A/N: This is the sequel to You're My Curveball. If you haven't read that then you should go read that before you read this.

For those of you who have read You're My Curveball, welcome back! I've gotten a lot of mixed reviews on how I ended it, but I'm happy I did it that way. Plus, there would be no sequel if I didn't end it that way, so be happy. I'm sure you're all wicked excited to read this so here you go, the first chapter of Game Two.

The summer before my senior year came and went faster than I wished to ever talk about. What was supposed to be filled with sunny days and Max's sunny smile was instead replaced by sunny days clouded by the lack of Max's smile. I marched around my house in a constant state of anger. My parents stayed clear of me for the most part. Sam and I would hang out together, but all we did was play video games.

I couldn't sleep at night. I would wake up in the night and reach over to the spot I still remember her sleeping in. She would curl up in that spot until I would pull her close to me and then she would hold onto me, but she doesn't do that anymore. I always wake covered in sweat like I just had the worst nightmare of my life, but in reality I just woke to the worst nightmare of my life.

I felt like I was suffocating all day every day. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. During the days I would spend my mornings staring at the ceiling. Afternoons were usually spent in front of the TV or on the computer. The only problem with the computer was that I could see what she was doing and who she was with. So I usually stuck to television just so I could hold on the last shambles of my sanity. I would drive by her house, and there was never any sign of her. On the days I was weak and resorted to the computer, I found out enough to know that she was worse than ever. Pictures of her kissing different boys and smoking different things were everywhere. I hope for her sake no one checks her profiles when she applies for colleges. She's never sober anymore. I had to scroll far back in her pictures to find one of her and Ace. I missed them all. Ace is getting big and I remember talking about how I couldn't wait to see his first steps or his first words. I had no investment in him really. He's not my brother, he's not my son, and he's really just a baby, but for some reason I found myself staring at the picture for hours. He's blond. He has Max's eyes, well really they're their mother's eyes. He's a spitting image of what I imagine Max would look like as a baby. Her eyes are bright and clear in the picture, unlike the pictures of her drunken on whatever she can get her hands on.

My worst days were the days I would go to Maria's. Maria owns a diner in town. It's a small diner and the food is awesome, the coffee is horrible, and she always has some ice cream in back just for whoever she thinks needs some. I always think of Max when I walk in. This is the place she told me she and Iggy, Nudge, and Dylan ran away to when they were kids. Max is good at running, clearly always has been. Maria always tells me stories of Max as a kid. Max crashed her truck at fourteen. Max used to run around naked eating ice cream at this very store. Max used to steal pennies from the tip jar and put them heads up on the sidewalk outside so someone could find them and have a lucky day. Max used to climb up on the counter and talk to the old men who came for coffee on Sunday mornings. Max used to sneak into the kitchen and steal French fries. Her stories would fill my head until all I could feel was Max. Max. Max. Max. Max. Max.

It was like I breathed her name in instead of oxygen. I hated it. How can I love someone who hurt me so badly? She obviously doesn't care enough about me to just be with me.

The threat of school hung in the air like my impending doom. School would offer the distraction of homework and sports, but it would also mean seeing Max again. I'm not quite sure I can see her and keep myself from losing my last thin thread of sanity.

Today is a good day. Today I've settled for TV and a soda and Sam. Today I can control myself. School will start next week and with it will come emotions that I don't want to rediscover.

"Dude!" Sam yelled, coming into my living room. He looked down at where I settled myself into the couch. "Let's go, we're getting you out of the house. You're a fucking pussy. We're going to a party tonight and you're going to talk up some girl and hook up with her and then when school starts next week you might even start to date her. She'll be a normal girl without an obligation to fight people or a desire to break your heart. Or even better, she might not be an alcoholic who parties all day every day."

"She won't be Max," I told him. I'm a fucking sap. I'm pathetic. Max took me and ripped out whatever I had inside me.

