Nudge Goes Silent

At this point in stories, this is where the girl makes the boy jealous by dressing up and putting on make-up so she looks completely transformed. But as I like to point out from time to time, my life is not a predictable movie.

Nudge was walking beside me in the hall jumping with excitement. A week and a half since Fang and I kissed I hadn't really spoken to him. As for Sam, I started to avoid him too. Boys were just too confusing for me at the moment. While my relationship status seemed to decline each day, Ella's was moving forward.

Iggy and her had officially started dating and no one was surprised. My sister had now less time for me so I was spending most of my time with talkative, gossip extraordinaire, Nudge.

"So I'm coming over tonight?" I nodded my head, Ella was spending the night at a new friend's house and my mom was working late as usual. Nudge practically invited herself over when I told her about doing nothing this week-end. "Cool, I'm excited. We can watch scary movies and gossip." We couldn't do that almost every other day?

"I guess, it sounds fine," I shrugged as we walked down the hall. The good thing about Nudge is she was so interested in gossip is that she didn't ask questions about me that didn't involve anyone else. No one knew about the dreams. No one knew how they switched between good and bad moments that I swore were actual memories except for the fact that I always had wings.

"Did you hear that Fang and Brigid got into a fight yesterday? She apparently tried to make a move on him but Fang told her to cut it out. He said that he wasn't interested in her and that there was someone else more important." Nudge raised an eyebrow as if suggesting this was me. I rolled my eyes, I wouldn't go much further than that as a response.

"Fang really said that much," I laughed, "Doesn't sound like him does it?" I don't care if he did say those things to Brigid. He could still be dating her for all I cared. I didn't like him one bit- even if he was always in my dreams.

A bell rung and we had to rush to class. "I'll see you tonight," Nudge called over her shoulder as she ran into the hall. I stepped into my classroom while waving at her.

I should've known in my life, that normal was nonexistent.

I would've appreciated a warning though.

Nudge sat in a beanbag chair in my room, dressed in pink flannel pajamas. Her frizzy hair was dangling in curls down past her shoulders as she busied herself painting her fingernails. "I don't understand why Chandler even puts up with Janice. She obviously is a psycho path. I mean, her laugh is so obnoxious." It took me a moment to realize she was talking about the show that was playing on the television.

I shrugged, playing with the hem of my gray sweatpants. I had opened my window to let in a cool breeze. A pack of Twizzlers was opened up on the bed already halfway done. I had stashed a few more bags of candy in case I got hungry all over again. I found it amazing that I was as skinny as I was with all that I ate.

The television laughed as Nudge smiled and joined in. She was totally into the show. I noticed on her shoulder a scar just like mine, it was about an inch long and really light compared to her darker skin. "How did you get that?" I asked casually taking a sip of water from a glass that was on my end table near my bed.

Nudge caught my gaze and lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. "Don't know, for as long as I could remember but I honestly don't remember much. I got into a bad accident and lost all of my memory about a year ago." Her finger traced over it lightly, the way it was jagged and seemed to follow the shape of a vein in the way it branched off.

"I have one too," I replied. Nudge turned her eyes on the television, obviously ignoring what I said. She seemed a little distraught by the mention of her scar. Did it bring back her memory of the accident? Did it still bother her? I was sorry that I brought it up.

Just then, two large objects rushed past me from my open window. My face was smacked by feathers and I assumed it was really two stupid pigeons. I leaned back and watched in amazement as the two kids from the park a few days ago were now sitting on top of Nudge. "Sorry," Angel mumbled while brushing herself off, including…her…wings?

Gazzy followed behind with golden hinted and brown wings. He sat up and remained sitting next to Nudge, "Hey Max! Hey Nudge! Long time no see!" My mouth dropped opened. How was this possible? How is it that they had just FLOWN into my bedroom? This was a dream, I literally pinched myself but I didn't wake up. I wasn't sleeping.

"Remember me?" Angel turned to Nudge for a moment, "We were the best friends in the whole world!" Then, she turned to face me, ignoring the stunned Nudge, "And you were like my mother and my sister and my other best friend!"

