Okay, So, I'm re-writing this chapter because I want to and I didnt like how I originally wrote it! ENJOY!

-Horsegirl5701

"Dana Jade Ride! Let's go or we are going to be late!" I shouted up the stairs in my family's 3-story home in southern Colorado. At 17, I lived in this house that my mom had bought my flock and me. The catch, they didn't live here anymore. My OLD flock that is. Now I lived here with my NEW Flock. I glanced at the clock mounted above the kitchen table, tapping my foot impatiently. My best friend and second in command Arro sighed exasperatedly at my behavior, shaking her light brown curls out of her face. My other best friend Erica smirked from her spot by the doorframe. The pounding of feet on the hardwood floor above me, alerted us to the upcoming presence of the noisy 15 year old that was DJ Ride. Why did she have my last name? Because she was my family; everyone who had become a part of my New Flock in the past 6 months had taken the last name Ride. All of the younger kids that is.

DJ slid down the stair railing dressed in her normal ripped skinny jeans, purple tank top, and 1D crop top. Her Union Jack Converse clad feet hit the floor with a loud thud as she landed in front of our waiting trio. Her dark brown hair was twisted in a side braid, resting over her shoulder almost to her hip, bringing out the silver winged earrings fastened in her ears. Her black eyeliner brought out her bright green eyes that always seemed to sparkle with mischief. She caught my disapproving glance and slid on her black letterman's jacket to hide her intricate wings. I rolled my eyes at her antagonistic behavior.

Hold on, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to the day, THEY, left.

*Flashback*

I sat in my room on a sunny Saturday morning, surfing the web on the laptop that had been a birthday present from Fang. I had just turned 17 that morning. I brushed a lock of dirty-blonde hair behind my ear as I shut the red laptop in thought. The Flock had been strangely distant this morning. Almost no one would meet my eyes, Nudge had hardly said a word, and Angel seemed even more diabolical than usual. Iggy had made me a large plate of chocolate chip cookies, but had hardly said anything about it. Gazzy kept looking at me solemnly, and Fang's eyes held a bit of guilt. I was suspicious but was not going to confront them. Yet. I pushed my chair out from my desk and stood up brushing my slightly sweaty palms on my skinny jeans. The sun was high and the sky was bright. Fang and I would have to go flying later. I grinned for a moment before remembering who had shown up right after my birthday celebration. Dylan, and he brought my clone with him. Yeah, you thought she was gone for good. Think again. They came to wish me Happy Birthday, yeah right. I shook my head and crinkled my nose slightly. Nothing was going to ruin today.

I walked over to my bedroom door and cracked it open. Not a sound. I shrugged. The kids must be playing in the Living room or something. I slipped out of my room and clicked the door shut softly. I tiptoed over to the stairs, pausing when I heard nothing. A soft hand slipped around my waist and I jumped as it pulled me into its owner.

"Boo," Fangs warm breath on my ear made me shiver. He must have felt it because his lips curled into a smirk. He placed a soft kiss underneath my ear, and on my collarbone causing me to shudder. "Come, on Flock Meeting in the living room." I frowned slightly as he led me down the stairs, keeping his arm fastened around my waist. The whole house was silent. I was on high alert. As Fang and I walked into the Living room together, his arm slowly withdrew itself and he moved to stand next to the rest of the flock standing on the opposite side of the room. Something was up. Angel smiled in a way that reminded me of Jeb.

"Ah, Max. Thank you for coming," She began before I cut in.

"Well it is a Flock meeting," I told her a bit of confusion and uncertainty lacing my voice. Angel set her jaw, a bit annoyed that I had interrupted her. But then again she was 8 and a half. She wasn't in charge. I saw the corners of her mouth twitch as she read my mind.

