Random Quote of the Week: "Throw it away, forget yesterday, we'll make the great escape," -Boys like Girls, in "The Great Escape"
SNOW DAYS FOR THE WIN! Missed three days of school this week! Instead of sitting in a classroom, I spent time eating ice cream in the snow while lying on the roof of my dad's car.
COUNTDOWN TO 1000: 61
Fang's POV
I felt my head vibrate, like an aftershock of the concussion. Was it really that bad? When I opened my eyes, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was just Max shaking my shoulders. That was the good news.
The bad news was that my head hurt like hell. I groaned and winced as I attempted to sit up to no avail. My head was spinning way too much.
"Wake up, Fang. We gotta hit it," she said, her voice slurring.
"Pain—painkillers," I managed.
"Oops, my bad." Max fished through her bag and handed me two pills. "They'll kick in in fifteen minutes." I swallowed the pills.
Max paced back and forth, probably trying to stay awake, next to the table as we waited for the medicine to kick in. I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I was sitting on an uncomfortable bench and there was a table in front of me. I was in a building with a row of windows to my right, white walls…it felt familiar, I just couldn't seem to—oh, I remembered. We crashed in a McDonald's since it was raining last night.
I immediately felt a burst of gratitude towards Max for taking one for the team in the form of that all-nighter. She might not have needed to, but since I got concussed and dozed off Max was forced to make sacrifices for my benefit. Of course I would've done the same for her; having each other's backs became an instinct for us. Even though I was interested in more than friendship, that was one thing that wouldn't change.
"Let's hit it," Max decided, after twenty minutes. "I haven't slept in twenty-four hours. Let's just find a place to sleep."
I stood up quickly, immediately regretting it. My head spun and I stumbled slightly, forcing me to sit back down, taking deep breaths. A minute later, I tried standing up again—slowly—and walking several paces. I felt much better than yesterday, which wasn't saying much, but I could definitely walk out of the city without help.
We walked down the street until Max tugged my arm. "Picnic table," she said, nodding towards a triangular, cemented area next to the sidewalk the size of a baseball diamond, At least half a dozen picnic tables were grouped together in the center. Even though the tables were splintering and soaked with rainwater, Max walked to the nearest one and promptly fell asleep sitting down. As she set her head down, her hair flipped forwards and landed in a mop on the table.
It was a meaningless gesture, really, but my heart did a flip immediately. I don't even know why. I had no explanation for most of the things I felt. Even though it was unintentional and endearingly awkward, Max's improvised hair-flip brought back memories of the infamous line in One Direction's hit, What Makes You Beautiful. Confession time: I may or may not have gotten hooked on that song and memorized it, blaming it on Iggy whenever I was caught humming it.
I sat down across from Max, noticing she took out the braid I implemented. Figures. My braids never lasted too long and were usually flimsy, although I made sure to do a good job with Max's.
Her hair was light brown, but in the harsh sunlight it glowed a brilliant gold. The sun brought every strand to light, making Max look almost like…an angel.
Angel.
Damn, I missed her so much. It had been a month since I last saw her. I hadn't even thought about her for at least a few days. What kind of big brother was I? Forgetting about my little sister just because I fell in love?
I promised myself I'd call her as soon as possible. Maybe even today, if we got the chance.
I thought about checking my email to see if Ella had any legitimate Max-related advice, but I decided against it due to my concussion. The Wi-Fi from the Starbucks two buildings down was either nonexistent or awful at this distance, and looking at screens with a concussion wasn't a good idea.
After taking a sip of water, I decided to walk around a little. Max would need about seven hours of sleep after her all-nighter for enough rest to function efficiently but not too much so that she wouldn't be tired this evening. All-nighters really messed up our sleep schedule.
I wondered when I'd be able to run again. Three days? A week? I felt a bit light-headed when I walked, but it was nothing too bad. The minor case of blurry vision I experienced yesterday was gone.
I ended up spending most of the seven hours walking around, not straying more than a hundred feet from Max. The area of Lancaster we were in felt a bit like it was designed to appeal to tourists, with its light-colored buildings, wide sidewalks, and trees planted at similar intervals along the sidewalk. If I didn't know better, I would've assumed it was near the coast. It reminded me of pictures of Miami.
As I walked, I couldn't help but wonder…what if I died? Max would never know I loved her. How many more chances would I have to tell her how I felt before my time ran out? The scary part was that I didn't know.
I thought of all the times Max and I laughed together and snuggled in the moonlight. I remembered the time we got separated on the way to Los Angeles. When I found Max beat up and bloodied, not knowing how it could've possibly happened.
I remembered the moment Max kissed me a week ago.
