"Dashing through the sand, with a bomb strapped to my back. I have a nasty plan, for Christmas in Iraq. I got through Checkpoint A, but not through Checkpoint B, because that's when I got shot in the ass by the US military. Ohhh," There was a long pause, partly for dramatic effect and partly for a breath. And the song continued, "jingle bombs, jingle bombs, mine blew up you see! Where all the virgins that Bin Laden promised me? Ohhh jingle bombs jingle bombs your soldiers shot me dead! Now all that I have left is this towel upon my head! I used to be a man, but every time I cough, thanks to Uncle Sam, my nuts keep falling off. My bombing days are done; I need to find some work. Perhaps it would much safer as a convenient store night clerk. Ohhh jingle bombs, jingle bombs, I think I got screwed. Don't laugh at me because I'm dead or I will kill you!"
I had been awakened on this wonderful Christmas morning by no other than Iggy singing his latest version of Jingle Bells. It was around 9:30, and apparently my mom had decided to let Fang and Iggy come over this morning despite, the ungodly hour. Fang rolled his eyes, and clapped for Iggy's benefit.
"Nice Ig, that's real talent," I proclaimed rolling out of bed, sitting on the covers next to Fang.
"Oh I know, don't worry I have more," he managed a somewhat evil sounding laugh and Fang just smirked.
"Merry Christmas," Fang whispered under the sound of Iggy's might I add, incredibly out of tune, singing.
I chuckled, "Thanks, you too. Well this is one way to spend Christmas morning." I was drowned out by the sound of Iggy advancing to his next version of Jingle Bells.
"Dashing through the sand, on a pair of broken skis, over the hills we go, crashing into trees. Ow-ow-ow. The snow is turning red, I think I'm almost dead, will someone please call 9-1-1 before I lose my head! Ohhh, jingle bells, jingle bells, Santa Claus is dead! Rudolph got a 22 and shot him in the head! Hey! Barbie doll, Barbie doll tried to save his life, but G.I. Joe and Mario, stabbed her with a knife!" Iggy finished the latest song and I couldn't help but snicker.
"Nice Christmas spirit you got there. Real happy," I said still snickering at his song, and Fang just rolled his eyes with his usual smirk.
"When did you two schemers decide to come over?" I asked standing up and putting my hair up in a messy bun.
"We slept here Max, didn't you know? On the floor, right underneath your bed," Iggy said in a completely normal voice, and my jaw dropped, but I immediately closed it.
"You what?" I nearly shrieked.
"Slept here," Iggy replied still matter-of-fact, and then he couldn't do it anymore and burst out laughing.
"Oh Max, you should've seen your face." He imitated me making his eyes wide and jaw dropping.
"Shut up Ig," I said calming down, my smile returning to his face. I turned to Fang, and he jokingly put his hands up in defense.
"We just came over, and we thought we should spend Christmas with our best friend so we showed up and your mom let us in. She and Jeb were having coffee at the counter when we got up," Fang explained under my death glare.
"Okay well great. Now what do you two morons want to do? Better be something good cause you woke me up," I replied. Iggy's stomach grumbled loudly and we all laughed, well Fang did his typical lopsided smile. Well actually, Fang never really full out laughs at stuff, so every time I saw 'we all laughed', just assume he does his cute little lopsided smile. I mean unless on the rare, yet awesome, occasion that Fang really laughs, I'll make sure to add that in. But back to the point, we were all starving. But come on, we're growing teenagers, when aren't we hungry?
With that, we flew down the flight of stairs to the kitchen where my mom and Jeb were seated drinking coffee from Christmas mugs.
"Morning Max. Merry Christmas," my mom said from her spot next to Jeb at the table. They appeared to have been having a relatively deep and important conversation that I'd interrupted, not that I really cared.
"Thanks you too," I said, our feet softly padding as we approached the counter.
"Glad Fang and Iggy knocked some sense into you and got you up," my mom replied with a chuckle. Fang smirked and Iggy snickered softly, while I just rolled my eyes.
