The Maximum Ride of Highschool Chapter 12: FRESHMAN 11, a maximum ride fanfic

-It'd been a week since the Winter Formal. That also meant it'd been a week since I'd been attacked. And stabbed. And brought to the hospital. But it also meant that I was home from the hospital and had been back at school Thursday and Friday. Everyone had asked me if I was okay and what had happened. I thought it was funny how most of those people had never talked to me, until I had gotten hurt. Ironic right? Just a little. Anyway, the Flock had a concert today. It was the concert dedicated to Kaylie, and we'd changed the Christmas concert until Christmas Eve. Yesterday was the last day of school this year, so we had 2 or 3 weeks off. We weren't going anywhere, but Ari and Jeb were coming tonight. I was so excited, not having seen them for months. Hopefully they would make it to the concert tonight. It was our benefit concert, so it was going to be really sad. It was dedicated towards Fang's sister, but we were also going to sing some songs for child abuse, like Blown Away by Carrie Underwood or maybe Concrete Angel. We weren't really sure yet.

Gordon was coming tonight, and it was his first concert and if Jeb and Ari could make it I wanted to do really well. I was going over to Fang's in a few hours to run through everything, and make sure I could sing and play guitar with my cast and everything still.

"Hello?" My phone buzzed and I grabbed it off my dresser.

"Hi sweetie. It's your father. How are you?" Jeb asked through the phone. I was honestly kinda surprised he bothered calling since I hadn't talked to him for a few weeks and he was coming tonight.

"I'm doing good. When are you and Ari coming?" I asked still so excited. Everything, well besides some things, was finally going right. I had moved, which ended up turning out great, and Ari and Jeb were coming to visit. I had great friends, a great boyfriend and a great best friend. And a band too. How much better could it get?

"Hopefully we'll be there this afternoon. Our flight lands at 3:15, and then we'll drive out to your place by around 4 or so. Do you have plans tonight, Max?" he said sounding warm and father-like again.

"Actually, my band has a concert tonight. We're making this our benefit concert and collecting donations, and part of the concert is dedicated to Fang's sister who passed away last month in a car accident. Did mom tell you about my band? You know Fang right?" I asked, trying to remember what my dad even knew about my life, now that we were so far away.

"Of course I know Fang, and your band. The Flock right? Your mother was telling me about it last week. She also mentioned what happened to your arm? I tried calling last weekend, but you were asleep most of the time or at the hospital. How are you?" He seemed so concerned it made my heart fill with happiness, seeing him actually care about something other than his work for a change.

"Better. Well it was pretty bad before, but Gordon and Fang basically saved me. Do you know Gordon?"

"I think your mom mentioned him, but she didn't elaborate much…" He trailed off, inviting me to explain.

"Oh, well he's my boyfriend and we went to Winter Formal together, and he and Fang got me to the hospital and stayed there with me all night and stuff…" I ended the sentence awkwardly since the whole conversation of telling my dad about my new boyfriend was a little weird. He wasn't too excited about me dating again after the whole Dylan experience since he knew how upset I was.

"Right. Well that sounds good. I'd like to meet Fang and Gordon sometime while I'm here. Will they be around at this concert tonight? Ari and I will definitely be able to go," he explained and I could hear Ari coloring pictures in the background and I grinned. He was such a good little kid, especially considering everything.

"Yeah. Fang's in the band with me. He's the lead guitarist and other lead singer. And Gordon said he'd definitely be there, so feel free to meet them both," looking through my closet for an outfit suitable for the concert. Never mind that, Ella could find something in a heartbeat, I'm sure. And she could do my hair. And makeup.

"Okay honey. Well our limo's here to take us to the airport. See you tonight. Good luck if I don't see you before you go on tonight," he said and I nodded, even though I knew he couldn't see me.

"Yeah, have a good flight," I answered and then hung up. Humming Carrie Underwood's new song, Cowboy Casanova, under my breath, I went downstairs in search of Ella.

"Ella!" I called taking the stairs two at a time, since I'm just cool like that.

"Yeah Max?" her cute voice called from the basement.

"I don't have clothes for the concert tonight."

"Woah. Woah. Woah. Hold up," she said skipping up the stairs.

