Jeez, you guys are good at guessing. But I suppose those hang…hang (what are they called?) Well I forget but anyway those are annoying. So I am actually motivating myself before anyone has to try and make me start. So for those of living in the States…AP classes are a b*tch! I do love the subject but it is so much work. That is why I haven't had time to write. For those of you who don't know they are high school offered courses in a college level. I am really only taking one AP, 2 Hp, and 1 Exp. Next year will be hell.
And guess what else? THE GIANTS WIN THE WORLD SERIES! Bet you all wish you are living in the Bay Area because it is crazy! It was totally perfect too, black and orange for Halloween and Giants. (Note: I wrote this before I published and felt it was appropriate to keep in)
And you know what else? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 is coming out in less than a month! (Note again: I wrote this before it came out and find it appropriate to keep it in. I have already seen the movie and was quite pleased with the outcome) I re-read all the books in 25 days. (WARNING: If you are nota HP fan skip this paragraph) It was insane but I felt really smart because I would do my homework until 10 or 11 and then basically read. I carried the book around where ever I went. My parents got kind of mad though since I wasn't paying attention to anything. The only reason I HAD to read all of them in that amount of time was because I went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Die-hard Harry Potter fans (myself included) it is SO worth your time. The rides are alright (except Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey is awesome) but the shops and restaurants are so life-like. And it's pretty small since in 70 years (or maybe less) it will probably some other new world. I got picked for Ollivander's Wand show! My wand is Hawthorn! They sell a bunch of cool things some of which aren't even in the movie. The worse part though is the price. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING is under $5. Okay maybe you are thinking about robes and brooms etc. No this is like a patch….a freaking patch is $6! It is insanely expensive. And you know the Maurder's Map? FIFTY dollars! Why would you ever pay $50 for a flipping piece of paper? I know it's THE Maurder's Map but it is not worth it. I saw every single person pick it up look at the price and put it back. "It's a collector's item" they say but why would it be a collector's item if there are 500 of them sitting on the rack? I am debating whether to put pictures up or not. If you want them let me know.
But anyway other than the prices, HP World is worth it. Anyway I am writing for Maximum Ride and not HP. Which I am considering although but do not know if I can handle due to the fact I can barely keep up with one.
Also I am pretty sure I included a band called Finish Ticket in one of my chapters but they came out with a new album called Shake a Symphony and they are really good! Go check it out!
Twitter: modernballerina or under my email as well. Please follow me! I will post when I have a new chapter out, when I am starting, what's up in my life. It would make me feel really great if you guys could follow. I rebelled for awhile because I thought it was a waste of time but it's really awesome and you can follow some of your favorite artisits, actors, writers (hahahaha). Tweet me if you have one too or in the reviews
So here is Chapter….hehe..um 6 I believe. That A/N screwed me up.
It's Em. Holy crap she has come back. What am I going to do? I can't stay here. I have the urge to hug her and break down into tears. She came back for—
"Shut up and learn your light cues!" Em's face yelled. Oh wow that is so not Em.
Obviously the class had been having some Skype rehearsals or something because they already new all the harmonies. The senior playing Belle started the opening number. I could have sung Belle's part. Though not my favorite Disney Classics Princess, she was my part of my childhood.
The rest of the period consisted of a song run through
"Max!" Leigh called from behind me after the bell rang, "You need to get you box set up so I can start the programs. I set up a photo shoot appointment for you at 4:30. Meet in 345"
I just nodded and ran off into my room. There was a low foggy drizzle happening in the afternoon. Lissa was already inside fixing her hair.
"Where is everyone else?" I questioned her
"Oh they have all gone to after school practices. I don't have any on Mondays and since your new you won't have any this semester," she informed me.
I sighed. Every Monday with Lissa. Well at least I had a photo shoot today.
"Lissa? Where is room 345?" I asked.