"You're right, she'll be better." I looked at him and we both knew he was bullshitting me. At the end of the day there was no one better than Max. "Look, just get yourself together, man. You're turning into a thirteen year old chick who got dumped by her boyfriend. Want some Ben and Jerry's?"

"Fuck off."

"No, you're going to get your fuck on with some hot ass chick and I'm going to help you get there," Sam corrected. I looked at him wearily.

…

"I don't want to be here," I told Sam as we got out of his car in front of a crazy house. This poor kid's parents.

"Think about the hot girl," Sam said slapping my chest. Max's image came to mind at the thought of a hot girl.

"Will she be here?" I asked him. Sam grimaced. I turned on my heels and headed straight back to the car.

"There's not a party in town she hasn't gone to," Sam told me. "There's really no party I can take you to that she won't be at. Just give it a try. She'll be at school next week, this is just practice."

I sighed. I needed practice. If I see her here it's just practice for when school starts. It won't be as painful to see her in school if I've already grown accustomed to seeing her.

I just turned back around and headed towards the house with Sam.

Music blasted and bodies gyrated to the beat. It smelt of pot, stale beer, and perspiration. The one person I want to avoid seeing, or at least gradually be reintroduced to, was standing on a kitchen table. Her legs were long and tanner due to the bright summer sun. Her blond hair had gotten blonder. Her eyes seemed brighter with the freedom of summer, even with their drunken haze. She held a beer up in the air and was dancing with some girls I didn't recognize. Her arm was looped around a girl's shoulder's and she had that lazy kind of smile I've only seen her wear when she was drunk or laughing at something I said before she fell asleep.

People noticed me right away and I was instantly stared at. I'm sure people were surprised to see me after I'd disappeared for the entire summer. The only reason any of these people even knew my name was because of the very blond haired girl dancing up on the table. If not for Max, my only friend would be Sam. I couldn't even imagine what life would be like if I hadn't met Max. If I hadn't went to spy on her on my first day of school almost a year ago. The music came to an abrupt halt and Max met my eyes. Either whoever was working the music liked drama or my bad karma was catching up to me. Everyone was looking at Max and I. Max looked down at me, suddenly looking sober.

"Well, aren't you the perfect buzzkill," she said. Her voice was almost painful. Her words hurt. Of course she had to say something and be a bitch, god forbid she just say hello and move on with herself.

"I have just as much of a right to be here as you," I said crossing my arms.

"I didn't say you had to leave, did I?" She raised her eyebrows and I realized that if Max was good at anything, it's fighting. "I just said I mine as well just have dumped that last beer."

"You caused it," I said and then took a step back with the full intent to walk away, but not before she said something. I couldn't walk away only to have her say something nasty. She gave me a tired look. I noticed the circles under her eyes. I wanted them to go away, even though I should mad at her.

"I gave you my word," she mumbled. "I said I love you."

"I guess your word doesn't mean what I thought it meant then, or what anyone thought it meant," I replied. I tried to stay calm on the exterior, but inside I was pissed. I took another step back and then turned.

"Hey," she called. I heard her feet hit the ground and then the familiar pat of her feet. She grabbed my shoulder and the feeling nearly crippled me. I felt my insides cave in on themselves. "I said I love you, and I swear I still do. You're the one that's making it hard."

I grabbed her hand from my shoulder and gave it a squeeze, relishing in the moment and the feel of her skin on mine. I shoved her back, only hard enough to make myself clear. I quickly scanned the crowd and saw the one person that could hurt Max more than anyone else. I met Maya McCarthy's eyes and she glanced back seeming confused. I wanted to hurt Max. I wanted Max to feel how I felt after finding out she had kissed another guy. I strode forward and grabbed Maya's upper arm. I met her eyes one more time before I moved forward and pressed my mouth to hers. She tensed up underneath me before she melted into my chest and moved her lips with mine. It was good, it was definitely a good kiss, but nothing like what it felt like to kiss Max. Maya McCarthy was slightly uncomfortable and very leveled and controlled. Max kissed me sloppy and uncontrolled, but with a talent for it. It was always like Max kissed with everything she had. She gave everything to me when we kissed and Maya McCarthy was merely entertaining the idea of kissing me. Max was better at kissing, she knew how to move her mouth to make the kiss even better, but Maya clearly hadn't kissed many guys.

