Welcome to Left Behind. Sorry it's a lame name :( I couldn't think of something better. Anyway, I'm glad you picked this story. If you enjoy this, you should check out my profile, where I have…three other MR stories (Sorry, I had to think of how many I've written). Also, if you have time, check out my poll. But for now, enjoy the story! Your feedback is always very appreciated.

Chapter One

SPOV

I sat on the roof of my family's barn, tossing rocks into the woods. It was a dangerous thing to do, especially since I had to throw them over my house to get them into the woods. If I hit a window, or even one of the walls, Mom would kill me. But I didn't care.

To be honest, I was heartbroken. And I didn't know what to do with myself. I just felt so…alone. So apart from the rest of the world. I'd given her my heart, and she'd crushed it. She hadn't even trusted me when I'd tried to save her life.

Kay, so maybe I haven't exactly started out right. You probably think I'm just a big whiney geek, but usually I'm not. I'm actually a pretty cool guy, not to brag or anything. Still, my head was just not in the right place. I felt so hurt and I didn't know what I was supposed to do.

Oh! Right. I need to introduce myself. My name's Sam. I live in Virginia, USA. And that girl I'm talking about? That's Max Ride. I was in love with her, and she walked all over me. Literally. And after that, she disappeared. I haven't seen her since our teachers started attacking us.

And man, did I miss her.

I tossed another rock over the house. I jumped and nearly fell off the barn roof when someone shouted up at me.

"Sam!" It was my mother. There was no hiding now, not on top of the roof. Plus, she'd already seen me. Nonetheless, I ducked down.

"Yes, Mother?" I called back.

"Sam, get down here right now!" she hollered. "And stop throwing those rocks at my house!"

"Yes, mother," I sighed, climbing back down the roof and into the window. I jogged down the stairs through the barn and out toward the house. When I reached my mother, she scowled at me.

"What on Earth do you think you were doing?" she demanded. I tore my gave away from her.

"Nothing," I said. I walked past her into the house. But my mom was the last person I wanted to ease my heartache.

At least I thought so, until I went inside.

"Hey, Sammy," my older sister, Emily, cooed. I tried to cover my sorrowful look, but she caught me. "Wassa matter?"

I really did not want to talk to Emily about this.

"Nothing, Em," I said. Emily pouted mockingly at me.

"C'mon, you can trust me," she said. I rolled my eyes. Yeah right.

"Not now, Emily," I said, waving her off. I walked toward the stairs and headed up to my room. I closed the door behind me and locked it, flopping down on my bed. Just as I did, the phone on my table rang. I groaned and reached for it.

"H'lo?" I mumbled.

"Hey, Sam," J.J., my friend, answered. She was quiet for a moment. I figured she was thinking. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

J.J. sighed. "Are you still whining about Max?" she asked. I bit my lip.

"What's it to you?" I muttered cynically.

"Fine, Mr. Bitterbutt," she scoffed. "Anyway, Tess and I are going to a movie. We were wondering if you wanted to join us." She sighed dramatically. "Of course, if you're too miserable…"

"I am not miserable!" I shouted at the phone.

I could hear J.J.'s smirk. "Sure you're not. So are you coming?"

I sighed. It was useless to fight J.J. And it's not like I had anything better to do. It was no use locking myself in my room and sulking.

J.J. seemed to read my mind. "If you get out, you'll get over it." She paused. "And, you might meet another girl~" she added in a sing-songy voice.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll come," I sighed.

"Great!" she said. "We'll meet you at your place in a few."

I hung up and rolled off my bed. I walked back down the stairs and through the living room to the front door. I grabbed my jacket off the hook and slipped into it. "Mom!" I called. "I'm going to a movie with Tess and J.J."

Mom walked into the doorway. She was drying her hands on a dish towel. "Alright," she said, smiling warmly. Looking out into space, she added, "I don't know why that poor girl insists on being called J.J. Jennifer Joy is such a lovely name."

I shrugged and walked out the door. I sat on the doorstep. I didn't expect J.J. and Tess for about twenty minutes. Waiting there, I was unable to think of anything but Max. I missed her so much. And I wasn't mad at her for leaving me. I was mad at myself. Because she hadn't been able to trust me, because I'd let her go…

"Sam!" Tess called, breaking my train of thought. "Hey! How are you!"

J.J. and Tess ran at me. Tess hugged me. She was at least three inches taller than me. "Are you okay?"

I rolled my eyes, refusing to return the hug. "I'm fine," I assured her. She stepped back, holding my shoulders.

"You poor, poor thing," she fussed.

"Aren't you upset?" Sam asked her. "You were totally into that Jeff kid."

"Yeah," she sighed mournfully. She flipped back to her previous fussy self. "But you actually were dating her. That's worse."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Can we stop talking about Max and just go see the movie?"

"Sure," Tess said. She patted me on the shoulder. We walked toward J.J. and out down my extremely long driveway. J.J.'s mom was waiting in her minivan for us. She smiled warmly when we walked into sight.

"Sam!" she said when I yanked open the door. "It's been a while since I've seen you! How are you doing?"

I smiled back, but it wasn't as genuine as hers. "I'm fine, thanks." She was such a nice woman, it was hard not to be happy around her.

"So, what movie are you kids planning on seeing?"

J.J. grinned sadistically. "Something really gory with lots of blood and chainsaws!" she said eagerly, wringing her hands evilly. Her mother pinched up her nose in disgust. J.J. laughed. "Mom, I'm only kidding. We're going to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2. We were going to see The Break Up, but Tess and I thought that was a little too…ironic." (A/N These movies legit came out the same year as School's Out Forever [And within a month of each other! Bonus!]. I kind of assumed that it was set at the same time it came out [bad assumption.] but whateves.)

Tess pouted beside me. "I can't believe we're gonna miss that."

"Oh, chillax, Tess, my friend," J.J. said. "We'll go see it when our poor Sam is a little less heartbroken."

I glared at her. "I'm not heartbroken!" I shouted. I was as shocked as the others by my outburst. I guess I was so fed up with them calling me that that I just snapped a little. "S-sorry," I muttered after.

"That's alright, Sam," J.J.'s mother said. She kept glancing sideways at her daughter. "Jennifer was being a bit of a pest."

J.J.'s jaw dropped at her mother's statement but, for a change, she stayed quiet. So did everyone else. No one said a word until we reached the theatre. We climbed out of the car, giving J.J.'s mom our thanks. We bought our tickets and snacks and went into the theatre to grab our seats. We found good ones right in the middle. The show was just about to start when another figure came rushing into the theatre. They sat down in the spot right next to us. They were breathing heavily from running.

"Hey, guys," they panted.

"Lissa?" J.J. said disbelievingly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was going to go see The Break Up but then I saw you people in here and I decided to join you!"

"But…you don't like us," I noted.

Lissa stuck her nose up. "Yes, but it's not like there's anyone more interesting than you to hang around," she said haughtily. "Not since Nick and his family skipped town."

The three of us slumped back in our seats. "Whatever," I mumbled. Unfortunately she'd decided the seat next to me was the best. As soon as the movie started, she leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, just as I had feared.

"Wow, he's so hot," she crooned.

And just when I thought this couldn't get any worse.