AN: Hey. It's been a while, hasn't it? *dodges any flying things that might be thrown this way* I've had really bad writer's block. That's the best excuse I can give you. *winces* Um, this chapter is kind of bad. Okay, not even kind of. It's just…crappy. I'm really just posting this so I can update and because I had to get this out of the way. This is really short too. So…sorry. I'm also really sorry that not all of the flock is in this chapter. I'll put them in next chapter. I promise! But I break my promises a lot…

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.

Max POV

I threw the phone onto my bed as hard as I could. Busy. Nick was calling someone. Just when I wanted to talk to him, I couldn't. Oh, the irony. I wanted to tell someone about the dreams. And Nick was the only one who could help. I mean, the daydream and the dream had featured both of us. Together. I tried to put that thought out of my head. In every dream I'd had, it seemed like the Nick look-alike and I were together—together together. I was even willing to help him with his…problem if he would help me figure out why the Nick look-alike had wings.

But I didn't want to call him again. Maybe when I hadn't been able to reach him, the fates were telling me that calling him was a bad idea. When I had called him before, it was a split-second decision. I hadn't had time to doubt my choice. But now I could stop and think about what I was doing. It was possibly the worst decision I could ever make. He would probably just think I was crazy and make fun of me for dreaming about him—or at least someone who looked exactly like him. But then, he wasn't in any better position. He was the one a witch had turned ugly.

Fang/Nick POV

"Nicky, come play with me." I felt a tug on my wrist and looked down to see a little blonde girl look up at me with her big blue eyes.

I had arrived at Aunt Mandy's house last night. She had understood about what had happened and she said she would let me stay here for a while. She was divorced and had two kids, Angela and Zephyr.

Angel was the one who was currently tugging on the sleeve of my shirt. The good thing about her was that she didn't exactly see me as ugly, just different. She seemed more introspective and logical than most 8-year-olds. This may seem weird, but it was almost like she could read people and tell what they were thinking or something. Probably just my imagination though.

Zephyr was…strange. He had a very, very messed up digestive system and it seemed like he liked to blow things up. Maybe that wasn't healthy for a 10-year-old kid.

Staying here, away from the prying eyes of the people who knew me almost made me forget what had happened to me. Until I looked into a mirror, that is.

Aunt Mandy believed me. I don't know why. It wasn't every day when a stranger (and an ugly one at that) shows up claiming to be your nephew even though he looked nothing like him.

But she had believed me anyway, and that was what mattered. That was the difference between her and my parents, I guess. They didn't believe anything could happen that didn't follow the regular laws of science. Of course, I didn't used to believe in things that didn't make sense either. But I guess now I did. It wasn't like I had a choice.

"Nick, come play!" The tugging on my arm was more insistent now. I let her pull me along to the living room, where she had a dollhouse set up. Barbies were strewn around the living room floor and on the couches, I saw that Angela had been trying to give them makeovers or something because makeup had been applied messily to their faces. I guess that was an 8-year-old's idea of making something "pretty".

I sat down on the couch, watching Angela play with the dolls.

"Nick, can I talk to you?" Aunt Mandy called from the kitchen. I gave Angela an apologetic look and walked into the kitchen. Aunt Mandy was cooking, stirring something in a large pot that was sitting in the stove with a wooden spoon. She looked kind of preoccupied, so I leaned against the doorway, looking bored. I realized something. Looking bored out of your mind only makes you look good when you have the looks to back it up. Otherwise, you just look like an idiot.

Aunt Mandy was stirring whatever was in the pot furiously. Her long, light brown hair was tied in a messy bun that had a few hairs escaping from it. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration. Does someone really need that much concentration to cook? I wouldn't know. I had never cooked before in my life. My family had a hired cook to make our meals.

After a few minutes, Aunt Mandy stopped her furious stirring and looked at me with her dark brown eyes that were so similar to mine. She stared straight into my eyes. I guess those were the only things about me that were okay to look at. I had to be grateful for one thing. Cassandra hadn't done anything to my eyes. At least they looked normal. Yeah, a load of good that'll do.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Aunt Mandy asked, still maintaining direct contact with my eyes. I began to get the feeling that she wasn't just looking at my eyes because it was the only part of me worth looking at. Max had used to say that people could see my emotions through my eyes if they knew me well enough. She said that they were the only windows to my emotions. I have got to stop thinking about things that Max used to say.

I looked back at Aunt Mandy. She actually expected me to do something? What the hell did she expect me to do? Work my nonexistent irresistible charm on the ladies? I was doomed like this.

"What do you mean?" I asked hesitantly.

She rolled her eyes. "Are you actually planning on hiding from the public forever?"

"Not forever…"

"Are you too scared to even fight this?" she gestured to my appearance.

I shrugged. "There's no point, is there?" I sat down in a kitchen chair, defeated.

"Giving up so quickly? You're going to regret this one day," she said confidently.

I looked at her like she was crazy. I didn't say anything. It was like I had used up my daily allocation of words I could speak in a day. I had gotten more talkative since Max and I ended our friendship because I wanted to prove to her that I could get friends easily, but I still didn't like talking too much.

"You used to be stubborn. What happened?" There was anger in Aunt Mandy's eyes. Anger directed at me. I was almost tempted to say that I would try and get rid of my curse, but I knew there was no point. I didn't want to get my hopes up then have them crushed again.

"What's the point of trying when I know I'm not going to be able to find any girl who's going to talk to me, much less love me? I asked. Maybe I hadn't exceeded my daily limit yet.

"Wouldn't it be better to know that at least you tried?" She looked at me hopefully.

"No," I answered simply.

"At least try," she pleaded.

"I'm only going to make a fool of myself." I could be incredibly stubborn when I wanted to be.

She raised her eyebrows. "You're being a coward."

I narrowed my eyes. That word bothered me somehow. Maybe it was because it made me seem weak and helpless and not me. Nobody had ever called me a coward before. I wasn't the cowardly type.

As I thought this, I began to feel anger. Aunt Mandy didn't know what it was like to have your life turned upside down! She had no right to call me a coward, especially since she was saying that because I didn't want to waste my time doing something pointless. But I wanted to prove her wrong. I wasn't a coward. I knew that, but I didn't want anyone to think I was one. But my efforts would be so futile…

All I could do was try.

I sighed. "Fine."

Aunt Mandy brightened considerably. Well, at least I had found one person who cared about my well-being.

"I'm going to enroll you in school. You're going to have to face the public sometime." She paused, thinking. "But you can't be Nick anymore. People would be too freaked out. So you need a new name," she said.

I nodded. I guess there was no point in waiting. Prepare for total and utter public humiliation.

"Is there a certain name you'd want to go by?" Aunt Mandy asked, about to leave the room.

I blurted out the first word I could think of. "Fang."

AN: Like I said, I'm really sorry for the boring chapter. I promise next chapter will be more exciting. First day back at school for our Nickykins! Gosh, it's so hard to stay upbeat. I still have Everything-I-write-is-crap-itis. Well, it's actually more like I-think-everything-I-write-is-crap-itis. But I'm pretty sure this chapter was crap.

Bob the Vampire Zombie: Urgh? *hands CNF a cookie*

Me: Wait. Are you offering me a cookie? What happened to you?

Bob the Vampire Zombie: *looks hurt and runs out of the room*

Me: *sigh*

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