James Patterson - Two Schools Out - Forever

Ari grinned, knowing how horrible he looked when he gave a morphy grin. He looked like a nightmare, like anyone's worst nightmare.

"Arrgh!" he roared again, raising his claws higher.

That did it. The employees scattered, and the rent-a-cop put a hand over his chest and turned pale.

Ari laughed and loped out of the parking lot, waiting until he was out of sight to unfurl his heavy, awkward wings and take off.

He loved his Game Boy.

That night we crashed in General Coffee State Park, not far from Douglas, Georgia. Fang and I scouted around for a few minutes and found a scooped-out indentation in the face of some limestone rock.

"Not as good as a cave, but decent," Fang said.

I looked at it and nodded. "This will keep us out of the wind, and it probably won't rain. Looks pretty clear." I turned to get the others, but Fang put his hand on my arm.

"You okay?" he asked. "What happened back there at Anne's?"

Just like that, it all came rushing back-my day. Being trapped in a school full of-enemies, teachers, Pruitt. Thinking Sam was an Eraser. Leaving Anne's house, knowing she was responsible for a lot of our situation.

Suddenly I was exhausted. "It was pretty much business as usual." Which was the sad truth.

"What's in Florida?" Fang asked. "Why does Angel want to go there?"

"I don't know. Maybe just Disney World?" I looked at him. "You think it's something else?"

He frowned, then shook his head. I noticed his hair was getting long again, growing out from his funky New York haircut. That seemed like a lifetime ago. "I don't know what to think," he said, "I'm tired of having to think about it, you know?"

"I totally know," I said, rubbing my temples. "Finding our parents, figuring out the whole whitecoat thing. Me saving the world, and so on. I'm tired of all of it."

Fang looked away for a moment. "I'm ready to forget all that stuff. Look what happened with Iggy. I don't even want to know at this point. I just want to quit running. I also miss having somewhere to make entries in the ol' blog. I really do."

"Let's think about it, think about how we can do it. From Florida, we'd be in a good place to head out over the ocean, find some deserted island somewhere. We could do some research." The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a great idea. We would be safe. We could rest. We could relax on a beach and eat coconuts, and Angel could talk fish into committing suicide for our dinner. It would be heaven.

And the fact that I was even entertaining this idea as a possibility only showed how pathetically desperate I was. And how out of touch with reality.

"Come on, one more time," Iggy wheedled.

"No," said the Gasman.

"One more time."

"No. It's no fun. You always win, like, right away."

Fang and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes. Those two had been at it all morning.

"I guess Iggy feels okay again," I said out of the side of my mouth. Fang nodded. Iggy, of all of us, had faced the most disappointment lately. We'd actually found his parents: They were real. And they had turned out to be traitors, betrayers. All of Iggy's hopes and dreams about one day finding his parents and having them not care that he was blind and a recombinant life-form-they'd all come true. And then they'd all been torn away.

It was much worse than for the rest of us, who hadn't even gotten close.

Iggy had been silent and stoic since he'd come back to us, but now he had recovered enough to make Gazzy's life miserable, so I knew he was getting back to normal. I shifted Total in my arms and rolled my shoulders.

"How long till we get to Florida?" Nudge asked. "Are we really going to Disney World? Do you think we'll see anyone famous? I want to go to the Swiss Family Treehouse. I want to see Beauty and the Beast and get their autographs. I want to see the Tree of Life-"

I held up a hand. "Okay, hang on. I'm hoping we can go to Disney World, but we have to get down there first, check everything out. We just crossed the Georgia-Florida border, so-"

"The ocean!" said Gazzy, pointing. Way to the east, we could see the dark gray-blue of seemingly endless water. "Can we go to the beach? Please? Just for a minute?"

I thought about it. We'd had some really good times and some really bad times at beaches. "It's almost winter," I hedged.

"But the water's not cold," Iggy said.

I looked at Fang. He shrugged helpfully: my call.

Max, you need to stay focused.

My Voice. I'm... somewhat focused, I thought defensively. I could practically hear the Voice sigh.

If you're going to Florida, go to Florida, said the Voice. Pick a goal and follow it through. When you're saving the world, you can't exactly take commercial breaks.

That did it.

"Hey, guys, wanna go to the beach?" I called.

"Yeah!" said Gazzy, punching one fist in the air.

"Yes, yes," Angel said happily.

"I'm up for it," said Total, in Fang's arms.

Nudge and Iggy cheered.

"Beach it is," I said, swerving in a graceful arc, heading east.

Max, you're acting like a child, the Voice said. You're above rebelling against your fate just to rebel. You've got a date with destiny. Don't be late.

I brushed some hair out of my eyes. Is that a movie quote? Or is it an actual date? I don't remember destiny asking me. I never even gave destiny my phone number.

The Voice never displayed emotion, so I might have imagined the tense patience I heard. Max, sooner or later you have to take this seriously. If it was just your life, no one would care if you bothered. But we're talking about saving everyone's lives.

For some reason that really stung. My jaw set. Shut up! I'm tired of you! Tired of my so-called destiny! I'm acting like a child because I am a child! Just leave me the hell alone!

I felt tears forming in my eyes, which burned from the constant wind. I couldn't take this anymore. I'd been having a rare decent day, and now the Voice had ruined it, dropping the whole world onto my shoulders again.

"Yo."

I looked over to see Fang watching me. "You okay? Is this a headache?"

I nodded and wiped my eyes, feeling like I was about to explode. "Yeah," I said. "A huge, freaking, unbearable headache!" I was practically shouting at the end, and five heads turned toward me. I had to get out of here. And, thanks to my supersonic power, I could, in the blink of an eye.

"See you at the beach," I muttered to Fang, and then I hunched my shoulders and poured on the speed. In seconds I had shot way past the flock, the wind making my eyes water more. It was funny, but going this fast almost made me want to put my arms out in front of me, like Superman, as if it would split the air out of my way or something.

What the hey-no one could see me. I stretched my arms out in front, feeling like an arrow, a spear, slicing through heaven.

I was at the beach in four minutes. I braked and slowed down, but not enough, and ended up running too fast through the sand and then tripping onto my face. Slowly I got up, spitting out sand, and brushed myself off. I was burning up and pulled off my sweatshirt.

I had maybe twenty minutes till the rest of them came. I walked along the beach, keeping my wings out so they would cool off. I felt desperate and scared and angry. "I don't even know how to save the world," I said out loud, hating how pathetic I sounded.

By existing, said the Voice. By being strong. By lasting.

"Shut up!" I yelled, kicking a piece of driftwood so hard it practically flew out of sight.

I'd had it, totally had it. No more. I ran to the water's edge and looked down at the sand. In moments I had found it-a piece of broken shell, sharp on one side.