Thank you to anyone who read Chapter One and everyone who reviewed!

You guys made me so happy that I couldn't wait to upload the next chapter-considering I already wrote it, that is. I felt kind of bad keeping it to myself lolol.

Ash: Well, you can't, since you don't own it.

Me: Well...

DISCLAIMER:

I don't own MR. Ta-da!

Hope you enjoy chapter two!

F.P.O.V.

Chapter Two

I wondered whether I should stare or laugh.

Beside me, Iggy was already muffling his laughter with indiscreet, forced coughs. Nudge, on the other hand, was frozen in her spot, and it was shocking not to hear her speak for once. The rest of the room, however, had greeted her with a quick "Hi!" before exploding into murmurs and curling a hand by their mouth to hide their lips as they whispered into each others' ears. Some girls giggled, some guys wiggled their eyebrows and some people were just looking at everyone around them, glancing at Maximum occasionally, a confused look on their faces. But even as they all tried to find a reaction, nobody really knew how to react.

I mean, really. How were you supposed to react to a girl, named Maximum Ride nonetheless, transferring to a school in the middle of basically nowhere halfway through November?

Deciding not to react, I watched her calmly, just as I had watched the reactions of my classmates. She didn't seem to really care about them, at first, but after a few moments, she took a small risk of glancing around the room. Her eyes roamed the room curiously and I noticed how she quickly scanned over everyone but me. Instead of continuing to look, as she had with everyone else, she narrowed her eyes at me.

Again, I avoided reacting, but continued to watch her as she watched me. Every feature on her face was smooth and calm. Every feature, that was, except for her eyes. Rather, her brown eyes were hard and mildly irritated, a fiery hatred burning in her pupils. I didn't understand why.

I wondered if I looked like that when I was glaring, too.

"I'm sorry, Miss Ride, we have very few seats left, as you can see...do you mind sitting in the back?" Mr. Shayne glanced once at the desk to my right before looking back at her. She nodded and turned her back to him, scanning the room for that extra seat. Staring at me.

"Nicholas, can you please raise your hand?" he asked me carefully.

Sighing, I slowly put my hand up. The commotion had died down a bit after a few minutes, but I noticed some people still trying to steal glances at the mysterious Maximum Ride. The low murmurs weren't as satisfying as silence would have been.

Maximum carefully walked past everyone, avoided doing so much as even brushing clothing with one of them. Smart girl. She glanced feverishly between both me and the desk. She had barely opened her mouth since she'd been in here.

It had been seven minutes.

Finally making her way to the back, Maximum settled comfortably into her seat and I watched her from the corner of my eye. After seating herself, she didn't look at me. She seemed to be refusing to, just as she seemed to be refusing to talk.

Was she mute?

I'm an idiot. But I was still curious, as always.

She was new, after all.

I watched her for about three more minutes, feeling like a stalker. All she did was scribble into a little notebook, not looking up.

Why didn't I just say something to her? Welcome her or something, right? She must've felt uncomfortable anyway, with everyone looking at her. Homeroom hadn't even ended and she was probably being judged; part of me felt bad.

"So, you're name's Maximum?" I glanced at her and she tensed, still not looking up. "I didn't know that was a name." I could practically see Iggy gaping at me for speaking.

There was a pause and neither of us said anything, but finally, she replied. "Max."

Max.

"Nice to meet you, Max," I didn't smile, didn't really react; just stayed calm. The same as I always had. Never let them see you. Never let them know you. "I'm Fang."

At that, her head whipped up and she stared at me. "Fang?"

I blinked. "Yes?"

"I thought your name was Nicholas."

Smirking, I relaxed. "It is. But everyone calls me Fang."

She didn't hesitate. "Why?"

I smirked more. "Because I bite."

And Max smacked my arm, the corners of her lips turning upward. "Seriously." It was a soft, little smile and the hardness in her eyes softened the tiniest bit, but it was noticeable. Her tough exterior didn't match her soft expression, but nothing about her had made sense to me yet.

Yet.

Then, I realized something. I made the new girl smile. I made Max, Miss Leather-Jacket-and-Combat-Boots smile. And I'm pretty sure the rest of the homeroom noticed, too.

How the hell did I do that?

And why the hell would I, especially when I would settle for almost anything but attention, talk to the new girl, whose name was Maximum Ride, and make her smile? That was like setting myself up for public attention; attention I didn't crave. I think I feared it more than anything, yet I was placing myself in the center of it.

I didn't want my town to know me, to know my secrets. I wanted to to stay kept to myself and silent, like I had managed for the majority of my life. Things could be quiet if I could be, and no one would ask about me. It had taken me sixteen years to keep myself out of the mess of gossip, and I basically just threw myself into it.

Somehow, I managed to still wonder how the hell Fang Walker made Max Ride smile in less than an hour.

Jeez, I wonder a lot.

Maybe I have been taken over by aliens.

I hope it didn't seem too...rushed and I hope you liked that!

I was kind of going for the whole "Fang's slipping up" thing, because he's...well, you know.

Ash: Well, I don't.

Me: The whole idea is that Fang gets all nervous and whatnot and he's not...staying "calm" like he wants to. Therefore, he's starting to realize something strange is happening.

Ash: What's the strange thing?

Me: You'll find out...eventually...(:

Let me know what you think!