"Okay…"

So we ran into the convenient woods that were next to the school, and once we were once of sight and had space. I extended my wings. All eleven feet of them. They were gorgeous. Ella gaped. "They're beautiful," she murmured, and slowly put her hand out, touching the feathers. "They're so soft," she said softly in wonder.

"So, ready to fly?" I grin at her.

"Okay…" She sounds a little nervous.

I hold her piggyback style, which should be okay because my wings extend to the sides. I quickly climb a tree with her on my back and jump off, flapping my wings, letting the wind carry me up. Ella tightened her grip as we rose, and now she started laughing. "Snow, this is amazing!" she laughed and cheered as I spun in the air. Within five minutes we were home.

I landed in the back, near the woods. She jumped off my back, and I folded in my wings. We went inside, where the smell of chocolate chip cookies awaited us. Life was good : D

While Max and I inhaled ten cookies each, Ella and her mom only had two. Humans were weird. Whatever, more for us! I chomped on my cookies, and Max swallowed hard. She cleared her throat, and everyone turned to her.

"So, I know we like it here, but we need to leave. We're going tomorrow. Sorry everyone," she gave Ella and Dr. M sympathetic looks, but she looked like she was trying hard not to cry herself. Why didn't she give me a sympathetic look? I liked it here…..did Max not realize that? But Angel was more important, and Max was probably thinking about her. I was too. But I was going to miss Ella. Maybe after we saved Angel….everyone could come here. And Nudge, Ella, Mandy, and I would be best friends. I smiled at the thought. And Angel could be the little sister we always played dress up with, Iggy could cook with Dr. M, and I would help too, Max could do whatever she wanted, Fang could do that too, and Gazzy could consume out of one end, and release it out of the other. It would be great.

"Snow?" I snapped back to attention when Dr. M called my name. She held up some empty dishes and a pot full of food. "Wanna help me serve this?" She asked. I ran over and helped make the burros for dinner. "Burros" was Mexican for "Oh my freaking god, this is amazing! Give me another one!" I had to take the meat and put it in the burro, then wrap it all up and melt cheese on top. Dr. M, and Ella each had a reasonable one burro. I had five. Max had six. And they were pretty freaking delicious. During dinner, almost nobody spoke. Max tried to start conversations, but they just died out. I needed to talk to Max.

"Max?" I projected into her head.

"Snow, I'm sorry, we just can't stay!" She quickly replied, sounding annoyed and sad.

"I wasn't gonna say that…" I said softly. She looked sheepish inside her head.

"Oh, sorry."

"Do you think…" I couldn't get the words out. "Do you think the flock is worried about us?" I felt guilty enough by wanting to stay longer.

She sighed. "Probably. That's why we have to go. We have to go save Angel and reunite with Fang and Nudge."

"Okay." And I left her mind.

After dinner, I immediately went to bed. As did Max. We wanted our sleep. Later, at around midnight, I hear a sound. It sounded like sobbing. I rolled over to see Ella crying. She was sitting up and crying. I was about to comfort her. Was this about me leaving the next day? But then I saw she was on the phone, and stayed still. "She's leaving, Cassie. What do I do?" Ella sobbed into the phone.

"Who the hell is Cassie?" I thought angrily. I hear a muffled reply.

"Don't let her leave, or you're dead," the voice said meanly. That was it. I grabbed the phone out of Ella's hands. She gaped at me.

"Look bitch, I don't know who the hell you are, but if you mess with Ella, you're messing with me. So if you value your life, leave while you can," I snarled into the phone.

The girl only laughed. "Get her Ella." I laughed in disbelief. But then Ella grabbed me, and locked my arms behind my back.

"Ella! What the hell?" I struggled but she was inhumanly strong. The girl on the phone continued. "You thought you had escaped, Snow. But you're going to stay right there. And Ella won't let you leave, because if she does, we'll kill her mom. We're coming for you."

"Are you from the School? You sound so young…" My voice trailed off.

The girl laughed evilly. Not like a movie villain laugh, just a really mean laugh. "I may sound young, but I'm thirty eight. Now, straight to the point. Maximum Ride is not dead. You were supposed to kill her, and her little flock. So complete your mission. Just so you know, we will brainwash you if you don't complete your mission…the right way. We'll give you one more chance. But if you don't kill Max and her fellow mutants, we will force you to." And then the phone hung up. Ella glared at me with ice in her eyes. Then she punched me hard in the nose, and I woke up.

Thank freaking god. Ella was normal, she still looked nervous though, Dr. M looked upset, and Max looked close to tears.

"Hey, what's wro-" I started to say before Max tackled me with a hug. She was breathing heavily. I hugged her back.

"Hey Max what happened?" I asked her gently. She looked at me in disbelief.

"You mean you don't remember almost dying!?"

"Umm…no."

"Wow Snow, your heart stopped beating, I was so worried…" Max's voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry," I said, my voice breaking like a little kid.

Then Max pulled me into a hug, joined by Ella and Dr. M, and we had a group hug. I didn't tell them about my dream, it was too disturbing, but I recalled being punched at the end. "What did you do?" I asked mischievously.

Max blushed. "Well, your heart stopped, and I panicked, and I may have tried to punch you to bring you back to life. A few times."

I groaned. "That's probably why my nose feels like playdo."

Max smiled. "Well it worked didn't it? You're not dead now."

I smiled despite myself. "I guess you're right."

Max helped me up, I was still feeling a little dizzy, and we went and ate some food. It was delicious, of course, but the thought of leaving was almost too much to bear for Ella, and I saw tears threatening to form in her eyes. Dr. M kept up a casual conversation throughout breakfast so we wouldn't feel awkward, but it didn't work that well. After breakfast, we started to pack up. I felt a hand on my shoulder as I walked down the hall.

"Do you really have to go, Snow?" Ella.

"I'm sorry Ell, but our….. sister needs help, so….. we have to go," I explained awkwardly.

She looked concerned. "Is she like you?"

I hesitated for a moment. "Yes."

Ella started to say something, but restrained herself. She let me go collect my backpack, and we went outside, joining Dr. M and Max. Max smiled at Dr. M.

"Just… thanks for helping us out."

"Thank you so much," I chimed in.

"It was our pleasure," Dr. M smiled tearfully. And then she pulled all of us into a group hug, and I didn't want to let go. But Angel needed us. So I let go. So did Max. She nodded at me. Up and away.

In perfect synchronization, we opened our wings and jumped into the sky. Dr. M and Ella watched us in awe, and waved as we flew away. We waved back, and then we were off.