Max= 17 years old

Fang= 17 years old

Iggy= 17 years old

Nudge= 16 years old

Ella= 16 years old

Gazzy= 16 years old

Angel= 6 years old

Max POV

I stared out the car window, feeling depressed. It seemed like the world was taunting me today. The bright, sunny weather and the happy squealing of my younger sisters and their bouncing in their car seats, Ella and Nudge (long story), made me roll my eyes.

I wanted to scream, kick, or cry, but I'm Maximum Ride, and Maximum Ride doesn't cry. So I took out my Beats and my iPod, put the playlists on shuffle, and closed my eyes as I listened to the familiar tunes of Secrets by OneRepublic. I drifted into a dreamlike consciousness, in and out of sleep.

Suddenly, I was woken by a vigorous shaking. Opening one eye, I looked to see who woke me up. Nudge, my adoptive sister, stared down at me, her mouth forming words and me unable to hear, due to the headphones in my ears. Nudge rolled her eyes and yanked off my headphones, interrupting my previous song.

"OMG, Max, we're here! Arizona looks so much different from California, don't you think? I miss our home there, but look at this home! It's huge! Also, we'll be able to meet new people, and-"I slapped my hand over her mouth, unable to take any more of her wild rambling. I love Nudge to death, but she kills me with her motor mouth. We call it the Nudge Channel: all Nudge, all the time. She could turn Mother Theresa into a murderer with that mouth of hers.

I felt a wet, slimy but rough object inside my hand, and I yanked my hand away from Nudge's mouth. She rolled her eyes and resumed talking. "Mom said that we could choose our own rooms this time, since the house is huge! Ella has-"I was out of the car before she finished her sentence. The biggest room would be mine!

I reached the front door of our house, where Ella was fumbling with the keys. She finally managed to open the door, and I zoomed in there before she did, yelling, "I get the biggest room!" which was met with the choruses of "Not fair, Max!" which quickly faded out of my hearing range.

I passed the biggest den I had ever seen, along with a beautiful kitchen and a dining room, which was well furnished. I glimpsed a swimming pool in the backyard, which was great. Arizona probably got scorching in the summer. It would be great to cool down in.

I ran upstairs in a winding staircase, to the second floor. I saw plenty of well-sized bedrooms, but it just wasn't my taste or size. The third floor, I marked as my own. It was like a giant bedroom, with big windows and two bathrooms, both with Jacuzzis and a hot tub. The walls were bare and free of paint, even the door, but that would have to change later when I painted it. Everything was bare and free of furniture, except for the boxes in the center of the floor that had 'Max' written all over it. People must have known I would like this type of room.

Just then, my sisters, Nudge and Ella, came bursting through the staircase. Their eyes widened when they took in my new bedroom. I couldn't blame them. This place was awesome, not to mention huge and had everything I wanted. They were probably jealous.

"Max, that's not fair!" Ella yelled. "You always get the biggest bedroom!" She pouted, which Nudge mirrored.

I smirked. "Not my fault you were too slow getting up here, Ells-bells," I said, referring to my nickname for her. She glared at me, which made me smirk even wider. She sighed, defeated.

"Come on, Nudge. We'll get revenge on her later. Maybe a makeover?" They left with their heads together, no doubt scheming up ways to torture me later. I didn't care, as long as I still had this room. I sighed happily.

My mom's voice came floating up the stairs. "Max, honey, can you help us with the furniture? I'll bake cookies after!" I didn't have to be told twice. I'll do anything for either my mom's delicious cookies, or Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Yum. I made my way down the stairs, taking two steps at a time.

I groaned when I reached my mom. Piles of boxes littered the front doorway, and I was too lazy to carry all of them. Even with Nudge, Ella, and my mom pitching in, it would take at least 2 hours to unload all of our stuff, and probably 6 or 7 hours to put everything in its proper place. On top of that, we had to go shopping for materials for our bedrooms, like paint for the walls, beanbags, minifridges, sheets, pillows, and other stuff we didn't bother to bring with us, since we already had our hands full enough with the stuff we already had and needed. I guess my work was cut out for me.

Ella came bounding down the stairs. She flashed a wicked smile at me- uh oh. When Ella gets that look in her eyes and flashes her devilish grin, things aren't good for you. Of course, my punishment is the same thing every time: a makeover by Ella and Nudge. It's terrifying, and I can't get out of it, no matter what.

Just then, a familiar squeal came down the stairs, and in came in my motormouth sister. She started squealing and sighing and dancing around. We ignored her. This was pretty normal for her. But suddenly, she whispered something in Ella's ear excitedly, and Ella nodded. She smirked, and both of them turned to look at me.

"Let's get all this stuff inside at least before you girls give Max a makeover," Mom said, with a roll of her eyes. She knew everything about my torture but did nothing to stop it. I gave up on her trying to set me free long ago.

I leaned over and grabbed a box that was labeled 'music room' and put that to one corner. Soon Ella and Nudge joined in, and eventually, Mom started helping us. The boxes were piled according to category, which was a lot more organized than the last time we moved.

We were finished in an hour, which gave Mom some time to go to the store for some groceries and room supplies. "Ella and Nudge, sweethearts, can you run with me to the store? It won't take long," my mom asked. They agreed, and soon they were speeding off into the dust.

I climbed the stairs to my new room, and started unpacking. I started with the clothes, which took up 4 boxes. I'm not a girly girl (far from that), so they were all black, grey, white, and navy blue with the occasional emerald or red. It took me 20 minutes to locate all the boxes, find the clothes hangers, and put them in my giant walk-in-closet.

I heard the car doors slam as my mom and sisters came home. Soon, Ella and Nudge burst into my room, panting slightly. Ella had a bag filled with something, and Nudge held a 6 pack of Cokes in one hand, and cookies in the other. I drooled as Nudge came closer, holding a cookie in her hand and waving it back and forth. My eyes followed it, going side to side. Nudge set down the Cokes and motioned slightly to something behind me, but I was too lost to care. Until I realized what they were planning to do.

With a cry, something slammed on top of me, momentarily make me lose focus on the cookie. Ella snarled and took out a rope from her bag, along with duct tape and a bandana. Nudge quickly got a chair-when did she get that?- from outside the hall, and pushed me down on it, tying my hands and feet with rope and duct taping my mouth.

I finally gave up after 10 minutes of struggling, as it was pointless to fight them when they had the advantage. They smiled evilly. Ella said slowly," Maxie dearest, if you work with us, we'll give you cookies and coke. Just don't yell."

I rolled my eyes, and Nudge took out something from the bag Ella was holding earlier. Eyeliner. Oh my gosh, they were insane! I started struggling again, and Ella sighed. "I hoped we didn't have to use this, but you leave us no choice. Sweet dreams, Maxie dear." With those words, a sickly sweet smell invaded my nostrils, and the world went black.