Turns out-Anne didn't have a computer. Or she did but was hiding it from me. I could just use the schools computer. Problem Fixed.
Except for the fact, I know nothing about using a computer or hacking. I may be fully trained for the set-in-stone mission but it has taken an unexpected turn...could I really do it by myself? I could ask for help...
What would I say, 'Oh yeah, can you hack into the computer and help me uncover my horrible past?' Nope. Not happening.
Anne picked me up from school. I wonder what her job is, I mean, she's not working for the agency anymore-I hope.
The more time I spent with her, the more fake she seemed. When she smiles-I can see how locked her jaw is, as if she's forcing it. And when she gets a call, she immediately excuses herself and locks her bedroom door.
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The next morning was the same as usual. I got out of the car, grabbed my bag, and walked towards the front doors. Except this time-I was waved over to the populars by Sam. Great.
They followed me to my locker. All eyes were on me- almost as if I was the new queen of this school. With me hiding all my life, it felt good to be noticed in a good way. But I now know why kids hated school; if you weren't in the 'in crowd,' you're prey. By the way the kids looked at us- we were hunters. They're just waiting for us to release the arrow that will implant itself into the suspecting target.
I fiddled with my lock for awhile, the populars just stood around me-talking. Those voices went from obnoxiously loud to quiet in an instance. A large, warm hand covered mine, holding it and pushing it gently away from the locker. The mysterious person began to lean over my shoulder, putting in my combo. The locker popped open.
"You're welcome Max," Fang smirked; wearing his tight black t-shirt and black jeans...he looked someone off of TV. I got the feeling he dressed like that everyday...He opened his locker, which was a couple down from mine. His eyes were twinkling with humor. Almost as if he sensed my discomfort around my new 'friends.' Sam and Dylan both noticed Fang and glared, Lissa was a tomato and her posse were swooning.
Lissa walked over to him, making sure to put her elbows together discreetly to make her breasts look bigger and hiking up her already short skirt. Classy one ain't she?
"Hey Fang," she purred like a cat, batting her eyelashes. Only the cat had a hair ball stuck in her throat. And was wearing huge false eyelashes-she could freaking fly with those things.
He just looked at her, glaring, and went back to getting his books.
"So I was wondering-"
"No." He slammed his locker and walked to homeroom. A smile formed on my lips. Lissa's rejection was priceless.
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"Hey Sam, I think I might skip lunch today, I'll see you later," I quickly said and was gone before he could question it. Now to find a place with computers.
I saw Ella walking by, walking with her books. I stepped in her way before she could run past me. "Hey Ella, do you know where the computers are?"
She blinked then nodded, walking off. I was surprised at the lack of communication. Everyone else...was so verbal.
I followed her to a huge room with books. The library. She pointed to the computers before settling herself in one near the end. I sat next to her.
"Why don't you talk much? This is high school. Aren't teens social?" I asked.
"Well...I um. You're umm...Why do you talk to me?"
"Am I not supposed to?"
"Well, you're one of them. I'm not," She said looking down at the keyboard the whole time.
"Doesn't mean anything to me. What are you doing on the computer?"
"A...project."
"On?"
"Napoleon..." She said typing very quickly on the computer. I didn't even know how to turn on my computer so I sat there watching her. I heard the chair beside mine squeak as someone sat down. Ella noticed, said a rushed excuse and left.
I turned to the person next to me. "Yes Fang?"
"I've been watching for awhile...You haven't even turned it on."
"I was talking to Ella," I said defensively. "Why are you in the library? You don't seem like the type."
"I have looks and brains," he smiled, showing pearly white teeth. I just gave him a doubtful look. "Now what do you really need to do."
"I need to research something," I told him. He smirked and clicked a button at the bottom of the screen.
"It has to be turned on for that," he remarked. "What's your project for? It's your second day-there are none."
"I need to research something..." I said again trying to make up a lie.
"Fine fine. Go ahead," he said putting his elbows on the table, head in his hands-watching me. The screen opened to the homepage. I took the 'mouse' and moved it, happy to see the arrow move. It was pretty cool.
His hand covered mine and he guided the arrow to a fancy 'e' and pushed my finger making it select it. His hand was rough and warm but fit nicely around mine. It felt...good.
"I am perfectly capable of handling this on my own," I said pushing his hand away. He raised his hands in a 'I surrender' way.
"Go for it," He said watching.
I started typing 'Anne Walker,' it took awhile finding all the letters. I looked over to Fang who was intently watching me.
"First time with computers?" Fang asked smugly.
"First time forming full sentences?" I sneered at him, running a hand through my hair. He reached over and clicked enter, 2 seconds later a bunch of different websites popped up.
"Who's Anne?" He asked looking through the results, after stealing the mouse and keyboard.
"That's on a need-to-basis and you don't need," I said paying more attention to the screen. "Now leave."
