— The Girl Who Fakes Her Smiles—

My first real oneshot! Ahhhh I'm so excited. Hope y'all likey ;) Review? Btw, the mood ring colors aren't the true meanings. And I'm not sure if mood rings actually work...

-:- Mood Ring -:-

"I am so sick of this!" the little girl with curly, blonde hair and angelic features hissed under her breath from her perch in the tall tree, grinding her teeth in frustration as she watched the scene on the forest ground unravel.

The older, mocha-skinned girl beside her exclaimed quietly in response, "I know right! This is getting old, fast."

Her big, brown eyes narrowed when she saw the dirty-blonde flee the site, legs blurring as she ran away as fast as she could, leaving the dark-haired boy to stare after her in confusion. The older girl in the tree with the younger child, flipped her dark ringlets over her shoulder in exasperation before her shoulders sagged, suddenly deflated.

The little girl's blue eyes were lost of their usual luster when she hollowly echoed the older girl's thoughts aloud, "Yeah. Poor, guy."

Why does this keep happening? Why does everything go right before crashing to the ground, right before my eyes? Is something wrong with me? Why does she keep running? How does she really feel about me?

She flinched with every question that ran through the dark-haired boy's mind as she felt the same amount of confusion and hurt he was being overwhelmed with.

"Fang doesn't deserve this. Max needs to get her head and feelings straight," the taller girl murmured, eyes watching with sympathy as the dark-haired boy stiffly walked out of the forest, no emotion traceable on his face.

"You're right. She needs to get that she loves Fang, and Fang needs to know that Max feels the same way about him," the angelic girl declared, straightening her back with determination. A mischievous sparkle appeared in her now, bright, blue eyes making her look anything but innocent.

"And I have the perfect plan."

"Hiya, Max."

The girl with dirty-blonde hair, Max, narrowed her chocolate brown eyes at the mocha-skinned girl. "Yeah, Nudge?" she answered wearily, eyeing the item the other girl's long fingers were playing with.

Nudge thrusted her hand out into Max's face with the small item in the middle of her palm. It was circular and wasn't just one color but more like a fusion.

"It's a mood ring," she explained after seeing Max's confused look.

Max nodded slowly, still seeming bewildered by the randomness. "And you're giving it to me... why?" she asked in a incredulous voice.

Nudge pouted, looking upwards at her. She widened her already big, brown eyes and stuck out her plump, bottom lip into a cute pout. "I just wanted to give a present to the person who was practically my mother when I was growing up. Is that so bad?" she asked innocently, fluttering her dark eyelashes.

Max flinched at the bambi-eyes look before nodding cautiously. "I guess nothing's wrong with it..." she decided after a moment of pondering the situation and basking in the compliment and the appreciation Nudge was giving her.

As Max continued her way her bedroom— her back facing Nudge and the hallway— a sly smirk sidled its way onto the younger girl's lips.

The two girls gave each other a muffled high-five as to not disturb the other flock members.

"What's next, Angel?" asked Nudge while skillfully tearing a loose thread from her artfully-faded jeans. A smirk played across her lips, satisfied with her acting skills.

Angel gave Nudge a devious smile while handing her a piece of paper.

"Now, Fang."

The dark-haired boy's equally-dark eyes stared blankly at the piece of paper that was shoved into his face, blocking his vision.

"Do you know what this is, Fang?" Nudge's voice interrogated. The paper rattled, shaken by a mocha hand.

"Uhm," came Fang's response. "My report card?"

Nudge scoffed and lowered the paper. "As if I would give you your report card. That would go straight to Dr. M. because then she'd be so happy that she'd take us all out to dinner and to the mall to shop for some fantabulous clothes, but no. It's not your report card," she rambled while, surprisingly, getting to the point. Though, this response was hardly close to her regular babble even though her rants were toned down over the years.

"This," she waved the piece of paper around like a banner, "is a mood ring color chart. It shows which colors are what emotions."

Fang blinked stoically down at Nudge. "And?"

"Aaaaaand," Nudge dragged out the word. "I need you to keep track of Max's emotions with this." She grabbed his wrist and placed the paper in his hand.

Fang raised an eyebrow and gave her a look that asked, 'I would do that, why?'

"Because... I need to know if the mood ring works, so I gave it to Max to see. I'll get another one for myself if it does," Nudge explained, giving Fang an encouraging grin.

