I lay in my bed, listening to Skylit Drive and my father cursing about the bottle he had broken. As My Disease came blasting through the speakers, I heard another noise. I paused the track, sighed, and went downstairs to face the bastard.

"Yes?" I said, as I reached the bottom stair.

"Clean up that shit!" Jeb shouted, pointing toward the beer bottle on the floor.

I sighed and went to the closet for a broom. When I reached the closet, I was met with emptiness. "Where's the broom?" I asked, turning toward my foster father in question.

"Dunno, don't care. Looks like you'll have to use your hands." He said drunkenly from the couch, where he was sipping yet another Samuel Adams beer. I got down on my knees, and picked up the slick glass with my hands.

No gloves. No broom. Just my hands. I cut myself numerous times, and every time I let out a quiet curse. Jeb sat on the couch all the while, just staring at the television.

I went back upstairs when I was finished, and slammed my hand on the play button.

"Maximum Ride!" I heard him yell from downstairs.

I groaned and paused my music again. "Yes?" I called from my room.

"Come down here! I'm talking to you!" Jeb yelled from his position, undoubtedly, on the couch.

I trudged down the stairs and looked at him questioningly.

"We have new neighbors. Go say hi, and tell them I wasn't felling good, or at work or something. I'm not going over there." He said between sips of beer.

"Okay, I'll go get ready." I ran back up the stairs and put eyeliner on, teased my blond hair, and put on some dark purple skinny jeans and a Skylit Drive shirt.

I walked next door and rung the doorbell. I was answered by a woman who smelled like chocolate chip cookies, had curly brown hair, and warm brown eyes. She smiled at me.

"Hello! You must be the neighbor. Please, come in." She said.

Her voice was warm too. Welcoming, warm, and pleasant.

I liked this family already.

I stepped through the door and walked down the hall to the living room behind the mom. (I assumed she was the mother.) I steeped into a warm room that contained a happy family.

There was a little girl about 6 years old with blond curls and blue eyes, A tall, strawberry blond kid with cloudy blue eyes, a girl with caramel skin and chocolate eyes, a little blond boy with eyes just like the little girl's.

Then there was the boy who I noticed most of all. He had longish black hair, olive skin, and eyes that gave midnight a run for its money. I looked at him for a second too long, then went to stand awkwardly next to their mother.

"Guys, this is…" she looked to me then, not having known my name.

"Uh, Max. Maximum Ride." I said, shifting from foot to foot and then tugging on my belt.

"This is Maximum-" the woman started.

I cut her off. "Uh, just Max is fine." I muttered, pursing my lips and looking at the ground.

Whenever I cut Jeb off, I was met with a slap or punch somewhere, as long as we weren't in public.

"Oh, ok. This is Max, Max this is Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, Iggy, and Fang. Right there is our dog Total, and you can call me Mrs. Martinez." she had said, pointing to everyone as she named them. "Now have a seat and I'll be back." Mrs. Martinez said as she spun around and left towards what looked to be a kitchen or dining room.

I sat on the opposite side of the couch Fang was sitting on.

Nudge, the girl with caramel skin came up to me and started taking. A lot.

"Hi, I'm Nudge, and I was just thinking how I really liked your hair. Ooh, and your shirt, and your shoes. What sizes do you wear? Maybe we could switch clothes sometime! Or better yet, have a sleepover! OMG! We could be best friends and have the best time ever! So what do you think?" She said

All. In one. Breath.

"Uh. I'm sure we could hang out sometime, if you wanted. We talk about all of that then, ok?" I returned.

"Oh, yeah. That makes sense!" she smiled, then bounced off to the kitchen toward her mother.

The little boy, Gazzy came up to me next, with his sister Angel in tow. "Sorry about Nudge." He said, "She can be kinda annoying sometimes." Then he looked to be thinking for a minute. "Ok, a lot of the time." Then he laughed and left to watch television across the room.

Angel still stood in front of me. "Wanna see Celeste?" she asked, smiling wide and eyes sparkling.

I smiled at her. "Sure, sweetie." I said. I liked this girl all ready.

Then, she ran off to get whatever or whoever Celeste was.

Iggy stood in front of me then. He looked kinda nervous and embarrassed. "Uh, hi Max. Listen, I have kinda a weird request." He said, not looking at me, but directly above my head.

"Uh, sure, what is it?" I asked, curious at to what his request could be.

"Can I, um, feel your face?" He said, looking really embarrassed now.

"Uh, why, exactly, do you want to feel my face?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

"Well, see, I'm, uh…I'm…" he stopped for a moment. "I'm blind, and I want to know what you look like, and I can kinda do that by feeling your facial features."

"Oh, yeah. Sure, go ahead." I said, not laughing now. It really sucked that the kid was blind.

I closed my eyes as his hands neared my face. He pushed my fringe aside and paused to feel a few strands of hair. He let his fingers feel gently down my face, over my eyes, nose, mouth, and cheeks. I opened my eyes as he let his hands fall away from my face.

He smiled. "Thanks. You feel kinda pretty." He said, cocking his head to the side, and looking directly at me now. He walked away then, going to sit next to Gazzy in front of the T.V.

Angel bounded in front of me then. She held a small teddy bear in front of her. "This is Celeste." She said.

"Well, she's very cute. Just like you." I said, smiling at her.

I mean, the kid was freakin' adorable!

"Ok. I'm gonna go help mommy and Nudge." She said, and bounced away again.

Fang looked at me then. "Hi." He said.

I returned his greeting.

"So, Skylit Drive?" he said, gesturing to my shirt.

"Yeah. One of my favorites." I smiled. It was nice to meet people with similar music tastes.

"Mine too. What's your all time favorite?" He asked, obviously a little surprised I liked punk music.

"That's tough. Probably Bring Me The Horizon, or maybe Jamies Elsewhere. It changes depending on how I'm feeling."

"Yeah, same." He said, smiling a little at me.

"Ok, guys, who wants cookies? Mrs. Martinez called from the kitchen. Everyone ran to the door.

Must be some hella good cookies.