A/N Yes, I'm not kidding. I am posting less than a week after my last post! You can thank the giant east coast snowstorm system that has closed my school the rest of this week. Last time I checked, I am female, so there is no way that I could have written Maximum Ride. That is the genius also known as James Patterson. Thank you to my wonderful beta starfire-chan521 for correcting my grammatical and spelling errors, and for introducing me to . ________________________________________________________________________

Fang's POV

I bolted into the living room. The flock, Ella, and Dr. Martinez were all sitting on our giant sectional. Ella was practically sitting on Iggy's lap. Gazzy was staring at Ella, probably hating her for stealing Iggy away from him. Dr. M was reading a book, and Angel and Nudge were playing concentration.

I cleared my throat. The flock snapped to attention, and started to take in their surroundings. In a matter of two seconds, they were all looking straight at me.

Ella looked bewildered; she had been clued in by Iggy's body suddenly going stiff. She followed Nudge's line of sight, and found me. Knowing that it was just me relaxed her. She had become almost as paranoid as the rest of us these days.

Angel had been sitting next to Dr. Martinez. She tapped her lightly on the shoulder and sweetly said, "Dr. M? Fang's here."

Dr. Martinez looked up from her book and smiled at me, encouraging me to tell them all my news.

I stepped forward and walked so that I was in front of them. They all turned and gave me their undivided attention. Wow, this was rare.

Nudge raised her hand high into the air, straining to get my attention. Ah… I knew she wouldn't be able to keep quiet.

"Yes Nudge?" I said warily.

"Oh my God Fang, why did you call all of us here, I mean really, what's going on? What would be so important to pull everyone in the entire house into one location? I mean really, that takes quite a bit of time to do 'cause we're usually spread all over the house. And why are your eyes all glazed over? You look like you're in a dream. And most importantly, why the hell are you soaking wet?" Nudge burst out.

"Heck, not hell Nudge." Max scolded.

"Yes Max." She shamefully lowered her head.

I quickly did a 360 in surprise. Max must have snuck up behind me while Nudge was blabbering. She had a slight smile on her face. Once she had realized that I noticed her little grin, she went back to scowling at me.

"Did you tell them yet?" Max asked, staying just as fierce.

"I was getting to it." I growled at her.

I turned back around to face the rest of our household, and prepared to tell them.

"Ok, so… I'm having a sleepover."

There was a chorus of chatter. I couldn't understand what they were all saying, they were talking so quickly. I just kind of stood there, waiting it out. I flipped my hair out of my eyes, discovering that it really was wet. Wow, you know you're in love when you don't even realize that you're soaked because you're thinking about her. Oh, I love Max.

"Guys!" Max shouted from behind me.

As soon as they fell silent she said, "If you have any questions, please raise your hands so that Fang can answer them one at a time."

Everyone except Dr. Martinez and Angel's hand's shot up into the air. Angel, of course already knew everything. Sometimes her being a mind reader was so convenient.

I called on Iggy first.

"Ok man, who's invited?" The blind bird kid asked me.

"Derek, Chris, Joe and Gabe." I answered him.

The Nudge Channel looked like she was about to burst if she wasn't called on immediately, so I let her talk next.

"Oh my God, Fang. Thank you so much for inviting Derek. You know I have like a huge crush on him. He is so sweet, and understanding and funny! Not to mention how hot he is! I mean with his gorgeous dark brown hair, and his deep blue eyes, and his…"

Nudge was silenced by a hand over her mouth.

"Ok, anyone else?" I asked.

"Yeah man, when are the dudes coming over?" Ig asked me.

"Well, I was thinking around six because dinner is usually at seven, right Dr. M?"

"Yup," She replied. "It's Mexican night. Tacos, fajitas, rice, beans, burritos, and enchiladas. No, Gazzy, you can't have any beans. I will make you a platter with bean free food so that you don't completely stink up my house tonight."

"Damn." Gazzy looked downcast. He had grown to like using his "special gift."

"Darn." Max corrected him.

"Sorry Max." Gazzy said.

"Great," I said. "So… I'll text them and tell them to be here by six."

"It'll be so great to see the guys again, Fang." Iggy told me, his blind eyes glittering with excitement.

I just nodded and went off to call them all.

Thirty minutes later, I knew two things. One, that Gabe had the flu, and wouldn't be able to come tonight. That would make Max really happy. The second was that everyone else was coming.

I looked at my watch. They were due here at six, which means that all wings and anything abnormal must be put away by half past five. So as not to unveil the flock's secret.

The boys already thought that it was a bit shady that I had a huge crush on Max, since we live in the same house. The official story at school is that our separate parents were all missionaries, and that they are on a mission to end world hunger in Africa. All of our parents are supposedly good colleagues of Dr. Martinez, and she agreed to take care of us all as if we were her own until they return. The school board took the story, but rumors fly in high school.

I glanced at the clock. Hum… four thirty. I had exactly an hour to do whatever I pleased. I decided to go out and stretch my wings. A nice fly would do me good, especially since I would have to be holding my wings in tight tonight.

On my way to the patio to take off, I met the rest of the flock. Apparently Angel had been eavesdropping on my thoughts and decided that a flight would do us all some good.

We took off. It felt so good to be in the air again. I had missed feeling the air rustling the jet black plumage of my wings. If you have never experienced flying, then you wouldn't understand. It is the most beautiful feeling in the world. You feel free to do as you please no rules or regulations, no school, no erasers.

We all respected each other's silence. We liked to use flying as a thinking time, to organize our thoughts.

"Hey Fang?"

We all knew it would be Nudge to break the silence. It always is.

"Yes? What's up?" I asked her, trying to be kind.

"Um, well I was thinking. Shouldn't we start heading back by now? I mean, we've been up here for over twenty minutes now, and if we want to be back in time to make sure everything is ready for your sleepover we should be heading home. And I really can't wait to see Derek. Have I mentioned how hot he is?" Max cut her off.

"Yes darling, you have, probably about a hundred billion times." Max said warily.

"Now, let's all practice our formations from our touring days, shall we?" She commanded.

We practiced flying all the formations we could remember on the way home. We even practiced evasive maneuvers. Thoroughly exercised, we returned to the Martinez home at promptly half past five.

Everyone proceeded to their rooms to change their clothes and the girls just had to brush their hair. That is one thing I don't understand about girls. Why does it matter if your hair looks a bit tangled? I mean, it's not like you're a movie star or something. No one's going to be taking your picture if you're just at your house.

I ventured into the living room and sat down on the couch. The smell coming from the kitchen made my hunger even stronger than it was two seconds ago. Dr. Martinez sure can cook. How I wish Max had inherited her talent. If Max is anywhere near the kitchen before mealtimes, the flock has been trained by instinct to go and hide under a rock. Those kids would rather face fifty erasers by themselves than eat food cooked by Max.

"Hey." Max said.

Ugh! She had to stop doing that.

"Stop it." I said.

"Stop what?" She had an innocent face, staring me down with those killer eyes of hers.

"Stop sneaking up on me. I thought that was my thing." I rebutted.

She plopped down on the couch next to me, grinning.

"Not anymore." She sung as she wrapped her arms around me, snuggling in against my side.

Apparently, I was forgiven. Then, the doorbell rang.

A/N Oh, a cliffy. Now, I know exactly what is going to happen next. But it is always entertaining to hear your predictions. Who knows? You may be my inspiration. Please review. No flames, but constructive criticism is appreciated.