January 10, 2028
Um, Hi, I guess,
My name is Nick, Journal (because there is no way in h-e-double toothpicks I'm calling you diary). My Aunt Delanie gave you to me today, it's my fifteenth birthday. My mom has a Diary, which she writes in all the time. It's kind of weird because I'm not very emotional and what not (I get that from my dad).
I guess the greatest thing you can say about me is that I'm one of a kind.
I guess you can also say that it's the worst.
I have wings, which is pretty freakin' amazing. I mean, running away is so cliché these days. How many kids can spread out a pair of black wings and catch the wind? Not many, in fact, there's only seven of us in all.
My mom, my dad, my Uncle Igs, my Aunt Nudge, my Uncle Gaz, and my Aunt Angel. It's about the coolest thing in the world. But even they aren't like me.
See they are 98% human and 2% bird. As for me, no one really knows. They were made that way by scientists. I was made by well—the birds and the bees kind of way.
My grandfather told me straight up, when I was old enough to understand, that this could be a terrible fate. I'm alone, no one like me has ever existed before. Which means, my lifespan could be short in the terms of a regular human or even longer—like a tortoise or something crazy like that.
Also, being one of a kind of sucks when it comes to the love department relationship thing.
I mean—my mom has my dad. They were pretty much made for each other.
I know—it's disgusting.
Uncle Igs has Aunt Nudge. Gaz and Angel are in their early twenties and both of them are single. But Aunt Angel can control anyone's mind she wants and well, Gaz likes being by himself building stuff.
Aunt Delanie is, sadly, the only normal one out of all of us. (and believe me, I say normal lightly). She's still dyes her hair and I think she has more piercings than the ones on her face (and I don't plan on finding out about them). She's a mind reader, it's pretty scary. And, she Uncle Igs sister, which makes her even scarier.
Aunt Ella is a human, so are my grandparents (the ones I know of, I don't know who dad's parents are and neither does he). They're cool but they're sooooo normal. I'm use to mutant freaks being around (I say that kindly) so, they can get kind of boring.
But anyways, that's not why I'm writing right now in you journal. The truth of the matter is—well, I'm lonely. I go to school and I've got friends but I'm like Edward freakin' Cullen without the siblings. I'm hiding my secret from everyone (minus my family of course) so what should I do?
Even now, I wonder, what's my life going to be like? Who am I going to be? Will anyone ever love me like…well, like my mom loves my dad? (You should see them Journal, it's really gross, it's as if they're still sixteen).
Today, I sat down next to my grandpa, who visits every now and then. (Mom's like thirty-one and he's still checking up on her as if she's a kid). "What's a matter kiddo?"
"Well, I was looking through some things online for a family project and I actually found these." I showed him the newspaper clippings of kids in a restaurant, six of them, with wings. "I found a blog too. Fang's blog…which is my dad's name. I read through it and a lot of it mentioned saving the world."
Whenever I asked my parents about their past, like what happened between them and the lives they had as kids, they were closed off. I barely knew anything. But I had this yearning to know who they were before I came into their lives.
Jeb sighed, as if remembering a time that brought pain to his heart. "Your mother was made to save the world." Okay, maybe my grandfather's crazy. "She was only fourteen, so she had to grow up fast. In the time she was twelve to sixteen, she was living on her own for the most part. She didn't know for awhile who her parents were. She raised the flock all by herself, Angel especially. She spent ten years in a science facility she called 'The School'. She gave herself her own name, her own birthday."
"And my dad?" I asked.
"Well," Grandpa ran his hand along his gray beard and thought deeply. "I guess to say anything about your father's life was…whatever your mother was doing, so was he. In a way, I never understood why we made more experiments after your mother was a complete success." Jeb shifted through all the paperwork I had found. "Fang always took care of your mom, too. She was strong, you know that, you get that from her, but you get it from your father as well. Max always needed someone, and it always was your father."
I thought about it for awhile and that's what brought me here to you Dia-I mean Journal. Maybe soulmates aren't found or pre-destined, maybe they were literally made. My mother needed someone. My dad was there. They were two outcasts, the oldest of genetic successes, and only had each other.
I've got nothing like that,
Nick Ride
(And I might just rip this page out because I sound like a girl or something but Aunt Delanie says that's the point of a man's 'journal' is to be more feminine or what not. According to her, "I have the emotional capacity of an eraser…or even sadder, eraser shavings.")
January 10, 2028
Dear Diary,
Nick turns fifteen today. He's probably the best son in the world. He's amazingly smart at school and has plenty of friends but, I see that he's not as happy as he was when he was younger. I guess, he's just like I was when I was a teenager—going through changes that he didn't quite understand.
Delanie got him a journal. I guess her being a mind reader and all helps her gain insight on what he's thinking or going through or what not. Igs, Nudge, Gaz, and Angel pitched in to get him a bike. Fang and I had finished his album of family pictures from the time since he was one to last summer before he started his freshman year of high school.
Later through the party, it was only Jeb, my mom, Fang, Nick and I. My mom was cleaning up some of the dishes while I was picking up garbage. Fang had brought Nick's stuff up to his room. It was then, that I listened to Nick asking about my past to Jeb and I allowed Jeb to tell him.
Towards the end of their conversation, Fang had come down and he heard them as well. "Fang always took care of your mom, too. She was strong, you know that, you get that from her, but you get it from your father as well. Max always needed someone, and it always was your father." Fang gave me a smile and for once, I couldn't agree more with Jeb. (Hey, it was bound to happen once in a lifetime).
That night, I went to see Nick. I saw him sitting on his bed and writing in his journal. "Happy Birthday little man," I sat next to him and ruffled his hair. I was thirty-one, at this age most people had a one year old child. It was hard to believe that was how old he was only fourteen years ago. Nick gave a small smile. Sometimes, he is too much like his father.
