A/NHey guys! I actually don't really have anything to put here... but I hate to leave it empty...
Oh wait! I have to do the disclaimer Dx
Disclaimer: I do not own MR. Nada. No ownage.
Chapter 3: Forgotten Memory
"Okay, so… What project was Mr. Smith going on about today in History?"
"Well Max, if you hadn't been so busy flirting with the new kid, maybe you'd know," Iggy said, smirking in her general direction.
"I'm rolling my eyes, Ig."
They were sprawled out on the floor of Nudge's living room, limbs thrown across each other "like a pile of hippos," as Iggy had so articulately put it. Nudge had then proceeded to throw a cookie at his head for calling her a hippo.
They wouldn't have admitted it, but Max and Iggy were somewhat afraid to touch anything other than the floor. Nudge's dad was some really important rich guy, and his house reflected it. With Max's history of clumsiness and Iggy's habit of blowing things up… well, it was just better to be safe than sorry.
Max shoved Nudge's arm off her forehead. "Anyways, you're just jealous that you weren't the one flirting with him."
Iggy's voice went up about three octaves as he attempted to imitate a preppy girl. 'Attempted' being the key word. "Uh, no. I am straight."
Nudge giggled. "Straight as curly fries," she mumbled with a grin.
"Excuse me?"
"Guys! The project?" Max broke in.
"Oh yeah. It's really easy. You just have to find out what your partners last name means-mine, which is 'Mirembe', is East African for peace-and something interesting in his or her ancestry." Nudge shrugged. "And then you make some sort of presentation or something, like a poster showing the family tree. Iggy and I are partnered up. "
Max smirked at that, watching as Iggy's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. He hadn't said anything, but she had a sneaking suspicion that Iggy had… more-than-just-friendly feelings for Nudge.
"Well, this could be interesting," Max muttered.
"What'd you say?" Nudge's head lifted up from its spot on Iggy's chest. Iggy looked slightly disappointed.
"Oh, nothing," Max responded with a smile.
She'd only known the two of them for a little over a month, but it felt like forever. Max could already tell that Iggy and Nudge could be one of those "perfect" couples. The problem was, it didn't seem like Iggy was planning on admitting his feelings anytime soon, and Nudge was too caught up with her "secret admire", who could be anyone-it could even be a joke, as cruel as that sounds. A plan started forming in Max's mind, and she grinned evilly to herself. This would be an interesting project indeed.
(Time skip to next Thursday morning)
"Max, look at me. No- don't look over there, just look at me."
"B-but Daddy-"
"Is fine. He's just fine. Now I need you to listen to me, okay? This is very important."
Seven year old Max stuck her thumb in her mouth and nodded, trying not to look back over at her daddy. He'd been laying on the bed for a long time now… Why didn't he get back up?
"Max, honey, your daddy and I have to go away for a while. You and your sister are going to go stay with your aunt. It's going to be like a vacation! Doesn't that sound fun?"
Max knew enough to realize that this was not going to be like a vacation. She spoke around the thumb in her mouth. "No… I wanna go with you and Daddy. Why can't I?"
Her mother pushed a few strands of hair from Max's forehead. "You can't come with us because I need you to watch out for your sister. You're going to be my big helper, okay? Just for a little while."
Max thought this over, her little chest swelling with pride at thought of her mother needing her help. She nodded, taking her thumb from her mouth and standing a little taller. "Okay. I'll take care of Angel, Mommy."
"Good girl."
Max woke up breathing heavily, tears filling her eyes. The dream had already started fading into the recesses of her mind, but for the first time, she actually remembered bits and pieces of it.
Who is Angel? She wondered to herself. And the woman in her dream definitely did not look like her mother. So why had she been calling her 'Mommy'? And why did she still feel a… connection to the woman, even though it was just a dream?
Max tried to shrug it off. Dreams were not known for making sense. But it felt so real… It didn't feel like a normal dream… She shook her head a little violently, trying to force it out of her mind. At least it hadn't been a nightmare.
