Okay, guys…here it goes. I'M REALLY SUPER-DUPER, UNBELIEVABLY, INDUBITABLY, SO SO SO SO SORRY. I haven't updated for so long.

And the thing is, I have no excuse except for writer's block and laziness. I've had plenty of time on my hands lately, but no inspiration. No "ah-ha" moment.

NOTHING.

I can't believe this, but I'm finally back on track with this story. I hope. I promise to really try to get updates up as quickly as possible. I mean, I love writing this story, so I really hope that I can finish it.

I really am sorry. But, on the bright side, I'm back with a new chapter. And I really hope you like it (and review it) because that would really make me happy.

Okay, I'm going to stop boring you with my annoying apologies and just start the stuff that you actually clicked on this for.

Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER OF PAGE! Please regard this disclaimer because it is of great importance. I don't own Maximum Ride. It is James Patterson's. K? Got it? Good.

I whipped around and saw Hendrix standing in the doorway. He was holding a yellow Little Tikes bat in his hand.

"I…could ask YOU the same question." Jay said.

"What the heck are you talking about? This is MY mom's room. I can go in it whenever I want." Hendrix narrowed his eyes and began closing in on us with the bat.

"Whoa. Calm down." I said, backing up into the wall behind me. "I'm pretty sure the guys at Little Tikes™ did NOT intend for you to use that bat for violent purposes."

"GET OUT." Hendrix said. I don't think I've ever heard someone so unthreatening-looking sound so threatening.

"Okay, bye!" Jay said and started to run. I grabbed his arm.

"Hold on. We just need to know more about your sister." I said. Wow, I was proud of myself. Standing up in the face of a bat made for toddlers being wielded by a guy who looks like a young version of the characters from Revenge of the Nerds. Oh dear God, what has my life come to?

Hendrix's face went completely blank. I grinned; I thought I'd struck something and that he was going to tell us more about Zendi, so that I could add another mutant to my flock-ish thing.

Instead, he hit me with the bat.

I blacked out to the sound of Jay and Hendrix yelling at each other.

I woke up on some grass with Jay sitting over me and the left side of my face tingling and my head pounding.

"What happened?" I asked, groggily.

"Well, Hendrix made me leave the house so I carried you all the way here but you were heavy and my arms got tired so I decided to slap you so that you'd wake up." he sat back next to me.

I looked around. We were only a few paces away from Zendi and Hendrix's house.

"Are you kidding me? You couldn't have carried me down the street to my house."

"No. Have you ever seen a chameleon? We have really skinny arms." Jay said, showing me his arms.

"Okay, who's we?" I asked.

"My chameleon brethren and I."

"Of course. Okay, well, what are we going to do now?" I said. "I mean, really. This sort of sucks. I don't want to have to worry about getting hit with a bat by a senile nerd. I just want my life to be normal again."

"Whoa, Ella. Don't go all cliché on me. It's no big deal." Jay said. His glasses were crooked, which made him look sort of eccentric.

"What time is it?" I asked, sitting up.

Jay checked his watch. "About 8:30. Let's go do something."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm bored, let's go somewhere and figure this thing out." he pulled me to my feet.

I wobbled slightly. "Well, okay…but my mom is expecting me back by 1:00am at the latest."

"No worries. My bed time is 10:00."

We were at the Family Fun Diner, where it claims to be family friendly, and yet there it contains a bunch of fat drunk guys sitting at a bar, yelling at a television. The set-up was all kinds of tacky with multicolored geometrical designs along the wall and circular windows.

"This place is…" I struggled to find the right word.

"Completely kitschy?" Jay said, pushing his glasses up further on his nose. "I know. But my cousin works here, so maybe we can get free stuff."

"Oh…cool."

We got seated at a bright red booth with a fluorescent light bulb over it. The waitress slammed down two Kiddie menus, flipped us the bird, and left.

"What was that all about?" I said.

"That was Kathryn. Her boyfriend breaks up with her every other day and she doesn't take it well." Jay said, apologetically.

"I can see that." I sighed.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to see if my cousin's shift is over." Jay jumped up.

"Okay." I said.

I sat and looked at the Kiddie menu, waiting for Jay to return. Someone had already scribbled all over it in green marker, so I kind of felt like I had stolen this from some poor kid with a green marker. In the back of my mind was all the crap about finding four more mutated kids in less than two weeks. It was like when you have a paper due, but you're procrastinating. But way worse. Suddenly I heard the door to the restaurant open loudly and I saw a girl with light brown hair wearing a revealing dress run down the hallway into the bathroom and covering her eyes. It was more girls burst in after her, looking much like two frazzled Barbie dolls."Erma! Have you seen our friend, Kate? She's got on a black strapless number-""Totally scandalous." the other one interjected."And we're trying to find her." I made a split second decision in that second. One of the split second decisions where you're not really sure if you're doing the right thing but you don't exactly think it's the wrong thing either. "I haven't seen her." "Oh."They were about to move on. That's when I realized that since I was kind of feeling more powerful these days, I should probably tell them something."Hey! Guys. My name is Ella, not Erma." "Kay." said Barbie twin 1."Let's go look at the mall." Barbie twin 2 suggested, even though the mall was on the other side of town and there was no legitimate reasoning to how Kate would have gotten herself there."Sounds good." Barbie twin 1 said excitedly. They left. I sat in my chair for a few seconds and just blinked a few times. I was trying to decide what to do. I hate Kate. I mean, I really hate Kate. But, in a way, I kind of cared about her…

Just kidding, I just really wanted to know what the heck was going on. That probably sounds really self-centered and cruel, but really, we're talking about the same girl who "accidentally" stepped on my 1st place art sculpture, just because it was mine.