"As I was saying," Angel ground out her eyes turning steely, something was definitely wrong. "Thank you for coming Max. You see there was something we all wanted to speak to you about, but I have taken it upon myself to do the explaining. Max, Max, Max, you don't know what you're doing anymore. Your purpose is over, you 'saved' the world and now you don't know what to do anymore. You're useless. You treat us like babies, even though we are old enough to make our own choices. And so you would have us sit here, our days dwindling down, until we are old and rotten. Doing nothing. Because that's all you know how to do. So our dear Max, we have decided that you are no longer needed in my flock," I stared at her in disbelief at the cold, ruthless menace so evident in her voice. "You are being kicked out Maxie, we don't need you anymore. You've been replaced." Angel finished grinning cruelly at me. I stared around the room. Nudge was crouched on the floor staring at the threads of the throw rug so intently I was about ready to watch them wither under her gaze. Her body was shaking and I witnessed a single silver tear leak onto the ground. Gazzy had his eyes cast to the floor, his lip quivering, hands in fists, knuckles turning pale at the amount of pressure he was using to dig his nails into his palm. Iggy's jaw was rigidly set, mimicking that of Fang's, his eyes, though sightless, trained on me. And Fang. He was staring at me with sorrow and regret. Then I noticed who else was standing with my- the traitors. Maya and Dylan. Dylan stood tall, sneering at me, his eyes filled with fire and hatred. Maya just grinned triumphantly as she slipped her arm around Fang, resting her head on his shoulder. I almost broke at that one. And then there was Angel. Deceitful, Merciless, Kniving Angel. I liked her a lot better when she was 6, quiet, and not set on world domination. Now she was a b- No, Angel was too young for me to call that. At least right now. I narrowed my eyes at them,

"So what exactly are you saying," I seethed assuming an attack position, suddenly, I felt threatened by the people that I had raised. Angel glared at me and began examining her fingernails. This must have been a signal for someone else to start talking.

"You have 10 minutes to pack your stuff and leave," Fang answered, coldly. I looked at him, evident shock gracing my face. Then I let out a slight laugh of disbelief and the traitors raised their eyebrows.

"I'm not leaving," Angel opened her mouth to protest and Maya rolled her eyes, "I said I'm not leaving because I bought this damn house, I raised your scrawny ungrateful butts, I took care of you when no one else would. So you know what, YOU are the ones with 10 minutes to pack and leave, my mother and I bought this house and you have lost your mind, well then again you already have, your brains have obviously turned into shit. So go, know!" I shrieked as the wind began to pick up, starting to swirl around me, causing the girls hair to go flying. The traitors staggered before slowly retreating out the door. Fang had to pick up Nudge and practically carry her sobbing form out the door. The wind began to slow down. Did I do that? I must have, my mouth spread into a grin. Then that grin dropped as I heard the front door slam.

My family had abandoned me, on my birthday, for my clone. My lower lip quivered. No Maximum Ride will not cry. I dug my nails deeper into the now red palm of my hand. I blinked away tears and stalked up to my room. I grabbed the laptop that Fang had given me this morning and the small bag filled with the other presents given to me by my former-family. I looked out my window to see 7 shapes soaring away into the sky. I growled under my breath and whipped open the doors of my balcony. I stepped out and whipped out my wings. Laptop and bag of presents still in hand I jumped into the sky soaring higher and higher with my warp-speed. I stopped at what must have been three hundred feet in the air. I could see the mountains that were right by our house I flew towards them taking a steep hundred foot dive. I wound back my arm and torpedoed the laptop that I had received as a present at the mountainside releasing the bag in my other hand at the same time. The laptop shattered into a thousand pieces. I flew down to a ledge leading to a cliff carved into the sandy mountainside. I landed on my hands and knees, the rocks on the mountainside cutting into my palms, wedging themselves under my skin. All alone up here, I let myself cry. Tears streamed from my face and my shoulders were wracked with sobs.

A shuffling in the cave made me wipe my dirt and blood covered hands across the back of my jeans and then to clear the tears from my eyes. I stood up and sniffled, assuming an attack position. Who knew what was in that cave. A shape began to take form from the shadows, then four more erupting from behind it. I narrowed my eyes trying to make out more shapes. The figures emberged from the shadow and I was mildly surprised. 5 teens had just come out of the cave to find me sobbing on a mountainside with my hands covered in blood and my wings out. The teens looked at each other. There were two boys and three girls, two being my age, two looking a year younger, and one looking about 14. The boy in front, was dressed in dark-wash jeans and a white t-shirt. His light brown hair was shaggy and swept across his forehead highlighting his exquisite green eyes, that now looked at me in concern. He looked about my age of 17. The girl next to his also looked my age, Her curly light brown hair was laced with red, the tips being more prominent. Her grey eyes scanned me and softened when she came upon my tear streaked face.

