Hey, guys. I'm Believe. This is my first MR fic, but you have to start somewhere, right? I wrote it a while ago, and I plan on continuing it if people actually read it (and leave evidence, such as dropping a review or something so I'll know).

In this story the flock and Ella's ages are slightly different from the real books. Max and Fang are 15, Iggy is slightly younger at 14, Ella is 13, Nudge is 12, and then Gazzy and Angel are both 7. Sound good?

Oh, and Iggy isn't blind, and Ange and Gaz aren't biologically related (But don't worry, I'm not pairing them together. Gross!).

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. This is just a fanfiction, so obviously I don't own it! JP does, of course.

BOOM!

I froze, dropping my pencil onto the floor, looking up from my sketchbook as I yanked out my iPod ear phones.

"IGGY! GAZZY! WHAT WAS THAT?" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Those two were always up to no good.

I counted to three in my head, like I do every freaking day whenever a smoke alarm goes off, or if I hear an explosion like the one previously mentioned.

And... three.

"NOTHING, MAX!" They both chorused. I let out a groan, closing my sketchbook, before getting up from my bed.

I stormed down the stairs, only to see my two bozo brothers looking guilty as ever.

I sighed, running a hand through my dirty blonde hair, my nose filling with the awful smoke smell no doubt wafting off of their little 'contraption'.

I assumed something had gone wrong, since Gazzy was eyeing what was left of the device in a disappointed and saddened manner. Well, serves them right for setting it off in the freaking house!

"Just... clean it up before Mom gets home." I ordered.

"Sir, yes, sir! Wait, I mean Ma'am..." Gazzy mock-saluted me, earning a glare on my part. Iggy whacked him on the head, which resulted in Gazzy whacking him back, but on the arm since he couldn't reach Iggy's head.

My brother was a total skyscraper. But who was I to talk? I was a whoppin' 5'8. That's sort of tall for a 15 year old girl.

I rolled my eyes as the two started to obnoxiously fight and argue. I was about to retreat back to my room, when the doorbell rang.

I checked my watch.

Yes, I wear a watch. Why? Cause I'm cool like that.

Yeah, note the sarcasm. I could never be cool, but what do I care? Weird is where it's at.

It was only 4 o'clock. Mom wouldn't be home until well after 7, at the earliest, so it definitely wasn't her. Plus, she'd just use her key to walk right in.

She worked almost full-time at a veterinary clinic a few blocks away, so I mostly had to put up with Iggy and Gazzy all by myself.

Oh, the horror.

I wish that was sarcasm.

No, I'm just kidding. I love my brothers to death, I really do. It's just... Gazzy can get sort of smelly, and the two put together make a mean bomb, as you just witnessed. But all in all, I guess they're alright.

For two bozos. Kidding, of course.

I walked to the front door, taking my time as the person on the other side kept ringing it and ringing it. Sheesh, someone's impatient!

I finally reached the door. I pulled it open without looking through the peep-hole. It's not like I couldn't take down a robber or anything, so I took my chances just opening it.

As soon as the door swung open, I came face-to- well, leg-to-face, with a short little girl with curly blonde hair. I looked down, and she blinked up at me with gigantic blue eyes.

She was adorable, I must admit. But something about her just screamed, I don't know... evil? Yeah, that's it.

"Hi, Max! Martinez, right? I was wondering if you'd play with me? I'm kind of bored, and my siblings won't do a thing about it. Cruel, right?" She spoke, sounding way more mature than she looked, that's for sure.

I raised my eyebrows, peering behind her to see if she came alone. That wasn't exactly safe, but she seemed like a smart kid who could easily manipulate her way out of trouble. Or, you know, maybe she was the trouble, what with the 'evil' vibes and all.

I saw nobody around, so I assumed she was alone.

"Um, do I know you?" I questioned, not meaning to sound rude but not being nice, either.

She smiled at me.

"Yes, silly! We've only been neighbors for, what, 3 years now? I'm Angel Ride, duh! I think your brother is even in my class. You know, the smelly one? He's kind of weird. But cool at the same time. Sort of like me, ya know?" She giggled.

"Ohh... your house is over there, right? Why did you come here again?" I asked, glancing over at the Ride's house. I tried to hide my disgust for them. After all, this little girl didn't seem so bad, compared to her older brother and two sisters.

