Chapter 1: Weird Day

Max POV

"Max! You better get your ass down this aisle this instant, or else you'll have a makeup session with me! Now, god damnit!"

Considering the fact that my sister Ella had screamed all that in a public shop, the disapproving stares we got from adults weren't that surprising. Although it could have been worse…

I can imagine the parents scolding Ella: "Language, young lady!" and scooting us out. And you know what? That is exactly what happened - we got kicked out of the fricking shop.

Oh, the joy of having a sister. Please, please note the obvious sarcasm.

… But I still love her. Sometimes. Yes, she can get me into hell of a lot of trouble sometimes, and she has a thing for makeup and fashion (puke), but she's hard-core and kick-ass. She did learn from the best. Moi.

You see, I'm not the average teenage girl. I don't have wings protruding out of my back or anything, but that is about the only thing that relates me to all the other girls on earth. While females flutter over guys like Taylor Lautner, I do taekwondo. While they paint their nails, I re-sculpt my karate opponent's face. And if you haven't noticed yet… I am NOT like those $lut$ either… they disgust me. I mean, isn't it illegal to have a skirt that barely covers your underwear?

I have started to babble. This is what moving does to me.

Moving from sunny California to Arizona was a total surprise. I had a well–earned reputation in my old school, and nobody dared to confront me. I guess I was lonely… who am I kidding! I'm Maximum Ride; tough, unbreakable and hard-core. Years of soccer, track, martial arts, gymnastics, surfing and swimming can do that to you. Or it's just how I am. Fighting my fricking dog to get to the freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies. Key word: freshly-baked. Can't get better than that…

Move away from the chocolaty dream, Max. Go on. Slowly, now. Don't start drooling.

Anyway, I rush out of the clothing store, silently thanking the manager for kicking us out. Ella, being the obnoxious sister she is, had literally dragged me there to buy what she called 'first day of school' clothes. I call it 'uncomfortable as hell' clothes. You see the difference?

On our way to my mom's car, Ella, in her infuriated state of mind, doesn't bother to look where she's going. Said lunatic bumps into a trash can, tilting it into a worrying angle. Uh oh. All the rubbish – tissues (used, most likely), cans, paper and… is that a fish I see? – tumble onto Ella. Being the generous (or just not the 'Eek! Eww!') type of girl I am, I help her to her feet. Dressed in a red tank top, jeans and black ballet flats, she looks like a normal 15 year old girl. But if you stood near her, you could smell the strong stench. Oh, boy. She needs a shower, pronto. And that's coming from me, who probably won't mind going into a sewer if utterly necessary.

"Shit!" Ella hisses under her breath. She screams, her bad mood still not behind her. "Where the hell is mom's car? Let's just go home already."

With that, she stomps off into the direction of a black BMW sedan. I follow her, keeping my distance. She only gets like this when it comes to… ultra-frustrating things. Unlike me, who has mood swings probably 24/7.

In the corner of my eye, I see a flash of blue behind me. It was very close. With my lightning quick reflexes, I back flip and then throw a perfect roundhouse kick towards my attacker. Hard. I turn to face a surprised guy, clutching his stomach. From what my conversed feet felt, he had a pretty hard stomach. He was tall, looking about Ella's age, with strawberry blond hair that fell slightly onto his eyes. They were sky blue, staring at me in shock. He was the typical wonder-boy. So not my type.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Iggy Colt. You must be new here." He said, panting slightly. Aww, the poor boy is recovering slowly.

I scrutinize the hand he had outstretched. He didn't look too harmful.

"Hey. I'm Max. I moved from California with my sister Ella, the one who fell on top of the trash can," at this he smirks, "and my family."

He nods. "You guys are going to Westwood High, right? (MADE UP school, ya'll!) It's the closest school here."

"Yeah. I think we're going there." I pause, seeing Ella still standing at the car door, tapping her foot impatiently. "I better go. See you around."