"Oh are you getting your photo shoot? It's in the industrial arts building a cross the circle on the 3 floor. I am due for another one. I get one once year. Most people wait as long as possible but I think I get better every year. My friend Andrea does the makeup. She is a doll. On time she—"
I leapt up and ran out the door. "Thanks" I called behind my shoulder. I still had an hour to kill before my appointment. So I wandered in to the library in hopes of getting my homework done. It was quite large and modern (UCSD's library. Looks just like the snow tower in Inception). Slowly, I meandered through each floor. The first of which had many science people arguing and debating between theories. As I climbed up higher, the more odd books there were and the less people. Finally I settled into a welcoming desk. I could hear myself turning the page or the footsteps across the floor. Although this setting would have distracted me from any homework, the fact of being in the public eye made me portray a stereotypical student and it quite successfully got me through half my homework.
As the half hour drew closer, I backed up my bag and left to 345. On the third floor I took carful notes of where I was headed in case of an emergency. When I found the right classroom, there was a boy and a girl sitting next to each other.
"Hey," the girl said to me "Are you Maximum Ride?"
"Yes. Hi," I replied bluntly.
"Andrea Roma. It's nice to meet you. This is my brother Alex." She said waving around her leather and shell bracelet clad arm.
Alex smiled back and stood up showing his scrawny cross country-esque looking body. "Freshman right? You board here?"
"Yeah, Dalton's Hall" I replied.
"My best friend stayed there freshman year," Andrea added.
"C'mon we got to get a little bit of sunlight in the photo," Alex said. We walked out the back door to the school car.
"Aren't we staying on campus?" I asked.
"Hell no. San Francisco's got too many beautiful places to waste," Alex snorted as he climbed into a 1976 Malibu. I clambered into the back by myself. "Oh and just for the heads up, I can legally drive you all if the cops ask," he said then winked at me.
Racing down the streets of Market and Powell, we finally stopped in some sort of garden area. In the park was an empty outdoor symphony stage. Across the street was a building shaped much like a curious upside down pyramid but we were headed to a glass building the opposite way.
Inside the glass was more glass. First you were greeted by a glass cube which housed the sitting and picnic areas. On each side were two huge globes; one white and the other glass. We headed over to the glass using a bridge to cross over the fake Great Barrier Reef. Along the walls were many taxidermy animals. Thought against the abuse of animals in that way, the place was vast and extremely incredible.
"Never been to the city before have you?" Alex said coming up behind me.
"Once, the weekend before school," I replied.
"Nah," he said throwing the tripod over his shoulder, "Union Square is part of San Francisco but there are so man other surprises here. I can tell you have never been to the Academy of Sciences before. The Hippie spirit still runs through Nor Cal just a bit."
"You live here?" I asked
"Across the bay," he said nodding his head to the left, "I think only about 30% BSFTGT board. Everyone else was born and raised here,"
"Hey Max," Andrea called holding the door open to the dome, "We got to get your makeup on!"
I walked into an airy room filled with much greenery, birds, and butterflies. Andrea had already set up her makeup table and had a chair waiting for me. Luckily it wasn't going to be caked on unlike stage makeup. Even though I had to wear a great deal more makeup that an average person would wear for performances, Sephora was still a complete labyrinth for me. So I opted the easy way of wearing none.
While Andrea started matching some foundations on my hand, I let my mind wonder a bit. I looked at Andrea and then I looked at Alex. Twins no doubt. They could have been identical if not for their gender. For being friends with Lissa, they were undeniably better than her. Both had the fierce black hair and olive colored eyes.
"What ethnicity are you?" I blurted out. It was very unusual for me to do that.
"Greek and Italian," Andrea replied back, "It's actually really fun to be both because we get all this good food from each side." I laughed
"What? Food works miracles. You wouldn't believe how little people eat at the cafeteria. Especially all the sports people. I would die if I didn't get my daily dosage of ketchup," she exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know," Alex snorted
Applying some foundation, I remembered going to a butterfly garden once with my mom and sister Ella. I really wanted a butterfly to land on me since Ella had already had 2 blue ones land on her. But I was way too impatient to sit still so I ended up never touching one.
"Ketchup?" I questioned. "Isn't that a little Americanized?"
"Well it's only because any other food has no flavor," she told me.
"I suppose you have never been hungry enough to ignore you taste buds," I retorted.
"No!" Andrea said in awe, "Have you?"
"Yes, but not as severe as people living in other places," I said.
