Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. I'm just saying this now. But I do own the plot... and any extra characters I add ((If I do add any...))

I don't understand. Why am I so different?

You probably think I'm talking about how I look.

Wrong. Well, not exactly, but we'll get to that.

Maybe I have some sort of mental illness?

Not quite.

The thing is, I have wings. And I have no idea how I got them.

I can't remember anything from when I was younger than 11.

I have a foster mum and dad… but…

Two years ago, my father walked out on our family, and my mum became a drunk. My brother (not my actual brother, but you know what I mean.) went away to college, and got turned into an evil little minion by his girlfriend. He was my only friend. (that I can remember, at least.)

Now it's just me. No friends. No anything. But that's because I choose to be that way. I feel like I'm missing some part of the big picture. I don't easily trust people, for some reason.

My name is Max. No, it's not short for Maxine. It's short for Maximum. Maximum Ride. I have no idea how I got that name, either.

My mum had once told me that when I was 11, I got in a huge accident, and I lost my memory.

Now I'm 14, I have blonde/brown hair, and I'm super thin.

And at this very moment, I'm pissed off.

Why, you ask?

Well… maybe it's because I'm getting sent away to a camp for troublesome kids. Boy, is my mum happy.

She's been wanting to get me out of the house ever since my dad left, and to tell you the truth, I've been wanting to get out of this house too.

But getting sent away to a camp was not my cup of tea.

"Pack your things," she had said, and that's exactly what I'm doing right now.

So far, I had packed some of my clothes.

I'll save you some boredom.

Let's skip ahead to the car ride to the bus station.

We, as in my mum and I, sat in silence in her blue jeep. She could barely contain her excitement, or so it looked.

"Remember, don't let anyone know of your wings," she had told me.

As soon as we arrived at the bus station, my mum gleefully kicked me out of the car, handed me my bags, and sped off down the road.

I kicked the gravel under my feet with my black worn out converse as I started walking towards the dude who was calling out people's names; making sure they were there.

"Max Ride," the dude said, and I quietly raised my hand

I put my bags on the bus, and climbed the stairs, my eyes scanning for a place to sit.

I had a few options:

1. I could sit by the girl who was smoking, but I'd rather not die anytime soon. (You know, my lungs are different, since I'm a human-avian hybrid. Yep, that is what I am)

2. I could sit by the guy who was talking like another person was sitting by him, but I'm not ready to be admitted in an insane asylum.

Or 3. I could just sit by myself in an empty seat.

I think I'll go with number 3.

It seemed like it had the least number of consequences.

So, I sat by myself, and pulled my Samsung mp3 out.

No, I don't have/want an Ipod. I think they're overrated.

Too many people have them, plus, itunes cost money!

Rhapsody songs don't cost anything.

So, hah, you sick little minded people who follow the "in-crowd."

I, uh, sorry. I get carried away with some things. I tend to talk to myself a lot. But it's in my head, people.

Not out loud like that guy was doing earlier. But… sometimes it seems like I have some other voice in my head. It's not my own, though.

That is one of the many things I need to find out about myself.

I looked out the window, waiting for the bus wheels to start moving, when I felt pressure right next to me.

It was a guy. Sitting down.

I know, I'm vague, but I can't help it.

From the looks of it, he had black hair, but he had a hood on.

He, too, was listening to some sort of music, hence the earphones (or headphones. Whatever floats your boat.).

Since the guy didn't look at me, I turned my attention back to the gloomy sky.

Maybe it would rain soon. Hopefully.

So we wouldn't have to do anything outside at this camp.

I absolutely despise work and activities with a passion.

Since there were swirls of nothingness outside, I closed my eyes for a while.

Eventually, I fell asleep and had a weird dream.

It consisted of some other kids with wings flying with me, and we were speeding away from wolf-looking things.

I woke up when someone was shaking my shoulder roughly.

Haven't people ever heard of being gentle? Apparently not.

Gah.

It was the guy with black hair. I definitely do not want to have to do anything with him.

As in, sharing a cabin.

Don't worry, there's a boys bathroom and a girls bathroom in the cabin. I read the brochure.

They look really small. They're just toilets… and a sink. All showers are outside. In the cold.

God, I hate the cold.

Alright, I'm sorry. I'll stop my nagging right… now!

I jumped down the stairs of the bus, and walked towards where everyone else was crowded.

"Alright, ladies! Listen up," the dude from earlier said, or yelled. "I'm Captain Mann." Why he had the captain at the front of his name, I had no clue. "This is what you'll be calling me from now on." I'll just call him Captain Dude. I like that better.

Captain Dude said that there were six people to a cabin.

He started with people whose last names started with A.

It seemed like forever until he got to R.

"Alright, Max Ride, Fang Ride, Iggy Ride, Nudge Ride, Gazzy Ride, and Angel Ride will be in one cabin."

((A/N: Let's pretend that they all have the same last names…))

What the hell? All of us have the same last name?

Fang! That was that guy's name who sat by me!

Ah, crap. Now I have to share a cabin with him?

I'm not normally one to judge so quickly, but he just had this different aura.

A girl, who I supposed to maybe be another camp director person, showed us our cabin.

It was cabin 42G. There were two bunk beds, and two regular beds. The younger kids went running towards the beds. I think their names were Gazzy (weird name), Angel (another different name… but it is common enough.), and Nudge (yet another weird name.).

The Angel girl didn't look older than 10, so I wondered what she was doing here.

Frankly, I have no clue what I'm doing here.

I walked over to the regular bed and put my bag on it. I laid down and closed my eyes for a while.

"Now, get settled and dinner will be soon. You'll hear a bell," the girl said, and left.

Ah. It was hard and cold. The bed, I mean. I wouldn't be surprised if I have back problems when I'm older.

Blame it on my mum, people. She'll be the one paying those bills… if I can make her.

But that's unlikely. Did I mention that my mum's name is Anne? Yeah, well, it's Anne, not that it matters.

Immediately, the Nudge girl started talking her mouth off. I swear, I thought her jaw was going to fall off, but, oh, no, it didn't.

She had a bubbly personality, and it made me wonder what she did to get here.

The Iggy guy had taken the bottom bunk of one of the beds, and he started putting clothes away. Something was wrong with his eyes, but I didn't bother asking about it right now.

I was too tired.

I looked over, and I saw Fang staring at me.

Oi…

What did he want?

A/N: Well that's it for this chapter. What do you think? Max might be a bit OOC... but I'll try to fix that, if she is. Please, no flames, but constructive criticism welcome.