okay here is the first chapter of my new Maximum Ride fic! ^.^ Personally I love this one and I have high hopes for it! so enjoy! and REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

The sun beat down heavily on the top of our car as we sped from California to Arizona. I will say this once again: I. Do. Not. Want. To. Go. Argh! Why didn't my mum listen to me? Did she ask me if I wanted to move? No. Did she ask me if I wanted to leave all my friends behind and brave a new high school, halfway through my freshman year? I think not. Did she even bother to ask me how I felt about it? No way. Now here we were me, my twelve year old sister Ella and my mum. We were on our way to our new home in Arizona where apparently my mum would earn more money from her new job at her OWN Vet Clinic.

"Where is this place exactly?" I asked, staring out the window at the dying grass.

"Not far," Mum replied.

"Sure, sure," I replied. I sighed loudly and I saw Mum's eyes flick to me in the rear view mirror.

"Max, honey, I know you don't like this but I think this will be a good experience for you," Mum told me.

"Can't I go and live with dad?"

"Jeb is a busy man. Plus he suggested this. He said there was a great high school there." I rolled my eyes.

"Max, I'm going to miss my friends too but I'm looking forward to this," Ella said softly. I looked at her. I loved my sister. I was never annoyed with her or angry at her like some people were with their siblings. I smiled at her gently and she grinned back. "See, your smile is great. You know, I bet that on your first days guys are going to be panting after you. You're so pretty, I am very, very jealous."

Despite my sour mood, I giggled. Ella always knew how to make me feel better. True I was kind of pretty. I didn't look much like my mother and sister who were very much alike. Both had dark hair, tanned skin, brown eyes and Hispanic looks but I took more after my dad. I had brown-blonde hair which, every day was becoming more and more brown but I had my mother's brown eyes. I liked my eyes. They were very pretty.

"Okay Max, that's a better attitude," Mum laughed. "Now I have everything unpacked already so your rooms are set up. I hope you like what I've done."

"You know us well Mum, I'm sure they're great," I said. I got a bigger room here so I was glad. Mum had come down earlier with all our things and had everything unpacked ready for us. Then she came and picked us up from our goodbye parties and we started the trip down here.

An hour later we drove into the town where we'd be going to school. I saw so many people on the streets. I saw tonnes of kids. There were teenagers just chilling everywhere. I even saw some guys who were kind of cute.

"Wow… there are so many people," Ella murmured. I nodded in agreement, starting to miss all my friends already. I used to have a boyfriend as well. He was so cute. But we had to break it off due to my leaving. I would really miss Sam.

We drove out of the town and neared a forest. On the edge of the forest was a small, cosy looking house. I had to admit, this was great. We were near the forest. I love trees and animals. Especially birds.

"Welcome home girls," Mum said. She pulled up and we all climbed out of the car. I was still staring at the house when the other two started walking towards it. I followed them and we went inside.

"Now I know you only got here but-" Mum started. I raised an eyebrow.

"We have to go to school tomorrow, don't we?" I asked. Mum nodded.

"Sorry girls but I have to work and what better to do on your first Monday here then start school?"

"A lot of things," I replied harshly. Mum sighed.

"Well go and explore," she told us. Ella rolled her eyes at me.

"You are in a really bad mood today aren't you?" she asked as we wandered down the hall. I shrugged one shoulder and stopped at the door that had 'Max's Room' on it. I winked at Ella and opened the door and stepped in. The room was perfect, decorated with blues, reds, blacks and other awesome colours. I dumped my bag on my double bed and sat down.

A new life. A new start. Yeah right. What did this place have to offer that LA didn't?

"Fang!" A loud voice called. A handsome, black haired teenager whipped around. He was dressed entirely in black and had messy, longish black hair and a long fringe. His eyes were a dark midnight and sparkled lightly like stars. Standing beside him was another male of the same age with pale skin, strawberry blonde hair and pale blue eyes.

"Yeah?" the black haired boy called back. A girl with long red hair rushed up to them. She was dressed in a mini-skirt, black boots and a red tank top.

"Hi Lissa," Fang's friend said with a small wave. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans and glanced at Fang from the corner of his eye.

"Hi Iggy," Lissa replied. "Say, Fang, I was wondering… well, tonight they're playing-"

"Sorry, no can do," Fang replied. "Mine and Iggy's parents are going out and we have to look after Angel and Gaz." Lissa's smile fell from her face and she frowned.

"Oh… well maybe next time then," she said. Fang shrugged casually and gave her a dazzling smile.

"Sure, why not?" he replied. Her face lit up with a smile and she blew him a kiss, winked at Iggy and raced back to her friend down the street. Iggy turned to Fang.

"Did you really mean that?" he asked.

