Chapter 1: This is not my idea of fun

All rights go to James Patterson

A/N: Can you believe TWO MORE MONTHS TO NEVERMORE? We've almost endured the suffering of having to wait an extra 6 months XDD

So, yet another guinea pig of mine...just to see if this story idea will get people's attention :)

This is pretty short. After this, it will skip to age 17 and then to when they are grown ups. The grown up part is more the centre of the story :)

Hope you don't mind the huge gaps.

~Angel

*Eight years old*

"Max! Honey! Come on down!"

Max and her eight year old self scrambled down the stairs squealing, "Mummy! Mummy! I saw the new neighbours moved in! Do they have a kid? Oh plleeeeease tell me it's another girl I can play with!"

"Be patient Max. I've invited them over for dinner. Yes, they do have a kid."

"Is it a girl? What's her name?"

Dr. Martinez smiled at Max. "Woah, woah. One question at a time. No, it's a boy and his name is Nick."

"Another boy? This neighbourhood has too many of them."

Dr. Martinez rolled her eyes and gave her daughter a smug grin. "Just…PROMISE to be nice to him? He's the same age as you."

"It's not like he wants to play what I want too. Can I go to Lissa's house?"

"No. Be nice. And…it might be fun for you!"

Max crossed her arms over her chest. "This is NOT my idea of fun." She pouted and stomped up the stairs.

Playing by herself in her room for a few hours was…pretty boring for Max. If she couldn't go to Lissa's house, or Lissa couldn't play with her, it was absolutely no fun. Her mom always had to go to the veterinary clinic for emergencies and Max was left with the old, fat lady down the block as a sitter. All she would do was sleep on their couch and drool on the pillows while Max poked her neck fat with the TV remote.

Suddenly she heard the doorbell ring. When her mom called her down, she didn't go.

She heard her mom open the door. "Just a minute. I'll go get her."

Max opened her closet and slammed the door shut. Being in the dark…alone…wasn't her thing. But, she'd have to stick through with it if she was going to evade having to have a "playdate" with Nick.

Dr. Martinez opened the door. "Max, you in here sweet pea?"

Max took a step closer to peek through the crack but stumbled on a pair of pants sprawled on the floor, and fell. Thankfully, she didn't get hurt.

Dr. Martinez opened the door and took Max by the hand. "Come on honey, this isn't time for dress up. The neighbours are here."

Max pulled back and said, "No! I don't want to go!"

Dr. Martinez put an even firmer grip on her daughter.

"Max, you are coming with me…NOW."

"I don't have to if I don't want to."

"Yes…you…do!"

Dr. Martinez dragged her daughter down the stairs where Nick was also fighting with his mom.

He complained, "Mooom! I don't want to play with a girl. She's probably going to want to put makeup on me and play Barbie and stuff."

Anne Walker shushed her son and said, "She's a nice girl. Now behave."

Max whined out, "Mom! See? He doesn't even like me. Now can I go to Lissa's house?"

"No. You are staying here and that's that."

Both mothers and children faced each other. Nick and Max pouted and said, "This is NOT my idea of fun." And turned away so they wouldn't stare at each other.

After dinner, Anne and Dr. Martinez talked for a while. Max and Nick both got bored of pouting at each other.

Since they lived right by the sea, there was a lot of rocks that they could climb. They weren't high so falling accidents wouldn't be a problem.

Nick asked, "Wanna go on the rocks?"

Max softened up a bit and said, "Umm…okay."

Max yelled to her mom, "Mumma! We're going out on the rocks!"

"Alright hun, don't go too far."

The two kids ran out the back door.

Max asked, "So, do you like it here?"

Nick turned to her and smiled, "Uh, yeah…I guess. My mum told me you go to the school down the road. What's it like?"

"Awesome! Your teacher will be Miss. Richards. She's super duper nice."

"Do you like living in this area?"

Max smiled a huge grin and said, "Yeah! You get to swimming in your own backyard! So far, do you like living in this area?"

"Well, I've only been here a day. I thought I wouldn't like it…but now I do."

They walked down to the rocks together and Max was so close to Nick that he held her hand and they sat on the rocks together look out at the setting sun and the waves lapping up against the rocks.

Little did they know that their mothers were watching from the kitchen window.

Dr. Martinez chuckled and said, "Is your son holding my daughter's hand?"

Anne smiled and said, "Yeah…they look so cute together. Unfortunately, it's time for us to head home."

She walked to the back door and yelled, "NICK! TIME TO GO!"

Nick quickly let go of Max's hand which disappointed her.

Nick said, "Gotta go. See ya around!" He started walking away but quickly ran back and kissed Max on the cheek.

Dr. Martinez, who was watching from the window drinking her tea suddenly spit it out when she saw Nick kissing Max. "He already kissed my daughter on the cheek? That boy works fast."

When Nick and his mother left, Max came inside.

Her mother winked at her and said, "You two sure had fun."

"Yeah," Max said. "I guess we did."

Maybe opposites really do attract.

I know. Realistically you probably don't get a crush that fast. But I thought it'd be cute :)

Tell me what you think.

~Angel :)