I have one review reply-- to Claire Elizabeth, who inquired about how I got FANG: I bought my copy from a British guy on eBay… there were several copies for sale, you should check it out and see if there are any copies left.

At the bottom is the excerpt of the next story that some of you asked for!

"No way," I spat, and then Fang grabbed my wrist, knowing I was having trouble staying still. Brigid obviously knew who I was-- and wasn't surprised-- and took a few steps back.

"We're going to talk this through rationally," Dr. Clement said slowly. "Okay?"

"Okay," Fang said.

I just seethed in Brigid's direction, knowing that she was behind all this. She was Mr. Chu's accomplice, finishing what he had started when I thought I defeated him three years earlier. Fang poked me, hard, in the back, and I spat, "Okay."

We were led into the office, where Fang and I sat across from the principal, and Brigid sat in a chair a few feet away from us. Devin stayed standing, and I pulled him by the sleeve to the side of my chair furthest from Brigid.

"Ms. Drison," Dr. Clement said, shuffling some papers on his desk, "why don't you tell Devin's parents what happened half an hour ago?"

"Okay," Brigid said, folding her hands in her lap. For one quick second, she raised her head and shot me a victorious smirk. I almost lost it right there, but Fang quickly grabbed my knee and squeezed it. "Well, Gracie was on the monkey bars at recess, and she fell. I went over to help her up and see if she was okay, and Devin came up and punched me in the face."

"Thank you, Ms. Drison," the principal said with a nod. "Devin, why don't you share your side--"

"She pushed Gracie off the monkey bars!" Devin interrupted, pointing an accusing finger at Brigid.

At that point, no amount of Fang's comforting gestures could stop me. "You pushed her?" I asked incredulously.

"I did not push her," she said calmly.

"Mommy, she did," Devin told me, and I believed him with one look at his face. He'd been telling the truth the whole time. I should have defended him to Fang more; this whole thing could have been avoided.

"Enough," Dr. Clement boomed suddenly, effectively silencing everyone. "Devin, tell us your story from beginning to end."

"Gracie went on the monkey bars ahead of me, and I was waiting, and she came over and shoved her off! So I slugged her!"

"Devin," the principal said sternly, "slugging people is not appropriate behavior for school."

"But she hurt my sister!"

My heart swelled up with pride at Devin's loyalty to Gracie. If Fang and I couldn't be there with her, I knew Devin would take good care of her.

"I think you and I both know that Ms. Drison was only trying to help your sister, Devin," Dr. Clement said.

"I think you and I," I said to Brigid, "both know that you weren't."

Dr. Clement took a long look at all four of us: Brigid glaring at me, me clenching my fists, Fang looking up at the ceiling, and Devin pouting. "Alright," he said finally. "I'm going to fetch Gracie. We'll ask her." He picked up the phone on his desk and pressed a button. "Stacy, it's Dr. Clement. Could you please get Gracie Ride from Mrs. Montgomery's class? Yes. Yes, thank you."

While we waited for Gracie, an uneasy silence fell over the room. I kept my gaze trained on the floor, my arms crossed tightly over my chest, angrily thinking about stupid Dr. Amazing ten feet from me, endangering my family, and how I couldn't do anything about it. About five minutes later, the door behind me creaked open, and I turned to see Gracie stepping hesitantly inside.

"Hi, Gracie," said Dr. Clement. "We just have a quick question for you."

"Um, okay," she said uneasily, looking around at all of us. I smiled encouragingly at her. "What is it?"

"Did Ms. Drison help you up when you fell off the monkey bars today?"

There was obviously something she wanted to say but felt that she couldn't. She opened her mouth, took one look at Brigid's face, and quickly closed it. Then her eyes slid over to Devin's, stayed there for a moment, and moved back to Brigid's.

"Be honest, Gracie," Dr. Clement prompted. "We need you to be honest."

Slowly, she shook her head, glancing down at her sneakers. "Ms. Drison pushed me off the monkey bars."

"Told you," Devin muttered.

