I said I would do my best, didn't I? I've only been back to school for three days, and I'm already ready to be done with it. Thank God I'm a senior. I dislike my AP Lit teacher...but I'm really excited about my Creative Writing class. My teacher, Mr. Brown, seems pretty cool and I'm hoping that it makes up for my crappy AP Lit teacher. *Sigh* Anyway, if I don't get spotless grades and turn into Miss-perfect-teenage-girl-that-acts-girly-&-does-her-chores-&-homework-&-never-gets-sad-or-does-anything-wrong-or-trips-or-forgets-things-or-eats-to-much-or-writes-anything-badly-or-sulks-or-argues-or-does-anything-wrong then I'm in deep shit with my parents, and family, and the rest of America that's counting on me. No pressure :( Cheers to a new year...

I don't own Maximum Ride, okay? Okay. Get it? Got it? Good.

Max POV

After what seemed like hours, though it was only another minute or so, of listening to Nudge ramble on and on, my sister's waltzed through the door. Literally. Ella grabbed Camy, and waltzed her through the French doors. Angel was not far behind, waltzing with an imaginary partner. Their bags flew in circles around them, constantly threatening to break something, but they didn't seem to notice. Nudge stopped mid-sentence and began to clap enthusiastically.

"I wish I could dance!" Nudge cried watching my sisters move with such grace across the kitchen floor. I patted her on the back comfortingly. "How long have you been dancing? Could you teach me? I've always wanted to learn to dance! Then-"

"Hi. It's nice to meet you. I'm Angel." My Angel interrupted sweetly. "Max has been dancing since she was old enough to walk, as have Ella and I. We've been, or more like Max has been, teaching Camy since our parents- What's your name?"

"I wish I could dance! Do you think that you could teach me? Angel is such a pretty name! Do you like it? I wish I had a name like Angel! I mean, I like Nudge too, but Angel is so pretty. I wish I had a more girlie name sometimes! Like Tiffany, or Krystal, or...or...Monique! You know? This one time I met a girl named April! I love April, 'cause it's spring and I love the spring! It's so pretty with the birds, and the flowers! What's your favorite flower?" Fang lunged across the room with surprising agility and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"If you ask her, I bet Max would teach you. I do like my name. I don't know, because I think that Nudge is a really cool name. Daisies." Angel answered without pause.

"Excuse me, but I don't believe we've met." Camy said shyly from behind Fang. "I'm Camy. What's your name?" She blushed a little, and I knew the look in her eyes. I just hoped that Fang was prepared. I knew he had a thing for redheads. He knew I'd kill him if he went out with my stepsister. Even as he was turning around to greet her, I was clenching my fists behind my back.

"Fang."

"That's an interesting name? Is it a nickname?" She asked, trying to start some sort of conversations. I almost smiled. Trying to start a conversation with an unwilling Fang, was like trying to fit the ocean in a cup. He didn't even answer her. He merely shook his head 'no'. "Oh, cool." She responded, defeated.

"Hey, Fang." Ella greeted casually. He took his hand off of Nudge's mouth, and she and Angel ran off to talk. He gave Ella a curt side-hug.

"Up the stairs. Down the hall. Your names are on the doors. You're sharing." He wasn't even speaking in complete sentences.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?" Ella asked grinning.

"Actually, I've given up my life-long dream of being a cheerleader. Mom says it's changed my whole manner." He joked, without a hint of a smile. Ella laughed, while Camy gave a wavering smile.

Don't worry, Camy. Fang Humor takes some getting used to. I thought at her. Of course, she didn't hear it. Ella nudged Camy with her foot, and they started in the direction of the stairs with the few bags they brought.

"Hey, Max! I'm gonna drop your stuff into your room okay?" Ella yelled back. I nodded, though I knew that she couldn't see me.

"I'm going to check and make sure that they make it to their rooms okay." Fang told me, not looking at me. He was hiding something. I hid my suspicious look, and pointed to the bathroom instead. He nodded, jogging up the stairs to catch up with them.

