A/N: Hey there...its me again. I'm home "sick" today so I decided...what better way to pass the time then to write some Max Ride fanfic. Okay...there's probably better ways to pass the time, but I'm just gonna pretend that this is the funnest thing I can possibly do right now. As you may know...all of my fanfics are currently Max Ride fanfics. I'm working on cooking up an idea for another book to write fanfic about. Oddly...all of my ideas seem to involve winged mutants and secret science labs disguised as Elementary hell. Well...I'll have to work on that, but for now I'll just stick to what I do best. Maximum Ride...
To Fill Everyone In: This fanfiction takes place during the second book. But...a few things are going to be changed. Number one...we are just going to pretend that Anne isn't evil. Okay? Good. Sorry if my description of Anne's appearance isn't accurate or legitimate with the actual books. I don't happen to own copies, and don't seem to have the time to Google such a random topic. (Not that I don't appreciate a little randomness in life) The flock is still going to go to the same school they did in the second book, but the teachers and students they meet there are going to be different. Except for Sam and Lissa, 'cause they were semi important characters in the story. So...now that that's all cleared up, I can actually write the STORY. Okay...
Disclaimer!: The characters in this story do not belong to me. They are property of James Patterson. Except for the occaisional character I'll make up, none of them are mine. Also...any brand names in this story are property of the companies who distribute them. So...no Coke, Twinkies, or Pixie Stix for me.
Chapter 1: Degrassi...Maximum Ride Style
I listened distractedly as my footsteps echoed off the hardwood flooring of the long hallway that belonged to the second floor of Anne's house. The footsteps sound the same as when I first walked this hallway almost three months ago. Except, at that time, there was sunlight pouring through the windows making little dust particles visible in the beams of light they passed through. Now...raindrops slid down the windowpanes which were rimmed with a chilled fog. The kind you can draw pictures in. And last time, four pairs of feet, and one set of paws followed behind me. I don't think we've ever stayed in one place for so long, not counting the E shaped house. It's kind of nice. A sense of permanence, or as Fang calls it, "another excuse to have access to a kitchen, and shower more often".
So...three months ago, after Fang's wonderful display of just how much blood the human body contains, we found Anne. Anne, with her shoulder length, honey brown hair, and pair of intense hazel eyes, had agreed to take us in and raise us as one of her own. Something along those lines, anyways. We were now "happily" (please note quotation marks) attending a Virginia school. Failing to be able to call eachother by our code names succesfully, we finally came up with the most reasonable excuse for our strange names. The truth. Well...not all of it, but it's mostly true if you think about it. We've just told everyone that they're simply nicknames we call eachother. And I guess most people believed us, because everyone is playing along. Of course, we couldn't tell them everything. We're going with the cover story that Anne is our loving foster mom, who took all of us in. Not only does it cast her in a good light, but it also avoids extreme awkwardness when people bring up the subject of parents and such. We are now allowed to hog the phones all night talking to our friends, take ridiculously long showers, eat ice cream for dinner, and watch saturday morning cartoons just like regular people. You know...regular people who also happen to have a pair of wings sewn onto their backs. Today, though, was not one of those cartoon days. Instead, we were all running around, trying to get ready for school. Ah yes...school. The one drawback to our new life. Everyday, we go to sit in hard chairs that hurt your butt, and listen to teachers with far too much nose hair lecture us on how Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. And the only thing you really learn, is that cafeteria meatloaf does indeed pulsate occasionally, and that the boys bathroom is something to be avoided at all costs. Especially on burrito days. I scrambled down the hall, preparing for such a day, with my bathtowel wrapped securely around me as I skidded around the corner and made a dive for my room. Throwing on a clean t-shirt and a pair of jeans with only a few rips in them, I was quickly out again. When you have a house full of seven people and one dog, you don't have alot of room to spare. I spent the remainder of the morning steering clear of morning breath, avoiding airborn school supplies, and running into people with bits of toast in my mouth.