"So, she's like your lab rat," he said bluntly.

"What? No!" Nudge squeaked in horror at the thought of experimenting on another person after the experiences she and the flock have gone through.

"It's just like a harmless little experiment! It's not like the evil, jab-your-with-needles-through-dog-cage-bars kind of experiment, but the follow-you-around-to-see-what-happens kind of experiment! Wait, no! That's what they did, too! I'm really not trying to act like the whitecoats! I just wanted to see if the mood ring actually—!" Her panicked ramble was cut off by a hand that was slapped over her mouth.

"Nudge. Chill. I was kidding," Fang replied, the side of his mouth quirked up into an amused smirk.

She huffed and brushed his hand away in annoyance before continuing to try and persuade Fang. "So?" she said hopefully. "You'll do it?"

"No."

"What? Buh," Nudge spluttered, blinking quickly in confusion before quickly widening her eyes and batting her lashes at him. "Pleeeease?"

Unfortunately for her, Fang was stronger than Max when it came to bambi eyes. Though, not by much.

He hesitated, indecision flickering across his face before disappearing as quickly as it came, but Nudge was able to see it.

"You'll get to follow Max around," Nudge coaxed.

Sadly, Fang didn't need any more reason. He sighed and shrugged compliantly. Nudge squealed happily before running off and leaving him to wonder if he should regret his choice.

Why?

Because he most likely fell into a trap. But he didn't care because he was allowed to follow Max around like a stalker with a reasonable excuse.

Yeah. The trap was worth falling in to.

"And noooow?" Nudge asked, repeating her earlier question, staring at Angel with barely-contained energy.

"We just watch. And maybe manipulate a pair of blonde pyros to set up some explosions. Well... a blonde and a strawberry blonde."

Red

Fang looked down at the now-wrinkled piece of paper in his hand as he walked silently towards Max's room.

Okay. So first up: Red means anger.

...

"Iggy! Gazzy! I'm going to kill you two! What is up with you guys and blowing up my Mickey Mouse alarm clocks?"

Fang lifted his head to see standing in front of her room door, a fuming Max, whipping her head back and forth, and her hands clenched into fists at her side as she searched for the two, soon-to-be-dead, bird kids.

Her burning gaze locked onto his figure. She stomped over to him and demanded, "Did you see them?"

Fang shook his head wordlessly.

"Well, if you do," Max hissed, brown eyes flashing dangerously, "Tell them that we're having pyro bird-kids for dinner tonight."

Fang nodded seriously and replied, "As long as you aren't the one cooking."

She growled at him before whirling around— her dirty-blonde hair fanning out in response— and storming down the hallway. She barged out the back door, into the back yard. As she placed her hand on the screen door, he noticed that the band on her right, index finger, was a bright red.

Perfect, he thought distractedly, something else on his mind. Turns out, he realized something else in that little scene.

Max is really hot when she's mad.

Yellow

Fang walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, planning on eating a small snack (A.K.A. a club sandwich) when he saw Max over the refrigerator door, sitting on a stool, her head propped up by her hands and a scowl on her face.

He glanced at her hand to see that it was no longer red, but yellow.

Fang scrambled to get the piece of paper from his back pocket while simultaneously juggling a plastic bottle filled with spicy mustard. When he finally got the paper into his hands, he read the line after the first one he looked at earlier.

Coincidentally enough, the next color was yellow.

Yellow means annoyed.

"Fang?"

He slowly looked up from the paper.

"Yeah?"

"Do you really need that much focus to read a label on some food?"

Fang then realized that it seemed like he was looking at something from the fridge since it was open and he had something in his hand.

"No?" came his lame response. Max rolled her brown eyes.

Now how was he going to tell if she was annoyed...

Max abruptly hopped off her stool and turned to leave the kitchen saying over her shoulder, "Whatever. I'm annoyed. Bye."

Well. That was easy.

And she's still hot even when annoyed.

Green

"Hey, kids! I'm home from work!" came Dr. M's voice from the front door.

Fang went downstairs, leaving his room, to greet her. Or, well, nod at her.

It was common courtesy.

When he entered the living room, he saw Max with her hands clasped behind her back, head bowed, and feet shifting her weight from one to another.

"Uhm. Mom?" Max said hesitantly, looking at her mother through her eyelashes.