I pushed the door to the bathroom open and looked around. At first, I didn't see any feet under the stall doors, which made me feel like maybe I was insane and stalkerish. But then I heard a sob and realized that no, I was only stalkerish.

I tried to figure out what to say. "Uh…hey, um…Kate?"

I heard a gasp. "Who is that?"

"Ella Martinez."

"Ohmygawd, get the hell out of here!" she sniffled.

I paused. Maybe I should've just left, but I didn't.

I heard a pause in her crying. "Are you still in here?"

"Um…no…?" I said.

"OHMYGAWD!" she shrieked. The sobs started again, even more hysterical than before.

"Kate," I said, trying to get her attention. "Kate…Kate!…Kate…KATE."

"What? What could you possibly want? I'm going to kill you if you don't leave. No, I'm literally going to take out a gun and shoot your brains out if you don't get out of this bathroom and leave me alone." she said.

Yeah, our conversation? Totally awesome.

"Kate, do you have a gun?"

"SHUT UP. You're a loser. You're such a freakin' loser and a freak and you have no friends and everyone freakin' hates you! And you're short and freakin' ugly! And no freakin' boy will ever freakin' date you…and…and…" she started panting. Insulting me takes a lot out of a girl.

"Do you feel any better, now?" I asked, leaning against the wall.

"No!" she started banging against the stall doors. "I need help. Oh my gosh. I need help. I'm so scared. SOMEBODY HELP ME."

Whoa, hold the phone.

"Are you okay? What's going on? Do you need me to call someone? Kate?" my heart had officially leapt into my throat.

"I'm not okay." suddenly, she burst out of the stall. Her hair looked like it had gone through a tornado. She rushed at the mirror. "Are they gone? No. Oh my gawd." she sank down against the sink and covered her face with her hands.

"What's wrong?" I asked and sat down next to her.

"Look at me." she bawled and held out her hands. At first I didn't notice anything, but then I saw it. I swallowed my own spit and started choking in that embarrassing way that always happens in the middle of awkward silences.

Kate had claws.

I mean, they weren't huge claws or anything, but they were most definitely claws and they were most definitely attached to the ends of her fingers.

"Are those are fake nails?" I said, feeling the throbbing in my head return with vengeance.

"Look at my eyes." she said.

She snapped an eye open and I saw that it was no longer fake blue. Instead, her entire eye was green except for the pupil, which was a thin slit.

Her mascara ran in long smudges underneath her eyes.

No. No, please. Please, let Kate not be a mutant. She cannot be the next addition to my group. But, I need to find four more mutant children. But, I hate her. But, if she joins, I'll only need to find three more people. But I hate her. But-

"What's wrong with me? I didn't do anything! And today…it…it just happened and now I look like a freak and I feel like there's hair at the back of my throat and I can't cough it…" she gave a hacking cough. "…I can't cough it up!" she cried and threw herself against me and sobbed into my shirt.

I leaned back, feeling awkward and also kind of sorry for her. This was a strange feeling. I mean, how could I be feeling any empathy for Kate? We hated each other. But…she was crying and it was freaking me out.

"Okay, Kate…just…just calm down. Everything is going to be okay." I awkwardly put my hand on her shoulder, then decided that wasn't cool and dropped my hand.

Was everything going to be okay? Because at this point, I really didn't know. Suddenly, I heard something. It was sort of like a slamming sound mixed with a strangled yell.

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

"What are you talking about?" she said.

Oh, you know, us dogs with our super-duper hearing abilities.

I heard it again. "Okay, I'll be right back."

"NO. Please don't leave me." she latched onto my leg.

"Kate, you're not four years old, get off me. I'll be right back."

"I'm not coming with you! I look ugly." she sobbed.

I rolled my eyes and blew a strand of hair out of my face. I burst through the door. What I saw was not good. Actually, it was pretty much under the category of "horror movie bad".

The door to the Family Fun Center was off its hinges and there were three men in white coats standing in the middle of the room. One of them was holding back a frenetic Jay, who looked more scared than I think I've ever seen him. His eyes darted around like he was trying to find an escape.

There was a beeping sound and suddenly, the sprinklers in the restaurant went off. I shook myself repeatedly and heard Kate run out behind me.

She pushed herself up against the wall, screaming, "Don't let it touch me!"

At first, I thought that she meant the Whitecoats, but then I realized she was talking about the water.

Suddenly, Kathryn walked in. Her already big eyes widened considerably, but she didn't move. Then she put her hands on her hips. "Screw this. I'm outta here." she threw down her apron and walked out of the restaurant.

"There's two more. Get them." the Whitecoat holding Jay back barked.

The next few seconds were a blur, so don't expect me to describe them to you.

All I knew was that I was pretty sure Jay wasn't going to get home for his bedtime.

So…did you like it? Not to sound desperate, but I'm kind of desperate. So please review this! It's kind of short, but I'll try to make the other ones longer. Give me any suggestions and if I made any spelling or grammar mistakes, please feel free to report me to the grammar police. Okay? Good. REVIEW.