DEDICATED TO: Lilac Rose6 and dear Iggyfuls, who always manage to make me laugh in their reviews, along with Just Another Dove, who has been the epitome of amazing with reading my stories! ALSO, to ALL of my beautiful reviewers. You control a large chunk of my happiness, and a happy writer writes more! So reviews are obviously the answer to quick updates! Lolz.
ZOMG lol! The other day my friend RoRo (Salute Horses check out her MR story!) and I were talking, and our conversation started like this.
Ro; Oh, guess what?
Me: What?
Ro: I was texting with ADarkWingedForever's friend Roy- do you know Roy?
Me: Yeah- oh, wait. Is he real?
Ro: Yeah.
Me: Nope, don't know him.
XD Sadly, that's a perfectly acceptable and rational question among my friends. We have too many fictional minions.
And I was surprised at the response to the wings question- I thought you'd all want wings. XD Here's my question. Think from an author's point of view. What am I supposed to do once the soccer season's over? I have no idea. So I'm sorry if you don't like the wings idea, it's gonna happen. Not soon, but it will eventually. I promise though, I will try my hardest to keep this from being cliché. If you think it is, PLEASE tell me! I sincerely appreciate the feedback.
I don't like long ANs. =( LETS GET CRACKING WITH THE STORY!
FPOV
"He is soooo hot!"
"But Fang's hotter!"
"I dunno, Ford is pretty smokin-"
"Fang IS and will ALWAYS be hotter than Ford!"
"You're so naive!"
"Look who's talking! You think Ford Weston is hotter than THE Fang Rianild!"
"I'm right!"
"No you're not! Think about it! Mentally compare their hotness!"
There was a slight pause.
"Okay, you're right," Ford's defender sighed. "Fang IS hotter than Ford."
Iggy stifled a snicker beside me, and I shoved him. Gazzy rolled his eyes at us, obviously bored. "When do you think we can make a break for it? My legs are cramping like crazy," Gaz whispered, trying not to be noticed by the two girls arguing approximately three feet away from us. They were discussing the 'drop dead gorgeous' quality of my 'beautiful, obsidian' eyes.
I wanted to retch.
Iggy seemed to think the whole thing was hilarious, which just irked me further. "Trust me, Gaz, I want to get out of here too," I whispered back. Iggy held back a snort as one of the girls started praising the 'lusciousness' of my apparently 'gleaming, inky black' hair. I sank back against the branches of the bush, hoping I would somehow disappear. Or better yet, the girls sitting on the bench across the path would disappear.
Didn't these girls have lives? Didn't they have anything better to do than discuss me for three hours? And yes, we had been listening to them talk about me, Ford, and some guy named Justin Bieber for that long. Three hours. One hundred and eighty minutes. Ten thousand, eight hundred seconds. Those were the most boring and cramped ten thousand eight hundred seconds of my life. And that is including the time Ria decided it would be fun to super glue pink rhinestones all over my favorite sneakers, French braid my hair (she's quite clever for a six-year-old) and force me to watch a Dora the Explorer marathon with her. I had thought that was agony. Now I knew the true meaning of the word. Even hearing praises sung to my every freaking physical attribute got boring after the first ten minutes.
It was Saturday afternoon, and Gazzy, Iggy and I had been walking around the park. After awhile, we had passed by these two girls, whom I vaguely recognized from school. They smiled and batted their eyelashes and raised their voices in an attempt, I assume, to get our attention. Iggy was about to go over and say hello to them like the true player he was, but suddenly, he stopped short. His blind, pale blue eyes widened, and he grabbed Gazzy and I roughly by the arms, towing us off the path and behind a tree. Gazzy and I wrenched our arms out of his grip, and Gazzy glared at Iggy. I simply rubbed my arm, wondering why Iggy always had to have such sharp fingernails.
"Dude! What was that for?" Gazzy hissed at Iggy.
"I recognize those girls," Iggy whispered back, his eyes wide with fear. "That's Kelsi and Jacki!"
Gazzy seemed to understand what Iggy meant by this, because his fingers immediately began nervously tapping against the tree. "Aww, dammit!" Gazzy closed his eyes.
"How could you even identify them?" I wanted to know. "You can't see them, Igs. And what's so bad about these girls anyway?"
Iggy and Gazzy shook their heads at my ignorance. "They're Kelsi and Jacki," Gazzy told me seriously, stressing the girls' names. I stared at him blankly.
"Also known as giggly, gossipy, highly dangerous freshman at our school," Iggy added. "They're two of the most popular girls in the grade! How did you not know them?"
"They are?" I asked, feeling slightly foolish. It wasn't like I was on top of the school gossip and social orders, okay? I have too much soccer to play to get involved with such crap.
"You're one of the most popular guys in our grade, Fang," Gazzy informed me, his voice slow and patient.
Now I truly felt like an idiotic preschooler. "I am?" I asked weakly.
Iggy and Gazzy nodded.
"Oh." I couldn't think of anything else to say.
"Wow, Fang. Sometimes I wonder why you haven't flunked out of school yet. You're so slow," Iggy complained. I rolled my eyes and smacked his arm.
"Back to the point. Why are Kelsi and Jacki so awful again?" I asked, hoping for a more helpful explanation. Iggy and Gazzy seemed to be desperate for a way to pound their idea through my head, and floundered silently for an example of Kelsi and Jacki's evilness.
"They're Lissa's best friends," Gazzy supplied finally.
My eyes darkened. "Oh."
"Yeah," Iggy snorted. "Get the picture now, Mr Popular?"
"Shut up," I muttered, smacking him again. "I still don't understand how you recognized them-"
"That's not important," Iggy interrupted, looking nervous. "We have to get out of here, fast!"
"Good idea," Gazzy agreed, glancing around the tree back to the path. "Let's ditch this-"
"Hi, boys!" a bright voice chirped. All of us flinched at once, slowly turning to face the speaker. She was about six inches shorter than me, five inches shorter than Gaz, and seven inches shorter than ggy. Altogether, we towered over the girl, but she didn't seem to notice. "I'm Kelsi, but you already know that!" Kelsi tittered, flipping her blonde ringlets.
I shifted uncomfortably.
"And I'm Jacki! You know me too! That's totally obvi!" Jacki popped up behind Kelsi, her own brown hair flying recklessly behind her. Kelsi and Jacki giggled in unison.
I glanced in alarm towards Iggy and Gazzy, who both had resigned expressions on their faces. "What does 'obvi' mean?" I muttered to Gazzy. He shrugged, as helpless with girl talk as I was.
