Hiyah! First of all, I'd like to thank all the people that have given me ideas for this chapter. Your help is truly appreciated . I hope you like this chapter. I would've gotten it posted a couple of weeks ago, but I got banned from my laptop until I finished this stupid book I had to read for summer reading for my AP 10th grade English class. Well, not really banned, but limited. (Sigh) I barely survived reading the last chapter. But I'm finally done, so, on with the chapter!
--
"Oh … my … f—in' … GAWD!!!" Miles cried, his mouth and dark eyes going as wide as they possible could without having him break a muscle or have his eyes pop right out of their sockets.
The lead singer, Pierre Charles Bouvier, for the band cocked his eyebrow in bewilderment and shared sideways glances with the rest of his band mates. "Um, who are you?" he asked.
"Holy pop-punk band, Batman, the lead singer from the greatest band in history is talking to me!" Miles thought as he hesitated for a choice of words and resisted the powerful urge that was bubbling inside of him to turn around and hold up a V sign like you see in anime shows to some invisible camera.
"Uh—I'm M-Miles. Ride. I'm Miles Ride," he stuttered, holding out his right hand and smiling like the idiot he figured the five pop-punk band members thought he was.
David Phillipe Desrosiers, the bands' bassist, smiled wickedly and held out his hand to grab Miles' and give it a good shake. "Nice to meet you, man."
"Oh, God, David Desrosiers just grabbed my hand!"
"You must be a hardcore fan if you got through Chuck. How'd you do it anyway?" Sébastien Lefebvre asked, shoving his hands in his black hoodie pockets.
Pushing his fan boyishness aside for a second, Miles let go of David's hand and fastened his black trench coat in a pimp-like manner, a wicked smirk spreading across his lips. "Well, let's just say, I have my ways of dealing with people."
"So, did you want an autograph or something?" Chuck Comeau, the bands' drummer, asked, shifting to his right and placing his hands on his hips.
Miles smiled, swinging his arms back and forth in sort of a shy childlike manner. "Well, if you insist," he said. "Oh! But before I forget, I wanted to ask you guys for a favor."
"Anything for a fan. What is it, kid?" Jeff Stinco, the bands' lead guitarist, said, giving Miles a polite smile.
--
"And you couldn't have told us that you were going to be leaving for the festival at five o'clock in the morning?" I asked.
Miles did nothing but shrug his shoulders, taking a bite out of the strawberry ice-cream he ordered not too long ago. "I just had some business to take care of. Besides, Kat was up and I told her where I was going. Nothing you've gotta throw a hissy fit over."
Oh, how I wanted to hit him upside the head right now. I mean, sure, this situation wasn't something to throw a hissy fit over, but ever since we met up with Miles when the festival started, he didn't even tell us why he ditched us in the first place, even though I already knew the answer. But, still! He should've at least told his flock why he just plain out left instead of just saying, 'I had some business to take care of'.
Just then, right before I even saw it coming, I felt Miles' soft, warm—well, cold in this case since he's been eating ice-cream for the past three minutes—lips press against my right cheek. I could smell the sweet aroma of frozen strawberries and vanilla entering my nostrils until he pulled away and flashed me one of his famous smiles.
"Don't worry. I left for a good reason. You'll see, as soon as the concert starts."
I stood frozen in my place, not being able to move. Even though Miles already kissed me when we were up in the air before we even came to this little shopping area, it was still a big shock to me. And before I could build up the courage to speak, I was interrupted. This didn't really surprise me. I always seem to get interrupted whenever I need to say something important.
"Hey, Miles! They've got a Whack-A-Mole booth over here!" Dash called out.
"Yeah! If you're able to whack thirty moles in less than a minute, you could win a free PSP!" Gasman cried, cuffing his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice.
"Oh, I am so there!" Miles said happily, forgetting about me and taking off at top speed towards the booth Dash and Gasman were at.
I sighed, shaking my head back and forth a couple of times and wonder what was it that made boys and girls so different. Better yet, what made guys so pig-headed and stupid? I mean, I knew it was because girls matured faster than guys, but even when guys mature, they're still the same idiotic Neanderthals they were when they were young. (Sigh) The many questions science has yet to have been able to answer.
"Is it me, or is he acting like more of a jerk than usual?"
I turned around, my brown eyes catching a glimpse of the dark, moody member of my flock, who was leaning against the back of a nearby booth with his arms crossed and a small smirk spread across his face.
I shot him a similar smirk, walking towards him with my hands in my jeans pockets. "Still got it in for Miles, eh?"
Fang shrugged his shoulders, picking himself up from his leaning position and stood straight. "I think I've always had it in for that guy," he said, raising his right arm and pointing behind him with his thumb, changing the subject just like that. "Wanna go try out some booths?" he asked me.
