A/N: I am only going to say this once...I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS. JAMES PATTERSON HAS ALL RIGHTS. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT.

This is my first Maximum Ride Fan Fiction. If you have questions, review. Please tell me what you think! Also, I know that Max and them are supposed to hate the white coats and stuff but i figured that no one else is going to switch it around. So, I know that it might not work out but just bear with me.

"Gazzy! Iggy!" I screamed.

"On it!" Ig said.

"Max, behind you!" Fang screamed at me. I round house kicked an Eraser sending it falling down toward the pasture below us. I managed to turn around a beat up the Eraser behind me before he could even touch me. Next thing I knew, a huge explosion took care of the rest of the Erasers.

"Aha!" Angel said. "Take that!" I had to laugh. I sighed out of breath, "What is that, the 7th time this week?" Fang suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "These scientists really have to step up their game." He grinned.

The room suddenly went back to normal; the pasture melted away as the lab and white coats came back. A voice came through the speaker, "Great job, guys!" I took off my simulator glasses and set them on the table next to us. "That's all for today! See you guys tomorrow!" I glanced at Fang. Tonight was the big night. We were going on our first date. It took him months just to ask me and it was finally here.

As I was walking out of the lab to get my stuff, Nudge and Angel came up to me. "What are you going to wear on your date tonight?" Nudge asked. I sighed, "I don't know." Unlike me, Nudge cared about things like makeup and outfits. "What do you mean you don't know?" Angel practically spit in my face. "You have been waiting for Fang to ask you out for months yet, you don't know what you are wearing!" I shook my head and started to pick up my coat and put on my gloves and hat. "I am sorry, Angel. I don't." Nudge and Angel looked at each other. "We are coming over tonight. Be there around 5." Nudge told me. I wasn't going to argue with her so I just nodded. "Whatever…" They smiled then left the room to catch Gazzy and Iggy before they left. Just like every other day; Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel all fly home together to their house they all share.

I grabbed my bag and headed out to the hallway. My shoes squeaked on the linoleum floor. I wanted to talk to Anne before I left. She is like a mother to me. I knocked on her door, she looked up from the big pile of paper work in front of her and smiled as she set her reading glasses down, "Max, come in!" I set my bag down and sat in the big comfy chair that sits in front of her desk. "Hey, I need some advice." She folded her hands on her desk, "Shoot." I love Anne. She always had time to listen to me. She knew every little thing about me. When I was younger, I remember always coming in here and talking with her for hours. That was when I still lived here of course. Now, I have my own place about 30 minutes away from here…by flight. About 2 hours by car. "Fang and I are going on our first date tonight." I reached over to grab some butterscotch candy sitting on her desk. "I knew this was going to happen someday. Considering I am the only one who will tell you this, I am going to have to. Remember, drinking isn't good, yadda, yadda, yadda…" I laughed and she kept going, "Sex is bad. If you have sex, wear a condom. You know the deal. I know you have watched those videos the lab junkies have to show you." She pulled out her top drawer and threw me a condom. I just about cracked up laughing, and then tried to say, "I guess I know where to go if I ever run out!" But, it came out as more of a laugh.

Once I calmed down she asked, "So what did you need?" She came over and sat on the other chair next to me. I looked at her, "I have been waiting for months for him to ask me out on a date and when he finally did, I jumped at the chance, but now I am not sure. I mean, it is not as easy as I thought it would be. You have to have the right outfit, the right makeup, the right attitude… It is not like coming to the lab every day. They don't prepare you for this kind of stuff!" I sighed. "First date jitters, everyone goes through them. Just be yourself." She started rubbing my back, "Plus, I am sure Nudge and Angel can help you find the right outfit." I handed her back the condom, "I don't think I will need this. Thank you!" She smiled, "No problem." She went back to her desk. I picked up my bag and was heading out the door when she shouted, "Don't forget, tomorrow you don't have to come in until noon." "Okay!"

I checked my watch; 2:30. That gave me 2 ½ hours before Nudge and Angel were going to meet me at my apartment. I pulled out my wallet; $67 and some odd change. That would give me enough money to get a new top for tonight and maybe a pair of jeans. JcPenny was 15 minutes away from here by car and it is too risky to fly. I ran to my room here at Head Quarters and grabbed the keys to my Impala I kept here. I rarely ever used the car, but I invested in one for reasons like this. My room here was the room I spent my years growing up in. After you hit a certain age, physically and mentally, you could move out and still keep your room if they had enough space. The older you are, the faster your room goes. I was the second to move out. First was Fang. I decided to move out 2 months after Fang did. He said he moved out because he was tired of curfew and the rules and stuff. I moved out because of the same reasons. Plus, once you move out you get checks for coming in and having them test your strengths and stuff like that. The money goes toward your living cost. If you ever miss a session, they come to your house and find out the reason why you were not there. If they find out you ditched, you get dragged back to HQ (head quarters).

