When I Tired of Waiting: Chapter 2: Escape
I woke early in the morning I smiled, rubbing my groggy eyes. I groaned, and stretched my arms. I liked hearing my bones crack; it was oddly relaxing to me. I sat up, feeling unusually warm. I guess Arizona can still be hot even when it's not the summertime. I stared at the wall, almost drowsing off at the act of doing nothing. I had to go to the bathroom, so I stood up, only my legs were asleep.
Asleep due to the fact that Iggy's chest was on them, his head almost fully hanging off of the couch. I started to panic, while being squished. How to get him off without waking him up? Sweat beaded on my forehead, and I had the weirdest thought that even though he isn't that heavy my legs have still fallen asleep. I mean seriously… Snap out of it, I thought, yanking myself from the thought. I slowly started to pull my leg away, prickling to life with every move I made.
I felt that I was doing pretty well because I've managed to get one leg down and had to just nudge him off so that I could slip away undetected. Then I realized what I was doing. Why was I running away again? Last time I checked I wear the pants here! I shove him really hard and he smacks onto the floor face first. Soon after I realize I had a quarter of a second before he wakes up enough to know that I pushed him and even less before he comes after me. So, like any self-loving bird-kid would do, I hightail it out of there.
I went to the bathroom, which woke me up a bit, but I was overall still tired. I decided to go back to sleep, this time in my room. I slowly opened the door; to see Max sleeping in my bed. It would've been much more of a romantic gesture, I don't know, if I'd been there. She must have fell asleep when I left to go hang with Iggy. Her eyes were moist and pink, and I wondered if she had been crying.
I even wondered if she actually even liked me. The thought was actually appealing, but if she couldn't make up her mind, I plan to be far from sight.
Not wanting to wake her up, I slipped out of the room, about ready to collapse just about anywhere. I had finally decided to head back to the living room. That's what I did, collapsing back onto the couch in front of the couch into a short, and fitful sleep. Surprisingly, Iggy still hadn't moved from his previous spot on the floor.
A few hours later, I awoke to the smell of bacon and the giggling of Angel. She was hovering right above me, poking at my face and making light jokes to Nudge across the room. And Nudge, who must have thought they were the funniest things ever, was still laughing with her. "I didn't know you moved in your sleep. It's actually quite funny to watch."
I remember once Dr. Martinez had told me that this was usually caused by stress. So the best way to deal with it would be to get rid of that 'stress'. I sat up, rubbing my sleep-filled eyes.
Today, I would do just that. I had remembered that Iggy and I were playing the most deadly video game known to man today. I silently wondered what it might be. I was thinking something along the lines of shooting and killing, but when I looked at all of the games the titles were very disappointing.
I saw an interactive Barbie DVD, two Sims games, a Super Mario Bros. game, and even more lame games that I would never play. Ella had the most boring collection of video games. Is this supposed to be what she does for fun? Angel noticed what I was doing, and read my mind. I could tell, because there was a slight tingling when she did it. As if a coincidence, (which it totally wasn't! Knowing her, she probably is in on the charade) Iggy spoke up. "I knew you would try to cheat. That's why I have taken the intuitive to hide the game until further notice. Tough luck!"
Man, I should have known. If it was going to be a surprise…Iggy knows me too well. Maybe I will look for it later, or maybe I'd just eat some food. I sniffed at the air, the aroma of bacon settling in.
In my top ten list of smells this had to be number, two. Number one was, Max. I shook the thought and concentrated on food. My stomach soon growled, and I had the urge to ask about it. "Ig, please tell me you are done with the food; I'm starving."
He laughed, "We've actually been eating while you were trying, and failing to cheat."
"Whatever." I stood up; mostly everyone at the table was taking tired bites of the food. Jeez, starve me why don't cha'? I sat down at the table, my plate already set up for me. I realized Iggy was just waiting for me to wake up. That bastard. I started digging into my food immediately, only slowing down when the feeling of hunger started to disappear from my stomach. Angel shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
"How do you fall asleep on the floor anyways?" she asked, a sparkle in her eye.
I ignored her, thinking about really depressing things to get her off of my back. I would prefer if that embarrassing story would stick with me for the rest of my life. Uh, dead puppies, Max's cooking, dead puppies, a mangled Celeste. Angel frowned, "I don't appreciate you trying to ignore me. Just think of it this way. If you never tell me I'll wait until that one time you slip up. I'll wait until that one time you aren't trying to shove me away. I'll wait, and I'll see. You can't keep me out forever, Fang."
Wow. Spoken like a true creeper. Thanks. I was just trying to freak you out. Glad to know I have a future in the business, she thought at me. As what, a mobster? I like the job title slumlord better. Angel smiles up at me.
I tried to focus on the things Angel hated the most, not letting my mind wander to this morning. I hoped I would never find myself in that situation again. It didn't help that Angel kept reminding me. I kind of just wanted to forget the whole thing. "Was it really that embarrassing?" Angel said, with much enthusiasm.
