A/N Hello! This is my first fan fiction so please don't hate. I'm typically a Mylan fan but I'm going Fax with this one. Please don't ask me to kill off Maya or Dylan in some unreasonable accident because I love both of them and will give them happy things like cookies! Everything will be in Max's POV unless it says otherwise. Sorry for any OOC!

Also, I'm sorry for those who've never been to Massanutten. I'll try to make it less confusing but it's basically just an all seasons resort.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Maximum Ride, the Flock or anything to do with Massanutten

"Done by two, Max," Dr. Martinez demands, handing me the keys to the ski lift.

"Three," I correct, backing out of the room, and allowing the crisp winter air to rush inside the Ski Lodge.

"Two thirty or I'll take the snowboard!" she calls as I rush outside to meet Iggy and Dylan at the bunny slope lift.

"Ready for the warm up, Max?" Iggy stands up, one shoe buckled to his electric blue snowboard. His long strawberry blonde hair is tucked underneath his helmet and his pale blue eyes are hidden behind copper tinted goggles.

"Ready to beat your sorry ass into next week? You bet!" I toss the keys to Dylan and he jams it into the key hole. Slowly but surely, the ski lift cranks to life and the gigantic wheel begins to turn the cable.

"Let's start this party!" Dylan whoops along with Iggy. I quickly strap a boot to my graffitied snowboard and line up beside Ig to ride up. Not ten minutes later, I rush down Diamond Jim, plowing through the snow, flanked by my two best friends, doing what I loved more than life. Snowboarding.

"What size shoes?" The teenager stands behind the counter looking extremely bored. He picks his nails and slouches so his shoulders are hunched over. Sometimes I work here, but never at the shoe rentals.

"I'm a size 4. Right, Dylan? And I'm going skiing!" Angel's blonde curls bounce as she tries to peer over the counter. The teenager just gazes blankly at Angel and trudges behind the racks to get her boots. Dylan holds his sister's hand, and smiles at her angelic face. "One day, I'm gonna snowboard like you and Max and Iggy!" she pipes, grinning widely. The bored teen reappears and shoves the crappy ski boot rentals into Dylan's arms. I lead Angel to sit at a bench while Dylan hands me a boot to put on her feet.

"So you're hanging with Ange today?" I ask Dylan, buckling the boot so it fits snug against Angel's ankles. Angel babbles on to a flustered bystander.

"Yeah," he replies and shakes his dark, honey blonde hair into his eyelashes. His cerulean blue eyes find mine. "I'll probably be on Southern Comfort the whole day. But I'll ride with you tonight?"

I nod. "Nudge and Ella are coming too." Angel scampers over to the Rental line and hops up and down like a bunny in fox den.

Dylan stands up, nodding and picking up Angel's fluffy pink Uggs and helmet. "Well, have fun, Maxie," he smiles and strides towards Angel who squeals in happiness. I smile back and head to the back of the store into the employee room. While I'm here I might as well get some work done.

Let's get some things straight before we move on. My name's Maximum. Call me Max or I'll find you and stab you in your sleep. I'm fifteen years old and I live in the Massanutten Resort. Oh the benefits of your dad owning the Ski Slope. Of course I don't ski though. How incredibly boring. I snowboard and I have been for almost ten years now. My father is Jeb Batchelder. He pretty much own all of Massanutten. Pretty sweet. And that gives me and the flock, pretty much unlimited access to everything on the mountain. The Flock is what my friends and I call ourselves. There's Iggy Griffiths who is pretty much the coolest guy ever and his brother Gazzy (don't ask). Iggy was a pretty tall guy with strawberry blond hair. He's color blind so I suggest you don't shove anything red or green in his face. He tries not to let it bother him and sometimes you just forget 'cause he's so funny and sarcastic. Then there's Dylan Martinez. Dylan and I are pretty much the leaders of the flock, of course he's after me. We've been friends since as long as I can remember. Just recently our parents have started dating. Talk about awkward.

Next we have the more mellow members of the flock. Monique "Nudge" Williams is the only one of us who doesn't snowboard or ski, but we still consider her part of the gang. And holy chocolate chips, that girl can talk! She can go from IHOP to Rihanna in 0.2 seconds flat on a can of Mountain Dew. Ella Martinez, Dylan's sister, doesn't snowboard but she skis. Gazzy says its because she's too afraid but it doesn't faze her. Did I mention her huge, and obvious crush on Iggy? Angel is Dylan's other, younger sister. She isn't really part of the flock "officially" but she's so sweet, she has a guaranteed spot.

I take off my jacket in the back room as Nudge walks into the room behind me. "Hi Max! Did you see that girl who fell off the ski lift? She broke her leg and a helicopter just came to pick her up! OMG! You see? That's exactly why I don't snowboard with you guys! It's extremely dangerous and scary!"

