Periculum by Young.FOOLS

Hey guys! We hope you enjoy the first chapter. Please review! Remember, reviews, especially con-crit will make our chapters better for YOU!

Big spaces=skipped time

Line breaks=change of Point of View

Disclaimer: We don't own Maximum Ride. (Well, obviously)

"Hey mom!" I cried, stepping out of the rental car that was parked in front of the house. Upon seeing me, my mom tackled me into a hug, nearly squeezing me to death. She moved backwards so that she could see my face.

"Max! I missed you so much! How was Charleton?" She asked.

"Oh, it was good. I made a lot of friends. The classes were fairly easy. You need to meet J.J. sometime. She's the nicest..." I rambled on about my university as I helped my mom carry my various suitcases into the house. I walked into our homey white house, taking a deep breath. The familiar scent washed back at me and I smiled. I had missed it here.

"So...meet anybody interesting?" I turned towards my mom, confused. She gave me a meaningful look and nudged my shoulder playfully.

"Mom!" I shrieked, dropping the suitcase. She took one look at my face and started running. We ran around the house, shrieking and laughing the whole time, successfully awaking my dog. Total ran towards me in all his black terrier glory, barking the whole time. I picked him up and he immediately started slobbering all over my face.

"Ew, Total! Get off!"

After I unpacked all my bags, had a quick nap (I hate driving for 6 hours straight) and ate something, I sat and started catching up with my mom.

"So mom, where's Jeb?" I asked about my mother's fiancé, who I surprisingly liked a lot. They were getting married in August. My mom is super excited and happy. I was mom's little accident. She got drunk at a party and had me when she was 16. She never found out who my real dad was, so raising me by herself was pretty tough. She deserved some happiness.

"Oh, he's at work."

Jeb is a scientist. And he loves it. I don't really know what he does, but as long as he isn't creating mutant versions of humans, it's okay with me.

I'm in the Arts and Sciences program in Charleton. It's my first year of university and to say I was excited is an understatement. I hope to become a pediatrician in the near future. People always told me that I was really good with children.

I'm in the kitchen right now, munching on an absolutely delicious, made from heaven, fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookie that my mom made. I swear, my mom is a goddess in disguise. Who else could make such wonderful cookies? My best friend J.J. told me that I was addicted. I slapped her.

Anyways, my mom finished making the cookies about 5 minutes ago and I have already eaten around 10. It's surprising that I still weigh approximately 100 pounds with all that I eat. Ah, the wonders of a high metabolism.

I jumped as the front door banged open. From outside emerged a tall man with pale blue eyes with a computer case slung over his shoulder.

"Jeb!" I jumped from my seat and tackled my soon to be step-father in a hug. He chuckled and hugged my back. I broke out of the hug so that he could come inside the house.

"So you're back for the Christmas holidays. How was Charleton?" I relayed the exact information that I had told my mom at Jeb. After I had finished he said,

"So you enjoyed it there." I thought for a moment, then answered slowly,

"Yeah. I guess so." Suddenly I heard the familiar sound of our mailbox closing. I jumped up. "Mail's here!" I ran out of the house, grabbed the thick stack of mail and then ran back in, plopping down on the couch opposite that Jeb and my mom were sitting on.

I started to sort through the mail. "Boring...boring...bank...boring...bor-" I stared at the familiar crest on the envelope. With shaky hands I tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter inside.

"Max? Max, who is that letter from?" I barely heard my mom ask. I held up my hand in the form of the universal wait sign and started to read the letter.

Dear Miss Ride,

We are pleased to inform you that you are accepted into Ravensdale University for the second semester of this school year until you graduate. We are also offering you a full scholarship if you choose to attend the university. We have enclosed a list of all the books needed for the courses that you will be taking (the same ones as those you are taking in your former university). The semester begins on January 10. We await your letter by no later than December 25.

Yours sincerely,

Jovine Oliveros

Head of University

I read of the letter several times, making sure that I wasn't hallucinating. As soon as I was sure, I shrieked out loud in happiness. My mother ran over.

"What is it?" she demanded. I thrust my letter into her awaiting hands and prompted her to read it. When she was done, I stared at her happily, but then started to frown as I realized she wasn't smiling.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. She sighed.

"I know you've always wanted to go to Ravensdale, it being one of the most prestigious universities out there, and I know you deserve to go there, with how hard you've worked over the years, but...it's just so far. I mean, at least Charleton was nearby. I just had to drive 6 hours to get there if I missed you too much. Ravensdale is in New York City! We live in California! That's on the other side of country. You'll just be so far away. And New York isn't exactly the safest place on earth. What if you got mugged, raped, kidnapped or-"

"Mom! Calm down! There's a reason why I have a black belt in karate. I'm not going to get hurt. I promise. This is a really great chance for me. Remember how I had cried last May when I got the letter saying that I was being declined? I was so upset. It's my dream to go to Ravensdale. And I'm going, whether you like it or not." I stared her down, willing her to defy mom stared right back at me.

"It's your choice. And I respect that."

I hugged my mom, who had tears streaking down her face. We were at the airport so that I could catch my flight to Ravensdale.

"Mom, if it helps, I'll phone you every week. Okay? Don't worry about me." I gave her a reassuring look and moved on to Jeb.

"Take care of her for me, okay? Don't let her worry too much." I hugged him. He whispered into my ear,

"I won't. I promise." He took a deep breath. "Bye Max. I'll see you in the summer." We broke apart and I headed towards security.

"Bye guys!" Then I turned my back to them.

"Hey Fang!" Iggy called, "Heads up!"

My neck jerked backwards just in time to catch the wayward football that Iggy had thrown to Gazzy

"Nice one, Fang!" Gazzy shouted from a hundred or so metres away.

We were all relaxing. We had kicked some serious Malum butt earlier this week, so we were all basking in our well-earned vacation. At least the guys, the Brotherhood of Wellex, were. The girls, the Sisterhood of Bevlon, were off on a scouting mission, to get the latest on how well the Malums were progressing on their virus.

Confused? Basically, I belong to a group called the Brotherhood of Wellex. We have a sister group named the Sisterhood of Bevlon. We're all…special, I guess, in our own ways. More on that later. Our groups were created to rival the Malums, a group that seems hell-bent on taking over the world by creating a fatal plague, then serving as the only people in the world who have the antidote. So, my mates and I basically have an alter-ego. Regular students at Ravensdale University by day, and evil-busting superheroes by night.

Wow. That was really clichéd, but it's pretty much true.

Just then, my watch beeped

"Yes?" I said into it.

Now, it may seem strange that I was talking to a watch, but if you keep stopping at everything that seems strange, you'll never finish.

My watch beeped again.

"Incoming message from, Nudge Doyle" my watch said in its automated voice.

I pushed a few buttons, then saw the message Nudge had sent me.

We're back. Meet me in common room at 4. Important news, it read.

I groaned. In my world, "important news" generally circled around potential loss of life, Malums winning a battle, or the girls wanting to do something that would seriously jeopardize my masculinity. Plus, it was really weird that the girls had already gotten back from their scouting mission. I had thought it was supposed to last a few more days.

I pushed a few buttons on my watch, to check the time and date.

3:45, Wednesday.

If we hurried, we'd just make it.

"Gazzy! Iggy!" I shouted.

They came stumbling over.

"You don't have to talk so damn loud you know." Iggy complained. "We weren't all that far from you. You could have talked in a normal voice."

I rolled my eyes. Of course Iggy could have heard me speaking in a whisper, even if he was clear across the field. Boy was blessed with extreme hearing.

"Nudge wants us to meet the sisters in the common room in fifteen." I said, trying to keep my voice down, for Iggy's sake. "Said it was important. Could you go get our other brothers to come?"

We call each other brother and sister, but really, we aren't biologically related. The only two real siblings are Gazzy and Angela, a girl in the Sisterhood.

After a few moments, the rest of the Brotherhood came. In turn, each one of them bowed their head to me. That was one custom that always bothered me. Because I was the leader of our Brotherhood, all of my brothers had so show so much respect for me. I still wasn't used to it, seeing as I'd only been leader for a few months. It was fine and everything, but it sometimes made me feel uncomfortable. I would much rather we all just acted like equals.

Anyways, back to the task at hand:

"Nudge sent me a message, telling me that we had to meet her in the common room at four." I said, "She said it was important."

"Really?" Dylan asked. "I thought they were supposed to be scouting for a few more days!"

"I know," I told Dylan, "I don't know what they're doing back here either. Anyways, they told us to be there, and that it was important."

"Like, important important, or just 'OMG! There's a shoe sale at the mall!' important?" Holden inquired. Of all of us, he was the most likely to "inquire" anything. The kid was freakishly smart.

"C'mon, Fang!" Nathan protested. "I have things to do, people to see-"

"Or the other way around." Gazzy suggested.

We all groaned at that one.

"Anyways," Nathan said, "I have things to do and people to see, so I really can't go shopping with the girls today."

"You mean you'd turn down an opportunity to see Kate shop? Y'know, for some sexy linger-" Iggy was immediately cut off by Nathan tackling him.

I looked at the situation in dismay. Get them to listen to you, get them to listen to you I chanted to myself.

"EVERYBODY! LISTEN UP!" I yelled.

Well. That shut them up. I rarely raised my voice at my brothers. Iggy was wincing.

"We all have to go to the common room at four. I don't care whether or not it's really important, we're going because Nudge asked us to." I said in a slightly calmer voice.

We all walked to the common room on campus, the only room in this archaic place were males and females were allowed to mingle. As I walked, I was thinking.

I was still sore over my brothers' ribbing earlier. It went beyond purely being annoyed by their banter, to a more personal level. Of all my brothers and sisters, I was the only one that was…single. Well, except for Dylan. But Dylan and Maya were in that awkward stage between being friends and actually being together. They were always madly flirting. All the others had found their perfect other halves. Gazzy was with Serena, Iggy was with Ella, Holden was with Angela, Nudge was with Alex and Kate was with Nathan. When they were all together, it was hard to keep from feeling like the eleventh wheel. Although I didn't let any of this show. Nope, I had to be über leader, letting nothing get in the way of my focus on my brothers, and of defeating the Malums.

When we got to the common room, all of my brothers greeted their girlfriends. And by greeted, I mean full-on making out. Although I've had years to get used to this, I still can't help but puke a bit in my mouth when I see Holden, sticking his tongue down Angela's throat. I mean, I've known them practically since we were zygotes! Once our orgy (it seemed like that to me, at least) was over, Nudge stepped to the front of the room. From the mischievous glint in her dark eyes, I knew that this could not be good. Nudge used her telekinetic powers to lift a scroll into her hand. She held it up.

"What's that?" I asked nervously.

"It's a set of instructions" Nudge said carefully.

"What for?" I asked.

"For you." Nudge replied.

Okay, now I was really annoyed. I didn't know what Nudge's deal was, but this was getting no where by her being so goddamn cryptic. I decided to stop beating around the bush.

"What are you doing back at Ravensdale so soon?" I asked. "Wasn't your mission supposed to last until Monday?"

"Yeah, but something urgent came up, and we had to come back" Serena said.

"What would that be?" I asked, really wanting to pummel them for not answering my questions.

"Here's the deal, Fang." Maya said. "We found a new sister in Los Angeles. We already arranged for her to come to Ravensdale, but we need someone to mentor her."

I didn't like where this was going.

"And?" I asked.

"Well, Fang, you were right." Ella said, "We aren't supposed to be back from our scouting mission. In fact, we're going back to it tonight. This means, one of you boys will have to be the new girl's mentor. Preferably you, Fang, because you're the leader and you've got the most experience."

"Whoa!" I protested. "I can't just randomly mentor some girl you guys have decided to throw on me! Can't you just do it once you come back?"

"Ummm…no can do." Angela said uncomfortably.

"Why is that?" I asked suspiciously.

"Because she's arriving tomorrow."

Thanks to all those people who reviewed. We got 7 reviews! Yay! Anyways, here's the next chapter. We were so happy with all of the reviews that we decided to update faster! Also, to those people who only story alerted or favourites, please review. Otherwise we won't know what you like or dislike about the story! By the way, we realized that we forgot to tell you that this is a story jointly written by cherryblaster and 1C3, on the account . Thanks again!

Disclaimer: We don't own Maximum Ride. We would never allow Fang to leave Max.

I walked into the dorm. It was so pretty. The admissions office of Ravensdale had told me that Thompson House was the nicest dorm there. I walked through the hallway and came to my room number. 254. I used my key and opened the door. The room was huge. My room at home is way smaller than this.

I walked in and set my suitcase down. Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder. I whipped around and kicked the person in the side. They collapsed and just lay on the floor gasping for breath. I swept the hair that had gotten in my face away and got a proper look at the person.

It was girl, about my age, with auburn coloured hair that flowed in perfect ringlets down her back. I immediately started apologizing and offered her my hand.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! You should have said something!" The girl took my hand and hoisted herself off the floor and dusted herself off.

"Who did you think I was? A robber?" she questioned me, smirking.

"Um...well, something of the sort. I don't react well with being surprised," I answered, rubbing the back of my neck and grinning sheepishly. The girl rolled her eyes but offered me her hand to shake.

"My name's Reid. Reid Fisher. I live here," she told me. I took her hand and shook it, replying,

"Oh. My name's Max Ride. I didn't know I had a room-mate?" I questioned, eyeing the one bed in the middle of the room. Reid shook her head and smiled, making her bright blue eyes sparkle.

"No silly! I'm not your room-mate! Everyone in the university has a room all to themselves. My room is across the hall." She pointed to the door that had the number 255 on it with pink sparkly letters. "So your name's Max? Quite unusual for a girl..."

"Well, my real name is Mackie." I rolled my eyes and gave dramatic sigh. "I don't know what my mom was thinking. I mean, Mackie? Really? My best friend, Mike, in kindergarten nicknamed me Max. I don't think he realized that I was girl back then..." I trailed off thoughtfully.

"So you stuck to that name."

"Yeah. I always thought it fit me better than 'Mackie'. It sounds so much like 'Mickie'," I answered, groaning at the thought of being called 'Mickie' my whole life. Reid looked around at my empty room and my still packed suitcases. She looked back up at me.

"You need help unpacking?" she asked.

After Reid and I unpacked all my clothes and other necessities, we went to go grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria. I walked into the lunch hall. Ravensdale had very few students, a little less than 500. The campus was quite big, because everyone had their own room to themselves, but there was one lunch hall. And it was huge. I think it was the size of the school I went to from grades 1 through 5. And it looked like a food court at a mall. There were many varieties of food all over the place. Chinese, Mexican, Italian...etc. I immediately headed towards the Chinese food and ordered some dumplings and sat down at a table with Reid, who had ordered a simple cheese pizza and a soft drink, waiting for them to call my number. Reid took a sip of her drink and immediately bombarded me with questions.

"So, why have you just gotten here? I mean, why did you suddenly start coming to Ravensdale now? Why not in the first semester as well?"

"Well, you see, Ravensdale didn't accept me at first. I just recently received a letter telling me that they were withdrawing their rejection and that they were deciding to accept me. And they gave me a full scholarship!" I told her proudly. Suddenly, I saw a flash of colour to my right. I turned and saw a group of 6 or 7 boys entering the cafeteria. They looked normal, just a group of teenage boys laughing and goofing off, but for some reason, they...stuck out. Reid followed my gaze and to my surprise, smiled and sighed, with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Who are they?" I questioned, my stomach growling. I wonder what's taking the food so long, I pondered in the back of my mind. Reid sat straight up and started talking animatedly.

"They are the fraternity of Wellex. Home to the cutest boys on campus. And the most mysterious. They hardly talk to anyone outside of their fraternity, and of course, their sister fraternity, Bevlon. Too bad all of them are taken." She sighed, looking slightly depressed. Then sat up again with a flirty look in her eye. "Except Fang and Dylan, of course. But Dylan's as good as taken. He and Maya have been flirting so much lately, it makes every one in the room want to puke. But that doesn't matter," she said as she waved her hand dismissively. "I prefer Fang anyways. I heard he likes red-heads."

What kind of name is 'Fang', I wondered. Suddenly I heard my number being called. I shot up from my chair, muttered that I had to go pick up my food to Reid and rushed off, not really wanting to listen to Reid drone on and on about boys.

I picked my food up from the counter and started to walk back to my table.

"So you like Chinese food." I nearly dropped my food in surprise. I turned around and was confronted with a tall boy with dark black hair carrying a bottle of green tea. He waited for me to respond.

"Yeah. It's one of my favourite foods." I recognized him to be one of the boys in Wellex. "Sorry, and not to seem rude or anything, but why are you talking to me?" He chuckled. I raised my eyebrow in response.

"So you've heard of my brothers and I." I assumed he was referring to the other boys in the fraternity. "Yeah. We're...popular, I suppose. And to answer your question, it's because you're new here and I decided to be nice and come and talk to you. Unless you want me to leave, of course." He smirked, thinking that I would tell him that I wanted him to stay. I narrowed my eyes.

"Oh, you can go, if you like. I mean, its not like your presence here is helping me at all." I started to walk back towards Reid slowly. The corners of his mouth twitched and he replied,

"It's okay. I think I'll stick around for a while." We got to the table and were just standing there in front of it. We must have looked quite peculiar. "And to do that, I think I'll need to know your name," he demanded. I sat down at the table and he pulled out a empty chair and did the same.

"My name is Max-"

"Mackie," Reid cut in loudly, smiling sweetly when my male companion and I turned to look at her. I grimaced.

"Right. My real name is Mackie, but I will castrate you if you ever call me that," I told him.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said lightly.

"Just call me Max. Max Ride." I held out my hand.

"Nick-"

"FANG!" Reid cut in again. Nick and I both sighed. He lifted his head and plastered on a smile.

"-but my friends call me Fang. Fang Walker." He shook my still outstretched hand. We let go when Reid cleared her throat loudly. Fang turned to Reid. "Sorry, but I didn't catch your name?"

"R-Reid. Reid Fisher," she replied, looking as if she were about to faint.

"So Reid. Could you kindly leave Max and I to talk for a while? Thanks." Fang smiled sweetly at her, no doubt blinding her with the appearance of his white teeth. She got up shakily and walked away with a dazed expression on her face, stumbling a bit, not even picking up her half-finished meal. Fang lazily turned his attention back to me and casually took a swing from his bottle of green tea. I suddenly felt nervous.

"So, how did you know that I was new?" I asked him, stabbing a dumpling with my fork.

"There aren't many students here at Ravensdale. Everybody knows everyone. So, you stick out like a sore thumb," he replied.

"Oh yay," I announced sarcastically. He chuckled.

"So, what are you studying?" Fang asked.

"I'm in the Arts and Sciences program."

"Oh, so am I. Maybe I'll see you in some of my classes. I'll talk to you later, okay?" With one last swing of his bottle, he winked at me and went to go join his 'brothers' at his table, leaving me a bit surprised at him leaving so abruptly. I started chowing down on my dumplings again when I saw a shadow on the table. I looked up and saw a very excited Reid.

"I guess he also likes blondes. Tell me everything!" she squealed, no doubt talking about Fang.

"My hair is dirty blonde." She waved my comment away and started pestering me. Oh joy.

"So, what are you studying?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"I'm in the Arts and Sciences program" she replied.

Yes! I thought to myself, Finally, something goes my way for once!

"Oh, so am I. Maybe I'll see you in some of my classes." I said, aiming for a nonchalant tone. Just then, my watch vibrated. Damn. That meant that one of my brothers needed me, for something or another. It vibrated long-short-long, which meant that Iggy needed me.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?" I told Max, still cursing Iggy to high heaven.

I sauntered away, to the table where my brothers were sitting. They all had trays of food in front of them, and Iggy was laughing obnoxiously.

"What?" I asked, annoyed. He was gonna interrupt me from my conversation-my very pleasant conversation-with Max just to laugh at me? Was there something hanging out of my nose or something?

"Oh my, oh my," Iggy said, still gasping from laughter, "you've got wheels my dear boy!"

The rest of the table chuckled, but, mercifully, didn't look up from their food.

Still, my face burned from embarrassment. Did it really look like I was flirting with Max? I totally wasn't, thought. I was just executing my mentor-ly duties. Keeping an eye on her.

"Dude!" I protested, "I was just trying to establish some communication with her! I'm supposed to be her mentor! There's nothing going on!"

Iggy just laughed harder. Jerk. "First of all, Fang, don't say 'dude'. It makes you sound like some Californian surfer. Although…" he trailed off, "Max is from Los Angeles. Keep acting like that and she might just have the hots for you."

I wondered if it was possible to die from embarrassment. I mean, I knew that lots of girls at Ravensdale thought I was good-looking, and some of them even went out of their way to look ridiculous for me, like Max's annoying friend, Ried, had. But still. I didn't think Max could like me like that. Sure, she had been nice to me and all, but she seemed…above all that petty boyfriend stuff.

Somehow, this thought made me inexplicably sad.