I had never really had some one professional (well, to an extent) put my makeup on but it was really bothering me that she was up in my face. Not to mention Alex had already finished with setting up his camera and was way too close as well. Makeup is quite uncomfortable. Who thought of the idea to stick a sharp object to your eye? Honestly these things are here for a reason.
Never the less, Andrea finished up with a swipe of mascara, the slightest bit of blush, and a bit of lip coloring. Seriously, I basically looked the same just a little fresh-faced.
"I would have liked to do more," Andrea said, "But I could tell the second I met you that you wouldn't have appreciated it,"
"I am glad you didn't. Now, uh, what do I do now?" I asked.
"You can come with me," Alex yelled from across the dome.
I meandered over to where he stood in a big plastic pants.
"So I recommend talking off you socks and shoes at least. And roll up your pants," he told me.
He led me over to the edge of dark green murky water. I wasn't scared or grossed out as long as nothing tried to bit my toes. Alex started to walk in with giant fish and sting rays that could probably knock him down in one fellow swoop.
"C'mon Max," he said extending his hand for me. "I want to get you to that rock out there." He pointed to a small one a couple meters away.
I stepped in and felt the algae and slimy slip in between my toes. I shuddered from the cold temperature. As I walked through the water I could see the fish darting away from my alien like legs in the water. We walked along a rock that dropped off into a deep endless tank. While I was observing the aquatic life off the cliff, I felt a long thick slimy weight against my leg. Looking down, I could see the eel's eyes glaring back at me before it dove into its cave. My breathing became a hard slow pace and my body constricted. The rock was only a few good splashing dashes away and I went for it in a smooth and graceful escape.
Alex burst out laughing, "An eel really? You were so chill before,"
"Eels happen to be the equivalent of aquatic snakes. Any blood, guts, or creatures I can handle," I stated pointedly.
"Max even the girly Andrea has less fears than you," he said nodding over to Andrea who was making her way over to us.
"Hello, there!" she said to the water. "You know that wasn't very polite to scare Max. Are you Flotsam or Jetsam?" (A/N For the Disney lovers. I know I am.)
"Can we just get through with this so Andrea doesn't have to give anything else a pep talk?" I urged.
"C'mon Andrea hurry up!" Alex called. She jogged slowly through the murky water.
"Alright so you can sit on the rock and look into the camera. I really want the background to contrast too," Alex told me.
"Really, that's your idea. She is just going to sit there like an idiot?" Andrea frowned.
While Alex was snapping away, (which really was awkward) he snapped back, "Andrea, we don't need comments from the peanut gallery here,"
"Oh well I don't know," she sighed, "if it was my photo shoot I wouldn't want the whole school to look at my mug shot in a jungle. It's not very appealing at all,"
"It's my photo shoot to photograph and it's your model to makeup. This part is my turn. Always will be and always has. If you want to really do this be my guest," Alex said slightly irritated.
Andrea started to reach for the camera with a smile on her face but Alex pulled it out of her reach with a frustrated look because his plan had failed.
To break the sibling feud silence, I said, "You're the younger one aren't you Andrea,"
"Unfortunately," she huffed. "His work would come out so much better if I did it,"
"But then it wouldn't be his work," I said pointedly.
"I suppose," Andrea sulked.
It was kind of funny how much they argued and how immature they acted about it. For being, two years older than me, I wasn't sure that people my age did that.
After awhile, I started to stand on the rock because my legs started to fall asleep. As Alex was snapping pictures, boredom overcame me. This photo shoot wasn't as glamorous as you though. My clothes were damp and there was a pool of eels swimming around somewhere. I was starting to think that Alex wasn't that brilliant anymore as he kept on have to adjust the angle and my position.
In the mist of my boredom, I watched Alex working. Andrea had disappeared somewhere else. Most of the time, the camera was up in his face but when he was looking at the pictures just taken, you could see how gorgeous he really was. The yellow undertones of his face brought about the green in his eyes. As for his hair, the dark ringlets were tightly wound about each other. His narrow, high bridged nose was a prominent feature. He reminded me of the David statue that Michelangelo carved except he wasn't naked.
"Hey Max?" Alex asked.
"Yeah," I tried to reply smoothly.
"Could you stand up instead? This sitting thing isn't working out too well. You look bored," he said.