The youngest girl had long dark-brown hair that was knotted and dirty. Come to mention it they all were dirty and bedraggled. Her dark brown eyes looked at me in intrest, resting for a moment on my wings. However she did not look surprised. The last two teenagers looked startilingly alike. They both had the same shaggy golden brown hair and cat-like amber eyes. They were tan and muscular, but were scanning there surroundings warily.

"Are you ok?" The green-eyed boy asked, I stood up straight and nodded. "You don't look ok," He told me with evident concern in his voice as he stepped towards me. I outwardly flinched and he sighed. "You don't need to worry. We're like you. We're mutants,"

*End Flashback*

Those five kids changed my life. The became my new family. As it turned out, the green-eyed boy's name was Nico, the girl with the brown and red hair was Arro, and the younger girl was Dana Jade, or DJ as she preferred; and they were all avian-americans like me. The other two teens who had looked alike ended up being twins named Erica and Leo. Unlike myself, Nico, Arro, and DJ, they were 95% human and 5% lion. This meant that they could shift into said big cat. They became my new family. My family then got bigger;

*Flashback*

The Sun was high and the sky was grey, not the unusual blue it had been a week and a half before. I soared through the sky twisting around to look at Nico. His large dark brown wings were tipped with white and gray, with white feathers scattered amongst the brown. We suspected that the bird DNA he had was a bald-eagle. He swooped down to me wrapping his arms around my waist and I giggled. Yes I giggled, deal with it. Nico kissed the top of my head before releasing my waist and bulleting into the sky. I rolled my eyes. If you haven't guessed by now, Nico was my boyfriend. We had started dating a few days after my new family had moved in. I flew after him grateful for the soft breeze cooling my hot skin. We flew towards the mountains and dove down a cliffside pulling up at the last minute. As I pulled up from my dive, a terrible wail made me jump out of my skin and falter. I thought at first that I was hearing things but then I heard it again.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Nico. He nodded his emerald eyes scanning the mountainside for the source of the noise. Then we saw her. A little girl, dressed in a ratty floral dress and torn up leggings. She looked about 8. She was clinging to a rock in a small crevice about 150 feet up. It would be almost impossible for a human to reach her, and so it boggled my mind as to how this little girl had gotten up to where she was trapped. I shot a glance at Nico who was staring at the little girl in horror. I had made up my mind. We were saving her. It was the right thing to do. As the two of us swooped closer to the sobbing child, she wailed again, causing my eardrums to pop. She stopped when she saw the two of us hovering in front of her. "Your like me!" She squeaked. This little girl reminded me somewhat of Angel, with her curls. But this girl had long dirty-blonde locks that looked as if they belonged to a 16 year old. Her bright aqua eyes stared at us with intrest as we hovered warily outside the crevice.

"You have wings?" I asked her inquisitively. She nodded gesturing to her wings. They were small with a wingspan of about 4 and a half feet, which was impressive for her age. The color of a soft downy grey, I concluded she must have been injected with dove DNA. Her left wing was bent oddly, and feathers were scattered at her feet. The little girl must have gotten stuck in between the rocks to her left, and had to wrench her wing out. Her eyes pleaded with me.

"Please miss, my sister was trying to help me, but she-sh-she fell!" The little girl wailed the last part and Nico looked at me urgently before scanning the ground. Then we saw her. A girl that looked about Erica and Leo's age lying a hundred feet below us, wings spread and covered in blood, her long platinum and aqua hair streaked with red; crimson running down the side of her fore-head. Her arm was bent awkwardly as well. This girl must not know how to fly.

"Nico, you get this one, I'll go get her," I instructed and my boyfriend nodded before I dove towards the unconscious girl at the foot of the cliff. Ever so slowly, I gingerly slipped my arms under the girl's lithe frame, lifting her off the sandy floor. She wasn't that heavy considering we bird kids have hollow bones and some of the body structure of a bird. I glanced up and saw Nico holding the little girl; she was clutching to his body, desperately afraid. I pushed off the ground dragging a little at the weight of another, but I could make it home. Let's just hope this girl could too.