"Yesss," I waited for her to get to the top.

"You, Maximum Martinez, are asking me for fashion advice. Like I'm not forcing this upon you. You're asking, yourself?" She asked in a question almost as she wasn't fully aware of the situation.

I sighed and rolled my eyes nodding. "Yes Ella. But I'm not exactly asking it's more, of a telling you to do it or you're gonna get your ass kicked."

She grinned and continued skipping up the stairs to her room in search of clothes, and I followed her. Well not the skipping thing, but you catch my drift. I waited around in her room as she dug through her closet, throwing different assortments of clothes and shoes out after her. I hadn't realized until now how much clothing this kid actually owned. Like geez Louise, she could fill Good Will if she donated all her clothes. Just saying, since I have like enough clothes to fill a cardboard box. A small cardboard box.

"Okay Maxie," she called laughing. I didn't budge but gave her my death glare and her smile dropped instantly, and she corrected herself. "I mean, okay Max my fun-loving and awesome sister."

"That's better," I replied walking over through her pig-sty of clothes everywhere. She had three outfits lying on the floor.

"Thoughts?" she asked and I studied them all for a minute, deciding which to wear.

The first was a peplum top; I think that's what it's called. The one that's normal then poofs out ya know towards the middle. Since I don't like clothes that much, especially not poufy clothes, this was instantly eliminated, even though the boots were really cute. Oh and when I say I don't like clothes, that doesn't mean I like to run around naked or something. That's just weird. And pretty gross too. I mean if I could, I would wear leggings and a T-shirt like every day. Something like that. The next outfit had a pencil skirt in it, and since we know how much I adore pencil skirts it was also immediately eliminated. Apparently Ella didn't know my style as well as I thought. Then the last outfit caught my eye, and I had to admit it wasn't too bad. I mean I didn't love it, but when do I ever love something. Well besides my mom's absolutely amazingly fantastically delicious homemade chocolate cookies. I swear, I could live off those things. No joke.

"Well I refuse to wear either of the first two because it's a skirt or peplum shirt. Peplum shirts are poufy. I don't wear poufy things. So third outfit it is," I explained. Ella nodded and grabbed the outfit off the floor.

"It's unusually warm today for December so you shouldn't need a jacket even though this is short-sleeved. You should be fine," Ella decided looking for a necklace to pull together the outfit I picked. "Here." She handed me the shirt, pants, necklace and boots and told me to go change in the bathroom while she decided how she was gonna do my hair.

I changed quickly and then came out of the bathroom. The shirt was white and short sleeved. But the top part of the sleeves was cut-out so there was an oval-shape missing. The shirt wasn't fitted, and it had some room. It was kinda flowy, but not really. I was wearing a pair of black leggings that were tucked into black riding boots. The boots went about ¾ the way up to my knee, and had a silver buckle around the ankle. They zippered up on the inside of my legs. I had on a silver heart necklace that was long, and went about halfway down my chest. She ran her straightener over my hair really quick to take out a few kinks. My hair was now pretty straight, and she braided a small section of the front part back to keep it out of my face. She put a light coat of mascara on lashes, and then declared me ready to go.

(LINE BREAK)

I was standing behind stage, and I could feel my hands sweating a little, despite the cool December air. Thankfully, Ella had been right and it was a decent temperature, especially for this time of year. I was nervous for this concert, which was surprising since we'd had 3 or 4 concerts total so far. I guess it was because Gordon and Jeb and Ari were here, and I wanted to impress them. A lot. Especially Jeb since he never saw me, and I didn't want to embarrass myself. All of a sudden, Fang came up and put his hands on my shoulders and I felt immediately better.

"You'll do great Max, you always do," he whispered, a piece of stray hair tickling my ear from his breath. He stood there for a few more seconds, and then Ben motioned for us to get ready to go.

"Hi ladies and gentlemen. First of all happy holidays," Fang's clear voice boomed through the microphone. "Tonight we have 4 songs for you, and 3 are dedicated to our child abuse awareness. If you were unaware, this gig tonight is raising money for child abuse awareness and we are collecting donations to give to different societies or charities. Anything we collect is very appreciated. Our final song is dedicated to my older sister Kaylie, who was my role model. She was killed in a car crash last month and the last song is in her honor. Without further ado, the Flock's first song is Blown Away, by Carrie Underwood. Let's give it up for Max."