"Did I really mean what?" Fang replied. He turned on his heel and started walking up to where two women were standing talking. There were two blonde children with them.

"Fang!" the little girl shouted. She had bright, innocent blue eyes and long, curly blonde hair. Fang bent down as she raced over to him. She threw herself into his arms and he picked her up and hugged her tight.

"Hey little Angel," he said. She wrapped her skinny arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. Fang laughed and looked sideways at Iggy.

"Hi Iggy!" Angel shouted.

"Hey," Iggy replied. Fang and Iggy walked right up to the women and the little boy. Fang shifted Angel in his arms and smiled.

"Hey Mum, hey Mrs Griffiths," Fang greeted.

"Hi Nick, Ian what have you been doing? You have dirt all over your jeans!" Ms Kingston exclaimed. Iggy smiled ruefully.

"Just mucking around with the others Mum," he replied with a casual grin. His mother rolled her eyes. Fang looked at his mum. She smiled at him with the midnight eyes that he also possessed.

"You're not covered in dirt," she noted. Fang shrugged.

"I'm the sensible one," he replied. "Remember?" His mum laughed and Angel played with some of Fang's long fringe.

"But you did have fun didn't you?" Angel asked. Fang chuckled and smiled at her.

"Yeah I did," he replied. She smiled brightly at him, looking up at him with her trusting, bright blue eyes. Fang looked down at the young boy with blue eyes and blonde hair.

"Hey Gazzy," he greeted.

"Hi Fang," Gazzy greeted. Iggy grinned at his little brother.

"What have you been up to little buddy?" Iggy asked.

"Not much," Gazzy replied, grinning innocently at his older brother.

"Uh huh," Fang and Iggy replied together looking at each other.

"I wouldn't believe that in a million years," Iggy said. Fang rolled his eyes. Ms Kingston looked down at Gazzy with a hard look in her eyes.

"Gary was playing with your chemistry set again," she said. Iggy chuckled.

"What did you blow up this time? Did you film it? And how come you didn't wait for me?" Fang laughed as Mrs Griffiths frowned at her eldest child. Fang's mother giggled slightly.

"Well I'll see you tonight Alicia," Fang's mum said.

"Bye Alice," Alicia said. Fang, Angel and their mum walked towards a car. Across the road from them people were moving around a building. Fang paused as he was putting Angel in the car.

"Hey mum, I thought no-one owned that anymore," Fang said, pointing at the building.

"Oh a new vet has come to town, she got a job there and now they're reopening it," Alice replied. Fang nodded with a slight frown.

"What's their name?"

"Valencia Martinez. I plan on going in to welcome her to the neighbourhood tomorrow. I heard on the grapevine-"

"Mum, gossiping is not nice," Fang laughed. He climbed into the front seat.

"I know son but anyway she has two daughters and one of them is your age," Alice finished. Fang rolled his eyes.

"I bet she's just like every other girl in this town, up themselves, flirty, tarty and obsessed with clothes and boys." Alice waggled a finger at him as they pulled out onto the road.

"Don't think like that. There's bound to be one girl out there who will strike your fancy."

"Whatever."

I sighed inwardly once again. Mum had to take Ella to her school and I was left all alone in the high school office, waiting to meet my principal. I had been shaking slightly but I controlled that. I was determined to hate this school as much as possible. I was determined not to make any connections here so that I could go back to LA without any angst when my dad wanted to let me live with him.

"Maximum Martinez?" a male voice questioned. I turned and looked at my principal. I hated him as soon as my eyes fell on him. He was a sour looking man with a shiny, bald patch in his dark brown hair. His eyes were a watery blue framed with thick lashes. They were small and beady. He had a moustache the same colour as his remaining hair. His mouth was set in a scowl and his expression soured worse as he laid eyes on me.

"I prefer Max," I said politely, standing up and holding out my hand. He eyed it darkly and huffed before turning into his office.

"This way," he said stiffly. I frowned and followed him into his office. On his wall was a calendar showing January and the picture was of an attractive model in a scanty swim suit. Oh so this was what he was, a man who thought women were no more than toys? Stupid sexist pig.

"Maximum," he said darkly, turning to face me. I resisted the urge to glare at him. "I'm your principal, Mr Turner. This is your timetable. Your homeroom is room twenty-three B and this is your homework diary. Any questions?"

Yeah, why the hell are you a teacher if you're such a horrible man?

"No sir," I replied politely. A buzzer went off and Mr Turner's face turned even sourer. He pressed the button to the one on his desk, looking mad.

"Linda, this is not a good time, I'm with a student!" Mr Turner yelled.

"It's Vance, sir, he says it's important," a small voice replied. Mr Turner's face changed. He sat at his desk.