Realizing this, I quickly composed my expression into what I liked to call The Emotionless Wall. In doing so, I kept my emotions in check. There was no way in hell that I was getting sad over Max. Just because I liked her body, didn't mean that I liked her. My "wheeling" Max, to use Iggy's words, was just my testosterone speaking.

Still, that didn't mean that I couldn't check her out. She was really pretty. She had wavy blonde hair that fell to the small of her back. She was curvy, but definitely slim, with eyes the colour of melted chocolate. Just then, she laughed at something that Reid said, and some chocolate milk came out of her nose.

That jerked me out of my ogling.

"I am so done here," Alex said, pushing his chair back with a loud scrape, "lunch isn't any fun without the girls. I'm outta here."

"Well, well, well, Alex," Nathan said teasingly, "getting sad because you didn't see your ball-and-chain for a few days? Oh, my, what will we ever do?" He said the last part in a faux-distressed voice, sending his voice up a few octaves and batting his eyelashes. It would have been really funny, but his voice cracked at the end, messing up the effect.

"Whatever, man" Alex said, "like you're not missing Kate."

"Oh, my, what will I ever do?" Holden echoed, mocking Nathan. "Kate's not here to talk to anymore!"

"I bet they did a lot more than talk…if you catch my drift." Gazzy said, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively.

That ended the minor rift in the group.

Alex, Nathan, Holden, Dylan and Gazzy all went out to the quad to shoot some hoops. That left just Iggy and I. Soon, he bailed to, saying that he had ordered some bismuth and needed to go pick it up.

I wondered idly for a few minutes if the world was still safe with Iggy and his hands on some bismuth, but then countered that he hadn't done any major damage with explosives yet, so I could trust him.

…Well, if you forget the time he singed all of our eyebrows off in a C-4 test gone wrong, or the time he managed to smuggle some plutonium into an empty lecture hall, effectively ensuring that classes would be stopped for a week…

I stopped thinking about the consequences of Iggy and explosives, because one more minute of that, and I'd be rushing off to tear the bismuth from Iggy's hands.

Which would mean leaving the cafeteria.

And who could leave when Max was sitting just a few tables over, and her shirt was shifting just the right amount so that when she laughed so you could see a bit of the skin on her back?

Okay…overactive hormones.

Over the weekend, I kept seeing Max around campus. At the library, lying on the grass with Ried, eating dinner in the cafeteria again...

All this time, I wanted to approach Max, to continue our discussion from Friday, but I didn't want to appear too clingy.

Meanwhile, I was keeping up as her mentor quite well. Actually, at the moment it was more like her guardian, seeing as she had no idea that she was a member of the Sisterhood yet. Here and there, I kept on noticing traces of her powers.

When she ran, she took longer strides than most, staying off the ground longer. She was always bouncing around on her toes, yet never seemed to tire of this. This showed that she had great-no, supernatural amounts of energy. Also, her skin was really flushed all the time. A telltale sign that a power was about to emerge. I knew that with the proper training and earrings, she could develop into a very powerful member of the Sisterhood of Belvon.

To explain the earrings part, the girls all wear matching earrings. With them on, whatever traces of power they had before was made stronger by over ten thousand times. They were very powerful. If a Malum got their hands on a pair of those earrings, the world would be in big trouble. For the guys, our watches doubled as our "power enhancer".

Anyways.

So, I played the part of the perfect mentor, or guardian, all weekend. I didn't let Max get into any trouble, not that there was any to get into.

Sam, Lissa and Brigid, the Malums present at Ravensdale, were all off in Siberia or something over the weekend to work on their virus. The girls were scouting their location.

Plus, they knew nothing of Max. Malums can be crazy geniuses, but they're not at all observant.

So, the most trouble Max could get into this weekend was stubbing her toe on the water fountain or something.

Not the most exciting for me. Although I did get lots of checking-Max-out time.

Purely hormones. I had no feelings for her at all!

Yeah, right. I tried giving that one to Iggy on Saturday morning, at breakfast, and Iggy, not being a morning person, just muttered something unintelligible about "being in denial" and "true feelings".

I think he was going a little crazy though, too, because of Ella's absence for so long. God, they were all so obsessed with their girlfriends! By Sunday night, all of my brothers, even Dylan, who hadn't even sealed the deal with Maya yet, were moping around our dorm, Wellington House. I was almost ready to break into a box of chocolates and rent a chick flick.

Just then, we heard a knock on our door. We all sat up straight, curious as to who it was.

I answered it, and all my brothers almost cheered.

It was Ella

The girls were back. Finally.

Hey guys! We're back! Yay! With an extra long chapter! We hope you enjoy the chapter. People say that they wanted the story to move faster, so we're going to post longer chapters from now on, so that it seems that the story is moving faster. According to request, we also added more Fax. Oh and remember,

Big spaces=skipped time
Line breaks=changed Point of View
Disclaimer: We don't own Maximum Ride. We are girls, people!

The semester had finally started. It turns out that Fang and I actually had the majority of our classes together. The first time he saw me in his class, he beckoned me over to where he was sitting and we sat together the entire class. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep up a steady conversation because Reid was there. Thank god she's only in that one class with Fang and me.

It's become kind of a routine, Fang and I sitting together in class. He's a great conversationalist, albeit a bit on the quiet side, but he always gives you his undivided attention. I met his friend Iggy while we were walking to another class together. He's a big jokester, although a bit on the perverted side.
The Belvon Sisterhood came back last week. I can't say I've talked to them yet. Fang and Iggy seem to get along really well with them. I guess that makes sense. Belvon is the sister sorority to Wellex, after all. I see them in the hallway all the time. They smile at me a bit, but never start a conversation. According to Reid, they only let 2 new people into the sorority this year. And that's already more than they had the past few years. Fang told me a bit about the Sisterhood and I think it's kind of cool. Maybe I could...never mind.

School's been hard. The work is quite challenging. I wrote a test 2 days ago. I think I did alright, but one can only hope...

"Hey Max! Wait up!" I turn my head around and smile as I see Fang jogging to catch up to me. His black hair was messed up from the wind and his dark brown eyes were sparkling from the sun.

"Hey Fang! What's up?" I asked when he arrived beside me.

"The sky!" he joked, offering me a lopsided grin. My stomach fluttered. I shook it away and laughed. "I hope we get that Chemistry test back! It'll be my tenth 100% to frame on my wall!" I laughed again.

"What makes you think you'll get 100%? I mean, the test was pretty hard-"

"Yeah, right!" I glared at him. He quickly corrected himself. "Chemistry is one of my best subjects. So I do well in it," He stated obviously. "Along with Biology, Math, Physics and ...Hmm, let me think. Oh right! And English!" He turned and smiled at me. Then frowned mockingly. "Oh wait, stupid me. That's nearly all the subjects. I guess I'm just good at everything!" I elbowed him in the side, muttered something that rhymed with "ducking glass mole" but laughed all the same.

We walked into the class room and settled down into the hard plastic seats. Everyone was there, except the professor, Dr. Sullivan.

"So, how do you like it here at Ravensdale so far?" Fang asked me, bringing my attention away from the notes I had been looking over from last class.

"Oh, it's nice here. Other than the enormous boatload of homework we get everyday, I'm really liking it here," I murmured back at him.

"Are you sure that wouldn't have anything to do with me being here?" he asked, raising his right eyebrow cockily.

"Yes Fang, I'm quite sure." I turned my attention back towards the front of the class. I looked down at my watch. 11:05. Class should have started 5 minutes ago.

"So, about the-" Fang was cut off as our professor rushed into the room, panting, dropping a huge stack of paper on a desk. He collapsed into his chair and caught his breath.

"Hello class. Sorry for my tardiness. I was halfway here from my house when I realized I had left your tests at home on my kitchen table. I thought you might want them back today so I quickly rushed home and grabbed them. Anyways, here they are." He picked up the stack of marked tests and traveled through the rows handing them back to us.

He gave me my test and I murmured a thank you. I flipped the paper over and saw my mark. My heart stopped. In messy red coloured handwriting was 80%. Oh my god. This must be some kind of mistake, were the words going through my mind. I flipped through the test frantically to see what I got wrong and if the professor had added the marks up correctly. He had. Shit! Shit! SHIT! I closed my eyes in frustration. I opened them again when I heard rustling beside me. I turned and saw Fang putting his test in his bag. He straightened up.

"So, how did you do?" he asked.

"It none of your business!" I snapped. He looked at me strangely but dropped it.

I couldn't pay attention all class. I was thinking about my test mark.

It was the end of class. I headed towards the professor as everyone else filed out of the classroom.

"Hey Max! Where are you going?" Fang called from behind me.

"I just need to talk to the professor for a moment. You don't have to wait for me!" I responded. I stepped in front of the professor, who was tidying up.

"Sir, I didn't do as well on the test as I had hoped. I was wondering if I could do any make-up work?" He glanced up from stuffing his bag full of papers.

"Sorry Max, but this is university, not high school. We don't do make up assignments. You may want to consider getting a tutor, though. You only just started coming to Ravensdale this semester, so there is quite a bit you might need to catch up on from last semester. Do you want me to set a tutor up for you or do you think you can do it yourself?" he asked me. I smiled fakely and replied,

"Oh...no, it's alright! I can find a tutor for myself. Thanks though!" for nothing, I thought. I'm not getting a tutor. Not getting a tutor. I'll be fine. Don't need a-

"Hey Max!" I saw Fang leaning against the wall outside the classroom.

"I thought I told you that you didn't have to wait for me," I questioned him. He shrugged.

"I wanted to," he stated casually. I felt my cheeks heat up. He smiled. "So I assume you went to go talk to Dr. Sullivan because you weren't happy with your test mark?" I glared at him in response. "What did he say?" I sighed and reluctantly answered him.

"He told me he wasn't allowed to let me do any make up assignments and that I should find a tutor. A lot of help that was." I rolled my eyes. Fang brightened up.

"Y'know, I could tutor you! I'm great at chemistry!" I glared at him again.

"I don't need a tutor!" I nearly screamed at him. "I'll do perfectly fine on my own! I just need to study harder!" Fang looked taken back.

"Max. I'm not saying that you're not capable of learning the material yourself. It would just be faster if someone taught it to you," he told me gently. I blew up.

"I don't care! I can do this on my own." I started to storm away but Fang caught my elbow and gently pulled me back towards him. Despite the situation, I blushed. "What?" I screamed.

"Max. Stop being so stubborn! Come on! You don't even have to think of me as your tutor. I'm just a friend helping another friend with school work. That's what friends do, right?" I nodded reluctantly. He grinned. "So, how about today at 4? That work for you?" I sighed and took out my schedule.

"Yeah, I don't have any classes." He clapped his hands together almost gleefully.

"Alright! It's a date!" He grinned and left. I think I looked like a tomato after my brain processed the comment.

I did a little fist pump. Yes! Max had agreed to study with me! Study with me. Nothing more. I didn't know why I said that it was a date. Why the hell did I say that? Ugh! I was just trying to help Max out, not make a move on her!

Uh, yeah, right.

Regardless, I now had plans with Max for tonight. That was still a major plus. I still couldn't believe that I had gotten the guts to offer to help Max with school! Usually, I would have ignored Max, because offering to help Max was showing emotion, a territory I was not ready to venture into yet.

But I did, because I'm just an amazing mentor like that, and building a relationship with Max would be the first step to keeping her safe from the Malums.

And, because I thought she was hot. So kill me, right?

Anyways, I walked back to Wellington House, feeling uncharacteristically happy. Dylan must have noticed it, because he asked,

"Why are you…smiling?"

Was I smiling? I didn't even realize it. I shrugged at Dylan, and entered the dorm

In the main hall of the dorm, Angela was waiting for me, but I had no idea why. Remembering the archaistic rule that disallowed girls in boy's dorms, I quickly threw a glace over my shoulder to make sure that my dorm supervisor wasn't there.

He wasn't, so I went up to Angela.

"What's up?" I asked, trying to make a conversation.

Angela grinned. "Good job, Fang!" she said, beaming at me.

Okay…now I was confused. What had I done?

Seeing my perplexed look, Angela quickly explained, "You managed to mentor Max for a whole weekend! Responsibly too! Without blowing the job off!"

Ah, so that's what it was. She was congratulating me on being Max's mentor for a weekend. Actually, though, it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Talking to Max, keeping an eye on her, it all seemed…natural, for some reason.

"So," Angela said, "I just wanted to say good job. And that since my sisters and I are finally back, you don't have to mentor Max anymore!"

Wha-what? But I wanted to keep mentoring Max! I was really looking forward to spending more time with her, and to get to know her personality better.

Well, maybe more than her personality. Damn all my hormones.

"Why are you mentoring Max, all of a sudden?" I asked, feeling an unexpected surge of anger, "You were the one who dumped her on me in the first place!"

All of my brothers looked at me strangely. I kept seething. Finally, Holden spoke up,

"Why are you so upset about this? Shouldn't you be glad that you don't have to deal with a trainee anymore?" He seemed very confused, which was very un-Holden.

Suddenly, a look of understanding dawned him.

"Oh, my god" He said, disbelievingly "you like her! You finally have displayed that you have emotions! I'm so proud of you!" He imitated pushing a tear away.

Everyone in the room, including Angela, looked shocked. I felt my face start to burn.

Realizing how stupid I probably looked, I took a few moments to transform back into The Emotionless Wall.

"It's not that," I said calmly as I could, "it's just that I've already gotten to know Max a bit and have already established bonds with her. It would be a lot easier for me to keep an eye out for her and to teach her about her powers later on."

Wow. That was probably the longest speech I'd ever made. When talking to someone other than Max, of course.

Angela, meanwhile, looked pretty peeved at me.

"You can't just break traditions that are hundreds of years strong, Fang!" She said vehemently, "A member of the Sisterhood always mentors a potential member of the Sisterhood!"

"Traditions change." I said simply.

"Yeah, Angela," Iggy commented, Finally! Someone on my side! I thought, "If Fang wants to get some with Max, do you really think that some measly tradition is gonna stop him?"

Well. Scratch previous thought.

Meanwhile, Angela's face was turning tomato red, contrasting nicely with her blue eyes. "I can't believe that you'd let a girl get in the way of our traditions!" She exploded.

"Calm down, baby." Holden cautioned.

To me, she sounded a bit like a wind-up toy. Traditions…traditions… Well, it was too bad for her, because I had every right to keep mentoring Max. In fact…

"I've got a study date with her tonight" I said, trying not to sound too smug.

"Niiiice!" Gazzy whooped, "Fang's gonna be wheeling Max tonight!"

All of my brothers laughed, while I just shook my head and smiled.

I tried to stay away from Angela, just to let her cool down. She'd always had a bit of a temper, and I usually tried to stay away from all of that. When it came to Max, however…

No. I was just attracted to her body and nothing else. I would not fall for her.

I continued to walk around the campus library, trying to sort out my thoughts about Max, when I stopped suddenly.

There was Max. With Sam. With his hand reaching behind her ear to tuck in a stray strand of hair. And she wasn't slapping him away. In fact, she appeared to be laughing and something he'd just said!

Irrationally, I felt my insides start to burn. There were so many things wrong with this picture. First, this was a library. Hadn't they heard of a little something called respect? Here Sam was, provoking Max to laugh in a library! His soul definitely needed to burn in hell, just for that.

Secondly, Sam was a Malum. It was absolutely unacceptable that she was letting him touch her hair! He had probably heard about Max being a potential member of the Sisterhood, and was probably getting ready to snap her neck this very second.

But wait. Sam was a player. He was already juggling Lissa and Brigid, the two other Ravensdale Malums, but it was common knowledge that he usually had a few other girls on the go, too. Sam charmed girls, made them fall for him, had some fun, then broke their hearts.

My hands started shaking. Max so deserved better than that disgusting Malum excuse for a player.

Without really knowing what I was doing, I tore through the rows of stacks to where Sam and Max were standing. I pushed him into a table.

Sam gave me a glare that could have cut through steel. Luckily, I had dealt with more than my share of bad attitudes in my life and didn't even flinch.

In unison, Max and Sam both hissed, "What the hell, Fang?"

I didn't even respond. I took Sam by the neck, taking him by surprise, and got him into a headlock.

"Don't you ever talk to Max again, do you understand me?" I breathed threateningly into Sam's ear. "You do that again and you are as good as dead, you got that?" I whispered again.

Sam just made a pathetic attempt to escape my grasp. He was out of luck. I was using my Headlock of Death©, which no one, not even Alex, who was the most athletic member of our Brotherhood, had escaped before.

When I finally thought that he'd gotten the point, and his face was starting to turn beet red, I let him go, making him stumble into the stacks.

Max was looking at me like I'd lost my mind.

"What the hell was that for? You attacked him!" she said angrily, while Sam was still trying to catch his breath.

"Nothing" I mumbled, feeling beyond ashamed of myself now. Couldn't I have waited a few minutes till Max left before I "attacked" him? Granted, I had a reason to, but she didn't know that yet. I'd tell her all about the Sisterhood, the Brotherhood and the Malums later…

…wait. Was our study date-session still on?

I asked Max, and she snapped,

"Of course it is. I'm not looking forward to it, now that I can see you like attacking innocent people, but I do need help in Chemistry, and Sam has lacrosse tonight."

I began to see red again. Was I really just filling in for Sam? Was I really of lesser importance to her?

Well, that didn't matter, once I told her about how Sam was a Malum. And once I told her who Malums were. Then she would see how my actions were justified.

"Good," I told Max, "I'm really looking forward to it.

She scowled and looked away.

I turned to Sam.

"It'll be a cold day in hell." I whispered, and then walked away.

I waited for Fang outside of the library, fuming. Who did he think he was, attacking Sam? Sam was so sweet, nice, kind...

I scowled at Fang, who had just arrived.

"Hey Max," he casually said and then took my hand and led me into the library. I blushed again. I need to stop doing that! I pulled my hand free and walked faster into the library so that he was a good meter behind me. He quickly caught up again. "Max. Max!" I ignored him. He took my hand and pulled me in between the shelves. "Are you still mad about Sam?" I scowled at him

"Of course I am! Are you crazy! Why in the world would you attack him! You're such a jackass!" I whisper screamed at him and then tried to storm off. He wouldn't let me and kept a firm grip on my hand.

"Max! I hit him because..." Fang looked hesitant. I leaned in a bit. "I've known him for a while. And he doesn't treat girls very nicely. He charms them into going out with him and then breaks their hearts. He's a player Max. I was just trying to protect you." I wrenched my hand out of his grip.

"I don't need you to protect me! I'm perfectly capable of handling my own life. So next time, thanks, but no thanks." Fang looked like he was about to protest, but then thought better of it.

"Okay. I'll keep that in mind. So, we still friends?" he asked. I nodded and grinned. "Okay! Let's get on with this study session!" Fang put an arm around my shoulder casually. It sent goose bumps across my skin, but weirdly enough, I liked it. We sat down at one of the tables in the middle of the library and I took out my notes and textbook. He dropped his arm from my shoulder and put it on the back of my chair.

"So. Let's first go over...the test. I have mine here-"

"What did you get on it?" I butt in. Fang looked at me.

"What did you get on it?" I repeated. Fang looked uncomfortable.

"It does-"

"What. Did. You. Get. On. The. Freaking. TEST?" Fang's look was all that I needed. "100%. Should have known." Fang sighed and took out his test. I took mine out and we compared answer for a while.
After a while, the mood eased and we started to have more fun. We teased each other about the silliest things and I was actually starting to like Chemistry.

"Oh! Okay, I get it now!" I cried. Fang rolled his eyes.

"Finally! It only took about 100 problems!" He said, his eyes sparkling teasingly.

"Ahem." We both looked up. It was Sam. He looked sweaty, as if he had just come back from lacrosse practice. He smiled, looking incredibly charming.

"Hey Max, I was wondering, do you want to hang out tonight? Maybe go to a movie?" I could almost feel the anger radiating off Fang. I looked over and, yep, he was glaring at Sam.

If looks could kill...

Fang's hand fell off the back of my chair with a thunk. I looked back at Sam.

"Sorry, but I can't. I have a class today." I turned away from Sam. I glanced down at my watch. "Fang, let's got grab a bite to eat. It's 5:30." He nodded in agreement and we stood up, ready to go. "See you later, Sam," I threw over my shoulder. He just stood there, dumbstruck. I smirked.

Fang and I decided to go off campus and go to Starbucks. I learned that he was a huge coffee fanatic. I hate coffee. That's why I ordered a cream based double chocolaty chip Frappuccino and two chocolate chip cookies, fresh out of the oven. I took a bite of one and closed my eyes, savoring the taste. Fang chuckled. I looked at him with mock hurt.

"What? It's like an orgasm in your mouth!" I sighed in pleasure. "They're almost as good as the ones my mom makes. Delicious!"
"I should get Iggy to bake a batch for you. Then you'll know the true meaning of delicious," Fang said.

