James Patterson - Two Schools Out - Forever

All of us cleaned our plates. Twice. We'd gone hungry too many times to be picky eaters.

Then, to add to the American domesticity of the scene, Anne brought out an apple pie.

"I love apple pie!" Nudge said excitedly.

"Do you have two of them?" Gazzy looked anxious, already mentally dividing it.

Anne brought over another one. "I told you, I'm learning."

Gazzy punched the air. "Yes!"

"I'd like to talk to you guys," Anne said, dishing up the pie. "Sort of a family meeting."

I kept my face blank, wondering whose family she thought she was talking about.

"You've all done beautifully here," she said, sitting back in her chair. "You've adjusted better than I thought possible. And I find I'm enjoying it more than I ever imagined."

I started to get a really bad feeling. Please don't let her say something horrible, like she wanted to adopt us or something. I had no idea what I would do if that happened.

"I think we're ready to take the next step," she went on, looking around the table at us.

Please no please no please no-

"So I've enrolled you in school."

Whaaat?

Fang burst out laughing. "Whoa, you had us going there for a minute," he said.

"I'm not kidding, Nick," Anne said quietly. "There's an excellent school nearby. It would be perfectly safe. You could meet other people your age, interact with them. And-let's face it: Your education has been spotty at best."

Or nonexistent at worst, I thought.

"School?" Nudge asked. "You mean, like, at a school?"

There was that word again.

"Going to a real school, with other people?" Angel looked concerned.

"Holy frijoles," Total muttered from under the table.

"You'll start on Monday," Anne said briskly, starting to gather empty plates. "I'll pick up your uniforms tomorrow."

Uniforms?

Without a word, I shoved my chair away from the table and stomped over to the back door. I yanked it open and jumped down the steps.

From there I did a running takeoff, snapping out my wings, feeling them push against the air filling my feathers. A couple of hard strokes and I was airborne, rising above the apple orchards, above the barn.

Once I was up high, I let the full range of my anger bloom. Taking a deep breath, I tried to remember how to fly really fast-and then, almost immediately, I was doing it, my wings seeming to move by themselves.

Let's see just how fast I can get out of here, I thought grimly, and poured on the speed.

Running away never helps, said the Voice in my head.

"Yeah, well, flying helps-a lot!"

Fang was waiting for me by an open window when I got back. He handed me a glass of water, and I sucked it down.

"Gone a long time," he said. "How far did you get? Botswana?"

I grinned wryly. "Just for a minute, before I had to turn around. They say hi."

"How fast do you think you go?"

"Over two hundred," I said. "Two twenty? Two forty?"

He nodded.

"Everything cool here?" I headed down the hall to my room, kicking off my shoes. The house was dark and quiet. My clock said one-thirty.

"Yeah. Wrangled Gazzy into the bath. Total fell in. Angel made Nudge change her mind about what book to read, and I came down on her."

I looked at him. "Sounds like you've got everything under control."

"I managed."

I sat on my bed, not knowing what to say.

Fang sat down next to me. "Did you want to just keep going out there?" he asked. "Keep going and not come back?"

I drew a shaky breath. "Yes," I whispered.

"Anne's never gonna take your place, Max," Fang said, his dark eyes on me.

I shrugged, not looking at him.

"Anne's just a-depot," he said. He seemed to be getting more, well, comfortable with me lately. "We can rest up, eat, hang out, while we plan our next move. The kids know that. Yeah, they like not having to run or sleep in subway tunnels. They like having the same bed every night. So do I. So do you. Anne's been nice to them, to us, and they like it. We don't get a lot of down days, where we can just chill. They're enjoying the heck out of this, Max. And if they weren't, it would mean they were so messed up they couldn't be saved, ever."

"I know," I whispered.

"But they know who's saved their bacon too many times to count. Who's fed them and clothed them and chased away the nightmares. Jeb may have gotten us out of our cages, but you're the one who's kept us out, Max."

You know how some kids get excited about the first day of school and have an outfit all picked out and a new lunchbox and stuff? Well, they're bleeping idiots.

"Can we play hooky?" Iggy muttered as he scrambled eggs.

"Somehow I suspect they're picky about that," I said, dropping more bread into the toaster. "I bet they'd call Anne."

"I look like prep school Barbie," Nudge complained, as she entered the kitchen. She caught sight of me in my uniform and looked mollified. "Actually, you look like prep school Barbie. I'm just Barbie's friend."

I narrowed my eyes at her.

Our wings were retractable and pulled in pretty tightly to our backs, but you might say that we still looked kind of like a family of Olympic swimmers.

Angel arrived, and she looked cute in her plaid skirt and white blouse because she looks cute in anything. She put some eggs and bacon on a plate, then ripped up a piece of toast and set it on the table.

Total hopped up onto a stool and dug in, seeming almost doglike. "Woof!" he said, and chuckled to himself.

"Angel?" I said, bringing her a cup of coffee. I lowered my voice. "No funny business with the teachers, comprende?"

She glanced up innocently. "Gotcha," she said, taking a bite of bacon. I looked at her and waited. "I mean, unless I really have to," she added.

"Angel, please," I said, kneeling to her level. "Nothing that makes us stick out or look different, okay? Play by their rules." I stood up and addressed everyone. "That goes for all of us," I said quietly. "Try to blend, people. Don't give anyone ammo to use against us."

I got okays with various levels of enthusiasm.

"Goodness-you're all up," said Anne, coming into the kitchen.

She surveyed the production line of food, the flock packing it away. She smiled ruefully. "This beats frozen waffles. Thanks, Jeff. Oh, and Jeff-I meant to tell you. You and Nick will be in the same class. It'll help you get your bearings."

Iggy's face flushed.

"Can Total come?" Angel asked.

Anne came over and straightened Angel's collar. "Nope." She walked over to the cabinet and took down a mug.

"I'll be fine. Chase some ducks or something," Total whispered, and Angel patted his head.

"This uniform is so uncool," said Nudge.

"I know. Fortunately you'll be surrounded by a whole bunch of other uncool uniforms," Anne said. She frowned. "Ariel, are you drinking coffee?"

"Uh-huh," said Angel, taking a big sip. "Get jump-started for first grade."

I felt Total's black eyes boring holes in me. Sighing, I got down a bowl and fixed him some coffee with milk and two sugars. He lapped it up happily.

Anne looked as if she was having some "pick your battles" thoughts and in the end decided to let it go.

"Okay," she said, putting her mug in the sink. "I'll bring the car around front. Wear jackets-it's chilly this morning."

The ride to school was short and silent-much as I imagine riding in a hearse would be.

When we pulled up to the building, I realized we'd seen it from the air. It looked like a great big private house, made of cream-colored stone. Ivy grew up one wall, and they'd let an OCD gardener have his way with the grounds. Extremely tidy.