Max POV

Since when was I ever like this? My hands were clammy, and they were shaking so hard I could barely open the car door. I shouldn't be this way. I was supposed to be tough, with a rock-hard shell that almost never broke down. Even if I hadn't ever moved before, especially not from sea to shining sea, I wasn't supposed to be nervous. Not in a box, not with a fox, not in a house, not with a mouse, OH SHUT UP ME. I was rambling again like my best friend Nudge back in New York. Man, she had a motormouth. But, I loved her anyway. She promised to visit during break.

Now, I finally got out of the van, as my twin sister Maya slammed the door behind us. She scowled. "Ugh, get out of my way." I just rolled my eyes and slowly made my way up to the massive wooden doors of my new high school. I took a deep breath and looked around me. It seemed friendly enough, made of this whitish stone and surrounded by really green grass and cherry blossom trees. I took another deep breath and reached for the door.

So, before I go on and keep you thinking about who this crazy person is, I'll introduce myself. My name is Maximum Ride, but call me Max. If you really are just DYING to know more (but curiosity killed the cat, didn't it) then, I like chocolate chip cookies and coffee and ravens and hanging from curtains pretending to fly. I don't like a lot of things, but I'm not going to say them because I'm trying to be optimistic, okay?

I pushed open the door and my jaw hit the floor. Literally. This place was HUGE. The tiled floors seemed to go on forever, and there were so many doors it was overwhelming. The walls were painted this bright, summer cottage yellow. I had to weave my way through mobs of people with Maya in tow. I could hear all the students whispering "That's them," and "They're cute!", much to Maya's delight. She lived for her social status. She spent three hours solely on her mascara today. I don't even wear makeup.

I finally found a door marked Office. Once we went in, the secretary lady smiled at us. "Ride sisters?" I nodded, and she said, "Here's your schedules. And welcome to Seahaven High! If you need any help, just come back here, or you can ask anybody, really. Everyone's friendly, I'm sure." Then, she went off to make a phone call. I glanced at Maya's schedule, and noticed that we were in different homerooms, even though they were organized alphabetically. We must have somehow just made the cut for two different homerooms. I looked down at my schedule. Let's see. Where was room 120?

Maya POV

I have been preparing for this day for like, ever. Don't get me wrong, I totally miss New York and everything, but starting a new school is so exciting! When I woke up that morning I spent a ton of time on my dark brown hair, trying out this new cinnamon bun I had heard of. I'm so glad I didn't get Max's hair which is dirty blonde with a ton of sun streaks. I mean, no offense, but dirty blonde is like, dirty. Then, I spent another hour looking in the mirror checking to see if my eyes were uneven. Max says they're mud colored, just like hers, but they are OBVIOUSLY a warm chocolate brown. Like, get real.

And really, when I finally walked down the stairs, my sister was already shoving waffles caked with maple syrup down her throat. Ugh. I looked at her. She was wearing her her hair in a ponytail, and she had on her usual basketball shorts and ratty old T-shirt. I mean, COME ON, she should at least try for the first day at our new school. Or, should I say my new school. I was so going to be the Queen Bee. I could just see it. But still, being a freshman was obviously intimidating, and on top of that, who comes to a new school five weeks into the year? Apparently, I do.

Half a hour later, I'm wandering the empty hallways, lost as heck, when a deep voice asked, "Need some help?" I looked up to see these gorgeous pair of obsidian eyes flecked with gold. The guy had dark hair with olive skin and he was TALL. Even taller than Max, maybe, who's 5'10". I tried not to get lost in his eyes, which were like never ending black holes. "Um, I'm um, looking for, um Room 117?" I stammered, trying to remember all my friend Brigid back home had taught me about flirting. It had just flown out of my brain.

He nodded, and motioned for me to follow him. As we walked in silence, all I could think about was, wow, not much of a talker, huh? But that wasn't a big deal. I would get him to open up. There it was. Room 117. He sat down just as the bell rang, leaving me stranded there in the doorway. I didn't know where to sit, so I just stood there awkwardly, twirling my hair.

The teacher grunted and stood up. "You must be Max?" His voice was gruff, harsh.

"Ummm, no. Max is my twin, but you know, fraternal. I'm Maya. I mean, how could we even be twins? Like, she's a total jock and doesn't even care about her looks! Really, today, she wore this old yellow tee with black shorts. You do know that you look like a bumble bee when you wear that? But, I guess she's in another homeroom." I stopped, wide-eyed looking around at the oh-my-gosh-what-did-I-just-say classroom. I blushed.

"Well, Maya, I'm Mr. Melvin. You can take a seat next to Fang over there and introduce yourself." I slung my bubblegum pink bag over my shoulder and took a sea next to the guy in the hallway. What kind of name is Fang, anyway? Then, I started my introduction speech.

I know, I don't like Maya either, but in order for the story to devlop, she kind of has to be that way. Besides, one of my best friends has dirty blonde hair, and I love her hair, so I didn't mean to offend anyone. And, I'm truly sorry if their are any errors or mistakes. I was just so excited to get this story up that I didn't really go over it with a fine tooth comb, but please, no flames! And REVIEW!