Full summary: Max, Nudge and Shiloh live in the circus. One day, their lives are turned upside down when they meet Iggy, Gazzy and Fang. What happened to Max's family, and why is Fang so familiar to her? Why is Nudge so afraid of adults? Why was Shiloh really disowned by her own family? Fax, Nazzy, Iggy/OC
Now that that's over with, I'M SO HAPPY THAT I FINALLY FINISHED THE FIRST CHAPTER! And then I remembered that I have solo practice and tutoring after school, which will last a few months. I can't catch a break, can I? Oh, well. On with the disclaimer!
Disclaimer: I live in the middle of nowhere in one of the lesser-known states. If you can't tell from that, I don't own Maximum Ride.
Max POV
I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. I grabbed the bar in my hands and stepped closer to the edge of the platform. I looked over at Sam to get the signal to start. He nodded at me and I stepped off the edge and freefell. I felt a slight tug on my arms as the bar stopped me from falling completely and swung back and forth while Sam did the same. I kept it up to build momentum, and when I had enough I flipped upward, one leg up so I was doing a split in midair. As I flipped, I felt Sam grab my hands in a perfect split layout. Once I was near my bar again, I flipped back over. I twisted myself around until I was facing Sam again. I then built up more momentum and flipped around twice in the air, Sam catching me by my legs. We swung for a second before I grabbed my bar and he let go. I glanced over at the clock on the wall as we hung there. We were almost out of practice time. I nodded at him to do our signature move and end practice. He grinned at me and started pumping his legs to go higher and faster. I copied his movement, and at the same time, we let go. Flipping in the air, I felt myself hit the net, and saw Sam do the same. I felt my body bounce back up, and I avoided hitting Sam as I reached for the bar he had been occupying earlier. I grabbed on to it and swung myself on to the platform.
You might be a little lost on what in the world I'm talking about. Well, my name is Maximum Ride, Max for short, and I live at the circus. If you couldn't tell, I'm a trapeze artist. This is the part where I tell you about my past, but honestly? I don't remember it. I only remember finding myself on the streets, looking at a small blonde girl.
As if on cue, I heard clapping as I climbed down the ladder. As I reached the floor, said blonde girl, just ten years older, gave me a flying tackle hug.
"Wow Max! That was awesome!" She said. The blonde girl's name is Shiloh. She's the one who found me when I woke up on the streets.
"Shi speaks the truth. That was awesome! How did you do that last move?" My other friend, Nudge, asked. Maybe I should explain about Shi and Nudge. Shi's full name is Shiloh Carter. No one knows her middle name. She never tells anyone, not even me and Nudge. Shi has blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She calls herself a walking cliché. Her hair is curly, falling about halfway down her arm. She has a blue streak near the front with blue slashes in her side swept bangs that always cover her right eye. She was tall, but not freakishly tall. Shi is the magician in the circus, her alias being the magician of the spirit. Kinda lame, I know. She didn't come up with it, the ringmaster did.
Nudge is the youngest of us all. While Shi and I are sixteen, she's only fifteen. She has coffee colored skin and pretty brown hair and big brown eyes. Her full name is Monique Charlotte Carrow. Her alias is the dancer of the night. She was a huge fashonita with a passion for talking. Shiloh and I once timed her to see how long she could keep up a one-sided conversation. She lasted about an hour and a half. By that time, I was drawing and Shi was watching wheel of fortune. It's strange, but Shiloh is really good at wheel of fortune. No one knows how or why. She just is.
"How did you not crash into Sam?" Shiloh's question tore me out of my thoughts. Before I could answer, I heard a male voice behind me.
"Because we're awesome, that's why." Sam said, walking near us. Sam was my trapeze partner. He had sand-colored hair that was slightly curly and bright blue eyes. (A/N: I don't remember what color of hair and eyes Sam had in the book, so I'm just guessing.) He winked at me as he walked by. This fact did not go un-noticed by my freakazoid friends.
"OMG Max, did you see that! He winked at you! You guys really should date. You would make such a cute couple! You guys have all the same interests. EEK! When you guys get married, I want to be a bridesmaid! I would want to be the maid of honor, but I have a feeling that will be Shi and HMPH!" Nudge's rant was cut off by me slapping my hand over her mouth.
"Nudge! We aren't even dating, and you're already planning me getting married to him! We're only sixteen; we can't even get married now!" I whisper-yelled at her.
"You can in New Hampshire." Shiloh said with a smirk. (A/N: I had to put this line in. I don't own it either.) I gaped at her.
"You're siding with the enemy?" I said, mock hurt filling my voice. She giggled at me.
"You stole my hat last week. This is just payback." She said, still giggling. I forgot to mention Shiloh's hat. Shi has a hat that she wears every time she performs. The hat is a small top had that sits on the left side of her head crookedly. It's sparkly, and above the rim is a black satin bow that ties in the front. I remember when she got it, and why it means so much to her. It was a dirty trick, but she stole my sketchbook, so I considered it a fair trade.
"Well, whatever. I don't even like Sam that way." I replied. Shi and Nudge shrugged and we headed out of the tent. On the way there, I bumped into someone. Literally.
"Ugh, watch where you're going." A nasally voice sneered at me. Great. Lissa. Just my luck. She was the ringmaster's daughter, and boy was she annoying. She did nothing in the show, and when she helped out, she usually made it worse. For some odd reason she hated me, Nudge and Shiloh. I can't imagine why. Maybe it was because we filled her trailer with shaving cream. But I digress. I didn't feel like dealing with her today, so I simply flipped her off and left.
"Classy." Shi said, catching up to me.
"Yes, very lady-like" Nudge added, appearing on my other side. I shrugged and kept walking. If you can't tell, I'm not exactly a lady.
"Back to my original question, how did you not crash into Sam?" Shiloh asked.
"Because we avoided each other in the air. It's called dodging." I said, walking into the area where we kept the trailers. A lot of people had to share trailers, but by some stroke of luck, we got our own trailers. We love each other and all, but we all agreed never to bunk with each other. It was just a bad idea. I kick in my sleep, Nudge sleep talks, and Shi has a nasty habit of falling out of bed. A lot.
"WHOA!" I heard a sudden yell. I turned around to see what had happened. I mentally face-palmed as I saw Shi on the ground, having tripped over a rock in the ground.
"Max! The ground just tripped me!" Shiloh complained, holding her right knee to her chest, the other leg stretched out in front of her.
"Girly, that was your own fault. The ground didn't trip you." Nudge said, nearing tears from her laughter.
"Yes it did! I have a lot of grace, and the ground was just super jealous." Shi shot back. At that line, I was having trouble holding in my giggles as well.
"Honey, you have the grace of a one-footed penguin." I replied. She giggled at that and got up, jumping on one foot while imitating a penguin. Nudge fell over in laughter, and I started to giggle harder. It wasn't even that funny, it was more the fact that she was doing it in public. The trailer park was near a street, and looked over at a strip mall thing across the field it was on. There were people shopping there, and most had looked over to see what was happening. Most looked confused. Their faces made me cry I was laughing so hard. Nudge and Shiloh looked over to see what was so funny, and fell down with me in laughter. Once I calmed down, I looked over at Shi and gasped.
"Shi! You're bleeding!" I exclaimed. The rock she had tripped over tore a hole in her jeans, and I saw rivets of blood running down her leg.
"OH! So I am. How about that? Let's go clean it off." Shiloh said, picking herself up off the ground. I pulled Nudge up and went to go help my weirdo of a best friend.
Chapter one is done! Woot woot! Anyway, did you like it? By the way, the boy's won't appear until about 3 chapters in. Character development and such. Anyway, Review please!
