My second chapter is basically just after my first, so there you go.

I do not own Max Ride, but if I succeed in my kidnapping plan...

Chapter Two: Contest

I nearly swore when the person descended. I had no idea who it was except it was human, and had wings. Wings! I had always wished I had wings when my dad died, so I could fly away. Now it seemed there were people who actually had them.

I kept quiet, hoping that the dark material of my blanket would keep them from spotting me on the dark ground. There were six of them; all with wings. Three of them were very tall, yet I got the feeling that they were only kids. One of them, I guessed she was the leader by her air of confidence, was a girl with blonde-streaked brown hair. From what I could see by the moonlight I guessed she had brown eyes. The other two were guys, a thin one with black hair and olive skin and a pale one with strawberry blonde hair. I couldn't see a lot of the other three, but I could see that there were two girls and a boy.

Kind of even, huh?

As I had hoped, they didn't notice me. The girl looked around, failing to register my dark form, and barked commands at the others. Sheesh, didn't she know that some of us were trying to sleep?

'Okay guys, we'll sleep here for the night.' Damn right they would, as long as they didn't disturb me. I rolled over in anticipation of a hard night, and the blonde boy suddenly raised his head.

'There's someone here.' How the hell did he know that? The bossy girl looked at him doubtfully.

'Are you sure Ig?'

'I'm sure.' It was only a matter of time before they found me, so I stood up.

'Okay, fine. There's someone here. What ya gonna do about it?'

The girl stood in front of me, eyeing me up. I knew this trick, and eyeballed her right back. And they say comprehensive education is wasted.

'Nothing, for now.' She looked away. 'What are you doing in the woods in the middle of the night?'

'Not telling.'

She looked surprised that anyone would stand up to her, and I gave a sweet smile. The scary blonde girl raised her head. 'She's running away from home. She has an abusive step-dad.' I looked at her blankly. Either she was a mind reader, or the little kid next to her was spying on me. He could be a flying monkey, you know, wizard of oz style.

'Who asked you, creepy?'

'Don't say stuff like that to her!' The girl was starting to get on my nerves. 'If you're running away, where are you staying?'

What a nosy person. 'Here, at the moment.'

'Don't you have any food or shelter?'

'Does it look like I've got food or shelter?

'Oh my god!' The dark skinned girl spoke up, smiling hysterically. She'd only said three words and her voice already annoyed me. 'She could come with us! It would be cool to have a new flock member, though we had Ari, but he wasn't much fun. Plus she has amazing hair.' She reached out a hand to touch my short auburn hair and I slapped it away.

'Paws off, Twinky.' She looked crestfallen, but soon began again.

'Can she come with us? Please Max?'

'I don't want your help. I'm fine on my own.' We all knew this wasn't true, but no-one wanted to say anything.

'Anyway, she wouldn't be able to come.' The girl, Max, spoke again. 'She wouldn't be able to keep up with us.' I paused. Did she just say what I thought she said? That I couldn't keep up? I have many failings, as you can tell, but one of the worst is that I take every negative statement as a challenge.

'What do you mean, I won't keep up?'

'You've got no wings. There's no way you'd stay level with us.'

'I've changed my mind. I want in.'

'Well, I'm afraid you can't.' Oh no. She just said the c word. I never could stand the c word.

'How about this. I'll race you on the ground, while you fly in the air. If I win, I can join your little posse. If I lose, you go on your merry way and I can finally get some sleep.'

She looked unsure. 'Well...'

'What's wrong?' I smirked at her. 'Did your wings com from a chicken?'

She glared. 'Fine. Let's race.'

We decided on a tree as a starting post and one for the finish. We lined up, and the small talkative child counted down. 'Three, two, one GO!' I felt my legs give a lurch, and I began to pelt away as fast as I could. The sheer joy of the race filtered into my bloodstream, and I picked up speed, a cry of exhilaration passing my lips.

She was fast up there, but her wings were hard to use in the densely wooded forest. I was used to running here, and I beat her by a head. I had a feeling she would have beaten me over a long distance, but I definitely got there first.

I stopped, panting, and she descended. 'You're fast.' She looked at me admiringly. 'Are you sure you're not a genetic hybrid with a cheetah?'

'So, am I in?' She hesitated, then reluctantly nodded.

'Okay. The flock's been through a lot though, so be nice. My name's Max; what's yours?'

'Heather. Heather Moore.' It was an odd name, and one I had used to hate. I started liking it a couple of years ago when Steve had come, because he hated it and it gave me a feeling if freedom.

'Come meet the flock. This is Iggy.' She introduced me to the tall blonde guy. He seemed nice enough, although I could see in the dim light that his eyes were very pale.

'Why's he got weird eyes?' I saw Max stiffen and Iggy looked uncomfortable.

'When Iggy was younger, the people who gave us wings experimented on his eyes. He's blind.'

'Cool.' She didn't seem to think this a great answer.

'COOL? It's horrible!'

'Sorry, don't take it the wrong way. I've just always wanted to meet a blind person.'

'That's okay.' He smiled; he had a nice smile. 'I've always wanted to meet someone whose always wanted to meet a blind person, so we match.' I grinned.

'I like him. Isn't it hard, having a blind member?'

'It's not that bad,' said Max. 'He can hear much better than any of us, and he can feel colours.'

'How is that a useful skill?'

'I don't know, maybe if he's defusing a bomb?'

'Fair enough.'

'This is Angel, and as I'm sure you've noticed she can read minds. She can also control minds, talk to fish, breath underwater, and change shape.'

'Now those are useful skills.'

'This is Gasman, but we call him Gazzy.'

'Does he want a banana?'

'What?'

'Never mind.'

'This is Nudge.'

'Nice to meet you, I'm Heather. Why are you called Nudge?'

A puzzled look came onto her face. 'You know, I've not actually sure. Max, why am I called Nudge?'

'Because... stop asking questions. This is Fang.'

I turned to Mr Tall, dark and not-so-handsome. 'Do you have anything to add?'

'No.'

'Talkative, aren't you? Got any special skills?'

'He can blend in with his background.' Why does she ALWAYS have to enter the conversation? I mean, talk about controlling.

'Can he? Let's see it, then.' He faded into the background, than came back into focus. 'Do it again.' Looking puzzled, he did so. Concentrating, I punched the spot where he had been. He immediately came back into view, clutching his stomach. I cackled. 'I still knew where he was!' Max frowned at me, and I smiled angelically back. 'This should be fun. I just love bonding with people.'

'Yeah...' she rolled her eyes, and smiled.

'So...' I clapped my hands together. 'Do we like sing boy scout songs or something?'

Max groaned. 'I have a feeling I'm gonna regret this.'

'I don't know,' said Iggy. 'I kind of like her.'

So... what did we think of that? I'm not sure what'll happen in the next chapter, but I'll update when I can. Pleeeeaaase review. I'll give you cookies.