A/N: Yo, this one's not very long but with Ch6 I figured it totalled to about the usual for two chapters.

Not much else to say.

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or any of its characters.

Claimer: I own Mike, Dave, Julie, Joel and Jack. Wow, just realised how many J characters I created. Anyways, don't steal them.

Please review, I will reply.

Chapter 7

"Dave! Come over here, meet Max." Mike yells into the kitchen.

"Who?" Dave – a tall, lean guy – emerges from the huddle. He sees me and smiles, "Hi there," we shake hands, "Nice to meet you Max, where're you from?"

"Colorado," I reply.

"Dude, what's up?" A low velvety voice asks Dave.

"Dylan, this is Max," Dave says to the heavily built, tanned guy.

"Hey," Dylan holds out his hand. I shake it, noticing the way his sandy blond hair falls into his eyes when he bows his head slightly. He gestures to an immensely tall, muscular guy who I think must be a grown man, "This is my best man, Joel."

"Best man?" I frown.

"Will you be my bride?" Dylan asks sweetly, puppy eyes and all. All the boys erupt in laughter as I roll my eyes.

An incredibly high voice interrupts the mirth, "That joke's old now guys," I turn to the source: Joel. I try hard not to giggle at the irony of a bloke who looks so beyond his years with a voice so far behind.

I am introduced to the two other boys: one is a cute blondie called Sam; the other a loud, comical guy named Jack. All the while I feel Dylan's intense stare fixed on me.

I finally retreat to my room and, remembering what Ella said, write 'MAX' on a scrap of paper and stick it to my door. Before returning downstairs I empty the contents of my rucksack under my bed and put my laptop, map and timetable back into it. No use carrying all my stuff around school. Fang is waiting for me when I step outside the house.

"I thought you might need a hand getting to class," he says.

"Yeah, thanks," I say.

As we go down the steps I see what I didn't in the dark last night: the front of this house has many flowerbeds, all practically overflowing with bright tulips of all different colours. "Wow," I mutter, crouching down to inhale their sweet scent. I smile and stand up, looking around again. The sight of so many flowers – each so simple individually, but breathtaking in a big crowd like this – is truly amazing.

I turn quickly and catch Fang staring at me. His cheeks turn a light shade of pink as I raise my eyebrows at him. I turn and start walking down the path, allowing myself a secret smile in the moments before I hear his footsteps rushing along the ground to catch up with me.

A/N: Very busy so not sure when Ch8 will be up but, trust me, this is where the story gets interesting.

Reviews would be nice! Loveyouall.

Leoni,

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