Oh my gosh. I finally have my first chapter up! I thought this day would never come (insert happy sigh)... Anyway, I really hope you like my story...I worked really hard on it...sooooo...yeah.

Disclaimer: I, Poetry of a Bird Kid, do not own Maximum Ride....(bursts into tears) CURSE THIS CRUEL, CRUEL WORLD!!!

Max POV

"…and it was so cool! The food was alright, I guess, but I've never seen a restaurant with a fountain. And did you see the lights? I can't believe…"

"Nudge," I interrupted her. She was blabbering about this fancy restaurant we'd been to. Again. "You've told us about the lights four times."

Her dark eyebrows scrunched together. "I did?"

"Yes. You did," I replied, closing my eyes and rubbing my temples.

"They were shaped like flowers, right?" Gazzy chimed in.

"Yeah…" Nudge mumbled, sounding disappointed that she couldn't share her story with anyone. Bummer.

"You haven't told us about the wallpaper yet," offered Angel, picking the topic right out of Nudge's head.

Because we just need to hear about something we've already seen, I thought dryly as she launched into a detailed description of the wall furnishings. Oh, well. At least it will make her feel better.

You really love her, said my oh-so-helpful Voice.

Duh, I replied. I love everybody in the flock. My thoughts drifted over to Fang, and I watched him gliding smoothly through the sky with his strong, black, sexy…wait. Just forget I said that.

You know you love him, my Voice said. In a way that you don't love the rest of the rest of the flock.

You're being ridiculous, I replied stubbornly. That's me. Never-cave-in Max. Take that, Voice.

Max, I'm inside your head. I know you as well as you know yourself, it said, trying to reason with me. If you've read any of my books, you know that reasoning has about the same effect on me as a flyswatter has on a T-rex. Not that I'm trying to compare myself to a dinosaur or anything.

Why did you decide to randomly appear in my head again? I snapped.

I just wanted to tell you that you should be keeping an eye out for a place to sleep. It's getting dark out. I waited for it to tell me something I didn't already know, but the voice was silent. What the heck was that?? That couldn't be it. My voice was always giving me confusing riddles, not annoying me with the obvious! Something was seriously up, and I was going to figure it out.

Voice? I yelled in my head. There was no reply. You better tell me what you're up to, I threatened uselessly.

I suggest you take my advise, Maximum, was the only answer I got. Of course. Sighing, I gave up my futile attempt to struggle answers out of my almost-as-stubborn-as-me Voice. But, knowing that it's usually right, I motioned for the flock to dive below the clouds.

"What are we doing?" asked Iggy as he flew up beside me.

"We're looking for a place to sleep."

Preferably a cave, my voice added.

I conveyed the message to Iggy, who looked at me like I'd grown two heads. Not that he'd be able to see it if I did.

"Since when do you have preferences?" he asked incredulously. Usually, when it comes to places to stay, if it's hidden, has an easy escape route, and is big enough to accommodate the flock, it's as good as any fancy-schmancy hotel (well, maybe not as comfortable, but you get the point).

"Since now. So tell everybody to start looking," I commanded in the most Max-ish voice I could manage. As soon as we were below the clouds, I did a quick 360 and saw Fang do the same. After about 10 minutes of very unproductive searching, I felt him come up behind me.

"Let's go back up into the clouds," he said. "There's someone sitting near that cave. He pointed, and I followed his finger. Well what do you know. Even though there weren't any trails for miles and miles, there was a little girl sitting by herself at the mouth of a nearby cave. As soon as I began to angle myself upwards, and motion for the flock to do the same, I was interrupted.

Go down there and see what's happening, my Voice commanded. Fang saw my hesitation and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Voice," I explained. He nodded.

This better be good, I mumbled in my head without, of course, getting a reply. After motioning for the flock to land out of sight of the cave, we crept through the trees until we could hear the quiet sobbing of the girl in question. I would be crying too if I found myself in the middle of nowhere without wings…or maybe I wouldn't. Hard to say.

Anyway, I was close enough to tell that the girl was around Angel's age, which is somewhere in the six range. What was a girl so young doing in the middle of nowhere by herself? My question was partially answered when I heard quick footsteps coming out of the cave.

"Skye," an older girl's voice said. "Get in the cave. Now." The tone of her voice made my blood run cold. She didn't say like I would have. You know, in a do-it-or-I'll-kick-your-sorry-butt sorta way. This girl sounded scared and desperate, like a monster was on their tail and they had nowhere else to run. After doing several panicked 360s, Angel came up beside me and tugged on my sleeve.

"Max," she whispered urgently.

"What is it, sweetie?" I managed to say without completely losing my nerve.

"They're just like us. They know about the School."

(insert big dramatic BUM-BUM-BUM) So...did yous likes it? I promise that it will pick up the pace!!!! Just keep reading; it won't kill you...

This is my first ever fanfic by the way. I didn't tell you that at the beginning because I was really afraid that you'd judge me....Well, anyways, you know what to do! Review! NOW!!!!.....okay that was creepy. Just do it. If you do, I'll love you thiiiiis much (holds out arms in a really bad Fang impersonation). Please feel free to correct me on, like, grammar, spelling, and all that jazz...or heavy metal. Jazz is just to calm, don't you think? Oh, well.