"Hey, do you guys wanna hang with us? I'll call Lindsay and Miri and Parsi and Tammi..." Why do they all have names that end with 'ee' sounds? My mind wondered briefly, going off track. It was just another mystery of the girl world. None of the female friends I had had names ending with 'ee' though. It was a question to ponder in algebra when I was bored. I slowly tuned back into what Jacki was saying. She was still listing all the friends she could call, and they all had names ending with 'ee'. Was it some sort of cult? "...and Loli and Georgi and Matti and Lissi-" Jacki rambled on and on, pulling out a bright pink cell phone and flashing it under my nose. I stiffened at the mention of Lissa's name.
"No, that's okay," I cut Jacki off, praying that she would take the hint and pocket her cell phone. To my immense relief, she did.
"Yeah, we were just going, actually," Iggy picked up after me, his voice falsely cheery. Both girls pouted.
"Awww, you're no fun!" Kelsi complained, poking me in the chest. I showed no reaction, simply staring at her until she backed out of my personal space.
"Sorry ladies. Another time, maybe?" Gazzy apologized suavely (that suave boy).
Kelsi and Jacki instantly perked up. "Okay!" they agreed, skipping off to go do whatever creepy freshman girls did on the weekend.
"Phew. That was a close one," Iggy sighed, leading the way back onto the path. I nodded as I followed him and Gazzy back onto the dirt trail.
"We risked our lives back there," Gazzy agreed, discretely glancing around the trail to check on the whereabouts of Kelsi and Jacki. Thankfully, they were nowhere in sight. We started off down the trail again, talking avidly about soccer. Even though Iggy was now blind, (the thought still made my fingers tense a little) he had previously been a great midfielder and goalie, and we had played on the same team. In fact, he was such a great goalie that when his parents had called to say he had to quit, our coach didn't believe them when they explained he was now blind.
"Blind? No boy who plays goalie like that can be blind," Coach scoffed.
Iggy's mother had promptly burst into tears, and his dad had roared somehing unrepeatable at the coach. Needless to say, the poor guy felt awful when he saw Iggy, his eyes no longer bright and focused, but instead a washed out, faded blue.
Iggy's loud guffaws broke me out of my moody remembrances, and I had to smile at the sound. He never liked to dwell on his blindness, and I tried not to let it bother me, for Iggy's sake. He hated the fact that I was always worried about his blindness, which he always seemed to pick up on however much I tried to hide it.
"This is better," Gazzy announced after a little while. "No creepy freshman girls, just us talking soccer."
Unfortunately, Gazzy spoke too soon. About five minutes later, I caught a glimpse of blonde curls ducking out of sight, and immediately tensed up. Gazzy stopped walking, and looked at me quizzically. "What's wrong, Fang?" he asked, tugging Iggy to a stop.
I looked around more closely. There was no blonde freshman in sight. "Thought I just saw Kelsi," I muttered.
Gazzy shuddered dramatically. "Oh no, I hope not!" he said shrilly. Iggy laughed again, but I still felt uneasy. "Chill out Fang," Gazzy added. "We're in a park. Most likely, there will be people around. Some of them might even have blonde hair!" Gazzy pulled emphatically on his own short blond hair, and then on Iggy's. I nodded grudgingly, and he promptly continued to chatter on with Iggy about soccer. Neither of them were ever able to tire of the subject. I stayed quiet, on the lookout for either Kelsi or Jacki. I had the feeling they were the kind of girls who wouldn't take no for an answer.
Suddenly, I saw a glint of pink flashing in the corner of my eye, and whirled around just in time to see a hand clutching an ominously familiar pink cell phone duck behind an oak tree. I stared at the tree, but the person holding the phone did not reappear.
That was the last straw. "We're being stalked," I informed my friends abruptly, interrupting their discussion on the finer points of the Manchester United soccer team.
Gazzy raised an eyebrow at me, not breaking stride. "Where are our stalkers?" he asked casually, looking at Iggy. Iggy listened, his face the picture of concentration. Finally, he briefly inclined his head towards a tree behind us. It was the oak I had seen the pink cell phone disappear behind.
"They're over there," Iggy replied calmly. To any casual observer, there had been no change in our conversation. Gazzy had very quick instincts, I had my unemotional mask, and Iggy just never took anything seriously. We were the perfect team.
"Let's lose them," I murmured, picking up the pace. Gazzy and Iggy instantly sped up, until we were jogging instead of walking. I heard the clatter of footsteps behind us: most likely Kelsi and Jacki trying to follow us. "Faster."
We continued to speed up, going from jogging to running to sprinting, until our feet raised dust on the trail. Finally, I glanced behind us, and there was no trace of blonde curls or pink cell phones in sight. "We're good," I finally said, slowing down. Gazzy and Iggy halted along with me, neither looking winded in the least. Gazzy was in top condition from seven-days-a-week soccer, and Iggy was a born runner. That unexpected run had been no problem for any of us.
There was an old blue bench on one side of the trail, facing the other side. We all sat down on it, Gazzy helping Iggy find his way onto the bench. Once we were seated, Gazzy immediately began picking at the peeling blue paint covering the wood. It was a sort of strange habit of his that Gazzy's hands always had to be busy. He couldn't concentrate otherwise, unless he was playing soccer. As a result, Gazzy had gotten very good at disassembling random objects and putting them back together. He was always taking apart and rebuilding his pen in history, and the poor writing utensil was battered and shaky from the abuse. I was just glad there wasn't anything important for Gazzy to destroy right now- we had problems when he couldn't figure out how to fix things again.
Suddenly, Iggy stiffened, standing back up. I sighed, hoping he had just heard a squirrel and we didn't have to get up and run again.
Of course, we had no such luck. "I think they went this way!" Kelsi's voice squealed, none too subtly. I winced at the sound of her voice. Gazzy rolled his eyes and stood up reluctantly, his fingernails now full of shreds of dried blue paint.
"Let's just hide until they pass," Iggy suggested. "Any good place nearby?"
"There's a bush right there," I pointed out. Gazzy grabbed Iggy's arm, towing him over to the bush. The large shrub was directly opposite the bench on the other side of the trail, so we had plenty of time to hunker down amid the plant. Its leafy branches formed a hollow dome that was just big enough for us to crouch comfortably inside. It effectively surrounded all three of us, shielding us from sight. This bush was the perfect hiding spot.
