A month after me and Fang got together, I turned 18. I know, scary. That means I'm an adult, I can move out if I wanted to, and that means Fang will be 18 soon, and if you know Fang, you will know that he will go crazy with the drinking. And I was getting twitchy. I knew Lissa was up to something with her 'revenge'. She has been watching me like a cat with the mouse. Guess who's the mouse.

Right. Me.

Fang and I walked to the lunch table, and his fingers intertwined with mine. I sat down first with my tray, and he sat next to me. "Ah, the lovebirds choose to sit here today." Nick said, sliding in next to Desiree.

"Ya," she said. "Shouldn't you be behind the buildings making out?" My eyes narrowed at her, and she grinned. Nudge kept quiet, but I could already hear the comments in her mind. "Anyways, Max, happy birthday." Desiree said cheerfully, handing me a small box.

I pushed it away. "No, it's okay. Really."

"Aw, Come on! Please, Max?" she begged, and I shook my head.

"Dezzy, I don't want anything. It's just another day. I'm getting old, and why should we celebrate that?" I asked.

She smirked. "You tried that last year. Open it." she ordered. I sighed and took the paper wrapped box. I shook it and pulled on the string. The green bow came undone and I tied it around Fang's wrist. He smiled and put and arm around me.

I slowly kissed him on the cheek and when I pulled away, Desiree and Nudge both glared at me. Iggy and Sam walked up with notebooks and watched us. "What's going on?" Iggy asked. Sam eyed the bow around Fang's wrist and his eyebrows knitted together.

"Max is taking forever to open Desiree's gift." Nick said.

Iggy smiled and Sam sighed.

I rolled my eyes and bit my lip. My fingers pried open the corner of the paper, and I pulled it off. It was a small brown box that looked like it would have junk in it. As soon as I opened it, I gasped. I knew Desiree had a lot of money herself, but I didn't know she had enough to buy a tennis bracelet.

Fang's grin was huge, but went away when I sucked in a sob that screamed to come out. "We all pitched in. It's really from Fang." Iggy said.

"She doesn't like it, guys." Fang whispered.

I shook my head, and hugged Fang. "I love it." I told him. "It's the most special thing I could have got in the world." After a second, I added, "actually, it's the second best thing."

Fang kissed my forehead. "What's the best thing?" he asked.

"Guess." I told him, then pecked him on the lips.

I stood up and hugged Nudge and Desiree. Then Iggy opened up his arms, and I fell into them. "Well, you know, we helped too." Nick said, and Sam smiled.

I laughed. "I know you guys didn't help, but I'll give you a hug anyway."

I gave them each a hug, and Sam held on a little longer than I wanted.

Nudge helped me put the bracelet, then I hugged Fang again. He smiled and wrapped his arms around my waist. I heard the girls chant, "kiss kiss kiss kiss!", so Fang tilted me over, like the prince does to his princess in the movies, and connected our lips.

They squealed, and the guys sighed, and I could picture them looking away.

I could also picture Lissa coming at me with a knife.

At that thought, I was about to cut the kiss, but Fang could feel me start to pull away, so he held on tighter. I smiled against his lips.

"Hey, none of that here! At home!"

We pulled away from each other, and the teacher was walking toward us. I stood up straight and stepped away from Fang. Sam and Nick had silently ran away, Iggy was deciding whether to follow or stay with the flock, Desiree had already chosen to run with them, and Nudge was holding Iggy by the ear to make sure he didn't leave.

"School is a place of learning, not a place if snogging all over each other. Lunch is almost over, so get going!" she said, and eyed Iggy and Nudge. After a huff, she walked off.

I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, and Iggy and Nudge escaped.

Fang glanced at me, and we looked around. Pretty much everyone inside was looking at us. I waved awkwardly, grabbed my tray and backpack, and pulled Fang out of the cafeteria with me. "Okay, that was embarrassing." I said.

Fang shrugged. "I guess. I got caught with Lissa all the time."

"Really? When?" I asked.

He sighed, "Oh I don't know, it seems to be during first period. I always seem to hear the trashcan breathing by room 303." he said, glancing at me from the corner of his eyes.

My eyes widened and I felt my neck heat up, and it spread to my cheeks. "You knew that was me?" I asked.

He smiled. "I always did."

I crossed my arms and turned away from him. Fang sighed. "Max." His breath was hot on my neck. My shoulder twitched and his breath got hotter. I spun around and cupped his cheeks in my hands.

"Fang." I said.

He grinned. My lips made a trail along his jaw, and I stopped at the corner of his mouth. "You have somewhere to be." I whispered. At that I turned around and headed for the bathroom. I smiled at my resistance against starting a make out session with Fang. It was 12:43 pm and Fang said he joined some stupid club that starts at 12:45. He had been going for a week now.

"Yo, Max!" Nick said, running over to me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I just wanted to give you this." he said, handing me a picture frame. It was black and had a picture of me and Fang at the dance, and we were outside, in the rain, soaking wet, kissing. "I had a camera, and I was waiting for the right picture to be put in that." he told me, then patted me on the back.

