First off, YAY I UPDATED QUICKLY! So, I had this done, like, yesterday, but I started it on my aunt's laptop and she has a newer version of Word, than I do, so I had to copy and paste it to a new document today at school, but here it is!

Second, I just wanted to thank all of these WONDERUL, AMAZING, FANTABULAWESOME people who reviewed the last chapter. I think it was the most reviewed chapter I had ever gotten. So GO YOU.

"Happiness, its been no friend to me
But forever after ain't what its all cracked up to be
Yeah, I had a taste, you were my fantasy
But I lost my faith when I hit reality."
--Bon Jovi

Chapter 18: Max P.O.V.

As I was tying the drawstring to my shorts, there was a knock on the door. Mom's head popped in as she opened the door, cradling the cordless phone to her shoulder.

"Fang's on the phone," she said. I put out my hand, and she handed it to me, giving me a worried glance.

"Hey," I said, noticeably excited, "What's up?"

"Not much," he said. Mom left the room leaving my door opened. I bent down to pick up my sneakers, "How's it going?"

"Eh," I said, untying one of my shoes, "Nudge called last night. She's going on a vacation for two weeks. Some place in Georgia. She sounded excited."

"Yeah, I talked to her this morning," Fang said.

"Do you think she sounded okay?" I asked.

"Sounds like she's getting along alright," he responded.

"Well, that's Nudge. She can adapt almost anywhere."

It's been about a week since we had all split up. It was still at the point where we called each other every day or every two days. From what I heard, it seemed like everyone, including Iggy, was getting used to their parents; and enjoying it.

"How about you?" Fang asked.

I dropped my shoe to the ground and stuffed my foot in it, placing the phone between my cheek and my shoulder. I had been less than okay. It was pretty uncomforting, being mostly along in a house that had been overpopulated for about a year. I now had my own room, instead of sharing it with Ella, Nudge, and Angel. And it was eerily quiet in the mornings, without Iggy and Fang, our two resident early birds, awake and functioning in the kitchen.

"I'm fine," I said.

"I talked to your mom," he said, without missing a beat, and my face fell. "She's says you haven't been eating. Or sleeping."

"How would she know?" I said, "You know she's not home during the day."

"Have you been eating, Max?"

I paused, and put on my other shoe. "I've become nocturnal," I said with slight sarcasm, knowing he would see right through my lie, "I sleep during the day and then stay awake all night. I eat when she's not home."

There was silence on the other end. I bent down to tie my shoes, and noticed that my room needed cleaning. I had dust bunnies residing under my bed.

"Why haven't you been eating?" he asked,

"You know," I said, know annoyed, "For someone who around eight days ago, just left me, you sure seem to care too much. You don't have to play up the concern, Fang."

More silence.

I sighed. "Look," I said, "I'm gonna go. I don't have much to talk about anyway."

"You were the one who forced us to leave, Max. Do you really think that if there was an option, no one would've stayed?"

I sank down to my bed, "You and Iggy were the only ones who knew about that. The others didn't fight me about leaving."

He was quiet. Glancing down at my watch, I realized I had about five minutes before Ella would kill me.

"Fang," I said, at the same time he said, "Angel knows."

I switched the phone to my other ear, "How do you know that?"

He sighed, as if realizing what he had said. "She asked why you wanted her to go live out in Oregon."

"She would've left anyway," I said. That wasn't a big deal. Angel would've found out sometime or later anyway, "I asked her if was happy going to live with her father. And she said she was excited."

Fang didn't say anything for a long moment. "Oh," he said after a while, but it didn't sound like he believed me, "Are you going to Nudge's house when she gets back?" he asked, completely changing the subject.

"Of course," I said. Nudge's parents, playing the good guys, offered to have the six of us hang out at their place for a long weekend after they got back from their trip. "Will I see you before then?" I asked.

"Probably not," he asked, "Unless you want to fly, like sixteen hours straight," he said.

"I could probably make it in around nine," I said. "I got the super speed, remember?"

"Still," he said, "You would need to take breaks and everything."

"Well, maybe we can meet halfway or something."

He paused, "I don't think so."

I sucked in a breath. He didn't want to see me? Was he not allowed to see me? I tightened the grip on the phone, and Ella thankfully barged into my room.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"One sec," I said, moving the phone away from my mouth.

"Who are you talking to?" she asked.

"Fang," I said, and she nodded.

"Hey Fang," Ella shouted, so he could hear her over the phone, "I need you to get off the phone so Max can come running with me."

"You're going to run?" he asked, incredulous. "Like, actual running? Not like, running away from anything?"

I picked up how he had said, anything, opposed to anyone, but decided not to fret over that. "Yeah, Ella needs to run four miles every other day before soccer starts."

"Four miles at once?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said. "That's what she told me."

"And now," Ella said, walking closer to me, practically screaming, "Max needs to become my personal trainer and not your would-be girlfriend."

I blushed madly, although Fang couldn't see me. "I'll call you later," I promised, and then hung up before he could say anything.

"Ella!" I shouted, standing up, "I'm not his girlfriend."

"But you would be," she said, "Therefore, you're his would-be girlfriend. And by talking to him, you're just confirming that fact."

