Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.

Since a couple people were wondering, Fang will come into the story, and pretty soon. Maybe in about 2 or 3 more chapters.

Max's POV:

Drew rolls her window down. "Bye, Max!" She calls from her car. I wave from my driveway to show that I heard her.

She begins to roll the window up, stops and rolls it back down. "Hey, I'm picking you up at 2 to get ready for Sammie's party."

"WHAT!"I screech. I walk down my driveway and stop in front of her car. "Drew, I HATE Sammie, and she hates me! Why are we going to her party?"

"Ugh, I know, but she invited everyone to her party and it's the perfect time to break hearts and announce that you're leaving."

Do you see the logic behind that? Because I don't. "I wasn't planning on telling everyone."

Drew rolls her eyes. Has anyone else noticed that she does this far too often around me? "You were just not going to show up and leave me to answer everyone's questions? How about NO. You're coming to the party if I have to drag you there myself, biatch! And break Jake Rickson's heart, please! God, I hate that kid."

Drew and Jake Rickson dated for 5 months, which is a pretty long time to be in a high school relationship. They were super serious about it, too, until Jake broke up with Drew saying that she wouldn't let him get in her pants. Apparently, he thought that I would, because Drew tells me his exact words were something along the lines of, 'I'm wasting my time dating you when I could be off banging that Max chick.'

Real classy, Jake.

The next day at school, I went up and slapped him, but he thought I was just doing it because Drew and I were best friends. I hooked him up with a girl who I paid to go out with him. The girl dumped him in a week and started dating his other ex-girlfriend. Talk about making a statement. The entire school made fun of Jake for months about it! Drew got over him incredibly fast, and started dating a guy named Blake within 2 weeks. Sure, it was a rebound, but the entire school now knows that if you mess with one of us, the other will hurt you.

"I thought he was in Arizona?" I say.

"He's going to go to Sammie's party because it's like the event of the year. I'm pretty sure his plane lands at 12, and since guys don't take as much time to get ready, I'll bet you he'll be at Sammie's party with a pack of beer to spike the punch." Drew snorts. She believes in getting drunk about us much as I do, although she doesn't mind drinking a little alcohol, whereas I refuse is entirely.

I smile eerily. "Alright, I'll come to Sammie's party."

Drew winks. "Jake Rickson, eat your heart out."

I wave bye to her and enter my house. The door is unlocked, and I see Anne in the kitchen baking.

"Good morning, Max! Did you have fun with Drew?" She asks pleasantly, pulling a pan of brownies out of the oven.

I nod, walking over to her and snatching up a piece of delicious goodness. "Yeah. I'm going a party again today. Drew's picking me up at 2."

"Max, we're supposed to be having a family dinner today."

I raise one eyebrow. "Is Daddy coming home?" Anne shakes her head. "Isn't Brooke sleeping over at Casey's?"

Anne nods, slowly and unhappily, knowing where I'm going with this. "Alright Max, you can go. Just don't spend the night again, okay? I need to talk to you about some stuff."

"Sure thing, mom." I grab one last brownie before running up the stairs to my room. There's nothing wrong with Anne, but she's just too…nice, and too girly. Sometimes, though, I really like her, because I can tell her everything and anything, and she always knows the right thing to say.

"Hey shrimp!" I yell as I pass my sister's door.

"Hey dorkface! I didn't know you were home!" She yells back. This is just our way of love- name calling and screaming. It's more fun than always going 'Oh, sweetest sister of mine!' anyways.

I close my door and hook my phone up to my speakers. I didn't see the point of getting an iPod, because I could download music onto my phone for free, and it was more convenient to carry one thing instead of two. Good Life by OneRepublic starts playing and I dance as I change and put my clothes away. This song always makes me want to whistle.

"Oooooh, this has gotta be the good life!"


A knock on my door makes me jump. I had been at a particularly tense part in my book, and I frown as I put it down.

"Come in." I call. Anne walks in and sits on my bed.

"Whose party are you going to, again?" She asks.

"Sammie Hayes."

Anne recoils. "I thought you hated her?"

"Ugh, I do. But Jake Rickson's going to be there." I smile, and Anne smiles back. She knows all about Jake Rickson.

"Well, why don't you and Drew get ready here, and we can make you look so pretty the poor boy won't know what hit him?" She suggests.

"Huh, that's a good idea. Squirt has plenty of make up, anyway." I purse my lips. "Yeah, I'll text Drew right now."

"Don't call your sister Squirt, Max." Anne chides, but I can see the smile beneath her so called angry gaze.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't you have brownies to be making?" We both laugh, but Anne swats me upside the head on her way out the door.

I text Drew, and she pulls up in my driveway ten minutes later.

"Hey." I greet when she gets to my room. Drew looks me up and down, taking in my sweatpants, messy hair up in a bun, and stained tee shirt from several years. Anne stands in the doorway behind her.

"Oh, dear." Drew sighs and looks at the clock. It's 2:15. "Anne, we have a lot of work to do."


Three hours later, I'm scrunching up my face while Anne applies something to my cheeks. It looks like lipstick! Okay, now I'm just being dumb. I know it's blush, but I tend to feign ignorance about makeup.

"Done! Put your dresses on, both of you!" She chirps and I get up and open my eyes. I move to go look in the mirror, but Anne blocks my path.

"Not until you're dressed. I want you to get the complete look."

I shrug and start pulling off my hobo outfit. I pull another skanky dress over my head. This one is an electric blue, which apparently 'brings out my eyes.' I don't care what color it is, as long it makes me look hot. And I'm not just being shallow; I have a plan for this party.

