughing and glaring. The overall effect was not very scary.
Fang punched me back softly, still laughing. "Sorry Max, can't help it." I scowled at him. He looked at me with something I didn't really recognize in his eyes. Affection, maybe? But that wasn't possible.
"You're cute when you scowl," he said softly.
Okay, did Fang just call me cute? I felt my cheeks starting to burn. Was I blushing? This is not happening. No. Nope. Nada. I'm just getting sunburned.
Some old lady passed by us; she must have seen Fang looking at me and/or me blushing, because she exclaimed, "You two are so cute together! Oh, young love. Enjoy it while you can."
If I wasn't blushing before I sure as hell was now. I had to get out of here. Thinking fast I sputtered out, "Oh look at that…. awesome swing set. I'm gonna go swing. Wanna come Fang? Race you! Bye!" I took off sprinting towards the swings, knowing Fang couldn't catch up with me.
I did NOT like Fang. I'm just acting weird, must be stress or something. God knows I have enough of that. That's right, I'm just stressed. I do not like my best friend, not that way.
Fang POV
Am I dreaming or did Max just blush?
I didn't mean to call Max cute, it just kind of slipped out. I was about to say just kidding or something, but then I saw her blushing. She didn't even deny what the old lady said; she just ran away.
Is it possible Max likes me too? The cynic inside of me sneered. Maybe Max just was…overly stressed or something.
I ran over to the swing set where Max was swinging. Her eyes were closed and she had a serene expression on her face. She was beautiful.
I got on the swing next to Max's, but instead of swinging I just watched her. Yup, this is what love does to you folks; it turns you into a full-fledged stalker.
Max opened her eyes. She saw me watching her and blushed again. "You gonna swing or what?" she asked.
I glared at her. "I'll swing."
"Good," she smiled, "Because, in case you were wondering, swinging is the even more epic than ice cream."
"Wow," I said sarcastically, "Even better than ice cream. What makes it so appealing?"
I meant it as a joke, but Max contemplated it for a second. "It's the closest I'll get to flying," she said. I had a feeling that she was talking more to herself than to me. She had this far off look on her face that she sometimes wore. She looked almost sad.
"If you could fly, where'd you go?" I asked.
Max just kept swinging so I figured she either didn't hear me or didn't want to answer. I was guessing the latter. Max was like that. One minute I could read her like a book, and the next she was a total enigma.
A moment later she stopped her swing and answered, "Everywhere. Anywhere. Just never here. If I were free I would never come back. Never talk to anyone again; nobody would even remember me. I would be gone, scattered in the wind." Her face was peaceful, but something was definitely wrong.
"I would remember you," I said quietly.
She looked up and smiled softly. "No you wouldn't Fang. Everybody forgets at some point."
"I won't. Not ever." I said, stronger this time.
"Thanks," she said, staring up at the sky. Then huge raindrops started pouring down on us.
"Come on," I exclaimed, "I know a cave place near here."
Max looked like she had just been shocked out of a trance. She nodded dumbly and followed me towards the cave.
Max POV
Crap! I did not just say any of that to Fang. I'm such an idiot! I can't say stuff like that to people.
I raced alongside Fang to the cave. I had to end this friendship. I was getting attached, that's the worst possible thing that could happen to me.
I had a bit of a writers block when I started this chapter, so there may be a few oddly constructed/oddly worded sentences here and there, but I hope you still liked it!
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