When I pulled away from Maya she stared up at me in a weird way. When I turned around to look at Max I found her looking at me already. Her eyebrows were taunt and her arms were crossed. She scowled. She looked at me like I was a traitor, and in her world I was. In Max's world, the McCarthy's were the devil. I'm surprised that Max and Maya McCarthy are even coexisting in the same room.

"Where's the music!" Max yelled and then tipped her cup back and climbed back up onto the table. It took a minute, but eventually the music started up again and people started to get bored. Sam came up behind me and slapped my back.

"That's what I'm talking about," he said quietly so Maya wouldn't hear. Sam disappeared into the crowd and then I was left staring at Maya.

"Sorry," I mumbled and then moved to walk past her. I felt a hand grab me, but it didn't feel like Max's. I turned and Maya was staring up at me still looking a little taken aback.

"I-do you want to talk?" Maya asked me. I looked at her. Her lip gloss was smeared from my lips. She looked a little shocked, but like she was happy. I looked at Max to see her tipping back and new cup and then started up dancing again. I wanted to hurt her like she hurt me. I wanted her to know.

"Sure," I mumbled. I let Maya lead me through the bodies and as we went by the keg I grabbed a cup. I tipped it back and then grabbed another cup, tipping that one back too. Finally I grabbed a third cup and only after tipping that one back did I grab a fourth to bring with me to be with Maya. I'd need to be drunk to do this. Maybe that should have tipped me off, but I followed Maya anyway.

…

I pressed Maya against the outside of the house forcefully and my mouth fumbled over hers. I was trying to get whatever pleasure I could from her, which wasn't much. Maya meant nothing to me other than stabbing Max in the back, and that's what I wanted to do. I should respect Maya enough to set boundaries for myself, but I didn't. It felt good to kiss her, to do something bad. Kissing Max was always like kissing fire, kissing Maya was the closest I could get to that feeling again and only because I knew it would hurt Max.

A strong hand wrapped around my bicep and yanked me away from Maya forcefully. Max looked up at me with a storm in her eyes. Her fist was clenched and I wanted her to unclench it. She tightened her grip on my bicep and glared over at Maya.

"What do you think you're doing?" Maya demanded angrily.

"Shut the fuck up," Max said pointing a hand, shaking with anger, at Maya. Max pulled me a couple steps away from Maya and then looked at me furiously. "I know what you're doing. I'm angry, ok? I beyond angry, I'm murderous. You can stop now."

"I'm not doing this because of you," I lied. She scoffed bitterly.

"Fang," she said taking a deep breath. "I love you. I love you a lot. I love you more than I've ever loved anything in my whole life. That whore," Max said pointing over at where Maya stood watching us with anger. "Doesn't give a shit about you. She's using you to hurt me just like you're using her to hurt me. If you think I broke your heart then you're in for a wakeup call with her. I've been with a lot of guys, Fang, as I'm sure you've been with a lot of girls. I've fallen in love with different guys at night and then woken up with them in the morning. I can tell you that I've never found a guy I love more than you. I look every night trying to find someone to replace you, and I can't. I wish you would just…forgive me."

I didn't say anything, just crossed my arms.

She looked me over one last time before she quickly walked past me and out towards the driveway. I watched her form retreat and let what she said sink in. I turned to look back at Maya. Maya didn't leave just now, Max did. Maya didn't cheat on me, Max did. Maya didn't play me, Max did.

I took two long strides towards Maya and then pressed her back to the house while jamming my lips back onto hers. I instantly shoved my tongue into her mouth and let my mind go numb and my body take over.

A/N: Tell me what you thought as in please review. I promise there will be Fax. I'd like to update again this weekend, but that's all dependent on how much you guys review. So do it!