Updating the Maximum Ride fanfic I started writing my junior year of high school? It's more likely than you think!

Alright, but here's my serious note. I know it's been a while since I updated this - I'm honestly not sure how many people are going to read this. But even though it's been a while, I end up thinking about this fanfic every so often, and I still think about how I want to finish it someday. I really don't want to leave it uncompleted! I've had so many ideas for this story and I really want to keep writing them, even if I'm always busy now. Anyway, if you're reading this, thanks for checking out this story - even though it's been a while! Here's to you.

Chapter 55

"This sucks," Nudge complained, sinking down to her knees in the dirt. "Now we're going to have to sleep outside, and it's going to be cold, and I'm going to get all dirty, and what if we get attacked by a bear, and-"

"Nudge!" I yelled, cutting her off as I tried to jam one of the tent poles into the ground. "Give me a hand and maybe we'll finally get this stupid thing set up, okay?" I glanced across the campsite, where I could have sworn evil Girl Scout Lady Laura was sneering at us, watching us fail at setting up some dumb old tent.

"But it's taking like ten years, and it's already dark, and everyone else already has their tents set up," Nudge whined, absentmindedly tracing in the dirt with a stick. She suddenly looked up at me, her eyes wide. "Max, we can't sleep outside! I don't want to get eaten by a bear!"

Like that was going to happen. I rolled my eyes at her. "Whatever." Looking at Daisy and Jaz, I noticed they weren't much help either. Daisy was trying to help set up the tent, but she looked like she had no idea what she was doing – I internally groaned as she slid the wrong pole into the opening of the tent… again. And Jaz-

"Where'd Jaz go?" I asked Daisy, and she shrugged her shoulders.

Whirling, I scanned the kids around us, who were all huddled in groups talking and hanging out, since they finished setting up their tents way before us. A few tents away from us was Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy's little group. And right next to them was-

"So, Fnick, I was wondering if you wanted to come hang out in our tent tonight," Jaz was saying to Fang, who was nodding at her, looking bored. "Or I could hang out in your tent! Wouldn't that be fun! It would be just like a sleepover, right?"

"Jaz!" I shouted, marching right over there and grabbing her arm tight.

She winced, then went on looking at me with that big smile of hers. "Oh, hi, Max!"

I squinted at her. "You're not supposed to be flirting. You're supposed to be helping us!" I pointed back at our campsite, where Daisy had just finished setting up the tent – until the whole thing collapsed. Nudge covered her face with her hands.

"Oops," Jaz said.

"Yeah, whatever," I told her, rolling my eyes. Looking at Fang, I asked, "How did you guys get the tent set up so quickly?"

He shrugged, holding up a small pamphlet. "The instruction manual."

I snatched it out of his hand, yelling, "Give me that!" as Iggy and Gazzy snickered.

Iggy grinned at me. "There's no way Max can follow instructions. It's just not possible."

"Rolling my eyes, Ig," I told him, as I did so. "Besides, it's not like you're some goody-two-shoes rule-follower."

"At least we set up our tent right!" Gazzy taunted, sticking his tongue out at me with a grin.

Exasperated, I looked at Fang, who just shrugged. And Jaz, who was clinging to him again like he was a lifeboat from the Titanic.

"That's it!" I shouted, grabbing Jaz's arm in one hand, the instruction manual in the other. "You know what? It's on."

"Max, what's on?" Jaz asked, looking at me, her eyes wide.

I narrowed my eyes at Fang and the others. "They think they can out-do us, huh?"

"Well, they're right about us not being able to set up our tent," Jaz replied unhelpfully. Iggy and Gazzy started snickering again.

I rolled my eyes at her, then looked at Fang, scowling. "Maybe we can't set up some stupid tent, but there's plenty of other stuff I – I mean, we, can do. And we're gonna prove it."

Fang just shrugged. "Okay," he said.

I resisted the urge to scream – he was so infuriating sometimes. "Just wait until tomorrow," I said, smirking at the boys.

"Maxine Ride!" a voice shouted from behind me. I winced, slowly turning. The voice, of course, belonged to Girl Scout Lady Laura, who I was beginning to think had some anger issues. She was marching towards us with a frown on her face.

"Looks like Miss Laura's mad," Jaz whispered.

"You think?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. Mad was an understatement.

"Did you forget that you're on cooking duty tonight, Maxine?" Girl Scout Lady Laura stared down at me.

"Uh…" I trailed off. "Do I have to?"

Iggy burst out laughing. "Cooking duty? Everyone knows Max can't cook."