By the time I got to JCP, I decided that I needed to get a shirt first because I had a pair of jeans I could wear. I walked into the store listening to the music they played that I never heard of before. I did not know where the ladies section was so I ended up walking through the men section only to find Fang and Iggy there! I quickly hid behind one of the racks. Omigosh, it really was them! Iggy held out a white shirt with a light blue tie on the front. "What about this?" I could hear him ask. Fang just looked at him, "Not my style. The only reason you held that up was because you could see it…I go for more dark colors." Iggy looked disappointed. "Hey, what if you wore a dark shirt with white tie? Then, you could get some black pants to go with it." I could see the relief in Fang's eyes as he said, "Okay, let's hurry up." I was freaking out! I can't wear jeans now! He is getting all dressed up and I was planning on wearing jeans.

I reached into my pocket and clicked my speed dial. "Hello?"

"Nudge, it is Max. I need some serious help. I am at JCP and I just overheard Fang and Iggy pick out what Fang was going to wear and I am freaking out!"

"You are in JCP?"

"Yea, I wanted to pick up a nice top for our date and was going to maybe find some jeans, but I don't know what to do now because Fang is going to wear a tie! A TIE!"

"Okay, calm down. Pick out some clothes and I will be there in 20 minutes to help you. Whatever you do, do not let Fang see you."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

I took a deep breath and stood up and started to walk away. It took me 10 minutes to find the ladies section and I started looking through tops when I heard some whispering. "Dude, that's her!" "No, I couldn't have figured that out!" I turned around just in time to see Fang and Iggy doing exactly what I did earlier. Except, they were crouched down near the bras. I decided to embarrass them and started walking toward the bra section…I could always use a new one.

I started looking at some bras that were a couple racks away and picked out a black one with lace on the sides. It would work for my decoy and it looked decent enough I might buy it. I walked up behind them and tapped Iggy's hand 3 times. He seemed to know what I was talking about because he automatically took Fang the other direction and said, "Let's just pay and forget that ever happened." I felt pretty smug with myself until a little voice popped in my head.

That was me, Max.

Angel! I turned around to find Nudge and Angel standing in front of me. "I thought I told you not to let Fang see you." I desperately looked around to try to find a shirt that would get me out of this conversation. "Nice Bra." Angel added. Nudge held up a shirt. My eyes lit up. It was perfect! It was a long sleeve shirt that was striped white and green and had the little buttons for cleavage. I grinned. "Thank you so much!" Nudge just sighed, "I was hoping to get some house work done before Gazzy blew up the place, but I don't think that will happen today." Then she laughed and smiled, "And go ahead and wear your dark jeans." She and Angel started to walk away when I saw them…the most beautiful pair of jeans in history. They were a light and had rips in them at random places…not to many, but just enough. I picked my size and headed toward the cash register.

DING DONG! Oh god, he is here. I still had a couple more curls to go. I ran out into the living room and opened the door. "Hey." He said. "Hi, um, I am almost done. Could you give me a couple minutes?" "Sure." I opened to door more to let him in. I still had Chinese sitting out from lunch that afternoon. "Sorry for the mess." He smiled. "My place doesn't look any better." I went back upstairs and finished my hair. I felt satisfied. I threw on my jeans and my shirt and went downstairs. (Don't get me wrong, I had clothes on when I let Fang in…)

"Wow," he said. "You look…beautiful." I smirked, "Ya think? I just picked this outfit out this afternoon at JCP. You would know, you were there."

"You saw me?" He asked. I laughed, "Not only did I see you, but I watched you pick out your outfit; black shirt, white tie, and black pants. I think you should have gone with the white shirt and light blue tie. It would have made you look different."

"Ya think?" He retorted. I looked at him with a straight face, "Yes," I broke and started laughing, "No, no…I think you did just fine." I went over and fixed his collar. "Am I too underdressed?" I asked. "No, you look great." I grabbed my coat and headed to the door. He opened the door for me, "Ladies first."

Half of me wanted to retort back at him, "Then what are you waiting for?", but I decided to just smile and go ahead. As we were walking down the hall, my neighbor, Mrs. Grench, came out into the hallway. "Well, hello my darling, who is this handsome man you are taking out?" Mrs. Grench is like your cookie-cutter grandmother. She is always either home, the grocer down the street, or at her knitting classes. Every once in a while she will go out for her book club that meets once a month, but usually the book club comes to her house. "Mrs. Grench, this is Fang; Fang, Mrs. Grench."

"Fang? That is a funny name. Now you be good to Max here. She is a sweet young lady who deserves a young man like yourself." I sighed, "Mrs. Grench…" She kept going, "Now, don't interrupt me, Max. I am just trying to help you here." Fang interrupted her, "It's okay, Mrs. Grench. Don't worry; I will take good care of her." She smiled then turned around and went inside, but not before saying, "Humph, I guess so."

Once she shut her door, I turned to Fang. "I am sorry. She likes to keep an eye on everyone in the building." He laughed. "It is fine. I have someone like that in my building, except younger." I asked, "What do you mean?" He shook his head, "Never mind. We should get going." I nodded, unsure. "Okay. So where are we going?" He grinned, "You'll see." I stopped, "Wait, are we going to have to fly?" He winked as he held the door open for me, "Just a little."