Almost as soon as we were settled in, there were loud footsteps on the path. Gazzy and I peered through small cracks in the bush, catching glimpses of the girls' feet. They stopped in the middle of the path, pointed towards our bush. Gazzy and I held our breath, and Iggy took the hint, quieting his own breathing.
Finally, there was a loud sigh, and one pair of feet marched over towards the bench we had just been sitting on. "They're gone, Kelse. Let's just sit here and talk for awhile instead!"
Kelsi's feet followed Jacki's towards the bench, and Kelsi sat down next to her friend. "Okay Jacki," she agreed. "Whatcha want to talk about?"
"What do you think?" Jacki asked, her voice almost sickeningly bubbly. These girls were too happy. It was messing with my vibe.
"Guys!" Kelsi guessed, giggling like a lunatic.
"Yeah! Totally!"
"Ooh! So you know how we talked to Gazzy and Iggy and Fang earlier?" Kelsi asked her friend.
Jacki sighed dreamily. "How could I forget?"
Iggy snickered beside me, and Gazzy and I promptly shoved him in an attempt to shut him up. Thankfully, it worked.
"I poked Fang on the chest!" Kelsi squealed excitedly, sounding as if she had won the lottery. I glanced at Gazzy, who was looking like he was about to explode with laughter. I prayed that he could keep it in, and sent him my best death glare.
Apparently, Jacki thought poking me in the chest was a very admirable thing to do, because she squealed even louder than Kelsi had. "OMG! Does he really have a six pack?" she asked in a reverent tone.
Is this really what girls talk about when there aren't any guys around? If I have a six pack or not?
"I couldn't really tell," Kelsi admitted. "But his stomach is like, rock hard! I swear I bruised my finger on it!"
"OMG!" Jacki shrieked.
This was getting too weird for me. Glancing around, I tried to find a way to get out of the bush and away from Kelsi and Jacki without being seen. My stomach began to clench as I realized the horrible truth. Although I searched frantically, there was no way out. We were in plain view of the girls, and they would surely spot us if we tried to escape, or even get out of our bush hiding spot. This apparently had occured to Gazzy too, who was looking at me with a panic-stricken face. How long would we have to sit here to wait for them to leave?
Three hours was the correct answer. Which brings us to this point in time.
My legs ached from being in one position so long, and my back was starting to hurt too. Gazzy and Iggy were probably experiencing the same things, and neither looked very happy. "'Let's hide in the bush!'" Gazzy hissed, perfectly mimicking my voice with that creepy talent of his. "What a great idea, Fang!"
"Shut up," I muttered back. Gazzy continued to whisper-rant about my stupidity and how he couldn't believe that Kelsi and Jacki could possibly discuss me, of all people, for three whole hours. I closed my eyes, hoping the solution to our situation would somehow drop out of the sky.
Which, actually, it did.
Abruptly, a black and silver soccer ball broke through the top branches of our hiding shrub, plopping down into my lap. I looked at it in surprise, wondering where the ball had come from.
The answer was obvious. We were in a park, after all. It was perfectly reasonable that some kid had launched his soccer ball into the bush. In fact, he was probably coming to get it right now. I hurriedly pushed the ball off my lap and towards the edge of the bush, hoping the kid wouldn't see us when he came to retrieve it. Gazzy and I stared at the spot where the ball lay, and we all held our breath, praying that we wouldn't be discovered.
Kelsi and Jacki's conversation had finally switched topics from me. They had began to speculate on the sudden appearance of the ball that crash-landed in our hiding shrub. "OMG Kelsi! Did you see that? It like, rocketed over our heads! Have you ever seen a soccer ball fly that fast?"
"No, Jacki, I haven't!" Kelsi declared. "Do you think we should go get it?"
"I don't know," Jacki replied uncertainly. "There might be a wild animal in the bush!"
"The only wild animal is my stomach," Iggy grumbled quietly. I elbowed him to get him to shut up, straining my ears to hear if either of the girls had come to investigate the soccer ball's landing site. Thankfully, neither did, and they resumed their discussion on my eyelashes.
I continued to stare at the soccer ball, hoping that the owner would come and collect it already. Finally, someone came walking over to the bush. Their footsteps were lighter than Kelsi's or Jacki's, and they made hardly any noise on the gravelly dirt. I stared at the space just above the soccer ball, envisioning some little kid's surprised face. Would they believe me if I said we were playing hide and seek, and needed them to pretend we weren't in the bush? I wasn't sure.
The footsteps drew closer, and we stopped breathing all together. Finally, the outer branches of our hiding shrub rustled, and I braced myself, huddling into a smaller ball. Hopefully, the kid wouldn't see us. Hopefully...
Two arms popped inside, fearless of any 'wild animal' that might be hiding within. The hands reached further in, scrabbling about until they closed around the soccer ball. I stared at them. The hands were too big for a little kid's, and they seemed strangely familiar.
Suddenly, the person's grip on the soccer ball slipped, and the ball spun away from them, bumping against my shin. The person grunted in frustration, and reached further in. Their long fingers almost scraped my knee, and I fought the urge to screw my eyes shut. That wouldn't help at all. In fact, it would probably make the situation even worse.
The hands probed in the bush for awhile, futilely searching for their soccer ball. Finally, the owner of the soccer ball pulled back their hands, and proceeded to shove aside some of the hiding shrub's branches. The person popped their head in, and finally spotted the soccer ball. She smiled, and reached for it, only to realize that it was sitting next to my legs. She looked quickly up, meeting my eyes in evident shock.
"Fang?" she asked, her brown eyes wide.
"Hi, Max," I murmured weakly, too surprised to say anything else.
MPOV
This morning, Nudge, Terra, and Ella had somehow wrangled me out of my nice, comfortable bed. Then they proceeded to drag me to my closet, and dress me in cut-off jean shorts, a tight black tank top, and black sneakers. After practically forcing me into the chosen clothing, they dragged me into the bathroom and each took up a station. Terra grabbed my brush off the counter and started combing through the tangled mess I sometimes deem worthy to call my hair. I pitied the poor girl. My hair was the tricky kind that re-knots itself every five minutes, and it was never fun to brush out. While Terra slaved away on my hair, Nudge picked out some sort of jewelry for me to wear, and Ella attempted to apply various makeup to my twitching face. I was still half-asleep, or else I would have put up more of a fight. Only once I was downstairs inhaling a cup of hot tea did I wake up enough to realize what the girls I called my friends had done to me.