I felt bad that she had to live with them. Poor kid.

"Well, to see if you'd play with-" She was cut off by a female's voice.

"Angel? Angel! Don't run off like that, we started to get worried!" I looked over and saw none other than Ella Ride, looking girly as ever in her light pink skirt and tank top.

She quickly caught sight of me at the door, and immediately scowled. I glared right back.

"Get off my lawn, Ride." I told Ella. She scrunched up her nose with disgust.

"Angel, sweetie, get over here. NOW. We don't talk to people like... that." Ella said, referring to moi. She was so stupid.

"Excuse me? People like what, exactly?" I questioned, crossing my arms. Angel frowned at her sister.

"Ella, quit being a drama queen, Max is cool! Well, besides her awful fashion sense.. but still." Angel giggled as I raised my eyebrows at her yet again, slightly offended.

"Oh my gosh. Angel, get inside, now!" Ella said frantically. Angel looked back at me, sighing as she rolled her eyes at her sister.

I held back a smirk.

"Sorry, Max. Maybe we can play next time." She said as she hesitantly descended down my porch steps, waving over her shoulder. She then disappeared next door into her house. That left me and Ella to have a glare-off across the yard.

My yard.

I repeat, MY yard!

"Ride, if you don't get your scrawny little butt off of MY property, I will kick said butt into next week. No, screw that. I'll rip out your stupid brother, what was his name? Tooth? Right. I'll rip out his spine and then beat you both with it!" I threatened, not completely serious, of course. But I did have a violent mind, I'll admit that.

"Oh, and same goes for for miss chatty mouth, A.K.A. Shove." I said with disgust, referring to her stupid sister, Nudge, and their even more stupid brother, Fang.

Fang was the worst of them all. He was a total jerk, I just... yuck. I hated him. Everything about him. He even smelled annoying.

Suddenly, Iggy came out onto the porch. "Max? Who was at the- oh. Her." He spat with as much disgust as I was feeling, once his eyes landed on little miss Ella.

"H-Hi, Iggy." She said, visibly gulping. I noticed her face turning slightly pink, almost matching her skirt.

That was really weird.

Iggy caught it, too, so we both shot her 'WTF?' looks. Her eyes widened, but then she quickly started glaring at us both.

"I said hi, Igiot! Looking stupid today, as usual." She said in a sickly sweet voice, flashing him a sarcastic smile.

Iggy scowled. "Same for you, Ride." He shot back.

"How have your stupid little explosions been going? You woke me up yesterday with that dumb firecracker thing, and I will get revenge. Same goes for you, Maxi-pad!" She all but growled, before storming off back into her stupid house with her stupid family.

We love the word stupid, if you haven't already noticed. Not referring to ourselves, though. More like each other.

Well, Angel wasn't so stupid, and neither was their Step-mom, Anne. But their dad, on the other hand... ugh. You can so tell where they get it from. But I mean, Jeb isn't all that bad... he's just not all that good, either.

Iggy snorted as we watched her all but strut inside, swaying her hips dramatically, then with a finishing touch, she slammed the door. I was surprised the thing didn't just fall off it's hinges.

A few minutes later, Iggy jumped all four of our porch steps, landing smoothly on the grass, before grabbing his skateboard that was sitting a few feet away beside Mom's garden.

"Well, I'm off to Sam's house. Him and the guys are having a football night." He said, waving slightly, hopping on his skateboard and heading down our rocky driveway.

I have no idea how he managed to do that without falling. For me, it was almost impossible to skateboard on rocks.

But, Iggy was Iggy. He had some weird, yet impressive skills. Like his cooking, for instance. I definitely didn't get that skill. I don't think Gazzy did, either.

The only thing that boy can cook up is a nasty fart. Seriously, he made Iggy's pet Iguana pass out one time. Poor thing.

I furrowed my eyebrows, processing what he had just said. My lips then curled into a small grin.

"Wait. Igster, can I go, too? The Jets are playing tonight." I stated eagerly. What? We don't have cable, therefore I almost always miss the game.

So, so unfortunate. Well, not really. I just had a slight love of American football. What can ya do?

"Well, I would say yes... but Dylan is going to be there." He said slowly.

My hopeful expression turned into a scowl. I nodded understandingly.