"They can't be as good as my mother's cookies." Fang raised his right eyebrow, challenging me. "You wanna bet?" I asked him. He smirked. I took that as a yes. "5 bucks goes to the winner."

"Who judges?"

"Me, of course!"

"There's something called a biased opinion." He took a sip of his Cappuccino. "I'm going to get something to eat, okay? Be back in a minute." He walked away.

I took the cap off my Frappuccino and swallowed a mouthful of whipped cream. I sipped it for a while, but got bored, so I looked around for Fang. He was at the front of the very long line waiting to buy something. My eyes narrowed as I watched the brunette clerk flirt with him shamelessly. He looked slightly disgusted. She was twirling a piece of her curly brown hair and was leaning for so that she could show him-ugh.

I'm not even going to think that.

I fumed as I watched the girl act like a disgrace to our gender.

Fang left the clerk and walked back towards our table. I immediately brightened when I saw him carrying a box.

"What's in there?" I asked him.

"Starbucks Petites. They're delicious. You've never had one?" I shook my head. "Here." He handed me a small cake sandwich filled with cream-cheese frosting. I ate it in one bite. And nearly melted.

"This is delicious! What's it called?"

"Red Velvet Whoopie Pie. One of the most delicious desserts at Starbucks. Along with the Cake Pops." He must have seen the confusion on my face because he handed me one. It was a lollipop, except instead of being made of hard candy, it was made of a cake. Kind of like a mini cake. I think I drooled just looking at it.

BEEP! I almost dropped it. I looked down at my watch, which had emitted the sound. I turned off the alarm and got up.

"Hey Fang? I have to go. I have a class at 7." He looked a bit confused at first. Then his eyes widened in alarm.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"6:30" He just up quickly.

"Shit! I told Iggy I would meet him half an hour ago. I'm so late! Sorry Max, I have to go!" He grabbed his box of sweets, kissed me on the forehead and ran out of Starbucks. I stood up and slowly walked out. I was in a daze.

I was running as fast as I could, trying to get to the golf course. I checked my watch. 6:50. Damn. I was almost an hour late.

The Brotherhood and Sisterhood were having a night out today, as a little break from all the Malums who wanted to kill us. It was Serena and Gazzy's turn to pick what we were going to do, so we were going golfing at a nearby course.

Of course, everyone else had been golfing for an hour now, while I was with Max.

The memory of our night was still burned in my mind. We had had such a good time! There was no stress, no pressure to impress. With Max, I could just be myself. Of course, it was also priceless to watch her turn Sam down. Serves him right, that little son of a-

I'm not going to finish that thought.

And the best part of the night? I kissed her. Granted, not on her lips, but it was a kiss all the same. I wondered what she thought about it. Was she repulsed by my move? Maybe she just wanted to stay friends. But if she had wanted to just stay friends, wouldn't she have shrugged off my arm when it was on her shoulder?

Oh God, now my head was starting to hurt.

Besides, I had to concentrate on getting to the golf course. My brothers and sisters were going to kill me. Kill me, or be too busy making out to notice I wasn't there.

Neither of those options was desirable.

I ran the last bit to the golf course, to where the rest of my brothers and sisters were. I put my hands on my knees, panting.

"I…so sorry…lost track…time" I managed to get out.

"That's okay," Serena said sweetly, "I saw that you were going to come late and I let them know."

Yeah, Serena can see the future. No big deal.

Everyone was looking at me funny. What was up with me getting strange looks these days? I wondered to myself.

"Did you have a good time with Max?" Gazzy asked, his words thick with innuendo.

"Yeah, actually," I said, refusing to be fazed by his teasing. "Studying Chemistry is such a party."

"I'm sure you were thinking of a different type of chemistry, though." Iggy said suggestively.

"Hey, Fang, is Max a good kisser?"

"Y'know Fang, this could end your eternity of single-ness!"

"I'm impressed Fang, I thought that you turned all girls off."

"How could you even remember to leave, with Max's eyes boring deep into yours, and you being intoxicated by the smell of her hair…"

It was then that I finally snapped, and hit Dylan, who had made that last comment.

He stumbled back, tripping into Maya. She steadied him by holding his shoulders. He looked back at her, giving a shy smile.

…Okay, I think I might barf now.

My friends continued their incessant ribbing, the game forgotten. I wanted to be invisible.

So I did.

That was my power. I could turn invisible whenever I wanted. Instantly, the air became filled with cries of,

"Not cool, Fang!" and

"Where are you?"

Soon, though, Holden figured out a trick. He took a handful of sand from a nearby bunker, and threw it all over me. The sand was suspended in the air, in the shape of a guilty-looking Fang. Since my plan to turn invisible and pummel them with golf balls failed, I reappeared. Holden smirked.

"Let's just get on with the golf, guys." Serena complained. "I'm at nine under par, and BEATING all of you guys! And by the way, the sisters are SO beating you boys so far."

Whenever we golfed, it always became a girls versus guys competition. Yeah, we've all got a bit of a competitive streak.

"Oh, yeah?" Nathan challenged, "Now that Fang's back, finally might I add, you girls are going DOWN!"

Yeah, we've also got a bit of an immaturity streak.

We all walked back to the sixth hole, which they were currently in the middle of. Nudge was up.

She putted the ball, and it seemed to be going way off. Suddenly, though, the ball veered to the right and landed right into the hole.

"Yes!" Nudge sang, doing a little happy dance.

"C'mon, Nudge," Alex said, "we all saw through that. You just used your telekinesis to make the ball go where you want!"

"No fair!" cried Holden, "If you get to use your powers, so do we!"

"Okay…" Nudge said, smirking, "you can. Everyone can! That way, we can reaffirm that the girls are truly superior."

The guys all cheered, thinking that they'd won that round with Nudge.

Their exuberant mood died quickly, however, when Iggy realized that his excellent hearing wasn't much help, or when Dylan could tell that using his hypnotic voice to coax the ball to go where he wanted to wasn't exactly working. Nathan saw just as quickly that generating a force field wasn't going to get him anywhere, just like how Alex learned that even when all five versions of himself that he'd created were hitting the ball, not one of them could get it on the green. Gazzy was so upset that he burst into a cloud of noxious gas, which made everyone start gagging.

Meanwhile, I was just laughing with the girls at their pathetic efforts. On any ordinary day I would have been going crazy, trying to beat them, but my little happy glow that I had from my study session with Max still hadn't worn off yet.

Hold up, hold up. Did I just say "little happy glow"? Somewhere, Chuck Norris' eyes are sweating, because he would never cry.

Anyways, my brothers' attempts and making their powers useful in golf were failing quickly, so the girls, taking pity on them, decided to have a "using powers" contest, instead.

This lead to Maya shape shifting into Gazzy, and planting a kiss right on Dylan's lips.

I actually thought hat was actually kind of creative. Dylan was freaking out, until Maya shifted back into herself and grinned. Dylan blushed, realizing that Maya had just kissed him. Maya blushed, realizing that she had just kissed Dylan.

Cue the awkwardness!

Later, Alex kept running around tapping our shoulders then running away. Oldest trick in the book, but it's somehow different when there are fifteen versions of him, all doing it.

Nudge kept on picking golf balls up with her mind and pelting them at Holden. Effective, but they didn't leave a mark at all, with his speed healing, and all. Later, Ella manipulated Nudge's conscience so much that she went up to Holden and apologized. When Nudge turned to Nathan, to thrown balls at him in a much more flirtatious manner, he simply put up a force field around himself and sat there, watching Nudge fuming.

Naturally, we were being quite loud and creating a scene. An elderly couple saw fifteen Alex's, floating golf balls and a zebra (Maya) and almost passed out. Luckily, we had Dylan.

He went up to them and put his hypnotic voice to use.

He purred silkily (no, not in that way. Get your mind out of the gutter),

"You haven't seen anything. You were just golfing, and you passed us right by."

The elderly couple were totally entranced, and walked away, in a daze. Sure, maybe it was a bit cruel to mess with their minds like that, but c'est la vie. We couldn't let our powers be discovered.

After that, Angel was randomly reading people's minds, when she shouted,

"Oh, my God. Dylan thinks Maya has nice cleavage?"

Nice.

So, did we satisfy? There were two book references in that chapter, one from Suspicion, from A Private Collection, and the other from City of Bones, from The Mortal Instruments. Cupcakes to whoever can find them! Review! They make our day. Seriously. Just yesterday morning, Alyssa called me, screaming into the phone that we had 25 reviews. By the way, we won't be updating for about four days, because Alyssa's going away on a camping trip. Anyways,

Thanks!

~Aurora and Alyssa

Disclaimer: We don't own Maximum Ride. If we did, we wouldn't be wasting our time writing fanfiction. We would be finishing the last book of the series. (hint, hint JP)

My eyes were closed. I could hear whooshing sounds all around me. I opened my eyes and saw fluffy blue clouds. I took another breath of fresh air and zoomed forward in the air. I looked to my left and saw white fluffy wings with specks of brown and black all over. I flapped them and soared through the sky. I looked down and saw a back dot, who I could just make out to be Fang. I swooped into a dive and landed on the ground next to him. He smiled at me and I smiled back.

"Max!" he said.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Max!"

"What?"

"Max! Max! Max!" he was getting a urgent look on his face.

"MAX! Get up!" I slowly opened my eyes. The banging on the door continued. "If you don't get up right now, I'm going to bust this door open! Hurry up! I'm giving you 5 minutes! I want to take you shopping!" With one last bang of the door, Reid left for her room. I groaned. I so didn't want to go shopping. I just wanted to get back to my dream. What a nice dream...

I jumped out of my bed, brushed my teeth and took a shower. When I got back to my room, I put on a random red V-neck t-shirt from that J.J. gave me for my birthday and some dark blue skinny jeans, some converse and my bag, which carried all my essentials. Oh, and my red winter jacket.

I slowly opened the door and checked if Reid was in the hall. She wasn't. I quickly and quietly closed my door and ran out the dorm. I really didn't want to hang out with Reid. I mean, she's nice and all, but she's too girly and too obsessed with Fang. I mean, I really didn't need to know whether Fang was a boxers or briefs kind of guy. At all. And for the record, he's a boxers kind of guy. Not that I care.

It's been 2 weeks at Ravensdale. And it's been the best 2 weeks ever. I hang out with Fang mostly. I've made a lot of other friends but they just don't click with me like Fang does. I really like being his friend. Although he's quiet and it's annoying when girls flirt with him everywhere we go, he's probably the best friend I've ever had.

Anyways, I'm sneaking off to the cafeteria right now. Reid would never go in there unless she was really hungry. Like she was on the first day she met me. Something about too many calories and fattening food.

I got in line at the Second Cup line up. I'm not the biggest fan of Second Cup. I prefer Starbucks, but the only Starbucks nearby is off campus. So I'm not going to bother.
I ordered a hot chocolate and sat at one of the tables. I heard someone approach my table. I looked up and smiled when I saw Fang. He was dressed in a black winter coat. Smart of him, considering it was snowing outside.

"I thought you had classes today?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"Later."

"Ah. So, what are you doing here?" He gave me a look. "Okay, I'll rephrase that. What do you want to do?" Again he shrugged. "Wow, someone is talkative this morning," I said sarcastically. His mouth twitched at that.

"Let's go outside."

"What? Are you freaking crazy? It's minus 10 degrees outside!"

"That's nothing! Where have you been all your life?" he asked.

"California. No snow. Ever." He raised his eyebrows and stood up. He grabbed my hand and tugged me towards the exit of the cafeteria.

"Than let's make the most of this experience." And he tugged me out the door.

Needless to say, playing in the snow was really really fun. At first I was squealing because it was just so cold. Fang laughed at me. I slapped him.
Right now, we're having a snowball fight. Yay! And I am winning.
I grabbed a handful of snow in my glove (well, technically Fang's glove. I didn't have any so he gave me his. He had an extra pair on him.), shaped it into a ball and threw it at Fang. It landed straight on target, giving Fang a mouthful of snow. I laughed boisterously. He just glared. I held up a hand. In front of my eyes, the snow was starting to move weirdly. I felt sick.

"Hey! Can you give me a moment?" Fang immediately dropped his snowball and jogged over to where I was. He gave me a look. Are you okay? I nodded. He guided me over to a tree nearby and we sat at the foot of it.

After a while, more people started to come outside. Despite the coldness of the snow, the sun was warming the air up, making hanging out outside almost enjoyable. I spotted the brotherhood and the sisterhood come out of the cafeteria. They just waved. Fang waved back and they walked away to sit at a different tree.

I studied them. They seemed so different. In a good way. It seem that everyone at Ravensdale loved them. Except Sam, of course. But nobody likes that bastard either, so he doesn't really count.
Fang followed my gaze and smiled.

"They're really nice, you know. You could just go talk to them." I glanced at him in surprise.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him, acting bewildered. He nodded towards the sorority and fraternity. They were getting up and walking back into the building. I scoffed.

"I don't want to talk to them!" I lied. He gave me a disbelieving look, but dropped it. We talked a bit more about other things (mostly about how annoying Reid was and how she wanted to take me shopping.) before I decided that I was sick of the snow. It was making me feel, well, sick. I brushed the snow off my jeans and stood up, almost falling over. I grabbed the tree.

"Max?" Fang said urgently.

"I'm fine." My voice sounded muted. I smiled as I fell and the last thing I felt were Fang's arms around me.

I stared at Max's unmoving body. She had suddenly collapsed, right under the tree where we'd been hanging out. I checked her pulse, even though it wasn't really necessary, considering I knew what had happened to her.

She had started shifting.

Basically, her powers were beginning to start working in her body. When that happened, your body needs to be in a state of rest, so that they can fully develop. It had happened to all of us.

I scooped her up in my arms, bridal-style, to take her to the Sisterhood. I wanted to deal with her myself, but I knew that Angela would never let me "violate tradition" again, after the whole mentoring issue. I walked across campus, trying to ignore the fact that I was holding Max in my arms, and I could feel ever soft curve of her body, pressed against mine…

Okay, let's keep this PG, people.

Once I reached the door of the Sisterhood dorm, I reached into my pocket to dig out the key,

…only to realize that I'd left if back in my dorm, on the desk.

It wasn't really a big deal, since I could get into the Brotherhood dorm with my key and take the underground tunnel to the Sisterhood dorm. Yes, at Ravensdale there are underground tunnels. They connect pretty much every building on campus, which makes it so much easier to get between classes when it's say, minus 40o outside.

I swung open the heavy, ornate door in my dorm, and took Max, via the underground tunnel to the Sisterhood dorm, Beverly House.

We each had a full dorm to ourselves, thanks to a few tricks Dylan and his hypnotic voice worked on the administration.

Once I walked in through the door to the Sisterhood dorm, I paused to take in all the gleaming wood furnishings, the plush red carpet and the stained glass windows. The building was suited for the Sisterhood of Bevlon- the place practically oozed tradition. I also noted that the entire Sisterhood was assembled in the foyer, looking at Max, who still hadn't woken up yet.

"Hey." I said, nodding at them.

"Hi." They all chorused, their eyes never straying from Max's limp body.

"Has she started shifting?" Ella asked in an excited tone.

"I think so," I replied, "at least, that's what it looks like."

The entire Sisterhood murmured their anticipation.

"So, she'll be joining us soon!" Serena said, almost dancing in glee.

"That's generally how it works, yes." I said, mildly sarcastic.

Then, a realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Guys," I said urgently, "she barely knows who you are. Just that you're cool and nice. How is she going to want to join?"

For the Brotherhood and Sisterhood, involvement was totally voluntary. We never invited anyone, partly because people were always clamouring to join anyways. Obviously, if they didn't have powers, which they all didn't, we denied them. Of course, we'd accept Max though, because she was destined to become a Sister. The only thing was, I didn't think that Max was the type of girl to desperately want to join a "sorority" like that.

She seemed too…into doing her own thing, I guess.

Just then, Angela spoke up.

"That's your job, Fang," she said, "You've got to convince Max to want to join."

I was puzzled at this. "How?" I asked.

"Once again, that's your job, Fangy boy." Angel said, smirking, calling me "Fangy boy" just to piss me off. Something told me that she still hadn't totally forgiven me for "going against tradition", and was doing this just to punish me.

Whatever.

I could do this. I mean, all of my brothers and sisters were popular, and were considered "cool" by everyone at Ravensdale. We all got amazing grades, and…well, lived charmed lives.

…When we weren't almost getting killed by Malums, of course, but no one knew about that.

The point was, it probably wouldn't be all that difficult to convince Max to join. She had already seemed to be intrigued by us, so with a bit of convincing on my part, it would probably be a done deal. I picked Max back up, walked out of Beverly House.

I took her to her dorm, Thompson House by fishing her key out of her wallet. Less than ethical, I know, but necessary in this case, since I couldn't exactly leave her outside.

I turned both Max and myself invisible, so we wouldn't attract any unwanted attention, and brought her up to her room.

I unlocked the door and set her on the bed, waiting for her to wake up.

While I waited, I looked around the room. It was nice, but considerably smaller than the rooms at Wellington and Beverly. Max had made it look nice and cozy by putting up pictures of her, another woman who I assumed to be her mother, since they were splitting images of each other, and a distinguished-looking man who I thought was her father.

After a few more minutes, Max began to shift a little, and her eyelids fluttered open. She was waking up.

"Fang?" She whispered. "What are you doing here? What happened to me?"

Now was the time to deliver my pre-planned lie. Max couldn't know about the Sisterhood and her powers until we were sure that we could…trust her. For now, she would have to be lied to. "You passed out." I said evenly, "I took you to the infirmary, and the nurse said that you just need a bit more rest. Have you been having trouble sleeping?" I asked, in a slightly scolding tone.

"Yeah…I guess so," Max admitted, "but that still doesn't explain why you're here, in my room. You could get expelled for this!"

"Well," I said, slightly condescendingly, "the nurse said that you could go back to your room, and I, being the gentleman I am, decided to say with you, instead of just dumping you on your bed and leaving. Could you

imagine how frightened you would be when you woke up?"

Yeah, it was not like me to say something like that at all, but hey, anything to keep up the façade.

Max still didn't look happy about the fact that I was in her room, but seemed too tired to protest. She did look drained; her cheeks were pale, and her eyelids were drooping. Still, I couldn't imagine anyone more beautiful.

Wait. Did I just call Max beautiful? Maybe I'm getting a little too attached to her…

Still, I couldn't stay much longer. I had a class in about ten minutes, and it was on the other side of campus.

"Max, I have to go." I said gently, "Try to rest and take it easy, okay?"

"Okay." She said feebly. I didn't think that she'd be awake for much longer, so I quickly bent down and brushed my lips against her forehead and said goodbye.

I really hated to leave, but if I was tardy to another one of my biology classes, Mr. Campbell would kill me.

I turned around, and walked out the door.

After two tedious hours, my Biology lecture was finally over, and I could get some lunch. I saw Max leaving the auditorium, and remembered that I still had to convince Max to join the Sisterhood.
I walked to the cafeteria, where I was joined by all of my brothers and sisters.

"Hey man, how's it going?" Nathan asked, his arm casually strewn over Nudge's shoulders.

"Good." I replied.

"Have you gotten any with Max yet?" Gazzy asked, earning a glare from me, and a flirtatious smack from Serena.

"Gazzy," I said, trying to stay as calm as possible, "I have to get Max to want to join the Sisterhood, and become one of us, which is not going to happen if you keep acting like the pervert you are."

He rolled his eyes, but stopped making any more inappropriate cracks. Meanwhile, the rest of the group understood what I meant: Act perfectly. Make it seem like we live charmed, perfect lives. Immediately, the guys walked with a bit more swagger and the girls tossed their hair, laughing at some nonexistent joke that Maya had made. We talked a touch louder, and laughed a touch harder.

"So, how do you think you did on the Physics test?" Alex asked Holden casually, as we passed Max's table, where she was sitting with that friend of hers, Reid.

"Oh, I aced it for sure." Holden replied cockily, smirking.

"Of course, you did, baby." Angela cooed, "Have you ever not aced one of Mrs. Henderson's tests?"

"Well, no," Holden said, trying to look bashful as we sat down at the table next to Max. "But then again, all of us always ace our tests."

I caught Reid telling Max how it was true, being a member of the Sisterhood meant a guaranteed 4.0 GPA.

I stifled a laugh. I had almost forgotten how Reid was hopelessly devoted to us. She would, unknowingly, become the perfect ally in making Max want to join the Sisterhood.

"So, are we still on for Tuesday?" Dylan asked.

"Absolutely," Maya replied, "it's going to be so much fun! I love all the connections we have. We can pretty much do whatever we want!"

Now, this may seem to you like we were being super obnoxious, with all of our barely-concealed bragging, but for Max, it was all that was needed to get her to want to join.

She had totally fallen under our spell, like every other person at Ravensdale.

"How do you get into the Sisterhood of Bevlon?" I caught Max asking Reid.

