(A/N) I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to do with this chapter, but eventually, I figured it out :D

Max POV

When I woke up the next morning, I didn't feel upset. My dreams were haunted by images of my father looming over me, but when my eyes snapped open, I felt almost at peace.

I walked down the steps slowly, the plush carpet smooth beneath my feet. I dimly acknowledged that maybe I should have worn something a little more suitable for an athletic challenge, if they finally decided to give us one, so I headed back up, not even half-way down the flight of stairs.

I changed quickly then turned to look at myself in the mirror. The expression on my face could have rivaled Fang's best emotionless stare. The thought made me smile, and before it could fade, I went back downstairs.

Plunking down on the couch, I grabbed a nearby gossip magazine that the people running the show must have brought in. I was never much of a J-14 kind of girl, but imagine my surprise when the front was a collage of pictures and one of them was my own. Underneath the photo was a caption that read, "Max nominated as best female star".

Incredulously, I turned to page twenty-one. Sure enough, there was the treacherous article. Apparently, the magazine put me in their stupid poll for people to vote on as the hottest up-and-coming reality starlet. The picture of me wasn't that bad, and some of the authentic comments from fans were highly amusing and actually kind of sweet.

"Huh. Wonder how that happened."

I jumped about a foot in the air and whirled mid-jump in an awesome ninja move to face a now-smirking Fang. "Would you stop that?"

"Stop what? Breathing?"

I picked up a throw pillow and whacked his chest with it. He stumbled back, hand over his (what I assumed to be) gruesome injury. "Seriously. Don't they have to ask your permission before signing you up for something like this?"

"Knew I should have actually read my contract," I mumbled. But I did, and under paragraph five, sub-section B point three it stated that the show would allow magazine articles, blog posts, and anything else to help publicity for the show. I just didn't think I was that important or fascinating to anyone.

"Oh, look," Fang commented, the simper on his face wider. "I'm on the next page." He jabbed a finger, and he was apparently in the running for the same thing as me, only as an opposite gender, of course. "'Fang the sexiest new male reality star?'" He read, giving Billy Mays a run for his money, "'You tell us on J-14's website!'"

I rolled my eye sand him and snatched the magazine back before closing it, pretending like I didn't see Nudge and Iggy in the running for best couple. Angel would probably be a shoo-in for best queen bee, or whatever the magazine would call her.

Fang and I sat there, bantering, but my heart still wasn't in it. Maybe I was just too anxious about the challenge.

"Okay!" Someone shouted over a bullhorn from outside our door. "Will both Families please step outside?"

Nudge's chatter ceased, and Gazzy came thundering down the stairs. They both walked over to me, and I nodded at them before we all began walking outside. When we stepped onto our perfectly manicured lawn, Nudge's jaw dropped. "Oh, wow," Was all she said.

There was a huge obstacle course outside our house, and I was briefly glad I'd decided to change. There was a rockwall, except it was made out of the same stuff as a moonbounce, with air inflating it. In face, that was pretty much what the whole course was like. The rockwall led to a slide, then it looked like you had to climb underneath a couple of inflated bars that were close to the bottom of the huge contraption.

It looked like something any of us could get seriously injured on, despite our being in shape.

The lady was blabbering on and on about the sequence we were supposed to hit the course with. It wasn't as though it was extremely hard to figure out, but we let her listen to the sound of her own voice.

"Ready, oldest Sibling first…" I glanced over at Fang and got into a sprinting position. "GO!"

My legs started flying. I ran toward the rockwall as hard as I could before flinging myself onto the plastic-like material. I grabbed onto the first handhold I could see and leapt up, putting my feet on another ledge. My hands and feet moved quickly, and I tried to ignore Fang who looked like he was higher up then me.

Nudge's loud screaming encouraged me, and with a final push, I heaved myself over the edge, tumbling headfirst down the slide. Perfect slow-mo moment right there. My feet rolled over my body and I grimaced, wondering why they didn't give us any padding.

Then I was at the bottom, and I saw Fang was still halfway down the slide, sitting down like a five-year old. I snickered before launching myself under the bars. I pressed my body to the ground, ignoring how awkward it felt as I more or less shimmied my way out of the course.

I was almost to the opening and I pushed myself out. My feet were on the bouncy mat, and I stood up hastily, and I heard, "Middle Sibling on Max's side, GO!"