"Ouch..." I slurred for the third time in the last ten minutes, as I took the sharp corner to the kitchen and slammed into Fang.
"Geeze, Max." he said, rubbing his arm in mock pain. "Watch where you're going. Even--" I cut him off before he could finish.
"I know, I know. Even Iggy has better coordination then I do. Save it for later." I mumbled. He cracked a rare smile and walked off towards the refridgerator, chuckling under his breath. "You've used that one before." I told him, shoving a few notebooks into my already bulging book bag. He slid a glass of orange juice across the counter for me. I grabbed it and gulped it down thankfully. He poured one for himself, and then leaned across the counter.
"I apologize. I'll have to come up with a more original insult to use. I shall ponder that topic during algebra when I have nothing better to do." he said pointedly. I shrugged and splashed him with a bit of the remaining dregs of juice. He blinked for a second, and then dashed for the sink, ready to turn it on full blast and give me a face full. Thankfully, Anne came to the rescue, bustling into the kitchen while trying to pull her shoes on and tie her hair back at the same time.
"Hurry up you guys. We're going to be late. The others are already in the car!" Glancing at the clock, I realized we had about ten minutes to get to school, and made a run for it. I heard Fang following closely behind, slipping a black hoodie and his backpack on at the same time. I know...his skills are never ending. Trust me...he doesn't let me forget it. I slid into the back with Nudge, as it was Gazzy's turn for shotgun. "All right, everyone buckled?" asked Anne, checking over her shoulder to make sure we all had our seatbelts in place. "Okay...off we go."
Ten minutes later, I was pushing through the crowded halls of our middle school, trying to make my way to my locker. Finally, I emerged from the crowd and spun in my locker combination, banging it twice with my fist before it would open. An old trick you have to learn, to deal with these ancient lockers. I hurriedly shoved my stuff inside, running so I wouldn't get caught in the halls after the bell rang. On my way there, I ran into Iggy. Apparently, I had accidentally grabbed his Science notebook. Running late, I practically chucked it at his head and ran, apologizing over my shoulder. My first class of the day was Social Studies with Mr. Vandehei. I slid into my seat next to my tablemate, Brianna, and tried to get organized. Mr. Vandehei took roll call, and then gave us a very boring lecture on none other than Christopher Columbus, on which we were expected to take notes. When the bell finally rang, I felt like all the fun in life had been sucked out during that one, endless lecture. Now you see my pain. I lazily scooped up my books, ready for a quick return trip to my locker to drop my books off, during which I usually meet up with Katie, one of my friends. She's usually the one that stays over to all hours of the night, trying to force my brain to understand algebra. I happen to know she has a crush on Iggy. She blushes everytime he enters the room. Sure enough, there she is, her long, ginger hair in its usual braids resting leisurely on her shoulders. Her pale white skin, and blue eyes stand out and contrast with her hair, but I think she's beautiful in an exotic sort of way. Her smile is always warm and full of laughter. One of my favorite things about her. "Hey." she greets me, tossing the braids behind her shoulders. "What's up?" I shrug, exchanging one set of books for another, and beginning to walk towards the Science room.
"Nothing...Mr. Vandehei seems to expect us to take interest in explorers that can't even read their maps right." I grumbled. She laughed lightly.
"Christopher Columbus, I'm guessing?" I nod, and she laughs some more. In science, we do a lab where we have to grow radish plants in different settings like refrigerators or in dark closets. One boy ends up choking on a radish seed, and has to be sent to the nurse's office. I try not to laugh. My next class (English) is on the other side of the hallway. And crossing a hallway when everyone is changing classes, can actually be quite dangerous. My strategy is to wait by the bathrooms until it clears up a bit, so here I stand, waiting for the midmorning traffic jam to subside. Katie stands by my side patiently as we wait for an opening to appear. I glance over at her, since she's usually best at predicting the best times to jump into the rush, and see her eyes narrow. I cock my head to the side.
