me: i know you guys have been waiting to know what happens next! :D well her it is!

iggy: not many people have beem waiting, ja...

me: im gunna ignore that iggy... anywho...ENJOOOYYY!

ps: in the texting seen, im bold and the other person is regular.

Chapter 23

I couldn't sleep at all that night. Max let Gazzy sleep in the hospital bed with Angel, Nudge slept in the empty one next to Angel's, and the rest of us slept on the linoleum floor. We laid down a few blankets to make the floor softer, and it was actually kind of comfortable, but I still couldn't get to sleep. You know that feeling where you really want to go to sleep, but you're so stressed you just cant? Yeah, well, that's how I felt.

I remembered that my cell phone was in my pocket and I got it out, trying my hardest not to disturb Iggy, whose arms were around my waist. I unlocked it and noticed that I had one new text message. Sighing, I decided to read it and pressed the tiny button that would open the text.

"hey," is what it said. I looked at who the sender was and wasn't too surprised to see Dylan's name.

Hey…

After a few minutes he texted back.

Whacha doing?

Laying in the floor of a hospital room. You?

Why?

The youngest girl in my family, Angel, got hurt pretty bad…

Will she be okay?

I hope so.

Jaleese?

Yeah?

Will you please meet me at the park in 20 minutes? I really need to see you and I want to talk to you…

I looked around at my sleeping family and decided it would be safe.

Okay…see you soon…

Thanks. Love you.

I got up carefully and quietly and made my way to the 5th story window by Angel's bed. I was just about to jump when I heard a tiny voice whisper my name.

"Jaleese…" Angel muttered again.

I turned around and looked at her. Her eyes were closed and lips were pressed together in a firm line. Shrugging it off I jumped out and spread my wings, letting them fill with the cool night air. A few minutes later I landed in a tall tree in the center of the local park. I leaped down and landed on the balls of my feet with a soft thud.

"Hey," a familiar voice called to me.

I hesitated to turn around, but when I did I saw him walking towards me. "Hi," I said walking to Dylan sitting on the fountain nearby.

He stood up and embraced me in the bear hugs he used to give me before…the wings. "I missed you," he whispered into my shoulder.

I pulled back and smiled softly at him. "You too. A lot."

Dylan smiled back and sat back down, patting the spot next to him. "Sit," he told me. "I wunna talk."

"About?" I asked as I crossed my arms in front of me, refusing to sit down.

He narrowed his eyes at me and his smile faded as he silently declared one of our famous "glare downs". I stared back at him with ten times the force.

"You win," he finally said with a smirk.

"What did you expect?" I sat down beside him with a wink and a smile plastered on my face.

Dylan laughed and put his arm around my shoulder, starting to sway back forth playfully and sing our favorite song. Im Sexy and I Know It by LMFAO. When we finished we sat there laughing and it felt just like the old days. The old days…meaning only 2 weeks ago… my smile faltered and I fell silent at this thought.

"What's the matter, Duckie?" he asked worriedly, calling me by my the nickname he gave me.

"It just feel like it's been longer than 2 weeks since I last saw you, Dyl Bear" I admitted dropping my head in sorrow.

He hugged me around my waist and pulled me closer to him. "I know how you feel. The last 2 weeks have been a living hell for me without my best friend," he told me.

I leaned my head on his shoulder and opened my mouth to say something when a loud bang interrupted me. We got to our feet and I stood in one of the fighting stances Max had showed me. I looked around for any sign of danger and almost choked on my own breath when 3 familiar dark figures came running over screaming out my name at the top of their lungs.

I stood up straight and did a face palm as my 3 best friends, Rianna Gaddy, Elizabeth Vermont (AKA: E-P), and Macie Liu, came rushing towards me and Dylan.

When they got in hearing range I shouted, "what the flock are you guys doing in the park at 2 in the morning?"

E-P tackled me to the ground and squeezed me tight while Macie and Rianna stood beside us beaming down as I struggled to get the smallish girl off me.

"JALEESE I MISSED YOU SOOOOO MUCH!" E-P screamed, her pigtails waving in all directions as she faught to stay pinned to me.

"I've missed you, too, but please get the heck off of me, E-P!" I yelled as I threw her off and stood up.

Rianna and Macie snickered and hugged me. "we missed you, Jaleese-sama," they said as we pulled apart from the crushingly tight group hug.

"You, too," I muttered unsure.

That's when all hell began to break loose.

me: CLIFFIEEEE!

iggy: they're gunna kill you because of all these cliff hangers you put in here.

me: oh be quiet. who asked you.