The Winged Legacy: A Maximum Ride Fan Fiction

Prologue

Before I lunge into this confusing, exhilarating story, let me just say one thing. We may or may not have a choice in our fate, but we chose how we get there. And that says a lot about us in my opinion.

At one point, I was something like you. I have a family, a beating heart, and friends. I had an academic career, the dreams of going to college and have a full-time job, probably as a teacher or a professor of some sorts. I liked the thought of teaching high school.

I also read the books. I befriended the characters, enjoyed the ride from a safe distance with hands in the air, a scream of joy in the back of my throat.

It was a piece of fiction.

Sooner or later reality catches back up to us. Soon we must put the book down, either because it ends or veracity calls back to us because we must provide something in return, say a chore or a piece of advice. We live.

I was in the middle of my own high school career, entering my junior year with the excitement for the assortment of advanced and regular classes soon to come. Recently I just got a part-time job at a retail store to pay for the gas in my mud-speckled, green Jeep Wrangler and save up for college.

For hobbies I enjoyed playing the piano (I taught myself, thank you) and amateur photography with my friend Ellie, who managed to make a Broadway reference to everything and constantly wore a blue pen in her dark hair. She and I had been friends since sixth grade.  My other best friend was Henry, who lived just a few blocks from me. He moved to town a few years back when his mom accepted a job at the local college.

My parents were your average Joes; Dad enlisted in the military when he was eighteen, quickly mastering each rank and now held the title of Captain. Mom started out as a hairdresser in New Jersey, and after having my younger  fraternal twin brother and sister, she changed professions. Now she sold homes across the peninsula, averaging five homes sold each month. And me? I was the oldest of three children, trying to keep them out of trouble around the house. We lived in Virginia. Where exactly, I'll let you guess.

My life was already going places at a healthful pace. I was content, my family was happy, and my friends were occupied. The only real excitement I faced was applying for college.

One bike ride in late July changed all of this, and not just for me, but for five other kids like you. We were strangers beforehand, at least that's what we thought. Little did we know that we shared nearly a lifetime together, and that the past would come back to hunt us down.

My name is Max. Some call me Megan. This is the story of my Flock, and how we transcended the odds, once and for all.