Nobody told Max she was our mom. She just decided that she knew more then us because...I don't really know why. Fang and I are the same age as her; we've all experienced the same things. But since she's 'mommy dearest' she knows best.
But what she doesn't know is we don't think of her as a mom. Not even Angel.
Max is our leader but she's not my mom.
So we don't want to tell her but, we don't call ourselves "Iggy Ride" or "Fang Ride"

But oopsie I forgot, she's not Fang's mom. She's a mom until you get hot apparently. I wonder what it would be like if I got hot, would I go from son to bf material?
Probably not, I don't brood enough. Or write angsty poetry. Poor Fang, poor Fang. He's attractive, has the girl of his dreams and oh I don't know, SIGHT?
Back to my name. I'm not Iggy Ride. Nudge isn't Nudge Ride. Angel isn't Angel Ride and Gazzy isn't The Gasman Ride. Seriously, that sounds like a gross roller coaster.
We decided our own names.
It first popped up when we were with Anne Walker. Max was complaining.
Imagine that!
But she had come to me, which was odd. Normally she uses Fang or the Voice as her shoulder to cry (read: bitch) on. But Fang was busy not dating her and she was busy not dating him. So she came to me. I was sitting on my bed listening to my new iPod. God I miss that thing...
I was listening to Pink Floyd. They seriously are an awesome band.
But back to more important things...Max. She came in and tapped me on the shoulder.
" Hey Ig." she said a bit softly. I turned down my music. I sat up and looked in the direction of her voice. I felt the mattes sink down and a small squeak of the bed frame as she sat next to me. I adjusted my gaze so it was, what I hoped, was more accurate.

"Uh hey. Sup?" I heard her let out a little sigh.

"How do you like it here?"

"Its pretty cool I guess. Not having to search through dumpsters for food is a definite plus." I half joked. It was the truth. Having an iPod was also a plus, my own room, even certain things about school; well it was more like certain people at school.

"Going to school? You actually like that?" She asked. She was trying to draw some sort of complaint out of me. Well you don't have to be subtle about it Max, just ask about me how that sunset was.

" I like the audio textbooks. They make me feel special." I hoped to get a laugh from her but she wasn't in a laughing sort of mood I guess.

"What about, Anne." She basically whispered 'Anne'. Anne? Seriously? She was pissed off at Anne? Yeah, the school uniform kind of sucked, so did chores and homework but it was kind of counteracted by the food and house!

"She's cool. I mean, she gave us her house, pays for clothes and food. She's awesome." I told her. Looking back, her face was probably twisted into a scowl.

"Yeah, but I did that stuff too." She had a point.

"That's why it's so great; you get to relax a bit." I pointed out. She always tries to be in charge and 'motherly'. She's got a stick up her ass.

Going to a toy store doesn't make you a kid. Blowing up the Lego section, that makes you a kid.

"Well I don't want to. This is my flock! She can't just try to replace me." She snapped.

"She's not replacing you; she's just being a mom." I didn't like where this was going. I could sense it in my gut what she was getting at.

"Yeah, that's my job."

"Look Max, she's not replacing you. Nobody wants Anne flying around when we decide to bust out of here." I half lied. Nobody did want Anne to come with. I knew I didn't but…I also didn't really want to leave.

"Thanks Ig." She gave me a little punch in the shoulder. As I heard her leave I tried to lower the bile in my throat. Max? My Mom? She was an older sister of sorts but mom? Ug still thinking about it gives me the creeps.

I started to talk to Gazzy about the "mom" thingie. Maybe because I was the same age as her that I didn't think of her as my….mom.

"Max? A Mom? No way." He said with a bit of a laugh.

"She thinks she is." I told him. We were watching TV, well I was listening and every once in awhile Nudge would explain an elaborate outfit she liked to me. I was on the couch and talking to Gazzy semi-privately. I knew Angel and Nudge could hear me, but they knew they weren't supposed too.

"So I'm like her son? Weird!" Gazzy cried shuddering. I nodded in agreement.

"Hey Iggy! Alex is wearing this really pretty dress, it's like a purple blue mix. But not indigo, the colors are separate and swirled around each other. She's got on some really cute black shoes; they're kind of like flip-flops but flip flop heels…" I looked over at her with a very bored expression.

"Do you think Max is your mom?" I asked her. She was quiet. I could hear her chewing on the tips of her nails.