I look at Drew next to me, and she looks stunning. Her dress is white, and it hugs her body in all the right places. The neckline is really very low, but is bunched up in way that it looks classy, not slutty. Her black hair has been curled to perfection, contrasting beautifully against her tan skin and white dress. Anne has done her makeup so that her eyes and lips look even bigger, and her cheek bones more prominent.

I gasp. "Jake Rickson, eat your pretty little heart out." I repeat her statement from earlier, and she smiles.

"You don't look so bad yourself."

She's right, I don't. I'm allowed to brag in my own head, right? Good, because I look absolutely gorgeous. The blue dress fits loosely up top, but pretty much makes my boobs look bigger. The bottom is similar to a pencil skirt, curve hugging and itty bitty. It ends a few inches below my butt, so I can preserve so dignity. Anne's made my face looks flawless and radiant. She's knows what I like, and what Drew likes, so my lips are their regular pale pink, except glossier, and my eyes have nothing on them but a swipe of eyeliner.

I grin when I see us both side by side in the mirror. Anne smiles too, from behind us.

"Girls, you look beautiful. That boy's not going to know what hit him."


I pull my heels on in the car, struggling with a buckle.

"Here, let me." Drew says, letting go of the wheel to fasten the little belt for me. We're parked in Sammie's driveway, so I don't have to have an aneurysm.

"Let's go." I say, and we step out of Anne's black Mercedes-Benz SLS AM, which she so kindly let us borrow. Drew rings the doorbell of the house once, and Sammie opens it.

"Guys, I'm glad you made it. Come on in." She says, playing the part of a perfect host.

"Thanks for having us." Drew says, equally politely. I don't say anything, but I make sure to bump my shoulder against Sammie's when I walk through the doorway.

"Is that-"

"Drew Christian?"

"Holy damn."

"-and Max Walker?"

"I'd tap that."

"You guys look fantastic!" One of the girls chirps. I don't say anything, following my instructions from Drew precisely. Instead, I look around with my best stink face- lips pursed, and a bored expression.

"I know." Drew says, and we both flip our hair like the bitches we are a heart.

"I'll get drinks." I speak for the first time. Drew nods. This is all part of the plan. Just like we envisioned, Jake is standing by the punch bowl with a can of beer in his hand. He looks around shiftily before pouring it into the bowl. Seriously, can you get anymore cliché?

"Hey." I say sultrily. I pretend to stumble as I walk over to him. Jake looks me up and down, his smile growing bigger when his eyes stop at my chest and legs. I force myself to not deck him right there and then for being such a sexist pig.

"Hey yourself, Maxi. I didn't think I'd see you here." He winks at me and I stop myself from gagging.

"Yeah, well, Drew didn't want to come, but I did. I was bored at home." I let out a giggle so uncharacteristic that Jake stares at me.

"Are you drunk?" He asks, incredulous. "Has this punch already been spiked?"

I shake my head. "Just tipsy. And no, the punch was fine until you poured your beer can into it."

"You saw that, huh?"

"Yeah." I say, and I step towards Jake until I'm barely a centimeter away from him. I put my finger on his shoulder and gently trace down until I get to the waistband of his pants.

"Max?" His voice is shaky, and he gulps thickly. Weirdo.

"Hmmmm." I say absently, continuing to trail my finger around his abs. I can feel his muscles under his shirt, and although I hate him, I had to admit his was well defined

"Max?" He repeats, more urgently this time. I look up, slightly miffed.

"What?"

"What are you doing?"

"What do you think, silly?" I say, and then I get up on my tippy toes and brush my lips against him. He responds fiercely, trying to get me to open my mouth, but I refuse. I don't want to catch mono from him, although it's probably too late for that.

"Max!" Drew snorts from several feet away. I turn my head but don't step away. I can practically feel Jake smirking beside me.

"Yeah?" I raise an eyebrow, my tone the perfect balance between bored and annoyed.

Drew shakes her head. "Nothing. I just wanted to warn you, he kisses like a dog. "

I wrinkle my nose. "I know. Come on, let's go." I can't resist turning to look at Jake's expression. His mouth is slightly open, his eyes like a lost puppy dog's. He doesn't look cute, he just looks dumb. And flabbergasted.

We join the throng of the party, dancing and flirting but making sure we didn't drink any alcohol. At parties like this, everything was spiked, so the only thing I drank was water straight from the kitchen tap.

"I'd like to say a few words." Sammie says, turning the music off. I try to resist cheering, because we had talked to Sammie and asked her to do this for us. As yet another ex-girlfriend of Jakes', she eagerly agreed. I content myself to winking at Drew instead. Everybody turns to look at Sammie, even the couples practically having sex with their clothes on by the couches.

"Sophomore year is over. In one more week, we're all juniors." She holds her cup out and is met with a few cheers. "I just wanted to say that Brandon, I love you. Maggie, and Sabrina, you're my best girls. Max and Drew, we have crap between us, but behind it all, you're cool people. And Jake Rickson, you're a douche." She shrugs and walks back into the crowd. This other girl Maggie steps up.

"Here's to an awesome junior year. We better beat the crap out of the seniors in the upperclassmen soccer tournament!" This is met by many whoops and cheers, especially from all the jocks.

It's mine and Drew's turn next. We step up to the platform together.

I take the microphone first. "I just wanted to say that I'm leaving. I'm going to boarding school in Florida for junior year. But if anybody messes with Drew, just know that I'll still kick your butt. Look at Jake Rickson, for example."

Everyone laughs and Jake flushes an ugly red. Drew takes the mike from me.

"That poor sorry bastard." She smirks as people continue to laugh and bring up the lesbian girlfriends incident from freshman year.

"Not even." I scoff. "Jake Rickson, you're a bitch."


A/N- I know that the chapter seems like total fluff, but Jake Rickson will actually be important to the story later. For right now, it's just character development. Review!