While the flock and a few of the scientists were gathering ice samples, Brigid came over and knelt to work beside me. Immediately, I felt the air around us grow heavy with tension-- unless you counted the glares I'd been giving her at breakfast, we hadn't discussed the kiss incident. As she smiled at me, I shifted uncomfortably and looked away.
We worked in silence for awhile, listening to Max and Angel's conversation a few feet away. Angel was saying something about penguins, and Max kept saying the word no.
"Fang?" Brigid asked softly.
I looked over and jumped, startled, when I saw her face right there. "What?" I asked gruffly, trying to show my disinterest in talking to her without making a big scene.
"Can you get this off?" She held her camera out to me, shaking out her gloved hand. "I cannot get this lens cap off."
I nodded mutely and took it from her. With one good twist, the cap fell off, landing in the snow in front of us. "Here you go."
"Thanks," she said, smiling big at me. I shrugged and went back to what I was doing, still very aware of her presence. She shifted closer, and closer, inch by inch, thinking I wouldn't notice.
Yeah, right.
"Okay." I put down the little ice shovel thing I was holding and turned to look at Brigid. "Look. I don't know what your deal is, whether you're a spy or a pedophile or both, but you've gotta stop." All the diplomacy I'd used the last few weeks, not letting her know I was on her case, was flying right out the window. It was time to end this. "I'm not interested in you, okay?"
At first she looked surprised, then hurt. I felt guilty for half a second before I remembered that she was probably just faking this. And if she was attracted to me, then, well… she had issues.
"But Fang," she said quietly, looking around to make sure nobody was within earshot. "I do like you. I like working with you. You're a nice guy. And I'm grateful for your help. Max… she doesn't seem that way to me, Fang. If I were you, I think I'd get sick of feeling underappreciated."
"I don't feel underappreciated," I growled. Even though I did, with the constant pushing away, I didn't want her to know that. And I got mad anyway. "Like I said before, Brigid, you don't say stuff like that about Max. Especially not around me."
"Why do you so badly want to be with someone who doesn't even appreciate you, Fang?" she pressed on. I gritted my teeth to keep my anger in check. "I mean, I can appreciate you. I can lo-"
"You can't love me," I snapped, keeping my voice low, quiet, not wanting anyone to hear this. "You can't and you don't. How stupid do you think I am? I know you have other motives. But more importantly, I could never love you. Even if I wanted to. Because I love Max, okay? I love her."
Brigid just looked at me with this sad, sympathetic, pitying look on her face that I just wanted to slap right off. I didn't, though, instead picking up my shovel and violently scraping at the ground with it.
I had a sudden feeling that something was wrong and quickly looked behind me. Max was standing up, doing a 360, her fists clenched. I stood too, all thoughts of my conversation with Brigid immediately gone, and started to do the same.
There was nothing, though. No approaching danger. I raised my eyebrow at Max, and she sighed and shrugged, still looking around suspiciously. I kept watching her, waiting for something to come.
"Fang?" Brigid called.
I met Max's eyes again, and she shook her head. For a moment longer, I looked at her, the girl I loved more than life itself, the only one I wanted to be with. Then I turned and saw Brigid, a person I despised, yet found myself walking toward, leaving Max to stand alone.
Ooh. Burn.
Review. Please?
