Here's chapter 2 everybody! Enjoy!
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Do we look like James Patterson to you?
Didn't think so!
MAX POV
BEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEP! BE- I smacked the clock to make it shut up.
"Uggghhhh" I groaned. I looked at the clock. 6:00 flashed on the digital screen. I sighed. I hated mornings almost as much as I hated sleeping. Why, you ask, do I hate sleeping? Well, it's because of the horrible nightmares I get about The School. I dream about the horrible 'experiments' gone dreadfully wrong, about the horrible tests that I went through, and about the poor kids there that I never saw again, after I left. I met some hybrids there that could communicate. Some I only saw for a brief period of time, maybe a few hours before they were taken away. There was one boy, however, who was an avian like me. We shared a cage until we were ten. By then, we were too big and had to get our own separate cages. He didn't talk much, I did most of it for us. I remember his eyes like obsidian, his shaggy black hair, and his funny habit of biting the scientists when they came for him. I called him Fang. He didn't have any other name. The scientists thought he was mute, that his vocal cords didn't work. But they did, he just chose not to use them a lot. He didn't smile much, or show emotion of any type. I could tell that the tests at the labs had scarred him.
When I was fourteen, I broke free of my chains out in the yard and flew away. I managed to dodge the bullets that they fired at me. I was reported to the police in Houston, Texas. The government came and found me. Then they took me to the Haven and gave me my new family. I've lived there for three years now, and I've made lots of friends. Many more kids turned up at the Haven. I was one of the first. And while the Haven helped me create a life for myself, I could never forget The School, the mutants I'd met, and especially my only friend there, Fang.
I hope that he's alright. I never saw him after that day that I was taken away, out of the cage and into another. No, I've never seen him since.
I snapped out of my daze and got back to the present. I threw on a blue cami and a black graphic t-shirt that had The Beatles on it. I slipped on my blue jeans and some socks. Then I raced down the stairs. I was greeted by Ella and Nudge having an animated conversation about the pros and cons of wearing foundation.
"It makes your face look so smooth and tan!" argued Ella.
"Yeah, but since when do I need a tan?" retorted Nudge. She had dark, mocha colored skin. "Besides, it rubs off on anything that your face touches, like your phone. I hate that!"
I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. I'm not a girly-girl. I don't wear makeup or anything like that. Fashion is not my forté. I decided to break into their conversation.
"Whoa, chill!" I said. "There is more to life than beauty products. You need to find your inner beauty!" I preached jokingly. I sounded like one of those stupid motivational videos that they force us to watch at school. Everybody laughed.
Dr. Martinez walked downstairs, dressed for work in her lab coat. "Are you girls hungry?" she asked. Like she needed to even bother. We human-avian hybrids need 3,000-4,000 calories, per day.
"YES!" we all shouted.
"Okay, I'll make waffles," Dr. Martinez laughed. She pulled batter that she had mixed last night out of the fridge. Then she pulled out the waffle iron and heated it up. We each had some steaming hot waffles on our plates in no time. I poured a lot of syrup onto mine and dug in.
"Mmm, Mom! These are awesome!" said Ella. We all called Dr. Martinez mom, but only Ella was actually her daughter. In fact, Ella was the only human out of the three of us. We all attended Haven School, though.
"Thanks, sweetie. Hurry up now, or you'll be late for school!" she replied.
I finished eating first. Nudge once told me that I eat like a pig. I told her that at least I didn't take a year to eat. That would be Nudge. She insists on taking excruciatingly tiny bites. She says that they're ladylike. I say that they're pointless because she's going to eat the food anyways so she might as well just get on with her life.
I ran upstairs and brushed out my hair so that it looked decent. Then I brushed my teeth and shoved my homework and song book into my blue backpack. That's another thing about me- I love to write music. I like to play my guitar and sing the songs I wrote. I don't think that anybody knows about my songs. I don't really like to share them with other people, they're just for myself to get out my feelings out.
I raced downstairs and out the door. I met Iggy at the end of my driveway. "Hey, Igs!" I called.
He turned in my general direction. "Hey, Max! What's up?" Iggy's blind, but he's got insane hearing! He can tell who's coming by the sound of their footsteps. And, of course, by their voice.
"Just another day for the one and only Maximum Ride!" I said. I have a few rules about my name: You call me Max, I call myself Max or occasionally Maximum. I don't like people using my full name. It's mine, and only mine. And if you call me Maxie, then I will personally see to your demise.
"Not much here, either," said Iggy. We walked down the road a little farther. Then Angel and Gazzy came racing out of their house.
"Can't catch me, Angel!" taunted Gazzy.
"Bet I can!" yelled Angel.
"Cannot!"
"Can!"
"Cannot!"
"Can!" yelled Angel as she tackled Gazzy and skillfully knocked him onto the grass so that he didn't hit the pavement.
"Ok, fine, you win Angel! Just get off of me already!" huffed Gazzy, spitting grass out of his mouth. "Yuck!"
I jogged over to where Angel was standing over her older brother. "Nice one, Angel!" I cheered. I gave Angel a big high five. She smacked my hand and I pretended that it hurt really bad. "Ow, Angel! That hurt!" I joked.
She laughed, then turned back to Gazzy. "Get up, slowpoke!" she giggled.
