Oh my gosh! 19 reviews! I'm thrilled. Thank you, reviewers. One more and I'll have a perfect 20. Oh, by the way, if you were waiting for some actual drama, here you go!
Beep! Beep! Beep! The blaring alarm clock roused me from my slumber. I slapped it, fumbling for the snooze button. It kept beeping at me. I slammed my fist down on top of it. It kept beeping at me. Losing patience, I ripped it out of the wall and threw it across the room. It stopped beeping at me.
"Little testy this morning, aren't we?" Fang remarked.
"Good morning to you too." I said dryly. "What time is it?"
"Well, if you hadn't thrown the clock against the wall, we would know, wouldn't we?"
I hit him with a pillow. "Shut up and help me wake up the flock."
"Did you just hit me with a pillow?"
I ignored him, and got out of bed, promptly tripping over my shirt, which was on the floor. I didn't exactly remember how it had gotten onto the floor though. Then I realized that both Fang and I were shirtless. Grabbing my shirt, I flung it on, not noticing that it was black instead of its usual blue. Fang got out of bed, and my eye was immediately drawn to his well-defined stomach. He noticed me staring.
"Max, you're-"
"Well, uh, I got to go wake the flock, bye!" I interrupted, and rushed out the door. I had a key for all three of the rooms we had rented, but in my hurry to leave, I had forgotten the key to Iggy and Gazzy's room. I rapped loudly on their door. "C'mon guys, up and at it!" Muffled groans came from the interior. "Max, it's six in the morning!" Gazzy protested.
"Come on, we've got a long flight ahead of us!" I called back. I heard a thump as Iggy walked straight into a wall. "I'm ok!" he called.
I took it as a sign that they were sufficiently vertical, and went on to the girls' room. As I unlocked the door, I called to them. "Come on, out of bed you two. It's morning."
Nudge groaned and flicked on a light. "Why can't we sleep in for once?" she asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "She looked at me, then blinked. "Max, why are you wearing Fang's shirt? You're not… oh eww! Sick!"
I looked down. Crap. I had grabbed the wrong shirt by accident. "Relax Nudge; I just put on the wrong shirt. I have jeans underneath, see?" I lifted up the shirt, which hung almost to my knees. Nudge managed to look both disturbed and dubious at the same time. "Ok Max, if you say so." She said, and raised herself out of bed, while Angel got out of her bed. Wait! They have two beds in their room! Not fair.
I didn't see you complaining, Maximum. Not that I was there.The Voice said
What do you mean, you weren't there?
Has it ever occurred to you that I might not always like to see what you're seeing?
I almost laughed out loud.
I left their room and returned to my own. Fang was sitting on the bed, waiting. "You took my shirt." He said, looking slightly peeved.
"Well, I didn't mean to." I answered. "Where's mine?"
Fang pointed. It was beneath the alarm clock on the floor. I snatched it up, and pulled Fang's shirt over my head, tossing it to him. He was staring at my chest. "Fang, you're-"
"Well, I'd better get down for breakfast, see you later Max." He interrupted, dashing out of the room with his shirt half on. I giggled as I pulled my shirt on. For all his seriousness, Fang could be ridiculous sometimes.
"Hey Max, what's make-" I clapped a hand over Angels mouth. We were all waiting in line for the breakfast buffet. Not that there was much of a line at 6:15 in the morning.
"Angel, please don't read my mind this morning." I said. "And I wasn't even thinking about that."
"I was reading Fang's thoughts though." she said.
"Oh, you don't want to do that Angel. They're definitely on my list on things six year olds shouldn't know about." Iggy sniggered.
Oh boy. I thought. The jokes begin. Wait a minute; Fang was still thinking about that? I swear, boys have one-track minds.
"Fang is still thinking about what, Max? Tell me!" Angel begged.
" I'll tell you later Angel." I answered. Oh, great. I got to give a six year old TheTalk Not that Fang and I had done everything covered in TheTalk, but if Angel knew about one thing, she would probably ask to be told about the rest.
"So Fang, how's Max?" Iggy joked.
I glared at him, which did nothing, Iggy being blind. "You suck." I informed him. Fang cringed at my choice of words.
Iggy grinned evilly. "No, Max, I don't suck. But you do."
I rolled my eyes, and glared at him some more. "Not even." I said. "If looks could kill, you'd be worm food right now."
Iggy grinned wider. "Do I even have to spell that one out for you?" He said, cackling at his own joke. Nudge and Total were laughing too, while the younger ones just looked lost. "Ha ha, very funny." I said dryly. "But eat up you guys, we've got a long flight ahead of us." That made Iggy laugh even harder. I suddenly had the urge to bang my head against the nearest wall.
"Look," Fang spoke up. "We haven't done anything like that, so shut up, perv." He cuffed Iggy across the temple. Iggy calmed down a bit, but he was still giggling. " Worm food." he chuckled. I sighed and shook my head. This was going to be a very long day.
