Inside, I was reeling. What had prompted me to say that? But it sort of fit. I wasn't Christina anymore. Christina held too much baggage. Artemis was someone new, someone undiscovered. So as I stood there in front of the one and only Maximum Ride, leader of the only group to escape the jaws of Itex, with a bag full of her secrets slung over my shoulder, I felt myself let go of one of the last things tying me to my old life.

As I was going over this new feeling of freedom inside, Max was looking at me from the outside. "Where did you come from?" she asked harshly, taking a slightly defensive position.

"When a mommy and a daddy really love each other-" started Iggy. He stopped when Max slapped his shoulder.

I grinned. "That. But most recently from the School."

Iggy edged away from me, almost as if I was carrying a virus and distance would protect him. His eyes closed. Fang flinched. Max, noting Iggy's distress, touched his shoulder.

I scowled. "Look, they're searching for you. Believe me if you want. But if you stay here, you're doomed."

"Say I believed you," hedged Max. "Where would we even go?" Her hair slipped in front of her face, and she brushed it back angrily. "Who's to say that you're not leading them to us?"

Angry, I grabbed the edge of my shirt and yanked it up, exposing the thick and knotted scar that marred the left side of my stomach. Half of one that was identically placed on the other side was also visible. "I had to heal from this with no painkillers. It was so painful I couldn't sleep in the small crate they shoved me into. And despite the fact that it was still bleeding, and that I hadn't slept in who knows how long," I spat, "they shoved me into the maze and made me run on the charged ground. What makes you think I'd let them do that to anyone else?"

Behind Max, Fang's mouth had dropped open. Max shot him a look before going back and looking at my eyes. "That doesn't answer where we'd even go." Her eyes were less suspicious, but only barely.
"Arizona." It wasn't even a question to me. It was one of the many things I had thought about on my long flight. "It's where someone who used to work with the program lives. They might know who your parents are."

She didn't look totally convinced, but Max did relax slightly.

My hands started shaking slightly, and I clenched them into fists to stop the movement. The faucet in the kitchen dripped, and I flinched at the unexpected noise. The dripping, however unexpected, was comforting. It was something familiar in a strange place.

Iggy, who'd been silent for the most part, spoke up. "Wait, so you just came from the School?"

After realizing that he couldn't see me nod, I replied with a quick, "Yes."

"That's in California, a state and a half away." He turned to Max, grabbing her shoulder again. "Did you even ask if she was hungry?" My stomach chose right then to growl at me, and I grabbed it, embarrassed. Iggy turned back to me, hand still on Max. "How long did it take you to get here?"

"A week." While not technically true, it sounded better than a day, and it was a week if you counted the time that I should've realized that I needed to leave.

Iggy gasped in mock shock, and started moving towards me. "You must be starving. I would have food ready, but SOMEONE," he yelled at the ceiling, pulling me towards the table, "blew up my microwave."

I grinned at the antics. "Some food would be great."

That night I ended up on the couch. I couldn't sleep one bit. The excitement of meeting the Flock (even though it was only half of it) had worn off, and the guilt of leaving my parents had set in. This would be my one night of mourning. After that, it was something that would stay in my past. This one night of mourning led me to be awake every time Max checked in on me, which was almost hourly. Eventually I did get to sleep, but it was only for a few hours.

The next morning, I was woken up by several rambunctious children running down the stairs. All three of these children froze at the sight of a stranger on the couch. The first thing Gazzy did was run right back up the stairs. He came back a few minutes later, dragging a yawning Iggy right behind him. They crashed into the still frozen Nudge and Angel, making a huge Flock heap.

I laughed at the antics. "Good morning, chef," I lightly mocked, pulling Iggy out of the pile. "I see nobody was informed of my arrival?"

He shot me a wry grin. "Nope, these soldiers were sleeping when you came in. This is Angel," he grabbed the youngest by her arm, "Nudge," shoved her with a foot, to which she squeaked angrily, "and the microwave incinerator Gazzy." Iggy wasn't as merciful with the mini pyro, who he grabbed by the scruff of the neck and dragged up to Iggy face level. "Which we will talk about. Those powers are only to be used for good, or I'll take the clock you hid from Nudge and give it back before we make the big one."

"No fair!" cried Gazzy, struggling to get away.

"My clock!" cried Nudge. She turned on Gazzy, who by this point had been dropped on the ground. "You give that back!"

"No!" And with that, Gazzy shot off like a bullet, out the door before I could blink. In another second we could see both of them take off into the air, still bickering.

Angel, still hanging from Iggy's hand, giggled. "You know what comes next, right?" She deftly twisted out of Iggy's grip and launched herself towards the table. "And I know Max likes scrambled eggs, so you better get ready."

Iggy snapped to attention, saluting at Angel before making his way to the refrigerator. "Aye-aye, cap'n."

A few minutes later, a mountain of eggs, toast, and bacon sat at the table. Angel, Iggy, and I helped ourselves, on a first come, first serve basis. Max eventually stumbled into the room, sitting at the table and piling her plate high. She had only taken one bite when Nudge and Gazzy both rolled back in. An almost sulfuric smell wafted into the room, and I noticed that Gazzy was covered in mud. Nudge's pants were singed. Both were quiet, which I could tell was an anomaly.

Iggy's nose seemed to flare wider. Slowly, he turned to face the dynamic duo. "Did you set off the microwave?" he questioned, voice barely above a whisper.

"She dunked me in mud!" protested Gazzy, pointing a finger at Nudge.

"After you almost blew me up!"

Iggy pinched his nose. "We were going to rescue that!" he exploded, stabbing a fork into his pile of toast. "Why can't you listen! Microwaves are a pain to replace!"

Max stood up, her chair scraping the floor. Everyone got quiet, and the arguing couple flinched away from her. She looked around the kitchen, before announcing "It's too early for this." With that she moved towards the door. As an afterthought, she grabbed her plate. At the door, she turned to face us. "Tomorrow we're leaving. Meeting tonight for details." And with that, she was gone.

So I got around to reading the book Divergent. It is amazing. I recommend it for those who are looking for a good read.

~Wryder