I watched as her brother crossed his arms and glared at her, "They don't remember who we are Angel remember? We have to trigger their memory." He was a handsome kid now but for some reason, he reminded me of the younger boy I had seen in my dreams with the same blonde hair and blue eyes while leaning over some form of wired contraptions.

"Angel," Nudge murmured and stood up. "Gazzy? You've been in my dreams." I hadn't been even more surprised until just then. Nudge had dreamed about them too. "Who exactly are you? Why are you here? Why do you have wings?"

"Please," I told them, crossing my arms, "Explain now or I seriously am going to call your parents." Both Angel and Gazzy smiled at what I had just said.

"We were captured, all of us. Gazzy and I escaped by luck and we couldn't get to the rest of you in time. They implanted you with a Micron- it's this new chip that can form memory loss and create illusions." Angel explained. I raised an eyebrow. She sighed, "Max, you don't remember any of it- your old life that is- because the chip sends shocks to your brain to make you forget. And it creates an invisible cloak over your wings so no one, not even you, know they're there."

I laughed, literally, I bent my head back and laughed. "Me? With wings? I don't think so." Imagine all the time I could've run into something like a billboard side or a flock of flying geese. I would be a terrible flyer.

"It's true," Gazzy stepped in, "That's why you have the scar on your back and why Nudge has one too. Trust us, we have to get it out of you and unfortunately, it's not going to be easy."

"What about my mom? Surely she would recognize me with wings," I pointed out, lifting a finger. Angel gave me an innocent smile and Gazzy crossed his arms. They looked very serious though and I could tell they believed what they said.

"Pills- they think they're taking vitamins but the School supplies them with pills that make them forget their past lives. Your sister, some of the students in your school, it's all part of an experiment to see how you and the rest of the flock would've come together under normal circumstances." Normal- how could Angel use a word like that with the wings she had and with what she was talking about.

"Get the chip out of me," Nudge stood up, I could tell she was believing them. I stared at her with wide eyes about to protest but she raised a hand, "It makes perfect sense. Why I can't remember my life, why you seem so familiar, I want to know who I was before they took my memories away."

"An incision," Angel told her earnestly, "The chip isn't too deep so all we have to do is cut and we can easily get the Micron out." I stepped between them, there would be no cutting of people as long as I had anything to say about it.

"Max, it's just near the shoulder and something tells me, they know what they're doing. Let's go in the bathroom to do this." Woah- this was making me flip out. Had Nudge suddenly developed a mental break down? How could she let these two strange kids make a little cut on her just to pull out a chip we had no idea was there.

Just then, my mom walked in late from work as I had expected.

She would handle things...but things just got stranger from that point out.

Angel told Dr. Martinez what to do with her mind. It wasn't that hard being able to control minds and all. Max watched in disbelief as her "mother" accepted to cut out the chip for Nudge. Being a vet, there were plenty of sedatives and utensils for on-call emergencies in her office. Angel told Dr. Martinez to make the small cut and get the chip out.

Nudge was shaking a bit but she remained still enough for the brainwashed, Dr. Martinez to perform the simple surgery. Max held Nudges hand, her jaw tensed, while the younger of them screamed a bit out of fear. Nudge couldn't feel anything because Angel had Dr. Martinez sedate Nudge enough so she couldn't feel anything.

Max watched, as Angel noted, while Dr. Martinez reached into the cut and pull out what looked like black, hardened veins. It twisted and moved as if alive. Nudge began screaming in pain and holding her head. "What did you do to her?" Max demanded, wrapping protective arms around the friend whom she believed she had only known for a month.

"Nothing," Angel replied, "she's remembering." Angel knew this as well because she saw what was happening in Nudge's mind. The School, the Director, Eraser, Flyboys, Mr. Chu, a submarine, etc. All of the memories rushed through Nudge's head in painful motions but she didn't speak. Instead, Nudge bit her lip and refused to talk or scream until it was over.

Finally Nudge went limp in Max's hands, just trembling every now and then.

"Max, Gazzy, Angel" everyone heard Nudge whisper.

"I remember now."

That's when Max gasped in horror as a pair of wings suddenly appeared on Nudge's back.

The illusion of the Micron was no longer in place.

Nudge was back to her old self again.