"Red alert." she muttered. "Here comes the Wicked witch of the East, West, North and South." I turn my head, and there SHE is. Walking down the hall, surrounded by her usual crowd, her red curls bouncing on her shoulders. I feel my eyes narrow too. She carries an aura around her, and people seem drawn to her. It actually sometimes frightens me. As she walks past, the wind from a fan conveniently blowing her hair, she turns her head slightly, catching eye contact with me. I see her mouth the word "dyke" and quickly give her the finger. I smile sweetly as her own grin slides off of her face.
"Come on...lets get to class." I say, grabbing Katie by the arm and tugging her in the direction of the English room.
"What...a hoecake." She mutters so only I can hear. I laugh darkly and assume my seat next to another one of my friends.
A couple of other classes later, it's time for lunch. I walk alongside Marcie, the girl I sit next to in English, and Ryan, who happens to be one of our lunch table crowd. We joke about the teachers and their nasal voices on the way there. After grabbing my walking taco, which I'm slightly afraid might actually get up and walk away, I head for my usual table, already crowded with my friends. Across the room, I see Fang beckoning me towards him. I set my tray down, and tell everyone I'll be right back before hurrying over to see what was going on. "What's up?" I ask, coming to a halt in front of him. Only a few people stare this time.
"You okay?" he asked. "I saw you in the hall earlier this morning, and you looked really mad about something." The scene with HER flashed before my eyes again. I felt my mouth set into that hard line it assumes when I'm angry or brooding. Fang raises an eyebrow, asking for an explanation.
"Your girlfriend doesn't seem to like me very much..." I growled, before turning to walk away, no longer in the mood to chat. But Fang, being his usual persistent self, grabbed my arm and turned me around. A few more people were starting to stare, looking hopefull. Maybe they were hoping a fight would break out. At least it would be entertaining if I flipped Fang into a table.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." he said, looking confused. "What are you talking about?" I took a deep breath.
"I think you know very well what I'm talking about..." I mumbled, not quite sure if I wanted him to hear me or not. "It's not important..." I say, turning again to go back to my table. All my friends were looking expectantly at me, waiting for me to return with the latest gossip about what was happening. I felt Fang's fingertips graze my elbow, but I kept walking, out of his reach. I take a seat in between Marcie and Katie, and begin picking at my taco, not very hungry anymore.
"What was all that about?" asked Marcie, pushing a strand of her stick-straight dark brown hair behind her triple pierced ears. I shrugged.
"Nothing...he just needed to borrow one of my notebooks for a class. He missed a day, and needed to copy my notes." I told her casually. She raised her eyebrows.
"That's not what it looked like." she said matter of factly. I took another deep breath.
"Well...that's what happened. If you don't believe me, that's your problem." It came out a bit snappier than I had intended it to sound, and I immediately felt bad. Marcie wasn't trying to pry, she was just naturally curious, and hated when people kept secrets from her. It wasn't her fault I was having a crappy day so far. She held up her hands in mock surrender.
"Sorry...didn't mean to offend you." I shook my head to let her know it was fine, and she seemed to get the message, because a few seconds later she was chatting with Ryan, who sat across from her. That's what I like about Marcie. She never takes anything too personally, and she doesn't hold a grudge. Makes life easier, that's for sure. Katie kept glancing at me out of the corner of her eyes, like she just knows something is bothering me, but is too smart to ask about it. Katie is tactfull. A few minutes later, everyone's casual conversation and jokes have me in a better, more relaxed mood. I hear a sudden burst of laughter behind me, and swivel in my seat to see the source of the noise. I'm sorry I looked. There she is, with her little clan of followers. Rich, popular, beautiful. Stereotypical teenage cheerleader. My eyes narrow again. I suppose I should probably explain my absoulte hatred for the girl. This level of dislike doesn't just pop up overnight, it sinks in gradually until it actually makes you sick to look at them. Lissa Morgan. She's the kind of girl that all the parents and teachers like, all the guys want to be with, and all the girls want to be. She's captain of the dance team, and does cheerleading too. She's a straight A student, and she throws magnificent parties. Or so I've been told. She donates to charity, and all the parents think she's innocent, and caring and all the rest of that B.S. Then...there's the side she shows to people she doesn't like. She's bitter, she starts rumors, she talks trash to your face, and she is the school's renowned slut. Only fourteen, and already a slut. And she's proud of it too. Exactly the kind of girl who makes me sick.