"Hey mom, there's something I don't get, about you and dad," Nick said. I nodded my head and decided to listen. "You guys aren't married. And, well, a few times Aunt Nudge or Aunt Delanie will mention something about…well, how at one point, they thought you two would never get together again. What do they mean?"
"Well," I started slowly, "I left the flock, all of them, when I was pregnant with you."
"Why?" He asked, his dark eyes watching me curiously.
"Because I was a kid, Nick. At most points, the best thing I did when faced with a situation involving your father, I ran away." I laughed and shook my head before mumbling, "I wonder why he's still with me."
"Still, why?"
"I loved your father, enough to protect him from having to face a life of being a parent. I never considered him ready. I wasn't ready."
"So what happened? I mean, it's like you two are the perfect couple." I laughed, which made him tilt his head in confusion.
"Your father and I are nowhere near perfect. I've broken his heart and vice versa. We've fought. We split the flock up once. For a long time, I refused to believe I had any romantic feelings about him."
"Why?" I never expected Nick to wonder so much about something like this. Was it normal for a kid to ask questions about their parents' relationship?
"Because something about your father makes me scared, angry, confused, happy, loved, sad, crazy." I laughed. "One thing though, that I know for sure, that I can say about him is that he was the only one I had to love and then, you came along. Now, it's simple really."
"What is?"
"Life, in a way. Love is so complicated, the love I have for your father and my mother's love for you, it just makes everything like ice cream."
"Will I get that? I'm the only one like…me."
"And there will be a time, when being you is the only way to get the one of your dreams to notice. Believe me, if your father and I weren't destined to be together, than, well, I think he would've given up on me a long time ago." Nick slightly smiled, "Is this what you've been worrying about?" He nodded his head.
"I just don't want to be alone," he told me.
"You aren't Nick. We're in a world full of billions of people, all of them are capable of loving and understanding. You just have to find the one you're willing to allow to love and understand you. You're time will come." I kissed his forehead and then squeezed his shoulder, "Believe me kiddo, you normally find the one you love without noticing." I heard a laugh and turned my head to see Fang leaning against the doorway.
"Yeah, your mother had the longest denial about how she truly felt about me. You'll get there someday son, but as a fifteen-year-old kid, this isn't something you should be worrying about." I walked over to Fang and instantly he wrapped his arm around my waist. We watched our grown son nod his head and smile.
"But you and mom were really young."
"We also were practically grown-up before we even had you," I reasoned, "You've got time, loads of it." Nick smiled. Of course, I was wondering what Jeb had said might come true, that Nick's lifespan might be shorter because of his DNA. But I was going to be positive and hopeful. "Good night now, Nick. Don't worry about anything, it's your birthday afterall."
"Night," he whispered. I tuned off the lights and Fang and I went into our room.
Fang sighed and smiled, "Sometimes, I think he has too much of you in him."
"What are you talking about?" I demanded. "He's got your looks, your silent personality, and pretty much is nothing like me at all. It's quite sad."
Fang shook his head and pulled me into his arms. "Except for the fact, that he's always worrying about something. Not many teens are like 'I won't ever have a soulmate' or not. Most teen boys aren't like that on their fifteenth birthday."
"Oh great, so it's my fault our son is worrying about if whether or not he'll ever fall in love."
"Yep," Fang replied, kissing the top of my head.
"You're so nice," I mumbled into his chest.
"But," Fang said slowly, "He's like you in that, he won't give up. Right now, he could be completely emo-,"
"Like you," I retorted. He squeezed me and I laughed.
"I'm going to ignore that. Anyways, he could be so negative, but he's positive that everything will work out, he might be doubtful like you were sometimes, but he's not going to just give in to what makes him stand out and let it ruin his life."
"I guess that's a good thing," I said.
"At least we got one good thing from that conversation," Fang said. I raised an eyebrow.
"And what was that?"
"You finally admitted about how crazy I make you feel." He smirked and I smacked his shoulder.
"Sometimes," I warned, "I still feel like I'm talking to a fourteen-year-old bird boy who was confident enough to kiss a girl like me twice and watch her run away. You--," I went and pointed my finger at his chest, "Are a strange man, Fang."
"Must be because I'm 2% bird," he mumbled. I poked him again.
"And, I won't ever understand why I choose you, out of all the people in the world." At this, he seemed slightly offended. "And then, even though I don't understand it, I remember that you never gave up on me, even when I did run away all those times. Finally, I remember those things and then I wonder why you ever stuck around for a girl like me."
"Must be because I'm 98% human, and that was a large enough percent to love you." He teased. I almost laughed. But he was serious, so I held it in. We went in for a kiss that lasted long.
When we backed away I sighed and whispered, "Do you think Nick will be all right? Will somebody love him for who he is?"
"Max," Fang said reassuringly, "If somebody can love you for who you are, than I think our son will be all right in finding someone to love him. Again, I emphasize that I love you for who you are, Maximum Ride. It isn't easy, just so you know."
"Well, aren't you pretty amazing," I teased.
"I try," Fang smiled.
This is my last page Diary, so I guess this Adieu (see I can be French as well),
From,
Maximum Ride (a.k.a. bird girl in love, mother of a teenage avian-human son, and friend to an English girl with now pink hair and a tattoo of wings on her wrist.)
Goodbye, you've been a great companion even though you've never said a word back.
THE END! I'm quite sad to say goodbye. I would like to say you all have been wonderful readers and friends and it's really past my bed time, but you guys wer worth it. I hope to read any last thoughts. I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it! So long, Farewell, Flyerac1029 (I'm not trying to quote Sound of Music, it's just the fact that it's 10:30 at night and I'm tired). =)