Chapter 4

The jet finally landed and we all got off. Waiting for us outside was a shiny black stretch limousine, like the kind you'd see Bill Gates running around in.

"Holy crap!" exclaimed Nudge. "Are we gonna ride in that?"

"You bet," said Julia, laughing.

Fang whistled when we got in. "This is nice," he said, looking around as he sat down.

"I'm not sure if 'nice' is the right word…" I said. There was room enough for eight or nine people just in this part of the car alone. There was a mini fridge stocked with champagne, sparkling juice, and soda. In the corner was a large flat-screen television. I had to say, I was pretty impressed. You'd think the big-man himself was trying to suck up to us or something.

As we rode through the streets of Washington D.C., we were all pretty quiet. I think it was finally starting to sink in for the others that we were going to the White House. Even Nudge hardly said anything as she watched the scenery go by. It was a miracle. The only incident we had was when Gazzy and Iggy tried to sneak a glass of champagne. They tried to pass it off as the juice.

When we pulled onto Pennsylvania Avenue everyone started to get fidgety. By the time we'd passed the security gates and were parking in front of the White House, we were all practically jumping out of our seats. The driver of the limo came around and held the door open for us.

"I could get used to this," I said appreciatively as I climbed out last.

"Yeah," agreed Nudge and Angel enthusiastically.

Nudge looked behind her at the boys. "Why don't you hold doors open for us?" she demanded.

Gazzy's face scrunched up in thought, pondering the question. Fang ignored her. Iggy said, "Holding doors open is for civilized people."

Civilized people? Huh. Well. Guess it's nice to know he doesn't include us in that category.

Julia and Agents Finn and Ginn led us up to the front door and knocked. We waited there, on the front step of the President's house, for what seemed like ages. Jeez, you would have thought they'd be expecting us! I stood there tapping my foot, nervously smoothing out my shirt and messing with my hair.

Mom had tried to convince me to wear a dress like Angel and Nudge, and when I'd flat-out refused, she'd settled for a nice dressy outfit. I had on a pair of tailored black dress pants and a dark red shirt with loose, flow-y sleeves. The whole ensemble fit me in all the right places, and though it was far from my usual style, I had to admit that it looked really good on me. My mom had great fashion sense. And it was patriotic, so that was a plus.

"Max," came a little voice sternly from beside me. "You look beautiful, so don't worry, okay?"

I smiled down at Angel. "Thanks, sweetie." I leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "And I'm not worried." She raised her eyebrows at me. Oh, yeah. Sometimes it was easy to forget about the mind-reading thing.

Just then the door opened.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed when the president himself didn't answer the door. I mean, he made us wait all this time, and he couldn't even come to the door himself? Talk about rude.

We were escorted inside by an old, white-haired man in a black suit, much like the ones worn by Finn and Ginn.

"Hello, there," he said cheerfully. "You must be Maximum Ride." I shook his hand. "And, why, this must be little Angel. And the Gasman, and Nudge, and Iggy, and Fang! Am I right?" He shook each one of our hands. This guy had obviously done his research on us. I was beginning to wonder if there was, like, a website on us or something. What would happen if we Googled 'flock'?

"I'm Joe Smith," the man said. "The President's Chief of Staff."

"Pleased to meet you," I said.

"And you!" Joe was a cheerful little old man. I decided I liked him. "Now," he said. "I'm sure you're quite anxious to meet the first family."

"Oh, yes, we are!" said Nudge. "I've been looking forward to this for days!"

Joe Smith, Chief of Staff, chuckled. "Then let's go meet them!"

He led us through a doorway and into a sitting room. The carpet and walls were cream-colored. The entire room was decorated very lavishly, with expensive-looking furniture and paintings on the walls. There was a couch along one wall and another couch in front of it, separated by a wooden coffee table. The couches were upholstered in leather. But what interested me most was not the couches themselves, but the three people sitting on them.

"Mr. President," Joe Smith said, nodding his head as the President of the United States and his family stood up to greet us.