Hey.

I haven't updated any of my other stories lately... uhh sorry about that but it's because I have this new one. This is an AN AU fic and it's OOC character a lot of the time. And there's cussing so sensitive ones, beware! There's some fax, some Miggy, and a little bit of Mylan... wow Max really get's around in this story. Hope you enjoy.

Let me disclaim: I do not own anything related to Maximum Ride because I am not an old guy.

Highlight of the Day: Today I dad a super soaker fight with my brother in the backyard pretending we were in a legit COD game. Too much fun.

The ticking of the analog clock on the wall is the only sound in the waiting room. An untouched stack of teen fashion magazines are on my left—the receptionist brought them for me while I am waiting—and Wheel of Fortune is muted on the flat screen against the wall. I slouch down in my chair, hoodie pulled up over my head—I'm trying to hide the fact I haven't brushed my hair for the past two days—and absentmindedly count the ticks of the clock. One, Two, Three, Four—

"Dr. Wyatt is ready to see you," The receptionist brings me out of my trance. I reluctantly get out of my seat, smoothing my crumpled sweat pants out—I had pulled them off of my bedroom floor today-before following the receptionist to room B14. "Dr. Wyatt will be with you in a moment."

She unlocks and opens the door for me and gestures for me to sit down on the velvet red couch with a pillow at the end. I roll my eyes as I sat down on the couch. Could these people get more stereotypical? I prop my muddy sneakers on the spotless glass table, smearing dirt everywhere. I didn't want to be here, so why did they send me? How could my family betray me like this? It's all I can think for the entire ten minutes it takes for the "doctor" to show up.

A slim lady, possibly in her thirties comes over and sits in the chair about three yards from the couch where I am. She has long, blonde hair and big green eyes. She's dressed in a plain white t-shirt and jeans. Deceptively welcoming. "Hello Max, how are you today?"

Her voice is soothing, but it isn't fooling me. I scoff. "Just dandy. This is exactly how I like to spend my Saturdays."

I'm hoping to crush her spirits so she'll just give up on me and then put me on some dumb prescription drugs that I will never take so I can just go home. But she just smirks.

"I've been doing teenage psychiatry for a while, Max. You're going to have to do better than that," She smirks.

"Oh don't worry, that was just the pre-warm up," I shoot back, glaring at her. "Here, how about a deal? You tell my mom I'm okay and I go home. That way you don't have to put up with me and I don't have to be here. I'd say that's pretty fair."

Dr. Wyatt laughs. "Yeah, because the world is fair? No Max, that's not how it works."

I snort. "Okay, so how does it work?"

"I ask you questions, and you answer them. You talk, I listen. You'd think you'd know what a psychiatrist is by the time you're eighteen."

I cross my arms. "And why exactly would I answer your questions?"

"Because," she pauses for a moment, "your family is concerned for you. Your mom couldn't even make it into the waiting room without crying, I was just talking to her. You wouldn't want your mom to cry, would you?"

"I guess not," I reply nonchalantly. I hate it when my mom cries. It's like watching puppies burn alive.

Dr. Wyatt taps her fingers against her leg. "So tell me a bit about yourself. You know, before."

"Define 'before'?" replied half-heartedly.

She looked at a clipboard with notes. "One year ago."

I used to be a good kid. I mean, I used to be a really good kid. I always got home before ten without needing a curfew, I never did something I knew my mom wouldn't agree with, and I always let her know where I was going, what I was doing, and who I was hanging out with. I got over 90% in all of my subjects and was the school counsel vice-president on the way to be the president for my senior year. Colleges already had my name noted and sports scouts were following me like coyote followed roadrunner. I looked after my sister and made sure no one ever hurt her. I took time out of my social life to focus on school and extracurricular activities. The poster child for "good kids".

"I was okay," I reply evasively.

"Did you have a lot of friends?"