"Yeah I was awakened to lovely Christmas music, coming from the one and only Iggy," I snorted and seated myself across from Jeb. Fang plopped himself into the seat next to me, and Iggy next to him. My mom brought over a plate stacked high with pancakes and bacon, and we all dug in.
"Come on, Max you know you loved my music," Iggy said finishing his second piece of bacon.
Fang smirked, "Yeah Max. Well you had to at least spend Christmas with your best friends. Besides we have presents for you."
"Okay fine, you guys are pretty great. But I told you not to get me presents!" I exclaimed a little surprised they had gotten me anything.
"Yeah, like you didn't get us anything either," Iggy replied rolling his eyes. Ella must have told Iggy, who told Fang. That little stinker.
"Okay fine. We'll do our presents later though," I finished my fourth pancake, and reached for some more. My mom sure was getting good at making enough food for the three of us.
"Speaking of presents Max, your mom and I have some presents for you and your sister as well, whenever you're ready. Where are Ella and Ari anyway, it's nearly 10." Jeb set his coffee down, and stood up, stretching as he did so.
As if on cue, a sleepy looking Ari stumbled into the kitchen, followed by a much perkier looking Ella.
"Merry Christmas!" Ella chirped happily, and then she saw Iggy and Fang sitting with me at the table and grinned. I wasn't sure if she was grinning at Fang and me sitting together, or Iggy sitting with an open chair next to him. Either way, she came over and sat down next to the Igster and grabbed a few pancakes.
"Hey Ari," I called to the tired looking kid. I don't think he even realized it was Christmas.
"Hi Max. It's your friend again!" He exclaimed happily, pointing up at Fang.
"Hey mister," Fang said giving Ari a lopsided grin. Ari happily jumped into the seat across from Fang, next to Jeb.
"This is Iggy, Ari. He's another one of my good friends. He's kind of a loser though," I said, pretending to whisper. Ari's face broke out in another happy smile.
Iggy just grinned huge, and looked to Ari. "You look pretty strong. I bet you're really tough, right?" Ari nodded, clearly flattered. Ella was still too busy eating, to join in the conversation yet.
Jeb seemed really pleased at how well Fang and Iggy were acting with Ari; they were almost like big brothers, or cousins to him. Even I thought it was a little cute.
"Hmm, how about presents now?" Jeb asked after everyone had been finished with breakfast for a while. Everyone was just sitting and talking, Fang and I making faces at each other to make Ari laugh. Ella and Iggy had been talking quietly between the two of them, but at Jeb's question, everyone looked up and nodded.
"My vote is cutest get to open their presents first, then ugliest go last," Iggy said with his usual light-hearted grin. "That means Ari, me, Max and Fang last."
Ari nodded excitedly, and Fang rolled his eyes looking amused. "How about youngest to oldest?" Fang questioned, bringing a much more rational view into mind.
Jeb nodded, and then started handing out gifts to Ari, Ella and me. Obviously he hadn't gotten Fang or Iggy anything since they'd just met. I hadn't even realized it, but the vase of flowers near the window, were from Fang (and Angel of course).
Jeb handed me a small box, about the size of a Blu-ray DVD, and I wondered what it is. Jeb was also incredibly wealthy, and he typically gave expensive gifts. He gave Ari a mound of boxes; all wrapped in different Christmas patterns, which seemed to be full of different toys. Ella received two decent sized boxes, and one softer package, all wrapped in similar papers to Ari's.
"These are from your mom and me together," Jeb announced. He put an arm around my mom's shoulders and they smiled at each other, clearly pleased by the gifts they had purchased.
"Your present is actually in the living room. It's from Iggy and me," Fang said but he didn't move, so I assumed he wanted me to open the other presents first.
"Yup, well it's mostly Fang, but from both of us. And Ben helped a little too," Iggy announced, handing a small package, poorly wrapped which made me smile, to Ella and she smiled at him.
