Disclaimer: I still don't own HON or Maximum Ride, do I look like James Patterson to you? Wait, don't answer that. I can honestly truthfully say, life sucks. jk. I meant I am not P.C. Cast or Kristin Cast either! (looks up at the freaky people monitoring the disclaimer crap.) "Are you guys happy now?"

She knows. She knows that I have wings! What the hell am I gonna do? I kept my face impassive while I was scraping up some kind of lie in my mind. It's a habit, and a talent. Oh, I have an idea! I forced excitement into my eyes and tone. "Do you think the goddess will give me wings? That would be so cool!"

"If Nyx does, that would explain your mark." Zoey said thoughtfully. These people are too trusting.

"Her mark's normal." Jack said.

"We just covered some parts of it up." I said.

"Come on everyone. I'll show you in our room." Zoey said. It seems like she's the leader here. Not that I want to be the leader. I'll only lead the flock. I polished off my last salad and chugged my sixth root beer. Wiping my mouth with my sleeve I let out a huge burp.

"Okay." I followed Zoey into our shared dorm room. As long as I have a shower with hot water and a bed, I'm beyond fine. I mean come on, sleeping in trees and caves? That's my normal. Zoey closed the door behind her and did a quick head count to make sure everyone was here.

"Wash off the concealer." She said.

"Like hell I will!" I growled. No one can control what I do.

Stop overreacting. My, oh so annoying Voice said.

The Voice inside of my head is giving me life lessons, oh the irony. I splashed some water onto my face and the concealer dripped off. I heard several gasps.

"Your mark has wings." Damien said.

"Thank you, captain obvious." I muttered sourly.

"Wow, that's almost as weird as Z." Shuanee said. Give the girl a prize!

"But we're used to weird." Aphrodite tossed her glossy blond hair over her shoulder.

"Of course you are." I laughed. Does weird mean having wings, being experimented on, growing up in a dog crate, and fighting for you life at a moment's notice? Well it doesn't in my book, that's just life. Oh, never forget the fact that I have a voice in my head that tells me to save the world. The whole freaking world! Isn't that a lot of responsibility for a fourteen-year-old avian American?

"Why are you laughing? Erik asked.

"Nothin' just thinking that your weird and my weird are way different." I blurted out without thinking. The hairs on the back on my neck prickled and I backhanded whoever was behind me, thinking it was an Eraser, Flyboy or an M-Geek.

Apparently it wasn't any of the above. It was Damien.

And now, thanks to me, his nose was gushing blood. Did I mention that vamprye fledglings are as fragile as humans? If that was Fang that I backhanded or anyone in my flock it would've been equal to a slap. One word my friend, eggshell.

"Shit! Max broke Queen Damien's nose!" Erin yelled.

"I've always wanted to do that." Shuanee shook her head regretfully.

"I-I'm sorry!" I said feverishly. "I didn't think that was you. I'm sorry!" I examined his face. "Your nose isn't broken. It's just bleeding. Don't worry too much about the blood, head wounds always bleed a lot. Just stay there and put pressure on your nose to make the bleeding stop." Leader Max was back. Getting marked and meeting new friends freaked me out, but minor injuries like these, psh! Nothing.

"Why did you whack me?" Damien said nasally. Why nasally, you might be wondering. Well he's putting pressure on his nose to stop the bleeding! Get with the program people! Jeez!

"Habit." I shrugged indifferently. "Don't be such a weenie. It's not even a broken nose."

Jaws dropped. I'm guessing that wasn't the best thing to say, but hey, he's older than me. Angel can get a bone broken and she won't shed a tear, let alone complain. But I comfort her and the others when they actually get hurt. Bleeding nose, no biggie.

"You're a cold blooded heartless person." Damien mumbled.

"Last time I checked, when you can talk and complain, it doesn't mean you're dying. Unless you have some kind of weird wacky disease." Or have an expiration date tattooed on your neck. "If you're in danger of dying, you'd be moaning in pain or unconscious."

"Well," Erik said nervously. "I'll take Damien back to the guy's dorm and Jack can come with us." Clearly, he wants to get away from me, the heartless killing machine.

"Okay." I shrugged and sat on my new bed. "Don't excite Damien by running around or the bleeding's never gonna stop."

"We gotta go too." Erin and Shaunee added. "There's a sale at the mall."

"Love my boots." Shuanee purred.

They hustled out leaving me, Zoey, and Aphrodite. Guess what happened next? If you guessed a horrible man eating ladybug materialized out of thin air, you guessed…wrong. It could happen one day, never underestimate mad scinetists. If you guessed a brain attack, ding! Ding! Ding! You were right! Extra points if you can guess who got the brain attack.

Yup, it was me. Yours Featherly.

Review! IF you don't, flying toasters will take over the world and it will be all your fault! You wouldn't want that to happen, would you? The world in ruins just because you were too lazy to review. And no this is not a threat, it's a fact.