Girl Scout Lady Laura shot him her best glare, which was wasted on him. Fang stared at me blankly, while Gazzy burst out laughing.

"Max and cooking just don't go together," the Gasman insisted.

"Yeah. What were you saying earlier?" Iggy teased with a grin. He went on in a terrible imitation of my voice, "'There's plenty of things I'm good at!' Well, I'm pretty sure cooking isn't one of them."

Fang actually managed to crack a smile – that must have been a major achievement for him.

"Oh, enough already!" I practically yelled. "I'll show you-"

"That is enough!" Laura the Girl Scout Lady cut in, and I jumped. Her bony fingers clutched my shoulder. "Maxine, you will be coming with me. And Jasmine… your group is the only one that hasn't finished setting up your tent."

Jaz and I glanced over to where we'd abandoned the two other girls. Daisy was aimlessly trying to stab a tent pole into the ground, while Nudge frantically looked around, talking a mile a minute – probably about being eaten by a bear or something.

"Uh… I'll go help," Jaz offered slowly, inching away from us. Even she sounded slightly scared of Girl Scout Lady Laura.

"Yes, that would be wise," Girl Scout Lady Laura replied, sounding smug. Then she dragged me off to my inevitable cooking doom.

~~::~~

"Best dinner ever!" Nudge cheered, starting on her fifth s'mores. She grinned at me, her face covered in sticky marshmallow. "Max, you're a genius!"

"I wanna eat these for dinner every night!" Gazzy added. He stabbed three marshmallows onto a stick and shoved it into the campfire, grinning as they instantly caught fire.

"What can I say?" I shrugged, waving my hand dismissively. "I always have a plan."

"You totally did not," Iggy teased, elbowing me. "I could hear the fear in your voice as that Girl Scout lady told you to make dinner. You were like, 'Oh no, please don't make me do it!'"

"Shut up." I elbowed him back, but I couldn't help smiling. "You have to admit, s'mores for dinner was a great idea, no?"

"I can't believe Miss Laura actually let you do it," Daisy whispered, glancing in Annoying Laura's direction. She was standing next to some guy who I assumed was the leader of the boy's troop. While the guy was laughing, Girl Scout Lady Laura looked like she was about ready to punch something.

"Uh, yeah," I replied, licking marshmallow from my fingers. Actually, Girl Scout Lady Laura only gave me one order: prepare dinner with any of the ingredients they had brought. I'd almost settled for hot dogs – that was easy, right? – but then I'd seen the huge bag of marshmallows and all of the chocolate and graham crackers. "Perfect dinner, right?"

"Fnick, I burned my marshmallow again!" Jaz whined, yanking a charred marshmallow out of the fire. "Do you want this one too?"

Fang looked like he was in pain. "I guess," he muttered as Jaz stuck it on top of a graham cracker. I snickered – Jaz kept burning her marshmallows and making Fang eat them.

"I'll eat it!" Gazzy offered, snatching it out of Jaz's hand and wolfing it down in one bite.

"Hey!" Jaz yelled. "That was for Fang! Not you!"

"You only gave it to Fang because you didn't want it," I pointed out, while Daisy, Iggy, and Nudge giggled.

Jaz sighed, spearing another marshmallow with her stick. "I'll make you another one, Fnick!" she told him enthusiastically.

"Uh, that's okay," Fang replied, holding up his hands.

"Alright, everyone!" the Boy Scout leader dude called, stepping forward and clapping his hands twice. "Who's ready to sing some campfire songs?"

A bunch of kids cheered. Jaz was one of them – in fact, she screamed right in my ear, making me wince. "I love campfire songs!" she shouted.

"I love when you're quiet," I muttered, rolling my eyes at her.

"Oh, lighten up, Max!" Jaz retorted. "We're on a camping trip! It's supposed to be fun!"

That was when a high-pitched scream pierced the night, echoing from the darkness of the woods.

I tensed – so did the rest of the flock. I glanced at Fang, who looked at me with a concerned expression. Iggy gripped Gazzy's arm, and Nudge muttered, "It's a bear. Someone got attacked by a bear. It's a bear. I knew there were bears. I knew it."

Daisy put her hand on Nudge's shoulder. She wore a grim expression on her face as she looked at the rest of us. "Someone's missing."

"Huh?" Jaz looked around, frowning. "Who?"

I scanned the group of scared-looking kids. The Boy Scout leader guy was trying to calm everyone down, but –

"Miss Laura," Daisy whispered. "Miss Laura's gone."

~~::~~

Cliffhanger! I promise I'll try to update again soon!