I waited, for what I felt was a sufficient amount of time, before innocently going to check on my quarters. Fang, Camy, and Ella were gathered in Camy and Ella's room, and I stopped outside to retie my shoe. I don't eavesdrop, it's wrong, but I simply couldn't take the risk of my loose shoelace coming undone to trip me in the hall.

"I was wondering. I mean, I couldn't help noticing. It's just-"

"Spit it out, Fang." Ella said, slightly annoyed with a hint of amusement.

"I couldn't help noticing that Max hasn't spoken a word. Is that...I mean, has she said anything since your dad...is she still not speaking?" I clenched my teeth. I had been so close to opening up again, so close to speaking again, before Walter.

"Nope. I think she was getting close. She said goodnight to me once, when she caught me crying about dad." Ella answered sadly. I didn't know that she remembered that. It'd been three nights before mom announced the engagement. "Problem was, when Walter moved in, he made it a project to force Max to talk." I heard a low growl.

"So, she hasn't spoken in roughly two years?" He asked again.

"I've never even heard her voice." Camy told him. "Ella says that she could sing. Is that true? Did she sing?"

"Like an angel." He said quietly, and I felt a blush rising to my cheeks. "So, what about you three. I mean, you guys seem so..."

"Happy?" Ella supplied.

"Upbeat and talkative?" Camy added.

"Yeah. Why is Max so much more...sad than you guys?"

"We were never punished as badly as Max." Ella told him, her voice dropping into a sad monotone.

"She brought it upon herself." Camy said sympathetically. "I kept telling her to talk. Or, heck, even stop helping the rest of us!"

"It's true. Max took everyone's punishments. Walter turned it into some kind of game. He'd find something on one of us, then punish us somewhere different without telling Max. She always found us. I don't know how...but she always did." Ella sounded almost reverent.

I wanted to stop her and tell her that I wasn't all that. If I'd been that good, she wouldn't have gotten that black eye three weeks ago, and Camy wouldn't have been hit with the bat at all, and Angel wouldn't have been slapped across the face a month and a half ago. If I'd been that good, he never would have laid a hand on my sisters at all.

"It's true." Camy threw in. "She always stepped in. Always. Then he punished her ten times worse. She never even cried. I wish I could be as strong as her. I haven't been punished since Walter married her mom. Except this morning, he hasn't harmed me at all."

"This morning?" Fang asked confused.

"The bat punishment was supposed to be mine, for getting caught looking out the window to watch the sunrise. I don't know how Max got there, she wasn't even awake when he caught me and started to drag me downstairs. I thought I was gonna get it. She's got like, a sixth sense or something." Camy admitted. I walked quietly back to the beginning of the hallway.

"She always knew. It's about killed her a few times though." Ella's voice turned bitter. "Her and her damn hero complex!" I started trudging back towards my room, warning them that I was there. They stopped talking.

"Well, if you guys need anything, just ask Nudge, my mom and dad, or me. We'll be happy to help." Fang's voice was back to it's flat monotone.

"We got it. Thanks you so much. For saving us, and letting us stay here."

"No problem." He slipped into the hall, and caught sight of me in the doorway of my room. His eyes seemed to be searching mine for something, I didn't know what, and I looked away to the floor. After a moment, I heard his footsteps retreating down the hall, and stepped into my new bedroom.

Hope it was okay. It's sort of a filler chapter, but I felt like you should know why Max's sister's are normal and not as sad, and some of what Max has been enduring. She's just too self-sacrificing for her own good :)

Some of you got the question of why Max was crying and what Fang's mom was thinking right, one more than the rest, but I'm not telling who it was yet. I WILL say that they do get twenty and thirty points. They now have fifty points. Those of you that got half right get twenty OR thirty. Don't be down. You can't always win. I'll let you know later whether or not you win.

Thanks to Nichole for motivating me. I'm not lying, she cursed at me and everything. It got me off my ass. I shouldn't have taken so long and I'm sorry.