I put my head in between my knees as I knelt on the ground before getting up and scrambling away. Nudge was struggling with getting up the rockwall just as Fang emerged to stand next to me. There was s light sheen of sweat coating his face, making him look rather… athletic.

We both walked over to a bench and sat down. My sore muscles whined in prtest as I lowered myself. I stretched my arms over my head and pointed my toes, trying to work out all my cramps when I noticed a camera zooming in on me. I glowered at the perve of a camera-man who turned back to the action. "Gross," I muttered, pulling myself back into a normal posture. Fang only shook his head, seeming to think the same thing as he, too, glared at the man.

Nudge and Iggy got out of the thing at the same time, and they immediately headed over to a second bench where they sat way closer than necessary. Nudge abruptly stood up and screamed, "Go, Gazzy!" She then turned to me and motioned for me to stand as well.

I did, and put my hands near my mouth as I cheered him on. It was a close match, and I honestly wasn't entirely sure who was going to win as Gazzy and Angel climbed under the bars.

It was down to the wire, and even Fang had stood up, muscles tense. I shouted and hollered until my throat was sore and my voice was raspy, and I dimly noted that Iggy would be making hot chocolate when we were done.

Angel exploded out of the course just a split second before Gazzy, but he managed to stand up first. Gazzy had won.

In the rules the lady had so painstakingly pounded into our brains, it was perfectly clear that in order to win, the last member would have to be standing. Sure, Angel won first, but Gazzy had more strength to get up.

So imagine my confusion when just as they were about to announce the winner, Angel leaned into the referee and whispered something, her blue eyes wide and coated with crocodile tears. After a moment of hesitation, the referee declared, "Fang's Family wins!"

Iggy shouted something really dorky like, "Alright!" and slapped his sister an even dorkier high-five, while I shouted, "Are you kidding me?"

The referee walked over to where I was standing and said, "Is there a problem?" I crossed my arms over my chest and lifted both brows at her in response. Sighing, she said, "Angel finished before Gazzy."

"But in order to finish, you have to stand up first!"

She shook her head and said, "I didn't exactly say that. Sure, standing is part of ensuring that your next member may go, but I didn't say anything about the end."

I also shook my head. "I can't believe this."

"You don't have to," She directed at me before putting on a perky smile for the camera. "Would you guys like to know what you've won?"

The other Family screamed yes and I walked over to Gazzy and Nudge, who looked disappointed, but not as royally pissed off as me. "You guys are going to… Hawaii!"

Angel screamed and jumped up and down, actually looking happy for once. I could feel my heart drop into my stomach. I'd always wanted to go to Hawaii. I wanted to see if the water really was as blue as people claimed. I wanted to see a volcano.

They say that when you're there, all your worries are washed away. And yeah, it's cliché of me to want to go to Hawaii of all places, but it's something I'd always dreamed of. It was so close, so close and that stupid girl took that opportunity away from me.

I was sure that even if the standing thing wasn't directly stated, it was implied. And Angel changed the referee's mind with fake tears and a trembling lower lip. It made me sick to my stomach, and I flipped her off. She only smiled at me sweetly.

I was so busy being mad, I didn't noticed when Fang walked up to me. His hand was on the back of his neck, and his eyes were perfectly blank when he murmured, "You can take my spot."

"Huh?"

He shrugged. "If they'll let you, you can take my spot. For Hawaii. I've already been there."

For a moment, I was so shocked I couldn't even speak. He would do that? For me? "I… don't think they'll allow it," I choked out. "But thank you. So much." I could feel myself smiling.

He nodded. "You just looked so upset…" He shrugged again.

My heart didn't glow or anything cheesy like that. But it did give a slight flip, and I told myself that this was no big deal. That this was Fang, and he was just a good friend, and that was all.

No matter how kind he was to me, even if he didn't fully understand exactly what he'd done for me.

(A/N) Reviews are greater than cherry pie! And apparently, the last Maximum Ride book comes out next year... By the way, when you read Angel, can you come back and leave me a review on here saying what you thought? I'm still deciding if I want to buy it or rent it... if you already left a review on this chapter, leave an anonymous one or post one on a separate chapter. Or you can PM me. Thanks so much :D