"Yes?" Dr. M hummed, taking off her white, veterinary coat. (Fang shuddered internally.)

"I, uh," she stuttered slightly, eyelids fluttering as she alternated looking at her mom and the floor.

Fang's eyes narrowed a fraction. Stuttering? Hesitant?

He glanced down at her hand while whipping out the mood ring chart. The band was a lime green.

And green means... nervous.

"Iggy and Gazzy blew up my clock... Do you think we could go out and get a new one?"

Hmm. That seems about right. She's always nervous when she asks Dr. M for something since she's still not exactly comfortable with relying on someone else.

"Sure, Max. Let's go round up the rest of the flock," Dr. M replied kindly.

Another thing.

It's a bit too much of a coincidence that Max going through the emotions in the same order as the chart.

Max is really cute when she's nervous.

Well, two things then.

Black and Orange

Fang looked down at the redhead that was clinging to his arm, with a distasteful grimace. The girl looked up at him with murky, green eyes that were surrounded with a thick layer of make-up that, in his opinion, made her look like a raccoon on fire.

"So, Fangy-poo," the girl batted her clumpy eyelashes while he winced at the nickname, "What shall we do now that we've reunited?"

Fang sighed, trying to tug his arm away without hurting the girl's feelings. "Look, Lissa. I don't—" he tried to explain that he didn't have any interest in her when the girl from Virginia was suddenly jerked from his side.

"Look here, Lissa," a sickly-sweet voice said. "Fangy-poo here, doesn't like you, and he's just too nice of a person to say it your face. So save yourself some dignity and just leave."

Fang raised his eyebrows in shock at how bluntly the person put the mean yet true statement. He quickly recovered and saw Lissa struggling to release her arm from what seemed like an iron-tight grip.

The owner of that grip was Max.

And was she mad.

"Let me go, you weirdo!" Lissa screeched, her face turning as red as her hair. "And aren't you his sister? Why are you so defensive?!"

Max quickly released her grip as a pair of mall cops glanced at the group curiously. She agitatedly flipped her hair back as Lissa shook with fury and a hint of fear.

"You two are both freaks! You," she pointed a blood-red nail at Fang, "because you don't want to go out with me, I mean, I'm so hot. You must be a freak." She flipped her red hair arrogantly before turning to Max. "And you," she hissed. "You have a weird obsession with your brother. God. Incest much?" she then whirled around on her heel and clacked away.

"And you're as fake as your hair," Max called after her. "That's right! I see your brown roots!"

Max turned to Fang with her arms crossed over her chest. He raised an eyebrow at her then glanced at her hand.

It was black.

Fang remembered from the paper that black meant hatred or jealousy.

An amused smirk played across his lips.

"Jealous now, are we?" he asked in a light voice, grinning down at her.

Her mouth flopped open as she gaped at him. "Of course not! Where would you get that conclusion?" she sputtered, completely unaware of the mood ring on her hand. The black started to fade until it was orange.

Orange... Orange... Orange meant flustered.

Fang's grin grew larger.

Two emotions in the time span of a few minutes.

And Max is really hot when she's jealous and when she's embarrassed.

"Hey, Iggy."

"Yes, my darling Nudgie Pudgie?" Iggy answered suavely, hiding what looked like a TV remote with the button removed, behind his back.

She ignored his suspicious action and asked, "Do you think you could make dinner today?"

Iggy nodded and stated distractedly, "Sure, sure. I love cooking."

"Cool." Nudge was about to turn around and leave when Iggy stopped her.

"You doing well on your little plan?"

She froze before slowly turning around, eyes wide open. "What plan? I don't have a plan. It's most definitely not a plan. It's just something to help two people that are destined to be together, be together. It's not a plan. It's not that little either. Wait, no. I mean— " Nudge rambled before a pale hand was slapped over her mouth with amazing accuracy.

"Calm down, Nudge," he said, laughing. His unseeing blue eyes were filled with mirth. "It's all right because I approve."

A relieved smile broke over her face, causing her brown eyes to sparkle— not that Iggy could see either, but he could hear the happiness in her voice. "Okay. That's good. Everything's going according to plan."

"Yeah," Iggy murmured, sliding his hand from over her mouth to under her chin.

"If they're destined to be together... What about us?" he asked cryptically, lightly tossing her chin in the air before sauntering away cooly with his hands in his pockets.