I balanced on the rock and just as I was getting ready for more shots, I felt a push behind me. Tumbling into the water, Alex snapped as many shots as he could. I came up for air, hacking my lungs up and my hair covered in slimy seaweed.
"Andrea!" Alex yelled. "You dim-wit. What the hell were you thinking?" he helped me out of the water with his warm hands.
"Oh you know that your photo shoot was going bad. I could see it in your eyes. You are my twin you know." Andrea screamed back. "I am sure you got some good shots or else you wouldn't have taken pictures when I pushed her in. Besides you saw me behind her."
I looked at Alex. "You didn't stop her?" I glared at Alex.
"Well, I didn't know what she was doing" he mumbled as he pulled the seaweed out of my hair.
"We are connected twins. He definitely knew what was going up" Andrea argued back.
We heard the Planetarium door open. All of us turned around to find Leigh walking in.
"Oh dear God," she exclaimed at the sight of me.
"Leigh!" Andrea exclaimed and pulled her into a tight hug.
Still appalled, she asked, "What in the world did you do to her? I knew I couldn't trust you guys by yourselves."
"I pushed Max in because Alex was doing a bad job on the photo shoot," Andrea said pointedly.
"Let me see the pictures," I said to Alex. Warily, he hand me the camera. I flipped to the ones when Andrea pushed me. To be honest, it looked awesome. It looked like I was hovering over the water and about to take flight.
"See, I told you it would work," Andrea teased to Alex.
"Yeah," Leigh agreed, "But you can hardly see her face,"
Alex groaned, "It's getting late and I still have homework. Let's go. We will set up another one later,"
"Oh my god, Leigh. We have so much to catch up on. We should have dinner tonight before homework gets too chaotic," Andrea said excitedly.
"Alright, but I have a lot of homework so we can't stay out too late," Leigh agreed.
"See you guys," Alex said turning around and pulling me with him towards the parking lot.
"It was nice meeting you Max!" Andrea called behind me.
Once we got into the car, Alex started to say, "I am really sorry about my sister and the photo shoot didn't work out too we–"
"Don't worry about it," I said back to him. "I know that feeling where you love it so much it has to be perfect."
"Do you mind if we make a stop? I have to drop off some photos for a shop," he asked.
"Go ahead," I replied.
Alex parked in a space on a steep hill. The street was crowded with a variety of people. On the way up, there were about 80 people dressed as pumpkins walking up and down the streets. I asked Alex what they were but he didn't know.
"I'm going to be awhile so if you want to walk around, I can meet you here in half an hour," Alex said.
What I really wanted to do was go back sleep and finish my homework but the thick manila envelope looked more important than my annoyances. So I headed up the hill.
There wasn't much really; a couple of shops and some local cafés.
There was an empty bench that was now occupied by me. It was on a hill so every move caused me to slip further and further off the bench.
I could not sit still. Every person walking by was practically on my lap because of the crowds.
20 more minutes. One of pumpkin people sat next to me. He had nasty colored green leggings on and was drinking a coffee.
I could feel someone watching me. Finally after sitting in distress for quite some time, I got up and walked around the block, analyzing each person's face that walked by to see if they were watching me. Every time failed.
Finally I walked back to the car only to se Alex leaning on the hood, the camera hanging around his neck and a smug smile plastered on his face.
He shoved the camera in my hands. On the screen was a picture of me. Blurred image of other people were around me. It looked like a spy picture with me desperately trying to find who was following me.
"Frankly," Alex said, "it looks like you are about to beat the living lights out of someone. It suits you."
"You were following me weren't you punk?" I threatened.
"Yeah, I finished early and saw you just sitting there. So I followed you around," he said nonchalantly.
"Asshole!" I snapped at him. He chuckled. "I could have been back by now. Let's go!" I commanded.
Eventually, Alex pulled up to my building.
"Thanks," I said dryly and walked inside.
This time I remembered my keys. When I walked in, everyone was already there, plus Fang, Iggy, and Nudge.
I was greeted by a tight hug from Diana.
"Where have you been?" Diana asked.
"Photo shoot today," I stated.