"Ms. Drison," Dr. Clement said, "these two students seem to have the same story."

Brigid nodded, a big fake smile plastered on her face.

"I still need Devin to go home for the remainder of school before break, but I'm going to have to open an investigation into the matter," he sighed, standing up from his desk. Brigid's face flushed; clearly, this wasn't going as planned. "Gracie, you may return to class."

"She's not returning to class," I snapped, standing up out of my chair, Fang following right behind me. "This has gone on long enough. We're going home." Ignoring Fang's eyes, boring into the side of my head like a laser, I turned to the kids. "Go get your stuff, guys. We're gonna blow this popsicle stand."

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"There was no need to bring them both home," Fang sighed.

I leaned across the kitchen table between us, glaring at him. "It's dangerous for them to be there, Fang!"

"It's not dangerous," he said. "They've been going there for four months, and nothing's happened."

"Nothing's happened," I scoffed. "Please. Plenty has happened, just nothing you are willing to acknowledge."

"I'm willing to acknowledge that Devin was hitting other kids and the student teacher," Fang said in a very calm voice that made me want to slug him. "Which does not make the school dangerous."

I threw my hands up, completely exasperated. How could he not get this? "The student teacher is Brigid, Fang! Hello, Chu's sidekick?"

"We never actually confirmed that," he said, looking down for a second.

I gaped. "Excuse me, but are you taking her side after she's repeatedly tried to injure our daughter?"

"I highly doubt she was trying to--"

"Gracie," I interrupted, hoping to end this before I started crying, "is not going to school tomorrow. And you, for all I care, can go back to Antarctica and cuddle with Brigid, since that's obviously what you want."

I hurried down the hallway, ignoring Fang calling my name, as the tears started creeping down my face. Stupid Brigid. She'd tried to take Fang three years ago, and now, in a different way, she was trying to take my children.

Well, Maximum Ride just doesn't let that happen.

Here, guys, is your excerpt from the sequel to this story. It's pretty big. Sorry it's not about Max and Fang-- there's pretty much spoilers in every excerpt involving them.

Another loud giggle broke the silence around him, echoing in the hallway, and Devin stopped in his tracks. He turned to the left and saw the closed door of the janitor's closet, and then another muffled giggle found its way to his ears.

It clicked right away. Devin threw his books down, slamming them on the tiled floor, and marched over to the closet. He grasped the door's handle and threw it open.

Inside was that asshole Markus, sitting on an upside down bucket with Gracie perpendicular in his lap. Their arms, Gracie's left one free of a cast for only a few days, were tight around each other while they totally sucked each other's faces off.

As soon as she saw Devin, Gracie was disentangling herself from Markus and leaping up, holding a hand over her heart and using her other to smooth her mussed hair. But he'd seen enough.

"I thought I told you to stay the hell away from her," Devin barked, stepping up to Markus. Both boys were tall for their age, so they were eye to eye.

"Devin, stop," Gracie begged.

"Why don't you stay out of it?" Markus asked, and reached out, shoving Devin. He shoved back, and just like that, it was on.

The boys wrestled on their feet for a minute, ignoring Gracie's protests, but then Devin got a hold of Markus' wrist and twisted his arm behind his back. At that point, Gracie lunged forward and, with much trouble, pulled her brother off of her boyfriend.

"Markus, go to class!" she commanded while struggling to keep a hold of Devin. Markus hurried out of the closet, shouting a quick "I love you" over his shoulder. Once his running footsteps faded from earshot, she released her brother. "Devin, I cannot believe you."

"Grace, you have to listen to--"

"No, you listen to me. Markus made a mistake, but I'm giving him a second chance! And if you even think about telling Mom and Dad, I'll break every bone in your body."

"I'm not telling Mom, but only because she doesn't need the stress. But you better believe I'm telling Dad."

"Devin, please." Gracie was pleading now, tears shining in her eyes as she clasped her hands together. "Please don't say anything. Daddy will try to keep us apart. He won't understand. I love Markus. And he loves me."

And there you go! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and the sneak peek!