"Thanks, Nick." I said, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I appreciate it. But I have to go..." I said, already jogging to the bathroom.

After that, I had 10 minutes until lunch was over, and I decided to go check out this club Fang went to. It was right around the corner from my next class, so I looked around for Sam real quick. I spotted him by the benches with his friends.

"Hey, Sam!" I called.

He looked up and waved at me. "What's up?" he asked.

I ignored his friend...Jake...or Jack...or something like that, who was looking me up and down, and I tucked my hair behind my ear. "So, um, I was thinking, for the music video, maybe I would do that song I showed you, 'Naturally'. How 'bout it?" I asked.

Sam thought it through, and smiled. "Ya, cool. I'll let my dad know so he can tell the 'big guy'. Okay?"

I agreed and started my way to the club classroom. I got there and walked in. Sophomores and Seniors were everywhere, throwing paper airplanes, sitting on the desks and talking about their girlfriends or boyfriends, Sophomores showing off their new car keys, girls waiting in the corner of the room for a guy to come over and start a conversation.

This is not a club, I thought, looking for Fang. Nobody even realized somebody had come in. A tiny girl with purple pixie hair walked over and shook hands with me. "Hello, are you new? My name is Marissa."

I shook my head. "I'm not new, I'm looking for someone. My name is Max." I told her.

Her eyes widened. "You must be looking for Fang. He's over...oh boy. You know what, why don't you take a walk with me? Let's talk...where did you get that bracelet?"

I looked over to where Marissa was looking, but saw nobody in particular. Just a few guys, and a little further away, I saw Lissa, and she was talking to some guy that looked really familiar, although I couldn't see his face. "What? Oh boy what?" I asked.

Marissa shook her head and fluffed out her spikes in her hair. "Nothing. Just..." she pulled me away from where Lissa was with that guy... that guy... my eyes widened in horror as Lissa kissed the boy on the mouth. She kissed him just as I realized who that was.

I turned and ran out of the room, not giving a second glance at Marissa.

After school, I met up with Nudge, and she knew already what had happened. Everybody had been talking about Maximum Ride running full blast out of the famous room 269, heading for the bathrooms. Everyone had been talking about how Fang had walked in that room with Lissa not 5 minutes before Max.

Everyone was talking about how Fang was cheating on Max.

Nudge saw me and immediately wrapped her arms around me in a hug. I heard her yell at nosy passer byes, then pat my back. "Max, I'm so sorry. I should have known. I see Lissa go in there all of the time, but I hadn't realized Fang went in there too." she said.

I shrugged and pulled away in time to see Iggy and Nick walk up, both with mad faces. "Max, I want to let you know that I support you, always, but I know for a fact that Fang is not with Lissa." Iggy said.

"I have no proof of either, so I'm staying out of it." Nick told me. I nodded and gave him a half hug. He left for home and Iggy looked

over my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Max, but I know it's the truth." Iggy said.

I sighed. "Well I don't." I told him and turned away.

Right behind me was the one and only, Fang. His eyes were dark, and sad. But I didn't give in, although my knees were getting weak. I walked around him and ignored his silent pleading all the way home.

Ella skipped over and looked at us all. Angel and Gazzy came out of their room to say hi, but I went straight up to my bedroom. Fang's door slammed shut about five seconds after mine did. I layed on my bed, not caring about homework at the moment. Mom walked in and sat at the edge of my bed.

"Max, honey, what's wrong?" she asked.

I sat up. "Fang."

"What happened?"

"He kissed Lissa. I saw it. Iggy says there's nothing to worry about, but I'm worrying!" I yelled, standing up and slamming my hand into the wall. It made an indentation, and I traced it. "Mom, I finally got what I've wanted for years, and he said he loved me. He said he loved me so much. I wouldn't think he would do that to me." I whispered.

My mom walked over and kissed the top of my head. "Sweetie, there are times when nothing goes how it was planned. This is one of them. Some people do things that you don't expect them to do. No matter how long you've known them." she said.

I turned to her and gulped. "Mom, Maximum Ride wouldn't cry about this. Maximum Ride would be punching Fang." I said.

Mom smiled. "Maximum Ride does things like that, but Valencia Martinez's first daughter would be sobbing her eyes out. It's okay, Max. You don't have to pretend anymore. Your just Max. Be a girl. Not a leader. Your not a leader anymore."

Be a girl. Not a leader.

I sucked in a breath. "But..." I didn't get to finish. The tears came out and I cried into mom's shoulder. We stood there for what seemed like hours, but it was only about 15 minutes. I cried into her shoulder the whole time, feeling for once like a girl. I didn't think it would be so... easy. I didn't think it would feel this good to just be me.

Fang pov

I cracked open my door, and when I saw the coast was clear, I headed for Max's room. I wanted to tell her it was all a mistake. Lissa hadn't ever done that before, and she just happened to kiss me when Max came to look for me.

I swear to God, that I did not cheat on Max. But she doesn't believe that.

I went across the hall to her room and silently stood by the door. My hand was on the handle, but I heard Max talking.

