Chapter 25 - Camaraderie
"Hi, are you new here?"
Fang looked up with a bored and slightly frustrated expression at a girl standing in front of the table where he was sitting, suddenly realizing that she was addressing him. He thought for a moment, wondering why she would think that, but then he understood her question with some annoyance. His mind had been preoccupied all weekend and it had been interfering with his focus on schoolwork. Now it was apparently messing with the way he socialized, not that he really did that to begin with.
"Uh, no," he said, coughing to hide his discomfort. He set down his pencil awkwardly with his left hand, after trying, unsuccessfully, to write with the apparently incompetent extremity. He didn't understand why he wasn't allowed to participate in gym, as he had seen earlier today that the boys were playing soccer.
"Oh," she said resignedly. "Well, either way, I've never seen you before. I'm Olivia, by the way."
He just stared at her blankly, waiting for her to go away.
"Umm… do you mind if I sit down?" she asked, twisting a strand of her brown curls with a finger. He was hot, she thought, and this was the first time he'd been in their eighth period study hall. She and her friends were admiring him from afar, and she'd been dared to talk with him. It wasn't something she hadn't done before – she was a junior – but this seemed like the biggest challenge she ever faced. He looked like the stereotypical tall, dark, and handsome type, but up close she realized he was more like the intimidating, closed-off, and foreboding type.
He shrugged, not really caring either way. She smiled and took that as a good sign.
They sat silently for a minute while he still quarreled with his useless left hand, contemplating about taking off the splint and writing with his right despite the doctor's orders. She watched his struggle and saw it as an opportunity to pounce. "Can I help you with your homework?" She leaned in closer to peek at what he was subject he was on and then held in a gasp. Advanced Geometry. She was only in regular Geometry. And what he was doing looked far more complex than anything she had ever dared to comprehend.
He closed his book and sighed. "I'll do it at home." He went to put the textbook away in his backpack when she quickly placed her hand on his, holding it back. He shot her a look that wasn't amused. That was a blow on her confidence.
"Sorry," she mumbled. She released his hand to let him proceed and flipped her hair back impatiently. It was like he couldn't tell she was flirting with him. She glanced over her shoulder at her friends, who were smiling and giggling, encouraging her to go on. "So… you look like an athlete," she tried in a seductive tone. "Did you get hurt in soccer? Basketball?"
"I don't play sports." He was getting annoyed with her rambling. Sure, she may have been pretty, but to him she was one of those squawking, over-clingy, easily-frightened teenage girls that were too obsessed with boys. Some guys fall for that kind of girl, but he didn't.
"Aw, then what happened?" She leaned in again, cuddling up to his right side.
He tried to move back, as much as he could without making it too obvious. "Accident on the farm. A horse got a little out of control."
"So you're outdoorsy? How nice." She smiled, but his bored expression remained in place. Why can't he take a hit? She wondered.
"But I've never seen you here before? Did you transfer? Or did your family move here over the summer?" There had to be some information she could pump from him.
"I'm a freshman," he said curtly, putting an end to her flirting. She wasn't even the slightest bit interesting to him. He grabbed his backpack and rose.
"You're a freshman!" she shouted angrily.
"Quiet!" ordered the study hall proctor.
Fang smirked smugly. "Guilty," he said. He backed out of the swarm of chair surrounding him. "See ya." He walked toward the small media center in the room, which had several rows of books, periodicals, magazines, and encyclopedias for students' use. It wasn't as big as their main library, but it was good enough for him to make his escape. He stopped in the farthest corner, away from everyone's line of sight, and took in a deep breath. Study hall was boring anyway; he had to leave.
Concentrating for a moment, he felt himself blend into his surroundings, becoming invisible to everything. He could still see himself, but the air around his skin was shimmering, like how objects seemed to erode on a hot day. No one noticed him as he slipped out the open door and into the hallway. They probably wouldn't have noticed him being gone, except for maybe Olivia, but he didn't particularly care at that point.
The halls were empty, and thanks to his naturally silent footsteps, he wasn't detected by any students or teachers in their classrooms. He wasn't sure where he wanted to go, but he knew that anywhere was better than study hall. He considered stopping by the gym to visit Max, but the doors would locked and he didn't have many options for getting in without drawing attention to himself.