I had friends, there was my sister Ella, who was one year younger than me. I had the girls on the school teams who I talked to, along with the girls at the kick-boxing gym. I had the group of people I always sat with at lunch. Old memories of eating lunch and the occasional sleepover flooded back to me, warm and fuzzy. I remember study groups where we ordered boxes of pizza and finished every last slice. There was JJ, but I don't deserve to call her my best friend. Maybe then, but not anymore.

I curl my hands into tight fists. "I had some friends."

"Your mom told me that you were pretty tightly wound," she presses on.

That is a total understatement but I shrug anyway. "I kept busy."

She looks like she wanted to continue on that, but she doesn't. Good decision on her part. "So, when did your story start?"

I can't help it, I laugh. Like full on laugh. "My story? Are you serious? What is this, a soap opera? Please. I don't have a story."

"Everyone has a story, Max," Dr. Wyatt meets my eyes evenly. "It's just that some peoples' stories are more interesting. I'm interested in hearing yours."

"It's a waste of your time, and my time," I answer nonchalantly. "It's not worth telling."

"Two more weeks till summer break. You pumped? I'm pumped."

"Mmmhmm," I mumble while organizing my afternoon schedule into my daily planner, putting all my activities into the required hourly spots.

"Wow Max, did you even hear what I said? Max?"

I turn to look at her. "Yeah Jen, I did. I'm just busy today. I have to finish the stuff for my campaign, tutor, track practice, kickboxing, organise the fundraiser for the local shelter and do Prittman's essay tonight."

JJ shoots me a questioning look. "Um, Prittman's essay is due in like, seven days."

"Yeah, but I also am doing scholarship stuff. Get a jump start for college." I start to fill in my schedule for tomorrow. Angel's dance recital, coaching Gazzy's soccer team...

JJ grabs my shoulders and pulls me out to the left before I run into a garbage can. "Slow down bud. You need to look where you're going before you kill yourself."

I roll my eyes. "I'm fine. You need to stop worrying about me."

"If I wasn't here to take care of you, you'd go crazy and you know it," she gives me that 'I know everything' stare she uses so frequently, causing me to scowl. But then she has to spoil the moment by sending me her "genuinely concerned" face and I know what she's about to bring up.

"JJ, just drop it. I don't want to talk about that." I answer in the coldest tone I can muster.

"Max, I only want the best for you," J.J. lowers her voice so that no one else can hear us, even though the halls are basically empty. She would have to ruin a perfectly good day by bringing that up. Or at least implying it because she knows I don't want to talk about it.

"Shut up." It's icy cold as it leaves my mouth. JJ freezes up as she identifies the bitchiest, coldest tone my voice can create.

"I'll support you no matter what Max, it's just you have me worried about you."

"Don't," I retort "I don't need you to do that for me, I can handle it myself."

She sighs. "You need me to be there for you, like you for me. I know you'll always be there when I need you."

"Of course," I answer.

I didn't realize then that I was lying.

A thousand painful memories rush through me, but I shut them down. I swallow down hard.

"I think your story is worth telling. So go ahead, from the start."

I think it out perfectly before I answer. "When I was little, I was always smiled upon by adults. I was naturally athletic and I was lovable and I was one of those children who hardly caused problems and I always looked after my sister and stuff. Everyone was always just so proud of me, and parents always told me that they were so proud to have a daughter like me. I was the best at everything in my kindergarten class, and although I wasn't always the best at making friends back then, I still felt like I fit in somehow because I was the exceptional one and people loved me, or at least excepted me for that. I had a place in the world. My parents always told me I was perfect, and that's what I always wanted to be. What I always was."

Dr. Wyatt tapped her fingers against her clipboard. "Why did you want to be perfect?"

"I don't know." But that was a lie. I wanted to be perfect so people would love me. I wanted to be perfect because perfect people never make mistakes. Perfect people are always admired. I wanted to be perfect because no one could argue with that. I wanted to be perfect because it was the best thing anyone could ever be.

I wanted to be perfect because it was the one thing I couldn't be.

Kind of short, but that's cuz it the first chapter. I promis longer chapters in the future. Hope you liked, R&R?