The door closed quietly behind me and I couldn't help but giggle as I leaned against the wall to take off my high heels. Sneaking by was just too easy now. A sly smile curled on my lips and I walked quietly up to my room, skipping the steps that always creak when you step on them.

I finally made it to my room when suddenly I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I cringed and turned to see my older brother, Mikey. Damn it! I thought to myself angrily, I forgot he was back. "Max?" I sent him an innocent smile and leaned against the doorframe.

"Yeah, big bro?"

He raised an eyebrow at me as he looked me up and down, "Where were you?" I shrugged and picked at my nails.

"Out and about, you know how it is." I flashed him a smile and mimicked him by crossing my arms seriously. "Why?"

He gave me a hard look and my smile brightened, "Where have you been, Max? I'm serious." I rolled my eyes at his serious tone and stood up straight, picking up my heels by the strap with my forefinger.

"With some friends, we wanted to have some fun, you know, relax a little before the big tests come? We just thought maybe we could go out and just let go, forget that this may determine your future and whatnot. Come on, Mikey, I know you know what I mean." I gave him a look and he sighed, looking discontented by me but just shook his head.

"Sometimes too much fun isn't fun, Max. You'll learn that later though." I scoffed and waved at him over my shoulder as I closed my room door behind me.

"All fun is fun," I muttered to myself as I threw my heels somewhere to the side. Uncaring about my skin-tight dress I dropped onto my bed and curled in the sheets, not bothering to change or wash my face.

I woke up with a headache and groaned, "Ugh." I heard laughter down the hallway and I glared at my door.

"TOO MUCH FUN IS NOT FUN!" I heard Mikey call out as he passed and I threw my pillow at my door in frustration.

"GO TO HELL!" More laughter. I glared at the door and rolled back onto my stomach, curling the pillow underneath me, my cheek placed on the bright pink pillow.

I was on the verge of sleep when suddenly my mom came in. Thanks for knocking, I thought snidely.

"Come on, you have school today, Max." I turned my head to look away from her, hinting at her to leave me alone.

"Max. Come on, get up." Suddenly she was at my side, grabbing handfuls of my blanket.

"No," I moaned, grabbing it all back. "Leave me alone…"

I heard my mom sigh and run a hand through her hair. "We have new neighbors, Max."

"Why are you still here?" I asked in a raspy voice, not caring about the damn neighbors.

"We've invited them to come over for dinner, so I want you home right after school to help me cook." I groaned into my pillow, cursing the world.

"Oh, and Max?" My mom called from the doorway, "You're math teacher called, err… Mr. Waybright, he told me you're failing his class." I groaned some more, why does life hate me?

"So I told him to assign you a tutor. Every Wednesday you'll be going to the library for two hours to study what you've learned and what you've already learned. Mr. Waybright has generously agreed to let you retake the exam that you failed, and failed to tell me about. I expect only the best, Max. No more, no less. Now get out of bed or I'll send Mikey up."

And with that she left.

"WHY DO YOU HATE ME?!" I yelled after her, slowly dragging myself out of bed. My feet hurt and my legs were sore from too much dancing. I think the four inch heels had something to do with that, too. I rubbed my calves and stripped out of my dress. Well, Anna's dress, really, but she gave it to me so I guess it's mine.

After getting dressed in my ripped tights, red flannel shirt and my ratty converse I shouldered my backpack/purse, put on my Ray Bands and walked downstairs. "Later loser!" Mikey yelled after me. I flipped him off and got into my car.

Once at school there was talk of 'the new hotties' and their little sister 'ripe for the picking'. Pigs. I pushed my sunglasses onto my head and searched for my friends.

"MAX!" I heard Nudge yell and smirked at her as I walked over to their table.

"Hey guys," I said, my tone subdued and tired. I pushed Noah out of his seat and plopped tiredly into his seat. I rested my head on my crossed arms and stared at the road.

"Late night?" Iggy asked sitting down next to me. He leaned his head down and stared widely into my eyes making me chuckle.

"Something like that…" I trailed off with a sly smile, oh if only they knew. He raised an eyebrow at me but I just shrugged. "Mr. Waybright won't get off my damn back and he called my parents. My mom won't stop giving me grief. So I failed a test, what's the big fucking deal?" I asked sitting up with a new found energy.

"I mean, she even got me some tutor and I have to go and retake that test which I'm likely to fail. Again! So what's the point?" I asked, exasperated at her cruelty.