Mission accomplished. (With a little help, of course.)

"Fang? I have a question." I looked anxiously at Fang. He nodded for me to continue. "Do you think, if I tried to become one of the sisterhood of Bevlon, they would accept me?" I looked down at my feet.

"Yeah. I mean, why wouldn't they? You going to apply?" I nodded. He took my hand. "Come on. I'll introduce you to Angela." He pulled my hand and tore through the hallways.

"Fang! No-wait! I haven't done enough thinking about this!" I scream at him, try to get my hand out of his grip. No such luck. Ass.

We reached a big wooden door. He took out a key and inserted it into the key hole. I struggled to get out of his grip, but no such luck again.

"Fang you jackass! Let go of me!" He just pushed me into the room and finally let go of me. I pushed him father away from me and crossed my arms. I blew my hair away from my hair. When I could finally see, I cried out in surprise. All the people in the brotherhood and sisterhood were there, hanging out. And it seems that Fang and I had just crashed their party. I stood there, paralyzed, not really knowing what to do.

Finally, the girl with blonde curls and blue eyes stepped forward. "You must be Max. Fang told us about you." At this, I looked sideways at Fang, who seemed to find great amusement in staring at the ceiling. "I'm Angela. This is our common room. I assume you're here for a reason." She stared at me brightly, making me feel slightly uncomfortable. I broke eye contact with her and glanced around the room.

"Yeah. I want to become a part of your sorority." I've always been blunt about things. She smirked.

"Yeah, Fang told us about that. Well, considering you are Fang's best girl friend-" Someone snickered. "-I mean, best friend who is a girl outside of the sisterhood, we already know a lot about you. Fang usually has a good judgement of character." Angela had started to pace around me. I felt like I was being analyzed. "Plus, your grandmother was part of this sorority-"

"What? Really?" My mom had told me that my grandmother had gone to Ravensdale. That's part of the reason why I had wanted to come so badly. And she told me that my grandmother had been in a sorority. But never which one.

Angela looked slightly miffed that I had interrupted her.

"Yes, really. However, we still need to know whether my sisters and I will get along with you. So, we need you to move here. That way, we can get to know each other better and we can decided if your in the sisterhood. Is that alright?" It felt like I couldn't say no. So I didn't.

"Yeah, sure," I responded. I really did want to become part of the sisterhood. First of all, apparently my marks were going to get a big boost (4.0 GPA people!) and I was going to become popular. Not that I had cared that much in the first place, but it was certainly a bonus. Plus, I'd have more friends.

Angela snapped her fingers. "Nudge. Help Max get her stuff here. We have a extra room on the second floor." A girl with the skin tone that resembled the colour of mocha rushed towards me, demanded my key and rushed out the door. "Come on Max, you can hang out with us." She plopped down on the coach and invited me to do so as well.

After about 5 minutes, the group got used to me and we were talking and laughing like we were friends. Gazzy was always making inappropriate jokes and Dylan and Maya were flirting. I laughed a lot. Everyone seemed to really like me.

Nudge had come back 5 minutes after she had left, holding 5 big boxes full of what I had assumed to be my stuff. She said that she didn't need help and carried all the boxes up the stairs to put in my room. When she came back down (again, 5 minutes later) she said that my room was already arranged. When I went up and checked out my room, everything was arranged exactly how it was in my old room across the hall from Reid. I asked Nudge how she did it. She didn't respond, but Fang did.

"She has a special ability." I looked up at him, my eyes full of questions. He shrugged and said, "She's just really quick with things."

"Oh. So, is it always this easy to get into the sisterhood?" I asked him. "Because Reid told me that hardly anyone gets in. At all."

"No. It's not usually this easy. But that fact that your are one of my best friends and that your grandmother used to be part of the sorority may be part of the reason why you were accepted so easily."

"Yes, because being your friend has so many benefits!" I teased him.

"It does!" he protested. We quickly fell into our teasing banter, but the entire time, I couldn't help but feel like something was off about him.

Hey guys! Did you like the chapter? If you did, tell us in the reviews so we know! If you didn't, tell us in the reviews so we know to improve for next time! So, we haven't updated in a while. Sorry. But, its not really our fault. Alyssa was gone for 3 days. Plus we didn't get that many reviews (aka only 9) so we didn't . That's why we're saying: no updates until we get 15 reviews on this chapter! If we get over 20, we'll give you an extra long chapter! Don't hate us, REVIEW!
~Aurora and Alyssa

Hey guys! We hope this is long enough for you! We really appreciated all the reviews! We got 30 reviews on the last chapter! Thank you so much! This chapter is all Max's POV, so Aurora, who usually writes Fang's POV, had to try writing Max. She's the first section. How did she do? We put a line break in between the part Aurora wrote and the part Alyssa wrote.

Also, we would have updated earlier, but Aurora was getting four teeth pulled and well...couldn't really talk. Sorry!

Best review of Chapter 4: update or I will send Elmo to tickle you to death! (threesa)

Anyways, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: We don't own Maximum Ride. Hellooo? Do you really see us pulling off that 64 year old man look?

"Max, Angela needs you in the common room, ASAP. She said it was important, like, important, important, because she told me to get you, and I'm not allowed to say what she needs you for, but I know, obviously, and OMG! You can't wear that to meet with Angela! This is your first official Sisterhood meeting! Put on something ni-"

"Nudge!" I cut in impatiently, "Breathe. I'll be down in five minutes, and I will change, but you can't put me in a skirt if you value your eyeballs."

"Okay…" Nudge said uneasily, "That was a disturbing image. But I'll leave you alone for now. Bye!"

I sighed. Being part of the Sisterhood of Bevlon, living in Beverly House, it all felt like such a dream. Not that I was the type of girl to get all excited about being part of a sorority, but still. It was beyond exciting to be accepted into something so…exclusive.

I quickly threw on a pair of nice pants and a blouse, and headed downstairs to where Angela was apparently, waiting for me.

When I got down, I was greeted by an excited-looking group.

"Hey Max!" Angela trilled excitedly, "We're having a party!"

Wait. Did I hear that right? "Excuse me?" I asked. "Having a party? Why?"

"To celebrate you, of course." Angela said, "You're our latest member, and we wanted to do something special!"

Well, that was flattering. "Okay, I'm in." I said. "Where are we having the party?" I asked, "In the common room?"

"Of course not, silly." Serena said in a lilting tone, "We're having it in the woods out back. With the Brotherhood."

"Are you serious?" I asked, "We'll get in so much trouble!" If you remember, Ravensdale had a serious rule against girls and boys hanging out. They also probably had a serious rule about partying in the woods.

"Listen," Ella said in a mock-threatening tone, "We won't get caught. We never have, and never will." Her voice changed back to its normal sweet sound, "Plus, we want to do something special for you, our newest member!"

Right. I'd forgotten. This was the Sisterhood of Bevlon. They never got caught. They were perfect. And now I was perfect.

"Oh, alright." I said, grudgingly, but I couldn't keep the grin off my face.

Half an hour later, we were sitting in the woods with the Brotherhood of Wellex. Everything was going perfectly. We were having a great time, and I felt like I was getting swept away in all of the laughs. Again, everything was going perfectly.

…Until Iggy whipped out a pack-no, make that three packs, of beer.

Oh, my God. I had never drunk anything in my life.

Everyone cheered, and reached for a bottle. Even Holden, who looked about sixteen, was gripping a green bottle.

Everybody turned to me expectantly.

"Well?" Fang asked, "Aren't you going to have a drink?"

"Umm…" I stalled. I really, really didn't feel comfortable with this, but what choice did I have? "Hell, yes, I'll have a drink!" I said, trying to sound like I wasn't about to pee my pants from nervousness.

Gazzy handed me a bottle, and I popped the cap, trying to look like I knew what I was doing as I raised the bottle to my lips. I tipped it, but almost gagged as the foul liquid entered my mouth. I resisted the urge to spit it out as hard as I could, and swallowed.

There. That wasn't so bad.

A few more sips later, I learned that the trick was to just swallow quickly, and not give the beer a chance to stay on my tongue. That way, since I couldn't really taste it, I could pretend it was water.

Ahhh…refreshing.

This was getting beyond easy. I was on my third beer now, and things were going as smoothly as ever. I could handle this.

I looked around me, and saw pretty much everyone falling on top of everyone else, in their drunken stupor. Thank God I wasn't drunk. I was perfectly sober.

A giggle bubbled through my lips at that thought.

Ha. Giggle and bubble both have double letters in them! Also, bubble and double rhyme! That's probably why Double Bubble sounds so familiar to me…was that a soap company?

Just then, I felt a heavy arm drape across my shoulders. Fang.

"Hey baby," I slurred to Fang, "what'cha doing? Wanna get naughty?" I asked, not really sure what I was doing.

"Whoa there, Max." the voice said.

Oh, shit. That wasn't Fang, that was Dylan.

Oh, well, what did that matter? They were both males, and at this moment, anybody with a high testosterone-to-oestrogen ratio seemed to make a suitable kissing partner.

I crushed my lips against Dylan's, but it didn't feel like it was me doing it. I felt like I was watching someone else.

He responded eagerly, while I snaked my arms around his neck.

"I've been waiting all night for this." He whispered into my ear.

"Wait. What about Maya?" I murmured, not really caring.

"Oh, forget about her." Dylan said off-handily, "All I want is you."

On any other day, I would have made sure that the person delivering a line like that to me was permanently unable to have children, but tonight, I just decided to roll with it. I was having fun. Maya could just kiss my ass.

We returned to our making out, but with renewed fervour. Suddenly, I felt something twist in my stomach.

Oh, crap. I was about to throw up, in Dylan's mouth.

I leaned back, pushing him away, as I vomited noisily all over the ground.

Well. That was a mood killer if I ever saw one.

"Oh, my God, Max," Dylan asked in a concerned voice, "Are you feeling sick?"

"No shit, Sherlock." I responded.

Haha. I had always wanted to say that. I bet I sounded badass.

"How badass did that sound?" I asked Dylan blearily,

"Listen, Max," He said firmly, "I need to get you back to Beverly."

"Oh, okay." I said, giggling. Beverly and Bevlon sounded a lot alike.

Dylan steered me away from the log that we had been sitting on, back to my dorm. When I got into my room, I sat down and promptly passed out.

The next morning, I felt like shit. No, make that shit that had been sitting on the side of the road, run over by a semi a few times, and then eaten by a hyena or something.

Wow, that was a gross thought.

My head was pounding, my stomach hurt, and I was freezing. I tried to pry open an eye, but once I did, my eyes were so dry that I gave up. I tried sitting up, but was so overcome with a dizzying head rush that I fell back down again. I groaned. What had happened to me?

"That, Max, is a hangover." Angela said.

Wait. WHAT? What was Angela doing in my room? Why was I hung-over? Did I still have classes?

"It's a Saturday, Max." Angela said again.

"What are you doing here?" I managed to croak.

"I'm here to show you something…fairly important." Angela said, her tone dead serious.

Uh-oh. This did not sound good.

"Get your sorry ass out of bed and over here." She said once more, slightly more impatient this time.

I moaned, as I struggled to right myself. It took a while, but after about ten minutes of heaving, I was able to drag myself over to my desk.

There Angela sat, her laptop open.

I stood there, confused, until she pressed a button on her laptop, and images started to appear.

Dylan and I, sitting on a log, making out. Dylan and I, with Dylan's hand making its way up my shirt. Me, leaned back, and it looked like I was moaning in ecstasy, when in reality, I had been about to throw up.

Oh, God. Please, please, please let me still be dreaming. I though to myself.

"Max." Angela said, her voice softer now, but somehow even more dangerous. I'm sure that I was standing there, looking like a gaping idiot. "You do realize what this means?" She asked. "This means that I can get you booted out of here faster than you can say 'see ya' and you won't be able to do anything about it. Additionally, this is like, soft-core porn. Do you want the entire student body seeing this?"

My brain froze. Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God. I thought. This was not happening.

Suddenly, Angela's face brightened. "Y'know," She started, "there is a way out of this for you."

My heart leapt in hope.

…which died fast, as soon as she held a vacuum cleaner out to me.

"You can vacuum Beverly. Before you eat breakfast."

"You can't be serious." I said. Did she honestly expect me to be her chore-lady now, in the middle of my first hangover?

"Oh, Max," Angela said pityingly, "You are about to find out just how serious I actually am."

Two hours later, the vacuuming was finally done. I felt like my head was about to split open, the vacuum cleaner was so loud. On top of everything else, I still hadn't showered, and I was absolutely starving.

Why, why, why had I agreed to drink last night?

Why, why, why had I made out with Dylan?

Why, why, why hadn't I smashed Angela's laptop this morning?

Great. Now my head was starting to pound even harder.

I finally got to the cafeteria, and it was so godammed loud that I almost passed out again. Luckily, I didn't, and managed to buy myself a coffee and doughnut from Second Cup.

Although now, looking at it, I wondered if I was able to stomach all that without puking.

I deemed the answer to be no, so I threw it all out. Hunger was a far better alternative to tossing my cookies all over the cafeteria. Just as I was about to leave and head back to my quiet room, I was stopped my Holden.

"Hey, Max." He said, grinning.

"Hey, Holden." I said, while trying to see where this was going.

"You had a good time last night, didn't you?" He asked, barely holding in his laughter. "Almost as good as Dylan."

Dear God. Holden knew about the pictures too. I wondered idly if the rafters on the roof were strong enough to support me if I decided to hang myself.

"Do you have something for me to do?" I asked warily.

"You catch on quickly." Holden said approvingly, "Good job. So here's the thing. I've got a Physics exam tomorrow, and I didn't study. Do you mind getting that test for me, please?"

I thought my heart almost stopped. "You want me to what?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Never mind about the catching on quickly part." Holden said disdainfully, "I. Want. You. To. Get. Me. The. Exam. Clear?"

"Um, yeah." I said meekly.

"Good." Holden said, as he walked away.

"Wait!" I called after him. "Two things. One, why do you need me to steal an exam for you? You're like, the smartest person ever to go here. Two, how am I supposed to steal a freaking test?"

Holden just laughed, and said, "To the first, I don't ace tests by sitting on my ass all day. I ace tests by studying, which, I forgot to do. Secondly, that's for you to figure out. Oh, by the way, have the test to me before two today, or…you know, you'll be the unwilling co-star of a new movie. I'll be in the library! Bye!" He said cheerily.

Damn. Okay, that totally ruled out my chances of getting some rest. I had never regretted anything more than I regretted last night. Now, the Sisterhood and the Brotherhood could use me as their puppet for as long as they wanted, and I couldn't so a single. Freaking. Thing about it.

Well, I had to focus on my current dilemma. How could I steal the test?

So, the test was probably on Mrs. Henderson's computer. Her computer was probably in her office. Her office was probably in…

Oh, crap.

Her office was in Rousseau Hall, where all of the faculty have their offices. I had to break into Rousseau Hall? Wonderful. How the hell was I supposed to do that?

Maybe there was a bit of luck on my side. It was a Saturday, so there probably wasn't going to be any teachers around their offices, so there was less of a chance of me getting caught. But how was I supposed to get into Rousseau Hall in the first place? You needed a special electronic key card to get in, which I, conveniently, didn't have.

Oh, well, I'd figure that out once I got there. I had no time to waste. It was 1:00pm already.

I got to Rousseau Hall, and stood at the entrance, looking stupidly at it. There was no way in hell I could do this. I might as well just call the administration right now and withdraw from Ravensdale, which would save me the humiliation…

Wait. What was I thinking? Was I just going to give up right now? What kind of pathetic weakling was I? I would get the stupid test to Holden, just to prove to him, and to the rest of the Sisterhood and Brotherhood that they could not intimidate me with their stupid hazing. I could do this.

Just then, my eye fell to the bottom of the building, and I smiled.

Basement windows.

Of course. I could use those to get into Rousseau, since the windows weren't locked.

I got down on my knees, and tried to pry the window open. It was a little sticky, but I got it in the end. I shimmied through the window, and dropped down to the floor, feeling very much like a secret agent or something.

I ran upstairs, to where all of the Physics teacher's offices were, and looked at the doors. Mr. Dramble, Mrs. Russell, Mr. Stewart…aha! Mrs. Henderson.

I opened the door, and took a look around her office. In the corner, sat the holy grail: her computer.

Praying that she didn't power down, I pressed the power button and waited. Finally, I found myself staring at a picture of Mrs. Henderson, holding three cats, which was surrounded by a bunch of icons.

Yes! I was in. I went to her documents, and found the file "Second Year Physics, Term 2". I clicked on it, found the file "Assessments", and finally got the document "Term 2 Exam". I opened it up, and printed it.

The minutes that I had to wait for it to print were some of the most agonizing in my entire life. The printer was so loud, I thought that I would pass out right then and there, partly from my hangover, and partly from my fear that someone would hear.

No one heard, however, so I grabbed the test, and ran out the door.

I checked my watch. 1:50. I would make it.

I ran to the library, and frantically searched around until I found Holden, on his laptop, playing minesweeper. I tried to suppress thoughts of killing him.

"Here's your precious test." I said bitterly, "I hope you're happy."

"Oh, what?" Holden said, looking up, "Oh, no, you can keep that."

"Excuse me?" I demanded.

"Yeah, I said you can keep the test." Holden said, "I'm not even taking Physics this term." He turned his back to me, and went back to his absorbing game of minesweeper.

Do not kill, do not kill. I chanted to myself. This was all just a game to them. I would play their game, if only to prove to them that I wasn't the pathetic weakling they made me out to be. I was strong. I could rise above this petty hazing.

I spun around on my heel, and walked out of the library.

The next day, I thought that I could finally have some time to myself, to study and call my mom and Jeb.

No such luck.

At six in the morning, Serena came barging into my room, demanding that I arrange all of her shoes by colour and heel height.

As I was crouched down in her closet comparing two pairs of red pumps, something fell out of the top shelf, almost hitting me in the head. It was a box.

I opened it, in case it was another pair of shoes that needed ordering. I didn't find that, however. I found jewellery, and a little book.

Looking at it, my jaw almost dropped. This was some serious bling. There were diamond earrings, sapphire necklaces with platinum chains and ruby rings. All of this together had to value over fifty thousand dollars. Easily.

Curiosity piqued, I opened the book. This time, my mouth literally fell open.

It was a list of shops. Jewellery shops, that had some check marks and notes, saying security cameras. Must be stealthy, or Rude salesgirl. Must punish by taking extra. Perhaps most incriminating of all, Lax security. Didn't notice a thing.

Unbelievable. Serena was a shoplifter. One that got around quite a bit, if the enormous hoard of jewellery here was any indication. The book seemed to be a record of all the places she'd stolen from.

This was crazy. However much I wanted to tell the cops about this, I couldn't do that. Serena was one of my best friends. She had trusted me to be in her closet, so I could break that trust.

It was the wrong thing to do, but I had a feeling that if I exposed Serena, Angela would do much worse to me.

My super fun day wasn't over yet, though.

Later, at lunch and dinner, Gazzy pretty much informed me that I was his designated waitress, and forced me to get him his food.

At least Angela and Holden didn't seem to be participating anymore.

When I asked Angela about this, she merely told me that every day, two people, a member of the Sisterhood, and a member of the Brotherhood, could do whatever they wanted with me.

"It's tradition." She informed me pertly.

Well then. There's not much I can do about that.

It went on like that for four more days.

When it was Nudge and Alex's turn, I had to wash all the windows of Beverly House, in addition to wearing a shirt that said, "Looking for some $. Have nice boobs" around campus for a whole day.

When I was cleaning windows, I found that Nudge had a "food diary", in which she would record every single calorie that she ate every day, and make crazy admonishments whenever she ate sugar or fat. The girl has to have an eating disorder or something.

Once again, out of loyalty, I kept it a secret.

When it was Ella and Iggy's turn, Ella made me clean all the toilets, while Iggy, in his typical perverted fashion, made me walk into a pet store, asking which animals were easiest to arouse, sexually. I almost died of embarrassment. Luckily, it didn't seem like Ella had any illicit secrets she was hiding.

On day five, it was Kate and Nathan's turn. Kate made me make all the beds in Beverly House, while Nathan forced me to pretend to hit on my biology teacher, Mr. Campbell for an entire day. Complete with the cleavage-showing and eyelash-batting. Again, I almost earned myself an obit which would say "died of embarrassment".

When I was making Kate's bed, however, I came across an envelope, stashed in between the mattress and the side of the bed. When I was going to put it back, the envelope ripped, exposing some pictures that were inside. I almost gagged.

It was Kate and Nathan. Lying in bed. And they looked very…excited. Quickly, I put the photo back into the envelope.

I didn't need to subject anyone else to eyes in need of bleaching.

Having Dylan and Maya haze me was both a blessing and a curse. Dylan didn't try to make me do anything too bad, partially, I thought, because he felt bad for what had happened that night. Maya, however, was another story. She was, for lack of a better word, a total bitch to me the whole day.

