Chapter 24 - Request

"This. Is. Torture!" I bellowed as we hit another pothole at top speed. The bus jerked in all different directions, causing some of the smaller kids to fall into the aisle. Why didn't we get a better bus driver? Then again I didn't know if a better driver would be able to avoid the inevitable – those being the stupid cracks in the road that the town never bothered fixing. I guess they figured that so little people drove over them anyway that there was really no point in resurfacing the road.

Ella was clutching the seat in front of her frantically, but once the bus stopped shaking she sighed in relief and let go. She cranked up her iPod and bobbed her head to the beat of some song I didn't recognize, which meant that it was very popular. I had an uncanny ability of not knowing what was in musically.

Today had pretty crappy already, every pun intended. I tripped over a sheep and fell knee-first into a pile of droppings on the ground. Normally I didn't mind getting dirty, but notin that way. It was pretty humiliating, and despite their best efforts, Ella and Fang couldn't refrain from laughing.

So one hot, long shower and a fresh set of clothing later, we were on our way to school. After hearing of Fang's attack, I wanted to keep an eye on the guards that were at school to look for anything suspicious. I knew that James would be back in school today and I was tempted to ask him if he had any spy gear. And if he didn't, he could probably have built some by the end of first period.

I leaned against the side of the bus, letting my forehead press against the window. I had a lot on my mind, varying from the guards to Mom to me with my Voice and even Fang. We had no idea why the guards attacked Fang, or if they would go back for round two today while he was vulnerable. Fang had decided to come to school today, even though he didn't look the greatest. Mom made him go to the doctor's on Friday night and luckily he didn't need a transfusion. All they basically did was stitch up his arm and face, and then took an x-ray of his other hand where they found that his one knuckle was broken. We told them that it was an accident on the farm and the doctor seemed to buy it. Now his right hand was in a brace, a bandage was over the stitches on his face, and the cuts on his arm were covered with gauze held in place by ace bandages. And lucky for him, he got an excuse to sit out of gym.

The bus was pretty much quiet – everyone was tired on a Monday morning – so it was pretty peaceful… except for when we'd come to a sudden stop or bump into a curb or something. I sighed, ready for this day to end already.

I felt eyes on the back of my head, watching me, and I turned to peer over my seat at Fang, who was sitting at the very back of the bus. His dark eyes were hard and impassive, but I could read the silent question in them. He was asking if I was okay. I nodded and looked away, not wanting to face any more scrutiny from him today.

He had been pretty quiet all weekend, retreating into himself. He hardly spoke unless we asked him a direct question and he seemed to be lost in his deep thoughts. Most of the time he was in his room doing God knows what, and when he wasn't there I saw him walk into the forest once. I had no idea what he was up to, but even the normal Fang wasn't as cold or unapproachable as that. He only looked that way. I really didn't want to question him about it but at the same time I was madly curious.

"Do you like him?"

The voice brought me back to reality, and I looked up to see familiar blue eyes looking over the seat in front of me. Blond curls spilled over and around her head like a halo. Angel. Jeez, if I ever saw a cherub I would swear that it would look exactly like her.

But then the question she asked me suddenly registered in my brain. I scowled. "No, why would you think that?" I asked her, feeling a little annoyed. Why was she so concerned about my guy situation? If she wanted to hear about that, she should talk to Ella.

She shrugged her slight shoulders. "I was just wondering. 'Cause I think he likes you."

My mouthwas left agape. Fang likes me? Where does she get all these crazy, impossible ideas from? And of course, in light of such a statement like that, I respond with the smoothest, most to-the-point thing I could think of saying. "Whaaaat?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I think he does. The way he looks at you, like he still is right now." My expression froze in place. He was still watching me? I didn't feel his eyes on my back like I did earlier. "I can just tell he does," she went on.

It took me a second to regain my composure before I narrowed my eyes at her. "There is no way that I like him or he likes me, and if you dare bring it up again I swear I will gleefully wring your neck. Comprende?" The events from the morning boiled over. In reality I didn't want to hurt Angel, but when she pushed me like that I was bound to snap.

"Suuuure you don't, Max," she giggled and plopped back into her seat. I squelched an appalled shriek that was building up inside of me – that would cause our driver to get in an accident which would only add to my already horrible day. I was holding it in as a favor to all of us.

I slouched back in my seat and huffed. Could today get any worse?

"Hey, you're back!" I couldn't help but get excited as I came up to James, who was standing at his locker with a big grin on his face. He ran a hand through his pale red hair and laughed.