I smiled at Fang, and he gave me a sad sort of broken smile. I knew it was hard for him to remember everything about his sister, but this concert was his idea and we all completely backed him up on it. Child abuse is terrible and we wanted to help in any way we could.

I took a breath, and held the microphone up towards my face.

Dry lightning cracks across the skies,

Those storm clouds gather in her eyes.

Her daddy was a mean old mister.

Mamma was an angel in the ground.

The weather man called for a twister,

She prayed blow it down.

There's not enough rain, in Oklahoma,

To wash the sins out of that house.

There's not enough wind, in Oklahoma,

To rip the nails out of the past.

Shatter every window til it's all blown away.

Every brick, every board, every slamming door blown away.

Til there's nothing left standing; nothing left of yesterday.

Every whiskey tear-soaked memory blown away. (Blown away)

She heard those sirens screaming out,

Daddy lay there passed out on the couch.

She locked herself in the cellar,

Listened to the screaming of the wind.

Some people call it taking shelter,

She called it sweet revenge.

Shatter every window til it's all blown away.

Every brick, every board, every slamming' door blown away.

Til there's nothing left standing; nothing left of yesterday.

There's not enough rain, in Oklahoma,

To wash the sins out of that house.

There's not enough wind, in Oklahoma,

To rip the nails out of the past.

Shatter every window til it's all blown away.

Every brick, every board, every slamming door blown away.

Every tear-soaked whiskey memory blown away. (Blown away)

Blown away, blown away, blown away, blown away.

I faded out with the last pitch, and then finished the song. I was breathing, hard but I always was once I

finished with a song. The audience clapped, but it was a heartbreaking song, and I could hear change

being added to the donation bins. I couldn't see Gordon, or Jeb and Ari but that wasn't too surprising

since the park was packed.

"Thank you," I said smiling. "Fang's singing our next song, called Don't Believe Me. He's also playing

guitar too, so let's give it up for the amazing Fangalator." I teased Fang about it all the time, since at one

of our concerts where Iggy was introducing Fang, he called him Fangalator. I needed to lighten the mood

a teensy bit. I didn't want to completely ruin the holiday spirit.

Fang stepped up to the microphone, took a deep breath and then started the song.

"Jimmy's walking home from school talking with his friend

But when they get to Jimmy's house he can't invite him in
Jimmy says his mom's not well and tells his friend good-bye
He keeps a secret as he slowly walks inside

Cause Mom's been drinking and right now she doesn't care
About this awful burden her child must bear, he's begging

Please don't believe me when I say I'm ok
Look a little deeper for the words that I can't say
I'm too small to stand alone, I sure could use a friend
Help me learn to trust someone again
Don't leave me
Please don't believe me

There's a house that's dark and quiet where little Amy sleeps
There's footsteps in the bedroom where someone shouldn't be
Somebody whispers I'll hurt you if you tell
Amy keeps the secret and blames it on herself, her smile is just a shell

Oh the years fly by for the ones who survive
Til they look like grown-ups, and nobody hears them
Nobody hears them cry.

Please don't believe me when I say I'm ok Look a little deeper for the words I can't say I'm too small to stand alone, I could sure use a friend Help me learn to trust someone again Don't leave me Please don't leave me."

Fang lowered the microphone, and slowly walked backwards fading into the darkness. The way Fang sang that song gave me chills. Not even kidding, he had an amazing voice especially for this song. I was up again to sing Concrete Angel by Martina McBride. This song had left me in tears after the first time I'd heard it, while watching the music video. We were debating about showing it, but had decided against it since it was so sad.

"Okay. Thanks so much for all your donations. This is our last song for child abuse awareness tonight, called Concrete Angel by Martina McBride. So yeah, thanks."

I closed my eyes, starting the terribly depressing song, yet beautiful at the same time.