I run back to mom's car, not bothering to look at the weirdly-named guy. What a way to start the year.

*Time lapse to HOME!*

Mother's profile:

NAME: Valencia Martinez

OCCUPATION: Veterinarian, best choc chip cookie maker in the universe. No kidding.

FINANCIAL STATUS: Filthy rich. But is kind-hearted. She's a doctor for crying out loud!

NOTES: Divorced from my lunatic of a dad, who is a serial killer just because he would rather be in jail than be at home. (There are actually people that do this!) She is much happier without him anyway.

"Who was that boy you were talking to?" The above mother asks.

"Iggy Colt." Is all I say, because I'm fricking eating choc chip cookies here!

A clean Ella suddenly pops her head through the kitchen door. "He's cute."

I say something that sounds eerily like: 'I don't fucking care.' But she probably doesn't hear me.

"He has such dreamy hair, I bet its shampooed, like, every day. And did you see those abs?"

As a matter of fact, I kicked those said abs, but I don't say anything. Maybe her 'gorgeous guy in town!' rant will calm her mood… I don't even know why she was so cranky today.

"- and he has those eyes that you can look into for the whole – MAX! Did you just finish the whole plate of those cookies?"

"Yep." I pop the 'p'.

"Don't worry, Ells. I planned ahead." With a wink, my mom brings in another tray of cookies out the oven.

"I'm going to go into the room to pack some stuff."

When I arrive at my bedroom, I take a look around. Let's just say it wasn't the most exciting place yet. On one side is a window seat, directly next to our new neighbor's window. I just hope it isn't a guy living there…

I have an en-suite bathroom, a bed, and a big table. My walls were cream-colored. That needs to change soon. I pick up a huge brush and dip it into the ready container of blue paint. After two walls done, the others were painted – no, not PINK! – black.

I survey the room now. Looks good to me. Really good, actually.

I pack my closet, which now consists of jackets, jeans (not skinny. Hell no), tee shirts, running shorts, and converses. After changing into light blue shorts, I head downstairs.

Mom, after seeing me in my running attire, doesn't say anything. I run almost every day, just to clear my head.

Outside in the clear, cool air, I start to go around the corner. I know where the school is, but I don't run there. It's actually quite far, but not for me. Yet, I still don't go. Going to school tomorrow is already too soon. I'm not planning to be seen today, even though school shouldn't have even started yet.

I continue to run with the steady beat of Eminem. I lose track of time, I lose myself. Thinking about how my new life will be, what people are like, I don't hear the sound of footsteps matching my own. Trying to look as if I still haven't noticed, I continue to listen. I round a corner so quick, I hear the guy falter his step for a moment. Then he follows.

But, obviously, I'm better than that. I don't run away, I attack. The second I see him round the corner, I tackle him skillfully to the ground. I dug my knees into a rock hard chest. It was even harder than that guy Iggy's.

"Why does this happen so often today?" I mutter, not in the least worried about my prisoner. He's wearing all black clothes, matching his black hair and eyes. Oh god, those eyes. Onyx, but with flecks of gold? Amazing. Not to mention his hot body.

Ahem, I mean… because he's wearing so much black, he must be hot. With the sun's light attracting to darker colors and all.

Slapping myself mentally, I clear away those thoughts. I stare the guy down, and, surprisingly, he looks calm. What the fuck? No-one is calm under the wrath of Max Ride.

"Hello. Please, get off of me." Wow, man of few words, huh?

I don't move.

"Very well."

Before I can even create a confused face, he flips us around. Am I that light?

"Oof." Yeah. I lost my breath for so many reasons. This stranger guy was now on top of me, with his hands beside my waist, push-ups style. His black bangs flop onto his eyes.

He smirks down at me, but doesn't say anything. As suddenly as that came, he's face has no emotion at all; a statue facade.

He stands up easily. That guy sure has some muscular arms, legs, stomach and, well, everything. I wait for him to speak, but I know already that he isn't the type to start conversation. Neither am I.

