I looked cautiously around the corner of the doorway. Seeing no signs of Ella, I abruptly sprinted across the hallway and ninja rolled into my room. I didn't calm down, however, until my door was firmly shut and I had my desk chair wedged under the doorknob. When this flurry of movement was over, I collapsed on my bed.

Ella had freed me under the pretense of going to the bathroom; little did she know I had in fact escaped into my room, where I had stocked up on makeup wipes for this very occasion. Score 1 for Max.

I rushed to my small bedroom mirror. You see, this was one of our major differences: Ella a huge, door-sized mirror leaning on the wall in front of her bed. She ADORED looking at herself, though she denied this eternally. I, however, had a small, 1 foot by 1 foot locker mirror attached to my bulletin board. I think that tells you a lot about ourselves as people.

Anyway, I'm scraping the soapy wipe over my face, appalled by the sheer quantity of it (very proud of the smart-sounding...ness of that last phrase) and wincing as it brushes past my forehead (I was not aware it was possible to have a double bruise, but apparently it is), when the doorknob starts jiggling. I'm totally panicked now, even getting some adrenalin, which I thought was sort of weird because I was escaping a makeover, not rabid bears or something. So, I wipe even faster, but the doorknob is still jiggling, and now it's giving a little, and WHAM!

The door exploded open, and a squealing Ella fell on the floor. I just stared at her panting form. After a moment of silence, I said, "You're a determined little bugger, aren't you?"

Ella was quiet for a moment. "Yes." She replied coolly. "And your mascara is smeared. Let me fix it."

I sighed, finally realizing that resistance is futile. "Whatever."

"Hi! I'm Nudge! Well, my real name is actually, like, Monique, but everyone calls me Nudge because that's my nickname but nobody really knows why. Are you Nick? My mom said that you're name is Nick. I like that name, it's like Nick Jonas, but I'm getting off-track now. Sorry! Anyway, you live in that house over there, right? I love that house. It's all pretty and mgphgfrith-"

Greg slapped his hand over Nudge's mouth, smiling apologetically at the guy sitting across from me.

"Sorry. She's... like that. I'm Max." I stuck out my hand.

'Nick' stared at it a moment, then slowly extended his.

"Nick." He said simply, eyes scanning the room and all of us. Greg stepped up next to me.

"I'm Greg. But everyone calls me Gazzy, because-"

"Please, just don't ask," I interrupted. "You DEFINITELY don't want to know."

Gazzy smiled sheepishly.

"And I'm Iggy." said Iggy, looking in the general direction of Nick. Nick had no response.

"Hi, I'm Ella, Max's sister. I think that we'll all be be going to the same school, so if you need any help, look for us." Said Ella, looking disgracefully perky and cheery. Really, someone should switch this girl to decaf. Nudge too, while we're at it.

I looked at Ariana, who had yet to introduce herself.

"My name is Ariana," she said sweetly, smiling angelically and curtseying like a princess. I fought the urge to coo.

Nick said nothing. Behind him, his- young-looking -mom smiled apologetically.

"He's not one for talking," she said, kind of stating the obvious. "He'll open up more when he gets to know you, though."

I hoped so. Nudge looked like she was going to explode.

"Come on into the patio," said my mom like the perfect hostess she was. "It's unseasonably warm, let's take advantage of that and eat outside." She led us outside.

Nick said nothing.

Everyone sat down, eyeing the tacos in the middle of the table, Mom's specialty.

"Oh, yum! Mom, you make the BEST tacos." Ella exclaimed, already reaching for one.

NIck said nothing. I stared at him.

"Are you always like this?" I asked him.

"Like what?" he said, face passive.

"Like hardly saying a word or giving any sign of emotion." He scrutinized me.

"Not necessarily," he said finally. "Just when I'm analyzing my prey."

I looked at him for a moment, surprised that he had any sense of humor.

"Good to know. Now, eat that taco before Nudge does. I can see her plotting."

Conversation continued like that for a while. I would ask NIck a question- "Are you emo or something?" -and he he would give me a brief reply- "No. I just like the color black.". I was starting to get irritated.

"Do you ENJOY killing the conversation?" I asked finally. He looked at me.

"Sort of. It's entertaining to see your steadily rising level of irritation."

I glared at him, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Alright, NIck, I need to leave for work soon. Are you ready to go?"

Nick's mom was behind him, bracelets jangling as she swung her purse on her shoulder. Nick glanced at me.

"Yeah," he said, pushing his chair in and following his mom out the door.

"Bye, Nick! Bye, Mrs. Falkin!" Nudge, Ariana, and Greg called. Iggy gave a half wave in their general direction.

Nick nodded at us. "See you at school tomorrow, Iggy, Max, and Ella," he said quietly. I smiled.

They left, the door closing behind him. Nudge, Ella, and Ariana bounced of toward the living room, and Greg and Iggy wandered toward the garage.

I stayed by the door, watching the Mrs. Falkin's black Audi drive off and thinking.

I kind of liked this Nick guy.