"I told you," Lissa snapped at everyone. "Andrea must be home! I should call her"
"Actually Lissa, she went to dinner with Leigh," I informed her smugly that I knew what was going on and she didn't.
"Leigh? Who's Leigh?" Lissa demanded.
"Ha! Score for Leigh!" Iggy exclaimed.
"What," Fang whispered to Iggy, "Who is Leigh?"
"She is the Stage Manager for Beauty and the Beast," I said aloud.
Lissa started pouting about how she didn't know about Leigh. Not being able to stand the sound of her voice anymore, I went to go pick up some late night dinner. When I got back, everyone was into their own rooms but Lissa was still moping around.
"Lissa," I said looking dead into her eyes, "Shut up no one wants to hear about your problems. Nor do we have any sympathy for you,"
Thank God she had nothing to say after and just frowned with her drawn on eyebrows knit together. I looked to my left and saw Diana trying to muffle her laugh.
It was weird. Living in a dorm like this was just like a mini high school with cliques. Patricia mainly did her own thing while Lissa always tried to join Diana and me. Yeah, we didn't let that happen.
The rest of the week was, well…slow and uninteresting. When the weekend came, pigs could finally fly. Not really but I bet they were in some island we have yet to discover.
I had picked up the pictures from Alex and was heading over to 's room to drop them off. Just as I reached for the door handle, I felt the back of my neck tingle.
Whipping around, there standing behind me was none other than Fang. "What, are you doing here?" I questioned with an emphasis on "what".
"No 'hello'?" Fang chuckled. "I was just about to ask you the same question. is my art teacher. I practically live here,"
"Oh," I replied. "Well I was just dropping off my portfolio picture,"
"Yeah, Alex showed me. You look really good," Fang said.
I could feel my cheeks heat up. Boys were not the first thing on my list. Never have been and I expect never will but Fang just made everything so much better when he said it. Anyway, I opened the door and walked in.
There was some dramatic soap opera-esque playing about artists. was sitting in her desk with a spoon full of tofu salad suspending in the air as she watched.
Fang sat down in a desk and started watching. "Don't bother disturbing her," he whispered to me. "It's impossible to pull her away from the screen,"
I sat down next to him. He put a painting on to the desk that I just noticed he was carrying. "I am turning this in for the Academy," he said.
It was, well, exquisite. It was from the Bay Bridge that you drive on looking into the city with a low fog running in.
I leaned in and said, "You paint like Monet,"
"You know who Monet is?" he said with his eyebrows raised.
"I spent a summer in France in 5th grade," I shrugged. "Wait, what's the Academy?" I realized.
"I forgot. You new," he said bluntly.
"Thank you for stating the obvious," I said (you guessed it!) sarcastically. "What is it?"
"So the school is broken up to 3 groups. Liberal arts, Math and Sciences, and Athletics. Every, I don't know, third of the year each group does something to display their work. Sciences and Math goes first as which we call a "Convention". Liberal arts next in the "Academy" like the Oscars. And last, Althetics in a the "Olympics"
"What?" I cried in shock, "Why didn't I know about this? That's awesome!"
"It's nice," Fang continued, "basically a week of freedom,"
"Maximum!" exclaimed, "It's good to see you again. One second Nick, I will be right with you,"
"Uh" I started pathetically, "I got my portfolio pictures taken,"
She started looking at them. "Wonderful. The Roma kids do great work. They're a tag team. Just put it on your box,"
I went it to the portfolio room. Earlier that week, I had come by to drop my unfinished box off. I started pasting on my picture. Fang was done with his errand. The door opened and just by the quiet footsteps, I could tell who it was. He jumped up onto the library ladder and slide over to me.
It was slightly embarrassing as he sat and watched me. Just like cooking, I am not a very good artist. Glue was definitely not my thing. The edges had a bit of glue seeping out the sides.
"Shut up," I glared at him when he started to smirk. I tried to position it as best I could until it dried. Oh well.
To be honest, nothing else happened that weekend except finishing my homework. In a month is Thanksgiving, Convention, and then Christmas.
Twitter: modernballerina Please follow! It would mean the world to me!
Thanks for reading. I hope you had a great New Year. By the way, this chapter is 10 pages too long? My first couple ones were really short though.
