Well, here it is. Thanks for the reviews. I changed the summary, thought I should let you know. And this is pretty much how the rest of the story is going to go, Fang's POV one time, then Max's then Fang's again. OH! And when you finish reading this, check out my other story Love, Life and Music.

So let me stop talking now, and get on with things.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to James Patterson, except for Jay and Maya, who belong to me.

So hard to breathe this air that we call love,
ain't nothing worse than the hurt we receive from love,
when you get hurt by the one you living for,
Pain can make you wanna love no more,

Max POV

Just another new school. No big, right? Right. Only difference, it's half way through the first semester of senior year. I sighed and heard my dad's words run through my head: JUST TRY AND MAKE FRIENDS MAX. Huh. It's not always that easy dad.

I took a deep breath, adjusting my bag again and stepped into the office. Walking up to the front desk, the secretary looked up from her Sudoku game.

"Hi, I'm new, I'm supposed to get my schedule?" It was a statement, but it came out as more of a question. The secretary looked me up and down, her piercing blue eyes locking with mine for a second.

"Name?" She demanded, dropping her stare.

"Maximum Ride." I answered slowly, shifting on each foot. She rolled the chair over to a drawer, flicking through envelopes. When she'd finally found the right one, she handed it to me.

"Inside that is your locker number, combination, your schedule, and library card." I nodded, thanking her, retreating from the office. I stopped down the hall, pulling out the first sheet, locker information. Looking at what number it was, 262, I headed up the stairs, following the locker numbers until I finally reached mine. Staring at the combination, I spun the knob, finally hearing the click, pulling the locker open. Putting my other shoes inside, I closed it back, looking at my schedule. I had Math, room 214. I looked up at the closest room number, then followed down the hall. 220, 218, 216, I finally arrived, knocking on the door.

"Is this Mr. Pearson's class?" I asked, looking at the teacher. He looked to be about 30, with glossy brown hair, brown eyes and tan skin. He nodded, beckoning me to come in.

"Yeah, that's me. How can I help you?"

"I'm in your class?" Another statement made question. The class all looked up at me, and I realized I had interrupted their working. Mr. Pearson went to his desk, picking up a piece of paper.

"Maximum?" He asked.

"Max." I corrected. "Just Max." He nodded, smiling at me and extended a hand.

"Hi, Max. I'm Mr. Pearson." I shook his hand firmly, a small grin on my face as well. "Actually, you got here just in time. We were just about to talk. Why don't you introduce yourself a little, then go and sit beside Krystal?" I shrugged, going to stand up at the front, all eyes on me. I looked to the girl I was supposed to sit beside after, seeing a pretty mocha coloured girl, with hazel eyes and light blue… everything on.

"Alright, Max. Floor is yours." Mr. Pearson said, enthusiastically. I tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace.

"Um… okay." I said, straightening up. "Hi… my name is Max Ride, I'm 18 and just moved here from Forest Hill. I'm into sports and I like to listen to music. But I can't cook to save my life." I finished, leaning back on the desk behind me. Then, just for good measure, added: "and I know I can't cook, or bake, or do anything in the kitchen, but I'm more of a fighter than you and I can kick your ass." I said that specifically looking at the jock in front of me, who was eyeing me up and down.

That defiantly caught the attention of the class, especially the girl I was supposed to sit next to, who brought a fist to her lips, a smile behind it. The class had thirty seconds to recover before the bell rang.

"Oh… Well that's the bell. Have a good day everyone." Mr. Pearson dismissed us, and the class picked up their things, filing out. "Max." I turned around to look at him. "Nice one." He grinned, a smile lighting up his face. I instantly knew I would like this guy.

"Thanks." I said, a small smile creeping up. I readjusted my bag, heading out the door.

"OMG! That was completely BA, it's not even funny!" The girl was waiting for me when I got out. "Hi, I'm Krystal, but most people just call me Nudge or Kristy, or Chris . You can too if you want." She frowned. "I have a lot of nicknames." She laughed slightly. I shrugged, looking at my schedule. "Hey, what do you have now?"

"Um… Geography." I said finally.

"I have that too, do you want me to show you where it is? It's okay if you don't." I shook my head.

"No, I could use all the help I can get right about now."

"Okay, let's go then." She began walking, and I followed her, falling into step. "So, tell me about your old house, friends? Boyfriends?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

"One. His name was Corey." I glanced at the students passing us in the halls. "He was perfect: nice, funny, great hair." I shook my head.

"What happened?"

"He was shot. One kid brought a gun to school, and was shooting at all of the jocks, cause some of the footballers beat him up."

"Was Corey one of the guys who did it?" I shook my head, a tear falling down my cheek.

"No. He wasn't even there. But the day of the shooting, he was coming to pick me up from class, and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Nudge wrapped her arms around me, a comforting gesture. "Thanks."