*End Flashback*

When the older girl had come too, we found that her name was Aqua, to match her hair. Her younger sister, went by the name of Rain and was 8 and a half. She was a sweet little girl, and easily became my baby. Aqua and Rain had also taken my last name, much like DJ. Not more than two days later, we stumbled upon the last two members of our family. Where were all these bird-kids coming from? To be honest, I don't know!

*Flashback*

"Hey Max, DJ and I are going to fly up the mountain and chill. We're taking Erica with us. You want to come?" My best friend and Second in command Arro called up the stairs. Everyone had expected for Nico to be second in command given he's my boyfriend and all, but he of all people suggested it be Arro. She's clear thinking, mature, smart, realistic, but can fight like a bad-ass. She was accepted in a heartbeat as second in command. I shut my NEW laptop that I had bought the day after my birthday, and stood up.

"Yeah, Hang on a second! I'll be right down!" I shouted back, quickly digging out my black converse and jamming them onto my feet. I skipped out the door and slid down the stair railing hopping off at the bottom to land at my best friends feet. Arro rolled her eyes at me and motioned for us to follow her as we walked out the back door. It was a cool day, the sun was hidden but it was still warm and breezy. "Read everyone?" I asked as Erica came over to Arro and I, each of us taking one of her arms to carry her. On her back was a small backpack containing her art supplies. She would draw sometimes given the chance and inspiration. I grasped Erica's arm firmly and Arro nodded at me doing the same. Erica grinned in anticipation. We had tried this out a few times and she loved it. It was also nice that she wasn't that heavy, even though she wasn't hollow like a bird kid. Lions are very lithe though much like a cat, so she wasn't as heavy as a normal human. "Up Up And Away Ladies!" I shouted as Erica pushed off with her feet to help us get her in the air. I looked to my right to see DJ flying steadily, a look of utter concentration on her face. As soon as Aqua and Rain were strong enough to move around, I was employing some serious flying lessons for everyone. Arro had healed the sisters with her powers, but they were still a bit weak due to lack of nutrition for a good while, although they should be up and running again in no time.

We flew higher and higher towards the mountains behind our home, and in only about 10 minutes, we reached a nice peak, not to high, not to low to sit on. We carefully touched down to the ground and Erica wobbled for a moment before standing up straight.

"Thanks guys, that was cool!" She grinned before finding a place to sit, and pulling out her art supplies. I turned to DJ who had landed a bit breathlessly.

"You ok DJ?" I asked her a bit concerned. She glared at me.

"Yes, yes I am," She answered smartly before sighing in defeat, "No, not really, I wish I was a better flyer. I have to concentrate so hard just to stay in the air!" She told me voice heavy with frustration. I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Hey don't worry, as soon as Aqua and Rain are 100%, we all are going to have flying lessons. Even Erica and Leo," I assured her and she smiled in relief.

"Thanks Max," She said softly hugging me gently. I was shocked for a moment at first but then squeezed back before pulling away and ruffling her hair. She glared playfully at me before going to sit next to Erica. I turned to find Arro watching me carefully, her sharp grey eyes missing nothing. She smiled at me for a minute before motioning for me to come sit next to her. I smiled half-heartedly before accepting her offer. Slowly, I sat down on the rock next to her, leaning my back against the cool surface behind me.

"Max, the day you found us, why were you crying? You never did tell us," Arro asked me softly. I sighed, I guess it was time they knew.

"It was my birthday, but I already told you that," I began. "I had a flock, no a FAMILY, before you guys came along. I had helped raise them, I was in love one of them, I loved all of them, I had saved the world with them, for them. And they betrayed me. They left me, tried to kick me out, threw me out like yesterdays leftovers. And to make it worse they left me for her. For my clone; HE left me for my clone," My voice trailed to a whisper and my lower lip quivered. No. I wasn't going to cry again. I cried that one day. Never again. Not over them, they weren't worth it. Arro looked at me sorrowfully. I heard Erica's pencil stop sketching and I knew that she and DJ were watching me. I also knew that Erica heard me, with her feline senses.

"Then they weren't your family," Arro told me looking into my eyes, "we, are your family." As she said this, I knew she meant every word. I pulled her into me and hugged her tightly; she was my family. I pulled away and held her at arms length.

