School's Out- Forever (Maximum Ride 2)

“No,” said Nudge, digging into the popcorn. “But an Eraser tore my sweater. Jerk.”

“There’s milk too,” said Anne, taking a glass bottle out of the fridge. She put it on the table and went to get the first-aid kit.

I helped Angel pour herself a glass of milk, and then I noticed: This was a different brand of milk than before. The other had been in cartons. Cartons with missing-kid pictures on them. This bottle had a smiling cow but no missing kids. Hmm.

Later I sat at the table doing my homework, which is just another term for “grown-up-imposed yet self-inflicted torture,” IMHO. Anne sat down next to me.

“So Erasers are human-wolf hybrids,” she said. “And they attacked you? Have they ever attacked you before? Where did they come from? How did they know where you were?”

I looked at her. “Isn’t all this in your reports?” I asked. “Your files? Yeah, of course the Erasers attacked us. They always do. They’re everywhere. They were created to be . . . weapons, kind of. Back at the School, they were the guards, the security. The punishers. Since we escaped, Erasers have been tracking us. I was wondering when they’d show up. This is the longest we’ve gone without them finding us.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Anne asked, concern on her face.

I shook my head. “I really thought you knew. You knew a bunch of other stuff about us. I mean, I wasn’t keeping Erasers a secret or anything.”

Anne let out a heavy breath. “We’d heard only vague rumors. They seemed so far-fetched that we didn’t believe them. You say these Erasers track you? How?”

Probably my chip. The one somebody put in my arm.

I shrugged and looked back at my world studies textbook.

At least, I feared it was my chip. I wasn’t positive, but it made the most sense. This was my chance to tell Anne about my chip. Maybe with her FBI resources, she could find a way to take it out. But something held me back. I just couldn’t bring myself to trust her. Maybe in about five years, if we were still here. God, what a depressing thought.

Also, these days, I was wondering if it might not be my chip, might be something else. Like, if Total was chipped. Or even one of the flock. Angel? We just didn’t know.

Anne stood up. “Well, I’m going to make some phone calls,” she said firmly. “Those were the last Erasers you’ll see.”

I almost chuckled at her naïveté.

56

“Night, Tiffany-Krystal,” I said, grinning, and Nudge grinned back. We stacked our fists on top of each other and tapped the backs with our other hands.

“Night,” said Nudge, lying back on her comfy pillows. “Max? We are going to stay for a while, aren’t we? We’re not leaving, like, tomorrow, right?”

“No,” I said quietly. “Not tomorrow. Just—be on your toes, and try to blend, okay?”

“Okay. I do blend pretty good, I think,” Nudge said. “I have three friends I sit with at lunch. My teacher seems to like me.”

“Of course she likes you. How could she not?” I kissed Nudge’s forehead and left, heading down the hall to tuck in Angel.

Pushing open her door, I saw that Anne was already there, pulling the covers up to Angel’s chin.

“You had a long day, sweetie,” said Anne, stroking Angel’s hair off her face. “Get some good sleep now.”

“Okay,” said Angel.

“And Ariel? Don’t let Total up on the bed,” Anne said. “He has his own bed.”

“Uh-huh,” said Angel agreeably. I rolled my eyes. Total would be on the bed before Anne was five steps down the hall.

“Good night, sleep tight,” Anne said, standing up.

“Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” Angel answered cheerfully.

Anne smiled at us and went out.

Total hopped up on the bed. Angel held up the covers for him and he wriggled underneath them, resting his head on a corner of Angel’s pillow. I tucked them both in.