She checked the clock on her nightstand. 5:32 A.M. She sighed. She had to get up in half an hour anyways, might as well get up now…
She looked at the clock again. Or I could get twenty-eight more minutes of sleep.
It wasn't a hard decision.
Fang carefully sketched the girl's face onto the paper, struggling to recall all the details. He never colored his drawings, but now he almost wished he did, just so he could attempt to capture the color of the girl's eyes. She couldn't have been more than seven or eight, and he didn't know who she was, but lately this girl had been the subject of almost all of his drawings.
He sighed as he finished the last bit of shading. She was looking off to the side in this picture, with her little thumb in her mouth and tears in her eyes, though he got the feeling that she was trying very hard not to cry. On the edge of the paper, where the girl was looking, was an older woman, maybe in her late twenties or early thirties. She was holding a tiny baby, no more than a few months old, and her mouth was open as if she was in the middle of speaking. He didn't know who she was either, and she had never appeared in any of his drawings before.
He winced as the bell rang, shrilly breaking the silence in the art room. The room was filled with the grumbling of students not wanting to leave their favorite class. Fang shoved his sketchbook into his backpack before slinging it over his shoulder, keeping his pencil in his hand so he could twist it through his fingers. It was an old habit of his.
He checked his schedule. History next. He almost smiled as he realized that he'd see Max and Iggy in this class. Iggy talked so much that Fang's muteness was almost unnoticed, and Max… She just understood. He couldn't explain it, but she never looked at him with pity or as if he was some weird creature. He was just a person, albeit a quiet one.
He stuck his hands in his pocket as he walked into the classroom, listening as Nudge chattered about some movie she'd watched the night before. Iggy listened intently, looking completely lovesick. The boy was hopeless.
Yes, he'd only known Iggy for about a week, but when you're mute, you become a lot more observant. Things that most people don't notice become glaringly obvious. And Iggy obviously had a major crush on Nudge.
Fang sat down in his seat and leaned back, knowing that Max wouldn't be there until after the bell rang. He didn't know what she did in between classes, but it would be nothing short of a miracle if she was on time to class. He got the feeling that she was that way about a lot of things.
Sure enough, the bell rang, and about ten seconds later Max burst in, letting the door hit the wall with a thud. Everyone had long since stopped jumping and flinching when she did that. It was almost expected.
Mr. Smith just looked at her and sighed, shaking his head. "Glad you could join us, Ms. Rivera. Have a seat."
Max grinned. "And I'm so glad to be here, Mr. Smith." The sarcasm in her voice was evident.
She fell into the seat next to him. "Hey Fang. What's up?"
He shrugged, and then looked at her questioningly as a response. It was his way of saying, "Not much. And you?" without saying anything at all.
She caught his meaning. "Oh, you know. Making teachers angry, forgetting the all-important homework, falling asleep in Chemistry-same old same old."
He smirked at her and shook his head mock-disapprovingly. She chuckled.
"You're one to talk. Where's your history homework? Hm?" She raised her eyebrows at him.
His eyes widened. They'd had homework? He probably wouldn't have done it anyways, but he didn't usually forget, and he had no memory of a homework assignment being given out.
She laughed aloud at his expression. "Relax. I'm messing with you."
"Alex and Max! Why is it that you two are always the one I have to call out for talking in my class? Would you like to teach the lesson?" Mr. Smith asked angrily.
Both shook their heads quickly, knowing that he would actually make them do it. He had before.
No can do, Mr. Smith, Fang thought to himself. Forgot my lesson plan at home.
And, I spent twenty minutes trying to find out if hippos really were the animals that slept in piles. I read way to many hippo articles. That was for you guys -_-
My story recommendation for today is: Conundrum by Phoenix Fanatic
Review? :D Reviews=Inspiration, and Inspiration=Updates!