It all started when she unzipped her makeup bag, pulled out some blush and tipped the entire thing over onto the carpet for me to clean up. After that, she rubbed Vaseline all over her mirror and made me wipe it clean and as a grand finale, "spilled" nail polish oh the carpet and made me clean it up, and told me to go to the city to get a stain remover when it wouldn't all come out.

In short, it was a brutal day.

What I didn't understand was why everyone, especially Fang, was going along with this. Didn't they see how cruel it was? For many of my sisters, didn't they see how they were putting their most embarrassing secrets on the line, here? Why was Fang allowing them to haze me like this and not speak up?

I just hoped that I was finished now, because I didn't think that there were anymore couples left. Finally, I could relax, while pummelling Fang for standing by while I was going through all of this.

When I approached Angela, telling her that I was glad I was finally finished, she just looked confused and said,

"Finished?" Who said anything about being finished? You've still got a day with Fang tomorrow!"

Oh, shit.

"Waharghhahhhhhhh!" I sat straight up in my huge queen sized bed. Despite everything that had been going on this past week, the sisterhood at least had the heart to not take away my big, wonderful, comfy room. Okay, over exaggerating.

When Angela had told me that Fang was going to be the one torturing me today, my heart nearly stopped. Fang had been the one I had actually considered my friend these past few weeks. My best friend. The one that I could count on. The thought of him doing...this...to me just makes me feel sad. Really sad. I mean, I never really had talked to Angela before a week ago. So her being mean to me was that big of a blow.

But Fang? I had promised myself that I was going to act cold and heartless to him today. And now was my chance.

"What. The. FREAKING. HELL?" was my response to having a horn blown straight into my ear bright and early in the morning.

Fang looked unfazed. I just glared. He gestured for me to get dressed, held up his hand to indicate that I had 5 minutes and promptly stalked out the down.

I groaned and then took a quick 2 minute shower. I threw on what I call "clothes I don't really care about" because, knowing Fang, he is going to make me do some pretty nasty things today.

I stomped out of my room, nearly running into Fang. He beckoned me to follow him. We walked down the stairs (well, I stomped) and arrived at the common room. It was a mess.

"You will be cleaning that up later. Right now, we have some other business to attend to." He walked out of the common room and I followed. We walked across what seemed like half the campus before he stopped at a building. The gym.

We walked inside and immediately 2 boys who looked about 9 years old greeted us.

"Hi! I'm Brett!" boy number 1 with the blondish brown hair said.

"And I'm...drum roll please, because I'm just that awesome...Mason! Whoohoo!" boy number 2 screamed into my ear. He looked exactly identical to his brother. Just my luck, annoying identical twins.

"What do want me to do? Babysit them?" I snarled at Fang. He smirked and shook his head.

"Max, Max, Max. Has it ever been that simple?" Why was he acting so...evil? I felt like screaming. "No, though you'll be doing something similar to that. You see that over there?" He pointed to a dunk tank. Except, where there should have been water in the tank, there was brown, filthy mud. I felt myself shudder. "You see, Angela babysits these...angelic little boys. But the problem is, she has a spa appointment for 2 hours. So she asked me to entertain the boys. And you are the entertainment. At least you're getting your fair share of the spa day! You get a free mud bath! Now get on the seat."

He pushed me towards the horrible contraption and got me to take off my shoes, so at least my shoes wouldn't get muddy. Then he promptly picked me up and settled me on the hard seat in the tank. In front of the glass, I could see the gleam in Brett and Mason's eyes as they prepared to launch the balls in their hands at the target.

I tried not to panic. The tank was making me claustrophobic.

I tried to reassure myself. I mean, they're nine year old boys. How good could their aim be? This thought relaxed me a bit. Until Fang called out,

"Oh right! I almost forgot to mention something. Max, these wonderful boys play baseball and are pitchers. Just thought I'd let you know."

A sense of dread overcame me as the big greenish yellowish ball left Brett's hand and flew towards me. Thunk! It hit the target. I closed my eyes, and got dunked into the disgusting brown substance that we call mud.

After 2 hours, Angela came back to pick up the boys. As a goodbye, they just dunked me again.

Later, I went to the still messy common room of Beverly House with large amounts of mud still dripping off me. Fang shoved a tiny toothbrush into my hands. He also gave me a large pail. Then he pointed to the garbage can near the door and the bathroom.

"I want this room to be spotless. You have until 5 o'clock." After quietly stating this, Fang plopped down on one of the many couches in the common room. 5 o'clock. It was 10 o'clock. 7 hours. That is more than enough time. I hope.

I stalked into the bathroom, took the teeny tiny toothbrush, ran it under water and desperately tried to scrub the mud off me.

After 30 minutes of fruitless attempts, only half the mud on my body was off. So I gave up and trudged into the common room.

My eyes looked at the room, assessing the damage. There was garbage strewn everywhere and stains in the carpet from spilled beer. This was going to take a while.

I started with picking up all the garbage and throwing it into the garbage can. After I was finished that, I glanced at Fang, who had fallen asleep on the couch. He looked so peaceful. His face wasn't an emotionless brick wall, in fact his face kind of resembled a happy little girl's. Well, not quite, but you get the idea.

I snuck over to where Fang was lounging on the coach, dragging the garbage can with me.

And promptly dumped all the garbage in the garbage can on him.

He woke up, startled, took one look at all the garbage on himself and stalked out of the room.

"Clean this up!" he growled. I heard the sound of running water and a started to laugh. I had to pick up all the garbage again, but that was so worth it.

It took another half an hour to pick up the garbage. Then Fang walked in, looking and smelling clean.

"Still not done?" I rolled my eyes. I stalked into the bathroom and fill up the pail Fang had given me with water. Then I located the nearest carpet stain and started scrubbing with my toothbrush. I felt strangely like Cinderella. But that would mean that Fang was either the evil step-mom or the evil step-sister.

Well he is certainly acting like both.

I scrubbed the floor for another hour. And the stains were just not coming out of the carpet. I growled in frustration and nearly broke my toothbrush.

"You know, there is a bottle of carpet cleaner in the cupboard in the bathroom." I whipped around and saw Fang with his classic smirk on.

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier?" I screamed at him. He shrugged.

"Didn't feel like it." I gaped at him and felt the strange urge to slap him silly. I stormed into the bathroom, flung open the cupboards (nearly breaking them at the same time), got the bottle of carpet cleaner and walked back into the common room.

I got to work with the carpet cleaner.

Another 2 hours passed. It was now 3 o'clock. 2 more hours. I had finally finished scrubbing all the liquid stains out of the carpet. But now I had to scrub off the mud stains from me crawling all over the floor. I got back to work.

After another hour of scrubbing, I almost gave up. Whenever I cleaned up one stain, another showed up.

But I couldn't give up. I didn't even want to be in the sisterhood right now. If they're this cruel, I didn't want them to be my sisters. However, this wasn't a matter of whether I want to be in the sisterhood or not. I couldn't give up. I would not let Fang get to me.

"The floor's still dirty," he said, smirking as I scrubbed his floor with a teeny, tiny toothbrush. I wanted to smack him. "Of course it's dirty; I'm dirty!" I screeched at him. I was tired, sweaty and completely covered in dirt. "I hate you."

Hopefully you can see where the summary came from in this chapter…We hope you liked it! The hazing that Max goes through is based on the hazing outlined in the series A Private Collection. Aurora apologizes if she got some details of being drunk/hung-over wrong, seeing as she's never touched alcohol in her life.

Anyways, please review! Reviewers make our day!

~Alyssa and Aurora

Hello everybody! Sorry for the wait! Here's chapter 6, which we hope will clear up some of the questions from the last chapter. Lots of people didn't like how the Sisterhood and Brotherhood were being mean, but the hazing was very important for the plot development. You'll see once you read this chapter. Once again, the hazing was based off of A Private Collection, by Kate Brian, which we do not own.

Sorry about this chapter being so short! Next one will definitely be longer!

Best review of Chapter 5: "KUDOS TO YOU FOR STAYING DRUG SAFE! As my second grade teacher would say, staying drug free is the way to be! Even if she went out everyday to smoke a cigar behind our backs. We saw her out the window. Yeah. Not the best way to teach kids to be drug free." (MaximumRideFanAddict)

We've got a bit of a contest! We're nearing 100 reviews, so the hundredth reviewer gets a preview of the chapter before we publish it! If the 100th review is anonymous, it'll be the 101 reviewer. Potassium?

Disclaimer: We don't own Maximum Ride. (JP wouldn't have made Max so OOC in the last chapter. Sorry guys!)

It's Sunday, 2 days after the last time I had to do cruel, grueling work for the rest of the sisterhood and brotherhood. They've been avoiding me and I, them. The only time I talked to anyone of them was yesterday, when I had confronted Nudge and asked her, extremely bluntly, if she had a eating disorder. She replied no, and proved it to me by eating a greasy Big Mac from McDonald's.

I'm still convinced that she has a eating disorder. She probably forced herself to puke up that Big Max as soon as I left her alone.

Anyways, I'm in my room right now, freaking out. All those secrets about the rest of the sisterhood that I found out about while I was cleaning the house...they're killing me. I can't tell anyone otherwise the sisterhood is bound to get me kicked out of the university.

I heard a knock on my door. I stood up from my position on the bed and opened the door. Outside was Fang, with a apologetic look on his face, holding a bunch of flowers.
He offered them to me and I took them.

"Hey Max," he said, quietly.

"What do you want?" I asked him rudely. He looked slightly hurt.

"To talk. Look, can I come inside?" he asked, with a pleading look on his face. I thought for a moment and then nodded my consent. We sat on my bed and Fang turned to me. "Are you mad at me?"

I raised my eyebrows. "You're seriously asking me that. Wow. You're stupider than I thought!" Fang frowned at that comment, obviously wanting to retort, but held it in. "Yes! Of course I'm still mad at you. You must be fucking kidding me if you don't think I'm mad at you! I mean honestly!" I was off my bed at this point, pacing back and forth in front of it, ranting to Fang. "You dumped me in mud. I still feel dirty because you didn't allow me to take a shower until 10 hours later! What is your problem! Then you made me clean a filthy common room that literally took me 8 hours to clean! And you're asking me if I'm mad at you? Screw you Fang!" I stormed out of the room.

"Max! I had to! It's standard initiation!" Fang called after me. I ignored him and stomped down the stairs sounding like a elephant, but I really didn't care. "You wouldn't have been accepted into the sorority if you hadn't gone through this!"

"But you didn't have to make the experience hell!" I whipped around. Fang was at the bottom of the stairs. "I don't even care about being in the sorority at this point. You all are cruel manipulative people! I don't want to be in the sorority! Get that through your mind!"

"I thought you did!" Fang yelled back.

"I did!" I shrieked. "Don't you get it? You guys are terrible! Do you know what I've been through this past week! Look, I've never snuck out of my house before in my life, let alone snuck into a teacher's office and stolen a test! I don't know what to do! I mean...Serena is a shop-I mean, Kate and Nathan are-!" and I promptly burst into tears. Wow, I am such a crybaby. Fang immediately rushed over. He rubbed my back.

Suddenly the door to the door burst open. Angela, Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy and the whole group poured inside. I quickly wiped away my tears and shoved Fang further away from me.

They were all laughing and smiling, holding big bags full of food and other things. They all stopped when they saw my tear streaked face.

"Max? Are you alright?"

"What does it freaking look like?" I replied venomously,

"You know, the whole hazing thing was for initiation, right? You're in the sisterhood," Angela said, cautiously.

"I don't want to be in the sisterhood anymore," I replied, calmly. Nudge's eyes widened.

"What! You have to be! You have all the right qualities and we already made you go through all this. Which, by the way, I am so sorry about. You should never have gone through that, but it's kind of a tradition we have-" Nudge was silenced with a glare from Angela.

Angela cautiously approached me. "Max. I'm sorry if we hurt you, but the initiation was mandatory. Every one of us had to go through it when we were accepted into the Sisterhood. The boys had to go through this too. We know how hard it was. But the initiation process was just for us to torture you. It was also a test."

"On what?" I asked, sceptically.

"On whether we trust you and the strength of your loyalty."

"I'm pretty sure none of those things that you made me do had anything to do with trust or loyalty." Angela smirked at my words. I scowled in response, feeling the urge to slap her.

"Of course they did. What did you find out about Serena the day that Serena and Gazzy were the ones who bossed you around?" My eyes widened and I responded shakily,

"That Serena is a shoplifter. A really good one." I shifted my gaze from Angela to Serena and found that Serena was smiling slightly.

"What Kate and Nathan's day?"

"I found some...inappropriate pictures of them. Cheating on Nudge and Alex." There were loud snickers all around the room at my answer.

"And you haven't told anyone else about these things, have you? By not telling anyone of these things, you have already proven that you're trustworthy." Angela's blue eyes looked into my chocolate brown ones.

"How do you know that the only reason why I'm not telling anyone is because I know that if I do, you'll just show the school board the pictures of me and then I'll get expelled?" As a answer to my question, Angela ran upstairs and ran back down, carrying her laptop. She showed me the picture files and then she pressed the delete button. She put her laptop down.

"So, are you going to tell anyone?"

"No."

Angela smirked. "Exactly. So I guess the past week has been of some use. Oh, and if you're wondering, the reason why I know that you're telling the truth about not telling anyone is, well, because I can read minds."
Whoa. I did not expect that.

Angela explained everything. About the Malums and about the Sisterhood and the brotherhood being these cool "Save the World" super humans. And somehow, I was one of these cool super humans.

I'd be lying if I said that my mind wasn't blown, right there.

Accepting me into the sisterhood (Like, actually accepting me, not what they did a week earlier) was actually not anything special. The girls just were nicer to me and they all kissed me on each cheek and I was officially (actually) in.

Fang told me that everyone had a special power. I'm really excited to know what my special power is. Fang says he has a idea, but no matter what I say or do, he won't tell me. But he kind of owes me for treating me so badly the past week, so eventually I'll guilt it out of him.

I'm also getting these earrings that the sisterhood wears that enhances our power by a lot. They said I couldn't get them today because my power wasn't in control yet and whatnot.

I haven't really fully forgiven the sisterhood and the brotherhood for what they did to me. I understand that they had to do it because it was tradition and whatnot, but still. It's not right.

I tapped my foot impatiently while I stared at the clock on the wall.

I had to teach Max how to harness her powers, and control them and whatnot today, after our biology lab, which ended in…about fifteen minutes.

Well, I was in quite a bind. Since I made a big stink about continuing to be Max's mentor, it has to be me who teaches Max how to use her power.

Furthermore, she's still pissed at me, even though I showed up at her doorstep with flowers.

I thought girls were supposed to swoon at that move! Wiki-answers said so!

So, after our mind-numbing biology lab was over, I hurried back to my dorm. I didn't have any more classes today, and it was only 11:00am. Max didn't either, so I had plenty of time to get her started with her powers.

I had asked Max to meet me in the woods behind Beverly House, the same woods that she had gotten insanely drunk in a week before.

And, the same woods where she had drunkenly sucked face with Dylan. Even though Angela had told Dylan that he had to make out with Max, to make the perfect photo op, I still burned with resentment. Not that I was all possessive of Max or anything, but just that it couldn't be me who sat on a log with Max, weaving my fingers through her hair…

Whatever. She didn't even like Dylan. In fact, after The Incident, as I was now calling it, things had been so, unbearably awkward between them, that all I could do was laugh.

Once I was at the woods, I waited.

Surely Max wouldn't have stood me up? I hadn't told her that she was going to get her earrings today, but I didn't think that she would just not come, regardless of how angry she was at me. No, if she wasn't planning on coming, she would have said it, rudely, to my face.

Suddenly, I heard at twig on the ground snap. Finally, I thought, Max showed.

She walked into the small clearing where I was standing, with a sour look on her face.

"Whatever you're about to tell me, it better be worth the five minutes of my time it took me to get here." She said bluntly.

Well, she was acting…normal, at least. During the hazing, she'd turned into this meek person that I didn't really recognize as Max, since she was just doing whatever we told her to do. Now, she was back in true form.

Luckily, I knew how to get her to shut up. I took out a small box, and held it out to her.

She scoffed. "What, you're proposing to me now? Aren't you supposed to get down on one knee?"

Okay, now I was actually annoyed. When I had hazed her, at least my actions could be justified! This, this rudeness was just…Max being rude, like a petulant five year old who got a time out.

"Just open it." I said, "And no, I am definitely not proposing to you. Don't flatter yourself."

She flushed, but took the box and cracked the lid open.

Inside was a pair of sapphire earrings, the same pair that every member of the Sisterhood owned.

"Oh, my God," Max said, touching them gently, "Does this mean that I'm one of those "Save the World" super humans now?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, slightly offended.

She blushed again, realizing her mistake. "I mean, does that mean I get my powers now?"

"Yup." I replied.

"Awesome!" She said giddily, all qualms with me forgotten.

Wow. One pair of earrings and she was forgiving me, while she was stubbornly mad for days. I will never get girls.

"So, put on the earrings," I said, glad that all of our issues were over.

She took out one of the earrings, and put it on. When she got to the other ear, though, the earring seemed to get stuck.

Her brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to wriggle to earring through, but it didn't work.

"Here," I offered, "let me help you."

I took the earring from Max's hand, and turned her head around so I could see. I had her earlobe in one hand, and the earring in the other.

I tried to think about how my lips were just centimeters from her jaw line. I also tried to think about how I had no experience whatsoever with putting earrings in, and was totally winging it.

I saw the hole in her earlobe, and gently inserted the earring in, twisting as I went. It took a while, and it didn't help that I was holding my breath the entire time. Finally, though, it was in. Max was all red again, probably from holding her breath too. I noticed she wasn't breathing the entire time, just like I was.

"How do you feel?" I asked in a concerned voice.

"I feel…weird," She said, her face starting to return to it's normal colour now that there was about three feet of space separating us.

"Dizzy, double vision, trouble hearing…" I trailed off.

"Nope," She said, "Just sorta funny. Tingly."

Wow. Either the earrings weren't working properly, or this girl was already so powerful prior to the earrings, that she was immune to their side effects, which included dizziness.

"That's amazing," I said, still not believing that she wasn't feeling sick at all. "The first time Ella put the earrings on, she passed out."

"Really?" Max asked, "I don't feel like that at all. I feel fine actually. Better than fine."

So, clearly, this wasn't normal.

"Jump," I told her.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because I have a hunch about what your power is, and I want to test it, to see if I'm right."

She jumped,

…and landed in the top of a tree.

"HOLY SHIT!" Max shrieked at the top of her lungs, "WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?"

The corner of my mouth twitched as I tried to hold back a smile. I had been right about Max.

"It's okay, Max," I called to her, "just jump down now."

"ARE YOU FREAKING OUT OF YOUR MIND?" She yelled back, "I"LL DIE! I DON'T HAVE A SINGLE FUCKING IDEA ABOUT HOW I GOT HERE, BUT I'LL SURE AS HELL DIE IF I JUMP!"

Wow. That was loud. Note to self: Never deal with a PMS-ing woman again.

"Max," I stressed, "its okay. I know what your power is, and trust me, you won't get hurt if you jump. Plus, if something goes wrong, I'll be here to catch you."

She still looked hesitant, so I grinned, holding my arms out underneath the branch. It was all unnecessary, of course, because when she finally did jump-

She floated slowly through the air and landed softly beside me.

The look on her face said it all. She was shocked and trembling all over. Meanwhile, I was just standing there, smirking.

"Told you so," I said.

"Wh-what was that?" She said, her voice unsteady. "What just happened?"

"That, Max, was your power," I said, studying her face closely. I hoped she would take it well, unlike…all of us. Pretty much all of my brothers and sisters had totally freaked out when they realized what their powers were.

"So…" Max said slowly, "What's my power? Jumping?"

"No Max," I said carefully, "Your power is to be able to fly."

"Sam!" Lissa said urgently, "It's working!"

Sam turned around to see Lissa and Brigid hunched over a lab bench, their eyes glued onto a test tube. He walked over to them, and sat on a nearby stool.

"Did you test it?" He asked. "We don't want any false data."

"Of course we tested it!" Brigid replied testily. "Just watch."

She poured some of the substance from the test tube into a tank of fish. Immediately, all the fish went belly-up.

Lissa then poured a second vial of liquid into the tank. Within seconds, the fish were alive again.

Sam watched, riveted by the scene unfolding before his eyes.

"Brilliant," he said, as Lissa and Brigid smirked. "We'll release the virus next week."

So, don't forget the contest! Remember, 100th reviewer gets a preview of Chapter 7 before we publish it! Go, go go!

Hey guys. Sorry about the wait! Aurora went down to the States to go shopping over the weekend, so there wasn't any time for her to write. Alyssa was suffering major writer's block for Max's POV so it took her a while to write it.

Anyways. There's a scene in this chapter that's based off of Mission Impossible I, but we mention that in the chapter too.

