"Mom!" I yelped, tripping over a stack of boxes. "I can't see my room!"
"I'm sorry, honey. The movers will be here soon to take our belongings into their truck," Replied my mom. "They're supposed to be here soon".
"Huh." I grumbled. "They should be here any day now." I felt kind of bad, acting like a brat, but I really didn't like the idea of moving.
I'm Maximum Ride, but everybody calls me Max. I named myself as soon as I was old enough to - you don't really need the details. I'm a fifteen year old girl who currently lives in New York. {Note the 'currently' part}. My mom's name is Dr. Valencia Martinez, and she doesn't take too kindly to people who forget the "Dr." part. My dad's name was Jeb Ride. One day, when I was twelve, he travelled around the world on work, and… according to the news that we had heard, had been killed in an earthquake in Japan. Some of his stuff- his sweater, his suitcase, and other small items were sent to us for identification. My mom was almost hysterical when they couldn't find his body.
"Max! Hello? Anybody there?" Did I mention that I had an annoying, yet awesome fourteen year old sister named Ella? No? Well, I do. She looks nothing like me, though. She has shoulder length black hair, and looks Latina-like our mom. I look, well, like a… white person, with blonde, naturally streaked hair like Jeb's. Aw…I miss Jeb. Anyways, Ella had apparently said my name three times while I was busy spacing out and thinking of Jeb.
"What do you want, El?" I asked impatiently.
"Oh! You're alive!" she cried, a little overdramatically, resting her weight on one leg. "No, I just wanted to tell you that we're loading the hand baggage into the car. Mom says that you can bring a pillow on the plane, if you want."
"They'd really allow me to bring a pillow?" I said incredulously. Without pausing for her answer, I said, "Oh, good. I'll bring our bags to the car. The movers must've decided to retire on their way here, or something. Whatever." Ella giggled at my comment about the movers.
Just then, as if on cue, the moving truck pulled up in front of our house. "It's about time!" I stated, tapping my foot impatiently. Soon (in, like, three hours), we had all our furniture loaded in the truck, and were boarding our plane to Phoenix, Arizona. Our family-friend, Ms. Katerson, was going to pick us up from the airport. Her daughter, Monique was our close friend, and a HUGE chatterbox. Her nickname was Nudge.
So, I'm assuming that you don't need the details of the plane ride. Nothing unusual happened. My mom fell asleep REALLY soon, Ella got caught trying to sneak into first-class a couple of times, trying to meet Perez Hilton… I don't even know if he was on that freaking plane. I was all cooped up, and the plane felt like a giant can. It smelled strangely like antiseptics. I didn't even want to know.
Anyways, Mom, Ella, and I were sitting in Ms. Katerson's van, listening to Nudge talk. "I heard that you guys are staying at the same apartment complex that we are!" she droned excitedly.
"Really? That's so cool!" exclaimed Ella, and I nodded in agreement. "Now we can see each other every day! Tell me about the apartments."
"Oh! Okay! So, there are, like, five different buildings. Each has like…Mom! How many floors does each building have?"
"Ten floors, honey." Ms. Katerson wasn't a very talkative person, much unlike Nudge.
"Thanks! So, anyways, we live in building 1, which is called 'Block 1'. I think you're staying at an apartment in Block 5. All the blocks are in a circle, and in the center is a gym, and swimming pool. It's really awesome, and big, and there are a LOT of kids, and I have to show you my friends, and…" I zoned out of her non-stop talking, and started listening to 'Give it Up', by Elizabeth Gillies and Ariana Grande, on my iPod.
"Someday, I'll let you in, treat you right, drive you outta your mind…
You never met a chick like me, so bright, I'm gonna make you blind…"
Just then, Ms. Katerson pulled up at the parking lot for the Quartz apartments. They were all blue, and the swimming pool in the center of the five blocks looked so, so fun to swim in. I felt like swimming- and not just because of the Arizona summer heat. It was, like, about a hundred degrees out here!
"Welcome to the Quartz Apartments," said Nudge in a deep voice. I guess she was trying to sound professional, but she failed miserably. I guess she realized that too, because she and Ella started cracking up. Huh. Kids… I grinned at her anyways.
"Ooh! Where are we staying?" asked Ella excitedly. Mom looked at a sheet of paper in her hand.
"Um… Block 5, apartment 51."
"So it is Block 5! I was right!" You can guess who said that. And if you can't, well, it was Nudge.
"You sure were, Nudge." My mom assured her.
"So…Come on! What are you waiting for? I have gotta show you around. All my friends are gonna become your friends, and you're gonna love them, and there are some cute boys that I can set you up with, and we can go swimming- did you bring a swimsuit? No? We can go shopping for one. There's a mall nearb-" I slapped a hand over Nudge's mouth.
"You can lick my hand if you want to, but you don't know where it's been, and you probably don't want to either!" I said. I don't think she wanted to lick my hand after that. I have to hand it to myself- I'm pretty good at threatening people. Anyways, I slowly removed from my hand from her mouth, and she stayed completely still.
"Come on, kids!" Ms. Katerson called. I turned around. Nudge walked with us, completely quiet. We had walked all the way to the elevator, when-
"So, when are we heading to the mall?"
