Max's Misery Business

Chapter 2: I Won't Be There

Note: Lots of angst and slight OOC.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Maximum Ride. Nor do I ownI Won't Be There by Simple Plan. Also, please don't flame.

As Angel shut the door, Max crumpled back onto her bed and shoved her face in her pillow to hide the fact that she was almost crying. Great, now Angel was mad at her too. I can't do anything right, she thought. Maybe that's why Fang wants Lissa instead of me. Because she's perfect. I'm not.

Someone knocked on the door, again. "Who is it?" Max called, her voice cracking.

"It's me, Nudge. And Ig's here too. Can we come in, cuz Angel said you snapped at her, but in your head, and then we got kinda worried about you and- Mmmph!" It sounded as if Iggy had put something in her mouth.

"Ew! Iggy! I don't want your socks in my mouth. Peh! That's gross!"

"Then shut it. Can't you hear that Max isn't in the mood for talk?" Iggy couldn't even see her. How the heck did he always know how she felt? If it had been just Iggy, she might have let them in. But Nudge couldn't see her cry. I was Maximum Ride. The girl who was built to save the world. Their leader. The grown-up figure. Max couldn't crush that image.

"Nudge, Ig, I need some me time. Maybe later?" Max said, reaching the very bottom of her well of leaderly patience.

"But Max? Why not? Are you okay? Why notttt?" Nudge whined.

Max exploded. That day, everything, was just too much. "NUDGE! Leave! Me! Alone! Just go away, stupid. Leave me be! What part of that does everyone not get?"

Max instantly regretted it. She heard Nudge sniffle, heard her start to cry. Then her footsteps, running down the hall. A door slammed. Then Iggy's voice:

"Goddamn, Max! What's your problem today? You got Angel pissed off, and now you made Nudge cry. Again, what is your problem? ...Actually, I don't care. Shove it up your stuck-up ass, Max."

Then Iggy stomped down the hall, and Max heard him tap on Nudge's door, mumbling something to Nudge.

Max shoved her face in her pillow, pulled her blanket over her head, and screamed. Today was just too much. It was all Fang's fault. Now everyone, save Gazzy, was mad at her...Scratch that, Max had made Angel mad, so it would definitely make Gazzy mad too. If everyone was mad at her, they most certainly wouldn't listen to her. She had been planning to leave Anne's soon, but no one would come with her at this state. And Max didn't want to go back to the School. If the rest of the Flock did...whatever. This wasn't her fault.

That made up Max's mind. She decided she had to leave. The Flock hated her, she had no reason to stay here. They would never help her now. Max pulled her big backpack out from under her bed. She packed two pairs of extra jeans, three extra sweatshirts, and two extra t-shirts. Socks and underwear. Her combat boots. Her iPod. Her MacBook. Matches. Blankets. Then she went downstairs, raiding Anne's supply of canned soup, beans, and meats. Max took a water filter, vitamins (living with Anne had given her that habit); bananas, apples, and oranges; hot dogs, hamburgers, a loaf of bread. She took the huge load upstairs and crammed it into her backpack. Not fitting everything, Max took out the food items and crammed them into a tote bag. Then Max went to her desk and sat down with a pad and pencil. She wrote two notes.

Now that she was done with that, Max once again hamped her window open. She threw her bags out on the roof and climbed out. Picking up her bags, Max jumped off the roof; beating her wings hard, she flew out into the twilight. As she left, she sang.

I don't wanna make this
Harder than I have to
This is how it has to be
There's so many things I want to say
But you just don't listen to me

I don't want to hurt you

Or did I? Maybe Fang.


You don't want to hurt me

Not on purpose anyway.


I can't stand you
And you can't stand me

The flock couldn't stand her anymore.


We can't rearrange
You can never change me

Try as they might, the flock would never change her.


Say goodbye
Nothing I say could change your mind because

I can't stay
Tomorrow I'll be on my way

Not tomorrow. Today.


So don't expect to find me sleeping in my bed
'Cuz when you wake up
I won't be there
I won't be there

Everything I say
You find a way to make it
Sound like I was born just yesterday
Everything you taught me
Doesn't mean a thing
So I'm going my way

I don't want to hurt you
You don't want to hurt me
I can't stand you
And you can't stand me
We can't rearrange
You can never change me
Say goodbye
Nothing I say could change your mind because

I can't stay
Tomorrow I'll be on my way
So don't expect to find me sleeping in my bed
'Cuz when you wake up
I won't be there
I won't be there


This is the last night
That I spend at home
And it won't take too long
For you to notice
Won't take long for you to find out
That I'm gone

Would the Flock notice? More importantly, would they care?

[Fang/3rd person POV

Fang wondered when Max would notice. The Lissa thing was risky. And it wasn't working. Max was showing nothing if it was hurting her. Then again, that wasn't Max. She never would show it if something was hurting her.

Or maybe she had noticed. Fang knew she'd blown up at Nudge, snapped at Angel, and gotten Iggy pissed off because Max had gotten Nudge mad. That wasn't Max.

"Max, Nick, James, Tiffany-Krystal, Zephyr, Ariel! Dinner!" Anne shouted from the kitchen. Oh, great. Well, Fang hadn't smelled smoke or heard an explosion...so it was one of the better nights. He was starving, and so ran down the stairs to the table. Fang saw Anne taking a chicken out of the oven. It was the color of the table Fang was sitting at.

"Oh, no. I've messed it up again. I'm sorry," Anne lamented. Fang shrugged. He was used to eating roast rat. Who was he to complain? Iggy and Gazzy came charging down the stairs then, whispering something about wires and gasoline. Nudge and Angel followed them. Nudge, Angel, and Iggy didn't seem bothered about the crazy-pissed-Max situation. Well, none of the Flock really held grudges against each other. Speaking of, where was Max? Anne seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Where's Max? Still upstairs? ...MAAAAAAAXXX! DINNER!"

There was no response. Anne sighed. "Go ahead and eat. I'll go get her." She headed upstairs. Fang heard knocking, and Anne's voice. "Max? It's dinnertime. Max? Are you OK? I'm coming in." A door opened upstairs. Then Anne's shout: "Max? Where are you? Max?"

That didn't sound good. Fang rushed upstairs, the rest of the flock at his heels. They burst into Max's room to find Anne with one hand over her mouth, and the room...empty. Max was gone.

Heh, cliffie. Hope you liked it. Updating ASAP! So review!