I smile and slap a hand over her mouth. "Breathe!" I tell her and she looks at me with eager, sparkling eyes.

I let go and she takes a huge breath. "Did you see the new guy come in here?" She asks me excitedly.

I raise my eyebrow at her incredulously, "We're at a ski resort, Nudge. There's always new people."

She shakes her head animatedly and tries to pull me out the door. Of course me being 5'6'' prevented her from doing anything too bad. "No, Max! This guy is new new! I've never seen him from anywhere and he's so flipping gorgeous! He's so tall and handsome! Try and fit his skis or something!"

Nudge tries pushing me instead and I scoff. "I'm not going to fit his skis to get his number. I'm Maximum Batchelder. I do not need a number from anyone." Of course, being the pushover I am, I walk to the counter anyways. I swipe a can of Mountain Dew from the table before I walk into the smell of feet and snow. "I don't see anyone," I tell Nudge as she pushes the person beside me away to take their spot.

"Hurry, Max! Call him over before someone else does!" Nudge leans over the counter and looks around. I roll my eyes as she shouts, "Over here!"

I instantly regret coming here as a guy strides over, fitted in warm, black snow gear and tailed by a girl my age who is carrying a white and pink splattered snowboard. I pop open the can and gulp down a mouthful coolly, not taking my eyes off him as the guy silently slides his forms over the counter. He really is handsome. He's taller than me, probably a little less than six feet. Long locks of dark hair spill over his eyes and- his eyes. No! Bad Max! I clear my throat and play it cool. "Well, you're obviously snowboarding. Do you know what size?" I ask him, proud that my voice doesn't shake or wobble.

"Uhm..." He mumbles. The girl part of me wants to giggle adoringly and the reasonable, Max side wants to roll my eyes and call him an idiot. "Maya?" He asks turning to the girl behind him.

"170." She says walking up to stand beside him.

I narrow my eyes and size him up. Yep. That'd be too big if he's a beginner, which I'm assuming he is. "How tall are you?" I ask him.

"5'10"," he says quietly. His obsidian eyes seek out mine underneath his dark curtain of soft, black-bad Max!

I shake my head at his friend, "Maya". "He's a beginner, right?" She nods narrowing her eyes. "Then that'd be a little too big, and harder for him to ride. I'll give him a 160," I say already turning around to find the right board. I can practically hear Maya seething because I contradicted her. It sucks for her if she wants to give her boyfriend a broken arm. I pull out a dark colored board to match his outfit a little better than the blue ones and place it on the counter. "Regular or goofy?" I ask him.

The guy rubs his neck uncomfortably and I roll my eyes. I usually have to do this with beginners. I sigh and hop over the counter. Maya and the guy both look at me weird until I push the guy away, hard. "Nick!" Maya gasps and turns to glare at me. Nick, who hasn't even fallen over, throws out his right foot to catch himself. He turns to glare at me so hard, I force myself to look away.

Nudge, who has been quiet and watching the whole time, jumps up and shouts, "Goofy!"

I jump the counter again and grab the bindings and put them in the goofy position. "What the hell was that?" Nick growls angrily.

I sigh over dramatically. "Regular is snowboarding with your left foot in the front binding and goofy is with your right in front. If you don't know that, I suggest you stick with skiing on the bunny slope, dip-wad," I say in a mono-tone voice.

Nick slams his hand on the counter making me look up and glare at him. He stares back angrily. "You wait until I report this to your boss," he threatens.

Nudge and I start laughing at this poor guy who has no idea who my boss is. Maya looks at us weirdly and Nick steps back, thoroughly confused. I wipe a fake tear from my eye and say very seriously, "My boss is my dad. So good luck with that, Nick." I draw out his name in a sneer but I don't get a reaction out of him. Before I hand him the snowboard, I turn the front binding, straight and not slightly crooked like it should be. Then I hand is to him sweetly. "Have a nice day."

Maya gives me a wicked look before exiting the shop behind Nick. As soon as they leave, Nudge's mouth drops open. "You just- you-"

"Yes I did," I confirm. I turned the binding to see how well he rides. Like a test. Maybe, just maybe, I'm considering Nick to be in the Flock.

Nudge shakes her head like she has water in her ear. "He didn't even know what "regular or goofy" meant! I bet his girlfriend doesn't even know how to board!"

"Okay, okay. Let's just wait and find out." I move back to the employee room. "Let's find Iggy and watch him from the Lodge. I bet he'll be taking lessons and we'll be able to see."