Terra had somehow managed to make my ever-unruly hair silky and shiny, and scooped it up into s high ponytail that I, surprisingly, had no objection with. In fact, I liked the hairstyle so much that I actually considered asking her to show me how to do it myself. Then I almost faceplanted into my tea, and shook my head to try and get rid of my sleepiness. It didn't work.
Ella had gone overboard with the makeup, given that I was not fully awake to argue. My eyelids were coated in shimmering green stuff that I vaguely assumed was eyeshadow, Andy could practically feel the eyeliner she had applied. Likewise, my lashes were positively soaked in mascara. I growled at her in protest, but my devil sister just smiled sweetly back.
Nudge had managed to loop a silver chain around my neck without me noticing. It carried a sparkling silver star engraved with moons, swirls, and smaller stars. Nudge had also managed to clasp several silver bangles around my left wrist, and a few green ones around my right. When I turned my head, I could feel the earrings she had picked out knocking against my head. They were bundles of inch-long silver rods, each with a black or white star suspended at the end. While jewelry certainly wasn't my scene, I wasn't altogether horrified by Nudge's choices. Although, in my opinion, this getup was too fancy for going to the mall, and then the park.
I was still only half-conscious as we went out to the driveway and piled into our car. Mom came out of the house soon after, humming as she opened her door and sat down in the driver's seat. I was squished in between Terra and Ella, my head resting on my sister's shoulder. Ella thankfully didn't comment as I slowly fell back asleep on her shoulder.
All too soon, I was shaken awake in the mall parking lot, and Nudge and Terra were giggling mercilessly. "Good, you didn't drool on me," Ella remarked, inspecting her shoulder. I rolled my eyes and stumbled out of the car, blindly following my friends towards the mall.
"Bye girls! Have fun!" Mom called after us as she left the parking lot. Terra, Nudge, and Ella waved at her, but I was too busy concentrating on walking to do the same. Why was I so tired today? I didn't know.
Honestly, I don't really remember much of the mall trip. Shopping sprees are all the same to me, basically. I wander aimlessly around stores, usually not finding anything I like. In the rare occasion I do want to get something, I'll buy it, then spend another twenty five minutes following Ella and the other people on the trip as they proceed to look through the entire store inventory. They end up buying lots of stuff, and somehow I'll end up carrying most of it. Eventually, I'll complain I'm getting hungry, and we'll stop to eat something.
This was what we were doing now. Ella had ordered for me at the Corn Doggiest counter, seeing as I was still incoherent to most humans at that moment in time. After we had all ordered, we looked around for a place to sit down in the crowded food court.
Well, more correctly, my friends and Ella looked for a place to sit. I was too busy trying to keep my eyes open at all.
Finally, Nudge and Terra spotted an empty table, and dragged Ella and I over to it. I was forcibly sat down on the plastic bench, and I stared blankly at the table, slightly bewildered, but too tired to do anything. Even my morning tea had failed to wake me up. It was 12:30, yet my eyes were still heavy with sleep and unnecessary makeup.
My stomach growled loudly, but I was too busy trying to make my arms into a good pillow to be embarrassed.i was just about to fall back asleep when-
"Ma-ax," Ella sang, plopping down next to me on the plastic seats. I grunted in response, my eyes still closed. "Look what I've got for you!"
Grudgingly, I peeled one eye open to glance at my sister. She held a large lemonade in one hand, and a tray of fries and a corn dog in the other.
Instantly, I sprang up and grabbed both items from her. Ella simply laughed, watching as I picked up the corn dog and took a huge bite.
Mmm... That was good. I now felt wide awake. Wait a second- that's why I had been so tired! "You didn't feed me this morning!" I accused Ella, looking up from inhaling my corn dog. She stopped, a bite of her chow mein halfway on its journey to her mouth.
"Sorry Max, I forgot to get your kibble at the store yesterday," Ella teased. I rolled my eyes at her, continuing to eat my delicious food.
"We gave you tea," Terra pointed out.
"Tea is not enough to sustain Maximum Ride," I replied airily. "You should know that, young Terra."
Terra rolled her eyes, choosing not to respond. Instead, she bit a monstrous piece off of her cheeseburger. That girl had skill.
We ate in silence for a little while. Well, what was categorized as silence between our friends. This meant no one was talking but Nudge, who pretty much qualified as background music, since she was always talking. Even now, Nudge chattered on and on between bites of her chicken salad. "ZOMG so you know how we went into that adorable little boutique like half an hour ago, and there was that bee-yoo-tee-ful charm necklace on display? Well I was really sad I couldn't get it 'cause it was too expensive but the good thing is that I saw almost an exact replica of it at Claire's, for only, like, twelve dollars! I mean, it's probably not real silver like that one in the boutique was but it's just as cute! So we have to go into Claire's later and get it. I don't care what age group Claire's is, I'm getting that necklace! And Ella, I loooove those new boots you got at Bella Lola, they were like, way too adorable to pass up in this lifetime! And they'll go perfectly with those jeans and that cute tank top you got at Fierella! ZOMG, I can imagine that outfit! You have to borrow my blue heart necklace if you wear that, okay? Yay!"
Most of Nudge's rants were along those lines during our lunch break. She couldn't stop gushing about anything we had purchased, tried on, or even seen earlier. Eventually, we finished our meals and got up. I picked most of our bags, and Ella and Terra handled the rest. Nudge was too excited to carry anything, simply bouncing along in front of us. I took a deep breath, steeling myself for more shopping, and followed my overly enthusiastic friends towards yet another boutique.
It was three thirty when we finally exited the last store. "I think I'm broke," Nudge announced, a huge smile on her face. "But I have tons of adorable new outfits now! I'll just have to babysit Ria and Angel a lot now until I build up my money supply again!"
I collapsed onto a bench, my arms almost giving out with the weight of the bags on them. "You bought half of every store, Nudge," I groaned.
Nudge beamed at me, bouncing up and down on her toes. "Have I ever told you how much I love you, Max?" Nudge asked. Suddenly, she ran over and hugged me, practically cracking my ribs. I wheezed, trying to breathe, as she finally released me and started bouncing around again.
Ella had her cell phone out, and she started dialing a number onto it. "I'm gonna call Mom," she explained. "She can drive us home so we can drop off our stuff, and then we can hit the park!"
Terra and Nudge cheered, and I smiled weakly. The park sounded like a great idea after such a strenuous activity like shopping. Parks are calming.
