CHAPTER 26

Max POV

We landed in front of the school, not knowing what to expect.

"Now what?" Gazzy asked as we walked up the path to the school.

I looked back at my flock and couldn't stop myself from smiling at what I saw. Gazzy had slipped his hand into Fang's tightly, and Fang squeezed his hand in return.

Angel glided up next to me and took my hand a moment later.

Fang gave me a nod, and we walked through the front door.

"Hello," a well-dressed, older woman greeted us with a smile. "Please, come in."

I squeezed Angel's hand and thought, "Are they safe?"

She smiled up at me and nodded her head, her blond curls bobbing.

"I recognize you," the woman stated as she led us down a hall. "You all are the reason they created this school. Why did you leave?"

I put on my best fake smile and replied, "We already had plans that we just couldn't cancel."

She nodded and continued the journey further into the school.

"Where exactly are you taking us?" Fang asked from the rear, Gazzy still in hand.

"To see one of the co-Presidents of our school. She'll be ecstatic to see all of you!" she explained.

I nodded as we neared a door that, I'm guessing, had our mystery president's name on the window pane. Before I could see it, the woman opened the door, ushering us in.

"Max?" the co-President asked in a familiar voice.

"What?!" I exclaimed in return.

This had to be some kind of stupid joke.

Fang POV

After we landed, we began walking up the path to the front door.

The Gasman ran up to my side and asked, "Now what?"

He reached his hand up to mine, bringing back the memory of when he, Iggy, and I had gone our own way. He'd gotten scared before and reached for my hand for comfort like he would've if Max had been there.

Just like last time, I took his hand, squeezing it to try to comfort him. A trick I'd learned from Max.

Speaking of Max, she turned around and saw my little act of leadership and smile. Angel quickly ran to Max, taking her hand like her brother did with me.

Once we reached the door, I nodded to Max, and we cautiously entered the school.

A woman, probably in her late 40s, greeted us at the door with a huge smile. "Hello. Please, come in."

Max froze for a second, then, Angel grinned and nodded.

The woman began leading us down the hall, saying, "I recognize you. You all are the reason they created this school. Why did you leave?"

"We already had plans that we just couldn't cancel," Max smiled.

I forced myself to not laugh. The Gasman was smiling up at me, obviously trying to do the same.

Again, we turned down another hall, so I asked, "Where exactly are you taking us?"

Without turning around, the woman replied, "To see one of the co-Presidents of our school. She'll be ecstatic to see all of you!"

The door the woman stopped in front of had white letters on the glass window of the door, but all I could read was "President." She opened the door, letting us all in the room.

As if we weren't already reluctant to be in such a closed-in space, things got worse.

"Max?" the President asked, smiling.

"What?!" Max exclaimed.

None of us could believe our eyes. Anne Walker was one of the co-Presidents of this place?!

Max POV

Anne Walker smiled past my shocked, angry expression.

"How are all of you?" she asked everyone. "If I'm not mistaken, you all gave me different names when we met before."

I was still outraged while she looked through some papers. The others were speechless, too. Even Nudge!

"Let's see," Anne said. "We have Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel, correct?"

"You've got to be kidding me!" I shouted, finally.

"Was that wrong?" Anne frowned and looked back through her papers.

"Not that, you idiot!" I continued yelling. "What are you doing here?"

"You see, when I realized what the School was really planning, I got out as fast as I could," she explained. "Then, I saw what you kids had accomplished here, and I thought I could better offer my services here."

"When you realized what the School was really planning?! You helped plan it!" I was still fuming. The others, excluding Fang, seemed okay with this. I could tell that Fang was pretty unhappy to see Anne, too. At least I wasn't alone.

A knock on the door broke the silence. We all turned to see the one face I first expected to see, but still didn't want to.

"Max," Jeb smiled. "What are you all doing here?"

Jeb Batchelder. One of the last faces I needed to see.

"Not happening," I growled and stormed out the door.

Fang POV

First, Sam. Then, Anne, and now Jeb. What was going on? It was like our pasts just blew up in our faces.

"Max, what are you all doing here?" Jeb asked smiling.

"Not happening," Max snapped before storming away.

"Max!" I called after her.

I wanted to stop her, but I couldn't leave the others with Jeb and Anne.

"Go, Fang," Angel demanded in my thoughts. "I'll let you know if something happens."

"Thanks, Ang," I thought back and ran after Max.

Max almost made it to the front door when I stopped her, grabber her arm and spinning her to face me.

"Max, stop!" I ordered.

She glared at me and said, "We can't stay here with them!"

"The Voice said it was safe, right?" I tried reasoning.

"Maybe it lied," she argued. "Maybe Jeb used the Voice to get us to come here. We've been fooled by them before!"

I placed my hands on her shoulders and said, "Listen, Max. We both know the Voice wasn't lying. And even if it was, Angel would hear their thoughts, or I would find it in their emotions. And, yea, we've been fooled by them before, but you shouldn't be too quick to judge. I did that once and look where it got me."

She sighed, remembering and understanding the situation with me and Ari, before he reached his expiration.

Rolling her eyes, she replied, "Fine. But one sign of trouble or something questionable, and we're out of here!"

I nodded and gave her a quick smile before making our way back to Anne's office.