Wing It: A Maximum Ride Story {DISCONTINUED}

chapter 4

Throughout the time I was explaining the situation, different emotions were scattered around the room.  When they heard that Angel was alive, for now there was joy.  But at the mention of the One Light, the leader of the Doomsday group that we had just mostly defeated, the flock was afraid.  I’m not sure I had ever seen them quite this scared before.  They were such a tough bunch of kids, always having to live life on edge.  I had known them all my life, and we had known fear, but not to this extent.

            Everyone was listening contently except for one member.  Nudge.  Her nimble brown fingers were flying over the keyboard of a laptop she had somehow managed to get a hold of.  But I knew she was listening.  After I had finished my recount of the past few events, the flock was left pondering, so I turned to Nudge.

            “What are you doing, Nudge?”

            She blushed a bright red, and looked sheepishly at her blue and green sneakers.  “Emailing Fang,” she mumbled.

            At the mention of his name, anger boiled up in me.  I had blamed him for Angel’s disappearance.  But now that we knew it wasn’t his fault, my rage subsided.  Nudge was right.  We needed Fang like he needed us the last time.  Also, Star was part of his gang.  They would want her back.  I sighed.  Swallowing my pride I quietly said, “Good idea, Nudge.  Make sure you tell him it’s not just for Angel but for Star.”  Nudge and the rest of the flock stared at me in awe, mouths open wide, and in shock.  The Max they knew would never give in like this so easily, especially to him.  That jerk had broken my heart too many times; I was just about beyond caring.

            Here’s a recap if you’ve missed out on our past romantic history.  So, first we were friends since we were just little test tubes.  Then as we grew into a couple, we were happy as “lovebirds”.  (Ha, ha, not funny.)  But then after fighting for me against Dylan, my “perfect half” (yuck!) he declared his love for me and left.  What kind of sick-minded person does that, only leaving a note to explain it all?  Then he went off and started his own gang, including my clone (yes, I have a clone) who is now calling herself Maya.  Sure she saved my butt a couple of times, but I still don’t really like, or trust her, you know after the few times she tried to kill me.  Yeah, I’m a grudge holder.  But then he had the nerve to ask for me and the flock to come and help them.  Talk about a messed-up relationship.  Now he’s left again, and I hate to say it, but we need him and his replacement group.

            I almost visibly shuddered at the thought of him reading the email and laughing at me.  I gritted my teeth and looked back at the flock.  “Alright, so all we need to do is wait for them to respond, meet up with them and form a plan.”

            “I hate waiting,” Gazzy complained.  “I want to bash that guy’s head in for taking my sister.”

            “Whoa, there,” Iggy calmed him.  “Did you hear Max?  The whole “glowing with power” thing?  Yeah, um, I don’t think you should be messing with him quite yet.”

            “Yeah, Gazzy, I don’t like this guy either, but there will be no way to get Angel back if we die now,” Nudge added bluntly.

            “So,” I said, addressing the group.  “We agree that we should wait, plan, then execute?”  I got nods all around.  “Alright then-“  There was a random beep that came from over by Nudge.

            “He responded!” Nudge cried.  All eyes turned to her, and we raced to the table where she sat with her laptop.

            We all stood waiting.  “So, what does it say?” I prompted.

            Nudge cleared her throat and then began to read, “Dear Nudge, Where? Fang.”  I frowned.  So typical.  Sure he was a guy of few words, but really?  Now?

            “Ugg!  He drives me crazy!  What does he mean by where?  Where are they?  Where should we meet?  Nudge, email him back and ask him WTH he means!”

            Nudge turned back to the computer and began typing rapidly, occasionally pausing to think about what to say.  I heard a click, as she sent the message.  Then, we all waited in an anxious silence until the beep signaling a new message reached our ears.

            We all leaped up, almost synchronized, and made our way over back to Nudge.  She opened the email and began to read.  “Dear Nudge, hmmm, Max can at times get confused.”  Nudge blushed and looked up quickly at me, standing there, boiling with rage, and then back at the screen.  “I would have thought she’d known that I wasn’t stupid enough to take my new gang against some guy like that.  You, Iggy, Gazzy, even Dylan, and especially Max, will be needed if we want Star and Angel back again safely.  We are both down a member, so we had better band together, and at least try to work together, if we want them back alive, or we want to stay alive.  Well, we’ll meet you at the Arch de Triomphe in an hour.  Fang.”

            I sighed.  First he insulted me, and then tried to cover it up by complimenting me.  Well, I didn’t care.  I was stupid for loving him in the first place, for trusting.  He was a jerk and he always would be.  Well, at least he was a bit more "wordy" this time.  “Okay, gang; let’s get this show on the road.”