"Yeah, I'm actually kind of happy to be back. I was getting bored of my room, and being suspended isn't as fun as it sounds. It's like a day off of school, but with all the homework that you have no idea how to do and nothing good on TV. It basically sucks."

I rolled my eyes.

"So, what's been going on around here?" he wondered with strong concern in his voice, eying one of the guards standing down the hall. "Who are those guys?"

My eyes narrowed as I took in the totally steroid-addicted man inspecting the herd of students wandering aimlessly through the halls. They had basically made life here a living hell. "They're the guards that Mr. Reinhard hired to 'keep the peace' but all they've been doing is causing havoc. We need them gone."

His lips scrunched up on one side of his face as he thought and then he grinned again. "I caused the principal to hire guards? Wicked!"

Someone walked down the hall and held out his hand for a high-five, calling, "Nice prank, man!" to James. He held up his hand and their palms met with a loud smack.

I scowled at him. "No, not wicked," I said harshly. He was basking in the glory of being the Prank King, thinking that it was cool that he'd been the cause of bringing in idiotic, evil, muscle-bound guards to bully students. "Those guys have some kind of ulterior motive for being here," I told him quietly, trying to rein in my anger. "They hate it when we have fun, put us in detention for slamming our lockers too loudly, and they hurt F-" I cut myself off, staring wide-eyed at him. I couldn't believe I'd almost told Fang's secret to James after he'd made me promise.

Well, he made me promise not to tell my mom. And James was not a Hispanic woman with a degree in veterinary medicine, unless he had some secret life he wasn't telling me about.

"What?" he asked.

I shook my head. "They, uh, are hurting my feelings," I said in that suave way I had. He didn't buy it, but accepted it for now. "But can I ask you a favor?"

He nodded. "Yeah, what do you need?"

I peeked over my shoulder at the guard, who was currently consulting with a very worried-looking student. Poor sap, probably was walking too fast for everyone's safety. Gonna cause a twenty-kid pileup! I sighed and looked back at James. "Like I said, I think they have some reason for being here, something we don't know about. How good are you at spying?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You want me to spy on them?" he asked incredulously. "You know, I'm probably their main target. I won't be out of their sight."

"Yeah, I know, but if they're always watching you, then they'll always be wherever you are. If you have like some kind of sonar hearing kit or digital recorder we might be able to pick up on what the orders are that come through the headsets they always wear. Anything we can find out will take us one step closer to getting rid of them, for good." And maybe find out why they attacked Fang, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"Well…" he mused, rubbing his chin pensively, "it's always fun to have a new challenge. I'll see what I can do, but I don't promise any results today."

"Thanks!" With the success of his stink bomb, I knew for sure I was going to get answers.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, just so you know I'm not doing this just because your requested it. I'm curious myself. I want to know if they talk about me a lot, just so I can see how popular I am with the head hancho."

I smacked his arm with enough force that he almost fell over. A satisfied smile curled on my lips as I rolled my eyes and walked away. Crazy, self-absorbed, evil genius - but that's a little redundant, isn't it?

Wow! I did not expect to get 17 reviews for the author's note! And I had to admit I was a little down when I saw that everyone thought that I was ending the story. I wasn't, I don't plan on it any time soon, and I really hope I never have to until I finish it. I needed a short break, like I said before. I realize that I probably put some readers through tremendous emotional trauma, and I apologize for that. This break was a lot shorter than I intended, which I think everyone should be grateful for. :P I won't be up to the pre-writer's-block-phase speed when it comes to updating, cause I'm still having some problems with this story, but I will try as often as I can. In the mean time, everyone should check out my latest story, "Ghost of Me". It sounds serious, but in reality it's a humorous story. So please read it!!

Thanks for everyone who gave me encouraging words! It really means a lot to see how much everyone cares. I do have the wing situation solved, and that poll has been closed. So everyone should go to my profile to see my new poll which I posted as a way for me to get to know my readers a little better. Kina Kalamari, sorry I never answered that question. Yeah, I'm fine with it as an AU story, and I'm really excited that you nominated me. I feel so honored! Haha, especially since I've only been writing MR fanfiction for a month. So thanks again!!!

Now, I know I probably won't get it on this chapter, but in the next couple chappies whoever is the 200th reviewer will get Max's favorite, chocolate chip cookies with ice cream!!! Yah, cause we all know how much everyone loves cookies and ice cream! :D Akk! I can't believe this story is almost at 200 reviews. Hahaha

Please Review!!!