Too much enthusiasm, I thought.
Could it really be possible that Angel was pestering me? She was supposed to be our sweet, innocent, adorable telepathic little bird girl, not at all like she was now. I sighed, and finished my food, only to find that Max had wobbled in. Her eyes were tired, red, and she looked very exhausted. I chose this time to leave. I quickly washed my plate, and left just as the question popped up. "What was embarrassing?"
"Nothing," I muttered, quickly leaving the room. I plopped onto my bed. Amazingly, it smelled just like her. It smelled just like Max. I lie there, breathing deeply for a moment before I started drifting in and out of sleep. Maybe I shouldn't have stayed up last night typing that blog. It was kind of hard to sleep, due to the sunlight pouring through the windows. I was officially woken up at about three in the afternoon, being shaken awake by someone.
I stuck my hand out, hitting someone in the face. I didn't even care, because I was so tired. The figure continued to shake me, and I pushed it away before turning on my other side. The person seemed to have left, for I got a few more minutes of sleep. Then something cold and wet touched my face. I shot up, realizing that it had been freezing cold water. After a sharp inhale of breath, I turned to my captor. As expected, it was Iggy.
"Why'd he have to wake me up? I 'd finally started to sleep," I groaned, which was responded to with laughter.
"You're such a girl. Come on."
He takes my hand and pulls me out of my damp bed. I sit in a chair in the corner of my room, and start to doze off again. Iggy sighs, and I feel my body being picked up as if it's nothing at all. When did he get so strong? I struggled in his grasp, him not letting go until we were in the living room. He dropped me onto the couch, and I landed with a loud smacking thud. "Ugh, what do you want?"
"You promised me a video game," he answered smoothly.
I sat up, getting into the game. I had a feeling he wasn't going to leave me alone until we played for a few rounds. I stared at him. "Okay, what are we playing?"
He smirked, holding something behind his back, which I supposed was the game. "This is the game of all games. This, the game that we will take a good portion of our lives trying to complete. This, the game that will challenge your brain to the best of its ability. This game is… drum roll please."
I did a loud drum roll, going along with it, as he slowly removed the video game from behind his back, "A classic."
I stared at it. Are you serious? Are you freaking kidding me? All of the fuss over this game suddenly seemed not worth it. The game wasn't even a classic; it was just... old, out dated. "A Spongebob game, seriously?"
He held it close to his chest, as if it was a treasure worth protecting. "Of course I'm serious. Plus this isn't even just any crappy SpongeBob game. This is the movie game."
I rolled my eyes, not caring that he couldn't see it. "Made how many years ago?"
He put a finger to his chin, seriously thinking about it. "Five, maybe six?" he quietly said. Then, voice booming he said, "Not that it matters, lets' play!"
He handed the game to me, and I popped it into the Playstation with ease. The game loaded up, and we started to play, taking turns playing each level. I played the first one, and then handed the controller to Iggy. He took the controller, and started playing. I was in awe. How did he get so good? Even though he couldn't see, he was playing with ease. His fingers moved effortlessly over the controller, collecting everything, and eventually passing the level. He got through it in about ten minutes. Finally closing my gaping mouth, I spoke. "How the hell did you do that?"
He smirked, a smile playing on his lips. "Well, you know."
"Know what?"
"Never mind. It's just that I'm completely awesome at this game as well as countless other games. That's why you were so fascinated by my pro gaming skills," he boasted. I oughta…
Suddenly a comeback popped into mind. "Wow. Such an accomplishment," my voice was dripping with sarcasm. "You mastered a game made for ten year olds."
He didn't even break his smile. "It's okay, Fang. Someday you might get just as good as me. Wanna keep going?"
I shrugged, ignoring the comment. I had something else to think about. We were now competing for speed, as in who could finish their level first. Right now Iggy was beating me by five levels, which was no fair. He had played this before, and I hadn't. It was a wonder that I was even catching up with him. I was gaining with three levels, and was having tons of fun.
It seemed that this was the best way to keep my mind off of Max was to throw my self into mindless activities (i.e. gaming), so I did. I just couldn't stand to sit here and listen to myself think about her. I couldn't stand to think about how she had cried, or how I had been the one to walk away for the first time. It made me realize that not everyone is as good as hiding their feelings as me. For all I know, she actually cares for me and doesn't know how to show it. Or she's shy. I smile. There's no way Max's shy. She's Max, who's just...
Here I was trying to convince myself that's it was over, and I was just thinking about her. What the hell is wrong with me? I'm just so… ugh, I couldn't even explain it. Could 'in' love be the words I'm looking for? How could even be possible? I've only known Max my entire life, as her brother, and all I wanted to do is kiss her until my lips were bleeding and sore. That couldn't be healthy. I pondered for a moment.
Hmm, maybe. I guess maybe it wasn't Max I was in love with. It was probably the fact that she was a walking, breathing girl I had some sort of chance with (mostly because we were the same species). I never knew I could fall for something so trivial. We all disappoint ourselves sometimes, I think.
