The flock had cheered madly when I told them that we were going to see Fang and his gang again. It was just something nice among everything bad in our lives. Like Ang- No. I wouldn't think of her.
"Hey," said Dylan, sidling up next to me. He didn't seem to upset by the news- he probably figured that we were together now, no matter what. Since Fang had ditched me for my own clone. New lows.
I managed a small smile. I wanted to tell him about my expiration date, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to bear his pain. His life was literally centered around mine- what would happen when I died? He'd be crushed, poor guy.
His Caribbean blue eyes searched mine. "Is something wrong?" He sounded concerned again, and he took my hand. His was softer than mine, since he'd been in far less battles. I squeezed his hand. "I'm fine," I replied in what I hoped was a convincing tone.
Before I had to say anything else reassuring, Gazzy burst in. "Man," he yawned. "Why's it so hot in here?" He waited a beat, and when neither of us said anything, he cackled and answered his own joke. "Cuz Dylan's igniting Max's fire!" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at us. It was lame, as far as jokes went, but it still made me go beet red.
"Shut up, or I'll make you stay here while the rest of us go see Fang!" I snapped. I felt Dylan tense beside me but ignored it. "You know it's not like that."
Gazzy shrugged, already bored. "When are we going?" he asked, his wide blue eyes questioning.
"Now," I replied, shouldering my backpack. "Is Nudge ready?"
Gazzy shrugged, jamming his hands in his cargo shorts pockets. "She's trying to do something with her hair, I think." He sauntered away, yelling Nudge's name.
Dylan and I walked into the kitchen. We were still hanging out at my mom's place in Arizona, even though, as far as we could tell, she'd never come back. I hated to think that she might be a traitor. Jeb, I could handle. My mom? It broke my heart.
Iggy came in, trying to shove his gigantic feet into Gazzy's shoes fruitlessly. I sighed and plucked the shoes away from him. "I told you to get different shoes than Gazzy did, but did you listen? Nooo."
Iggy shot me a poisonous look. I still got astonished when he could direct his gaze at me like that, even when he was blind. Nudge and Gazzy stomped in, yelling loudly at each other. I rolled my eyes at them. "Quit it, you two!"
I looked at Dylan. "Ready to go?"
He nodded, looking kind of sad. So I'd been wrong- he was affected by this visiting-Fang thing. He'd just tried to hide it, but now I saw the emotion on his face. I squeezed his hand and blurted something I'd never thought- I'd never even imagined saying-
"Don't worry. It's over, between me and Fang. You and I are a thing."