"...got what I wanted for years, and he said he loved me. He said he loved me so much. I wouldn't think he would do that to me." she said faintly.

Her mom said something, then Max again. "Mom, Maximum Ride wouldn't cry about this. Maximum Ride would be punching Fang." I heard the sob in her throat, and I just wanted to barge in there and tell her everything is alright. I'll be by her side, I still love her, so so much. But obviously Max wouldn't want that anymore. Not after what she saw.

Another muffled response from her mom, but I did catch something: "You don't have to pretend anymore. Your just Max. Be a girl, not a leader. Your not a leader anymore."

After that, all I heard was crying. I was guessing it was Max. I had never heard her cry at all before, and I hated to be the reason she was crying. God, Max. You don't know how much this hurts me. I thought.

"Then why don't you apologize?"

Angel was standing behind me. Her face was sad.

"I can't just say sorry. It's not that simple." I told her.

"Yes it is. You just have to talk to her." she said, then skipped down the hallway.

I sighed, and released the handle. No use in going in there.

Max pov again

Dinner was.... not so fun. There was a lot of tension in the air. Fang never came down from his room, and I was the only one barely touching my food. Gazzy and Iggy tried to start a conversation with each other, failing miserably. Mom kept asking everyone for seconds and thirds. Angel, Ella, and Nudge were trying to talk about clothes. But nothing worked.

I sat there and watched everyone.

Finally, what seemed like days later, I stood up with everyone to rinse my plate off. I stuck it in the dishwasher and sat on the couch in the living room. Angel came up and sat next to me. "Max, Fang is really sorry. Please talk to him. He's killing himself with guilt."

"So he was cheating on me?" I guessed.

She sighed. "Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. You'll never know until you talk to him."

I shifted in my seat. "I can't talk to him. It's... awkward." I told Angel.

She frowned and stood up. "Then you won't know the truth." She said, and left the room.

I stood up and stretched, then went upstairs. I hesitated by Fang's door, and I lifted my fist to knock on the door, but it was already opening. Fang threw the headphones to his iPod on his bed, and turned to face the door. He took in a sharp breath, then tried to smile. I stared at him, and we froze like that. My hand was still up in the air, and Fang was just heartbroken. It tore my heart to pieces, to see Fang like this, but I couldn't give in. He hurt me too much. After a while, I bit my lip, and Fang shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Fang," I whispered. "Fang... I... can't let you hurt me. What you did... tore me apart. I finally thought my life was getting good."

It was hard to hear, but I heard a faint "I know.", and he looked at the ground. "What I did was wrong. I let her kiss me. I wasn't thinking. I was stupid, Max. But I swear, I was not cheating on you. Ever. If I was, I would have killed myself by now."

"Don't say that." I told him.

He glanced at me. "What?"

"Don't ever say that you would kill yourself. And Fang, I don't care if you did or did not cheat on me, we just shouldn't be together. Obviously that is what... that is what is trying to be said. We went through so much. But I think we were just meant to be brother and sister."

Fang shook his head. "No." he said. He took my fist gently in his hand, and closed his eyes. "No. No way. I can't watch you walk around with other guys." he told me, and kissed the corner of my mouth.

I pulled away. "Oh, but you can walk around with Lissa? Fang, I won't change my mind."

"But, what about the dance? What was the whole point of the songs?" he asked.

"I thought that I wanted to be with you, and of course I still do, but not now. It's just not a good time for us. Can't you listen?" I asked, my voice rising on the last sentence.

"I'm trying to, but what your saying is not what I want to hear." he said with clenched teeth.

"And you think a kiss will make it better?" I yelled. "You think you could charm me like you did with Lissa and those other girls? No. I am Maximum Ride. I went through pain, and torture, I suffered from getting kicked in the face by wolves! I learned how to cuss my way out of things. But I will not be charmed so easily by you."

Fang glared at me. "You think you got it bad? I had to go to the hospital once! Remember? We wouldn't even have met Lissa and Sam if it weren't for ARI!"

"You leave Sam out of this, and Ari, too!"

"You have a crush on Ari now, also?" Fang asked.

"Fang! Stop! Ari is dead! He is dead now and you know it!" I shouted, pushing him into the wall.

Fang shoved me backwards. "It's not my fault he had an expiration date! It's not my fault he was experimented on while we had the luxury of living with good ol' Jeb! You know, the scientist? The one who took me from my parents!"

"Now you have a different family! You don't like your family?" I asked.

"I love Nudge and Angel, Gazzy and Iggy are the best brothers! But do I know of I have a sister name Ella? Do I know of my mom is a vet? No, because I never met them! But here we are, living with your real family! You real damned family!" he yelled.

I could feel the tears coming out of my eyes. I shook my head, and pushed him one last time, before whispering, "You go leave and find your family if your so anxious."

I turned on my heel and went into my room. I noticed the house was dead silent, and I could see everyone besides me and Fang in the living room, staring at each other. Angel and Nudge were crying, and Gazzy was staring blankly at a wall. Iggy was hugging Ella, who was on the verge of tears. Mom held her hand over her mouth.

And all I did was tell Fang to leave, for good.