I looked around my surroundings. "Where are the others?"
"If I recall correctly, Miles is bashing mechanical moles with Dash and Gasman, Kat is hitting homers at the batting area while Nudge is watching, Angel is using her sinister powers to get people into giving her and Mini all the stuffed animals they think are 'cute' while Total tries to stop them, and Iggy and Conner are looking for something to do."
I gaped. Well, that had to be the longest sentence that came out of his mouth today. I wasn't really feeling up for having fun or anything. My only concern was where the Erasers were hiding. It's been how many days since they last attacked us? It was enough to make me edgy on when they were going to strike next after going a couple of days without even catching the smallest glimpse of there presence.
"You just need to relax," Fang said, making look his way. I hated it when he could just read my mind like I was some kind of open book. "Enjoy the Eraser-free days we've been having and unwind a little. This is a festival, which means we're supposed to be having fun and not worrying about when we're going to get attacked again."
"Boy, you're just filled with words today, aren't you?" I asked mockingly, enough to make him give me a small glare. I laughed and held my arms up in for mercy. "Alright, alright. Let's go see what kind of games they've got."
--
"You will give me and my friend the last two pink bunny rabbits on your prize wall, please," Angel spoke in her cute, polite tone while her and Mini gave the chubby prize man a loyal smile.
"I will give you and your friend the last two pink bunny rabbits on my prize wall," the man repeated, turning around to his prize wall and grabbing two, pink, furry bunny rabbits holding up red hearts against their stomachs and handing them to both Angel and Mini.
"Pleasure doing business with you, sir." Mini curtsied, taking her bunny and hugging it tightly before her and Angel went off on there way. "This is so cool! Miles is going to flip when he sees all the new stuffed animals we got."
Angel smiled also, nuzzling the new pink bunny she added to her collection of stuffed chickens, bears, puppies, and even a stuffed alligator or two.
"Oh, I'm sure they're going to flip alright," Total said, trying to balance a small, stuffed piglet on his back that Angel and Mini couldn't carry because of there giant load of stuffed animals Angel corrupted people to give her and Mini not too long ago.
"What else do you want to do, Angel?" Mini asked, almost dropping her stuffed wiener dog on the hard pavement.
Angel cocked her head up in wonder, thinking about what they could do next until a cold shiver rose up her spine, making her shake slightly. "Actually, it's getting kinda cold. I could really use a cup of hot chocolate."
Mini licked her lips and made a satisfying 'mmm' sound. "With mini marshmallows and whipped cream!"
"Alright!" they both cheered, giving each other high fives before they ran to the nearest food stand.
--
Nudge winced slightly, her eyes beginning to squint tinnier and tinnier while Kat gave her a smug smirk and threw her hands behind her neck. A drop of sweat slid down Nudge's right cheek as she grabbed hold of the table she was sitting on. Everyone was watching them, cheering each other on and taking bribes and bets on who was going to cave first. Kat's taunting smirk grew bigger when she heard more people cheering for her and betting the most money for her to win while not even half of the group of people were cheering Nudge on. This made her nervous.
"You are so going to cave," Kat said, shaking her head back and forth; that grin never leaving her lips.
"I. Am. Not. Going. To. Cave!" Nudge groaned, crossing her legs together as if she really had to go to the restroom. This was torture. Pure torture and the only thing Nudge really wanted was for it to end. She didn't know how long she could last for.
"Come on, Nudge!"
"Don't give up, girl!"
"You can do it!"
I can't let the people down! Nudge thought to herself, her eyes dark eyes squinting even more while Kat just raised a mocking eyebrow. This was it. She was going to win. Everyone knew who the winner was going to be.
Nudge was about to cave. She didn't know how much longer she could take of this. She had to end it. But she didn't want to let all the people that were cheering her on down. She really wanted to win and rub it in Kat's face, but if she lasted another ten seconds, she was literally going to explode. So, she did the only thing she could think of doing. She blinked.
"Booyah! You blinked! You lose!" Kat cheered, getting up from her seat and doing a little break-dance jig around the table while the audience cheered for her success and some whined in disappointment as they handed over the money they bet, thinking Nudge was going to win.
Nudge sighed miserably, getting up from the table in annoyance. "Alright, alright. You won. So what do you want? Regular lemonade, or pink lemonade?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"Regular. Pink is the evil color," Kat told her, shoving her hands in her pockets and giving Nudge a victorious smile.
Nudge just shook her head back and forth and walked towards the nearest food stand. "Stupid staring contest."
