Hey guys! I'm updating! I was so excited to get reviews! I got seven! EEEEEK! Thanks for all the favorites and story alerts too, you guys are AWESOME. Okay, so here's the second chapter. Sorry for any mistakes. Any questions PM me, love to talk to you…oh, and if you haven't already, check out my other story The Insane High Life of an Undercover Secret Agent. I'll be updating that later tonight so STAY TUNED!

Disclaimer: Me no JP. Me own storyline…hehehe :D :D

Enjoy :)

P.S. Am I spelling Brigid right?

Lovely Mess Go Bye-Bye

I spent the rest of the morning figuring out a way to get out of the lovely mess my stepmother had set up for me. Cancel all of my plans? Yeah, right. Like that's gonna happen. Sure, the list was long, but never underestimate the power of speed. It can get you places.

Trust me.

But I couldn't exactly just disobey. She has minions…and not the cool ones from Despicable Me either. Evil ones…cruel ones…fake, pink obsessed, dumb, mean, SHORT ones.

Yeah. My stepsisters. Lissa and Brigid. They're twins too so whoopee. Double the trouble. That saying should change to "double the inconvenience".

It is very hard to be naughty when you have two spies alert and ready to tattle tale at any given moment. Especially when they are in your grade, go to the same school as you and live with you. It is very hard indeed.

But! The Amazing Maximum Ride will prevail!

She always does.

I called up one of my best friends, Nudge.

"Hello?" A groggy voice said.

Oh, yeah. It was, like, seven-thirty in the morning. Whoopsies.

"Hey, Nudge?"

"Ugh, Max? Really? It's still, like…" She paused for a moment to yawn. "Night time. Hey, I'm hungry. Are you hungry? I want pancakes. I love pancakes, don't you? Especially with chocolate chips. Mmm… anyways. You called me. What's up?"

I rolled my eyes. That's Nudge for you. My friends and I called it the Nudge Channel. Even in the morning it's All Nudge, All the time.

"Yeah, um, actually I need a little help brainstorming." I switched the phone to my other ear and collapsed onto the living room sofa. The one that Fiona says, "If you ever, EVER sit on this sofa I will HUNT YOU DOWN AND GUT YOU LIKE A FISH…besides you, Lissa and Brigid, dears of my heart" every time I pass it.

I was enjoying it immensely.

"Oooh, brainstorming? What kind?" She asked.

I bit my lip. "Important kind. I was wondering if you might want to meet me at Starbucks in a half hour?"

"Oh, yeah, sure thing. I'll call up Ella, too. Do you want Iggy around?"

I thought about it. "That would be nice. But he probably won't get up."

She laughed. "That, my dear friend, is why God created the lovely goodness that we earthlings call 'water'."

I rolled my eyes. "Bye, Nudge."

"See ya," she replied.

I have the best friends in the whole entire world. Ever.

I ran downstairs and threw on some aqua green shorts and a white v neck, both Target brand. The day I actually owned something with a designer tag would probably be the day Fiona lets me sit on that stupid couch.

Which will be never so you can see how that's going for me.

Grabbing my sunglasses and purse, I ran up the stairs and wrote a quick note to the evils (just in case) saying that there was smoothie and muffins in the fridge. Most weekends they didn't get up until eleven, but just to be safe.

I quietly walked out of the house and shut the door.

Immediately I took a deep breath, taking in the ocean air.

Yeah. I live in Long Beach, pretty much on the coast. And yes, it's just as awesome as it sounds. My dad was pretty well off because of his job in the movie business. Unfortunately, when he died, everything went to Fiona.

Sad but true.

I drove the five minutes to the Starbucks and, luckily, got a good parking space.

Mmm…coffee is such a blessed thing. You know what they say—black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love…

In other words, it's amazing.

Much to my surprise, Ella, Nudge and Iggy were already at a table, waiting. They looked a little tired…besides Iggy. He just looked mad. And his stawberry blonde hair was still damp.

"They must have gone through with their plan, huh?" I asked Iggy, pulling out my chair.

