Chapter One
I sit bolt upright in bed, trying to control my shivers of fear. I keep having the same frightening dream, over and over again. It has something to do with the whitecoats capturing me, but I can never remember the details. Glancing over at my clock, I see that it's three in the morning. God, how hard does a girl have to try to get some sleep around here? I know I won't be falling asleep anytime soon, so I get out of bed slowly, stretching as my feet touch the soft carpeted floor of my room. I throw on some comfortable clothes and tiptoe silently down the hall and down the stairs. I pause at the bottom, listening. My mom and my sister, Ella, are still fast asleep, from what I can tell. I open the front door, step outside, and close it as softly as I can behind me. I look up at the sky, thousands of pinpoints of light twinkling above me. Smiling to myself, I take a running start and leap into the air. Unfurling my wings, I let the wind catch in my feathers and drift for awhile. If you're really shocked about the fact that I have wings, then go read my books. They're awesome, just saying. Anyway, back to current times. I coast on the drifting thick night air, tilting my wings slightly to catch more wind. The cool air whispers past me, making me feel more free and alive than anything else ever could. Flying is absolutely the best thing in my life, besides my family. Speaking of my family, they don't know I have wings. This is because the scientist never told them, and ordered me to never tell them. When I was very young, my father, Jeb, had captured me and experimented on me. As a result of those experiments I am now 98% human, and 2% bird. I really don't mind the wings, but I constantly live in fear of being captured by my dad and put through more experiments.
I flap my wings harder and faster. Now that they're warm up, I can fly faster. I fly at about 200 miles per hour, the wind making the skin on my face tingle, and my hands slightly red from cold. I don't care, though. All that matters is flying and enjoying the time and freedom I have right now. I can't fly when anyone else would be watching. This makes night not only the only time I can fly, but my favorite time of "day." It's the time that I can be myself.
I fly for hours before noticing that the sun is turning the eastern sky pink with the approaching dawn. With a sigh, I begin to fly home. As I fly, dipping down over the rooftops of the small Arizona town, I swear I can see a large, black form in the distance. At any other time, curiosity would have gotten the better of me, but right now I need to get home. The dark spot moves quickly toward the ground, then disappears out of sight. Even with my enhanced raptor vision he is no longer visible. With a sigh, I descended toward home. My window is open from the previous night, so I slip in and slide back into bed. It's 5:30, so I have half an hour to pretend to sleep before I have to get up for school.
The obnoxious beep, beep, beep of my alarm miraculously wakes me from a deep sleep. Groaning, I get up and get dressed for yet another day of school.
Let me tell you, trying to hide my wings in regular clothes really does stink. Eventually, I settle on a pretty cute outfit. I wear a baggy long-sleeved shirt, with a pair of thankfully normal-looking jeans. I don't particularly care about how I look, but I know I'm probably the only girl in the world who doesn't.
Once at school, I sit down in homeroom, barely managing to suppress a groan. Another day of school. I look down at my homework that I'd "forgotten" to do last night, and furiously scribble answers until I feel someone looking at me. Staring, actually. Slowly, I lift my head and do a quick 360. Soon enough, I catch the person's eye. The boy is tall and wears mostly blacks and grays. I don't think I've ever seen him before. It occurs to me that he might be new. I return his gaze for a second, then find myself quickly looking away. Before I can look away all the way, though, I notice him give me a smirk.
The rest of the school day goes by quickly, with me wondering who this new kid is. When the bell finally rings at three o'clock, I practically fly-wish I could right now-out of the building and down the sidewalk.
I'd only been walking about a minute when I feel someone's eyes on the back of my neck. I whip around and automatically assume a fighting stance. The person who appears to be stalking me is that new kid from school.
"What?" I almost spit at him. "Why are you following me?" He holds up his hands.
"God, I'm not going to hurt you or anything," The new kid says with another smirk.
"Like you even could," I snarl back, giving him one of my death glares. I swear he chuckles. "Why are you even talking to me? And who are you?"
"Fang," He replies. What kind of name is Fang?
"Well, um..." Why can't I come up with a good comeback?
"What, Maximum?"
"How do you know my name?" He shrugs. "You're such an idiot, and so not worth my time."
"Because your time is so valuable?" No one, not even my mom, has ever gotten this far in an argument with me.
"Yeah, it is, and I'm not wasting it dealing with you."
"I must be interesting, then," I'm practically hissing answers through my teeth by now.
"You know that's not what I meant, and your ego really needs adjusting, if you really think you're that fascinating."
"I don't think it, I know it."
"You're an idiot, you know that?"
"Am I?" He pretends to look hurt.
"I can't deal with you right now," I snarl.
"Is wittle Maxy having a bad day?" He asked, imitating someone talking to a small child.
"I never thought you'd talk this much." I say. "Judging from your appearance."
"Ooo, you've been looking at me?" By this time, all I want to do is go home and go to sleep. This is the first argument I've ever walked away from where I'm not the winner.
"Whatever. I don't care." I snap. We're both being immature, so what does it matter if I finish off the argument that way. Turning on my heel, I march away. How I wish I could fly away right now? That idiot Fang, and probably a ton of other people would see me, though. I run back home and open the door.
"Hey, sweety." My mom calls from the kitchen. "How was school,"
"Usual," I reply. She knows not to press further. I run up the stairs and to my room. I take a running leap onto my bed and just lay there, thinking. I think about how much of a jerk that kid Fang is, and how much I wish I was just a normal, non-flying teenager. Eventually, I zone out so entirely that I fall asleep.
The sound of the doorbell ringing returns me to consciousness with a heart-pounding jolt.
My mom had to go back to work, and Ella has soccer practice. I'm the only one home. I hurry to the front door, and look through the window to the side of it. My breath catches in my throat, and everything around me seems to freeze. I open the door slowly, attempting to hide behind my emotionless mask, even though betrayal is tearing at me like a knife through my chest.
"Hello, Max. Can I have a word?" Asks a smiling Jeb. "You're in pretty deep trouble, Max,"
A/N. Like it? Hate it? Why do I always start ANS like that? Let me know in a review if you have any suggestions or things you want to see. Thanks for checking this story out? I'll update as soon as possible, probably later today, Sunday at the latest. Later, guys!