"What's up with you today, Max?" asked Ryan. I looked away from Lissa as she descended on her newest prey. A girl sitting at the corner table, reading some sort of thick novel with large, curly letters on the front. She was wearing all black, even her lipstick. Her hair had blue highlights, and her ears and nose were pierced.
"Take a wild guess..." I muttered, looking back at the scene across the lunchroom. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but the girl's eyes started to get misty, and her mouth formed a quivering, hard line. One of the girls that accompanied Lissa grabbed the book from the girl's hands and started to mock read from it. I gritted my teeth, and pushed away from the table. I felt my friends' eyes following me as I stalked across the lunch room towards the girls. I walked right up to the girl who had taken the book and wrapped my hands around it's stiff cover.
"I don't believe this belongs to you." I said icily, yanking it out of her hands and placing it on the table in front of the other girl.
"Oh great, it's you." Lissa moaned. "All the lame in this room is giving me a headache." She rubbed her temples and grinned a bit.
"Oh please, you don't have enough brains to get a headache." I snapped back. Lissa's eyes narrowed and her friends let out an audible gasp. "Now run along, or you'll miss out on the witty conversation your neandethals seem to be having." I pointed towards the parade of guys sprawled out at the table across from us. They all rolled their eyes, seeming to have nothing to say back to me, and wandered of to join their thick skulled football fanatics at the lunch table. I glanced back at the petite girl sitting in front of me. She peered up at me with sultry eyes under a thick layer of eyeliner and shadow. Her tiny nose stud glittered in the big, cafeteria lights. She hadn't touched her food. I glanced back at Fang quickly. He had his nose burried in some homework he had obviously forgotten to finish. Why is he always so blind to everything Lissa does?! It's like the only time he ever notices her is when she's acting all nice and flirting with him. Why can't he just see, just once, what a monster she is?! I sighed and turned my attention back to the girl. "Watcha reading?" I asked casually, sinking down into the seat across from her. She looked surprised for a minute, before getting her vocal cords in proper working order.
"The complete works of Edgar Allen Poe." she said quietly. I nodded, pretending to know who she was talking about.
"I'm Max, by the way." I said, extending my hand. She raised her eyebrows, but took it in her own hand.
"Emily." A one syllable reply. This chick bore a striking resemblance to a certain someone sitting across the room. *Cough* Fang *Cough*. I was trying to find something else to talk about, when she spoke again. "Umm...thanks for standing up for me back there. You had some really good disses." I beamed.
"Happens to be one of my specialties." I said, still grinning. Emily smiled a little bit too. Well...it looked more like the black line of her mouth bent a little bit, but I'll take what I can get. There was an awkward moment of silence after that, as neither of us knew what to say. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, while Emily fooled with the bookmark she used to keep her place in that Edward Alex Poe book, or whatever it was. I glanced at the clock on the wall, and noticed that lunch period was over five minutes ago. The whole place had cleared out except for a few stragglers like us. I pushed out of my seat, and waited for Emily to follow. She didn't seem used to socializing with anybody, and I had never her seen her sitting with anybody at lunch. It took her a few minutes to understand that I wanted to walk with her to class. "I have Gym right now." I told her as we strolled down the hallway. We were already late, so why not take our time?