Iggy told me it was my turn to play so I grabbed the controller, and started. I was finally getting the hang of this game. You had to collect the little power ups, beat the bad guys and defeat the bosses. This was a boss level, and I had to fight, some type of frogfish with a long tongue. And Iggy said this was the ultimate challenge. I could totally get this thing in two seconds.
I started running with the avatar, which was Patrick, and tried to hit it. It didn't work, so I kept running until I came to the edge. It was about to hit me, when I moved out of the way, and it almost fell off of the edge. I chose this time to hit it, and it worked.
It fell into the trench; my victory short lived. I came back out and I continued to hit it in the same way. Until, it jumped across the trench to a platform I couldn't reach. Suddenly, it's tongue pops out of the ground and tries to hit me with an ice-cream cone. Random right?
I hit it, and it started spitting green acid at me. It jumped back over, trying to kill me. I hit it a few more times, and it jumped back over to the platform it's tongue popped out of the ground again, spinning the ice-cream cone, it's old woman disguise failing miserably. I hit it a few more times, and it dies. Go Pat!
I finish and Iggy gets my time; it took exactly one minute and fifty three seconds to defeat it. I won that round; I'm catching up! Iggy was ahead by two, and I was getting better as time went by. We played the game for the rest of the day. It was a lot more fun than I had thought. I loved defeating the bosses, which got crazier with each level.
Um, I had to defeat a fish named Dennis once by hitting it with toilets, then again on David Hasslehoff's hairy back. It was crazy and made me feel like I was gaining some of the childhood that I never had a chance at. It was fun.
Then, there was the last time where we had to fight King Neptune in The Krusty Krab. Hmm… and that sentence didn't lack as much manliness as I thought it would. But, it was a really fun game, despite its quality. When we were done playing the game, it was around ten o'clock and I was super tired.
Who knew staring at a television all day would make you sleepy? I don't know whether to dismiss the fact as laziness, or that I'd actually been into the game. Either seem pretty scary to me. I got up, and yawned, stretching in the process. Iggy got up too, and headed to the kitchen. I was just about ready to go to bed, but I wondered what he might be doing. "What are you doing?"
So much for easing to the point, I thought. He looked at me like I was stupid, a smirk on his lips. "Well, lets see. I'm in a kitchen. I'm in the fridge; I'm pulling out food. Do I need to go further into detail?
"Well Jeez, if that's what I get for asking questions." I turn around; ready to collapse in my bed.
"Wait," he said softly. "Do you want some?"
"For what?"
"We have been playing that video game all day. Aren't you hungry?" he asked.
As if on cue my stomach growled, at the moment I was planning to say I wasn't, "I guess so. What are you cooking?"
"I figured we could just have some sandwiches; its too late for anything else," he says. I nodded, and we get to work on making food. I focused on setting up the bread and taking out condiments while Iggy focused on putting as many as he could into a single sandwiches.
In about fifteen minutes, we had six sandwiches, which we figured was enough for a midnight (ten-ish) snack. We gulped down a few glasses of water, and were done eating. I started to think about what we were going to do the next day. Today had been so much fun, more than I'd had in a long time. All I did was eat, blog, and sleep. That's not very exciting if you ask me. So, I guess if I could, during our pseudo vacation from saving the world, relax and have fun. It sounded like a great idea.
Then, I turn to Iggy. "What do you want to do tomorrow?"
He smirked at me again. "Wow. I never dreamt of the day that Fang would ask me to do something. Should I be scared, or wonder if this is a Fang II?"
That again, I thought. My imagination is coming to life. Quick. Maybe I should imagine Max in a bikini. Darn, my plans are foiled again. I was prepared to punch him in the gut, but he surprised me when he said, "Just kidding. I think I'm bringing out the best in you." He paused to think. "What do you want to do?"
Uh, I don't know. There's nothing to do around this house. It's just so… suburban. Ha ha; this coming from the bird kid who has been on the run for who knows long. I should be happy, thankful that we are living in an old house instead of a slimy cave.
While I am, I have never experienced this amount of boredom. It's so new to me, and I am just about ready to stick a metal fork into a light socket. While, that is tons-o-fun I'd rather do something that doesn't mess up this gorgeous mop of hair. Just kidding (or am I?), but I do want to do something that doesn't include TV, a mass amount of flock members, or something super girly. I have an idea.
"How about we watch a-", I stopped, remembering that Iggy couldn't see. I don't think he'd like to hear a movie; it just wasn't the same as seeing the actors on screen (whether good or not). I started to apologize when he surprised me. "No, I mean-"
"Cool, we should see a movie. See you later man. I'm sleepy," he said, flashing a smile that made my heart skip a beat. That caught me off guard, my breath catching. I mumbled a quick goodnight, and went to bed. The whole time I was partially glad that Max wasn't there, and I immensely was confused at the event. What was wrong with me?