She walks to school with the lunch she packed Nobody knows what she's holding back Wearing the same dress she wore yesterday She hides the bruises with the linen and lace, oh

The teacher wonders, but she doesn't ask It's hard to see the pain behind the mask Bearing the burden of a secret storm Sometimes she wishes she was never born

Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone In a world that she can't rise above But her dreams, give her wings and she flies to a place Where she's loved, concrete angel

Somebody cries in the middle of the night The neighbors hear but they turn out the light A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate When morning comes it will be too late

Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone In a world that she can't rise above But her dreams, give her wings and she flies to a place Where she's loved, concrete angel

A statue stands in a shaded place An angel girl with an upturned face A name is written on a polished rock A broken heart that the world forgot

Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone In a world that she can't rise above But her dreams, give her wings and she flies to a place Where she's loved, concrete angel

Thankfully I avoided crying through this song, even though I'd teared up the first time I rehearsed this with the guys. I was really nervous that I would tear up even more during this next time. It was the song Fang was singing in Kaylie's honor. The whole thing was just immensely sad especially since I knew how much Fang loved her.

"Okay guys this is our last song of the night. Um it's a song I wrote to honor my sister who was killed in a car accident a few months ago. So yeah, thanks for all the donations and thanks to everyone who could make it out tonight. Here we go," Fang explained the song. It was beautiful, and he was playing guitar for this song, but he was the only one. Normally Iggy and Ben would play drums and guitar or I would, but not now. This was all Fang.

I know your life on earth was troubled
And only you could know the pain
You weren't afraid to face the Devil
You were no stranger to the rain

Go rest high on that mountain
Son your work on earth is done
Go to Heaven a shoutin'
Love for the Father and the Son

Oh, how we cried the day you left us
We gathered round your grave to grieve
Wish I could see the angels' faces
When they hear your sweet voice sing

So go rest high on that mountain
Kaylie, your work on earth is done
Go to Heaven a shoutin'
Love for the Father and the Son

Go to Heaven a shoutin'
Love for the Father and the Son

I could see people in the audience crying, and I saw Fang's family crying, but smiling. They seemed so proud of him, and I was too. I knew how hard it was for him to do this, and I could tell he was trying not to cry. He was a rock though, and his face remained mostly emotionless. I had tears in my eyes, and when he looked over at me after the song was finished, his eyes were full of emotion, which was rare for him.

We walked back stage and I turned around and hugged Fang. He remained pretty stiff and motionless and first, very Fang-like, but then he actually hugged me back.

"That was awesome. I don't know if I could've done it if I were you," I admitted.

"Thanks," Fang muttered, still holding his guitar. I hadn't played much guitar at this gig partly because of our song selections, and partly because of my arm.

We walked around towards the front of the stage where we performed and I saw Jeb and Ari waiting, along with my mom and Ella.

"Hey Ari!" I called out and ran over, with Fang following close behind me.

"Max!" he cried and gave me a huge hug. Have I mentioned that this kid almost ties with Angel on the cuteness scale? He's adorable.

"How's it going buddy?" I asked grinning, and he gave me a high-five.

"Good. You're a good singer, Max."

"Aw thanks Ari. Have you met Fang?" I introduced Fang to Ari. My mom and Jeb were still in mid-conversation and well I'm just so polite when it comes to social skills.

"Hey big guy. I'm Fang. Max talks about you all the time. I hear you're pretty awesome," Fang was kneeling next to me and Ari. Ari broke out in a huge grin at this.

"Hi. I like him, Max," Ari turned to me and I laughed, and Fang smirked.

"He's kinda crazy, but he's my best friend. He even has a sister your age," I explained giving Fang a playful shove.

"Yup, her name's Angel. She's with my mom right now, but I'm sure she'd love to meet you! Maybe you can hang out with her while you're here," Fang was standing up now, but he bent down to give Ari a fist bump. It sorta surprised me how good Fang was with little kids. He was great with Angel and all, but sometimes he could be so closed off but it was a cool surprise.

Ari nodded enthusiastically, "Is he your boyfriend too? Are you gonna get married? I like him, so you can get married to him, Max."

Fang chuckled and I grinned. "Nope, he's just my best friend, but if you want we can get married." Ari giggled and nodded.

Jeb and my mom walked over. "Looks like you've introduced Fang and Ari," my mom said smiling warmly and Fang and I nodded.