He glared at me. "This better be important, Max. I swear…eight o'clock on a Saturday morning. I must be crazy." His head collapsed in his arms and he closed his eyes.

I rolled my eyes. "Drama Queen."

"Mm-hm," he murmured. "And proud of it. I don't even know how they got into my house."

Nudge giggled nervously. "Spare key," she admitted. "From doggie sitting."

Iggy gave her a "you will pay" look before closing his eyes again.

"So what's up, Max?" Ella asked through a big yawn, pushing my latte towards me.

Yep. My friends are just that awesome. They order coffee for me! That's right, be jealous.

"Is Fiona being a butthead again?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah," I answered. "She got me up at six this morning to give me a huge list of chores that needs to be done by Thursday."

"So?" Nudge asked. "What's new with that? We'll just come over and help you again before the twins get up. Problem solved."

"Yeah…that's all cool. But she said I can't leave the house and she knows that I work full time on Mondays and Wednesdays. And I promised—"

"Gazzy you'd take him to the beach on Thursday," Iggy finished for me.

Gazzy is Iggy's six year old brother. A while back, Iggy promised to take him to the beach but it turned out he already had something planned. And that my friends, is where I come in. Being the amazing friend and over achiever I am, I volunteered to take his place.

"Yeah. So I need someone to cover for me. Ugh. Why does she hate me so much?"

"Um, maybe because your dad loved you more than her—"

"And because you are way prettier than her ugly daughters—"

"And have great morals—"

"And are pretty much the best person on this planet—"

"Even though you have a short temper, are relentlessly sarcastic and way to protective over your chocolate chip cookies," Iggy added, taking a sip of his coffee.

I stared at them. "Um…okay…but seriously. What am I going to do?"

"How about," Iggy began, "you just disobey."

"No duh, Sherlock," I snapped. "I'd love to. But she pays for my car insurance. Think about it Iggy," I said, leaning forward. "If I disobeyed you'd lose all your transportation. You'd be stuck at home, all day with Gazzy. Do you want that?"

Iggy swallowed hard. As far as sibling relationships go, Iggy and Gazzy get along pretty well. But with the eleven year age difference and all, Iggy could only take so much.

"On second thought," he said meekly, "maybe I could cancel my plans with Jason and bring Gazzy to the beach instead."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah. It'll be fun."

"Okay…check mark on that. But what about work? I'm gonna get fired if I don't show again."

"Which is exactly what Fiona wants to happen," Ella pointed out.

"Ella and I could take the evils to the mall on Monday," Nudge suggested.

"WHAT?" Ella squeaked.

I raised my eyebrows at Nudge.

"No, seriously," Nudge persisted. "We could take them around. Go to the mall. See a movie."

"All day?" I asked.

"Maybe not all day…hey, what if you called JJ? She works at the café. Ask her if she would mind covering you half the day on Monday and half the day on Wednesday. Tell her you'll cover for her next week."

"That could work…" I said, warming up to the idea. "But back to you and Ella taking them to the mall. Are you serious about that?"

"Yeah," Nudge shrugged. "It'll be easy."

"You go girl!" Iggy yelled, giving her a high five. "Better you than me."

"Won't they get suspicious?" Ella asked. "I mean, we don't exactly like each other. Like, at all."

Nudge rolled her eyes. "Trust me, Ella. Fashionistas are all the same. We never give up a day at the mall. They won't think twice."

"And on Wednesday?" I asked.

Nudge waved her hand. "We'll think of something. Don't worry about it."

I sighed with relief. "You guys are the best ever, you know that right?" I asked, grabbing my purse.

"Duh," Iggy exclaimed. "I'm amazing. Now get the keys, Nudge. Sleep is calling my name."

And chores are calling mine, I thought to myself. Lucky me.

Hope you guys liked it. Plz review! They make me so happy. *sigh* Oh, found this new cool song called "He Said" by Group 1 Crew on youtube. Check it out! It's my new happy song…I have a new happy song about every week…yeah. Last week it was Ex Old Man by (some girl don't remember her name) and Where I Belong by Building 429 or something like that. Okay, so anyways! review!

Peace out ~ d-and-s86