Chapter 4:
I drove down Hawthorne, past my house, circled back and headed toward the heart of Coldwater. I speed dialed Nudge, praying for her to pick up.
"Something happened-I-he-it-out of nowhere-the Neon-"
"You're breaking up, what's up?" I wiped away the sweat from my forehead. My whole body trembled uncontrollably. "He came out of nowhere."
"Who? What?" asked Nudge, urgently.
"He-" I tried to talk. But couldn't. But I forced out some words. "He jumped in front of the car!"
"Oh, man. Oh man oh man oh man. You hit a deer? Are you okay? What about Bambi?" She half wailed, half groaned. "The Neon?"
I opened my mouth, but Nudge cut me off. She always does this when she's exasperated.
"Forget it. I've got insurance. Just tell me there aren't deer parts all over my baby… No deer parts, right?"
Whatever answer I was about to give faded into the background. My mind was two steps ahead. A deer.
Maybe I could pass the whole thing off as hitting a deer. I wanted to confide in Nudge, but I didn't want to sound crazy, either. How was I going to explain watching the guy I hit rise to his feet and begin tearing off the car door? I stretched my collar down past my shoulder. No red marks where he'd gripped me that I could see… I should've gotten out of the car, knocked him out and pulled off his mask…
I know for sure he wasn't part of my imagination.
"Max? Max are you there? Are you okay?!" she shrieked. I sniffed.
"I'm fine Nudge," I whispered. She breathed out a sigh of relief.
"nudge?" I whispered.
"Yeah?" she responded.
"Mind if I spend the night at your place?" I muttered.
"Yes! Yeah of course you can! I'll open my window, but if you can't use the front door," she said in a rush. I smiled a little and thanked her. I hung up and closed my eyes breathing in and out deeply. That's new. Nothing's ever happened like that before. Not to me.
I figured I should hurry to Nudge's and sped off. I kept glancing at the rearview mirrors, letting out a sigh of relief when there wasn't a sign of Ski mask guy. When I got to her driveway, I called her to tell her to come out. I knew the door was busted and I had to kick it to open and get out. She wouldn't come out so I went to check on her window to see if she was okay. We bumped into each other and she hugged me.
After she pulled away we went to inspect her car. I froze when I saw the neon. No smashed window and no busted door. The fuck? I closed my eyes, to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, but when I opened them there wasn't anything wrong with the car.
I walked around the back of the car. I'd completed almost a full circle when I came up short.
A fine crack bisected the windshield.
Nudge saw it at the same time. "You sure it wasn't a squirrel?"
I shook my head. My mind flashed back to the lethal eyes behind the ski mask. They were so black I couldn't distinguish the pupils from the irises. Black like…Fang's. Son of a bitch.
"Look at me, I'm crying tears of joy," NUdge said, sprawling herself across the Neon's hood in a hug. "A teeny tiny crack. That's it! Thank god!"
I manufactured a smile, but my stomach soured. Five minutes ago, the window was smashed out and the door was bowed. Looking at the car now, it seemed impossible. No, it seemed crazy. But I saw his fist punch through the glass, and I felt his fingernails bite into my shoulder.
Hadn't I?
The harder I tried to recall the crash, the more I couldn't. Little blips of missing information cut across my memory. The details were fading. Was he tall? Short? Thin? Bulky? Had he said anything?
I couldn't remember. That was the most frightening part. I think I'm going mad.
Nudge and I left her house at seven fifteen the following morning and drove to Enzo's Bistro to grab a breakfast of steamed milk. With my hands wrapped around my china cup, I tried to warm away the deep chill inside me. I'd showered, pulled on a white shirt, brown leather jacket, jeans and my sneakers, but I hardly remembered doing it.
Nudge would glance behind me over my shoulder, but I focused on the night before. She kicked me under the table, and I looked up at her.
"What?" I said. She grinned.
"There's a cute guy in a green sweater, who keeps looking this way…Nevermind he's looking at your long legs through your jeans, estimating them. Aww! He just gave me a two finger military salute," she squealed.
Looking at my legs? I stood up and Nudge gripped my arm, pleading me not to go beat him up. I sighed and figured I should do something for her.
But I didn't care about those guys right now. Last night's accident had replayed itself in my head all night, chasing away any chance of sleep. My thoughts were in tangles, my eyes were dry and heavy, and I couldn't concentrate.
"That hottie looks normal…oh but his wingman…he looks more of a badboy!" she whispered at me, pretending to take sip from her drink. I managed a smile.
"Look at him please," she whined. I did. I took in his fineboned, handsome face. Blond hair hung at his shoulders. Eyes the color of chrome. Unshaven.