--
Iggy sighed in total boredom, shoving his hands in his pockets, except for his right hand, which Conner was hanging on to so that Iggy wouldn't crash into anyone or anything. This festival was filled with a lot more people than he thought there'd be, and since Iggy only did well in quiet places where he could hear and tell where everything was by hearing it, he felt completely lost in a place that made so much noise. Plus, he felt so unmanly having Conner hanging on to his arm. People were going to think they were some kind of gay couple.
"Find anything we can do yet, Conner?" Iggy asked him, hoping he would say yes. Even though he didn't have a watch—what was the point of having a watch if you're blind?—he didn't really know how long they were walking around the festival for. But he took a wild guess and figured about fifteen minutes passed by since the flock all spilt up to do their own things.
Conner grabbed Iggy's palm and traced the word 'no' with his right index finger.
Iggy sighed. "Man, this sucks. This festival is supposed to be fun. Or, at least that's what people have been saying. If it's supposed to be so much fun, how come we've been wondering the festival for the past fifteen minutes and have still found nothing to do?"
Conner shrugged his shoulders, which Iggy could feel brush against his own shoulder since they were really close to each other. And with his super acute raptor hearing, he could hear a couple of teenaged boys laughing and giggling at them.
Suddenly, before Iggy could groan about having a couple of teenaged boys thinking that he and Conner were a gay couple, he felt Conner tugging on his right shoulder extremely hard and jumping up and down.
"What is it, Conner?" he asked, almost falling down to the ground from Conner's intensive yanking.
"Kissing booth! Only one buck! It's for a good cause in helping needy children!" yelled a blonde woman that couldn't be any older than twenty with her perfect, hourglass figure and dab of make-up on. This made Iggy's eyes widen with excitement while Conner held out his palm and started performing hand signs on top of it.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking? He asked, using his sign language.
"Oh, yeah." Iggy responded, nodding his head up and down while Conner directed him towards the kissing booth as fast as he could walk.
This festival just got a whole lot better! Iggy thought to himself, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
--
"Ah, damn it." I groaned, watching as the little white ping pong ball bounced off the side of the goldfish bowl and fell onto the grassy ground with a 'plop'. "That was my last ball."
"Sorry, girly. But, you gave it your all, and that's all that mattered," said the sleazy old man that was holding the booth Fang and I were at right now. I glared at him viciously, watching him as he fanned himself with the three bucks I just handed him for trying to win the prize I wanted. Don't laugh, but I really wanted that stuffed kitten with the blue bow. I know I'm a little old for stuffed animals, but I couldn't help but realize how cute it was. Besides, there were times where I really needed to hug something furry and fluffy and since I couldn't do that with Celeste since she was Angel's stuffed bear, I figured having my own would make things a lot simpler. But no. Stupid prize booths.
I could feel Fang's dark eyes staring at me. He was probably wondering why I looked so bummed out, but I couldn't tell him it was because I didn't win the stuffed bear I wanted. He'd never let me forget, so I just shrugged my shoulders like nothing happened and suggested we'd go to another booth, trying not to look into the cute, plastic eyes of the stuffed bear that was just begging to be won.
"Hold on, let me take a crack at it again," Fang said, reaching into his jeans pocket and taking out three more bucks. He handed them to the old man and got three white ping pong balls. He grabbed the first one and threw it at the nearest fishbowl, but it refused to go in. He then got the next white ball and threw it at a different fishbowl, but that one missed by a long shot and just fell to the floor.
Finally, he reached his last ping pong ball and focused on the fishbowl to the far right corner of the booth. He squinted his eyes a little and gave the ball a good practice throw before he actually threw it. It bounced off the side of the fishbowl and I thought it was going to roll off and fall the floor, but to my surprise, it rolled around the edge and fell right in with a 'plop' as it hit the water.
Well, what do ya know.
The sleazy old man looked at Fang with a disappointed look on his face and gave him a small glare before he grumbled, "Alright, pick a prize then."
I watched as Fang looked up at the prize wall and pondered on what to get. Image my surprise when he picked the fluffy kitten with the blue bow that I wanted. Funny, I never figured him being a kitten person, let alone a person who would actually pick a stuffed animal as a prize. I kinda would've figured he would've sprung for the PSP skin or something more—I don't know … manly.
"Nice choice, Fang. Now you and Angel can have tea parties with your kittens," I said, resisting the urge to whine. How dare he get the bear that I wanted!
"It's not for me, you idiot." Fang spat, handing the stuffed bear to me. "I got it for you. Besides, what the hell am I going to do with a kitten?"
My brown eyes went wide as I saw the fluffy kitten Fang was handing to me. I felt like crying. I finally had the kitten that I wanted so badly, and Fang was the one that gave it to me. Which was kind of odd for me since he was going back to giving me stuff. But at least he was doing it without crying out 'surprise' with a creepy/cute smile spread across his face, making him look like he should be sent to preschool.
