school sucks (i say as i constantly take the hardest classes and still have all a's) and yes i know this chapter is short

Max POV

Fang had just finished talking on the phone when I walked out.

"Hey. My my mom is forcing me to do my homework. Wanna get Gazzy out here so we can all finish it now?"

"Sure." He answered.

I ran in and went upstairs.

I walked into Gazzys room and said, "Hey Gaz, wanna do your homework outside with me and Fang?"

"Yes! Math is so hard! How are you in the advanced class?!"

I looked at him and said, "Because I'm the smart one. Duh!" and went back downstairs with Gazzy following me.

Its was the middle of November so it was cool enough to work outside. No Texas heat. No mosquitoes or other bugs buzzing around you. It was nice and cool outside with a slight breeze.

We started with math and finished with history. By the end I could name over half of the AP physics formulas we needed to know, Gazzy now understood the Pythagorean Theorem, and Fang had memorized all of his Spanish flash cards.

Right as I zipped my backpack Iggy walked out.

"Is it ready?" I asked. I was so hungry I could eat a cow.

"Uh no! Also since I'm making dinner I expect some homework answers." Iggy answered

"Ugh okay."

Iggy started up the grill.

Oh man I had to get out of here. If I stayed with the delicious burger smell any longer I was seriously gonna eat someone.

Gazzy went back inside so I said to Fang, "C'mon. I'll show you around."

We walked on the rock path and then we went to the rest of the backyard.

I looked at Fang and his mouth was wide open.

I smiled and said, "Careful. You'll catch flies."

He quickly shut his mouth.

I can understand why he was in awe. You can't see most of the backyard from the house. Plus we had a large yard that extended outward and from the house all you saw were a bunch of trees covering the rest of the yard. To the left was a giant pool with a slide, diving board and hot tub. To the right was mom's garden. We had built a treehouse a while back and hidden it so well that you couldn't even tell it was there.

"Wanna see something cool?" I asked Fang.

"You mean cooler than your backyard?! This place is amazing! Hey wait. What's that?" He asked pointing towards our tree house.

"I don't know. Maybe just a bunch of sticks stuck in the branches. Cmon!"

I didn't want to lie to him but I had to. Years ago Iggy Gazzy and I swore that we would never let anyone who didn't know about the wings in our tree house. The only way to get in it was to fly to the top. We installed a ladder at the base of the trunk though because one time Gazzy was too scared to come down so Mom had to come get him.

I took Fang to the garage.

Since Gazzy got to help design the pool and Iggy got his own outdoor kitchen I got the garage.

Mom never used it for her car. Sometimes she needed to get to the vets office really fast and she said she couldn't deal with the slowness of a garage. So she just parked her car in the driveway up front.

Since she didn't use it, I decided that it would be my own little space.

Fang and I walked into the house to get to the garage. I opened the door and Fang was in awe. I don't blame him. It is pretty cool.

It's three car garage so it was huge.

Inside was an indoor rock wall extending itself around all four walls. It went up at least 15 feet on some parts and higher on others. They floor on the left side of the room was dug out and foam squares filled it up. The rest of the floor was trampoline.

"No offense but are you guys rich?" He asked.

I was debating whether I should tell him the story but before I could decide it just slipped out.

"When I was born my dad had supposedly gone missing and all of us were convinced he was all of us I mean all of us. The police, the neighbors, mom, me, Gazzy, Iggy, the investigators, he had left a loadful of money for mom and us in his will. He left so much. much. money it was enough to redo the house, backyard and garage. And it was enough to pay for college for me Iggy and Gazzy." I told him.

"Oh well I'm sorry for the loss of your dad but this room is so cool. How old were you when you had this done?" He asked in awe.

"Seven or so."

His mouth was open again so I said, "I can see you really want to catch some flies."

He closed his mouth and smiled at me. I smiled back.

"Well what are you waiting for? Let's bounce!" I threw my shoes off and jumped onto the trampoline floor.

Fang followed.

I bounced over to the rock wall and started climbing. I remember when I didn't even have the strength to pull myself up but now I could scale the entire thing in 32 seconds flat.

Fang dove into the foam pit just as I made it to the top. I slapped the room and pushed myself away from the wall, letting go. I landed on the trampoline and bounced myself over Fang into a different part of the foam pit.

We both started to laugh.

Just then Iggy burst in scaring me.

"Dinners ready! Get your butt in the kitchen!"

I laughed and took Fang back to the kitchen and locked the garage door.

Once inside I saw Gazzy and Nudge talking, Fangs parents speaking to Mom, and another girl sitting at the table on her phone. I'm guessing that was Angel.

She had blonde curly hair that ended right below the shoulder and blue eyes.

A couple minutes later we were all seated and eating.

Iggy had made the best burgers on the face of this planet.

I was talking with Angel, Nudge, Mom, and Mrs. Walker about school and their move. I was asked about extracurriculars and sports. I responded with being very interested the police force. Helping people in general is what I want to do. Make a difference in someone's life. I also mentioned how I use to play basketball but quit when high school started.

I found out Angel and Fang are biological siblings and Nudge was adopted. Angel looks like one of those prissy, stuck up girls but she really isn't. She enjoys football, watching movies, and scrolling through Instagram.

Nudge started to tell Mom about herself when I heard the words "soccer team."

Let me just say that I am a total soccer fanatic. Anything soccer I love. The only thing that sucks is me because I can't play. But I love the game in general.

"I heard soccer." I said, turning to the boys.

"Oh boy. Here we go again." Gazzy said, rolling his eyes.

"Hiya Max. And yes you did hear soccer." Fang's Dad, Cole Walker, told me. "I was just saying how I think the Houston Dynamo might actually have a chance this year."

"I know! I tell Gazzy that all the time but he doesn't think so! The Dynamo have really stepped it up these past couple seasons." I informed the group of boys staring at me.

Gazzy put his hands up which meant he was about to say something very long and probably very boring. "I never said I didn't think they didn't have a chance. I said that I didn't like them very much. That is two completely different things. Also-"

I had to stop him right there. "What you are saying is you don't like the Houston Dynamo. Usually when you don't like a sports team, it means that you don't think they have a chance at winning."

"No that isn't true at all!" Gazzy retorted.

Iggy decided to join in on this argument. "It kind of is Gaz. How else can you explain that your favorite NFL team wins the Superbowl every year? You can't like the Green Bay Packers one year and say your favorite team is the New York Giants the next."

"Ohhhh! Roasted." I heard Nudge say from behind me.

Gazzy looked around at all of us. "Shut up." he said and shoved his burger into his face as the rest of us laughed the night away.

QOTC: do you do any sports?

AOTC: yes. cross country and track and field

remember to stay swaggy and peace out :)