Ringing the doorbell, I shift the warm plate of cookies from my right hand to my left. Why my mom decided it was right to greet every single family that moves into the development was beyond me. Preparing the typical house welcoming speech in my head, I saw the curtains move as if someone was watching me. The door opened revealing a tall, black clothed teenage boy about my height and age.

Trying hard not to gape, I cast my eyes downward mumbling to the sidewalk. "Um....Well welcome to the neighborhood I guess...and well nice house." shoving the cookies in his hands, I continue." Yeah, my mom sent me over to say 'Welcome to the neighborhood.' looks like my jobs done."

Turning towards the road, a woman's voice reaches through the doorway. "Nick, who's at the door?" a stereotypical mother like figure stands next to who I am assuming is Nick. She's wearing a yellow summer dress and wiping her hands on an apron, what gets more step ford house wives then that? "Why hello there." she grins, one of those warm-I'm-so-glad-to-see-you kind of smiles.

Twisting my face in an attempt to return her perfect smile, I reach for her hand. A habit that has been pounded in to my head after years of living with my mom. In between shakes, I return with a hello. Nick covers his mouth with his hand. Either he was laughing at my cheesy fake grin or how I seemed to be trying to take his moms arm out of the socket.

"You seem to be about Nick's age." discreetly rubbing her arm, his mom keeps that smile plastered on her face.

"Well that depends on how old he is." Stupid stupid stupid response.

"Fifteen next month." Rubbing his back, her smile takes a turn from warm to almost nostalgic. She looks barely older than thirty.

"Yeah, I just turned fifteen about two months ago."

"Hmm...."

"Well...why'd you move here?"

"Divorce." It would appear Nick had a voice after all!

Looking as sympathetic as I could, I smiled genuinely at his mom. "Yeah...my dad ran away after we adopted Nudge."

"That's a different name." frowning, his mother looked as if she just got a cold splash of reality right in the face.

"Oh, that's just what everyone calls her real names is Crystal. She came from some weird African tribe where they named babies after white people they had met...." God did that sound strange. I really can't lie can I? All I was trying to do was make my life sound a bit more interesting.

With a dark grin, Nick smoothed his hair back. That was complete heart throb drool worthy right there. Not that I was one to fall for those kinds of things. Had a reputation as the loner chick at school.

"Do you have any other siblings?"

"No...Though I do have a friend that's like a brother. Iggy Porter, he's blind so he acts worse than half the kids I baby-sit." He really was, whiny, fussy, and runs into more things than Maggie the two year old that lives around the corner.

"You baby-sit?" looking me up and down, like she measuring me up Nicks mother continued. "I have two younger children...Gazzy and Angel...every Thursday I have a class to help me with the divorce, and Nick's never home. Would you mind." her eyes were wide and pleading. I really wasn't like what people thought of me at school, I did have a heart.

"Sure, I don't typically do anything on Thursday nights." make that any night. "I don't believe I've told you my name, its Max, short for Maxine."

"Oh and I am Anna Michelson." smiling again, she walked back towards the inside of her house. "Bye! See you Thursday!"

Waving, I sigh and practically sprint to Iggy's. Bursting through the door like I have been doing for years, I call out a quick hey to his mom before bounding up the stairs to his room. "Iggy! Emergency!" slamming his door open I see him there sprawled out on top of his bed, toying with the gum in his mouth. "Um...ew, anyways there's a new family."

"Whoopadedooda for them. Must I remind you that the development has been expanding therefore there are going to be a lot of new families moving in." sitting up, he stares at a spot right above my head. "There can't be anything special about this one."

"Other than the supposed perfect American life? I got a job babysitting for the moms two younger children."

"Father a bum?"

"They're divorced if that's what you mean."

"Really?-"

"She's got a son about our age you perv."

"I was only kidding." putting his hands up in the universal not-what-I-was-intending gesture.

"I'm rolling my eye's Iggy." I tell him before plopping down on the bed next to him. "Anyways I should probably get going. School being tomorrow and all."

Grasping his chest and falling backwards onto his bed, feigning death Iggy gasped for air." I can feel the poisons of school leaking.... No not school."

"Still rolling my eyes. Bye Iggy."

At least I had Thursday to look forward to now.

Oh my goodness. Please review; tell me what is evidently wrong with this. It came to my mind after spending the night with my younger siblings. I baby-sit them at least once a week, so most ideas will probably come from them. I don't write a lot for Maximum Ride, so please review!