"Thanks Arro, I suppose I'll tell the rest of the Flock when we get back," I sniffled slightly laughing a bit and my best friend rolled her eyes at me. Then she nodded.

"Only if you want to, but Nico might be out for blood," She said seriously but I could see the hint of mischief in her eyes and laughed.

"Probably!" I replied laughing. I looked at DJ and Erica who were still looking at me worriedly. Seeing me laugh DJ turned back to Erica's drawing; Erica however kept her eyes on me for a moment before whipping her head around. Her body tensed and she slowly slid her art supplies back into her bag. My body went rigid, and I crept over to her, Arro not far behind me. "What is it?" I hissed urgency coating my words. Erica motioned for us to be quiet and stay put as she, leapt up the rocks to the top of a small rock wall behind us. There was someone or something on the other side. Erica leapt to the top and crouched behind a large boulder with the feline grace I had never seen in a person. But then again, she was part lion. Then I heard it. Voices; and the flapping of wings.

"Why are you stopping?" A boy's voice came from the other side of the rocks. He sounded no older than DJ. I heard his feet hit the ground and saw Erica peek around the rock before pulling her head back swiftly.

"Do we even know where we are going?" A second voice snapped, this time a girl sounding younger than the boy, "It's been a year and a half Kyle, a year and a half since we got out. Since we escaped The School. We've been on the run for a freaking year and a half! Even though we aren't being hunted, where are we supposed to go? We are mutant bird-kids! We don't know who our parents are, and even if we did, I wouldn't want to go back to them, they gave me away! Your parents gave you away! So where are we going? We can't stay on the run forever Kyle! We need a home!" My eyes widened. The School, mutant bird-kids. They were like us. Where were all these kids coming from?

"I'm sorry Devin, I know, I guess I just don't know where to go, I guess I'm scared. I-" The boy started before he was cut off by the girl.

"Stop." She said sharply, something about her voice had changed.

"What is it?" The boy responded urgently. What was going on?

"We're not alone Kyle, I can hear them," The girl replied quietly. I mentally face-palmed. A mind reader! Crud. I put up a mind block and mouthed to the others who stared at me quizzically. They didn't know what a mind-block was. That was definitely going to be in our flying lesson. I paused for a moment waiting to see what the kids would do next. "Hello? Is anybody there? I can here you, I know what you are!" The girl shouted and I let out a frustrated sigh. I motioned for the others to stay put and I unfurled my wings and shot into the sky. I heard the kids gasp as I flew higher and higher before diving straight down again. I slowed as I approached the rock by where Erica was hiding. I hit the ground with such force, a few rocks crumbled down the rock wall. The kids stared at me, the boy in awe, and the girl warily.

"Hello," I said softly. These kids were young; younger than DJ, but older than Rain. The boy looked about 14 with shaggy dirty-blonde hair and hazel eyes. His tan muscular skin had several scars up his arms, showing that at his young age, his life had not been easy so far. His wings were still out and were in a pattern seemingly of stripes alternating between a white cream, and a gray so dark it looked blue. His wings resembled that of a perigrine falcon and must have been over 9 feet in wingspan.

The girl watched me carefully with dark brown eyes. Her red and orange hair spilled over her shoulders (Check Polyvore Account, it is hard to describe)falling just past her shoulders. Her army green shorts and white t-shirt expressed her personality. With her wings still out, she looked fierce and dangerous. Her wings had to be over 10 feet, yet she was younger than the boy, and were covered in white feathers on the inside and tawny on the outside, making it easy for her to camoflouge against the sky.

"Why can't I read your mind," The girl asked me carefully, curiosity creating sparks in her eyes. I smiled knowningly.

"It's called a mind block," I answered her honestly. "You said you two are on the run and you escaped from the school. Are you sure they're not after you anymore?" The boy shook his head.

"They came after us for the first few weeks, we haven't seen or heard from them for over a year, they didn't care much that we escaped anyway, they realized they could make better versions, that's what Devin said they were working on anyway," He answered causing the girl to resume a casual position. I motioned for Arro, DJ, and Erica that it was safe for them to come out. As they emerged, the kids jumped and got closer together. I held up my hands to them.

"No, no it's okay, this is my family, or part of it at least. Would you like to come stay with us? You said you were looking for a family," I asked warmly, the girl stared at me.