"What are you guys waiting for? Open away," Jeb announced grinning from ear to ear. He must've wanted us to open them while Fang and Iggy were here, otherwise he wouldn't have been so persistent.
"Well, cutest first," Iggy said gesturing to Ari, but I saw him mouth sorry to Ella and she laughed.
Ari opened up all his gifts, and he received a large variety of toys, ranging from Legos, to Pokémon, to sports equipment to Wii games. I didn't know what most of toys even were, so I won't bother to describe them.
Onto the next cutest, by Iggy's opinion, Ella was up. She squealed as she opened her boxes. A pair of new Uggs, the grey tall ones with buttons up the side. I had to admit, as boots go, they weren't too bad. Then she pulled out two pairs of riding boots, one tan and one black. They were completely different styles, but in my humble opinion, they both suited her very well. She pulled out a pair of neutral colored Sperry's, and she looked beyond happy. She pulled out a few pairs of jeans, some colored, some regular and a few sweaters.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she squealed happily. She ran over and gave them each a hug.
"Le ugliest," Iggy said gesturing to me with a laugh. I rolled my eyes, what was I going to do with him.
I tore off the paper, and inside the box was something pretty impossibly insanely freaking awesome. Best thing I'd ever gotten as a gift, without a doubt. I know you want to know what I got, but I'll tell you. Eventually. Just hold your horses.
"Oh my god! Thank you dad!" I was so excited I had called Jeb, dad, for the first time in years. His face softened as I said that, and a satisfied look overcame his face. "You have no idea how excited I am!" And the best part was there was three of everything. What's everything you might ask? Okay, fine I'll tell you what I got for Christmas. The most awesomely amazingly perfect gift I could have ever thought of.
Three plane tickets to Salt Lake City, Utah. Three lift tickets for 5 days of skiing, valid at Snowbird, Park City or Canyons. Three plane tickets to Chicago, from Salt Lake. Three vouchers for unlimited shuttle service to/from the resort, to/from the downtown, and to/from the airport.
As it turned out, one of my dad's bet friends had a vacation house there with 3 bedrooms that he was letting us use for free, and it was less than 10 minutes from the mountain where you skied. I was so freaking excited.
I had assumed that the tickets were for Ella, my mom and myself, but then Jeb somehow managed to make this present 10 times better.
"Your mother already checked and Fang and Iggy's parents were okay with you going out by yourselves, as long as you stick together." My jaw dropped open as his words sunk in. He had bought me and my two best friends, plane tickets and lift tickets to use. Just the three of us. Skiing was one of my favorite things in the world, right after mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies. And Utah was just gorgeous, the sky was always cloudless and bright blue, and the mountains were covered in powdery snow.
Fang and Iggy turned to me eyes wide, and Iggy whooped in excitement.
"We're going to Utah! We're going to Utah!" he chanted, excited as could be. Fang was still staring at me, in shock.
I looked down to see when we were going, if it was a spring break trip, or what the deal was. December 27, 2012. That was in 2 days. Returning January 3, 2013. That meant the three of us would be spending New Years together too. Wow, this is the best day ever. Then something hit me, Gordon. He knew Fang was like a brother to me, Iggy too, but I wasn't sure how he was gonna feel about us going on a vacation ourselves. Just my two best friends and me, who happened to be guys, and I wasn't exactly sure how he would take it. I mean yeah, Gordon's a great guy, and I liked him enough, but he might not feel the same way about this whole situation. But for now, I put that in the back of my mind, and focused on how much fun Fang and I would have.
"Thank you Max's dead!" Iggy crowed leaping over to officially shake Jeb's hand.
"Anytime. Call me Mr. Batchelder," he replied warmly, shaking Iggy's hand.
"Thank you so much Mr. Batchelder. I'll make sure nothing happens to Max while we're there," Fang said quietly looking my dad straight in the eye. He shook his hand as well, and Fang received a small pat on the back, and I could tell that Jeb really approved and liked Fang. But Fang was a great guy, and there's no reason anyone wouldn't approve of him.
