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“Did you know that wasn’t me, the other Max?�� I asked.
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“W����?��
“Right away.��
“How?�� I persisted. “We look identical. She even had identical scars and scratches. She was wearing my clothes. How could you tell us apart?��
He turned to me and grinned, making my world brighter. “She offered to cook breakfast.”
― James Patterson, School's Out—Forever

“Don’t ever leave me again,�� I said in a tiny voice.
I won’t,�� he promised into my hair, sounding most un-Fang-like. “I won’t. Not ever.��
And just like that, a cold shard of ice that had been inside my chest ever since we’d split up-well, it just disappeared. I felt myself relax for the first time in I don’t known how long. The wind was chilly, but the sun was bright, and my whole flock was together. Fang and I were together.
Excuse me? I’m alive too.�� Iggy’s plaintive voice made me pull back.”
― James Patterson

“Fang felt a cold jolt, then dismissed it. Max wasn’t dead. He would know, somehow. He would have felt it. The world still felt the same to him; therefore, Max was still in it.”
― James Patterson, Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

“There was something I needed to say. “Sorry. About before.��
Fang shot a sideways glance at me, his eyes dark and inscrutable, as always. He looked back out at the water. I didn’t expect any more acknowledgment than that. Fang never-
“You almost gave me a heart attack,�� he said quietly. “When I saw you, and all that blood . . .�� He threw a small rock as hard as he could down the beach.
“I’m sorry.��
“Don’t do it again,�� he said.
I swallowed hard. “I won’t.��
Something changed right then, but I didn’t know what.”
― James Patterson, School's Out—Forever

“Fang’s hand gently smoothed my hair off my neck. My breath froze in my chest, and every sense seemed hyperalert. His hand stroked my hair again, so softly, and then trailed across my neck and shoulder and down my back, making me shiver.
I looked up. 'What the heck are you doing?'
'Helping you change your mind,' he whispered, and then he leaned over, tilted my chin up, and kissed me.”
― James Patterson, Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

“I choose you," he said very softly, "Max."
Then his hard, rough hand tenderly cuppoed my chin, and suddenly his mouth was on mine, and every synapse in my brain shorted out.
We had kissed a couple of times before, but this was different. This time, I squelched my immediate, overwhelming desire to run away screaming. I closed my eyes and put my arms around him despite my fear. Then somehow we slid sideways so we were lying in the cool sand. I was holding him fiercely, and he was kissing me fiercely, and it was...just so, so intensely good. Once I got past my usual, gut-wrenching terror, there was a long, sweet slide into mindlessness, when all I felt was Fang, and all I heard was his breathing, and all I could think was "Oh, God, I want to do this all the time.”
― James Patterson, Max