Max's POV
Hmm,
Iggy. I thought as I saw him pass the table. We'd been at Mom's
for a little over three months now. The world was saved and I was
sixteen. I had the best boyfriend in the world-cough cough-Fang-cough
cough- who may or may not be a flock member.
But ever since we
came here, Iggy had been… different. Not himself. He wore hoodies
with the hoods up all the time. He hardly ever spoke. But his lack of
talking wasn't like Fang's. It was more the fact that he just
never seemed well… happy. It was worrying me too.
At
school he sat alone, or at the end of whatever table the flock was
currently at, not even paying attention to us. And those sunglasses.
He never took them off. I was starting to think they were glued to
his face. And all I could do was ask myself, What the heck is
going on?
I looked over at Fang who was looking at Iggy
wearily. He looked back over at me and nodded. I wasn't the only
one who was noticing the change. I continued thinking and picking at
my dinner when Iggy walked over to the table and sat across from me,
on Fang's right. Nudge and Gazzy stopped what they were doing as
they watched Iggy with interest.
He hadn't so much as glanced
at us in the few months and this was something completely new. Iggy
opened his mouth before shutting it again, as if looking for the
right words, or perhaps in his case, trying to remember how to
talk.
"Will you come to the talent show tonight?" He finally
asked. Angel-who was making her dinner- jumped at the sound of his
voice and turned around quickly to make sure she'd heard right.
Iggy's sentence had only been a whisper, but it was enough to
startle all of us. Even Fang looked a little surprised. Total's
mouth was hanging open and I did my best to cover any shock that I
felt.
"Why?' I asked, keeping my voice calm and a tad caring.
He needed to know we wanted him to talk.
He shrugged and said
nothing before getting up from the table and retreating to his room.
I sighed. What was I going to do with him? It was obvious there was
something bothering him. But he just wouldn't communicate.
I
looked at Fang who said, "Well at least he said something. If he
actually took the time to ask, it must be important." I
nodded.
"Kids? We're going to the talent show." I said,
making sure they could all hear me. They just nodded silently, still
trying to get over the fact that Iggy had talked. Heck I was
still trying to get over
it.
We
all arrived at the talent show, a little late, but we were there.
Just as the last act was finishing up, the announcer called into the
microphone, "And now we're pleased to introduce, Jeff Martinez!"
I felt my jaw drop, I couldn't help it. Everyone was looking
around confused and I heard a few people whisper, 'Who's that?'
I closed my mouth quickly, trying to hide my disbelief as Iggy
stepped up to the microphone.
Do you ever feel like breaking
down?
Do you ever feel out of place?
Like somehow you just
don't belong,
And no one understands you.
Do you ever wanna
run away?
Do you lock yourself in your room?
With the radio on
turned up so loud
That no one hears you screaming.
He was good. I looked around and others seemed to be enjoying it as well. I started to concentrate on the lyrics now. They had to be important, or he wouldn't be singing them.
No you don't
know what it's like, To be hurt
When nothing feels alright,
You don't
know what it's like
To be like me.
To feel
lost
To be left out in the dark
To be kicked
When you're
down
To feel like you've been
Pushed around
To be on the
edge of breaking down
When no one's there to save you.
No you
don't know what it's like.
Welcome to my life.
The
rest of the song went by in a blur for me and was over in a
heartbeat, yet at the same time it took forever to finish. The minute
Iggy walked off the stage, I ran around to the steps that led
backstage, wanting to talk to him. Comfort him. I looked back and saw
the flock following after me.
I made it back stage where I asked
the announcer guy where Jeff went. He said he'd run off through the
back door just a few seconds ago, and then, I was gone. Out the door
and looking around frantically outside.
"Let's split up."
Nudge suggested. We all agreed.
I ran towards home, listening and
watching for any signs of him. I had been running for a good few
minutes when Angel popped into my head.
"Fang found him."
She said, "Hurry."
I ran back the other direction when
I saw Angel's legs dangling out of a tree. I climbed up the tree
and saw Iggy, sitting on a branch, just sitting there. Emotionless. I
took a deep breath.
"Iggy…" Was all I'd said before he
lunged at me. For a minute I almost fell out of the tree. The rest of
the flock jumped and their eyes widened, as did mine. Then I
realized, Iggy wasn't attacking or anything like that, he was
hugging me.
I felt his shoulder shaking uncontrollably and I
heard him crying. I felt tears leap to my eyes, but I blinked them
back. My throat felt tight and thick. The tears finally spilled when
I heard Iggy muffle a scream against my shirt. Then another one. And
another.
I looked at the rest of the flock. All were crying
except Fang, who looked very pained. Finally, Iggy's crying and
screaming dyed down. He pulled back from me and his hood fell off.
For the first time in forever, he wasn't wearing a hood. His hair
a=had become darker from lack of sun and he was paler than normal.
He
took off his sunglasses, revealing his tear filled, bloodshot eyes.
My automatic response? My eyes widened and I covered my mouth with my
hand. There was no hiding surprise or shock anymore.
Then he said
something that I thought was one of the last things he should be
saying, "I'm sorry." He croaked out, his voice still thick from
tears. I just nodded rapidly and hugged him again, as tight as I
could.
"Me too." I whispered.
"I don't know what
happened." He muttered, "I just didn't feel… happy anymore. I
don't even know why." He looked so apologetic it nearly broke my
heart.
"And I'm sorry for not trying to help or understand."
I said softly. He blinked and the tears cleared from his eyes. I
looked up at the night stars and knew everything would be a little
better from now on.
"I love you guys." I said, randomly, but
truthfully.
"And we love you." Iggy answered almost
immediately. I smiled. Things were back to normal already.