"Didn't you guys explode something last time?" asked J.J. warily. Iggy and I were taking turn adding different sort of chemicals to our potion thingy. We were supposed to be creating something that had never been seen by our teacher before. Iggy shrugged.

"This is AP chemistry," said Iggy, watching the vial with an extreme intensity. (A/N: Yes, he can see.) "We'll survive and if we don't, they'll say nice things at our funerals anyways."

"You sound certain." I rolled my eyes.

"J.J., we're Alpine kids and some of the ritziest kids that ever came into this school. Besides, our parents are all famous and stuff; people would probably try to sneak into the funerals uninvited. Funeral crashers." J.J. frowned.

"But that's so rude!"

"Sweetheart," said Iggy, lazily draping one arm over her shoulders, "that's just how life is."

"Stop it!" I demanded.

"Stop what?"

"Stop shuddering, J.J.! You're moving the table and I can't concentrate! Get your arm off of her!"

"Oh, sorry J.J.," said Iggy apologetically.

"It's okay. I'm just cold." It was pretty cold in here…

"You can borrow my jacket," I said, never taking my eyes off the eyedropper.

"Okay. Thanks Max." She shrugged it on. "Hey, isn't that the new kid you guys were talking about this morning?" I still stared at the eyedropper.

"Yup. That's him. I was wondering who he was. And there he goes."

"Iggy, hand me the blue liquid, will you?"

"Here you go." I felt a small vial tap lightly against my open hand and I grasped it. "What do you want with it anyways?"

"Who knows?" I dropped it in and the boiling liquid turned black. "Huh."

"Maximum Ride, you have better not created tar again," warned Mr. Kelvin. (That's seriously his name.) The last time we had to create things in science, I might have accidentally created some sort of super gooey tar which took weeks to get rid of. Eventually, we reheated the substance and started using it as rubber glue. Unfortunately, it stuck a little tighter than we would have liked. Some freshman thought it was dry and poked it with her hair. Very stupid move. They had to cut her hair off (she was crying) and it resulted in a very fuzzy sticking job.

"It's not tar, Mr. Kelvin, we promise," said Iggy. "I'm not exactly sure what this is though…"

"Let me take a look at it." Our teacher came over and examined it from a distance. "Well, I have no idea what this is and I've defiantly not seen it before. Okay, you pass." We smirked like crazy.

"If only we could pass all our classes like this," said J.J. wistfully.

"You didn't even do anything," Iggy teased her. She blushed.

"Shut up, you. And we can go to lunch now, right?"

By whatever lucky chance, we all had the same lunch period. Nudge and Ella resumed their flirtation talk with Iggy while Ella and I helped each other with homework. At some point, Nudge looked up and smiled really, really wide.

"Hey you guys! That's my cousin! Nick! Over here!" The new kid, the one who was all dark and mysterious, paused. Then he turned around to face us and I felt my breath hitch and my heartbeat speeding. From what I could gather of Nick's expression, he was feeling the same thing. It was like an adrenaline rush I got from running track, but I wasn't running. I was practically motionless physically but I could have been sprinting a 100 yard dash and it would have probably felt the same to me. Blood was rushing through me like the waves from white water rafting, only it was sharper and fiercer; it hurt but it felt almost…good.

"Nick, is it?" asked Iggy. Nick nodded and I was snapped out of my thoughts. The rest of them didn't seem to notice the feeling of discomfort between us.

"He prefers to be called Fang, right Fang?" Nick, Fang, nodded at Nudge.

"Well Fang, Nick, it's nice to have some male blood in the group."

"I've always wondered," said Nudge thoughtfully, "why Iggy's the only guy in our group. I mean, it's not like he's gay or anything and there's nothing really that make us different than anyone else and all…"

"Actually, Nudge, there is a difference," said Ella. "Other than me, everyone in this group is in track and you guys are good at it too; top in the class. And I'm just here because of Max."

"So? There's like so many other people who run track and all!"

"But you guys are the best and the other people who can do close to well are either sluts, prostitutes, or playboys." Nudge mused over it.

"True… So, Fang. This is Ella, Iggy, J.J., and Max. They're my friends. And your friends."