"Hi Mrs. Martinez," Fang waved, looking up from Ari.

"Hey Fang, how's it going? That song you wrote was beautiful, by the way," my mom replied.

"Thanks, Max helped write parts of it," he explained, which was true. He did most of it, but I helped some.

"Hi Jeb," I said giving my "father" a hug. No matter how immature it was, I still refused to call him dad, or anything like that. He was Jeb, and that was that.

"Hey sweetie, how've you been?" he asked, all father-like again. The same way he was on the phone.

"Well my arms better, thanks to Fang and Gordon. But yeah, this is Fang. He lives across the street, my best friend…I'm sure you've heard about him," I explained and Fang immediately reached out his hand towards Jeb to shake. He was really polite and sweet, but fun too.

"Hi Fang, I never thanked you for helping Max that night at that dance. You really must care about her and I'm glad she has a friend like you," Jeb told Fang, and Fang nodded with a smile.

"Of course, I just wish I could've done something more."

Right then, Gordon walked up too, "Hey Max and Fang. That concert was awesome! Max you have an amazing voice. You too Fang, I really liked the song you wrote."

"Thanks," we both said at the same time and then we all laughed.

"Gordon, this is Jeb, my dad. Jeb this is Gordon, he took me to Winter Formal and he's my boyfriend," I explained and Gordon shook my Jeb's hand as well. I noticed Fang tense up, the slightest bit at the mention of him being my 'boyfriend' but it was hardly noticeable, and I only saw it since I knew Fang so well.

"I wanted to thank you as well, for helping Max and getting her help during that big disaster at the dance," Jeb explained.

"Yeah, I'm sorry the whole situation even happened in the first place. I'm just glad we were able to get Max some help right away," Gordon replied.

My parents made some small talk with the boys, but then Fang, Gordon and I walked around. We found Iggy and Ben talking with Ella near the stage, and we went over and joined them. We saw a stand selling lemon ice, and Fang and Gordon each bought me one, and Iggy bout one for Ella. Lucky me got to eat two, but I wasn't exactly sure why. I only had one boyfriend, right? Gordon had to leave because it was his dad's birthday, and he had skipped his family dinner, but wasn't allowed to skip their family night, as his parents called it to play games or watch movies with his brothers.

Ben had to leave to go babysit his sisters so his parents could go out, and then Iggy and Ella walked around together by themselves. I was pretty sure Iggy liked Ella, and I was also pretty confident that Ella liked Iggy as more than friends. So it was just Fang and I again, and sometimes it was better that way. We walked around for a few minutes, and then Fang stopped, at the base of a huge, sturdy tree. I was about to ask what he was doing, but then he grabbed a big branch near the bottom and hoisted himself up, and gradually reached a position where he was standing. I immediately followed, and Fang continued climbing up.

We reached one of the top branches and perched there, sitting alone in the night, feeling almost like birds. It was probably only 10, but it felt later because of the early approaching darkness, it had been dark for hours.

I smirked to myself, thinking about how different Fang and Gordon were from each other.

"What?" Fang asked, noticing the sly smile creeping across my face.

"It's just funny, you know me so well. Any other guy would've asked me a hundred times if I was okay, or if I needed help climbing up," I said with a slight smile.

"Yeah, well I was a little worried that if I did try to be a gentlemen, you might push me out of the tree," Fang and I both laughed, realizing that was most likely very accurate. Fang wouldn't think twice about me needing help. He knew me so well, and in so many cases, we were very similar.

"I don't ever want to leave here," I said somewhat suddenly.

"I'm sure some other people might feel differently…just kidding. I never want you to leave either. Were you planning on it?" Fang asked, changing his tone from sarcastic, to a little more serious.

"Well I tried to convince Jeb to let me stay and live out with him in Colorado or with all my old friends from St. Louis, and he said he'd look into it. But now, it turns out I fit in way better here anyway. I wouldn't want to move back," I tried explaining and Fang nodded.

"Don't ever leave Max." Those 4 words were simple, yet sure. I belonged here more than I did in St. Louis. I belonged with Fang, and the flock. Everything here was just more right. I could feel it already. Sitting next to Fang on the highest branch in the park, the wind blowing through our hair, was the most right I'd ever felt.