Chapter 12

"We clear on Plan B?" Max asked faintly. I knew it was really hard to be heard in the skies, what with the wind blowing at us at ninety miles an hour and all, so her screaming was completely muffled over.

I nodded, not really feeling the energy to attempt at yelling her back. We were flying in a V-formation, Max was in front, I was on her left and Nudge was on the opposite side. It felt slightly empty without the other three, but I knew the dangerous implications if they were to be here, so I tried to shake the feeling off.

"Uh-huh," I heard Nudge say and continued on with one of her never-ending monologues. We were on our way to Death Valley, where the School was located. I guess by picking the location Death Valley.

Because antiseptic and dog crates sure scream welcoming and warmth. Talk about dreadful.

I flapped and pushed down against the air, trying to stay aloft at the same height. It was wonderful up here, almost made up for a disturbing childhood. Almost. I felt at peace here, with nothing but the air below me and nothing but blue sky up ahead. This, this is what it's all about, I thought. Flying was where I was happiest. No scratch that, flying with the Flock is where I was happiest at.

A small, pleasant half-smile creeped on my face. God, there was just nothing like flying. Sucks for the 100% humans who were always on foot.

I felt someone's stare seeping at me, and shot a sideways glance to my right. Sure enough, I saw Max eyeing me. Hm, I wonder what's on her mind. Then, she spoke not even a second after.

"And on the plus side, flying is just really, really cool," she smiled and I returned it halfway, my eyes filled with understanding. I wonder how she did that, read my mind. We were always on the same wavelength, Max and I. Almost as if, we didn't didn't Angel to literally go telepath on us. She had a puzzling look on her face, and went on.

"On the minus side, we're mutant freaks who will never live a normal life."

I shrugged. "Win some, lose some."

After giving me a wry smile, she looked back at Nudge, who looked completely in deep though. Something I tended to worry about whenever she did.

Nudge may talk a lot, but she seems to think just as much. I don't know how many times I've caught her in her sleep, frowning. Or stare into space while watching TV. It was like the girl was trying to figure out the meaning of life or something.

"Hey Fang?" Nudge asked, scooting closer to me on my side of the couch. Max was doing the laundry, Iggy was cleaning up at the kitchen, and Gazzy and Angel were already setting up for bed. It was a quiet night. Something we started to get used to the past month.

Ever since Jeb used to.

I turned to face her, giving her my full attention.

"Do you-do you really think," she hesitated, her eyes were filled with utter curiosity. "That Jeb is really...you know, dead? I mean, he just left out of the blue. Like, POOF. Gone. I mean, what if he was alive? What if he didn't mean to leave us?" she gasped. "What if he was kidnapped? OR ABDUCTED? BY ALIENS FROM ANOTHER PLANET? But no seriously though, what do you think?" She looked at me with wide, thoughtful eyes.

I sighed. At first I wanted to say, "Well someone's been watching too many alien movies. But then I wanted to say, "NO, COMPLETE BS. THAT SON OF A B***** IS SOMEWHERE OUT THERE. BS, I SAY, AS EVIDENCE TO HIS MISSING SUITCASE AND HALF OF HIS CLOTHES MISSING!"

But I didn't. Because only I knew about the suitcase. Not even Max. At twelve, Max took over as the parental figure of the flock with the confidence of freaking, I don't know, a really really confident person. It was already enough for a pre-teen, let alone a motherly pre-teen. So I figured I didn't need to tell her, didn't have the heart to. She didn't need any more worry and disappointment in her life. There's already enough to go around.

"Um, I don't know, Nudge. We'll never really know," I lied, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "I guess we'll find out one day..."

She seemed skeptical of my answer, not really sure whether to believe me or not but thankfully, she dropped the subject.

"O-kaaayyyy..." she said slowly, warily standing up, giving me one quick goodnight hug and running off. I was about to breath a sigh of relief, when suddenly her tan head popped out from around the corner. "Oh, yeah. Night Fang. Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite. But you could probably take bedbugs, I mean, you'd just kill them by squishing them. And you're probably not scared like Max is of snakes. Did you know that? Did you know that she was scared of snakes. But you probably knew that already. Since you guys are best friends and all. Which I think is cool, it's like me and Angel, you know?"

I blinked twice, trying to soak in everything she just said. So Max hates snakes, huh? Hm, I better talk to Iggy about what we can do with that. Heh, heh. I blinked again and finally snapped back to reality. "Oh yeah, I know. A'ite, night Nudge. Go to sleep."

And with that she grinned and left, leaving me to wonder about one person.

Max.

A/N: Yeah, I didn't exactly end at this one. Alright, three in the morning and I'm wide awake. What was wrong with me? Oh right, for some stupid reason, I'm grounded. UNTIL THE DAY SCHOOL FREAKING STARTS A MONTH AND A HALF AWAY FROM NOW. F MY LIFE. 'Cause it totally makes sense to ban computer use after forgetting to not wipe off a puddle of water on the kitchen counter, RIGHT? 'Cause apparently, my dad's just funny that way. And blamed it on me rebelling or something. AHAHAHAHA, not. Yeah, so I'll try to sneak in a few chapters every now and then but I won't be sure about the consistency of the updating. REALLY REALLY SORRY. I hope you enjoyed this though. Thank you for reading my rant. *Salute* The following is the exact conversation we had, I kid you not, as father and daughter.

Gazzy: *mimicking Asian father* WHAT'S THIS? A PUDDLE? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? HUH? (INSERT UNNECESSARY SWEAR WORD HERE)

Me: Uhh...I'm sorry?

Gazzy: DAMN RIGHT YOU'RE SORRY. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ALL DAY? CHATTING WITH YOUR FRIENDS AGAIN? (SWEAR WORD)-ING FACEBOOK?

Me: No. I was reading. (It's true, I've been only reading fanfiction that's it...and did the laundry...the dishes and every other [swear word]-ing chore to begin with as I always do)

Gazzy: OH, OKAY. I SEE HOW IT IS. TALKING BACK NOW. AND NOW YOU THINK IT'S OKAY TO JUST READ ALL THE TIME. AND FORGOT ABOUT (SWEAR WORD)-ING CHORES, HUH? (raises octaves gradually)

Me: I'm sorry... (cue annoyed but terrified welling of tears)

Sigh. My life is depressing.