We were flying over the open ocean. I love, love, love flying. Even Iggy's periodic jokes couldn't completely spoil my good mood. They could however, make me very irritated. "Iggy, for the hundredth time, quit it with the jokes." I shouted over the wind. "It's getting very annoying." He smirked. He knew how I was glaring at him right now, and he didn't care.
"But Max," he said. "What if they're true?"
"They're definitely not true, so give it a rest." I called back.
"Hey Max, will you tell me what Fang was thinking about now?" That was Angel. Crud.
"Sure sweetie. I'll tell you in my head, ok?" I told her.
"Ok Max." She said, smiling sweetly at me. I was just glad I didn't have to talk to Nudge. too. Jeb had given her TheTalkwhen she was nine.
After I was finished, Angel looked thoroughly grossed out.
"So that's what you did with Fang?" she asked, disturbed.
"No, not all of it, just… some." I answered quickly. "Definitely not all of it."
"Ok." she said. "Hey Max, can I carry Total for a bit?" she asked, her mind flitting to other, more six-year-oldish things.
"I don't see why not." I said, and chucked the dog at her. Total free-fell for a second or two, then Angel swooped down and caught him neatly in her arms.
"Hey, Max look! I see land!" Nudge called out. I looked. There was a line along the horizon, with a faint tinge of green.
"I think that's the mainland, Nudge. Good eyes."
"Wahoo! Land ho!" cried the Gasman, his fist punching the air.
"I don't think that's the only kind of ho I can see." Iggy said.
I rolled my eyes again. "I hate to break it to you Iggy, but you're blind."
"No freaking kidding." He retorted.
I sighed. Glaring at him was getting so old.
We landed in a forest just off the Californian coast. Did you know they have forests in California? I sure didn't.
"Ok guys, someone get a fire going." I called. "I'll go and gather more wood. Anyone coming with me?"
"I'll go." Fang volunteered. Iggy snickered.
"God, Iggy, shut the he-heck up!" I snarled. In case you hadn't noticed, he had been more than a little annoying today, and I was getting a headache.
"Fine, Max, jeez, take it easy." Iggy spread his hands out in front of him, the very picture of innocence.
I massaged my temples. Why couldn't our string of good, easy days have continued just a little longer?
"Ok, I'm going. Are you coming Fang?" I jumped into the air, hovering about 20 feet above their heads. He followed me, and we flew off deeper into the woods.
"Ok, how much wood have we got? Enough?" We were sitting in a huge old oak tree, each with an armful of sticks and branches.
"Yeah, I figure we should have enough for tonight." Fang answered. There was a strange expression in his eyes. Well, actually, any expression is strange for Fang, but still…
"Fang, what's up?" I asked.
"Oh, um, not much, I guess."
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"
He smoothed a wisp of hair out of my eyes. "You're so beautiful, Max."
He leaned close, our faces almost touching. But just as our lips were about to meet, we heard a scream from the direction of camp.
"Max! Fang! HELP!" That was Nudge's voice, made shrill with panic.
"Erasers!" That was Gazzy.
Without a moment of thought, Fang and I both leaped out of the tree, snapping our wings out. We sped towards the place where we had left the Flock, raw fear invading my mind.
We reached camp within two minutes. The Flock were holding their own, but they couldn't do that forever. I dove right in, doling out punches left and right as I did a quick head count. All accounted for and healthy enough. I kicked an Eraser in the head, and down he went, spinning as he plummeted.
My Voice said, and I unquestioningly obeyed, narrowly avoiding a large furry paw directed at my cranium. I flew up, causing two Erasers to fly into one another. They were getting better at flying, but they were still nowhere near as nimble as we were.
Help Fang. It ordered. I hesitated. Surely Fang could take care of himself in a fight.
Help Fang NOW, or you will live to regret it. I made a snap decision. I flew higher, scanning the fight for signs of… there! I flew over, just in time to see Fang take a punch to the jaw from Ari. Ari jabbed him with a little dart, and Fang fell, unconscious. I was utterly speechless. It was my dream, happening right here in front of me. I hovered, eyes not believing the spectacle in front of me. Ari was flying away, Fang's head lolling on his shoulder. No, no, this couldn't be happening. A heavy blow to my wing shook me out of my disbelief, but to late. I heard something snap, and I fell, wing screaming with pain. I hit the ground with a thump, and my leg buckled under me. I was yelling. "You'll pay for this Ari. I swear, you will pay for this, you bast-" Pain from my wing and leg overwhelmed me, and I slumped to the ground, out cold.
So, that one was a little longer. I wonder, does California even have forests? Please correct me if I'm wrong. Please push that little purplish-bluish-purple button and REVIEW! (Please?)