"I'm going, I'm going!" he grumbled. He got up and trudged across the green yard and down to the street. We all walked down and rounded the corner when we heard more yelling.
"HEY! WAIT UP!" yelled Nudge and Ella as they ran out the door. Everybody laughed as they were trying to catch up and pull their backpacks on at the same time. Once they were caught up (and had learned why Gazzy was covered in grass stains), we took the short walk to school.
We walked through the doors and slowly made our way to school. As soon as we got into school, Nudge started her motormouth ranting.
"ZOMG! Look at what Lissa's wearing! Is that short of a skirt even within the dress code? I think it's kind of cute, but it sooo does not work on Lissa. I'm surprised that a teacher hasn't made her change out of it. Of course, her dad is the principal. She could, like, get away with MURDER or something! And did you see- bthmmndth!" I clapped my hand over her mouth before she drove us all bonkers.
"Nudge, you know that licking my hand is not going to do anything for you!" I said smugly. I smirked, and then took my hand off of her mouth. "Ok, fine. You can talk now," I said.
Nudge nodded, but smartly decided not to make another 'comment'.
I got to my locker, it was the closest of ours to the main entrance. I started to unload my backpack and grab my English books for 1st hour. I saw a guy walk up and open the locker next to mine. Ugh, it's Dylan.
Dylan is another human-avian hybrid. He has blond hair and blue eyes. Most girls fall head-over-heels for him. He is, in Nudge's words, "super hot". I think that he's just a jerk. And you know what's even worse? He's got an immense crush on me! He's asked me out, and has been rejected, like five times. Ugh.
"Hey, Max," he said, trying (and failing) to sound casual.
"Dylan, the answer is still no. Please, get out of my face," I said with fake kindness that was very obvious. I smirked, and slammed my locker shut. It's hinges were messed up so you had to slam it or it wouldn't shut. Leaving Dylan speechless, I strode off to class and sat on my desk. My teacher, Mrs. Greensborough, sighed.
"Maximum, please sit in your chair," she said. My teachers were used to my attitude. They knew that I probably wouldn't listen. But I liked Mrs. G, as I called her.
"'Kay, Mrs. G!" I said. I sat myself down into my chair. Iggy came into class right as that happened.
"What's this?" he gasped in fake astonishment. "Max is actually listening to a teacher?!"
"Ha-ha, Iggy. Very funny," I said.
Slowly, the class made their way into 1st hour. This unfortunately included stupid Lissa and annoying Dylan. When the bell rang at 7:30, the assistant principal (Mr. Chu, whom I call Chuey, occasionally Chubacca) came on the morning announcements.
"Good morning, Haven School! Please stand to say the Pledge of Allegiance!" he said, just as he had for every day for the past three years that I had been here. Once the whole Pledge ordeal was over, he continued with the announcements. "Today we will have an assembly. Please report to the assembly hall instead of your sixth hour class. In other news, we will be having our first ever musical here! Anybody can try out. Auditions are tomorrow after school. Have a grrrreat day!" he said with his stupid fake enthusiasm. The intercom clicked off.
Just as the teacher was about to start the lesson, the intercom went back on.
"Oh, and one more thing. Would the following students please report to the office: Maximum Ride, Iggy Griffiths, Nudge Krystal, Zephyr and Adelaide Calloway and Dylan Greene. That's all for today!" said Chuey.
Report to the office? What?
FANG POV
"That's the kid! Get him!" I heard an Eraser say. I looked behind me. He was getting on the escalator and I could see three of his buddies close behind. They were smart enough not to morph into wolf form, not yet when we were out in public. I looked ahead and saw what store was near the top of the escalator. Perfect. I knew just how to get them off my trail.
I turned around and smirked at the Eraser. Then I started dashing up the escalator. I quickly walked into the store I had chosen: Abercrombie and Fitch. I had ducked into there earlier and a salesperson asked me if I wanted to be a model for them. Apparently I'm good-looking. I knew how the Erasers were designed to look like models, so I figured that they would get stopped by a salesperson, too.
I saw the Erasers get off the escalator and start running towards A&F. I quickly walked into the guys' section, grabbed a bunch of clothes that I thought would fit, and asked the nearest salesperson for a dressing room.
"Sure thing! Hey, would you like to be a model here for Abercrombie and Fitch?" said the overly happy salesperson.
I played along with the act. "I'll think about it, and let you know! Maybe when school's out this summer," I said. The salesperson nodded and then opened up a room.
"Here you go!" she said.
"Thanks," I replied, and flashed a smile.
I heard another salesperson trying to get the Erasers on board with a modeling contract. They were trying to refuse, but the saleslady was incessant. Oh well, sucks for them. I immediately put on some blue jeans and a red shirt that covered up my wings well. Hmm. This might be a good disguise, I thought. I heard more voices at the front of the store.
"Boss, he's not in here," said an Eraser.
The boss cursed. "How could you let him get away? Come on, he can't have gone too far," he said. After five minutes, I came out. I decided to buy a shirt and some blue jeans, in case I ever needed a disguise. I walked out into the mall.
"There he is!" shouted the Eraser that was waiting for me outside.
Oh, crap.
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~MaximumAngel1