I had to tell Max how I felt.
If she didn't love me back, hopefully, hopefully we could laugh it off and move on. The ensuing awkwardness would've been deadly, but at least I wouldn't have to live not knowing what could've been.
I gave myself two days. Within two days, I promised myself that I would tell Max I loved her.
Now, about the details…I could do it next next evening. I'd walk up to Max, tell her we needed to talk, and—well, that was all I had so far. I didn't think Max would've appreciated it if I randomly grabbed her and kissed her. The awkwardness after that would've made rejection seem like a picnic.
I'd figure it out later. I still had two days left to work up some serious confidence.
At one in the afternoon, I decided to wake Max up. I felt a tad guilty about it, since I never appreciated it when Angel woke me up at five in the morning for whatever reason.
When she got up, Max insisted on heading indoors to plan the day since the bench was wet and uncomfortable. We stopped by a mall, but I decided that it was too loud and bright for me at this point.
We eventually settled on the first floor of a hotel. It was over our heads in fanciness, but the people at the front office weren't going to stop us from using their facility since they didn't know if we were going to rent a room or not. Soft music streamed through numerous speakers of the green and yellow tiled room, but it wasn't loud enough to affect my concussion.
"We need to go to the laundromat sometime today," Max said. "My clothes are filthy."
"We can find one later. Didn't you say something about Ella giving you concussion advice yesterday? We should probably call her back," I replied.
Max nodded, spinning a few strands of hair between her fingers. "I promised her I would. We should probably do that first."
"Yeah, that's a good idea," I agreed. "No doctor, right? Not worth the risk to me."
Max shook her head. "Probably not, as long as you feel fine. Ella the doctor-in-training should be enough."
"I also want to talk to Angel," I added. "I haven't talked to her for a month."
Max stared at me, stunned. "You're right. How did we forget about her?"
I looked down at the shiny wood table between Max and I. "I really don't know. I feel guilty as hell. Better late than never though, right?"
"I guess so. Do you want more time in here or are you ready to go?" Max asked, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.
I stood up. "I'm ready."
After getting some quarters from the hotel front desk, Max and I walked around the town until we found an old-fashioned payphone.
I took out the papers in my backpack containing Ella's and the Flock's phone numbers, and to my surprise the latter was covered in assortment of drawings and scribbles.
"About that," Max told me, blushing. "I was bored last night."
I laughed. No wonder Max's pens ran out so fast if she did this stuff.
I slid two quarters in the payphone and dialed Ella's number.
RRRRRIIIIINGGG!
RRRRRIIIIINGGG!
RRRRRIIIIINGGG!
"Hello," Ella said. "Is this Max?"
"Fang," I told her.
"Oh, sorry. How are you feeling, Fang? Does your head still hurt?"
"Not really, but I took some painkillers this morning for it. My head hurt pretty badly when I woke up."
"Okay, that's normal. I think you're fine, but can you give the phone to Max?" Ella asked. "I'd like to hear everything that went down, and no offense, but Max probably remembers it better than you."
"None taken," I said, giving Max the phone.
She told Ella every detail of everything that happened, making sure to mention some of my smart comments yesterday evening. To be fair, I was being a jerk. I don't even know why I pretended not to know Ella. That wasn't something to joke about.
Thankfully, Ella assured Max that concussions did in fact have an effect on behavior. Hopefully Max would cut me a little slack.
After a few minutes, Ella said she had to go but we had everything we needed. She told us to hold off on any more running for a few days, be careful in general like always, and call her immediately if anything felt off. She also suggested getting evaluated by a doctor, but told us there was a very good chance the concussion would be gone sooner rather than later without major issues.
I put another two quarters in the payphone and asked Max to step out of the booth. "Angel," I told her. She nodded understandingly and left without question.
Since Angel didn't have a phone, I dialed Nudge's number. I hadn't talked to her in a while either, so now was a good time to catch up.
RRRRRIIIIINGGG!
RRRRRIIIIINGGG!
RRRRRIIIIINGGG!
"Hello!" Nudge exclaimed cheerfully through the phone.
"Hey, Nudge. It's Fang."
"FANG! How are you? Are you still in California running around? Can you really run fifty miles straight? I mean, that's so cool. You're like a car. Just a slow car. No offense! Oh, is Max still with you? She's cute. You guys should get together. You guys would make the—"
"Nudge! Sorry for interrupting, but I have a concussion. I can't keep up with you. But we're still in California and doing well," I informed her. I wanted to tell her more, but now wasn't the time. I'd catch them all up another day.