He took the steps leading up to the second floor. Rounding a corner, he passed down a line of rooms that all seemed to be empty. The doors were locked, with the exception of one on the far end that was cracked open slightly. He approached it and peeked in the small rectangular window on the left hand side. The lights were off, but sunrays poured in from the windows on the opposite wall. The beam revealed a tall, lean figure was standing in the corner, apparently doing nothing at all. It wasn't facing in Fang's direction. Being highly curious about the mystery person, he wanted to check it out.
He pushed the door open just wide enough for him to get through. It didn't make a noise, which he was grateful for. As he slowly approached the figure in the corner, he heard voices coming from where it was standing. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He tiptoed toward the figure, taking even breaths. Suddenly the head of the mystery person whipped around and stared in his general direction. Fang held sucked in a breath in recognition.
The boy had red hair, light blue eyes, and pale skin. He knew that was Max's friend James, the one who set off the stink bomb. What was he doing in an empty classroom? Fang wondered in confusion. James looked just as confused as Fang felt, looking around and seeing nothing. Fang sighed silently, glad that James couldn't see invisible people.
James looked away from Fang's general area back to where he was focused on before. The dark haired boy had no idea what the other was doing, but crept in closer to see for himself. The noises Fang had heard before picked up again, and he had no idea where they were coming from. As he listened, he realized they were voices. He closed his eyes to zone into what they were saying.
"…I still can't believe you let him go. How did that happen?"
"But it wasn't our fault—"
"Of course it wasn't. I just want you to know that the only reason we're here is for him. You know what would happen if the Director finds out that we couldn't catch a boy! Our heads would be bitten off. He has a purpose, and it's imperative that we bring him back so he can fulfill it!"
Fang had heard enough. His heart was beating at an alarming rate, and he was glad that James didn't know he was there. Then again, he thought of how much fun it would be to scare him. To rag on Max that her boyfriend was skipping class to spy on a conversation… wherever it was coming from. Then again, he was skipping class too, even if it was study hall. He weighed both options, shrugged, and then let down his invisibility shield.
"What are you doing?" he asked James with an amused tone.
James spun around and clutched his chest like he was about to have a heart attack. His eyes flared open in shock and terror, the voice cutting through the silent space like a razor. The guy standing there, who he remembered was named Fang, stood smirking. His appearance reminded him like that of a wraith, coming out of no where and then sneaking up on unsuspecting prey. Everything from his expression to his wardrobe added to the affect.
"Dude, what the hell! Do you want to kill me? Jeez, give a guy some warning."
Fang rolled his eyes and said nothing.
"Wait… aren't you, like, Max's foster brother or something?"
"What's it to you?" he asked.
James smirked. "I'll take that as a yes. What are you doing here?"
Fang shot him a look that said, "I should be asking you the same thing." The redhead's face flushed slightly. "Um, well, I was here because Max asked a favor of me," he said timidly. He wasn't sure why he was intimidated by the dark boy, but something about him was dangerous. Like if you got too close you wouldn't live to tell about what happened. The feeling was unsettling, yet he never saw Max feel uncomfortable around him.
"And that would be…?" Fang couldn't keep the curiosity out of his voice. What would Max ask James to do that he couldn't do himself?
He sighed and looked away with an unsure expression. Would Max tell him when he got home? There was no way to be sure, but he figured it was something that she would probably tell Fang anyway. "She wanted me to spy on those guards, to see what they are talking about. Find out why they're here."
Fang kept his features composed, but he had an idea why she wanted to find out. She was adamant about wanting the guards gone, mostly for his sake. He didn't understand her need to protect him but he was sort of flattered.
"And I found out that their office was on the third level," James whispered. "There's a vent that connects their room to this one, and when it's completely silent you can hear what goes on from either side."
"So, she is your girlfriend," he mused. He couldn't explain why his joke had left a pang in his heart.
The redhead scowled. "She isn't. We're just friends. Besides, I wouldn't even try to make an advance after I saw the way you look at her. It's obvious you like her, and it's worse that you live with her. If anyone tried to ask her out you'd probably throw it in their face of what you get to see that they don't."
With each word, Fang's expression grew harder and harder. He didn't like being called out like that, especially by someone he barely knew. Even if James had no idea what went on in the Martinez home. He was going to retort when he heard a noise in the distance. It sounded like the tapping of feet.
"Do you hear that?" he asked, tensing up a bit.
"No," James replied. "What are you—" His response was cut off. Fang watched him with furrowed brows as the redhead's eyes widened and his face became very young and scared. "Not again," he mouthed silently.