Also, congratulations to our 100th reviewer, Thunder48! She received a preview of the chappie! For all you other faithful reviewers out there, don't be discouraged! We'll have contests for all of our milestone reviews, and sometimes just for the heck of it.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nous ne possédons pas Maximum Ride. (We don't own Maximum Ride, en français. Fancy, we know)

Fang is trying to teach me how to fly again today. It's - 26 degrees outside, but he still insists on having a flying lesson. It's like hewants me to freeze to death.

"Oof!" I groaned as I once again fell out of the sky. Literally. I looked up at Fang, who had rushed over as soon as I had fallen. "Sorry," I apologized unnecessarily. I got up and brushed the grass off my jeans. Fang opened his mouth. "I know! I know. You don't have to say it again. 'Focus, Max!'" I imitated him mockingly. "Just let me try again." Fang raised his eyebrows and waved me on.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus. When I was ready, I ran for a while before jumping into the air and pulling out my wings. I quickly flapped them and gained altitude. Then dropped like a rock again.

"Arghhhhhhhhh!" I screamed in frustration. Fang chuckled in response.

"You sound like a banshee."

"Why thank you," I replied bitterly. Then childishly stomped the ground again.

"Max. Calm down. You'll get it eventually."

Two days ago, at my first flying lesson, I was so surprised when my wings snapped out. Fang was too. They are really, really wide. I think I have a twelve foot wingspan or something like that. My wings are beautiful. They're white, but speckled with black, grey and brown. And I can hide them whenever I want to. Well, not exactly whenever I want to. They kind of have a mind of their own right now.

Anyways, most of the time when I want to hide them (so I'm not stared at like a freak), I just fold them into my back and they kind of mold into my skin. It's kind of gross, if you think about it. All that's left is a tiny tattoo-like mark between my shoulder blades where my wings would normally be.

"Calm down? I will not calm down! I am tired of rising into the air and then falling again-"

"I caught you a few times," Fang cut in. I blushed, thinking about his arms around me. I pushed down my blush.

"Yeah. A few times. I'm battered, bruised, freezing and dirty and I just want to go back to my room. So shut up-AHHHHHH!" My wings suddenly shot up and I was thrown into the air. "FANG! Help!" Said boy (or man? Whatever, let's just call him an adult boy. Wow Max, way to be ADHD) rushed over to the tallest tree nearest to me and started climbing up it. "Fang! What are you doing! This is no time to be acting like an ape!" Even from where I was, I could see his eyes rolling.

My wings started angling this way and that and I was flying all over the place.

"Max. Stop that!"

"I'm trying! Hurry up!"

As soon as Fang had climbed up to as high as I was, my winging stopped flapping and I plummeted to the ground.

"Really Max? Really?" I heard Fang call.

"Well I'm sorry for not controlling my mutant wings. Why don't you grow and pair and try to control them? Stop being so cocky." I shouted back at him, then cringed at how bad my remark was.

Fang quickly climbed down the tree. He smirked. "Ha. Cocky." I stared at him in confusion before I finally got it.

"Fang!" I shrieked, my cheeks turning bright red. I whacked him on the chest. "What the hell?" He smirked.

"Try again." I sighed and concentrated. I started running and the jumped into the air, springing my wings up again. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the crash.

"Max? Are you okay?" I heard Fang call. Of course. I must be curled up in a fetal position on the ground. Huh. I didn't feel anything. Maybe I'm just numb from all the other times I've fallen. "You're kinda just floating there." Wait-what?

I opened my eyes. And whooped.

"Yeah! I did it!" I started to do a little happy dance in the air. "Whoa!" I started plummeting through the air, completely forgetting to flap. "Oof!" I groaned again. "Okay, so I need to work on landing. And not getting distracted." Fang offered me his hand and pulled me up.

"Careful. Your wings are ruffled." Fang brushed the grass off my wings for me. I folded my wings into my back. I blushed.

"Thanks." I bit my lip. Fang looked away and coughed awkwardly.

"So, you want to try again?" I snapped my wings open again and took off into the air. I flew around doing little dives and circles. I felt the wind through my hair and the sun shining on me, caressing me with its warmth. I sighed in happiness. Then flapped my wings to gain altitude. I was submerged in the clouds. I doubted Fang could even see me. I dived down under the clouds again. I bet everyone who could see me thought I was some crazy bird.

Fang's head was just a dot. I dived down lower until I could clearly see his face.

"Max! Be careful! Don't go too fast!" Fang screamed. I could barely hear him over the wind. I just dived even lower in response, trying to land. I failed epically.

When I was just a few feet off the ground, I pulled my wings in and hoped that I would land on my feet. Instead, I landed on my ankle.

"Ow!" I collapsed on the ground, holding my ankle.

"Shit! Max!" Fang rushed over. I stood up and pushed him away.

"Don't fuss. I'm fine." To contradict myself, I nearly fell over. Fang caught me. He raised his eyebrows. "I can walk!" I cried indignantly. I placed part of my weight on my injured ankle. Ow. "Let's go back. I'm tired." Fang shook his head at my stubbornness but headed towards the Beverly House.

I was limping slightly, but otherwise nobody would be able to tell that I had injured my ankle.

I threw open the door to Beverly House. And was greeted with everyone in the sisterhood and brotherhood. They were wearing these weird black skin tight suits with all sorts of weird thingy-ma-bobs hanging on the suit.

"What's going on?" I asked. "We're not having another party are we? God, I hope you guys weren't actually thinking of wearing those things to a party."

"Um, actually, we're going to go fight the Malums. We found out that they had completed their virus and we need to go destroy it," Fang told me, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Oh. Cool. That'll be fun! When do I get one of those suits?" Nudge gasped.

"Fang! You didn't tell her! You promised you would tell her!" I turned to Fang.

"Tell me what?" I asked him, my eyes narrowing. Fang sent an apologetic look to Nudge then turned back to me.

"Max? Come with me." He gently took my arm and led me down the hall near Angela's room. "Look Max. You can't come with us."

"What?" I spat. "Why not? I'm in the sisterhood now. I know how to fight! I don't see a reason why I can't come!"

"I know you can fight. But it's too dangerous for you. Don't interrupt me." He held a finger to my lips and I closed my mouth. "You have an injured ankle. Don't tell me it's not at least sprained. I know it is. You need to go to the infirmary to get it checked out. Plus, you're powers haven't settled in yet. You need to wait. Okay?" I sighed dejectedly.

"Okay." Fang pulled me in for a hug. "I really wanted to kick butt," I said quietly, in a whisper.

"They'll be other times where you can kick butt. Okay? Just not now." He pulled away. "Go to the nurse. Get that ankle check out. We'll be back by tomorrow." He cupped my cheek and kissed my on the forehead. Then he walked down the hall. I watched as he disappeared down the hall.

The heavy wooden door closed with a heavy thud.

So, my brothers, sisters and I were on the plane, headed to Siberia where the Sisterhood had confirmed the Malums were. We were all tense, seeing as if we didn't get the virus before they released it, it could mean the lives of millions of people.

Damn. Now I'm just getting myself stressed out.

Anyways, it was a pretty quiet plane ride. No one talked unless absolutely necessary, even Nudge. We just sat. Sat, and mapped out our strategy in our heads. Just then, Maya spoke, breaking the silence.

"So let me get this straight," she said nervously, "We break into their compound, go via the air ducts to the virus storage room, lower Alex in. He nabs the virus, we get it, and we leave."

"Yes, Maya," Dylan said impatiently, "That's what we've been saying for…about a day now."

"Well you don't have to be so damn sensitive," Maya snapped back.

"This is stupid, you guys," Ella said firmly, "We need to be focused on the Malums, and not whatever hormone-fuelled spat you're having right now."

Personally, I though she was right. Plus, I still felt bad about how I'd left Max, and didn't need to see Dylan and Maya arguing to remind me of that.

Dylan and Maya lowered their heads, feeling bad. This was probably due to Ella's knack for manipulating consciences.

Before long, the plane touched down in a lake. We were flying on a small private seaplane that just seated fourteen. We landed in the lake so we didn't have to deal with any passport, border security nastiness. Pretty sure they wouldn't let me past customs with the knife I had in my suitcase.

Sure, it was illegal, but just like you have to spend money to make money, you have to fight evil with…less than legal methods.

Once we got to shore, we all climbed out and went over our strategy again, in detail. After that, it was go time.

We drove out to their compound; the car's dark tinted windows helping us stay incognito. I wasn't very nervous. The way I saw it, we either got the virus of we died. If we got the virus, things were perfect and we'd have nothing to worry about. If we died, we really wouldn't have anything to worry about. These things were just procedure.

We reached the gates of the compound. Then, Maya shape-shifted into Brigid Dwyer, and took the retinal identification required in order to get into the compound. We all quickly followed. We couldn't use Maya's shifting to get us the virus, though, since the only person allowed in the storage room was Sam, and there was a block that didn't allow her to shift into him. We were still trying to figure that out.

We managed to get into the air vents, and shimmied through them until we got to the one directly above the storage room. We used a specially-shaped screwdriver to undo the grill from the ceiling, and Nudge levitated it so it didn't clatter down to the floor.

That would be bad.

Alex strapped on a harness, and with all eleven of us, (Nudge was still levitating the grill) we held onto the rope so Alex wouldn't fall.

We lowered him, Mission Impossible style into the room. We chose Alex to do the job, since he was the most athletic.

Alex rummaged around, looking in a few drawers, before finally getting the right one. In that drawer, labelling in firm black ink read, Virus Sample: V51 LP#3. Release: Sunday, February 15.

I shuddered. Today was Thursday, the 12th. We had made it in the nick of time.

Beside it, the antidote.

Alex held the vials carefully. It would be very bad if he broke the one containing the virus.. We knew that the Malums had only made one vial of the stuff, since it was pretty unstable. The fact that one vial was enough to wipe out billions of people if they didn't get the antidote…

We don't like to think about that.

We all started to pull, lifting Alex up. Just as we did though, Nudge saw a tiny spider in the vent.

Nudge has extreme arachnophobia.

She opened her mouth the scream, but before any sound came out, Nathan clapped a hand over her mouth. We all breathed a sigh of relief, but we relaxed too soon.

That one little lapse in her concentration made the grill fall to the floor with a loud clatter.

I felt like my stomach dropped right to my toes.

Allow me to explain. Right outside the storage room door, there's a lady sitting behind a desk. She's there to make sure no one except Sam ever goes in. Well, she and this fingerprint recognition system, this voice-activated lock and…

That's beside the point. The point is, there was a person sitting outside the room. Who had heard the loud clattering sound the grill made. Who knew there wasn't supposed to be anyone in the room.

We were screwed.

Well, not really. We weren't screwed, we were going to fight. Most likely, the secretary lady would call Sam in, and Sam would get backup. Hopefully, we could be over and out before the backup came, because by backup, I mean about a thousand little robot things that had been brainwashed into doing whatever Sam commanded. We call them Erasers.

The Secretary Lady (as is her official name now) came rushing in. She saw the grill on the floor, and Alex dangling in midair with two vials in his hand. She pressed a button on her pager and half a second later, a piecing klaxon was wailing through the air.

Knowing we were exposed, we all dropped down into the storage room. Yes, we were going on offensive. Luckily, we're very comfortable with going on offensive.

Sam arrived just as Angela as dropping down. He saw us, and immediately pressed a button on his pager to call for backup.

What is with these people and their buttons? I wondered idly.

There wasn't time to answer that, though, because Sam, seeing the vial in Alex's hands, quickly lunged for it.

Luckily, I was there to stop him, and got him into my Headlock of Death©, and managed to hold him there while Alex ran out of the room, carrying the vial with him. I hoped that he'd make it to the car in time.

When Lissa saw Alex run out, she tried to bolt to the door as well, but Angela had already read her mind and seen that she would do that, and was doing a pretty good job of blocking her.

…Well, until Lissa burst into flames. Yup, that's her power. Personally, I thought it was pretty badass, as far as all powers go, even if she was as Malum.

Angela couldn't stay anywhere in a three-foot radius of Lissa without getting her eyebrows torched off, so Nathan put a force field around her to keep the flames out.

That took care of Lissa, but on the other side of the room, I saw Ella and Holden struggling with Brigid. Brigid's power was something where her hair would totally have a mind of its own, and start spiralling around, ensnaring anyone near her.

Maybe it's just me, but that's somehow much less badass than turning yourself into a wall of fire. Plus, talk about a bad hair day.

Brigid's hair was digging into Holden's skin, leaving little cuts everywhere. That didn't matter very much, with his accelerated healing and all, but it didn't change the fact that he was still bound up tight.

Kate, seeing the situation Holden was in, rushed over and started to pry Brigid's hair away. Brigid's hair was strong, but Kate was stronger, and before long, Holden was free.

Meanwhile, I was just having good, old fashioned hand-to-hand combat with Sam. It was pretty slow going, until I turned invisible and wriggled out of Sam's grip.

While he was spinning around, looking for me while making himself look like a total fool, I was crept up behind him and pinched him on a few key pressure points on his neck.

He dropped like a sack of potatoes, closely followed by Lissa and Brigid, once Holden and Angela got their pressure points as well.

Finally, our little skirmish was over. We all ran out of the room, out of the compound and to the car where Alex was waiting.

Before we even had time to close all the doors, Alex peeled away from the curb and we were off in a cloud of dust and exhaust, which, by the way, is one of the most badass ways to make an exit I can imagine.

In the car, the relief in the air was palpable. As far as battles we had went, that one was one of the easier ones, especially since the Erasers had never showed. I didn't know why, exactly, but who was I to argue with fate? We had the virus, and that's all that mattered.

Alex drove us to a small clearing, in the middle of a dense forest. Once we were there, he made a fire.

Angela took the virus, uncorked it, and poured its contents into the twisting flames. Before the fumes could get into the air, I poured the antidote over the fire as well, to put the virus out.

The fire crackled and hissed, spitting sparks into the sky. The virus was gone…for now.

Sam paced around the large room, looking absolutely murderous. His eyes were shooting sparks and his hair was wild. It was as if he had a cloud of rage around him, which kept anyone from venturing near him. Eventually, Lissa tried to approach Sam.

She placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him from pacing any longer, and tried to murmur calming things into his ear. She was rewarded by Sam slapping her hand away and nearly trampling her when he returned to pacing with a renewed fervour.

All the other Malums in the room were eyeing him warily, half frightened, half apprehensive. They were frightened because Sam was their leader. His word was law. He could end any one of their lives in an instant, especially when he was in such a mood.

Suddenly, Sam stopped. All eyes were trained on him as he barked,

"Get Jonathan in here."

The messenger's face paled as he quickly hurried out of the room.

He returned a few minutes later with Jonathan, who looked as if he were about to pee his pants. His knees were quaking and his face was drained of blood. Sam approached Jonathan.

"Do you know why you're here?" he asked in a dangerously soft purr.

"Y-yes Sir," Jonathan said in a trembling voice.

"Enlighten me on what your sorry ass was doing while we were being attacked?"

"I-I was g-getting a-a coffee," he replied, now getting a bit of a green tinge to his otherwise pale face.

"WHY THE HELL WERE YOU GETTING A COFFEE? WE NEEDED BACKUP OUT THERE AND BECAUSE OF YOUR MEASLY SELF, WE LOST THE FUCKING VIRUS!" Sam was shouting now, his face purple. "Because of YOU we have to REMAKE the virus, which will take WEEKS. Why didn't you CALL backup like you were SUPPOSED TO?"

Jonathan was too terrified to speak at this point. Everyone else in the room was staring at this scene with a morbid curiosity. Everyone wanted to see how far Sam would go with this.

Quick as a flash, Sam's tone became eerily calm. "Could someone get me my bag please?" he asked softly, his voice menacing.

The same messenger who'd fetched Jonathan now hurried back with the bag.

"Now, Jonathan," Sam said in the same purr he'd used at the beginning, "You know that you've been very bad. Do you think you should be punished?"

Jonathan's knees almost collapsed in his fear. "O-of c-course Sir," he said, his eyes wide.

Sam reached into his bag and pulled out a small knife, its blade gleaming in the light of the room.

This time, Jonathan's knees really did collapse, and he landed on the ground in a heap. "Please, please, please don't kill me," he begged, tears falling down his face, "I'll do anything. I'll do anything. Just please don't kill me. I need to stay alive. For my family."

"Shut up," Sam said with a snort, "Of course I'm not going to kill you. Do you really think I want that kind of blood on my hands?" He paused, seemingly to ruminate about this idea. "No, I'm going to hurt you. Hurt you so bad you're gonna wish you were dead. But you know what? No one's gonna kill a bastard like you. We don't need your rotting body decaying on our land."

Jonathan looked as though he might faint.

Sam gently took the knife, and for the next few hours, all that could be heard through the corridors was the sound of Jonathan's anguished screams.

So…How was it? Was the last part, with Sam torturing Jonathan, too creepy? Should we have more Fax, more action? Tell us, because we'd love to know your thoughts!

Hey Guys! Sorry about the looong wait! So, this chapter. You're going to hate it. Seriously, we're prepared for angry hoards of reviewers sending us death threats.

Wow, that was violent.

Just…don't hate on us too much, potassium?

Fang's point of view in this chapter is mostly told in flashback form, which Aurora's not really sure you guys will like.

Reviewer of Chapter 7: Of course Sam needs to be creepy! (Maximumcrazy)

Of course, even though Sam's actually really nice in the actual books, here, in fandom, we have to portray him as an evil, pedophile, torturing, murdering, baby killing creep.

Disclaimer Haiku:

We wish that we owned

Maximum Ride, but sadly,

James Patterson does.

"What did Fang-the-Acer get on the Chemistry Lab? He got 98%! And who aced it? Me! Yeah! Maximum Ride in da house!" I laughed hysterically. Beside me, Fang glowered darkly.

"Way to not rub it in." We had just gotten back our chemistry lab results last period. I was rejoicing when I realised Fang wasn't saying "My 50th 100! Time to frame it!" And so naturally I spent the last 20 minutes rubbing it in his face.

"Whoohoo! Ye-"

"Okay! We get it! Let's go grab some lunch." Fang walked off, leaving me trailing behind him.

"Hey Max! Wait up!" I turned around and saw Dylan running towards me. Fang stopped in his tracks. "Can I talk to you?" Dylan asked. He glanced at Fang. "Alone?" Fang's face was expressionless.

"Yeah. Sure," I responded. "I'll meet you in the cafeteria. Our usual table." I told Fang. He nodded then stalked away. "So Dylan? What's up?"

"The sky!" he joked. "Look. I wanted to apologize." I was confused.

"For what?"

"For kissing you."

"Oh. Oh." To say I wasn't offended would have been a lie. "Trust me, I didn't enjoy it very much either." I turned to walk away. Dylan put a hand on my shoulder.

"No Max. That's not what I meant. I meant, I shouldn't have taken advantage of your drunken state like that. And I didn't mind kissing you." Dylan awkwardly held his neck and looked down. I smiled.

"Look, Dylan. Don't worry about it. You only kissed me because Ange told you to. I don't blame you," I reassured him kindly.

"That's a relief. I thought you were mad at me. I don't need 2 powerful girls mad at me at once." Dylan let out a chuckle.

"Who else is mad at you?" I asked curiously. Suddenly my stomach growled. "Sorry." I blushed.

"How about this. I'll treat you to lunch and you can listen to the wonderful problems of my life," Dylan proposed. I laughed.

"Actually, I can't. Fang's waiting for me in the cafeteria. I'm sure he's going to be furious with me even if I go and meet him right now," I said apologetically.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind. After all, he was the one who had been most against me kissing you. Think of this as an apology lunch. Just text him and say something came up."

"Okay...but if he's mad at me, I'm pushing all the blame on you," I warned him.

"I'll take my chances"

Dylan has girl problems. And for some reason, he chose me to mull over them with him. Apparently Maya and him have been arguing a lot lately. I feel for the dude. And angry Maya is like a mother bear. Not that I actually told him that. He would have cut my head off. He's practically in love with the girl.

So, Maya and him got into a fight on their last mission against the Malums and things "haven't been the same since". His words, not mine.

"I just don't really know what to do anymore, y'know. She so, distant," Dylan complained.

"Have you ever thought of maybe asking her how she feels and if she is actually mad at you?" Dylan looked flabbergasted.

"I never thought of that. You know what, I'm going to go ask Maya right now. Thanks Max!" Dylan ran out of the cafeteria. I laughed at how much of a boy he was. "Max!" I turned around again to see Dylan running back towards me. "I think I'm going to need your awesome advice again soon. So how about Friday at 5:30. That little Sushi place next to the gym? Okay! See you there!" He ran out again.

"So, where were you at lunch?" A deep voice asked me.

"Fang! I missed your presence at lunch! Not!" I laughed at my own lame joke. "I was with Dylan. He wanted to talk."