"That's good," Nudge said, slightly deflated. "So…is there a particular reason you called or do you just want to talk? I haven't seen you in, like, forever, so I'd be happy to talk if you want to. I like talking in general." You got that right, Nudge.
"I need to talk to Angel, but first tell me how it's been between you and Gazzy."
"Oh, um…well we kinda broke up. Dating was so weird since we were so close and we knew each other for so long it was like we were siblings. Gazzy understood, thank goodness. He's not mad or anything. We're still besties!"
"I'm sorry to hear that, Nudge," I said. "But I'm glad you're still friends. Anyways, is Angel there?"
"Yeah, she's making ice cream with Gazzy. It's mint chocolate chip, I think. I had to go with them to get chocolate chips yesterday! I can't believe Gazzy likes bittersweet—sorry." Thank goodness, Nudge caught herself. "I'll give her the phone."
"Thanks, Nudge. And can you make sure Angel's alone? Just some sibling stuff."
"Of course!" Nudge chirped. I heard a staircase rattling slightly as Nudge bounded down it and flew into the kitchen. "Angel!" I heard faintly. "It's Fang! He wants to talk to you alone."
"Nudge, help Gazzy for a minute please," Angel asked her. "Fang?" she said, her voice finally clear. I heard her quiet but distinct footsteps, and then a door closing.
"Hey, Angel. How's it been at home lately?"
"Great, I've been staying with Ellie. But that doesn't matter. Are you calling about Max?" Angel asked. How did she know? I didn't say anything about Max…oh well. Angel knew me way too well, probably better than I knew myself in some ways.
"Yeah. I fell in love with her, Angel. I don't think she loves me back but I have to tell her sometime."
"You do," Angel agreed. "And even if she doesn't know it now, Max will realize she loves you when you tell her. You're sweet and strong, and I know Max thinks you're good looking. That's all she could ever ask for in a guy."
"I don't know," I admitted. "How should I tell her?" It didn't feel weird or embarrassing at all asking Angel, who was seven years younger than me, for relationship advice. That was just how it was between us.
"Just say it straight. I love you, Max. You can elaborate a little after, or tell her why you think you love her, but cut to it. It's harder to chicken out that way."
"Why do you think I'd chicken out?" I asked. Of course, Angel was a hundred percent correct to suspect I might.
Angel giggled. "Oh, please. I can practically feel the nervousness in your voice just talking to me. You love her, Fang. You really do."
"I know. But Angel…what if she laughs at me or rejects me? That would be so awkward."
"She won't, I promise. Fang…what reason do you have to doubt yourself when it comes to girls?" Angel asked.
"I…don't know," I admitted.
"Then go for it. Are you nicknamed Fang because you're a coward? Go get her, tiger."
"I will," I assured her. "And thanks for the pep talk, Angel."
"What are sisters for?"
"This, I guess. And Angel…I'm coming home. Max doesn't like it, but we both know I can't last forever."
"I've known you would since you left, Fang. That's why I didn't try to stop you. And don't worry, I haven't told the others." Okay, that surprised me. I didn't even know if I'd be coming back.
"And I'm glad you haven't," I told Angel, "but can you tell Dr. Martinez I'll be home in a month and a half at most?"
"Will do," she said. "You'll be staying here, right?"
I sighed. "At least for a while. I don't want to get in Dr. Martinez's way too much. I already made her drive to Los Angeles when Max got hurt two weeks ago."
"I understand. But I'll tell you anyways—she honestly doesn't mind. I was a bit hesitant at first to come, but she truly is willing to help."
"I know. But I'd rather live on my own."
"I've realized. Who else would choose to go on a five-hundred-mile trip out of their own free will instead of staying with their friends?" Angel said, with a small laugh. I heard a faint yell in the background and Angel reply, "One minute!"
"I'll let you go now," I told Angel. "Good luck with the ice cream."
"Thanks! I hope Gazzy hasn't eaten it all yet."
"Weren't you guys just busy making it?"
Angel sighed. "That doesn't stop Gazzy from dipping his finger in and stealing licks. It's really gross. I made him wash his hands every time, though."
"That's good. I'll talk to you later, Angel."
"You too, Fang," she said, hanging up the phone.
Question of the Chapter: Who's more perverted, Fang or Iggy?
I personally think it's Fang, since he's gotta be hiding something behind his emotionlessness, right?
Guess what, guys? It's chapter fifty here. We should do something special...ooh, I have an idea. I'll probably regret this, but feel free to ask me any question and as long as it's not too personal I'll answer it in some form in next chapter's A/N. It can be embarrassing, random, crazy, whatever. I might be being stupid, but I dare you guys to make me regret this. Please don't forget to review! I'm already excited to read you guys's questions!