Purple

"Holy crap, Iggy. This is amazing," Max murmured as she took another bite of lasagna.

"No need to state the obvious, Maxie," Iggy dismissed her compliment with a wave of his hand, but there was a pleased smile pulling at his lips. Nudge's eyes quickly flitted to look at him before she stared back down at her plate.

"And there are some cookies in the oven. They should be done by the end of dinner," Dr. M added, wiping her hands on a checkered dish towel.

A small squeak of happiness escaped from Max's lips as she forked the food into her mouth as fast as she could, Gazzy quick to follow her lead.

Fang glanced nonchalantly at her mood ring to see it a bright violet.

Purple means happy.

Seems true enough.

Wow, she's pretty.

Blue

Fang walked out onto the porch with a chocolate milkshake in his hand. He turned to sit on the swinging porch bench when he noticed that Max was sitting there, staring straight ahead at the darkening sky, a peaceful look on her face.

He sat down beside her, causing the bench to sway.

Max didn't blink an eye.

He took a look at her ring to see it a clear blue.

And blue means calm.

Fang then put his chocolate milkshake in front of her vision.

"You want some?"

"They're just so perfect together!" Nudge squealed to herself peered from around a thick tree trunk— for once watching Max and Fang without Angel by her side. "They've been through so much together... Practically being our mother and father... They deserve to be happy with each other," she murmured, practically glowing with anticipation for the next color on the mood ring color chart.

Pink means love.

"If they're our mother and father... But they're practically brother and sister... Is that incest?"

Nudge's bubble of happiness was shattered from the randomness of the question.

"What?" she blurted, whipping around to face Iggy who seemed to be contemplating his own inquiry.

"So... What would happen if the brother and sister of the brother and sister got together...?" he wondered aloud, tilting his head to the side.

Nudge blinked at him. "Iggy. Are you a fan of incest?"

His pale, unfocused blue eyes widened in surprise as he waved his hands around in refusal. "Wait, what? No, no! That's not what I meant at all! I just— I don't—"

This time, Iggy was the one to be cut off, though, not with a hand, but with Nudge's lips pressed softly against his own.

"Great. Because I'm not either," she whispered, arms locked around his neck as she stood up on her tip-toes. Iggy's hands made their way around her waist to help her keep balance.

"Then it's a good thing we aren't related."

Pink

I brushed a strand of her light brown hair behind her ear, my hand lingering on her serene face. She gave me a dry look that was ruined with the slight pink in her cheeks.

"Really? Do you live to ruin my peaceful moments? The milkshake and now this? Jeez," she muttered, rolling her eyes before glancing at the setting sun. The colors varying between red, orange and yellow.

"You didn't deny the first offer," I raised my eyebrows at her. A flicker of irritation danced across her face, but she didn't turn to me.

"Can you answer a question for me?" I asked in a quiet voice, tapping her knee before quickly adding, "other than the one I just asked?"

She sighed before looking at me, her brown eyes slightly exasperated. "Yeah, sure."

"Do you love me?"

Her eyelashes fluttered in shock as her lips formed a small 'o'. "What?" she asked in a shrill voice. She cleared her throat in embarrassment before continuing, "I don't— I mean— Where did you," she stuttered, breaths coming a bit faster.

I pointedly looked down at her ring. She glanced down, too. It was a rosy pink.

And pink means love.

Giving her a small smile, I answered, "I understand. I love you, too," before pressing my lips against hers into a kiss I knew she wouldn't run from when it was over.

And the thoughts running through my head were:

Max is so ho— no. She's not hot. She's beautiful. And amazing. And I'm lucky to have her.

I am such a genius, Angel thought smugly. Two couples with one plan.

Then the thoughts of the four teens reached her mind. She blanched in response.

"Ew. I know they're all just so cute together, but all this kissing is grossing me out."

Faxy much? I thought this was pretty cute :) Kinda long, but plenty of fax with a cup of Niggy ^^ Lol I like Angel's response too. We can't forget she's only ten. Well, ten in this oneshot. Nudge is 16. Max, Fang, and Iggy are 19. They might act a bit young for their age, but ehh.

Btw, not sure if the part of Max not running from the kiss makes sense. Or if this oneshot is unique. I'm pretty sure it is... but tell me if it isn't someone :o

Review!

— The Girl Who Fakes Her Smiles —