"What?" Fang grabbed his shoulders and shook him lightly. "What is it?" James's eyes were glazed over, not focusing on anything in particular. It took Fang a couple seconds to realize what was going on. "Is someone coming?" he asked quietly, his heart picking up again.
James nodded. Fang closed his eyes and focused on the sound, footsteps, that were coming closer. He knew what Max had said about James's power when they were at Dr. Martinez's practice. Right now he had lost his vision, but he could 'see' someone through the walls. And Fang was hearing whoever was coming, too.
"Be quiet," Fang ordered. "And stay calm. As long as you do that we won't be caught." The redhead nodded, and Fang sighed. He had never tried this before, but now was as good a time as any. He tightened his grip on James's shoulder and took a deep breath. Channeling his power, he felt a surge of energy pass through him into James, and the air around both of them shimmered. Feeling that sensation, and his sight coming back, James gasped silently and gaped at the dark-haired boy.
Right then the door opened at a teasingly casual rate. In popped a round, bald head, followed by an over-muscled body. The guard examined the room carefully, taking slow, cautious steps. Both boys held their breaths, waiting for an opportunity to run toward the door. Fang nudged James in the side and they took a step several inches to their left, eyeing the guard wearily.
The man pressed his headset and said in a low, even voice, "No one is in here; the voices could have been from the first level." There was a pause as he listened. "No, I left them in the office." The teens were taking in every word, using the guard's distraction to advance closer to the guard and their exit. So far he hadn't detected them. "I'll wait." He clicked off the headset.
That was there opportunity. While the guard went back to searching, they rushed out of the room undetected, remaining in contact the whole time. They headed toward the back steps – the set hardly used by students – and paused at the first floor landing. Making sure no one was around, Fang let the invisibility shield down with a release of breath as he slumped against the wall. Spreading his power between two people had really drained him.
"Dude, that was awesome!" James cheered. "Where'd you learn to do that? We just made it out. That was—" He stopped when he noticed Fang leaning against the wall, looking extremely pale. "Hey, are you okay?" He leaned down to make sure.
Fang pursed his lips and nodded, straightening up. He wasn't going to show weakness to James, even if he had let his guard down in showing Fang that he was frightened. Then again, losing your sight would have to be pretty traumatic.
"When did you start noticing you could become invisible?" James asked, not at all perturbed that there was more than one student in the school with unique powers. Fang questioned his sanity.
He shrugged. "When did you notice you had your powers?"
"Uh… around the beginning of school, when I was hanging out with Max."
Fang crossed his arms over his chest and thought. Max. That was when he noticed his powers too, when he was with Max… It hit him. "Max. The powers. They're connected."
"What?"
He looked up at the redhead. "Both our powers started when we met Max. Maybe she's the trigger. And she did tell me once that everything is conencted. Maybe if she caused us to have powers, she could have some of her own she doesn't know about." Besides the Voice, but he didn't count that as a power. "And somebody knows that we have these abilities." Or at least that he did.
"The guards?" James wondered, suddenly understanding what they were talking about all of eighth period.
Fang nodded. "Well, they know I have them anyway."
"So they were talking about you?" The dark-haired boy nodded again with solemnity. "Interesting… wait, I have an idea. We should look out for each other."
Now it was Fang's turn to question him. "What?"
"Think about it. If they know that you have a power, soon they'll learn about me. Then they'll have two targets, but if we team up and watch each other's backs, it will be harder for them to catch us."
"Or they'll catch us both at the same time," the dark one mused.
"So are you in? We freaks gotta watch out for each other."
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'll do it." He mostly made the promise for his own sake – the guards were only interested in one of them.
I'm starting to get unoriginal. Ugh. I hate this. Totally sorry if this chapter sucked but I wanted a way for Fang and Iggy to be friends, or as I put it "comrads", as opposed to everyone thinking that 'Fang will get jealous'. I had the idea before I read those reviews, so when I saw them I totally started laughing at how ironic it was. Writer's block is still my number one enemy, and I seriously don't have any ideas for the next chapter.
Mo, when I look at the stories that have like twice as many reviews as this one does, I can't help but feel a little jealous. I usually don't read those stories, but I'm starting to think I should to see what makes them special. Why everyone keeps reading and reviewing. But thanks for the compliment anyway. :) Thanks to everyone for reviewing. It got me excited to see everyone so happy that I posted a new chapter. :P
REMINDERS: I'm at 198!! #200 gets cookies and ice cream!!! :D Check out the poll on my profile if you haven't, and also check out "Ghost of Me".
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