"Oh. Cool. So I was thinking, since Friday night we don't have classes and we haven't done anything really fun in a while-"

"Get to the point Fang. Geez, you usually don't have a problem with this."

"-we could go laser tagging with Iggy and Angel. I asked Ella and Nudge, but they didn't want to get all sweaty and ruin their make up. The rest of the sisterhood and brotherhood have plans. So what do you say?" Fang look down at me hopefully.

"Sorry Fang, but I actually have plans Friday night."

"What, you got a hot date?" Fang scoffed.

"No. Dylan and I are having sushi." Fang raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"Are you guys going out?" he questioned, looking slightly nervous.

"No! He just wants my advice on something. Geez Fang! You know, you can come along if you want. I'm sure Dylan wouldn't mind."

"No, I think I'll pass, thanks," Fang responded coldly. I was about to ask what his problem was, but the professor walked in and I was forced to pay attention to him.

Fang avoided me all week. When I texted him, he didn't text back. When I saw him on campus, he walked quickly away from me. I don't know what his problem is. On the bright side, sushi with Dylan was fun. And yummy.

Dylan's actually really great. He's always sincere about things and I never have to guess what he's thinking, unlike a certain tall, dark and handsome best friend of mine. We're having a snowball fight right now. I asked Fang if he wanted to come, but he hadn't replied. Figures.

"Ah! I'm so cold!" I was laughing so loudly. Snowball fights were just my things. I love them. Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind me. I looked up and saw an apologetic Fang.

"Sorry. I know I've been MIA all week. Just been a bit busy." He kissed the top of my head and unwrapped his arms around me. He reached now, formed a perfectly round snowball and launched it at Dylan, who shrieked as it fell down his jacket. "Having fun?"

"Yeah! We are. Dylan really has a arm," I told Fang. Dylan blushed at my compliment. Fang put a arm around my shoulders. I shuddered.

"Oh really?" Fang asked in a weird tone of voice. "So Max, I was wondering if you wanted to see Harry Potter with me this weekend. You know, the new one that just came out? Y'know, if you have time between all your classes and hanging out with Dylan..." he trailed off.

"Fang." I looked at him apologetically. "I can't. Sorry. I really am. But Dylan and I..." Fang suddenly dropped his arm. I shivered.

"It's fine. I get it." With one last meaningful glance at Dylan, one that I didn't get at all, Fang stalked away.

I was sitting on the steps of Wellington House, with my lips locked on Maya's.

This carried on for a few more seconds, then we broke apart, looking around furtively.

"Good, they're gone," I said, breathing a sigh of relief.

WAIT FANGIRLS! Don't freak out. I can explain.

How had I ended up like this? It all started a few days ago, right after Max informed me once again, that she and Dylan had plans, and had to cancel ours.

Flashback:

Do not kill, do not kill, I chanted in my head repeatedly as I remembered being blown off by Max for Dylan once more. Honestly? What the hell did she see in him? Were they dating now? Just because Dylan did a Bieber hair flick in her direction? Did Max like blonds better now?

Oh God, I sounded like Nudge.

Still, coming in second place hurt. I though Max and I had something really special, that we could even end my eternity of single-ness, but apparently, that something wasn't special enough to keep her from putting Dylan's plans ahead of mine.

Do not kill, do not kill.

Actually, I had already mapped out several strategies in which I could kill Dylan, in particular, one that included a flamethrower, a burrito and a monkey.

Hey, you've got to give me points for creativity.

I looked around. Unknowingly, I'd walked around to the other side of campus, near the cafeteria and used bookstore. I looked at my watch, it was almost one in the afternoon, so about time for lunch.

I walked into the cafeteria, bought some nachos, and sat down. Just then, someone else walked by, and sat beside me.

Maya.

Well, this was interesting. She and Dylan were on rocky grounds, which probably explained the entire Dylan/Max thing. Not that Max and I had anything going on though, unlike Dylan and Maya.

"Hey," Maya said, sounding dejected.

"What's up?" I asked, trying not to sound like I'd just imagined a monkey wielding a flamethrower and scorching all that blond hair off Dylan's head.

"Not much," Maya replied, still sounding kind of down, "It's just that…Dylan's been avoiding me."

"Really?" I asked, very interested in where this conversation was heading.

"Well, not avoiding me, exactly," she clarified, "Just, y'know," her voice dropped down to a whisper, "He's been spending more time with Max."

Aha! I had a plan…a very evil plan, but a plan nonetheless.

"Well," I said, trying to sound very sad, "Max has sorta been…ditching me too."

Maya's eyes widened. "But you guys are like, best friends!" she said.

"Just like you and Dylan were going out," I replied. "And now look at you two. And now look at Max and I. They're leaving us in the dust for each other. Which is why I have a bit of a plan…"

Maya gasped. Usually my plans involved…less then legal methods, but she didn't need to worry. This one was fine.

"So…" I said, pausing for suspense, "the plan is to make Max and Dylan jealous."

"How are we going to do that?" Maya asked, totally confused.

I almost felt sorry for her. She didn't have Iggy next door, constantly teaching her how to better torture your friends.

"By getting together," I said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "We're going to pretend to get together, Max and Dylan are going to see what they're missing, and they're going to come crawling back to us!"

Maya's face lit up with understanding. "Perfect," she said.

End Flashback.

This was how I found myself making out with Maya. We had to act as lovey-dovey as possible when Max and/or Dylan were around, and make sure they saw us. Of course, other members of the Brotherhood and Sisterhood saw us too.

Another Flashback:

"What the hell?" Angela blurted loudly as she came across Maya and I holding hands.

"What?" we said back, as innocently as we could.

"Why are you two holding hands?" she asked incredulously.

"Umm…isn't that obvious?" Maya said, batting her eyelashes, "We're together now."

Angela still had that WTF? look on her face, so I tried to lay it on a little thicker.

"Yeah," I said casually, "I don't know where Maya's been my whole life. I mean, she was here all along, but I don't know why I never realized how perfect we are for each other."

Maya chose that moment to pinch my side, hard. I opened my mouth to ask her what that was for, but the look in her eyes made me realize: I needed to be a bit more convincing.

I dropped a kiss on the top of her head. Better? My eyes silently asked her. Better, her eyes said back.

Ange still didn't look too convinced, so I tried again, this time trying to dig up high school English courses to help me out. "Uh, to love someone makes me, uh…" Damn. I didn't remember the quote as well as I thought. "realize-er, see the face of God," I got out.

Suddenly, Angela's face dawned with understanding. "Please," Angela said, smirking, "Don't quote Les Miserables to me. Even if you do, at least say it properly. It's actually 'to love another person is to see the face of God.'"

Maya sent me a murderous look.

"Now, now, now," Ange said in a condescending voice, "That isn't how lovebirds should look at each other, is it?"

My neck was starting to get hot. Why couldn't Angela just leave us alone and buy our story? Why did I have to be such a bad liar?

"Listen, Angela," Maya said tightly, "Fang and I are together. End of story."

"Sure, sure," Angela trilled back brightly, "I believe you."

Why, why did Angela always have to know everything?

End Another Flashback.

We had better luck with Max and Dylan though. Once, when Maya kissed me on the cheek, I saw Max, frozen in place, before storming away. Just then, I felt bad, like a jerk for hurting Max. Still a little voice said in the back of my mind, didn't she hurt you first by blowing you off to be with Dylan? I sighed. Even if that were true, it still hurt me to remember encountering Max later that day.

Yet Another Flashback:

We were in biology, since we were partners for a lab. To say things were awkward was an understatement. I was mad at Max, she was mad at me. Still, we had to get to work.

"So, we're supposed to prepare a wet mount to observe the process of mitosis in a plant root," I said, trying to be the mature one here, "Could you go get the sample from the front of the room?"

"Go do it yourself," she snapped.

"What is your problem today?" I asked, annoyed.

"To start? You," She said, still not looking at me.

"Because I'm with Maya now?" I asked, "Are you really that jealous?"

"Wow Fang," Max said, "If brains were chocolate, yours wouldn't even fill and M&M."

"What?" I asked incredulously, "Where'd you get that from? Bad Insults for Dummies?"

I was met with stony silence.

"Just listen to my point of view here," I started, "You're mad at me, but we have to do work or else we'll fail this lab. Just go get the freaking sample."

Max cocked her head, looking thoughtful. Finally! I thought victoriously, She's gonna listen to me! "You know, I'd like to see your point of view, but sadly, I can't get my head that far up my ass," she said.

Well, this was getting no where.

In the end, I still had to get the sample.

End Yet Another Flashback.

So, Max was pissed at me. Not that I really blamed her. I was acting like a jerk. I felt bad, until I remembered that Max was acting just as jerk-y.

So, seeing as she still wasn't crawling back to me yet and Dylan wasn't begging for Maya's forgiveness yet, Maya and I decided to keep up this charade for a bit longer.

So, we kissed in public spots, held hands and all that stuff. We didn't like doing it, but that was what we had to do. Personally, every time I had to act like Maya's boyfriend, I felt the chilling unnaturalness of it all. It wasn't the kissing, I'd dated girls before… it was just that I didn't feel right when I was with Maya. Being close to people, physically, felt strange to me.

It was weird.

So, how were the flashbacks? Weird? Okay? Stupid? Tell us in the reviews! By the way…there will be lots of Fax in this story! Be patient and it will come. We're the last people who'd be fans of Mylan or Faya! *Shudders*

Hey y'all! What's up?

Best Review of Chapter 8: Final part of randoview (random+review) my plan that involves a burrito, a monkey and the flamethrower. Phase 1: Give The-Hated-One a burrito filled with laxatives. Phase 2: The-Hated-One goes to the bathroom. Phase 3: Monkey ties him up. Phase 4: Fang comes in with a flamethrower looking like a scary hot angel of death and torches him. Mix in a little evil laughter and voila, instant Dylan Death! Then global warming, nuclear weapons, guns, wars, and all other bad things in the world turn into rainbows and puppies and books! I just reread this and came to the conclusion that I really should stop eating sugar at 7:30 in the morning. Eh, whatever. (Ninjabookworm)

Well. That was…elaborate.

Anyways, really really really sorry for this late update. It's all Alyssa's fault really. So don't blame Aurora.

Don't kill us. This is a really short chapter. But it's essential...-ish. Anyways, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: JP is old and rich. We are young and poor. If we were rich, we would buy the Maximum Ride franchise! But we're not so we don't own it.

"How could I have been so stupid?" I slammed my books down in front of a sleeping Dylan in the library. The librarian glared at me. I gave her a dirty look back.

Dylan jumped, looking slightly confused.

"I mean, its obvious why their doing it. Why didn't I see it before!" I sat down with a THUMP. "It's so classic, cliché...oh Fang's gonna get it!" I seethed.

"Who doing what?" Dylan asked sleepily. I scoffed at him.

"Oh keep up! Fang and Maya of course. They're fake dating! Those scumbags! Those arses! Argh! I'm gonna kill them!" I picked up my books and started to walk out of the library. I heard the sound of shuffling papers and the thump of a chair falling before I felt the hand on my shoulder, preventing me from moving forward.

"Let go of my shoulder, Dylan," I growled forcefully. He whirled me around instead, but let go of my shoulder upon seeing my face.

"Max. Don't you see! This is great news! Other than the fact that Maya is technically cheating on me," he frowned at his own words, "this is great news! It means that Maya still likes me! She was just jealous!" I rolled my eyes at his stupidity.

"Exactly. And now Maya and Fang are trying to make us jealous. They were just insecure so now they're stinking trying to make us feel bad!" I spat out.

"It just means they care and are trying to do something about our relationships," Dylan tried to reason with me. "In a twisted and totally wrong way!" he added on.

"Fang and I aren't even going out!"

"Yet."

"And we never will, at this rate!" And then I finally made my epic exit out of the library.

I was in a foul mood all day. Fang looked absolutely miserable. He tried talking to me all the time, but he didn't honestly think I was going to respond to him, did he? I wasn't really mad at him anymore. Not really.

Okay, a little bit. But it's not like I'm going to slap him.

I'm just...disappointed. I mean, was me hanging out with Dylan so bad that he had to go out with Maya as a retaliation.

I think he kinda knows. That I'm disappointed, I mean. I think it's kinda obvious from all the looks I've been giving him.

I seriously don't get it. Why would Fang do that! I mean there is absolutely nothing wrong with me hanging out with Dylan! I mean, I hang out with Iggy all the time and Fang doesn't get pissed off and act like a heartbroken teenage girl over that! Ugh! I just don't get him!

Fang is going to have to start groveling at my feet if he ever wants me to forgive him. If he even figures out why I'm mad at him. But he can't be that obtuse...

I honestly hated this. I hated that Max seemed so…disappointed with me. I hated that I had to have a pretend romance with Maya. I hated that Dylan looked like he wanted to tear my head off at any given second. I hated that I felt like the most filthy man whore ever to walk the face of the earth.

I hated this.

But what could I do? Max wasn't exactly…jumping back into my arms, and Dylan wasn't exactly doing that with Maya either. They were both just angry at us. Well, Max just looked at me like she thought I could do better. Like I was a better person than this.

And you know what? That hurt more than anything. I almost wished that she would go back to her bitchy self that she'd been all of last week. All of this disappointment was just killing me.

I felt so weak. Killing Malums, getting beat up by Sam, that didn't hurt as much as the look Max gave me.

Still, I kept pretending to be with Maya. She kept pretending to be with me. Pretty much everyone knew that we weren't actually together, so I didn't know why I was keeping with the whole charade.

I sighed. This stuff was even more complicated than my Chemistry labs. I didn't like Max in that way, I was just pissed that she kept blowing me off for that golden boy, Dylan. I mean, I thought she was hot and everything, not to mention nice and smart, but I couldn't like her that way. We were just friends. I sure as hell didn't like Maya, that much was for certain. The only thing I knew was that I didn't like coming in second to Dylan.

I went to the library. Maya and I had another "date" there. I didn't bother to check if I was even on time. This was getting so tiresome. Plus, I could still remember the date I had with Max here. Too many bad memories.

I sat down, blowing out a gusty sigh.

"What's wrong?" Maya asked dryly.

"Nothing," I said.

"Please," she said, "Don't go all 'one word answers' with me. You're half an hour late, you're moping around and you didn't even notice when Iggy and Gazzy's latest bomb just about annihilated the forest out back. All you need to be more pathetic is a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream! What. Is. Wrong?"

I pondered this for a second. Iggy and Gazzy almost blew up the forest? Damn, they were good. I was late? Wow. Because I've just got such a packed schedule. I was being pathetic? Wait-I was being pathetic?

"Wow, I've been called many things, but never pathetic," I mused out loud.

"Well," she said, "That's exactly what you're doing. Please. 'Oh my goodness! Max hates me now! Whatever shall I do?' Doesn't that sound just the teeniest bit pathetic to you?"

"Ummm….no?"

"Not to mention jealous."

"Please. I'm not jealous. Who would I even be jealous of?" I asked.

"Duh! Dylan!" Maya hissed, trying to keep her voice down.

"Jealous of Dylan? Why?" I was so confused. Girls.

"Oh, my God," Maya started. I could just tell that she was working up to a rant, "Boys can be so obtuse sometimes! You are worried that Max likes Dylan. You are worried that Dylan likes Max. You are worried they will get together. Wanna know why? Because you like her! You've liked her since you became her mentor! Everyone else can tell except for you and her! It's driving us all crazy! Max is mad at you because she likes you too and she's jealous of you too! God, would you please just wake up and start noticing things!"

Wow. I'd never heard anyone, except maybe Nudge, talk so much in one breath. Maybe that's her power, instead of shape shifting. Super sized lungs.

Whatever. I could think about that later. There was a more pressing issue at hand.

"Max likes me?" I asked.

Sorry about the complete shortness of this chappie! We had to update though, and this is all we came up with. We had to update because Aurora is going globetrotting for all of August, and we're not sure how much writing time she's going to have.

Don't worry though! We will update, maybe once a week, or once every two weeks. Yay for laptops! Also, Alyssa is going to be gone all next week, hiking and drowning in a river. So yeah...no updates for the next week.

Thanks to everyone for being so understanding about the whole Mylan/Faya situation. It will get fixed soon, we promise! Just…not yet, because we love torturing you guys.

Alyssa and Aurora

P.S. Just wondering does anyone know what the term "wheels" means? And not in the way that involves a circular invention used on cars…

Anyways, reply to that question in your review please!

Copper!

A/N: We're not dead! Here's an update! So…during Aurora's trip, she didn't really have consistent access to the internet, so she and Alyssa couldn't discuss what they were going to do for this chappie.

We're back now, though! Yay!

Clarification: We obviously know what the term "wheels" means, since we used it in our story. We just didn't know if anyone else knew, since a couple of our friends don't.

Best Review of Chapter 9: Ok, if you search up "insane" in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of me tearing my hair out because Max and Fang aren't together yet. JUST KISS HER, FANG! (noahmagnem121)

Disclaimer: Why are these even necessary? We're pretty sure that no one on fanfiction owns MR.

Well. This was…quite a situation. According to Maya, Max liked me. I knew that I liked Max. Max pretty much hated me now, though, because of my whole fake romance with Maya. Dylan probably hated me too, because he probably still had the hots for Maya, even though he also looked like he was making a move on Max.

Wow. When did my life turn into a regular soap opera?

Things were only about to get worse, though. Our dorm master, Mr. Grant had found out that Gazzy and Iggy had practically blown up the forest behind our dorm, and was thus punishing the entire brotherhood, to "teach us a lesson". Our punishment? We were stuck in our dorm for a whole night. Studying. While Mr. Grant went to go play strip poker in a smoky, abandoned crackhouse or something.

That was…a strange thought. Not that Mr. Grant would ever go near a crackhouse. He was more…the "drugs are a sin, keeping good people from realizing the glory of God" type person.

Anyways, my brothers and I were stuck in a dorm all night.

Reminder: Dylan was pissed at me for fake-dating Maya and he kept glaring at me wherever I went. I was pissed at Dylan for taking Max away from me.

God, that sounded so possessive, but it was true. I really did feel like she was ditching me for that Golden Boy.

What a fun night this was going to be!

My English class-my last class of the day- had just ended, so I had to head over to my dorm. Personally, I thought Ravensdale was going a bit overboard with the dorm masters and stuff. University here felt more like a boarding school to me, with all the rules and controlling teachers.

I took the underground tunnels to my dorm, since it was pretty much freezing outside. If I remembered correctly, Dylan only had one class today, and that was in the morning, so he would probably be at the dorm already. I was sure to receive a warm welcome from him. (If you didn't catch the sarcasm there, stop reading right now).

I unlocked the door, and went over to the common room, where the brotherhood was gathered, studying, annoying each other or listening to their iPods. As I predicted, Dylan was brooding on a couch, his eyes shooting daggers at me.

Iggy and Gazzy didn't look at all guilty for getting us all into this current situation, and were instead listening to Iggy's iPod, and singing along.

It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friiidaay.

Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend,

Friday, Friday, getting' down on Friiiidaay,

Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend.

I swear to God, they were trying to get themselves killed by one of us.

"Could you two shut up?" Nathan asked irritably, "My ears are bleeding over here,"

Iggy and Gaz didn't even notice, they were so busy "rocking it out".

"I can't study when you guys are being so freaking loud," Holden complained, looking up from his textbook.

This time, Gazzy responded by bursting into a cloud of gas that had us all gagging.

"Whatever," Alex blew out in a gusty sigh. "So, Nathan, how are things between you and Nudge?"

"It's almost Valentines Day, man," Nathan said, grinning, "Which means, girls are always in a very good mood, and, unlike other times, they don't slap you when you try to make past second base," he winked.

I sighed. Nathan always talked like he was some sort of experienced playboy and all of that, but we all knew for a fact that he'd only ever been with Nudge.

We also knew, from Nudge, that he was actually romantic when they were alone, and had even gotten her a promise ring. But he couldn't show that side to us, no, that would totally cramp his style.

"Classy, Nathan," Holden said disgustedly, "No wonder girls feel so materialized these days."

"Geez," Alex drawled, "From the way you talk, everyone'd think that you'd never get any with girls, so it's weird that you and Angel were actually first."

"First what?" Dylan asked. He was the newest member of the Brotherhood, and sometimes didn't quite know everything that had happened before he came.

He looked at Holden, who was looking at the ground, face beet red.

"First too…do it," Holden finally got out.

"You guys keep track?" Dylan asked disbelievingly.

"Duh," I said, still mad at Dylan.

He said nothing, just glaring at me. I responded with one of my own.

"Well, this is awkward," Nathan announced.

"Ya think?" Holden said sarcastically. "So Alex, let's talk about your sex life! You and Kate were 'second', right?"

Now it was Alex's turn to blush. "No, Ella and Iggy were," he mumbled.

At the sound of his name, Iggy's head snapped up. "What?" he asked, taking out his earbuds.

"You and Ella were second," I said, cluing him in. "Because like all college guys, we amuse ourselves by talking about sex."

