Disclaimer: I own EVERYTHING! Bwahahahaha! JK! But, really, if you thought I really did, go see a doctor, for your own sake…

Sorry, but I can't find my book to copy down what Ari says, so please, just bear with me here, people. Review! I respect criticism, but no flames, please! Thanks, and enjoy!

Max POV

MAX AND ARI AREN'T RELATED IN THIS STORY!

"Come on Max, we'll go away together to a place I know. Alone. We can get away from all of this craziness, and running, and hiding and live normal lives. We can be friends. What do you say?" Ari asked me as if I could just leave my flock, by themselves. Right.

"Ari, you know I could never leave the flock alone. They would die without me saving their asses every day. And how would I know that this isn't just a trick so that you can bring me to the school?" I said, sounding very sure of myself.

"It's not, Max. And I have arranged for the flock to be secretly taken care of. They won't notice, but they won't be harmed, either. I've got it all taken care of. I'm actually a lot smarter than you give me credit for.

I thought about it. The flock would be safe, and I would just get to relax in some secret place, being friends with Ari. It all seemed too good to be true. Of course, I could always just make one of my cleaver escapes if I really wanted to. Hmm…

"You know what, we've got a deal, dog-boy." I said, and smirked. I thought he would be mad at my comment, but he…smiled.

"Come on, birdie." He replied, and came over to my tree. I thought he was going to put me in a sack, or something, but to my surprise, he lifted me up and carried me. Wow. "I have to carry you, so I know you can't run away from me." He said, answering my thoughts. He flew up, and north for about three hours, then landed in front of a small hotel.

"Is this that secret place? Because it looks pretty out in the open to me…" I said sarcastically. He put me down, but gently took my hand in his and walked through the fancy double doors.

"No, this is just a stop. The place is really far away, and it will take a few days to get there from the U.S." He said, and walked up the front desk, and said, "Reservation for Batchelder. Is my room ready yet?" in a very mature-sounding voice.

The man at the desk looked up from a magazine, then smiled an 'I was paid to do this' smile, and said, "Yes, sir. Here is your key. You are in room 35 on the third floor." He handed Ari a small key and went back to reading his magazine.

"Okay, Maximum, let's go find the room." Ari looked down at me, and then started to walk, and since he still had my hand in his, I was dragged forward, too. We got in the elevator, and pressed the '3' button (which was apparently the top floor) and found the room pretty quickly. He unlocked the door, and gestured for me to go inside first. I stepped inside, and my jaw dropped. I quickly shut it, and stepped further into the room, and did a quick 360 of the area. It was safe, but the room was just so… I can't think of words strong enough.

"Um… wow…" I said. The room was A-MA-ZING! The room was a perfect square, with two walls that were a tannish-peach color, and the other two walls were made entirely of glass, looking out over the ocean. The carpet was so soft, it felt like silk. There were paintings and seashells and fancy beach things all over the place, and everything was colored in that tan, sandy colored theme. The carpet and ceiling were the same color as the two real walls. And the bed… it was huge. Not only was it gigantic, but it was like a work of art, not meant to be slept on. The comforter was a darker shade of tan, and there were like a gazillion pillows on it, and a conch shell in the front.

"Do you like it?" Ari asked me, seeing the totally shocked look on my face. "Because I can get a different one, if you want…"

"No, no, this room is okay. Okay, I'm lying, it's amazing! I love it!" I said, and hugged him, then quickly let go, a little embarrassed.

"Good, because I wasn't sure you would, and I just want you to be happy. Now, are you hungry yet, or do you want to wait?" He asked, surprisingly kind. I guess he just really wanted to be my friend. Well, he was doing great so far. I walked over to the window-wall thingy and peered out, surveying the area. It looked alright. I guess it was just me being used to danger.

"I'm good. If you're hungry, go ahead and eat, you don't have to wait for me." I said, gazing out at the beautiful beach. It was like a dream… or a trap.

"No, I'm not hungry, I was just asking. Let me know when you do get hungry, though." Ari said, sitting down on the love-seat at the other end of the room. He watched me as I sat there, just staring out of the wall. Ha, that sounds funny. But anyway… after staring out of the wall for what felt like hours-maybe it was- I went over and sat next to Ari.

"Can we eat now?" I asked, just noticing that I was starving. After a second, he looked over at me. Apparently I'd interrupted his day-dreaming.

"Sure, Maximum." He arose (see, I do have good vocabulary) and offered his hand to help me up, but being me, I ignored it and just got up myself.

"So, what's for dinner?" I asked, then realized that had no idea what time it was. Come to think of it, it did look a little dark outside. I shrugged to myself.

"There's a restaurant downstairs, and they serve basically anything you might want, so I thought it would be good." He said, going to get our coats. He threw mine to me, and then put his on, awkwardly, over his big, sewed-on wings. I slid easily into mine and met him at the door.

"Come on, birdie." He said. We went down to the restaurant and ate some really good meal, and the next day, we were flying again. When we arrived at our destination this time, it was an air-port. Oh, joy. Just what I needed, to be shoved on a tiny little plane, closed in and crowded by other people.

"We're flying on a plane? Why?" I asked, not too thrilled about flying the unnatural way. Ari looked a little surprised about my shock.

"Well, birdie, the secret place is too far away to fly to the 'natural' way. Your little wings would be soar by the time we got there, and I don't want to hear you sob about it." I swung to slap him across the face, and he dodged my swing, and caught the hand. He held it between two fingers and dropped it.

"Watch it, birdie." Then gestured for me to follow him, and gave me a don't you dare try to run away or else look, so I did. In a few minutes, we were on the stupid plane, and the flight attendant was talking through her stupid microphone thingy, the way most do before the plane takes off. Finally, she said 'fasten your seat belts, and enjoy the flight' and the plane took off. We got to where-ever the hell it was we were flying to in six hours, and from there, we took a small boat to a hidden island in the middle of nowhere.

"Is this the secret place you've been talking about?" I said in an aggravated voice. I'd gone from being in a beautiful hotel room, to being crammed onto a plane and a tiny boat the next day. Now, you tell me how happy that would make you if you were super freaking claustrophobic!

"Yes, this is the place, and don't even try to escape, birdie, because you will be sleeping with the fishes before you can reach land." He said

"Good to know." I said. "So, where are we staying, on this little island? Please tell me you didn't drag me out here and don't even have somewhere for me to stay…"

"We will be staying in a house that looks exactly like the hotel room we stayed in, except, you know, it's a house." He told, me, and I was thrilled, until I realized how he said the word 'we'. What did he mean…?