Summary: Meet twenty-three year old, Maximum Martinez. She lives with her twin brother, Iggy, and her little sister, Ella. Ella is constantly trying to set Max up on blind dates with guys. But when Ella tries to set Max up with someone Max works with, Max claims to already have a boyfriend. Too bad that's a lie. That's where Nolan "Fang" Hawkins, Max's best friend since college, comes in. Max goes to him in a desperate attempt to save herself from her sister's humiliation and asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend. But never did she plan to actually fall for him.
Rating: T for language
Disclaimer: I don't own James Patterson, Maximum Ride, the characters, or its affiliates. I only own my head.
A/N: Not really much to say here, but I hope you enjoy my first multi-chapter fic on the site! Anyway, here's chapter one!
"Iggy, can you turn it up?" I asked as I grabbed more popcorn.
"I swear you're going deaf." He replied as he cranked up the volume.
"I'm not deaf, your hearing's just better 'cause you're blind." I retorted and watched intently as Harry Potter grabbed onto the Portkey that led him back to Hogwarts. "Yeah, you go, Harry!" I yelled.
"Jeez, Max, calm down!" Iggy laughed, listening to the movie.
"Okay," Ella said, walking in, "I'll talk to you tomorrow. See you then. Aw, you too. Bye, Kyle." I paused the movie and internally groaned. Ella had been dating this guy, Kyle Manning, for the past six months and they were beyond disgustingly lovey-dovey. It seriously made me sick.
"How's Kylie-Wylie?" Iggy asked, sounding like a teenage girl.
"Oh, shut up, Ignatius." Ella rolled her eyes. I laughed and patted Iggy's back.
"Be nice, Igs, our little sister's happy." I said and Ella nodded, smiling. "If you don't, she might sic her Kylie-kins on us." I smirked and Iggy burst out laughing. Ella groaned and turned to leave. "Aw, Els, you know I'm kidding! Come on, it's Harry Potter!"
"I don't care." She grunted.
"It's the one with that actor you think is so hot. Robert Patterson or whatever." I said.
"RPatz?" Ella shrieked, running down.
"Oh, wait, he's dead." I said. "Sorry, Els."
"You just live to crush my dreams." Ella rolled her eyes and walks upstairs.
"You're such a mean older sister." Iggy laughed.
"You're such a mean older brother."
"It's my job."
"It's mine, too." I smiled and stood up. "Alright, the best part's over. I'm going to go see Fang."
"You have fun." He said and I nodded.
"I'm nodding, Ig."
"I know." He said and smiled. "Where'd you put the—"
"Nine o'clock." I said and he grabbed the remote.
"Thanks." He said.
"Where on Earth is my—"
"Phone's on the glass table." He said and I rolled my eyes.
"You're such a twin." I smiled and he grinned cheekily.
"Can't help it." He replied and I said goodbye, leaving for my best friend's house.
Okay, so I guess I should stop this story to explain a bit. First things first, my name's Max. Maximum Martinez. I'm twenty-three years old and I live with my brother and sister. I'm a trainer at one of the best gyms in California, where I live. I wear thick, square-ish glasses, I'm a music nerd, and I enjoy long walks on the beach and—I'm kidding… though I do like music and I do wear glasses. My brother, Ignatius Martinez, and I are twins, obviously fraternal. He hated the name Ignatius that our dad gave him so he goes by Iggy. He works as a bomb tech for the government. Yeah, I know, a twenty-three year old blind guy working with bombs doesn't sound like a safe idea, but Iggy can handle bombs better than anyone in the business and his senses of touch and hearing are so advanced that he can one wire from another without even needing to see, which I think is pretty amazing. Ella, my half-sister, is eighteen and attending UC Berkeley in the fall. She wants to practice medicine, but instead of being a veterinarian like my mom, she wants to work in pediatrics.
I live in a four-bedroom house in Los Angeles with Ella and Iggy, down the street from my best friend, Fang, and about an hour-long drive from my mom. I guess having a walkout billionaire dad die and leave you everything has its perks. So yeah, I'm living comfortably and relaxing.
Fang, as I mentioned earlier, is my best friend. His actual name is Nolan Hawkins and he's the same age as me. I've known him for four years after he transferred to UCLA sophomore year of college. We were in the same basic medical training class—Fang's a firefighter— and we basically grew inseparable. When we graduated, we moved close to each other and both bought homes near each other to live in with our families. You see Fang lived with his adopted sister, Monique "Nudge" Hawkins, and stepbrother and stepsister, Jeremy "Gazzy" and Angelica "Angel". His mom and stepdad lived just outside of town, but Fang's grandfather got really sick so he and his wife moved into Fang's parents house and the three kids came to live with Fang. Well, Nudge was living there already because she's Ella's best friend and she already goes to Cal Tech. Anyway, back to the story.