When Mom drove up, we were standing outside the mall amid piles of baggage. Mom looked shocked at the amount of stuff we had gotten, but didn't comment. After we had managed to stuff everything in the back, we piled into the car and set off. "So," Mom began, looking back at us in her rearview mirror. "Fun shopping spree?"
"Totally!" Terra replied, her eyes sparkling. Nudge nodded vigorously, and proceeded to tell Mom every last detail of our trip.
Surprisingly, Mom's ears didn't spontaneously combust. "That's great, Nudge!" she said after Nudge had finished her rant. "I'm glad you had such a great time. Now, I think I'll just drop you girls off at the park, and take your stuff home for you. The park is close enough that you can walk back to our house, right?"
We all nodded, and Mom continued to drive. "I'll probably have dinner ready by six thirty," she added. "And then you girls can work out your sleeping arrangements."
That's right. Because Ella had convinced our mother to let us have a sleepover with both Terra and Nudge. She has mad persuasive skills.
"Thank you for the ride, Dr Martinez!" Nudge and Terra chorused when we got to the park. Mom smiled at both of them before driving off back to our house.
"So. What do you want to do?" Ella asked as we started walking into the park.
I smiled at her, and whipped something out from behind my back. "This!" Proudly positioned on the tips of my fingers was my beautiful, silver and black soccer ball.
Nudge whooped, instantly changing from girly-girl shopaholic into warrior soccer player. She promptly headed the ball out of my fingers, settled it under her right foot, and sprinted down the path, dribbling my soccer ball away from us. I yelled at her, sprinting to follow the ball-thief.
I soon caught up with Nudge, and she tried to shield the ball from me. Foolish girl. I will steal that ball back if it's the last thing I do. Faking to the left, I swiftly cut to Nudge's right and kicked the ball out from under her feet. "Hey!" she yelped, struggling to stay standing. I flashed her a grin, dribbling quickly towards one of the park soccer fields.
Soneone cut in front of me suddenly, catching me by surprise. The new ball thief neatly Maradona-ed over my soccer ball before running off down the edge of the field. I scowled as I realized that the ball thief was none other than Ella Louise Martinez, my own sister.
How dare she!
Nudge, Ella and I ran around the field for awhile, shoving and faking each other out. Terra stood at one of the sidelines, whooping and egging us on. Terra didn't really play soccer, but she was a very enthusiastic cheerer.
At one point, I had the ball, and Nudge and Ella were both running at me. I put a look of concentration on my face, and lunged towards the left, as if I was going to try to bolt around Ella. Both Ella and Nudge stepped to the left to block me, and lightning-fast, I twirled a Maradona to the right directly past Nudge. Nudge tried to stop and follow me, but only succeeded in falling over. Ella stopped to help Nudge up, and I halted, grinning, my foot on the ball. "Nice juke, Max!" Nudge squealed, popping up off the grass.
"Thanks," I replied, unable to stop smiling. That had been a fun juke.
"What's a juke?" Terra asked. She had run over when Nudge fell down, and was now bouncing excitedly on her toes.
"A juke is like a fake," Ella explained. "It's when you fool someone into thinking you're going to do one thing, and then you do another."
"Like faking left and going right," I chimed in, smirking. Nudge swatted at me, but I dodged her blow.
"You midfielders are all the same!" Nudge proclaimed. "Arrogant, cocky gits who have no care for the hard work of the defense!"
"Yeah!" Ella agreed.
I rolled my eyes. Ella played stopper, and Nudge played sweeper and stopper. They just didn't appreciate all the running midfielders had to do.
Suddenly, Terra sprinted across the field. Nudge, Ella and I watched in confusion as she suddenly halted at the other sideline and turned around.
Terra danced wildly on the other side of the field. "Max! Max! Over heeeerreeeee!" Terra shrieked, waving her arms around in an attempt to get my attention. I smiled at her actions, stepping back and kicking the ball up into the air in her direction. Terra's eyes widened dramatically, and she squealed in fear as the ball dropped gracefully to the turf. It landed on the field no more than two feet in front of her, gently bouncing on the smooth grass.
Terra continued to shriek as if the ball was rocketing towards her face. Instead of decapitating her, it slowly rolled over and tapped against her foot. Terra glanced hesitantly down at it. She stopped shrieking, and smiled confidently. "I did it! I got the ball!" she squealed, happy once more. I had to laugh as Terra performed her victory dance. That girl had no shame.
We passed the ball around for a little longer, until we got too tired to keep running all over the field. Terra plopped down on the grass and gazed up at the sky, and Nudge and Ella sat down next to her. I stayed standing, gently tapping the ball with my feet and doing short technique drills one of my old coaches had taught me.
"So, Max," Nudge drawled. I glanced at her briefly, then put my gaze back on the ball as I started another technique drill. Left, right, inside, outside, outside, inside... "Are you ready to admit your undying love for Fang?"
Suddenly, I lost my balance and slipped over the ball in between my feet. This caused me to fall, flailing wildly, to the grass. Ella and Terra giggled, but I scowled back at them. "Why can't you guys accept that Fang and I are besties, and nothing more?"
"You make besties quickly, Max," Terra observed, smirking wickedly.
"No she doesn't," Ella disagreed. "She never makes friends
quickly, let alone best friends. Fang is specciialll!" My so-called
friends giggled wildly. I continued to scowl.
"And Fang talks so much more whenever you're around, and he's been smiling a lot more since you guys came to town," Nudge added, smiling in a very terrifying way. "And you get mad when girls start gushing over how hot he is, and he lets you hug him!" I growled at Nudge, interrupting her totally untrue speech. She just giggled yet again.
Suddenly, I stood up again, dribbling the ball towards my seated friends. I wove in between them, pulling moves in the foot of space dividing Ella and Terra. They squealed in protest at this treatment. "Max! You're gonna kick our heads in!" Nudge yelled, trying to back away. I faked a kick towards Nudge, making her shriek, before Croifing the ball and turning to face my dear sister. I faked my way around Ella, pulling the ball forward with the bottom of my left foot before shooting it to my right. I knew that this kind of ball play always irritated Ella, and I sinfully enjoyed every second her frustration showed on her face. The girl deserved it. Presently, she had no right to call herself my sister. Sisters were supposed to stick together, and defend one another in times of need! But when Nudge had started teasing me relentlessly about Fang's every freaking move, she just giggled and said nothing.
Some sister she was. I was disowning her as soon as possible.
