Hi everyone! If you're still with me, sorry about the long wait! I know these last few chapters have taken a while for me to publish, but I'm trying really hard to write this still! And don't worry, I promise I will finish it at some point (although when I finish it is another topic since I still have a lot of ideas to write about)! Hopefully the wait for the next chapter will be shorter! Anyway, thanks for sticking with me, and enjoy!

Chapter 52

"Hi Fnick!" Jaz yelled as the bus pulled up to our stop the following Monday. I rolled my eyes at her – she was sticking her head out the window and waving. Didn't that girl ever think about anything before doing it? She was bound to catch a cold.

"Hi Max!" Jaz shouted, noticing me looking at her. I glanced away. Had I actually been worried about Jaz? Yeah right.

We climbed onto the bus, making our way to the back where Jaz and Daisy were sitting. I still wasn't used to seeing Daisy on our bus – after all, her dad had probably hired some fancy chauffeur to drive her to school in a limousine prior to the accident that we'd had on the field trip.

"What are you wearing?" I asked, wrinkling my nose at Jaz. She and Daisy both were wearing these ugly looking green vests and skirts with white blouses. They had matching bows in their hair, too.

"It's our Girl Scout uniform!" Daisy exclaimed, smiling. "We have a meeting today. We always wear our uniforms on Mondays, remember?"

No, I hadn't remembered because I never had paid attention before. Keeping up with the latest fashion trends certainly wasn't my favorite pastime, so I never really paid attention to clothes. If it wasn't for Jaz doing stupid things like sticking her head out the window of the bus, I wouldn't been worried about her wellbeing, which meant that I wouldn't have noticed her outfit.

Like I said before. Why did I bother worrying about this girl again?

"Hey Max! I have an idea!" Jaz said, her eyes sparkling. "Wanna join our Girl Scout troop?"

I glared at her. "What, so I can wear a dumb outfit and like, knit a scarf or something? No thanks."

"But Girl Scouts is really fun!" Daisy told me. She pointed to her vest. "See, we get to earn badges for things! We learn really important skills! And the most fun of all is going on camping trips!"

"Huh?" I responded. "Well, camping might be fun…." And maybe those 'important skills' Daisy had mentioned might help me out in the future.

But was it really worth it? "I don't-" I started, but Daisy and Jaz had only heard my previous statement and had already started cheering.

"You can come to our first meeting today!" Jaz decided.

"Wait, I-" I tried to cut Jaz off but it was too late.

"And Tiffany-Krystal…. I mean, Nudge, could join the Brownie Scouts!" Daisy agreed, nodding her head.

Before I could ask what any of this meant – for example, did Brownie Scouts do a lot of baking or something? – the bus driver yelled, "Kids in the back! Keep it quiet, will you?"

"It's decided," Jaz whispered, grinning.

I groaned. I had a really bad feeling about this.

~~::~~

"I told you, I don't want to be a Girl Scout!" I protested as Daisy and Jaz dragged me out the door after the final bell rang. "You know, tying knots and making crafts isn't really my favorite activity."

"This is going to be so much fun!" Nudge cheered as she ran up to us. "What are we gonna do? Are we gonna make some crafts? Ooh, are there going to be snacks? I'm hungry!"

I rolled my eyes. "Nudge, come on. You don't seriously want to join, do you?"

Of course she did, that traitor. "Yeah!" she exclaimed, her eyes shining.

I sighed. "Okay, fine. Whatever. Go ahead. Have fun without me."

Nudge shook her head, yanking on my arm. "But Max, you have to come too! It won't be fun without you!"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Nope." But then I made the mistake of looking down at Nudge, who was giving me the Bambi eyes.

"Please?" she begged, her lower lip protruding. "Please, Max?"

Somehow, I found myself saying, "Fine, I guess."

"Yay!" Nudge, Jaz, and Daisy all cheered at the same time. I groaned. I hated the Bambi eyes.

Jaz ran ahead of us, saying, "Come on, our troop is meeting in another classroom!" She opened the door to the neighboring fifth-grade class, waving her arms frantically. "Let's go!"

I stared at her. "Is that girl okay?" Talk about annoying.

Daisy giggled. "I'm happy you're joining us," she told me with a smile.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Only because Nudge is making me, though."