"You know she's only looking out for you, right?" Nudge asked in her sweet little voice. Her brown eyes were wide and innocent. I almost laughed at her, how could she be so innocent at seventeen? She really needs to grow up, but I smiled anyway.

"So? It still pisses me off." My group laughed and I suddenly wondered what they would think of my night outings with the "elders". They weren't even that much older.

"Whoa…" Ella said, suddenly appearing at my right. I followed her trail of sight and saw her staring at the guy that just roared through the parking lot. He took off his helmet, almost too slowly, and shook out his black hair. I raised an eyebrow in his direction and rolled my eyes.

"Attention whore." Nudge gaped at me and then turned her gape to the new boy.

"Any boy with that body deserves all this attention," She said in a shocked tone and I chuckled at her face.

"He's not that hot," I said with a shrug, comparing him to Dylan. This boy just didn't do it for me; he was still a baby, but Dylan… A small smile danced on my lips and I laughed a little.

"Not… that… hot?" Nudge and Ella were gaping at me as I shrugged.

"What?"

They both shared a look and shook their heads, "You're really scaring me, Max." Nudge nodded in agreement, looking me over slowly.

"Maaaax…. Do you have something you want to tell us?" Nudge shoved Iggy out of his seat and squished me into Ella, who was suddenly on my right.

"What's up with people pushing us boys off chairs?!" Iggy whined, standing up rubbing his butt. I grinned at him sweetly and Nudge laughed.

"Sorry, Iggy," She said, flushing from embarrassment. I shook my head and chuckled a little.

"I'm not," I scoffed, "nope, I regret nothing." Noah came up behind me and I followed him with my eyes warily. "Whatcha doing…?" Then suddenly his hands shot out and messed up my hair. I let out a little squeal and whacked his arms away from me as he laughed.

"Idiot," I muttered, flattening my wavy hair down, brushing my fingers through the knots. "Don't you know not to touch a girl's hair? It's their most prized possession."

Iggy looked confused and turned to me, "I thought their most prized possession was their cherry…"

Ella whacked Iggy's head and he cackled evilly. She glared at him then turned back to me with a sympathetic smile, "So… Max? You have something to say?"

I gave her a confused look and slowly shook my head. "Nooo… I don't think so…" I wondered suddenly if she knew what my 'late study-nights' weren't really studying. I mean, it's kind of obvious that I'm not studying; hello I failed a test, apparently one of the easiest too.

Nudge rolled her eyes and grabbed my shoulder's turning me to her, leaning in real close. I leaned back in horror, my eyes wide, "What the hell?"

"Are you a lesbian?" I gaped at her and then started laughing. Once I started I couldn't stop. I kept on laughing and laughing. Nudge gave me a sympathetic look and gave Ella a nod.

"Yep, she's in denial."

I finally stopped laughing and gave them my most serious look (which wasn't too serious), "I'm not gay, you idiots." They let out a relieved sigh and laughed to each other.

Then suddenly Nudge looked at me in horror, "That wasn't a test, was it? To see if we would accept you if you were. 'Cause you know we would totally be on board with the whole 'I-like-chicks' thing. In fact, I wouldn't mind having a gay best friend. Hey Iggy? Do me a favor and start dating guys; I want a gay best friend! Ooh, maybe the new kid's gay; you know what they say the hot ones are always gay..."

I sighed and blocked her out; there she went, off on another rant of hers. I looked up and saw the boy still leaning against his motorcycle flirting with the girls encircling him like a bunch of fan girls. Suddenly he turned and met my eye. He smirked at me and sent me a wink; I just rolled my eyes, boys… He chuckled and turned back to his girls. My head began to throb and I groaned quietly. I need some aspirin. I didn't even drink that much last night! I shouldn't have this big of a headache, I made a face and grabbed my bag, standing up suddenly.

"Hey guys, I have to go to my locker and get something, I'll see you later." I walked away, waving at them over my shoulder. I took the side entrance to limit the amount of kids I have to face. I pushed through the green metal doors and walked through the semi-empty halls until I reached my locker. Bottom, sadly. I squatted down and spun in my combination. I just opened it when suddenly a hand came over my shoulder and slammed it shut. I fell back in shock, sitting on the hard tiles staring up at the new kid as he smirked down at me.

