Snow day today. Fun? Not really. I hate winter XP Anyway, in my attempts to avoid getting kicked out into the cold, I wrote up this chapter! I hope you like it. I really do ;D

Chapter Twenty-Six

Fang

I still couldn't believe that Max had made me stay in Colorado while she was in Arizona being pregnant with the mess I'd put her in. Of course I wasn't about to tell her that's what I thought about our situation. She'd probably get pissed for calling it a mess. But that's exactly what it was. A great, big mess.

Once everyone who was leaving left in Dr. Martinez's car, I went back inside, sat down on Max's bed, and called Allison.

"Fang?" she said the moment she picked up. My brow furrowed.

"How did you know?"

"Oh, we got caller I.D. last weekend."

What?

"Well, that's great," I said anyway. "But I called for a reason.

"Of course. What's up?"

"I'm kind of in a really huge mess."

"Yeah?" Allison said. "What kind of mess?"

"An I-Got-Max-Pregnant kind of mess," I explained. Allison coughed loudly. I think she choked on something

"Holy crap! Really?" she shrieked. "Huh? What? Oh, just a second." She pulled the phone away from her ear because I could just hear her voice. "It's Nick. His girlfriend is pregnant."

Thanks, Allison. Way to keep this on the down low.

"Sorry, my mom wants to talk to you."

I sighed and waited for Mrs. Neill to come on. "Nick? Tell me what's going on."

"All of it?" I asked. She didn't say anything, so I took it as a yes. "When I got home after three years of absence, I did it with my girlfriend, and then we found out she was pregnant today."

Sure, I skipped over some details, but she got the gist of it.

"Nick, are you sure you can handle this?" she asked. "Because there's always the option of abortion."

"A-what-tion?" I asked.

"Abortion. To have the fetus surgically removed before birth," she explained. I almost laughed out loud.

"No way would Max ever go for that," I said.

"Max is your friend?"

"Max is my girlfriend," I said.

"Oh, Max is a girl." I could just hear Allison's voice in the background saying, "No, Max is a boy. F—Nick's just like that." I did laugh that time at the Fnick thing. It had come up so many times while I was with the Neills'.

"And yes, I can handle it," I assured her. "We have Max's mom, who's really great. She lives over in Arizona, so she's not too far."

"A-alright. Just remember that we're always here for you if you need us."

"Thanks, Mrs. Neill."

"Well, we have to go," she said. "It was lovely talking to you."

"Same to you. I'll call you soon."

"Alright, bye."

I flipped the phone shut and slipped it in my pocket.

"Who's Allison?" a little voice asked from the doorway.

Angel.

"She's a girl," I said.

"Is she your secret girlfriend who you ran away to live with for three years and your two-timing Max with?" Angel asked. I gaped at her.

"What? No! Allison isn't my girlfriend!" I said, trying to keep all thoughts of Allison out of my head. Unsuccessfully. "She's just a friend...who's a girl...who I know."

"You went to a dance with her? Max is gonna be so pissed."

I stood up. "Stay out of my head! Allison is not my girlfriend!" I shouted, chasing Angel out of the room. I got her out of the room and stood in the hallway for a moment.

"She's such a little sneak, isn't she?" Gazzy's voice said from behind me, making me jump.

"A real pain in the a—butt, that's what she is," I corrected.

"Seriously, though. Who's Allison?" Gazzy pried.

"She's the girl I lived with for three years," I said. "She's not my girlfriend. I don't have any feelings like that for her. I went to a dance with her because I wanted to do something nice for her. I never kissed her or anything."

My mind flipped to the time on the way home from the dance when Allison had leaned over and kissed me in the car. From the living room, I heard Angel shout "Liar!" I couldn't get anything past these kids, could I? I'd be dead—or as good as dead, if they told Max anything—by the end of the week.

"We aren't having this conversation. I refuse to talk about it," I declared. "Go work on your homework or something."

"We don't have homework," Gazzy protested.

"Yes, you do. Max left it. It's on the fridge," I said.

"What?" Gazzy demanded. "That's not fair!"

"Life's not fair. Do your homework," I said. Gazzy scowled at me, but stormed off to do his homework.

I stepped into the living room and immediately regretted it when Angel ran up to me looking all innocent. I already knew that was a bad sign. But what she asked me was even worse.

"Fang," she said, batting her eyes for dramatic effect.

"Yes?" I said suspiciously.

"Where do babies come from?" she asked. I kept my mind free of any thoughts.

"Well, you see…" I said, thinking hard about an answer. "Um…I don't know, Angel. Why don't you call Max and ask her?"

"You do know, though," she protested. "You put one in Max. Why can't you tell me what you did?"

"Because I don't feel like it," I said, stepping around her toward the couch. I thought about Max and the real "Where do babies come from?" answer. That was the biggest mistake I'd ever made. Well, next to getting Max pregnant.

"Oh, my God!" Angel shrieked. "That's so weird!"

Get Angel off my back: Surprisingly success.