Nudge grinned. "This is going to be amazing!"

"Come on, we're gonna be late!" Jaz yelled, making absurdly wild gestures with her arms. She looked like she was trying to be a helicopter or something. I wondered if she was going to suddenly take off and fly away.

I groaned. "Let's just get this over with."

The desks in the room were arranged in a circle, and when we walked in, Jaz ran over to a group of empty desks. "Max!" she yelled. "Come sit next to me!" Then she started frantically pointing at the chair next to her.

The other girls in the room, all dressed in their identical ugly green vests, stared at me and Nudge. Maybe they were offended that we weren't matching with their ugly outfits. I stuck my tongue out at them, grabbed Nudge's hand, and marched her over to sit next to Jaz.

Jaz pouted. "But Max, I wanted to sit next to you!" she whined as Daisy took the seat on the other side of me.

I smirked. "Yeah, the feeling wasn't mutual. I'm surprised you're not crying about how your boyfriend Fnick isn't here."

Jaz shrugged. "Well, maybe he can join the Boy Scouts instead!"

The idea of Fang wearing a Boy Scout uniform and helping old ladies cross the street or something made me laugh. It was so un-Fang-like.

"Good afternoon, ladies!" a lady's voice said, and I looked over to see some teacher-like lady standing in the middle of the circle. "Are we ready to begin our meeting?"

A bunch of girls cheered. I wasn't one of them.

"Now, who wants to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?" the lady asked. I rolled my eyes and groaned. I knew this was going to be boring.

The lady looked at me, narrowing her eyes, but before she could say anything, Jaz jumped out of her seat and started waving her hand around. "Oooh! Ooh, I do!" she shouted.

The lady winced like Jaz was hurting her ears, but she nodded. "Go ahead, Jasmine."

All of the other girls stood up and placed their hands over their hearts as they turned to the flag in front of the class and started reciting the pledge. I frowned as I mumbled, "I pledge allegiance to the flag, blah blah blah…" I'd never leaned the dumb pledge in the first place. Who cared about giving a speech to some flag?

As soon as the pledge was finished, the lady turned to look at me and Nudge. "I see we have some new members!" she said, beaming at us.

"Unfortunately," I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest.

The lady frowned at me. "What's your name?"

"Max," I told her, glaring at her. Already, I could tell she didn't like me. I guess I was just too irresistibly cute and charming for her to handle. "Maximum Ride, and I'm outta here," I added as I stood up, pushing my chair back.

Nudge was somehow faster than I was. "And I'm Tiffany-Krystal, Max's sister!" she exclaimed, grabbing my arm. "And we are so excited to be here! I've always wanted to be a Girl Scout! Oh yeah, and I'm… um, nine years old, so I am definitely old enough to be a Junior Girl Scout! And not a Brownie Scout!"

Of course, that last part was a lie. Nudge was still eight – she wouldn't turn nine years old until July. But I guess she sounded convincing, because the lady nodded. "Okay, Tiffany-Krystal. It's nice to meet you. You can call me Miss Laura." Then, glancing warily at me, she added, "And you too… Maxine."

I groaned. Why did everyone think my name was Maxine? "It's just Max," I grumbled, but Annoying Girl Scout Lady Laura had already turned around and was pulling out an arts and crafts activity for us to do.

Daisy was in charge of handing out art supplies. She smiled as she placed a pack of markers on my desk. "Miss Laura's nice, but you don't want to get on her bad side," she whispered, glancing at Girl Scout Lady Laura out of the corner of her eyes.

I shrugged. "Too late for that."

Girl Scout Lady Laura announced that we'd be making posters. "We want to advertise the Girl Scout Cookie Sale Season that's almost upon us!" she said.

That made me sit up straighter. I wondered if we'd get to eat any of those cookies she mentioned. Then she said we'd be selling them, not eating them. I slumped back in my seat. What was the point of having cookies around if you couldn't eat them?

Nudge hummed as she drew on her paper, doodling a (very bad) picture of a girl eating a cookie. "Bye Girl Scout Cookies!" she'd written at the top of her paper.

"Hey, don't you mean 'Buy Girl Scout Cookies?'" Jaz asked, leaning over.

I laughed, looking at Nudge's drawing. "Bye Girl Scout Cookies' sounds better," I remarked. "Say goodbye to your precious Girl Scout Cookies!"