"Aw, be quiet Fang," Gazzy said, joining our conversation as well, "you're just sore because everyone can tell you like Max, and you're mad jealous that Dylan's been hanging out with her lately."

Well. That shut up everyone in the room.

"Uh, now this is really awkward," Nathan said. "I'll, uh, just be in my room now…"

"Me too," Holden said, quickly getting up.

"Um, was I not supposed to say that?" Gazzy asked hesitantly.

Dylan and I ignored him.

"I think you guys should just talk this out," Iggy suggested.

"Fine," I said, standing up. "Let's talk this out, Dylan."

"And…we'll just be in our rooms too," Gazzy said, already halfway to the stairs.

Once everyone was cleared out of the common room, Dylan turned to me.

"I don't know if you can get this through your head or not, but Max and I are just friends," he said. "And technically, you and her are too. But Maya and I were dating. And she cheated on me with you. Don't you think I have the right to be mad here?"

Oh. When he puts it that way…

"Plus," Dylan continued, "the whole time I was with Max, I could tell that she liked you. Just like you so blatantly like her. It's been driving us all crazy, how you and her just won't go out already."

"Whoa, there," I said, putting one hand up, "Max like me like that. Like you said, we're just friends. And technically Maya cheated on you, but the entire time I was with her, she kept on saying how she was only with me so that she could get you back. Really, that's the only reason why we started the whole thing. I wanted to make Max jealous, Maya wanted to make you jealous. End of story."

Dylan paused. "Wait," he said, "so let me get this straight. You were jealous of the fact that I was spending time with Max, so you went to Maya to make Max jealous. Maya was jealous of the fact that I was spending time with Max, so she went to you to make me jealous. And now everyone's just really mad at each other."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I said, "It sounds stupid now, doesn't it?"

"Really stupid," Dylan agreed.

We just sat there for a few moments.

"So are we cool?" I asked after a while.

"Yeah," Dylan said, "but only if you can admit to yourself that you like Max as way more than a friend."

"Max! Max. Max. MAX!" My eyes flew open and I groaned. A jumpy Nudge was clapping her hands excitedly in front of me. She looked slightly crazy. This could not be good. "Guess what?" Her voice shot up an octave at the end of her question. "Today we're going to have a...slumber party!" She paused for dramatic effect. "Isn't that going to be fun!" she shrieked, jumping up and down in the air. "We're going to tell secrets, play truth or dare, would you rather...you know all those fun cliche games that people play at slumber parties in books. And then we'll do each other's hair and...oh, oh, oh! I can give you a makeover! You have no idea how long I've wanted to give you a makeover. And tonight, I finally can!" She shrieked in excitement. I groaned again and threw my pillow over my ears to block out her voice. It didn't work.

"Nudge. Shut the hell up!" I looked up and saw Maya at my doorway. "Some people are still trying to sleep." I didn't know if I should smile at her gratefully or glare at her and offer a rude comment about her relationship with Fang. So I just ignored her and put my head back under my pillow.

I drifted off again. Today was Friday and I only had 2 classes; both were in the afternoon.

When I finally woke up, it was around 11:30 a.m. I stalked down the stairs to the common room, where Nudge and Angela were playing some kind of card game.

"Hey Max!" Nudge rushed over. "Okay, so the slumber party starts at 6:00. Everyone from the sisterhood is invited. It's going to be-"

"-so much fun. I know." I scowled. Nudge frowned.

"Anyways, just be here by 6:00. Do not be late."

Classes passed in a blink and then the dreaded 6:00 arrived. I had spent the entire day avoiding Fang and Maya. But now the latter person and I would be stuck in the same room playing childish games for 6+ hours.

Fun.

I opened the heavy wooden door, bundled up in my woolen scarf and bright red winter coat. Everyone was already there and it seemed like they were waiting for me. I quickly took off my winter clothes and plopped down on the couch next to Kate. She smiled brightly at me, her perfectly straight white teeth shining in the light.

"Alright. So girls, what should we do first?" Nudge clapped her hands together and looked around at the group expectantly. Ange (Angela) was inspecting her nails, Maya was staring off into space, Ella and Kate were involved in a heated discussion about whether purple was a better colour than pink and Sierra was reading a book. "Movie it is!" Nudge rushed over to the plasma TV at the top of the fireplace and popped a DVD into the DVD player beside it. "We are going to watch Harry Potter." Everyone gaped at her. "What? I'm not just about romance, you know."

It turns out that we were watching the Philosopher (Sorcerer's) Stone, a movie that I had watched over 10 times. Even so, it was my favourite movie, so I settled down to watch it with the rest of the girls. Unfortunately, because I had volunteered to pop the popcorn, when I returned, the only available seat in the room with a good view of the screen was beside - yep, you guessed it. Maya.

I scowled noticeably as I plopped myself down beside Maya. She acknowledged me with a flicker of her eyes in my direction.

Halfway through the movie, when Harry had just swallowed the snitch, Maya spoke.

"I'm sorry." For a second I sat, stunned and confused.

"What?" The word flowed out of my mouth without my position.

"I'm sorry. For taking Fang away and trying to make you and Dylan jealous."

"So you were doing that! I was right!" She looked down at her lap at my words.

"Yeah. It was Fang's idea." I felt slightly irked that she was trying to push all the blame onto Fang. "But I did agree to the idea, so it's my fault as well." She angled her body slightly towards mine and looked me in the eyes, looking truly apologetic. "I was jealous. A stupid jealous girlfriend, like you read about in those ridiculously cliche books. It's just...Dylan. He kept blowing me off to meet you and always gave me the excuse that he owed you ever since that party. And I agree. He did owe you. But I just wished he didn't blow me off. I mean, I'm his girlfriend!"

"Not anymore," I whispered quietly. A spark of anger was illuminated in the dark my the movie screen. I fidgeted uncomfortably under her gaze. Suddenly, her eyes were filled with cold realization.

"You're right." She sounded so broken that for once in the entire 3 months that I had known her, I felt bad for Maya. "Do you think Dylan will forgive me?" She looked so hopeful.

"Yeah. Judging from all the bad things hes said about Fang in the past week, I think he will." I smiled at her. She brightened up. As cheesy as it sounds, I think I made a new friend.

"Well, I hope things work out between you and Fang." I frowned, confused.

"What do you mean?" But she just smiled knowingly and turned back to the movie, leaving me completely and utterly confused.

R&R? Please? We promise to update faster next time!

A/N: Hey! Just a note: Double line breaks now signify the POV change. Single line breaks will just be regular, well…line breaks. Forgive us for the shortness of this chappie, we've come down with a massive case of writer's block.

Reviewer of Chapter 10: OH MY GOD. THEY'RE SO DAMN CLUELESS! Hook them up or I'll MAKE you hook them up! (Dreamin'OfABlondeFang)

We chose this review partly because Aurora almost died laughing at the idea of a blonde Fang.

Disclaimer: Maximum Ride doesn't belong to us, now that we've said it, please don't make a fuss! (And please don't kill us for that terrible rhyme.)

So, the last few weeks at Ravensdale had been pretty uneventful. Well, they'd been soap-opera eventful, but not -oh- God- I'm- going- to- die- from- Malums eventful.

…Which I could live with.

Well…actually I couldn't. I mean, there's a reason my brothers and sisters have the power we do. And that reason's not so that we can prance around complaining about how our love lives are. No, we got powers, we were chosen to be members of Wellex and Bevlon to save the world. Something I thought we had been neglecting to do lately.

Just so you know though, Max and I are on friendly terms now, and Dylan and Maya have commenced to eating each other's faces off. Bad for the rest of us, but hey, at least that means no more drama anymore.

There was that little issue with Max and me though. I mean, according to Maya, Max liked me like, in that way, and according to the rest of the Brotherhood, I liked Max in that way. The question was, did I? And did she actually like me like that?

Oh God, I promise never to spend a paragraph prancing around complaining about my love life again. Really.

Now back to the actual plot…

I had an idea to get us back on track with the entire saving the world from a deadly virus situation. We were pretty sure that the Malums were close to rebuilding the virus.

I sighed.

This was how it had been for hundreds of years. The Malums would make a virus, we would destroy it. The would remake it, we would destroy it again. Generations and generations had been going at this, and yet we were still needed. This wasn't really saving the world. It was more like keeping the danger at bay.

Like running on a treadmill—frustrating.

What we really needed was to get rid of the Malums all together.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, Whoa, Fang. I get that the Malums are cruel and all, but…killing them? You didn't seem like that kind of person!

I'm telling you right now that I am. The Malums are hell-bent on destroying civilization as we know it. They won't stop until they've ensured just about everyone on the planet is infected with a deadly disease, until they've become stinking rich by selling off the antidote.

When you put the entire population of the earth in perspective with the few dirty Malums there are, does it really seem so bad anymore?

The only thing is…the Malums can't be killed. I don't know what freaky crap they've been experimenting with, but they can't die. Honestly, once Serena got hold of one and chopped it into tiny pieces. Do you know what it did? The pieces started…wriggling, I guess and once they found each other, fused together. Like a puzzle.

About five seconds after we saw that, Kate spun around and threw up, along with Alex and Holden.

I'm sure the rest of us were pretty close, too.

Believe me though, we've tried killing them in many, many ways. A few weeks after the incident with Serena, we tried burning them. No use. The fire didn't harm them at all. It may as well have been brightly coloured air.

Poison? No effect. Gunshots? No effect. Bombing their compound? No effect.

They just can't be killed. It drives us all crazy.

But really? The only way to stop the wave of death promising to happen is by killing them.

How?

If that's not the question of the century, than I don't know what is.

I was in my room, doing homework (yeah, I know. After a whole page of talking about angsty stuff like death, I start doing my homework. Just goes to show you how normal my life is) when Max barged in.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, while mentally slapping myself. Way to be smooth Fang, way to be smooth.

'Uh, I just wanted to talk," Max said, edging towards the door. "But if you don't want to…"

"No!" I said, jumping up and knocking over a container of pencils in the process.

Kill. Me. Now.

Max suppressed a smile, and helped me pick the pencils up off of the floor.

Once we finished, she sat down on my bed.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I asked, trying to make up for my rough welcoming. I sat down next to her.

"Angela," she replied, looking down at her hands.

"What about her?" I asked. Years of interacting with the Sisterhood taught me that girls get to the point painfully slow, so I was prepared for this to be a long talk.

"She wants me to become leader of the Sisterhood, but I don't really want to," Max said bluntly. Scratch previous though. This was very direct. Max sure was different from other girls I've known.

"Why does she want you to be leader?" I asked, kind of confused. Angela practically feeds off of her role in power. It doesn't make sense for her to just give it away like that.

"I don't know!" Max exploded. "It's just like, one second she's bossing me around, telling me to vacuum the halls in the middle of the first hangover, and the next, she's saying that she wants me to be in charge of everyone! I've seriously got no idea how her mind works!"

I tried another tactic. "Why don't you want to be leader?" I asked.

She snorted. "Do I look like a leader to you?" she began. I didn't point out that yes, she actually did look and act very much like a leader. "I didn't even believe that people, humans, could have the power you guys have until a few weeks ago. Sure, I'm getting better at flying and all, but I'm still pretty clumsy. I've got no way near as much knowledge about the history and traditions of Wellex and Bevlon, not like Angela."

"You keep saying 'you guys'," I said gently, "It's not. It's we. You're completely one of us now. You've got as much right to be leader of the Sisterhood of Bevlon as anyone. Plus, judging from the way you boss me around, you'd be a damn good leader too," I finished with a smile.

It sort of did the trick. I mean, Max sort of smiled, but she also hit me with the palm of her hand, calling me an idiot too.

"I just don't get why Angela would want me to be leader," Max said. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Did you try asking her?" I prompted.

"I did, but all she said was that she needed a change, and that she though I'd be a good leader. Then, her voice started to go all funny and she left the room. I think Ella said that she was crying in her room."

I paused, nonplussed. "That doesn't sound like Angela to me," I said.

"I know, right?" Max agreed. "I've just got no idea what brought this on. I'm so confused."

"That's okay," I said, "just try talking to Angela again sometime. She was probably just being PMS-y when she started crying. No big deal. I'll come with you if you want."

Max sighed. "You're such a good person Fang," she said. Uh, if you knew that I was contemplating fifty ways to kill someone, you wouldn't think that. "I'm so lucky that you're my friend," she continued.

And with that, she kissed me right on the lips.

Obviously, this wasn't my first kiss or anything, considering all that fake make-out sessions with Maya, but it felt like it. I might have missed something, but this wasn't something "friends" would do...

Her lips moving in sync with mine…I'd never felt anything like that before.

After my initial shock at kissing her, I began to kiss her back.

Suddenly, she jerked apart, knocking over that container of pencils again in the process.

"Oh my God, Fang, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean, no, I mean, I just totally…" She looked so flustered, trying to pick up pencils, trying to explain herself to me, and trying to not look at me in the eye.

In my dazed condition, all I could think about was how hot this look was on her.

After a few more moments of stammering, Max finally picked herself off the ground and ran out the door, down the hall and towards the underground tunnels.

I was still sitting on the bed, looking like an idiot. Nathan came out of his room, looking confused.

"What was that all about?" he asked. "I just heard a door slam, and the next second feet are pounding in the hall and you're looking like someone just stole your lollipop."

I blew out a sigh. "Girls," was all I said.

I lay face down on top of the cream sheets in my room. I had been in this position for hours already and I could feel my neck starting to cramp up.

The rest of the sisterhood was either in class or doing who knows what with their boyfriends.

I had already gone to class earlier today, ignoring Fang's piercing looks from across the room. I had deliberately put at least 10 metres of distance between us and had positioned myself near the door so that I could make a hasty get away and avoid talking to Fang.

I'm acting paranoid, I know I am. But I think I have a right to act this way. I mean, I kissed my best friend. Who does that? And I don't even like him.

I think.

I mean, it's not like I haven't thought about it. Fang's pretty hot. Sorry, majorly hot. Like Edward Cullen hot. As other girls have told me. He's also pretty sweet. And funny. And nice. And good at sports. And not evil. And has gorgeous black hair. And...

God Fang! Do you have to be so perfect.

And there I go talking to myself again.

Avoiding him isn't the answer to my problems. I know that. But I really need to sort out my thoughts. Plus, if he really wanted to talk to me, he could. He knows where my room is and probably knows I've been up here all this time.

So I conclude that he doesn't want to talk to me all that much.

And I'm perfectly fine with that.

Anyways, straying away from thoughts of Fang and his perfect hair. And eyes. And eyelashes. And ears. And jawline...

Whoa. Erase that from your memory.

Anyways...

So Angela's been bothering me about being the leader of the Sisterhood. It's really strange. I have no idea what brought this on. I know I was just ranting to Fang about this a few days earlier, but honestly, it seemed like just yesterday that she was hazing me. And now she wants me to do what? Lead a group of people with supernatural powers to save the world?

I don't want to be the leader of the sisterhood. It would just be awkward and weird. I mean, I've only known these girls for, like, 2 and a half months. It would be irrational for be to become their leader. I'm not the leader type.

So I conclude that Angela is not in her right mind. She's delusional. Me? A leader? Pssht. No way.

It's been three days since I kissed Fang. So...three days without getting any sleep. At night, I'm haunted by my thoughts. I'm always wandering the halls. 2 nights ago Nudge had attacked me because she thought I was going to steal her shoes. Typical.

I got a nice purple bruise on my stomach from that.

However yesterday night I overheard a very interesting conversation.

I was walking down the hallway leading to Angela's room. I need to talk to her about "Being a Leader". I was slightly more awake than as I was earlier today, which under normal circumstances would have been surprising considering it was 11 p.m. However, considering I had force fed myself 3 cups of coffee, it wasn't so surprising.

As I neared Angela's room, I noticed that the door was slightly open. A thin strip of light filtered through the crack, making the doorway look like the way into Narnia.

But it clearly wasn't. Partly because I knew that it was Angela's room and not a wooden closet, and because I could clearly hear loud voices coming out of the room.

"She needs to know." That was Ange's voice.

"You can't tell her. Do you know how mad she would be?" A male voice answered. Fang.

Ange lowered her voice. "But she won't accept!"

"Make her!"

Ange's voice was rising into near hysteria. "She's stubborn!"

"Shhhh! Do you want the whole building to hear!" They lowered their voices to a whisper. I crept closer, my ear to the door.

"She...has to...grandmother was...legacy..." I was missing too many words. It was just a jumble now.

"No! ...must...power...have to...reason..."

"We'll talk about this in the morning," Angela finally declared. I heard shuffling feet and started to panic as they drew closer.

I raced down the hall and open a door at random, quickly hurrying in. The footsteps walked past and I relaxed, slumping against the door.

"Max? What are you doing here?" I jumped up, startled and realized where I was. .A sleepy Nudge as sitting up in her bed, looking at my curiously.

I glanced around, looking for a excuse.

"I was wondering if I could borrow your shampoo. I ran out of mine."

Nudge raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow.

"You shower at 3 am?"

I looked defiantly at her. "It's a good wake-up call!"

Nudge fell back into her covers. "It's in the shower. Knock yourself out." I scrambled over to her bathroom, grabbed the shampoo and rushed out of the room into the dimly lit hallway.

I had been thinking about what Ange had been talking about since. I think she was talking about me, but why? And why with Fang?

God, my head was starting to hurt. That might have something to do with me only living on a few hours of sleep. And the fact that I could move my neck anymore, on account of my awkward position.

Suddenly, the my door banged open. I jumped up from my spot on the bed, turning to see a livid Angela.

"MAX! You can't just stay up here doing nothing! I don't care about what happened between you and Fang, I just need you to resolve it!"

"Why?" I knew I sounded like a whiny kid, but at this point, I really didn't care.

"Because he isn't focused on anything and is just walking around like a zombie. And we need him to focus on how to destroy the Malums!"

"Why can't you think of something! He may be the leader of the brotherhood, but you're the leader of the sisterhood!" I shouted right back at her. Her eyes flashed.

"No I'm not," she said quietly.

"What?" I was shocked. "But you start every meeting! You order them around! They listen to you!"

"But I'm not their leader. We don't have a leader, okay? A leader has to have specific credentials. Ones that I don't have. Plus, I'm too young. The youngest of the group. I'm only 19, you know. You have to be at 20."

"Then wait another year!"

"I'm not qualified! Only you are! And you won't be leader! You need to 'think about it'. You just need to suck it up and be grateful that you can be leader and accept it! I don't care if you don't think you're cut out for being leader; you have to be. Nobody cares! You're the only one qualified, so it's your job!"

"So what are these qualifications! Huh? What are they?" I was getting really mad by now. So was she. "What do I have that you don't?" I was surprised when she looked away.

"I can't tell you."

"Well I'm not accepting until you do." She looked back at me, her eyes pleading.

"Just talk to Fang." And she walked out of the room.

I fell back onto my bed, exhausted, but unable to sleep. Especially after a fight like that. Why does everything in my life lead back to Fang?

Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang...my mind just kept chanting his name. I sighed.

I think I need to make a list of things I need to talk to Fang about:

1. Why were you talking to Ange at 2 am two nights ago?
He probably won't answer that one and just ask me another question to distract me.

2. What the qualifications of being leader?
Possibly he might answer that one. But, considering the conversation that I had eavesdropped on between him and Ange, probably not. Wait, that doesn't even make sense. Stupid sleepless brain.

3. What does a grandmother have anything to do with this?
He'd probably laugh and call me mental. Which I probably am, considering my current state.

And, on a completely different topic,
4. Why did you kiss me back?

Yeah, cause he would totally answer that one. Stupid Fang and his stupid shiny black hair and perfect obsidian eyes.

Oh, what was that? Some plot? Really? Unbelievable.

Please review! Leaving us with one word is fine, a rant is fine, hell, even flames are fine. We just want to know what you think. That way, the story can progress in a way that will make YOU happy!

Category:	Maximum Ride
Genre:	Adventure, Romance
Language:	English
Characters:	Fang, Max
Status:	In-Progress
Published:	2011-06-27 21:47:00
Updated:	2012-02-06 12:39:06
Packaged:	2021-04-04 14:39:10
Rating:	T
Chapters:	13
Words:	37,498
Publisher:	www.fanfiction.net
Summary:	"The floor's still dirty," he said, smirking as I scrubbed his floor with a teeny, tiny toothbrush. I wanted to smack him. "Of course it's dirty; I'm dirty!" I screeched at him. I was tired, sweaty and completely covered in dirt. "I hate you." AU. Fax

Periculum by Young.FOOLS

Table of Contents

1. Chapter 1

2. Chapter 2

3. Chapter 3

4. Chapter 4

5. Chapter 5

6. Chapter 6

7. Chapter 7

8. Chapter 8

9. Chapter 9

10. Chapter 10

11. Chapter 11

12. Important AN

13. EVEN MORE IMPORTANT AN