"Not the response I get from most people," he said, not looking surprised.
"I'm not most people...click on this one," I said pointing to a link. All that showed up was some architectural historian. Nope, not Anne.
"Searching historians?" He asked, his dark eyes curious and determined.
"Uh no. She's my uh mom," I lied nervously.
"Google-ling your mom? Why?"
"What's google-ling?"
He smirked, expecting this. "Searching using google. Now why?"
"My father; I want to know who he is but she won't tell me. She did however tell me they were high school sweethearts. Find my mom's high school; find who went there; find my dad. Simple," I explained. All lies. I'm looking for Anne to see if her stories match up. She said she went to school with my mother and graduated with her. If I find the school, I can look through her classes and if I don't find my mom Susan, then she's a liar.
"I'll help," Fang said. We spent the next couple minutes trying to find anything. Nothing. After awhile, we got bored and just talked while he taught me things about the computer.
"Thanks for trying," I said getting up when the bell rang. "See you in Gym."
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"Okay everyone, 7 laps. Go," the coach blew his whistle and everyone started running.
"Max, slow down, just walk with us. The coach is too fed up to do anything," Lissa said grabbing my arm. I took a chance to look at her outfit knowing I was wearing the same booty shorts and tank top...I feel overexposed. Especially since I'm use to below 0 weather and wearing animal skin to cover my whole body.
All the boys have been running ahead minus Fang. I looked at him very lightly jogging in front of us. Heck, the overweight kid was in front of him.
As tempting as it sounded, running with Lissa and her gang, I decided to join Fang.
"Hey- why aren't you trying to show off, like all the boys," I asked.
"Too much work," he said slowing down even more.
I rolled my eyes and poured on more speed. Soon enough, I was in the lead- lapping Lissa. Dylan ran beside me, I could tell he was slowing down to check out my butt. Pervert.
"You're fast, Max. For a girl," Dylan said, barely panting. "So Max I was thinking Friday-"
"Hey Max," Fang said running next to me, in between Dylan and I. "Let's ditch the pervert," he whispered. We both sped up, leaving Dylan in our dust.
When we finished, we were barely panting. It was quite impressive for Fang, who is a normal human.
"Max, can I see you for a moment," the coach called. I jogged over to him.
I always feel bad for the guy-he just always looks worn out and tired. He's black and very built with rippling muscles. What little hair he has is grey from stress. He isn't strict when it comes to the clothing the girls wear, but he is about boys playing sports. He seems sexist that way- boys should work hard while girls stand there and check their nails... "2 things Max. That was pretty impressive. Really impressive. I think you broke records for girls everywhere...I want you to join the track team in spring. We need you. And another thing-what you did with Fang is even more impressive."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I mean how hard he's been working these past two classes...He usually sits out and does the bare minimum, getting him he lowest grade other than an F. Now with you-he might get an B. An A even," he said patting my back. "Good work."
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"Hey Max, how do you think I'm doing?" Dylan asked loudly, smiling brightly. I gave him a thumbs up, his smile widen then he went to go throw another football. Dylan and Sam begged me to watch them tryout for the football team at school. I'm just sitting near the top of the bleachers, pretending I knew a thing about football. It was either that, or sit on the sidelines with Lissa and friends, making up cheers for Dylan and Sam.
Footballs look...well easy. You get the ball and dodge big sweaty dudes while running to the other side. Psssh lame. It'd be far more entertaining if the football had a timer like a bomb and the players fought to get it to the opposite side-
"Max!"
I couldn't help myself- I got freaked out and hit the person. Fang held his shoulder in pain.
"That...really hurt," he glared me.
"What do you want? I know you aren't the jock type," I said looking down at the field. I saw Sam looking up at us. He looked really mad about something.
He looked even angrier when a ball hit him in the side of the head. Ouch.
"He should pay more attention to the game and less to you," Fang said, looking at me with his intense onyx eyes. My stomach felt lighter every time he was near me. I think it's a coincidence and he isn't the one causing it...Maybe I haven't been eating enough. Or not use to normal human food. Oh wait, his lips are moving. "-can help us."
"What?"
"I know someone who can help us..." Fang said slowly, as if I was mentally ill. When he noticed my blank stare, he continued, "You know...Finding your dad..."
"What are you-oh right...that. Who?" I asked, noticing he wasn't looking at me. I followed his eyes down towards the field, where Dylan was getting many high fives. Although he wasn't he paying attention to his classmates-he was staring at Fang wearing a stupid 'I'm superior' smirk across his face. I could tell Fang wanted to punch his face in.
"What's your deal with him anyways?" I asked, nervous about how he will respond. Will he be mad that I'm kind of friends with his enemy? Probably.
"Meet me at the front before school starts," Fang said getting up. "Bye."
That's it. He just gets up and leaves...Regular humans are so rude.