Prologue: Max

"Ride, I need to speak with you!" my coach said behind me. I turned, pausing in my stretches, to see him standing by the bleachers. I finished the set I was on before approaching him.

"What's up, Coach?" He gestured to underneath the bleachers. My heart dropped even as I ducked under with him.

"Last event of your high school career. Are you excited?" I crossed my arms over my chest, a barrier against the unwanted and unasked for.

"I've run the mile thousands of times. This is just routine." He stepped closer to me; my heart that was now in my left shoe started racing as I watched him. "Coach…."

"Turn around, and bend over." Knowing the consequences of disobedience, I turned my back to him and bent at a 45 degree angle. I felt his hand slowly slide down my back and bit back tears of fear. 'You're stronger than tears, Max,' I thought.

"C…Coach?" I winced at the tremor in my voice.

"Win this race, Ride, and I'll reward you greatly tonight," he whispered in my ear. He pressed into me, and I held onto the metal in front of me as he hardness pressed against my backside; his hand circled around to my front. My body trembled as his hand slipped under my shorts.

"The… the race is about to begin," I whispered, wanting so bad to get away from him.

"I'll see you after." I ran away from him and to my starting position.

~Break~

I stared at the person in front of me. I haven't felt this exposed since my high school years. And I hate feeling exposed.

"Max, I… I don't know what to say. I'm so…." I cut the councilor off by stating harshly.

"You swore to me you wouldn't."

"I know, but I didn't know this is what you were going to tell me. Are you sure you're alright? I mean…. Max? Where are you going?" I yanked the door open.

"Away from you. Just so you know, I'm transferring to University of Arizona today. Not so great knowing you." I stormed out of the building and straight to my best friend's car.

"Dad said your things should be unpacked and in your dorm now." I nodded.

"JJ, I told her. And she went back on her promise. She showed me sympathy!" I punched the dashboard with all my might at the last word. I hate sympathy almost as much as I hate feeling exposed.

"So what you gon' do now?" I took a deep breath and blew on my knuckles. They sting.

"Go to U. of A. I am 20 years old now. Therefore I am too old to cry over that bastard." JJ drove out of the lot in silence.

My name is Maximum Ride. When I was 14 years old, my potential to be an Olympic gold medalist for track was revealed to all of California. My coach had a thing for potential gold winners. He raped me continuously for four years, and didn't stop until the day after I made the school's track team 4 year champions.

"Max, you can't keep shutting everybody out. One day, you need to face what happened," JJ said as she pulled into the parking lot of the airport.

"I will eventually." I grabbed my carryon bag. "But not today. I'm not ready to go deeper into it yet."

With that, I got out of the car and walked into the airport.

New story! Yay! Also, I have that forum up now: Vipers vs. Venoms. It's based on my fic Guilty Pleasures. You should check both out.

Reviews are greatly appreciated.

-RozaCourt