"No effing way," Nudge gasps looking out the window. We just plopped into our private lounge. Again- the perks. The small studio above the Ski Lodge serves as the Flock's private hangout aka the Nest. I know, I know. I wanted to change the name but Gazzy and Iggy were set on naming it the Nest. And so it stuck. Cue pissed face.

It isn't that big anyway. Big enough for a flat screen TV, a love seat, couple bean bags, and some empty space to the side for our boards and gear. Not to mention that we sleep here sometimes.

"What?" I ask tying up my boring brown hair into a messy bun.

Nudge is staring out at the teaching slope and pointing to a group off to the side, sitting on the snow, legs extended and one foot blinded to their boards. She points to one of the figures. "That's Nick, in the black North Face Jacket."

I squint hard and see the distinctive long hair and angular face. "Holy chocolate chips, so what?"

Nudge looks at me like I'm the dumbest person on Earth. "That's Iggy!"

"Why the hell is Iggy taking lessons?" I say confused. Then I look closer and see the students circled around that color blind idiot. "Oh, Nudge, I'm gonna go see if Igs needs some help with all those kids." Nudge squeals excitedly and whips out her phone, probably sending Ella a picture. I leave Nudge with her phone and slide to the back of the room and pull on my white snow pants and red North Face jacket. I lean down to pick up my snow board and slide down the swirly stairs leading down behind the members lounge area. For my fourteenth birthday last year I had gotten a customized snowboard from the Flock. It has everyone's name signed on it in electric colors and bizarre handwriting and even paint ball splatters.

I walk outside in front of the Teaching slope and I pull on my white helmet and dark tinted goggles. The sun shines brightly off the snow and chilly breezes blow it off the ground. I trudged onto the slope and towards Iggy's group. "Shift your weight on your toes!" He yells and then pushes a student to a start. They go about four yards and then pull to a shaky stop. Iggy turns to the next nervous kid and then sees me. "Hey, Maxie-poo!"

I bump his fist, grinning as the kids stare at me awkwardly. "I just felt like helping you out today, pretty big group."

Iggy smirks at me like he doesn't believe me and I grin back and start strapping on my snowboard. "Guys, this is Max. She loves chocolate chip cookies and Mountain Dew and she's gonna help me teach you the basics, 'Kay?" Iggy gets a few grunts and mutters in response as I stand up. I spot Nick staring at me from the back end of Iggy's line. I smirk at him as Iggy tells me, "How about you show them the Magic Carpet as I send 'em down?"

I nod and skate down to the bottom and stop with a toe side turn and gaze up to them. I give him a thumbs up and he send the first kid down, a girl with a blue snow suit and green jacket (A/N that's me!). I steady her as she stops shakily on her heels. "Don't make the moves to extreme," I advise. "Skate up to the carpet and let it pull you up. Don't linger at the top or else the people behind you will get stopped up." She nods and the cycle continues until the last student, Nick, is sent down the slope. His stance is almost perfect; his knees bent slightly, shoulders straight and even. But he puts too much weight on his toes and falls to his knees and flips over. I can't stop the smile on my face as I skate over and help him up. He scowls and pushes my hand away but can't get up. By now, Iggy and the others have started another exercise and Nick's face is flushed pink. He pulls himself to his feet but falls backwards instantly. I can't hold it in and let out a mean laugh. Nick glares at me but I can't take him seriously because of the blush in his cheeks.

"Are you sure you don't want to ski? Southern Comfort is full of beginners who won't laugh at at you," I smirk.

Nick laughs sarcastically and glares at me. "If Maya can snowboard, then it can't be that hard." He reasons.

"Your girlfriend is just more talented than you are, dip-stick," I scoff.

He tries to get up and then looks at me pityingly. "Maya's not my girlfriend. She's my sister." Now it's his turn to laugh.

"Oh," is all I saw and the smirk on Nick's face is enough to turn me nasty again. "Fine then. Get off your butt and let's get back up to Iggy before I get him fired." I pull Nick roughly to his feet and shove him in front of me onto the conveyor belt. Going against the rules, I slide up right behind him just to annoy the guy at the top.

Nick turns around to look at me weird. "Why do you call him Iggy?"

I stare at him like he just asked me why are chocolate chip cookies best when dipped in Mountain Dew? Why? Because they just are. "Because that's his name, dip-stick."

He winces at the nickname but asks, "But why Iggy?"

I shrug. "Because that's what we call him."

"We?" Nick opens his mouth, about to ask more but he stumbles as the lift drops him onto the snow.

The guy chuckles at me. "How many times do I have to tell you, Max?"

"Too many," I say sweetly, shoving Nick in front of me towards Iggy.

"Does everyone here know you?" He mutters, dragging his snowboard over.

"Pretty much."

A/N Look, I'm gonna be really nice (not really) and say 3 review until next chapter? Maybe less?