DISCLAIMER – No, of course I'm not James Patterson. Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing on fanfic but would be publishing books instead! Jeez!

Chapter 1

My heart was going overload as I tried to pack my bag for the first day of school. I tried to take my mind off the infinite number of bad things that could happen. My hands shook furiously shook as I reached for my scissors in my pencil case.

"No. NO!" I screamed furiously in my head. I just needed to pack up my bag that's all. A small whimper came out of my throat as I tried to take my eyes off the scissors lying 'harmlessly' in my pencil case.

"Maximum! Stop it. Mom's gonna flip if she finds out" I chastised myself.

With a trembling hand I traces the faint pink lines sliced across my wrist. Mom had been absolutely shocked when she first found me like this…

FLASHBACK

I sank into my bed as the pounding noises grew louder. I tried to tell myself that dad's probably just hammering a nail into the wall to hang up a family picture frame or something.

But I knew better, I felt like a wimp as I let mom stand up for herself.

The pounding started to fade away but it was soon followed by a stream of curses from my dad. I covered my ears to block out the sound. It was no use.

I took a deep breath and pulled myself up from the bed to go downstairs. Just as my feet touched the floor, my eyes caught site of a drop of blood running down my wrist.

"Huh? How on earth did that get there?" I whispered to myself.

I don't remember anything like that at all. My scissors were flung on the other side of the room by my door.

It all came rushing back to me. The anger. The frustration. The shame. The emptiness. And… the sadness.

I'm not the one to cry or take things to heart, but this was a new low for me.

I padded my way across the room, put the scissors in my drawer and pulled my sleeves down to hide the cuts.

I pulled open the door and plucked out the courage to face the fury (aka. My 'dad'). As I stepped on the landing, I looked around and saw mess everywhere, glasses were smashed, frames were flung, and ornaments were thrown all over the wooded floor and looked as if they had seen better days.

I made my way towards a hunched figure on the sofa. Mom. I made my way over to hr and put a supportive hand on my shoulder. She raised her head and I saw all her emotions opened up to me. Pain. Sadness. Emptiness. Anger.

Well at least I'm not the only one…

I looked around to see if my so-called dad was anywhere to be seen but there was no sign of him. His shoes were missing from the shoe rack on the far end of the room and so was his coat.

I turned to mum again, "He's left again, hasn't he? He's done it again. Gotten drunk, thrown a fit, shouted and ransacked the room. That selfish little son of a b-"!

"MAX!" my mom told me off in the loudest voice she could even after having cried the life out of her,

I shot her a look that pretty much screamed, "You do know that I don't regret saying that."

Mom sighed and pulled me into a hug. She took my hand and started fiddling with it like sh did when she was feeling upset or confused, I absolutely forgot that I still had blood on my wrist until my she looked at it more closely and whispered in horror, "Max, what did you do?"

I gulped when I saw my blood-stained white shirt. No way was I gonna get away with this…

Ah, hell.

END OF FLASHBACK

I shut my eyes and asked myself why I replayed that memory again. That was 4 years ago. It was 4 years since 'dad' had left my mom and me. 4 years since he never returned after that night. 4 years since mom had decided to move on.

Now it was me, Maximum Ride and my mom, Valencia Martinez.

We had recently moved again because my mom had finally been able to find a job in a vet clinic. So this is like the millionth time I'm moving school.

I usually don't mind going to school but today, for some strange reason, there's a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach that this year us going to be full of weird and wonderful surprises. Damn you, intuition!

I sighed and zipped up my bag to get going to school. I trudged down the stairs and grabbed a cereal bar from the kitchen while reading mom's note:

Max,

Sorry honey, but my shift started early today so you'll have to walk to school. There are some directions on the back so you don't get lost – hopefully. Good luck with your first day and remember – MAKE SOME FRIENDS!

Lots of love, Mom x

Oh great. "I'll try and not take a detour on the way to school or something… God know how that will end," I muttered to myself.

Oh well, I needed some exercise after lazing around all summer, I guess.

"One thing's for sure, I will make an absolute epic fail at the "MAKE SOME FRIENDS" thing," I thought.

I've always sort of tried to blend in at my previous schools; sure I've had friends but none too close. I've always feared one thing about having a close friend – wanting tell them about my past.

I slung my bag over my shoulder, jammed the cereal bar into my mouth, grabbed the directions and made my way to eternal doom – or in other words, School.

A/N Sorry about the fact that that was a bit of a boring chapter but I really needed a sort of base to start at. I seriously hope you like it and please, please, please review - they're one of the things that keep me writing!

Max's past will become clearer in a few chapters and also… Fang and the rest of the Flock will turn up in the next chapter! YAY!

Oh and I needed some ideas for the flocks surnames. Ideas and reviews are loved!

WhattheFnick xFang and Iggyx, signing off!

P.S. They are still gonna be called Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge and Angel