"You said you moved from Forest Hill, a friend of mine came from there too. You'll probably see him around, if not at lunch. But he rarely talks, so…"

"Is your friend a rich kid? All the houses up there were really pricey, everyone's parents were rich." She nodded.

"His dad was a lawyer, most of his family were really wealthy. But he didn't think of himself as rich, or better than anyone. He still doesn't. Oh, we're here." I looked at the room, we'd come to, not noticing we had crossed the school, ending at the Geography room. We both entered the class, going immediately into introductions and work.

The next class I didn't have with Nudge, so I was pretty much alone. Then it was lunch. I was wandering, until:

"Oof." I said as I bumped into someone, "Sorry." I looked up to see a blond boy standing over me. He held out his hand, and I took it, as he hoisted me up.

"It's okay. Were you going to the cafeteria?" I nodded. "Same. I'll take you, you can sit with me and my friends. I'm James Ignatius. But mostly everyone calls me Iggy." Just then, the mocha girl from before ran up to him.

"Come on slowpoke, I actually wanna eat something. Oh. I remember you. But I'm so sorry, I can't remember what you wanted us to call you."

"Max. Max Ride."

"Okay, hi Max. You wanna sit with us at lunch." I shrugged. "Great. You are going to love Blake, after the smell dies down, but we all call him Gazzy, you'll find out why. And Lissa." We were outside of the doors to the cafeteria now. I was about to push them open when Iggy stopped me.

"Wait. There's one more thing I should tell you." I raised an eyebrow. "Fang."

"He's the dark haired one. He doesn't talk much, so don't be offended if he doesn't respond. But he's really sweet once your around him for awhile. But he doesn't trust Anyone. But it's not a bad thing. I mean he trusts Iggy and he makes acquaintances. But he doesn't trust trust anyone. Like NO one. It's because of his g-" she stopped herself. "—these two kids. He loves them with his life, you'll probably see him with one of them after school. But it's a total mood change. So just go in say hi, and you heard NOTHING about the kids. Got it." I nodded, opening the doors. They led me to a table, and Nudge introduced me. "Guys this is Max. She's new. So be nice." I waved slightly, sitting down beside her. The dark haired one, Fang, was watching me. I looked to where the blond younger boy was talking to Iggy about some bomb.

The bell rang, and I found I had science. After a little bit of wandering, I found room 318. I opened the door, looking for the teacher.

"Ahh. You must be Max. Just take a seat beside Mr. Jacobs, put your hand up Nick," The dark haired boy from before just nodded to me. I went to sit down, glancing at him once. I could see his well defined arms from his shirt. He caught me staring at him and smirked.

"See something ya like?" he asked quietly, the smirk still on his face. I looked at his face, noticing his black eyes.

"I thought you didn't talk." I asked, watching the teacher.

"I don't." he whispered. I looked at him again, but his face was emotionless. I looked at my notebook again, listening to the teacher.

A few hours later, it was time to go home. I walked out with Nudge and Iggy, laughing at Nudge's ramble about some essay she had. Fang barley smiled, but I saw the corners of mouth twitch up. Suddenly, a little girl came running up to Fang.

"Daddy!" Nudge elbowed me, and I looked at her.

"Watch him." she nodded at Fang. He had her in a hug, half smiling. She was right, he was a completely different person now.

"Hey. How was school." he asked, holding her hand as we all went to our separate cars.

"'Totally Sucking' doesn't describe it." he laughed, shaking his head. The girl seemed to notice me. She tugged on Fangs shirt. "Daddy who is that." Fang looked at me.

"Oh right. Jay," Iggy helped. "Jay this is Max, our new friend. Max, this is Jayden. Fangs… daughter." there was a hesitance as he called her his daughter. I nodded.

"Hi."

"Totally awkward." Nudge muttered. Fangs lips twitched again. We reached our cars, and got into them, saying our goodbyes, then racing our separate ways.

The drive home for me was a thoughtful one. This might not actually be such a bad school. Iggy and Nudge seem cool, and Fang is a very… interesting person. The kind of guy who I actually wanted to learn more about. The little girl looked nothing like him. And he was eighteen, but the kid was twelve. There was no way she was his. But she called him Daddy. Maybe it was his sister. I made a note to ask Iggy tomorrow. I pulled up at my driveway, seeing my dad's car parked. I went inside the house, putting my bag on the floor.

So, I'm sorry if that didn't make any sense whatsoever. I really wanted to get this chapter up, so I just sort of put everything I already had written, together.

So, do you love it? Do you hate it? Do you think George is the coolest monkey in the world? Let me know!

Oh, and question of the day: If you were going to die tomorrow, what is one thing you would really want to do? Anything is possible here.

LOL, this chapter has 2010 words. That's funny.

—Idiotic-Freak