I walked up Fang's driveway and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" A voice said.
"The Cookie Monster, who do you think it is?" I asked and the door opened, revealing my best friend. Fang was a tall, over six-foot-three, and he was definitely considered attractive by most girls' standards. With definite muscles and an eight-pack (we'd gone to the beach together many a time), girls were falling over him all the time. He wasn't overly muscular, but he could hold his own in a fight. So girls were always asking him out and flirting, but he didn't seem interested, which I thought was odd, but I didn't care. His black hair hung low just above his eyes, his black t-shirt clinging to his chest.
Fang also had his quirks. He only drank diet soda, which wasn't really strange, but he only drank out of a two-liter bottle, never in a can. He also always had this one blue rope bracelet on his left wrist. It was a rope bracelet Angel had made him when she was six and he never, ever took it off.
"Hey, Max." He smiled and moved to hug me. I hugged him back and walked in.
"Max!" A voice called and I turned just in time for Angel to crash into me.
"Oomph! Jeez, Angel, I saw you yesterday!" I laughed, hugging her back. "What's up?"
"I got an A in English!" She exclaimed and my eyes widened in excitement.
"No way, that's awesome!" I smiled and gave her a high-five. "Your birthday's coming up soon, isn't it?"
"Yeah! Fang said he'd take me to see 'Eclipse'!" She said.
"He did now?" I asked and turned around to smirk at him. Fang hated the Twilight series, but Angel loved it. "Well, how about since you don't want him to die, I'll come with you and bring Ella so we can all go?"
"Really?"
"Totally." I smiled and nodded.
"Yes!" She grinned. "I'll go tell Nudge." She said and ran off.
"So I guess we're seeing 'Eclipse'."
"Shut up." He said and we walked into the kitchen.
"How old is Angel going to be? Fourteen?"
"Yup." He nodded. "Gazzy's eighteenth birthday is coming up too."
"He's getting so old." I said.
"Yup." He replied. "Here you go." He said, handing me a glass of Diet Coke.
"Thank you, sir." I smiled and we walked back and downstairs to his game room.
"T.V.?" He asked and I shrugged. "I know… pool?"
"You know me too well." I smiled and walked to the pool table, grabbing a cue. "You're going down."
"You wish." He smirked and aimed. "I break."
I got home and saw Ella talking on the phone in the kitchen and Iggy hadn't moved from his spot.
"I'm home."
"I know." He said. "Ella wanted to talk to you."
"Should I be scared?" I asked and he laughed. I nodded and we both answered at the same time.
"Probably."
I laughed and set my phone down on the table where Iggy's legs were and walked into the kitchen.
"Yeah, so I'll… oh, she's home! I'll call you later, Nudge. Yeah, ciao." She said and hung up. I walked in.
"What's up?"
"You're going to love me." She said.
"I already do, Els. You're my sister."
"No, seriously. You're going to think I'm awesome."
"Why?" I asked, crossing my arms and leaning in the doorway.
"I got you a date."
"You're kidding," I said, "Els, that's a terrible idea."
"Why? His name is Sam, he's really hot, he—"
"Wait. Sam as in Sam Parker?"
"Oh, so you know him!"
"Ella, what are you thinking? I'm his younger brother's trainer. Not only is that unprofessional, that's creepy! Sam's constantly hitting on me at the gym and I just… no, that's weird."
"Well then you're kind of screwed because you have a date with him tonight."
"Ella, you didn't." I complained. "Not cool!"
"I'm sorry, Max! I didn't know." She said and I groaned.
"Ella, you have to cancel." I said.
"I can't, Max! He's really excited and you need—"
"Ella, you have to cancel because I already have a boyfriend." I said, suddenly conjuring up a lie.
What did I just do? I thought, as she froze mid-speech.
"You what?" She exclaimed. "You have a boyfriend and you didn't tell me?"
"What's this about Max having a boyfriend?" Iggy said, jogging into the room.
"Leave this alone, Ig." I said. "Ella, you have to cancel."
"You have a boyfriend?"
"Who do I need to punch in the face?"
"Ella, cancel the date. Iggy, you don't need to punch anyone. Can I go now?"
"Who is it?" She asked.
"It's… you wouldn't know him, Els." I shook my head. This lie was just getting deeper and deeper.
"Come on, just tell me his first name!" She begged. "Please?"
"No, Ella!"
"Come on, Max! I'm your twin; she's your sister. Just tell us his name!"
"It's none of your business!" I said, groaning. "Just… cancel the date." I said and stormed out of the house, walking back down the street towards Fang's house. Just as I was approaching, what I said finally registered and I froze, mentally face palming.
"Crap."