I went over, giving each of my parents (see I did it again. I'm really maturing here, wow. I called him a 'parent' and not Jeb. Kudos to me.) a huge hug. Now it was clearly obvious why he had made such a big deal about opening our presents now.
"Oh yeah, Ella open up," Iggy said, nudging Ella. Speaking of nudging, Nudge was coming over later this afternoon and I think Gordon was as well. I would talk to him about this whole Utah deal later, I didn't want to ruin Christmas.
Ella opened her gift from Iggy, and her breath caught in her throat as she pulled out a gorgeous heart necklace. It was silver, and the edges were soft, and rounded under. She noticed a small note attached to the heart. It was a riddle.
"Go ahead, solve the riddle," Iggy hinted.
THE FIRST NAME OF ACTOR WHO PLAYED ELF: WILL
THE OPPOSITE OF ME: YOU
DOG BACKWARDS WITHOUT THE 'D': GO
NOT IN, BUT: OUT
THE MEANING OF 'CONMIGO' IN SPANISH: WITH ME
I watched smiling slightly as Ella solved the riddle, writing her answers out on the paper. Just as she finished, Iggy asked her out loud.
"Will you go out with me?" he asked. I totally called that they had a 'thing' going on, just saying.
Ella immediately nodded and stood up and gave him a huge hug. She lifted her hair up, and he put the necklace on her, and her face lit up. Fang clapped Iggy on the back, and I gave Ella an excited smile. She blushed and mom was beaming and dad (wow, I did it again.) seemed very approving. Almost as approving as he was of Fang.
"Best. Christmas. Ever." I said sighing, as I went over to sit next to Fang at the table. Iggy had his arm around Ella and they were leaning against the wall, talking quietly. They both kept smiling and I couldn't help wondering what they were up to.
"Not yet Max," Fang replied with a mischievous look in his eye. "Come on." He motioned for me to follow him and I did, along with Iggy and Ella who were following close behind.
There was a huge, bulky object wrapped very awkwardly sitting in the middle of our living room.
"For you," Fang nodded towards the thing and I went over, kneeling down next to it. I unwrapped it very ungracefully, tearing off the paper and my heart stopped once I realized what it was. A guitar. An acoustic guitar. My very own guitar. Ever since I'd joined Fang's band, I'd just been using his old guitar, and he told me I could keep it. But still, it wasn't technically my own, but this one was.
"Oh my gosh," I whispered. I jumped up, and hugged Fang who seemed almost ready for it. Much to my surprise and delight (don't tell anyone I said that), he hugged me back right away. I didn't let go for several seconds, realizing how great everything was right now. I was still unable to believe that he was coming with me (and Iggy too of course). "Fang this is amazing," I breathed. "Thank you."
"Now you can be even better. You have your own guitar, not my old one anymore," he whispered back. I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder the way best friends do. Except we were almost more than best friends. He knew me more than Ella maybe did, despite that I'd been here for only some months. All the time we spent together was really rubbing off on us. Ella wiggled her eyebrows at me and Fang, my arms still wrapped around him. I rolled my eyes at her, I still had a boyfriend.
I finally pulled back, and then Fang showed me the best part. He turned the guitar over, and on the back of the neck (the skinny part where all the strings go) was carved The Flock with a small wing next to it. It was amazing.
"It's from Iggy to," Fang said giving me his cute little lopsided smile.
"Come here Ig," I called with a laugh. I hugged Iggy to, but it wasn't as long or meaningful as the one with Fang. Besides, he was now my sister's boyfriend. Iggy went back to Ella, and they resumed their hand holding and I just rolled my eyes. Lovebirds. Even Gordon and I weren't that romantic. Okay we were nothing near that romantic but whatever.
"Let's go back up to my room. I got something for you up there," I grinned, grabbing Fang's arm with me as I went over to the stairs. He immediately followed and we sat down on my bed, once we were in my room.