Abruptly, I pulled my foot back and pegged Ella squarely in the back with the soccer ball. "Ow!" she yelped, standing up and rubbing her back.
"Don't mock me," I snapped.
"Jeez, Max, chill out," Terra soothed, coming over and lacing an arm around my shoulders. I tried to shrug her off, but she was firmly latched on. "We're just teasing."
"I don't like teasing," I retorted, snapping the ball into Terra's shin. She yelped too, letting go of my shoulders. Surprisingly, she still had a smile on her face.
"Come on, don't kill us for saying the truth," Terra sang. I narrowed my eyes, and was about to kick the ball straight into her face when Nudge distracted me.
"Look! They put a goal out!" Nudge chirped, effectively turning my attention towards the goal now standing at one end of the field. "Cool! Let's go shoot! I'll be goalie for a bit, cause I used to play goalie and I was okay at it!"
Nudge set herself up in goal, and Ella placed the ball on the penalty spot in the goal box. Without warning, Ella ran forward and kicked the ball off the grass, sending it flying through the air. Nudge lunged to the left, and surprisingly, caught the ball. "Wow Nudge, that was pretty cool!" Terra exclaimed.
"Thanks!" Nudge replied, smiling as she tossed the ball to me. I set it down on the penalty spot again, studying the silver swirls lacing the black ball. I loved this soccer ball- it was just so pretty.
Without another thought, I took three steps forward and slammed my left foot into the ball. Nudge lunged, but couldn't quite catch my shot. The ball hit the back of the net and slid down, evoking a smile from me. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love the sound of the ball sliding on the net. It's truly amazing. Someone should write poetry on that sound.
We took turns shooting for awhile, and even Terra took a few shots. Ella and Nudge switched off playing goalie, as I'm completely awful at that position. Finally, Nudge called, "One more shot, and then we're doing something else!"
"Fine," I complied. "I'm taking the shot though." Nudge nodded, and I set the ball back down on the penalty spot.
Just as I was focusing on the net, Nudge yelled, "DO IT FOR FANG, MAXIMUM!"
I swear I saw red for a moment, I was so pissed at her. I yelled something unintelligible back at Nudge before racing my three steps and kicking the ball with all my strength. The black and silver sphere flew off the grass and over the goal, soaring over all the trees in the clear blue sky. We watched as it grew smaller and smaller, and finally fell back down into the trees.
Nudge, Ella and Terra turned to gawk at me. I glared defiantly back. "What?" I snapped defensively.
"That was the best kick I've ever seen you do, Max!" Ella squealed jumping up and down. "Did you see how far it went?"
"We'll have to tease you about Fang during our games!" Nudge added, grinning impishly. I shot her a death glare, which unfortunately only made her smile grow.
"Let's go find where you kicked that poor ball, Max," Terra suggested. I grunted in agreement, and we set off without another word.
Nudge and Ella each checked one side of the path, and Terra had climbed a tree to see if the ball had gotten stuck in a branch somewhere. I ran ahead, giving everywhere a quick once-over. Finally, after about ten minutes, I came upon these two girls sitting on a bench at the path's side. I was about to ask them if they'd seen a silver and black soccer ball fly by, when I spotted something dark inside the bush directly across the trail from them. Smiling slightly, I walked down the path and towards the bush.
There it was! I could see the silver swirls clearly through the branches. I stuck my hands inside the bush, weaving around the thick branches screening the whole plant. Hopefully there wouldn't be a raccoon or something that would try to gnaw my hands off. It didn't worry me too much, though. I could still play soccer with no hands. Someone else would just have to take throw ins.
My fingers closed on the soccer ball, but slipped off. I tried to grab it before it rolled deeper into the bush, but the ball was too dang slippery. Sighing impatiently, I retracted my hands, smoothing the hair that had fallen out of my ponytail behind my ears. Of course, it promptly slipped right back into my eyes. Frustrated, I let the hair fall where it pleased, and started dividing the shrub's branches so I could peer inside and find the ball.
I thrust my head inside the bush, regardless of the leaves falling into my hair. There! I finally saw my soccer ball clearly. Moving aside another branch, I reached in to grab it, when I realized there was a pair of legs folded next to the ball. Alarmed, I looked up, only to be met with the dark eyes of my new best friend.
"Fang?" I asked, thoroughly confused.
"Hi Max," he murmured, staring straight in my eyes. He looked just as surprised as I felt. "Umm, what's up?" he offered weakly.
"Why are you in a bush?" I demanded bluntly.
My question was met with three voices hissing, "Shhh!"
Startled, I looked over and saw Iggy and Gazzy sitting next to Fang. "Why are you all in a bush together?" I whispered. Suddenly, a thought occured to me, and I grinned at them suggestively. "Wow guys. I didn't know you rolled like that! I won't judge you or anything, but seriously? You chose a shrub as your hide away?"
Iggy's pale eyes widened, and he shook his head furiously. "We're not gay!" he hissed. "We're hiding from those girls over there!" Iggy jerked his head in the direction of the girls I had seen on the bench.
"Why?" I asked.
"Just listen to them," Gazzy ordered. We fell silent, just in time to hear the girls erupt in giggles.
"So they're giggly. What about it?" I demanded, still utterly confused.
Gazzy shushed me again, and I heard one of the girls squeal, "OMG I just loooove Fang's eyes! They're so beautiful!"
"I know, right?" the other girl agreed, sighing happily. "I wish I could just stare into them all day!"
My eyes darkened. "I understand," I muttered. Iggy and Gazzy nodded, looking mildly disgusted. Fang actually seemed slightly embarrassed.
"Can you distract them so we can get away?" Gazzy pleaded. "We've been hiding here forever! If we come out, they'll pounce on us."
"You want me to risk my life for yours?" I clarified. Gazzy and Iggy nodded. Fang just closed his eyes, his face expressionless. "I can't talk to them! They'll kill me," I declared.
"Please!" Iggy begged.
"Well..." I thought about it, then came to a better conclusion. "I'll get Nudge, Terra, and Ells to do it."
"They're here too?" Gazzy asked, surprised.
I nodded. "They'll be better at distracting them, anyway. I'll be right back!"
Taking my soccer ball, I extracted myself from the bush and ran back down the path. After a few minutes of running, I met back up with my friends. They were still searching around in the shrubbery for the ball. "You found it!" Nudge cheered when she saw the object in my hand.
"Yeah, and guess where it was?" I didn't wait for them to guess. "Inside a bush, with Fang, Gazzy, and Iggy!"