"Social Studies." she said, back to one syllable phrases again. We parted ways at a fork in the hallway by the water bubbler. I waved a brief goodbye, to which she returned with a nod of her head. As I watched her walk away, I wondered if I had made a new friend of sorts. A very strange friend, but a friend none the less. Her back continued to retreat towards the social studies classroom, and I wondered if she was thinking the same thing. I shrugged, and decided I'd better at least make the end of class. I took off at a run towards the gym locker rooms, hoping I would be able to change quickly and then slip in with the rest of the class like I had been there all along. Katie was in my gym class...she would back me up. I slammed through the locker room door, and smashed right into something tall, hard and florally scented. I fell to the floor, vibrant red and yellow flashing across my line of vision. Peeling my face off of the heavily odorous tiled floor, I realized I had run right into Lissa. Her eyes were harsh and fiery just like her hair. She too had managed to tumble to the chilly ground. This was just plain bad luck. I was having WAY too many run ins with her today. I pulled myself up, trying to recall if I had broken any mirrors or crossed any black cats' paths recently.
"Will you watch where you're going?" she snapped, picking herself up as well.
"Hey...I didn't WANT to run into you." I retorted sourly. "If I could have made a choice between running into you and not running into you, I would have picked the latter option. Lady Luck is obviously peeved with me today for some reason." Lissa was still ice cold. I could feel that aura of hers bubbling behind that pretty skin. A small smile shattered the ice.
"So...How was lunch with the lunatic?" she asked, and it was obvious that the ice was still there. I could practically see her breath.
"I don't recall that I've ever eaten lunch with you, Lissa." My own fiery smirk, seemed to burn some of that icy aura away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to change so I can go play dodgeball with the rest of your pinhead parade." I started to walk deeper into the sweaty depths of the locker room.
"Just stay out of my way, Maximum Ride. I refuse to let anything stop me from getting what I want. So watch out." I rolled my eyes.
"Oh I'm quaking in my squeaky gym shoes!" I called back when I had turned the corner. I pulled off my jeans, and hunted for my shorts. In mid-search, I came across a poster that had been torn off the wall. Must have been recently, 'cause the janitor hadn't collected it yet.
ATSUKO KANAGAWA
LECTURE ON EMPATHY AND ACCEPTANCE ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17.
1:30 P.M.
ALL STUDENTS REQUIRED TO ATTEND
I groaned and crumpled the poster again. That lecture thing was tomorrow. The last thing I need right now is some strange woman preaching to me about difference and empathy. I threw the poster under a bench and found my shorts, shoving them on. I slipped on my gym shoes and then dashed out the door, ready to be armed with a dodgeball and kick some serious ass.
A/N: Yawn...it's late. Anyways, I hope you liked it. This idea's been floating around in my head for a couple months now, and I decided it was now or never. I haven't seen a fanfic like this yet, so I decided to give everyone a break from the usual. You know...Max and Fang go around with the gang, discover their true feelings for eachother, and then Fang gets some action. Well...I'm not saying this story won't contain Fax. It will, just not an overload of it. Tell me how ya liked it. Thanks for reading. I had an interesting time home alone. My day consisted of a medical drama marathon (House! The best of them all!) and a chainsaw massacre, malibu barbie addition. :)
In Random News:
Pete Wentz shaved his beautiful hair. No!!!
Also, have any of you heard that new Hollywood Undead song? Everywhere I Go? Well...that song has awful lyrics, but its freaking catchy, and now I can't stop listening to it!!! Help me!
And....Lady Gaga spoke out at the Gay Rights Rally in Washington D.C. Yay!!!! Watched the video of her speech, and I just have one thing to say. You go, girl! I'm glad people are speaking out about this. I especially loved the rainbow flags. Haha. Wanted to go to this thing, but I don't live anywhere near Washington D.C. :( So...Lady Gaga. You have my blessing.
*My Blessing*
See ya guys later! And remember...Review!!! Please, please. Um...everytime you review, you save a cat. So...Save a cat...Review.