"Send him in then," he replied. He took his finger off and gave me a pointed look as if to say 'well go on little girl, there is a male coming in, he's so much more important that you'. I gave as polite a smile as I could manage and slipped out as a senior guy went in.

I sighed and the office lady gave me a sympathetic smile.

"He's like that," she said, guessing at the look on my face. I walked over.

"Where's room twenty-three B?" I questioned.

"In the back building honey," Linda replied. "Leave the office and follow the path around to the left. It's right beside the bottom oval." I nodded.

"You shouldn't let him give you crap just because you're a female," I said. "We girls are important too. We are just as strong as men. We're much more amazing as well." Linda laughed lightly.

"I know but I can't exactly do anything, he's my employer," Linda replied. "You had better get going, you're already slightly late. Have a good day." I winked and turned and left the office. It was so infuriating when men are like that. Well I would have to do something about it.

I followed the path and I passed the cafeteria. I glanced at it and then kept walking around. I kept walking and walking. Where the hell was the bottom oval? I saw it and then saw the building. I went in and walked down the corridors. Why was my homeroom so far from everything? Ugh. So annoying.

I found my room and glanced up. Yup, this was it twenty-three B.

I bravely faced the door of my new homeroom. I was nervous, the palms of my hands were sweaty and I was shaking slightly. But this should be easy. I mean, come on it's just starting a new school. No pressure, easy. Take it easy Max. Deep breaths. Come one, no-one is going to bite you.

"Okay, calm," I whispered to myself. "Go to your happy place Max. Breathe. Alright, ready? Yes... I think. Great now I'm talking to myself." I took a slow, nervous step towards the door when the sound of running footsteps roused me. I turned my head in time to see a guy my age racing down the corridor. He spotted me and tried to skid to a halt but his forward momentum dragged him forward.

"Shit!" he shouted. And the next second he slammed into me and we both went flying. Great, what a wonderful start to my first day. First, the principal is a sexist pig. Second, my homeroom is as far away from the cafeteria as physically possible in this school. Third, some stupid jerk just crashed into me, causing me pain and he wasn't moving.

"Hey!" I shouted. He raised his head. Okay first good thing, the stupid jerk is really cute. He has long black hair with a long fringe that flopped in front of his eyes. Oh his eyes. They were a beautiful midnight. They were the kind of eyes that got you lost when you looked into them because they were so deep. His face was tanned and my, oh my, he was so cute. But my positive outlook on his features was marred by the first words out of his mouth:

"What's the big deal huh?" he demanded. Oh even his voice was sexy but what an arrogant son of a gun. "Why the hell were you just standing in the middle of the corridor?"

"Well why were you pelting at full speed down here? Maybe you should try being on time!" I snapped back. Well what a wonderful first impression. Oh well, he was arrogant and that usually meant also sexist. That meant I hated him. Simple as that.

"For your information- Wait, why should I have to tell you why I'm late? Who are you anyway?" He sat back on his heels and studied me. "I haven't seen you around here before." His snappy tone was gone to be replaced by mild curiosity. He looked kind of bored actually.

"That might have something to do with the fact that I am new," I replied tersely, sitting up on my knees and picking up my bag. I went to grab the books that had fallen out but his hand shot out and grabbed them.

"Maximum Martinez," he murmured. He looked up at me, his face expressionless. "Interesting name."

"I prefer Max," I told him. I went to snatch my books but he held them out of my reach and held out his right hand.

"I'm Nick Ride," he said. "But everyone, and I mean everyone even my mum and most of the teachers, calls me Fang."

"Fang?" I asked, incredulous. Then I was curious. "Why?" He shrugged.

"I've had it for a while. It might have something to do with the fact that I came to school dressed as a vampire one day on a dare. That was when I was eight though." I actually laughed. Okay so maybe he wasn't so bad. Maybe his day had just started off bad. I shook his hand and then he stood up and pulled me to my feet. He dropped my hand and passed me back my books. I took them and dropped them into my bag.

"So did you just move here?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I replied. "Hey, shouldn't we go in?" He shrugged, falling silent. I studied him for a moment. We stood in silence for a moment and I felt like I had to make conversation.

"Hey, why were you late exactly?" I asked.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked. A smug look came onto his face. "Are you already deciding whether to stalk me or not?" I stared at him, fury boiled in my blood. Now he could have been Orlando Bloom's identical twin but it would not have stopped what I did next. I pulled my hand back and then slapped him. He stared at me.

"WHAT THE HELL?" he shouted. At that moment the door flung open and there stood my homeroom teacher. He looked like an easygoing man but right now his eyes were narrowed dangerously behind his red glasses. His eyes were a startling shade of green and his hair was messy and pale blonde.

"Mr. Ride, what is going on?" he asked.

"Ask her Mr. Varner," Fang hissed. Mr. Varner turned to me and surprise lit his features.