Nudge and Jaz burst out laughing. Laura the Annoying Girl Scout Lady turned around and glared at me. "What's going on over there?" she snapped.

I rolled my eyes. "We're just having fun. Or do they not define that word in your Girl Scout Handbook? Do you know what fun is?"

Laura's eyebrows furrowed as she stomped over to me. "Are you enjoying making a mockery of the Girl Scouts of America?" she demanded to know, merely inches in front of my face.

"Your fly's down," was my response.

Every single girl in the room burst out laughing. Girl Scout Lady Laura's face turned bright red. "Maxine Ride," she yelled, "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior!"

I grinned. "Good. Are you gonna kick me out now?"

Laura's eyes narrowed. "No. I have a better idea. How does cooking and clean-up duty every day on our camping trip sound, Maxine?"

Daisy stood up, waving her hands. "Miss Laura, please! Max didn't mean-"

"Daisy Wells, I suggest you stay out of this," Annoying Laura barked, her lips pursed. Daisy shrank back down into her seat.

I stood up, crossing my arms over my chest. "What makes you think I'm going on your dumb camping trip? I could just leave this meeting and not come back."

Girl Scout Lady Laura frowned, then pointed at Nudge. "I don't think this one will approve of that, Maxine."

I looked down at Nudge, who was staring up at me, her eyes wide and her purple marker still in one hand. She shook her head vigorously.

I grimaced. "Fine. I'll do your stupid chores. I hope you enjoy eating crappy food!" I kicked back my chair and stomped out of the room towards the bathroom.

As I shoved the door open, I heard Laura call after me, "Don't forget to get your permission slip signed by your parents!"

I sighed in relief as I heard that. Jeb would think the camping trip was too dangerous. He'd never let us go. I was saved.

~~::~~

"I think it's a great idea," Jeb said that night at dinner when Nudge brought up the meeting. "Just hand me your slip and I'll sign it tonight."

"What?" I yelled, slamming down my fork. "You can't say that! You're supposed to tell us it's dangerous, we'll get hurt, blah blah blah," I told him, making a talking gesture with my hands.

Jeb looked surprised. "But Max, I thought you'd enjoy going camping."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not that. Camping sounds great. But our troop leader, on the other hand…"

Nudge giggled. "Max got in trouble."

"All because of you and your stupid Bambi eyes!" I retorted, then took a gulp of my milk.

Jeb sighed. "Max…"

"Max as a Girl Scout, huh?" Iggy said. He was sitting next me. "Don't forget to knit an extra scarf for me, okay?"

"Oh, you shut up!" I told him, and he snickered.

So did Fang. "Make sure to send us a postcard," he quipped, cracking a smile.

"Tell your stupid girlfriend to do that for you!" I told him. "She's the one who got me into this."

Fang shrugged, taking a bite of his mac and cheese. "She's not my girlfriend. I don't have a girlfriend."

"Hey, neither do I!" Gazzy said.

"Right. You keep telling yourself that," I told Fang, ignoring Gazzy and stabbing my mac and cheese with my fork.

"Well," Nudge said, "I think Girl Scouts is going to be fun! We get to wear cute outfits and make crafts and sell cookies!"

"I want cookies!" Gazzy yelled, pasta spewing out of his mouth.

I grimaced. "Gazzy, don't yell with food in your mouth."

"Nasty!" Iggy remarked.

"I don't have a girlfriend," Fang muttered under his breath.

"Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb!" Angel sang happily, cheese smeared all over her face.

Jeb sighed. "Everyone, please calm down. Max, Nudge, I'll sign your permission slips."

Iggy grinned. "Ha ha!"

But Jeb wasn't finished. "Iggy, Fang, Gazzy, why don't you three join the Boy Scouts too?"

"No!" Iggy and Fang yelled at the same time. Well, Fang just kinda muttered it while doing his best death glare, but you get the idea.

"Sure," Gazzy replied, shoveling his fifth bowl of mac and cheese into his mouth.

"Yes!" Nudge cheered.

"Ugh," I muttered.

Jeb smiled like all was right with the world. "Then it's settled! I'll sign you all up tomorrow."

I wondered if Jeb knew what he was getting us all into. We were about to find out.