Here I am guys, with another Max and Mariam one shot. Special thanks to Red Wheeler who proof-read my story for me. This is filler for my spare time while I wait for someone to review my chapter fic to let me know if I should continue it or not.
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or the song Long Shot by Kelly Clarkson. I only own the plot ot the story.
One thing's for sure: they never saw it coming.
It was late one afternoon in July when Max got a phone call.
The cordless phone in his bedroom rang and he crossed the room to retrieve it.
"Hello," he said. "Max speaking."
"Well hey there," the voice on the other end stated coolly.
Max froze.
"Mariam?" he asked tentivley, pressing the phone closer to his ear.
He heard her hum on the other end of the phone in acknowledgement to the fact that he had identified her.
"Where are you?" Max asked, immediately gazing out his window to the busy street below. He couldn't see anyone that would resemble the female 'Blader, but then again, you could barely recognize anyone in New York.
"None of your business Max," Mariam replied. "Just thought I'd say hello."
Max faltered and froze again. There was so much he wanted to say and had no where to start.
Finally he spoke.
"I miss you," he said quietly, as if someone were listening to their conversation. His mom was out so he had no fear of being overheard.
"Do you now?" Mariam asked amusingly. He could hear the smugness in her voice.
"Yeah, I do. Do you have a problem with that?"
It was Mariam's turn to falter on the other end of the phone but she gathered her composure quickly.
"Actually, Max, I do."
"Why?" the blonde questioned, resting his elbow on the window ledge and throwing the window open.
"Because I have a problem with whatever we have."
Max noticed quickly that the blue-haired girl hadn't said, 'Friendship.' Instead she had said, 'Thing we have.'
"I'm sorry to hear that," he replied. "But I personally want to take the chance on this thing we may have started. Intentional or not Mariam, but I think you have to agree on me with one thing: we never saw any of this coming. If we had, we probably wouldn't be talking right now."
Max heard Mariam sigh on the other end of the phone.
"Everything that we do together Max, adds up to something that asks for involvement. Commitment. I don't have either of those to give."
Max watched the people on the street five stories below him.
"Give in general, or just to me?"
"Max," Mariam said warningly. "That's not what I meant…"
"Mariam, every time I'm with you or speak to you or write you a letter my heart beat beats ne senselessly. Do you care at all about what happens to us? It's a long shot, that I know, but why not? I know that if I say no, forget it, I'll regret it down the road. The one biggest thing I'll regret in my entire life."
Mariam sucked in her breath.
"Your biggest regret would be not committing?"
"No, my biggest regret would be meeting you."
There was silence on the other end of the phone. Her breath was the only thing that gave Max the hint that the girl was still there.
"Look Mariam, I realize that everything's starting again. The Beyblading, the BladeBreakers, everything. Including this thing that we're both scared of."
"So what do you want me to do?" Mariam retorted angrily. "Just throw caution to the wind and see which way it's blowing? Max, we never saw this coming. We'll never see the rest of it coming until it's too close to stop! I won't get involved in this."
Max clenched his fists.
"I'm sorry Max," Mariam continued. "I'm sorry everything's so-"
"Intense with you?"
"Yeah. I'm just trying to handle all the unpredictability."
Max laughed harshly into the phone. "Sure," he said. "Mariam, you don't understand…"
"I don't understand?" the girl cried. "I know that this is like, a one in a million chance Max, but let's face it. That chance is that we won't make it."
There it was. The word we had been waiting to hear all along.
We.
"But I know that if we don't take it there's no chance at all. Come on Mariam, what have you got to lose?"
Silence. Silence because Max knew that the only thing she would lose from this would be him. Him as a friend.
"We'll make it Mariam," he continued. "I know we will. I know it's a long shot but let's face it: you're the ebst I've got."
The blue-haired girl hummed in and Max sighed.
"I'm the best you've got?" she asked coolly.
Max said nothing. His insides were burning, somersaulting. He swallowed and then said, "Yeah Mariam. The best."
"And you really want to take this long shot, Hot shot?"
Max paused. "I... well-"
"Yes or no, my minutes are ticking by. Every moment you waste is another twenty-five cents, and I only have two quarters left."
There was another pause from both teenagers.
Finally Max said, "Yes Mariam. This is something that I want, I need. I need you."
"Max," Mariam cautioned. "Let's not get in head over heels now. Besides, you're just so cheesy."
"Sorry," the blonde mumbled as he pushed a small pebble off his window sill and watched it bounce on the awning above the apartment building door.
"Another question Max," Mariam said.
Max smiled and hummed in reply. It was Mariam's thing, to hum when they talked and he could practically hear her smile.
"I… I want to know… you didn't see this coming at all?"
Max shook his head, then realized Mariam couldn't see the action.
"No," he replied. "Not until I met you."
"But before, you never thought you'd find someone…someone like me?"
"Mariam," Max said with a sigh. He wasn't used to the uneasiness in the female 'Blader's voice. It only showed once in a blue moon and he savored the moment of having the upper hand.
"There are other girls in my life. Hilary, Emily… nobody compares to you."
"Good," came his reply.
Max smiled. "So how-"
"Sorry Max," Mariam said. "I'm down to my last minute."
Max sucked in his breath. "Mariam!" he said agitatedly. "More warning please!"
The blue-haired girl laughed. "Oh Max," she said with a content sigh. "You never saw me coming." And then the line went dead.
It was true, Max never saw her coming. He sighed as he hung up the phone and pulled on his runners. He needed some fresh air.
He sauntered down the steps, humming to a tune he had heard on the radio the other day.
As he pushed open the door to the building and stepped outside into the sunlight he heard a voice say, "Hey stranger."
He whipped around, his hand instinctively going to his Beyblade, but when he saw who it was his expression softened.
"Mariam," he whispered as he surveyed the girl standing in the shadows.
"Didn't see that coming, did you?" the girl said with a smirk.
Max smiled. "Come on," he said. "After that conversation on the phone, I forgot to ask how you were."
"Well I'm fine," Mariam said as she followed him down the street. "Now."
So what do you think? Keep writing? I only got two reviews on At Last... but at least it made it into a community! Woot! Let's see if Long Shot will do better! Thanks again!