I pulled out a box and handed it to Fang. He opened it up, and his eyes lit up, and they twinkled. It was a brand-new dog tag. I'd noticed that his old one was dirty and rusty, and plain. It had minimal words, so I decided to get him a new one. But I'd had words carved into it to. On the front it was a wing, similar to the one now on my guitar, and The Flock was written underneath it. He turned it over, and the back read Fang- Fly on always. You're the best friend I could ask for. –Max He grinned looking up at me.
"Where could you find these? How did you get it carved in like that?" he asked, giving me that one smile I never saw. The one that made the Sun stop in its tracks. The smile I'd seen probably 3 times since I'd known him. I just shrugged, not wanting to give away my secret. Oh, you think I'm gonna tell you how I got it done? Sorry, not happening. He immediately put it, putting the old one in his pocket. Oh, and just saying, if you're trying to buy a dog tag for your best friend, they ain't cheap. Well sure you can buy cheap ones, but this one was about $350 with the carvings and everything.
Then Fang hugged me. Reread that sentence if you need to. You'll probably need to, since I'm assuming almost any rational person read it wrong. Fang hugged me. Like he did it himself, and I didn't have to blackmail or bribe him to do, which was a first. I hugged him back, and was glad he even liked the dog tag idea. It wasn't as long, but still a free hug from Fang was probably one of the best presents I could get. It was also probably enough to make ¾ of the girls at my school shoot daggers out of their eyes to attempt to kill me, just to win a smile from Fang. Well suck on that bitches, because I'd gotten 3 hugs and a real smile in the past few days. Come at me.
I gave the Igster his present too, which was all these new guitar picks and a new strap (which had been needing a replacement sometime soon). He seemed totally excited and kept thanking me for it.
"Calm down, Iggy," I called laughing. "I owed you from that amazing guitar."
Then the doorbell rang and Nudge was inside chatting about everything from what she got for Christmas to cinnamon rolls to going to Florida to work on her bikini body. I don't why she even bothered worrying about all that stuff, since she was just naturally gorgeous.
An hour later, the doorbell rang and Gordon was over too. He gave me a hug right away, and whispered 'Merry Christmas'. He had gotten me a heart necklace, similar to Ella's. It was a little fancier, and had some sparkles. It was beautiful, but it just wasn't me. But I told him I loved it because I'm just a freaking princess when it comes to other people's feelings.
Fang, Gordon and I all hung out while Iggy and Ella spent some "private time" together. Most likely making out, but I'm not judging, just informing. I gave Gordon his gift; it was a new hockey stick. The one he'd picked out and his friends had told me about. He seemed super excited and kept thanking me, kinda like Iggy.
I wondered if it bothered Gordon that Fang and I spent so much time together. More than we did, and he was my boyfriend. I decided I'd talk to him about our trip and everything tomorrow, before we left. But Fang and Iggy stayed for dinner, but Gordon went home. Later that night, Fang and Iggy went home too, so it was down to Ella, Ari, mom, Jeb and me. To my surprise, I found myself sitting next to Jeb on the couch, while the movie was playing.
"Thanks again for the tickets for the plane and skiing," I said for the hundredth time. He just smiled nodding.
"You deserve it sweetie. You've got great friends. I really really like Fang," he whispered, just so I could here.
"Me too," I muttered to myself.
"Just make sure you know who cares about you more," he said leaving me very confused. Did he mean between Fang and Gordon?
"Fang or Gordon?" I asked trying to make sense of his statement.
"Shhh, Ella and your mom are watching this movie," he said and that solidified my guess that he was trying to tell me Fang cared more. How would he know? But then I figured that since he was a guy, he would have the same weird guy thinking and feelings, and I could trust this at least. I feel like Gordon tries too hard with me, and that Fang and I could just be ourselves. I leaned back; convinced that Gordon and I needed to talk. But for some reason that didn't bother me, and I drifted to sleep watching the movie.
Hey! Here's another chapter, and the FAX is gonna start picking up soonish. Any ideas for FAX or anything else in the story? I need some plot ideas! Thanks! RnR!