"Um, thanks," I said, resisting the urge to run up and hug him to death.
Fang's Thoughts
Come on, when is she going to run up and hug me? That stupid website on how to make women like you said that if you gave a girl something she really wants then she'll guarantee give you a great big hug as a token of gratitude. So where the hell is my hug?! Fang thought, hoping Max didn't notice the impatient look that was fighting its way to show up on Fang's features.
End of Fang's Thoughts
"Hey, Max!"
I turned around to see a smiling Miles jogging towards the booth Fang and I were still standing at with his hands behind his back, Gasman and Dash ran beside him. The slightly disappointed looks on there faces told me he didn't whack enough moles to get the PSP.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Miles totally beat the amount of whacks you were supposed to do in less than a minute!" Dash cried, giving Miles' right arm a good punch.
"But he didn't get the PSP," Gasman told me, looking down in disappointment.
I cocked my eyebrow in bewilderment. "Well, what did he get then?" I asked.
"Something for you," Dash said, looking up at Miles.
"Me?" I asked. That was kind of nice of him getting me something, but I swear to God, if he yelled out 'surprise' and gave he a creepy child smile, I'd punch his lights out. "What is it?"
Miles' smile seemed to grow a little bit bigger as he revealed what he was carrying behind his back. But before I tell you what it was, let me ask you a question. If any of you readers had a friend or just hung out with a guy like Miles and he revealed the most adorable baby kitten in the entire world from behind his back, what would you do? If you answer, gap as much as you could without having your mouth dislocated from your jaw and squeal like the girl you are, then I am happy I will not be the only girl to do that.
"Oh, my God, Miles!" I cried, hearing the baby kitten meow in the tinniest little meow I've ever heard a cat make. Even I had to admit the baby kitten was beyond adorable. It had the softest coat of chocolate brown fur with little stripes of black and a tummy filled with white, fluffy fur. It was softer than my stuffed bear, which made me want to cuddle it to death. Not literally, though. I wouldn't want to kill such an adorable little animal.
"How the hell did you win a kitten from a Whack a Mole booth?" Fang asked, looking down at the little kitten that was placed in my palms before picking up the stuffed kitten I didn't realize I dropped until he bent down to pick it up.
"You'd be surprised what they give as prizes at this festival," Miles said, smoothing out the kittens' fur. "So, you like him?"
"Yes! He's got to be the most adorable animal I've ever seen!" I cried, rushing towards him, my arms flying over his shoulders and embracing him in a warm hug I didn't really mean to give him. "Thank you, Miles!"
"Um, you're welcome," he said, his voice sounding a little nervous. I guess he didn't really wanted to be hugged right now, so I let go of him immediately.
"So, what are you going to call him?" Gasman asked, hearing the baby kitten meow once more, licking its right paw and using it to clean his face. I tried desperately not to squeal like I just did, which brought much attention to us.
I patted the little kitten on the head and looked into his dark eyes. Those cute, baby eyes. "I think I'll call him … Talus." (A/N: I'm not sure if I spelled it right, but its pronounced Tah-loos.)
Dash smiled, scratching Talus under his snowy, white furred chin. "Welcome to the family, Talus."
"Let's just hope Angel and Mini don't go crazy over him. And let's hope Total doesn't try to pummel him like what happens on Tom and Jerry," Gasman said, letting Talus play with his index finger by tossing it back and forth with his little paws.
Random Third Person Switch
Fang resisted the great urge to tackle Miles to the ground and start beating him to a pulp.
He got her a kitten! Unbelievable! I got her a stuffed kitten and Miles goes and gets her a real one. And he gets rewarded with a hug that should've been mine! Oh, it's on now, Miles. This. Means. War!
End of Third Person Switch
--
And that's a rap. Man. I had no idea this chapter was so long. Sorry for switching off to first person and then third person so many times. I didn't know I'd be doing it so much in this chapter. But, oh well. And sorry it took me a while to post this chapter. It kind of took me a while to finish it up. And guess what I found out earlier. Turns out, I'm still limited on my computer. My mom changed the rules a bit and said that I have to read another book for my summer reading or else I won't get the computer back for full time. But, instead of being limited on the computer for an hour like last time, I'm up to two hours now. So many it won't take me so long to post up chapters. But that's a big maybe. Plus, schools starting to come, which means I'm going to have to step away from this story for school shopping and hanging out with friends since a lot of there B-day's are coming up. But I promise I'll post more chapters as soon as possible, now that my writers block is gone. I already have the next chapter planned out. So, until then, peace!