Weirdly, however, I really want to know this guy. So I just stand there, staring him down. He does the same. Are we both sizing each other up? Just because we want to have the other person start talking first? Wow. What a weird day.

Fang POV!

After I drive home from soccer, I decide to go for a quick run. Yes, I am doing even more running after my 4 hour soccer training. Sport helps me think.

Tomorrow will be the start of my junior year. Hopefully, after the break, Lissa won't be as, well, clingy. Most of the time, I'd continue to ignore her. But if I do… she keeps hurting the few friends I have. We have a huge friendship group, but I don't socialize very well, only to the ones closest to me.

No. I'm a manly guy, and fretting over Lissa is not something I should be doing.

I put on some black running shorts and head out. The sun has started to set. I start off slowly, listening to music on my black iPod player. After only half way around my area, though, I spot a girl running as well. She was wearing blue shorts that, thankfully, were of sensible length. Her hair was tied in a messy ponytail, something I wouldn't see very often. Nudge always took ages in the bathroom just to go out shopping for the groceries.

I see all these details so easily because she's hardly moving. By that, I mean that her head doesn't bob up and down from exertion, whilst she is going at super speed. Actually, she looked really calm and easy. And as I slowly gained up to her, she wasn't panting one bit.

Suddenly, she rounds the corner. That girl has some killer agility skills.

My step falters, until I decide to go after her. Maybe meeting another person would be a good thing, although it wouldn't be easy.

Something tackles me down onto the pavement. Oh, it's that girl. Does she do martial arts or something? For such a slender girl… she was pretty strong. As I thud against the path, knees – most likely belonging to this killer girl – drive into my abs. if I weren't as, if I do say so myself, muscular, I swear it would have hurt like hell.

She's really light. While she sits on top of me, her brown/ blond hair falls onto her eyes, swept across her sweatless forehead. I heard her say under her breath something like: 'Why does this happen so often today?' Does she always go ninja on people?

I look up at her and see her staring at me. I notice a slight shake of her head, so small only I could see it.

I try to play nice. "Hello. Please, get off of me."

She doesn't move at all. "Very well." The hard way it is.

Without second thoughts, I lightly flip us around. I had my arms next to her sides on the ground, pushing myself up, careful not to squish her. She takes a sharp intake of breath, and I smirk down at her. At this angle, she was actually quite beautiful…

I remain emotionless. I get up easily, and she does the same. A lingering uncertainty fills the air, along with awkwardness. Strangely, I have an urge to introduce myself, something I don't easily do. I don't have a clue what to say, so I wait for her to speak up first. When I catch her gaze, I hold it. She doesn't speak either. I internally groan. Both of us not speaking? Not good.

With an exasperated sigh, the girl starts to talk. "Hi. I'm Max, and I just moved here. Mind telling me why you were following me?"

I merely smirk. "Who said I was following? People can jog on the same path, can they not?"

She scoffs. "Whatever you say… wait. I didn't catch you name."

"Fang."

"Why are there so many weird as hell names in Arizona?"

"…Like who?"

"I met a guy called Iggy today… do you know him?"

I nod. This is the most I've spoken to a stranger since… well, forever. "We're close," I say at the mention of my childhood friend.

"Cool. Do you live around here? Seeing as you were 'not stalking me'," She rolls her chocolate brown eyes simultaneously while putting on air quotes.

"Yeah. "

"Okay, then. I better go. See you around."

With a wave, she jogs down the road towards a big, luxurious house. As a matter of fact… I live right next to it.

So I hope you guys liked it! Constructive criticism is fine, but not too much please. I read fan fictions more than I write them, so please tell me what ya think! And i know for a fact that the next few chappies are going to be waay better. I promise. And I love humour, so i will try to put as much into this story as possible!

X Random Dude

PS: Do you find it weird that I work better when it's raining? :D