"And why should we trust you?" she snapped. I stared at her for a moment before answering.

"Because, how many other bird kids have you met? And why would I, Maximum Ride, try to take you back to where I myself escaped from?" The girl looked at me before nodding. "So what are your names?"

"Devin," The girl answered nodding her head in greeting to me.

"Kyle," The boy told me earnestly looking at us with relief in his eyes. I smiled at them.

"Welcome to our family guys,"

*End Flashback*

And now here we were. Aqua and Rain had gotten better by the next day, and we started flying lessons. Now everyone in the flock, except for Erica and Leo of course, could fly effortlessly. I had told everyone the truth about what had happened to my old flock when we had returned with Kyle and Devin. Like Arro had predicted, Nico was out for blood and it took Leo, who could control emotions, half an hour to calm him down. But now we lived everyday in peace and loved and protected one another. It had been over 6 months. Almost 8, since THEY left. And I had never been happier. Of all the kids, Rain, Aqua, Devin, Kyle, and DJ took the last name Ride. Leo, Erica, Nico and Arro decided not to, which was totally fine with me, because whenever we went out to eat we were the Rides. Just because they had my last name, didn't mean that they were my kids. They were my younger siblings. Aqua only took my last name to appease her younger sister, wheras Devin, Kyle and DJ had done it for a sense of security. We still only used first names, but their full name if they misbehaved. Leo and Aqua had become incredibly close since he had helped nurse her back to health, and had soon started dating. It would have been extremely awkward if they both had the same last name anyway. But needless to say, everyone was happy.

"Mall people, let's go!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the house. I hopped over to the doorway leading to the living room where Nico, Devin, Kyle, Rain, and Leo were sitting on the couch facing the TV. Well Devin, Rain, and Kyle were sitting in the couch, Nico and Leo were laying in hammocks we had installed that hung from the celing right above them. Nico shot me a grin and swung his legs over to the side of the hammock before jumping off landing feet first right in front of me. "Show off," I muttered and he rolled his eyes. "10 more minutes on that playbox thing okay guys? Do something with your brain. Go outside! Go flying! I don't know! Just get off Call of Duty!" The kids groaned at my insistence but I knew they would listen anyway. I wrapped my arms around Nico's neck and buried my face into his collar bone. He chuckled lightly before holding me at arms length forcing me to look into those green eyes that made me melt. He slid his hand up to cup my cheek, the other holding possessively onto my hip. I leaned in and closed my eyes as his lips met me halfway. He kissed me softly, knowing there were kids sitting right there. We would continue this later. I curled my fingers into his hair, pulling my body closer to his and he smiled into my lips.

"Max! No PDA in the living room!" Erica scolded me from the doorway and I rolled my eyes reluctantly pulling away from my addictive boyfriend. He grinned childishly at me and I swatted him playfully.

"Make sure they get off Nico," I told him sternly and her rolled his eyes again.

"You got it babe," He replied kissing me lightly again before jumping back up to his hammock. I glared at him and he stuck his tounge out at me before laughing lightly. I shook my head at his antics as I strode out to the silver Infiniti that was our car. We also had a motorcycle and a big grey minivan for when we wanted to go places as a family. We usually had to take two cars though. Now I know what your thinking, why not just fly to the mall? Well 4 bird-kids carrying a lion-kid flying into the parking lot? I don't think so. I slid out the keys and hit the unlock button on the little remote thing. DJ sprinted past me.

"I call shot-gun!" She hollered back to us and I rolled my eyes. I slid into the drivers seat as Arro and Erica crawled into the backseat. One more. Arro pulled her door shut and Erica opened the one on her side before sliding into the middle to wait. I started the engine and the car roared. I put my hand on the horn and gave a gentle push. HONK! The front door flew open and Aqua ran out slamming the door behind her. As she ran to the car, she tugged an aqua converse shoe onto her left foot, hopping the last few feet to the car.