Impeccably dressed in a tailored jacket over his green sweater and dark designer jeans. I shook my head.
"You're crazy," I muttered.
"I'm crazy? Right…oh my gosh! Mr. Hottie is getting out of his seat, his body obviously hits the gym, making his way toward us-wait no…he's coming over to you," she said.
"Hello," said a low and pleasant voice. I looked up and saw him. He has shaggy blond hair, Caribbean blue eyes and his thumbs hooked to the pockets of his jeans.
"Hey," said Nudge. "I'm Monique but call me Nudge. My friend here is Maximum Ride." I glanced at her when she said my full name. I nodded and returned to my drink. I stiffened when he dragged a chair from the other table and set it close to me, and sat backward on it.
Holding out a hand to me, he introduced himself, "I'm Dylan Taylors." I only half narrowed my eyes at him. He took the cue and apologized, taking away his hand. Nudge glared at me a second and kicked me under the table.
"And this is Hunter," said Dylan, nodding toward his overly tall friend, if you ask me. Hunter sat next to nudge, slumping in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest.
"How tall are you? I think you're the tallest guy I've ever met," she said, twirling a strand of her hair over one finger.
"Six ten," he muttered.
"Wow," sighed Nudge. Ugh. Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep breath. Glad to have you here too dude… I studied Dylan. He looks like a guy who goes to high-school, but he's never been to our school. He looked like a nice goody goody guy. Good for Nudge, but apparently she had her eyes set on Hunter.
"Live around here?" Nudge asked.
"…"
"Go to School?"
"Kinghorn prep," he muttered. What's wrong with this guy?
"Huh?"
"Private school. Portland. Class begins at nine," he said.
"You uh…rich?" she asked. Dear lord… Hunter looked at her a second and scrapped his chair back. I snorted and covered my mouth with my hand, to hide my smile. I looked up and saw Dylan, smiling at me. And I put my tough face back on.
"You go to Kinghorn Prep too?" asked Nudge. Dylan shook his head.
"I did. But I'm going Coldwater High, from now," he said. Oh great…
"Really? Max and I go there!" squealed Nudge.
"Nudge we better get going. It's going to be late when we get there," I said, grabbing my messenger bag and pulling her up.
"But there's never any traffic at this hour," she said. Dylan raised his eyebrows.
"Maybe I could go with you guys? Um so I could get a tour?" he asked hopefully. This guy didn't get the hint. Maybe I should give it to him the hard way.
"Look Dylan. In case you haven't noticed, I don't want to be here. I'm not in the mood for this, so my best friend and I, we're leaving," I said and left the place. Nudge trailing behind me.
"Okay what's wrong with you? Dylan was being sweet," she said.
"I don't care. Every guy is the same Nudge and they all want one thing. They'll do anything to take it from you" I said. She frowned.
"Max, you have a problem. You don't know how to trust guys," she said softly.
"Exactly. Try getting me to trust one," I said.
"Is this about Fang and the library thing and you think he really is stalking you? Look I was joking and you didn't have to-" I cut her off. I stiffened at his name and his black eyes popped into mind. I shook it off.
"Fang is the least of my worries," I mumbled. I lied. Well…maybe he was…
"And you're not eating either," she sighed. She opened a bag of potato chips and offered me some. I wasn't hungry.
"I'm not hungry Nudge," I said.
"Max you're always hungry. But I don't control what you do," she sighed. We stayed silent the rest of the way to school.
Nudge sat beside me in class. That is until you know who popped up.
"Ahem," he cleared his throat and motioned to his seat. Nudge looked up at him and slowly rose. Fang he swept his arm over the aisle, indicating her out of his way.
"You look good, like always," Fang winked at me when he said it. I rolled my eyes and ignored my stupid heart. He took the chair beside me, and stretched his legs.
"Thanks," I mumbled. Really? Thanks? Of every insult I wanted to say, I came up with "Thank you?" I didn't like his compliments…not most of them anyway. It didn't take much perception to realize he was trouble, and I had enough trouble in my life already. No need to invite more. Maybe if I ignored him, he'd eventually give up initiating conversation. And then we could sit side by side in silent harmony, like every other partnership in the room.
"You smell amazing too," he said.
"Um there's this thing call a shower? Where you use shampoo, soap and hot water," I said.
"And you're naked. I know," he said. I was about to insult him and hit him when Coach strode in, blowing his whistle.
"Pop quiz, team! Getting you ready for Friday. Absolute silence for the next fifteen minutes. After, we'll discuss chapter seven," he said, handing out the quizzes.
