Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel (22 page)

That would make it hard to see.

DO YOU SMOKE APPLES, LIKE US?

Huh?

DO YOU PREFER BLONDES OR BRUNET TES?

Whatever.

DO YOU LIKE VAMPIRES OR WEREWOLVES?

Fanged creatures rock.

ARE YOU GAY AND JUST PRETENDING TO BE STRAIGHT BY KISSING LISSA?

Uhh …

WERE YOU EXPERIMENTING WITH YOUR SEXUALIT Y?

Uhh…

WOULD YOU TELL US IF YOU WERE GAY?

Yes.

DO YOU SECRETLY LIKE IT WHEN PEOPLE CALL YOU EMO?

No.

ARE YOU EMO?

Whatever.

DO YOU LIKE EGGS?

Yes. I had them for breakfast.

DO YOU LIKE EATING THINGS?

I love eating. I list it as a hobby.

DO YOU SECRETLY THINK YOU’RE THE SEXIEST PERSON IN THE WHOLE WORLD?

Do you secretly think I’m the sexiest person in the whole world?

DO YOU EVER HAVE DIRT Y THOUGHTS ABOUT MAX?

Eeek!

HAS ANGEL EVER READ YOUR MIND WHEN YOU WERE HAVING DIRT Y THOUGHTS ABOUT MAX AND GONE “OMG” AND YOU WERE LIKE “D:”?

hahahahahahahahahahah DO YOU LIKE SPONGEBOB? He’s okay, I guess.

DO YOU EVER HAVE DIRT Y THOUGHTS ABOUT SPONGEBOB?

Definitely.

CAN YOU COOK?

Iggy cooks.

DO YOU LIKE TO COOK?

I like to eat.

ARE YOU, LIKE, A HOUSEWIFE?

How on earth could I be like a housewife?

DO YOU SECRETLY HAVE INNER TURMOIL?

Isn’t it obvious?

DO YOU WANT TO BE UNDA DA SEA?

I’m unda da stars.

DO YOU THINK IT’S NOT TOO LATE, IT’S NEVER TOO L ATE?

Sure.

WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO PLAY POKER?

TV.

DO YOU HAVE A GOOD POKER FACE?

Totally.

OF COURSE YOU HAVE A GOOD POKER FACE. DOES IGGY HAVE A GOOD POKER FACE?

Yes.

CAN HE EVEN PL AY POKER?

Iggy beats me sometimes.

FanQs.doc DO YOU LIKE POKING PEOPLE, HARD?

Not really.

ARE YOU FANGALICIOUS?

I could never be as fangalicious as you’d want me to be.

Fly on,

Fang

Dearmaxdraft.doc

Dear Max—

You looked so beautiful today. I’m going to remember what you looked like forever. And I hope you remember me the same way—clean, ha-ha. I’m glad our last time together was happy.

But I’m leaving tonight, leaving the flock, and this time it’s for good. I don’t know if I’ll ever see any of you again. The thing is, Max, that everyone is a little bit right. Added up all together, it makes this one big right.

Dylan’s a little bit right about how my being here might be putting the rest of you in danger. The threat might have been just about Dr. Hans, but we don’t know that for sure. Angel is a little bit right about how splitting up the flock will help all of us survive. And the rest of the flock is a little bit right about how when you and I are together, we’re focused on each other—we can’t help it.

Jeb and Dr. Hans are even a little bit right. Jeb with his weird way of showing up at the most random times—with the most random but kinda relevant advice. Dr. Hans about mutants being the way of the future and about how we should learn about ourselves. Not that I want to be injected with anything, ever. But the world is changing, and there are others of us out there. I can’t tell you how I know. But I do. And how we save the world, that’s a huge question. It’s complicated, Max. It’s so very large.

The thing is, Maximum, I love you. I can’t help but be focused on you when we’re together. If you’re in the room, I want to be next to you. If you’re gone, I think about you. You’re who I want to talk to. In a fight, I want you at my back. When we’re together, the sun is shining. When we’re apart, everything is in shades of gray.

I hope you’ll forgive me someday for turning our worlds into shades of gray—at least for a while.
It’s not right that we’re together. There are too many risks and too many reasons why not. I must not be selfish.

You’re not at your best when you’re focused on me. I mean, you’re at your best Maxness, but not your best leaderness. I mostly need Maxness. The flock mostly needs leaderness. And Angel, if you’re listening to this, it ain’t you, sweetie. Not yet.

At least for a couple more years, the flock needs a leader to survive, no matter how capable everyone thinks he or she is. The truth is that they do need a leader, and the truth is that you are the best leader.
I’ve learned everything from you
. It’s one of the things I love about you.

But the more I thought about it, the more sure I got that this is the right thing to do. Maybe not for you, or for me, but for all of us together, our flock.

I know where I’m going, but
please don’t try to find me. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, besides wearing that suit today, and seeing you again will only make it harder.
I don’t know how I’m going to manage to do what you do all by myself. If I were to see you again,
you’d ask me to come back, and I would, because I can’t say no to you. But all the same problems would still be there, and I’d end up leaving again, and then we’d have to go through this all over again.

Please make us go through this only once.
We must stand strong, alone and apart.