Terra's eyebrows rose so high the corners disappeared into her long blonde side bangs. "Gazzy, Fang and Iggy were all in a bush together?" she asked, skeptical. I nodded.
"I didn't know they rolled like that, but I won't judge," Ella remarked.
I grinned at her. "Great minds think alike!"
"And then, there's ours," she finished, a smile on her own lips. "So where are the guys now?"
"Still in the bush," I replied. Ella looked confused, so I quickly explained the boys' situation to all three of our friends. At the end of my explanation, Nudge giggled.
"They can't deal with two girls? I thought our dear manly friends were supposed to be all strong and kick-butt!" Nudge exclaimed.
I shrugged. "I'm just their messenger. Ask them for their full story."
"So what are we supposed to do about it?" Terra asked.
"They're begging for us to distract the girls while they make a get away," I explained.
Ella snickered, raising an eyebrow. "They're begging?"
"Begging," I confirmed, nodding.
"Let's help the poor babies then," Terra decided, already bouncing off down the trail. We followed her, and after a few minutes we were back at the soccer ball's landing site. Nudge groaned beside me, and I glanced at her questioningly.
"You didn't say the girls were Jacki and Kelsi!" Nudge hissed at me. "That totally changes things. I feel bad for the guys now."
"What's so bad about them? And who are they anyway?" I asked, confused.
"They're Jacki and Kelsi!" Terra whispered furiously. I stared at her blankly. "Queen bees of the freshman class!"
"Okay then," I murmured. How was I supposed to know that? I had only gone to Cromwell for a few weeks- I didn't have the social standings memorized! I didn't even recognize the girls to start with. "Well, can you go distract them while I go escort the guys away?"
Ella sighed. "Fine," she muttered, striding purposefully towards the girls on the bench. Terra and Nudge obediently followed her, and I quickly ran back over to the boys' hiding spot.
"Guys?" I hissed, getting down on my knees and looking back inside the bush. Gazzy's face popped out of the gap I had made earlier, and he nodded silently. "Kay, Ella, Terra and Nudge are distracting those girls as we speak," I whispered. "You guys jump out and run when I say go. Okay?"
"Sure," Gazzy whispered back, his blond head disappearing back inside the bush. I crouched beside the large shrub, looking over to watch my friends interacting with the Bench Girls.
"Hi!" Ella squealed at them, sending her bubbliness up six notches. The Bench Girls looked at her, and smiled faintly. "I'm Ella Martinez! You're Kelsi and Jacki, right? OMG I love your shoes, Jacki! Where'd you get them?"
Immediately, Jacki's face was wreathed in smiles. "Thanks for noticing, Emma!" she gushed back.
"Ella," my sister corrected her.
"Right, sorry! But thanks! I got them mailed in from Chic Boutique in Paris!" Jacki told her proudly. Ella let her jaw drop.
"No way!" Ella shrieked. "That's so cool! I love Paris! And French clothing is always soooo fashionable!"
"I know, right?" Jacki smiled at my sister. Ella slowly edged over so she was standing behind the bench, and the Bench Girls turned to face her. Now they had their backs to me and the hiding bush, and my friends had them thoroughly occupied. Nudge was chatting up a storm about Jacki's hair and Kelsi's tank top and Jacki's skirt and Kelsi's barr-freaking-ettes... That girl never ran out of conversation topics.
"Go!" I hissed, pulling the branches of the hiding bush back. Gazzy rocketed out, running through the trees towards the soccer field.
"Did you hear something?" Kelsi asked Terra, starting to turn around. Hurriedly, Terra grabbed the strap of her shoulder bag, which happened to be on the side Kelsi was turning. Terra effectively yanked her back the other way.
"Where'd you get this bag?" she asked, ignoring Kelsi's question. "It's totally adorable!"
"Go," I repeated. Iggy hurdled over the lower branches of the bush, following Gazzy's trail through the trees. He was out of sight within seconds. Wow. For being blind, Iggy was a fast runner.
And he didn't crash into any trees. That would have been bad. Entertaining, but bad.
Kelsi tried to turn around again. "I swear, Tetra-"
"It's Terra," Terra cut in, looking slightly annoyed.
"Right. But I could've sworn that there's something moving behind me!" Kelsi complained.
"Oh, it's just your imagination," Terra assured her airily. "Maybe a squirrel or something."
"Maybe," Kelsi replied, sounding unconvinced. Terra immediately started babbling on about something fashion-related, and Kelsi appeared to be absorbed once more.
I kept my eyes on her before hissing, "Go!" at Fang.
Fang was the last escapee from the bush, and he barely made any noise as he extracted himself from the plant. However, before he could go two paces, Kelsi whirled around. "I knew it!" she giggled, walking towards us. "Fang! Just the man I wanted to see!" Jacki turned around, squealing happily when she spotted Fang.
"Man?" I muttered, fighting off a scowl. Fang managed to keep his bored, unemotional mask intact, but I detected the tiniest traces of a smile at the corners of his lips.
"I'm very manly, you know," Fang murmured back, taking a step in the direction Gazzy and Iggy had fled. I snorted in response to his comment, but my mind was working fast. How could we get Kelsi and Jacki to leave Fang alone?
"You better not disturb him," Nudge cautioned Kelsi suddenly. "Fang gets upset when he's interrupted on a date."
DATE?
"Yeah," Ella chimed in. "And he's especially upset when his dates with Max are interrupted."
My jaw was about to hit the ground from their outrageous lying, when suddenly Fang wrapped an arm around me, pulling me against his chest. I fought the urge to squirm away in embarrassment, my eyes huge as I looked from my sister to Nudge to Jacki and Kelsi. "Right," Fang near-growled at the Bench Girls. "I'd like it if you left Max and I alone, girls."
I could feel the vibrations of Fang's voice reverberating through his chest. The sound hummed against my back, which was currently pressed against said boy's chest. It felt oddly soothing, and slightly distracting.
I tried valiantly to act like none of this whole fairy tale was news to me, and for good measure laid my hands possessively over Fang's arms, which were wrapped around my waist. I narrowed my eyes at the Bench Girls, who were unabashedly staring at Fang and I. "I agree with Fang," I said pointedly, my voice overly sweet. To prove my point, I nestled my head into Fang's shoulder.