I answered the first few questions, but lost concentration. I began pushing last night's accident and the voice at the back of my mind questioning my sanity to the sidelines. I gasped slightly when those black eyes swan through my mind again. Then Fang leaned toward me, his black eyes locking toward mine.
"Are you okay? Rough night?" he whispered.
"I saw you at the library," I muttered.
"The highlight of my night," he responded with a smile.
"D-did you follow me?" I stuttered. I never stutter but in situations like this…Fang just tipped his head back and laughed softly.
"What were you doing there?" I snapped.
"Um, getting a book?" he said, his eyes laughed at me. Coach was staring at me and I immediately returned to the quiz. Ia snwered a few questions, and when I looked at Fang he was smiling at me.
My heart did an unexpected flip, startled by his bizarrely attractive smile. To my horror, I was so taken aback, I dropped my pencil. It bounced on the tabletop a few times before rolling over the edge. Fang bent to pick it up. He held it out in the palm of his hand, and I had to focus not to touch his skin as I took it back.
"Where'd you go after the library?" I said, closing my eyes.
"Why?" he said softly.
"Just answer the damn question," I ground out.
"Ride," warned Coach. I continued working, my hand trembling a little when I felt Fang's gaze on me. He's different in…a scary way. I'm not afraid of boys…but he's different.
I couldn't help but think what Fang's answer might have been, and it had me wanting to slide far away from him. Across the room. Across the universe.
Coach chirped his whistle. "Time's up. Pass your quizzes forward. Be expecting similar questions this Friday. Now"—he sanded his hands together—"for today's lesson. Miss Monique, want to take a stab at our topic?" Nudge hates it when people use her real name.
"S e x," Nudge announced.
Precisely after she did, I tuned out. Was Fang following me? Was he the face behind the ski mask—if there even was a face behind a mask? What did he want? I hugged my elbows, suddenly feeling very cold. I wanted my life to go back to the way it was before Fang barged into my life. I shut my eyes and swallowed two more iron pills. I've never taken as many pills as I have these past few days.
"We need to talk," I told Fang, after class.
"Sure," he said, taking a seat on the edge of the table.
"Let's get one thing straight okay? I know you don't want to sit next to me any more than I want to sit next to you," I hissed. "Do me a favor and explain the situation to-"
"The situation?"
"We're not-compatible," I said, shrugging my shoulders.
Fang rubbed a hand over his jaw, "We're not?"
"I'm not giving you shocking news, you know?" crossing my arms over my chest.
"You do know, that when Coach asked for my list of desired characteristics in a mate, I gave him you."
Anger sparked in me. "Take it back."
"Intelligent. Attractive. Strong. You disagree?"
He's teasing me. On purpose. I swung at his jaw but he caught my fist, pulling me closer to him. I pulled away and stepped back. Slapping him again.
"Are you going to ask Coach to switch our seats, or not?" I asked, frustrated.
"I don't think so. You've grown on me," he grinned at the last part. Jackass, I thought harshly.
What was I supposed to say to that? He was obviously aiming to get a reaction out of me. Which wasn't difficult, seeing as how I could never tell when he was joking, and when he was sincere.
I tried to inject a measure of self -composure into my voice. "I think you'd be much better seated with someone else. And I think you know it." I smiled, fake.
"I think I could end up next to Nudge." His smile appeared just as polite. "I'm not going to press my luck."
"Um am I interrupting something?" asked Nudge, after standing beside me.
"No," I said, grabbing my messenger bag. "I just wanted to know what tonight's assignment was, and Fang was here so I decided to ask him," I said, punching Fang's side, playfully but forcefully. Fang nodded grabbing his side.
"The assignment's on the board," confusion showing in her eyes. She looked into Fang's eyes, and after a few seconds she looked at me and shrugged. Wha? I looked over at Fang.
"Anything else, Max?" he said.
"No," I said. "See you tomorrow."
"Looking forward to it." He winked. Actually winked.
After Fang was out of earshot, Nudge gripped my arm. "Good news. Walker. That's his last name. I saw it on Coach's class roster."
"And I care because…?" I raised me eyebrows.
"Everybody knows students are required to register prescription drugs with the nurse's office." She tugged at the front pocket of my backpack, where I kept my iron pills. "Likewise, everybody knows the nurse's office is conveniently located inside the front office, where, as it happens, student files are also kept," she winked. Why is everyone winking at me today?
"Ahhh!" I said, smiling and nodding. She giggled and nodded.
"Let's go do some real sleuthing," I said, grabbing her arm and walking away.