"Maybe next time, though. I can try to set him up with some girl so he won't be there. That good?" He raised a blonde eyebrow. I smiled slightly.

"Okay. Thanks, Ig."

"No problem, Max. Oh, tell Gaz my nitroglycerin is OFF limits, if you don't mind." He added, before pushing off with his right foot, heading off down the road riding Goofy style.

I stood there for a second, making sure he made it to the end of the road (What? I'm paranoid, okay? Plus, contrary to popular belief, I do love my brother, believe it or not), before I got bored and walked inside. I didn't get very far, before the doorbell rang.

Again.

Didn't I JUST walk inside? Who could have run up to my porch in that little amount of time without me seeing them when I was out there two seconds ago?

I let out a frustrated sigh, going back and opening the door, yet again. Only this time, there was no adorable little girl standing there.

All I saw was a annoyingly-good-looking face glaring daggers at me, as usual.

"What do you want, Nick?" I spat venomously.

"That's no way to treat someone who has a key to your house, Maximum." He replied, dangling my house key in front of my face.

I repeat, MY house key! Deja vu, much? Ugh, Ella was way too much like him. And yes, that is totally a bad thing.

But how did he get my key?

I went to snatch it out of his hand, but he quickly pulled it away, lifting it up and well over my head.

I let out a low growl.

Fang wasn't as tall as Iggy, but pretty close, so that made it next to impossible for me to reach the key, even when I was jumping as high as I could.

After a few minutes of trying, I sighed, almost giving up.

Almost.

He stared at me warily, still holding the key up high, knowing fully well that I'd try something if he wasn't careful. Dang it!

"What do you want?" I snapped.

"Ange left her coat." He said simply.

"Oh. Um, I think it's- WAIT." I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, crossing my arms. "It's 90 degrees out, she wasn't wearing a coat!" I exclaimed, realization hitting me as he got that smirk back on his annoying little face, yet again.

He nodded understandingly.

"So then why did you come here?" I asked, obviously annoyed, my patience quickly running out.

If I even had any for this loser.

"I just wanted to piss you off. And it worked," He stated nonchalantly, his lips once again attaining that obnoxious smirk that I so badly wanted to smack right off of his face.

I glared at him, glancing up at my house key. Why did I have to endure the misery of being neighbors with the ride family?

WHY?

"Get out of my sight. And give me back my house key! That's called stealing, Fang! I could have you arrested, you know. Give it back. Now." I crossed my arms, waiting for an answer as he just stared at me.

"No."

I huffed as he started walking down the steps. I was about to jump on him and start pounding his face in, when he suddenly tossed the key behind his shoulder. I reached out, swiftly catching it one-handedly. Impressive, huh?

No. I'm kidding, of course. He threw it, alright. But onto the roof.

THE ROOF! A.K.A, way out of my reach!

I let out an angry growl, beyond pissed. But you caught that a long time ago, right? Well, not my fault I have anger issues.

Fang turned around for a second, walking backwards, acting all 'cool'.

I just thought it looked stupid, like everything else about him.

"See you at school, Max." He smirked, before disappearing into his garage.

I gritted my teeth. The first day of school after summer break was bad enough. But sharing it with him?

I had a feeling I'd need one of those anger-relieving punching bags.

"Oh, and Max?" He poked his head out of his garage door. I glared at him, not responding, but he went on anyway.

"Did you do something different with your hair? Like maybe forget to run a brush through it? Instead of looking like a bird's nest, as usual, it just looks like a pig's butt today." He grinned sweetly, before his head vanished inside the door again.

Make that two hundred anger-relieving punching bags.

Or maybe I could just use Fang Ride's face.

After that unpleasant encounter, millions of questions were swimming around throughout my head.

Such as, why was he so obnoxious? Why did all the girls at our school fall for.. him, of all people?

Yuck. I tried not to think about the thought of falling for Fang Ride. It was almost too disgusting to bare.

But the most important question running through my mind... why did he love to piss me off so much?

Those, my friend, were the questions that, to me, were equivalent to, say, "What is the meaning of life?".

I suppose I would never understand.

If I get positive feedback on this story, I'll continue with it. So, if you like it and want to read more, let me know! Negative feedback is also welcome, just try explain what you don't like about it so I can at least improve.

Thanks for reading :)