"Fine," Kelsi finally said, her voice sounding slightly strangled. "Come on Jacki, let's go." And with that, the Bench Girls strode haughtily away. I watched them go, not feeling in any hurry to leave Fang's arms. It was strangely comforting to have them wrapped around me like I was made to fit into his grasp. Fang didn't move either, and we stood in a sort of daze for a moment. Then a giggle broke me out of my reverie, and I hurriedly brushed Fang's arms away, stepping further away from him as I did so. I glared at the source of the giggle, which happened to be Ella, but she just smiled back.
"Well," I broke the awkward silence, clearing my throat. "That was..." I couldn't think of a word to describe the scene. Fang and I had pretended to be on a date in order to shake creepy freshman girl stalkers off his trail. That definitely doesn't happen everyday.
"PERFECT!" Nudge finishes for me, looking far too excited to be considered normal.
"That wasn't exactly the word I was looking for," Fang murmured. I looked at him and nodded emphatically. At least we were still on the same wave length.
"It was perfect!" Nudge insisted. "Ah, that was beautiful." She fell silent for a moment, but within five seconds she was talking again. "ZOMG that was fun. Well, we'd better go find where Igs and Gazzy scampered off to! Let's go!" Nudge flounced off towards the soccer field, where we all knew Gazzy would have gone. Giggling suspiciously Ella and Terra followed her. I glanced at Fang warily, wondering what was up, but he seemed to be confused also.
I started to follow after the girls, but Ella whirled around, holding her hand up in the universal signal for 'stop'!
"What's wrong, Ells?" I asked. "Aren't we going to look for Gazzy and Iggy?"
Ella shook her head. "No. we are," she corrected, gesturing towards herself, Nudge, and Terra. "You guys are on a date, remember?"
My jaw really did drop this time. "Ella Louise Martinez! That was a lie you and Nudge concocted to get those girls away from Fang! It isn't actually happening!"
Ella shushed me, looking around dramatically. "The trees have ears, Maximum," she whispered solemnly. "And you have to stay in character! What if those girls come back, and they don't see Fang on a date anymore?"
I opened my mouth to argue, but after a moment, closed it. First and foremost, Fang was my bestie now. You don't just let your bestie get eaten alive by killer freshman girls. It was unethical.
I sighed in defeat. Ella smiled at me, before following Terra and Nudge and leaving us alone. I turned to Fang. "Fine. Come on Fangles, we're on a date now. Yippee."
Fang smirked at me, looking suddenly ominous. "Oh really? Do I get to kiss you goodnight now?" he teased.
I jutted out my bottom lip in a sort of whiny pout. "Nope," I declared. "'Cause kissing is icky."
"I concur," Fang snickered, showing an uncharacteristic amount of feeling. I rolled my eyes at him as a way of response.
"What do you want to do?" I asked a few minutes later. Fang raised an eyebrow at me. "What?" I demanded. Fang sighed, and without another word, he rammed the soccer ball out of my hands, and was dribbling it quickly down the path. "Hey!" I yelped, sprinting after him. "Gimme that back!"
So Fang and I being Fang and I, we spent the rest of our 'date' playing soccer. It was just like we always did, which was a relief. I didn't want Fang getting those ridiculous romantic ideas in his head. That would ruin everything.
At six forty five, I suddenly remembered I had to be home for dinner- fifteen minutes ago. "Crap!" I yelled, causing Fang to stop mid-juke.
He raised an eyebrow at me, as if to say, 'what the h-e-double hockey sticks is wrong with you?'
"I was supposed to be back for dinner at six thirty, which was fifteen minutes ago," I explained hurriedly, stealing the ball away from him and scooping it into my hands. Fang nodded, and without another word, was at my side as I started jogging out of the park. I glanced at him questioningly, and he actually smiled back for a half-second.
"What kind of a date would I be if I didn't walk you home?" he asked simply. I snorted, rolling my eyes as I sped up. Fang kept pace with me easily, and I fought the urge to pull up all stops and sprint. What can I say? I'm a very competitive girl. I don't like it when people can keep up with me.
After about five minutes of running, we reached my house, and slowed down. Fang eyed the front of my blue house, smirking to himself, as if he had a special secret concerning my home.
We walked silently up the path, and stood in front of the door for a moment. I looked at Fang, and as I always did, studied his black eyes. They weren't 'mysterious and obsidian', and they definitely didn't 'swirl with passion'. However, I could completely understand any girl wanting to stare in Fang's eyes all day. They certainly were beautiful.
Fang stared levelly back at me, seemingly searching my eyes. Suddenly, the tiniest hint of a smile touched the left corner of his mouth, and he raised a hand to my face. I didn't blink as he gently brushed a finger along my eyelid, and pulled it away. Fang studied his finger for a moment, then smirked wildly. I scowled at him, crossing my arms. "What's your problem?" I asked coolly.
Fang continued to smirk. "You're wearing makeup!" he accuses, his whole face brimming with mischief.
My eyes widened, and I swore. Fang snickered, so I punched him in the gut. He wasn't expecting it, and doubled over, wheezing slightly. "Damn, Max," he breathed, no longer snickering. "You're such a killjoy."
I smiled sweetly at him, studying my punching fist casually. "Oh really? Well I certainly wiped the smirk of your face," I replied. "And that's all that matters to me. Night, Fangles!" I turned to go inside, internally seething about Fang's annoying antics.
Suddenly, two very strong arms snaked around my torso, pulling me back against a familiarly firm body. Fang's breath tickled my ear as he rested his chin on top of my head. I stayed completely still, my stomach inadvertently tensing under Fang's touch. "G'night, Max," he whispered in my ear. I closed my eyes, rubbing my head in the crook of Fang's neck. I felt about ready to fall asleep now, that's how calm I was.
As abruptly as they appeared, Fanf's arms flashed away, and I was left alone in the cool evening air. I whirled around in time to see Fang hopping over the fence around my yard. He turned back briefly, flashing a quick smile in my direction before he sprinted off, a black blur in the dim light.
Shaking my head, I let myself inside and quietly shut the door. Without warning, I slid down against it and sat with my knees curled up against my chest. That new bestie of mine just didn't play fair, riling me up and just as quickly calming me down. It was as if the title of 'bestie' had given him control over my emotions.
Dang Fang.
LOLZ I've been wanting to use that line for awhile. I could've said damn, but that doesn't rhyme. XD
Angel: plus, dang is more kid friendly!
Correctamundo, Ange. Anyway, this was an UBER long chapter! 28 pages on Word. So yeah! Pleeeease review! I'll love you for it!
~TMI~