"I'm coming! I'm here! Sorry!" She apologized breathlessly as she closed the car door behind her. I waved my hand at her motioning that her apology wasn't needed. She blew a strand of her straightened hair out of her eyes and finished tying her converse before buckling her seatbelt. DJ turned on the radio and waved her hand over the console instantly changing the song on the radio to 'My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)' by Fallout Boy. She grinned and made her hand look like she was opening an imaginary door knob spinning her hand to the right causing the music to blare. I glared at her and she sheepishly spun her hand the other way making the music's volume go down. I pulled onto the main road as Aqua began to talk about what she was going to buy at Aeropostale. I groaned softly. We were off to the mall.

We got to the mall in about a good 10 minutes, given that we didn't live that far from it. I flung open the drivers side door and stumbled out, followed by the rest of the girls doing the same. Bird Kids; and Lion-kid. Raised in cages. Claustrophobic. Not to mention that Aqua wouldn't stop talking! We all heard about how she was going to buy the perfect pair of dark-wash skinny jeans and match it with an Aqua top. But it couldn't have too long of sleeves. Or frills. Or lace. Or flowers. It was aggravating! I looked at the watch on my wrist.

"Ok, its 1:30. Meet back at the car at 2:15, got it?" I instructed and the girls nodded. Aqua raised her hand and waved it in the air. I groaned. "Aqua how many times do I have to tell you, you don't need to raise your hand when you talk!" Aqua rolled her eyes at me. Annoying 16 year old.

"Sorry Max. I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to go to Aeropostale with Erica ok?" She looked at me wide-eyed. Erica groaned.

"That's fine Aqua just go somewhere kitty wants to go too," I replied. Erica glared at me. She hated it when we called her kitty. "Sorry Erica, couldn't help myself." I grinned at her and she frowned at me before being dragged away by an overly excited Aqua. DJ stuck her hands in her pockets and scuffed her feet over the asphalt parking lot, looking at them awkwardly.

"Um Max? Can we go to Hot Topic? I kind of need some new headphones…" she trailed off and I looked at her sympathetically.

"Devin?" I asked her and she nodded. I laughed lightly and jerked my head towards the mall doors. DJ sighed in relief. This wasn't the first time Devin had accidently blown up her headphones. You see Devin, was a bit of a pyro, not a super pyro, but she and Leo were always trying to see what they could blow up without getting in trouble. And considering they were practically sisters, Devin and DJ shared a room in the basement, leaving most of DJ's stuff as a target for being blown up.

Together, DJ, Arro and I strode through the busy, fluorescently lighted mall corridor towards Hot Topic. It was DJ's favorite place to get headphones because they worked, and they weren't super expensive. When we reached the dimly lit store, I handed DJ a 10 dollar bill and she ran into the rock music blaring store. I leaned against the wall with Arro and we waited. She wouldn't be that long. We stood in quiet just watching for a moment. Then something caught my eye. A flash of farmiliar blonde hair. I tensed scanning the area. There it was again. Then I saw them. Hot Topic was right near the food court, which usually wasn't a bad thing. Especially since Aunty Anne's was only about ten stores the other way. Today, it was a very bad thing to be near the food court. I could see them sitting at a table near McDonalds, almost on the other side of the food court. I have bird vision remember? My blood began to burn and a gust of wind swept through the corridor, causing some passerbyes to halt and look for an air conditioning vent. I was beginning to see red spots clouding my vision. How dare they come back! I stopped myself. Take deep breaths Max. I uncurled the fists I hadn't noticed that I made and grabbed Arro's arm, quickly yanking her around the corner and into the dark store that was Hot Topic. She pulled her arm from my grasp brushing the worn leather of her jacket with her hand. She glared at me as she straightened her jacket.

"What the heck Max? What was that for?" She snapped at me. I didn't say anything. Arro stopped preening her appearance and looked at me. Her eyes met mine. "Max," she said dangerously, "what's going on?" I looked at her.

"They're back.

Ok so how do you like the rewrite? The original was about 4 pages give or take. This one is 14. Full. Fricking. Pages. It about killed me. It's only 3:30. I was at the doctor from 9:45-12:00. I wrote about 6 and a half pages yesterday. I wrote for three and a half hours today! And now I have to rewrite chapter 2 and 3! Well I hope you like it so you better review! So thanks for reading and R&R please! I worked REALLY REALLY REALLY hard on this rewrite! I wont post it until I've rewritten the other chapters as well so hopefully these will both be up by tonight!

-Horsegirl5701