I rolled my eyes, "I can't talk to my friend?"

"Not when your sister comes first," she said, grabbing my wrist, "Now let's go. I don't want to run all day in this scorching heat."

I picked up my cell phone on the way out, and stuffed it into my pocket. Ella noticed.

"In case Fang calls back?" she asked, and I rolled my eyes.

Walking into the living room, I noticed Mom sitting on the couch, watching the news. She noticed Ella's grip on my arm, and smiled.

"Guess you got roped into leaving the house today," she said.

"I haven't seen the sun in days," I joked.

"No time for chit-chat," Ella said, dragging me towards the door. Magnolia perked her head up, waiting for her invitation to go for a jog with us. "I have to run two miles today."

"I thought you said four."

She shrugged, "What's the difference? I still have to run."

I sighed. So I got dragged into doing my sister's exercise routine. If the Flock were here, I could go outside with Gazzy and Nudge, or be playing a game with Angel, or talking with Iggy and Fang.

But no, instead, I have to go out running, with Ella who had completely turned into a helicopter.

"Alright," I asked when we were outside, "which way are we going?"

"Um," she said, putting her hands on her hips, "I was thinking about running through town, because on the other side there's a trail that goes behind the high school. I was planning on running that."

I nodded, and then started jogging towards "town", which was actually about four blocks worth of pizza parlors, nail salons, and pharmacies. There was another side of the town, which was actually were everything really was, but we were not close enough to walk to it.

At the first traffic light, I stopped, waiting for the little green man to pop up on the screen telling us it was okay to cross.

Besides me, Ella was panting, her palms on her knees, hanging her head down, so her ponytail dangled over her shoulder.

"Last time… I… ever… ask you… to come… with me," she said, trying to catch her breath.

I stood up straighter, "We only were out for like, fifteen minutes!"

"Max," she said, still panting. "I get that you're all like, fast, and tough, and all, and can run for like, twenty hours without stopping, but I'm only on JV soccer, not trying out for the Olympics."

"Well," I said, starting to cross, "Now you'll be the faster person on the field."

She grabbed my arm with weak protest, "Please, five more minutes."

I rolled my eyes, "You're pathetic."

"Says the one who stayed in her room for three days straight."

My face darkened. I turned away from her, watching angrily as the cars flew by.

She didn't say anything for a moment. But she stood up, and came next to me, her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just thought that maybe you could use some time, just to get your mind off of things. Maybe if you came with me, you would focus on me, instead of everyone leaving you."

I shrugged, "It's no big deal."

She waited for a moment, "Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

She glared up at me, "Slow. Down."

I smiled a tiny bit, "Okay, okay. I'll walk."

"Thank you," she said.

The light turned green, and we were off. I had some idea of where we were going; in the few months we had been here, I've been through this town a few times. And I've flown over it plenty.

"I have a question," Ella said, while we were jogging.

"Shoot," I said easily, not out of breath.

"Why did Fang… act so surprised… when you told him you were going to run?" she asked between breaths.

"Because I hate running," I said, "And I never do. Unless someone's chasing me."

"Or if you're running away from someone," she said.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

She gave me a sideways glance, and I didn't understand her point.

I faltered for a step, and then caught my rhythm again, but now all of a sudden, I was out of breath.

She knew.

"Ella," I said.

"I can't believe you would just let him leave you like that!" she said, breathing hard, "That is just so unlike you. And come on. You like him! How could you watch him go, without even telling him that! He might not ever see you again!"

I sighed, "First off, he wanted to go. Second, I'm going to see him again."

"But what if you don't?" she asked.

I gave her my glare-of-death, "I will."

She backed down after that, but by that time, I had already realized what had been said.

"How did you know about that? That I… um, ran?"

She rolled her eyes, "Iggy told me."

"How does he know?" I asked. Ella shrugged.

Which meant Fang had been blabbing.

"But, you do like him?" she asked, a little more than hopeful, as we turned a corner, "As in, more than a friend?"

I sighed, "I don't know," I lied.

She smiled at me. "I think he likes you."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever." He left me.

"Max," she said.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said quickly, pulling the elastic band out of my hair, letting it fall in my face, trying to cover up my emotions. Maybe if she didn't see how much I wished she were right, I could forget about this whole conversation, and move on.

My cell phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to check the caller ID.

"Fang?" Ella guessed.

"No," I lied, and put the phone back in my pocket, ignoring him.

"Do you ever think he would've stayed if he had the choice?" she asked, which was funny, because that was almost the same thing Fang had said to me before.

I rolled my eyes, "Of course. He had promised to never leave me again."

"And what does that tell you?"

"That he broke his promise," I said, speeding up.

"Max," Ella said, from behind me, "Slow down. I can't keep up with you."

I kept running. All I wanted was for someone to run after me. And no one was.

It's officially great: I have so little homework tonight. And bonus! Only four classes tomorrow. WOOO. But they're my three hardest classes, and photography, so bummer. So, since I'm such an awesome procrastinator smiles maybe I'll work on the nineteenth chapter tonight. And hopefully have it updated this weekend. If I'm not too busy. Because I'm totally having a South of Nowhere (the Border) marathon party, which I'm pumped for and bringing PARTY CAKE ICE CREAM!