"Sort of…I know she's not my real mom but she kind of acts like a mom…or well…I don't know what a mom should act like, you know? When I imagine a mom I think of somebody more like Anne not Max. She's my big sister." She decided. Angel, naturally, had a mouthful to say about Max.

"She thinks she's our mom because she thinks she's so much smarter then us. She's not even that good of a leader. I don't think Anne is my mom either though. I love them but…"

"She's not our mom." I concluded. I thought with that this whole 'mom' situation would stop. We would just be the flock again you know? But did the bitching stop there? Of course not! So after awhile when Fang was to busy dating somebody that wasn't Max and Max was to busy dating somebody that wasn't Fang, Max came with a new arsenal of complaints.

"So you still like the school thing right…?"

"No, in the past week I have realized you are completely right and I hate it completely." I snarked. "It's fine Max. Why? Having boys through themselves at you getting to annoying?"

"Shut up." She said I could sense the blush building on her cheeks. "I was talking about the whole new name thing."

"Being called Max is too hard to adjust too?" I asked. Nudge was adding to her name every other day. At Tiffany-Crystal Monique Luna Ashley the teacher had to give Anne a call about making sure her child knows her own name. I got a few Iggy the Iguana remarks but because I was blind I kind of get a 'get out of jail' card when it comes to bullies.

"I meant being called Iggy Walker. That isn't weird to you?" It was weird to her? Pretending to be human and normal-ok. But a different last name is where you draw the line?

"…no…" I heard a huff escape her lips.

"I mean, I know we don't use last names that often but Max Walker is just so different then Max Ride! I hate it!" She cried a little louder then she should have because Anne began to walk towards my room. I could hear the soft padding of her feet.

"Max? Iggy? Is everything alright? It's a bit past bedtime." She said a little stern.

"Its ok, Max was just tucking me in and checking for monsters under my bed. We'll be done in a minute." I knew Anne was trying not to smile.

"Ok but remember there's school tomorrow!" The door clicked shut and the bed squeaked. Max had gotten off.

"Well g'night Ig." She began to walk away.

"Wait!" I called as I situated myself in bed.

"What?" She asked. I pointed at what I'm pretty sure was the closet.

"Make sure there are no monsters!" the door slammed shut. Touchy. Some mom she was.

But that instance got me thinking…what was my last name? Was it Ride? Walker? Buehler?...Buehler?

I decided to talk about it with Tess. The next day at school, she normally led me to my classes. She was just about as tall as me, which was pretty cool. I felt like I was walking around in Munchkinland sometimes when she wasn't there.

"So who are some famous blind people?" I asked her after she poked me in the stomach.

"Hello to you too." She said dryly. Another nice thing about Tess, she speaks sarcasm as well.

"Seriously. My self-esteem low. Help me out here." She tugged me along as we walked towards our first period class.

"Iggy, I've told you before-you're not fat! You're beautiful the way you are." She said making me chuckle a bit. "Well Helen Keller. Obviously. Stevie Wonder….Ray Charles…a few other black musicians…" She trailed off. She had just told a joke, I could tell by the sound of her voice trailing off. She does that whenever I don't get a reference.

"Stevie Wonder?" I asked.

"Yeah, you know, that piano player." I shook my head. She sighed.

"He sings Sir Duke, Superstitious…" She tried to explain.

"I listen to Pink Floyd and Radiohead. That's it." I reminded her. She was the one that introduced me to those bands, something I will always remember her for.

"Music is a world within it's self. It's a language we all understand ba-doom-boom-boom…" She tried to sing it for me. Emphasis on the word tried.

"Wow Tess, why the hell aren't you choir? That was so beautiful." I said sarcastically containing a laugh.

"Oh shut up!" She said pushing me a bit.

"Hey you can't shove me-I'm blind" I mocked offence. I tried to shove her back.

"You can't shove me I'm a girl!" She said giggling dodging my hand. My stomach twisted a little when she laughed.

I decided to look up this Wonder guy(no pun intended). He had some cool music, that's coming from a musical retard though. He was blind and he wrote these songs, learned to play the piano-and he freaking rocked! He was much cooler then the first woman astronaut. No offense Sally Ride but Stevie Wonder is a bit more inspiring to the visually impaired.

Iggy Wonder.

It sounds cheesy but it's who I am.

Sorry Max.

This just sort of came to me. I don't know why but I always thought Max's mom phase was weird and Iggy Ride just feels wrong to me. I'll continue and give the other's their own names if you guys want me too.