"What the fuck?!" I yelled, getting up angrily. His smirk just widened and my glare hardened. What a jerk. He chuckled silently at my face and I flipped him off before turning back to my locker. I spun in the combination again and opened it, this time opening it all the way before he tried to close it again. I slapped his hand away, seconds before he hit the locker door. I glared up at him and elbowed his knee, hoping to get him off my back. I turned back to my locker and looked for my aspirin bottle. I shoved around my notebooks and other junk I had in there until I found the small white bottle. I opened the case and popped one of the little red-orange tablets, swallowing it dry. I brushed my fingers through my hair, running my tongue over my teeth, and applied some eye liner using the mirror in the very back of my locker. How I got it to fit in there is still a shock to me, but it's come in handy more than once so who really cares how it got in?

I stood up and was about to kick my locker closed when suddenly a boot clad foot kicked it shut for me. I looked up and saw the new kid smirking evilly at me with his arms crossed. "What?" I threw my arms up in exasperation, waiting for an answer to why he won't leave me alone.

"I thought you weren't allowed to have any medicine with you. You're supposed to give it to the office and take it there." I rolled my eyes and shoved past him.

So not worth my time.

But apparently the newbie had nothing better to do because he followed me down the hall like a little puppy until I finally got tired of all the odd stares being sent my way. I finally turned on my heel and gave him an expectant look. "What do you want?"

He shrugged and I waited. "Well?" He only blinked. Once, twice, thrice and that's when I lost it.

"Leave me alone, you stalker!" I shouted before turning around again and stormed off, his quiet laughter ringing in my ears all the way to my first class.

Idiot.

By lunchtime I was already sick of school. It turns out, newbie's name was Nicholas but he preferred Fang, weirdo. It also appears that he's in my first two classes, YAY! I glared at nothing as I shoved my way around the few people that didn't move when I walked past. No one's really, entirely, scared of me, but apparently, they're intimidated by me. Why? Who knows, I only know what Iggy so often tells me.

Once at my locker I stared at it for a couple seconds before I made up my mind, I wasn't going to endure this any longer. I opened my locker and hid my phone in it, texting the one person that I knew would pick me up no matter where or what he was doing.

Come pick me up? Plz. Thnx xoxo Max

I pressed sent and shoved it back in my backpack. I grabbed my sunglasses that were thrown on top of all my other stuff and shoved them on my nose. I closed the locker and stood up; walking towards the school exit.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?" Iggy asked, grabbing me shoulders and effectively turning me around to walk me towards the patio lunch area.

I groaned and shook his hands off my shoulders, "I'm not feeling well Iggy, and I already got the needed notes for math," I lied, "so my mom won't be mad. Come on, Ig, let me go." Maybe it was the plead in my voice or maybe it was because I sounded as defeated as I felt because he sighed and turned me around.

"Max, get better, okay? Nudge and Ella have been worried about you. You're always tired lately and you never have time for them anymore, really. What's wrong?" I felt a pang in my chest and turned back to see the distress in his face. I smiled sweetly at him and shrugged.

"I'm failing math Igs. Math, my best subject. How much lower can I sink?" I should be an actor, that's how great I was just then. But somewhere inside me it hurt knowing that he believed me so easily. I kind of wanted him to call me out on my lie, but it never happened, he just nodded slowly and shrugged.

"Maybe the tutor will help, you'll be fine Max; you always are." And then he turned and disappeared in the crowd. I looked at him walk away and had mixed feelings about the situation. Iggy was one of my best friends and I could feel the distance between us getting wider, only I could barely feel anything about it. I had new best friends now, ones that understood everything about me, sure they were older but that's partially the reason I'm friends with them, the experiences were incredible.

I opened the front doors and a blast of cold air blew my wavy hair back. I smiled a little as the cold wind soothed my head. I closed my eyes for a second, taking it in, before I heard an obnoxious honk. I opened my eyes and smirked at the boy slightly leaning onto the passenger seat, "Need a ride?!" I laughed and ran over to his car, sliding into passenger seat. I grinned over at him as he drove off, the wind whipping through long, blond/brown hair. I raised my arms above my head and leaned back smiling up at the sky, a bubbly laugh escaping my lips.

I sat back regularly and grinned over at him, "Thanks." He sent me a smile that sent shocks through me.

"Any time," He replied over the roar of the wind. "Where to?" I thought about it for a second before smirking over to him. He laughed at my face, immediately knowing where I wanted to go. He suddenly swerved into the next lane and made a quick U-turn, driving towards our new destination.

This should be fun.

A/N: I know, I know, another? But yes, after listening to the song 17 by Sky Ferreira I just had to write this! I was so inspired so... here it is. R&R! :)

~*~Tattooed Wings~*~

"Up on the hill across the blue lake, that's where I had my first heartbreak
I still remember how it all changed"

Swedish House Mafia- Don't You Worry Child