Chapter 1

"Jeb! I don't wanna go!" I complained, crossing my arms over my chest. "You can't make us! I'm the leader!"

He sighed, shaking his head. "Max, I thought going to school would be a good idea. You can meet other children your age and learn new things."

"No way! No school for me!" I declared. Jeb wanted me, Fang, and Iggy to go to fifth grade and see what other fifth graders did, but that wasn't fun. Flying all day and exploring? Now that was fun!

Jeb put a hand on my shoulder. "Max, you're eleven years old. You need to learn how to fit in, too."

I frowned. "Why? Can't we just stay here? We're safe here with you." Jeb was our teacher already – he'd taught us everything we knew. He was like a dad to me.

"You are already enrolled in a local school" was his response.

"UGH!" I yelled, running to my room and slamming the door.

~~::~~

Two days later, I stood in front of our new classroom and watched as Jeb walked down the hall with Nudge and Gazzy in tow, little Angel in his arms. Nudge had been talking about going to second grade endlessly. "I get to meet other kids, and I bet we get to play fun games, and I'm going to have so much fun, and…" Blah, blah, blah. Gazzy was going to be in kindergarten, but Angel wasn't old enough for school yet.

"Bye, kids! Be good!" Jeb called cheerfully. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Yeah, right."

Fang looked at me. "So what now?"

That was when some lady walked up to us. "Hello, you must be my new students! I am Mrs. Jenkins!" She beamed at me, holding out a hand. None of us took it. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"What are your names?" she ventured, slowly pulling her hand back. I guess we didn't have the best manners.

"I'm Max," I blurted out.

"I'm F-Nick," Fang told her, and I snickered. "Fnick?"

"Shut up," he whispered.

"I'm Jeff," Iggy offered, his sightless eyes fixed on a spot slightly above her head. Close enough.

"Yes, you must be the blind child," Mrs. Jenkins said. Iggy's face turned red, and I glared at Mrs. Jenkins.

"You shouldn't talk to him like that," I told her. "I bet Iggy could beat you up-"

I stopped though, because Fang was giving me a look that said, Shut up before you say too much. I closed my mouth and looked back at Mrs. Jenkins.

"Riiight," she said, glancing at me strangely. "Well, let's go." Mrs. Jenkins led us into the classroom. Fang and I looked around at everything, and I started to describe it to Iggy.

"There's posters on the wall – like, projects that people must have done. Stuff about states and America and science. And there's desks. There's a chalkboard in the front, and lots of books everywhere. And there's one door, right behind us. That's our escape route, just in case." I said the last part in a whisper, as Iggy nodded.

"You'll sit here," Mrs. Jenkins interrupted us, pointing to three desks right in the front. I groaned. "Why do we have to sit in the front?"

She ignored my question and sat down at her desk, looking through papers. I crossed my arms over my chest, frowning.

Other kids started to trickle in slowly. They all looked at us like we were weird – well, we were, but they didn't know about the wings. I guess it wasn't every day their class got three new kids.

The bell rang, and I practically dragged Iggy to our seats in the front. "Ow!" he shouted as he ran into another desk. I winced. "Sorry, Ig – I mean, Jeff."

Mrs. Jenkins glared at us. "We do not shout in the classroom."

"Sorry," Iggy and I said at the same time, sitting down. Fang gave me a look – he was already sitting down. I made a face at him, and he laughed.

"Max," our teacher said, "pay attention."

"You weren't even talking," I protested, and some kids laughed. Mrs. Jenkins didn't.

"We do not talk back to our teachers, Max," she continued, then turned her attention to the class. "Class, these are our new students – Max, Nick, and Jeff."

A couple kids waved. One kid said, "Hi," in a bored voice. I frowned. There was something wrong here. Jeb said school would be fun – he was wrong as usual. Not like I had believed him, though.

"Now, who can remember what we talked about yesterday?" Mrs. Jenkins asked, looking at the class.

She received complete silence – was that supposed to happen? Then one kid stuck his hand in the air. I just stared at him. Why did he do that?

"Yes, Ryan?" Mrs. Jenkins said. The kid lowered his hand, then said, "The Boston Tea Party?"

"Very good," she responded. "Now, who-"

"Why are we learning about tea parties?" I interrupted. "I mean, not to offend anyone, but tea parties are for little kids. Angel – I mean, my….sister has them all the time with her stuffed animals."

A whole bunch of kids started laughing. Iggy was one of them. Fang managed a small smirk.

Mrs. Jenkins was now red in the face. "Max, if you'd like to interrupt again, then perhaps I can send you to the principal."

I shook my head. "No thanks. Does he like tea parties too?"

Ten minutes later, I was sitting in the office. "Maxine Ride?" a lady sitting at a desk said. "The principal can see you now."

"It's just Max," I grumbled as I headed into the principal's office.

"Miss Ride? Yes, come in," the principal said. He was an older man with white hair and lots of wrinkles, but he didn't look as mean as Mrs. Jenkins. In fact….was he smiling?

I stared at him. "Sit down, please," he continued. I did – the chairs were surprisingly comfortable.

"I understand you got in an argument with your teacher about the Boston Tea Party?" he asked, a hint of a smile on his face. I nodded, noticing that the plaque on his desk said Mr. Robin.

"Yeah, Mr. Principal. She wanted to talk about tea, but I didn't see why that was important. So I said something."

Mr. Robin laughed. "Max, the Boston Tea Party was an important historical event. Tea was thrown into the Boston harbor as a protest to the British by the colonists."

"Oh," I said, feeling stupid. Of course I hadn't known about some old history thing. Then I said, "I don't think Mrs. Jenkins likes me."

He laughed again. "Why so?"

"Because….because she sent me to you! She just wanted to be rude to me," I told him, frowning.

Mr. Robin smiled. "She just wants the best for you. So do I. I want every student to succeed." He nodded at me. "Remember, the principal is your pal."

I decided that was the cheesiest thing I'd heard all day. For all I knew, my new "pal" was a whitecoat. "Thanks," I said, a little reluctantly.

Mr. Robin sent me back to my class, but not before giving me a lollipop. "Have a nice day, Max!" he told me.

"Alright," I responded. At least I got candy out of that.

I walked back into my class and sat down in my seat, between Iggy and Fang. Mrs. Jenkins frowned.

Fang looked at my lollipop. "How'd you get that?"

I just grinned at him as I licked my lollipop. Maybe school wouldn't be so bad after all.