"You must be Max," Mr. Varner said. "Wonderful to meet you." He glanced at Fang. "I will deal with you during break until then, since homeroom is nearly finished, why don't you walk Max to her next class? After all you two seem acquainted already." Fang stared at Mr. Varner and then stared at me. I glared at him. What the hell? This stupid jerk? Walk me to class? This had to be some kind of joke.

"Sure," Fang agreed, giving me a dark look and then plastering a fake smile on his face. "What's your first class Max?"

"Uh…" I pulled out the timetable that I had folded and stuffed into my pocket. I pulled it out and glanced at it. "I have Extension English." Fang nodded until Mr Varner ducked into the room and then he smirked.

"Nerd," he smirked.

"You shut it," I snapped. "Now are you going to take me to my class room or not?"

"Yeah, you're with me and my friend Iggy," Fang replied, rolling his eyes. "Come on, we have to meet up with him first."

"Looks who's talking. You're in the class too." Fang rolled his eyes again.

I wanted to glare but I settled for a sour, martyr look and followed Fang as he strode out of the building. The siren sounded and suddenly the school was full of activity.

Fang and I walked towards a different building. Everywhere we passed, girls stopped and made eyes at him but he didn't notice. Hmm, maybe he isn't so sexist after all. Wow. But as for that guy… I glared in the direction of a tall, pale guy with strawberry-blonde hair, leaning on the building. His hair was spiked up and he was watching some girls pass. He was wearing jeans, t-shirt and denim jacket.

"Ig!" Fang called. The guy turned his head and I stopped in my tracks. That was his friend. Great.

"Hey man!" Iggy called back. He pushed off the building. His eyes landed on me, trailing behind Fang unhappily. "Uh… man, who's that?" He indicated me and then appraised me. I suddenly wished I wore baggy cargo pants instead of my tight, flared jeans. I also wished I'd worn a jacket over my sports t-shirt.

"That is Max," Fang said. He beckoned to me. I went to his side unhappily. I was a real martyr. "She's new and she's in our extension English class. I have to show her around today." I stared at him.

"You only had to walk me to my first class, not all day," I protested.

"I want to show you around all day," Fang said sarcastically. "How could I leave a helpless damsel alone to find her way?"

"I'm not helpless!" I glared at him and turned and stalked off.

"She's so annoying," I heard Fang mutter darkly. Iggy laughed.

"Come on, she's really cute man," Iggy said. "Good figure." I stopped dead in my tracks and they caught up with me. I did not like Iggy at all. I threw a glare at him but he ignored me. Fang sighed.

"This way," he said and turned and walked into a building. He took me to a class room and went inside. There were people already in the class and teacher who was straightening a stack of papers.

"That's Miss Elissa," Iggy told me. Fang titled his head towards her and then when I didn't do anything he grabbed my arm and practically dragged me up to her. Iggy sat down at a seat and threw his bag to the side.

"Miss Elissa," Fang called. She turned and smiled at him. I liked her. She was young and very pretty with a kind face. Her hair was ash-blonde and she had pretty hazel eyes. Her smile was warm and I must say she had great fashion sense.

"Hi Fang," she said kindly. "Who's this?"

"This is a new student," Fang said dropping my arm. "Her name is Maximum Martinez but she prefers Max." I smiled.

"Hi Miss Elissa," I said. She smiled.

"It's wonderful to meet you Max," she said kindly. "Your mum is the new vet isn't she? I just took my cat in to her yesterday. She's very good."

"Thankyou," I said. Miss Elissa smiled and looked at Fang.

"You have a good choice in friends," Miss Elissa told me. "Fang here will look after you." I inwardly swore several times and forced my smile to remain on my face.

"He's been wonderful," I agreed.

"You can take your seats. Any seat will do Max." She smiled at me again and as Fang and I turned I glared at him. He rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, I am ditching you ASAP," I hissed at him.

"Fine with me but I'll warn you. The girls here are not your type of people," Fang said. "I can tell just looking at you that you won't like them. They're the kind of girls that make men think that females are toys." Now that shocked me right there. It was as though he knew exactly what I hated.

His statement made me curious. Was he one of the very few good guys in the world? My Sam was one of those. Could it be possible that I was lucky enough to meet two of them? I shook my head and glanced at Fang as we took our seats.

"What?" he asked.

"You don't think the same as every other male on the planet?" I asked quietly.

"I like to think I'm unique," Fang replied with a fleeting grin. It disappeared so quickly that I didn't think he'd even smiled at me. "But I know what you're talking about and you can figure that out for yourself. That is… if you're willing to stick around me." This time I know he smiled but it went away just a slight bit slower than the first time.

"Um…"

"Attention please class," Miss Elissa called. We all fell silent and she began the lesson.