Hello. Thank you for the reviews we got. We greatly appreciate people taking their time to tell us what they thought of the story. This chapter is dedicated to lemonadeice1. Thanks again.
Chapter Two
A Talk
Max's POV
Nicholas Carson, our new senior homeroom teacher, was still staring at me. I didn't know if I should go over to him and introduce myself or if I should go inside my house and pretend that I hadn't ever seen him.
The second option was definitely not fail-proof. I would never be able to forget how his eyes locked with mine and felt like my legs were going to collapse under me. It also wasn't going to work because he was walking towards me now.
His stride was calm and powerful. He shined with a demand for respect. His head was held high with pride. And then he was in front of me and he was introducing himself with his deep voice which was as smooth as leather and as sweet as honey.
"Hello," greeted the ominous young teacher. "I'm Nicholas Carson, but you can call me Fang." I blinked at him and finally snapped out of my trance.
I held out my hand. "Maximum Ride, but you can call me Max." I replied, surprising even myself of how calmly my voice carried out.
A small smirk appeared on his face. He took my small hand in his large one shaking it firmly. "Nice to meet you." Nicholas, I mean, Fang said in turn. His voice actually sounded genuine. Polite. Gallant, even.
I slipped my hand quickly from his grip. "Strange looks?" I asked, knowing all too well how…inquisitive people could be when a newcomer came to our itty-bitty postage stamp town.
Fang folded his arms across his chest nonchalantly. He cocked his head a little to the side like a confused puppy. "How did you know?" The man said more than asked. His voice was curious and maybe a little suspicious.
"I wasn't born here like most of the people who live here," I replied. "I've been new here too. Soon enough, you'll not have a single thing unknown about you." For less than an instant, I saw the whites of Fang's eyes flash. I got the hint that he was not a talkative person, nor a person that liked talking about what he felt inside.
The look passed as quick as it had come. "Really?" Fang asked, smirking again. His countenance showed disbelief that information spread so quickly. Well I had news for him. There were no secrets in Huntleigh.
I nodded my head and a wave of my blonde hair fell in front of my face. I flicked it back annoyed. "So I guess you're the new homeroom teacher, huh?"
"How did yo -?" Fang stopped himself, recalculating. "Oh yeah. No secrets." He continued. I offered a tiny, polite laugh.
"You learn fast." I said, smiling up at him and finally getting to look again into his eyes. His eyes, oh God. His eyes were beautiful. They weren't black like I had first assumed. They were a deep brown with gold flecks through the middle and some green towards the outer edges. Like gemstones. A hard, black outer-rim encircled itself around the edges.
"So what do you do?" Fang asked. I was hoping he wasn't going to ask that question. He seemed nice. I would like to get to know him a bit more. But I was a student, and it would be frowned upon for him and me to hang out if he was my teacher.
"I'm a senior." I said as coolly as I could. His face fell and my heart gave a painful twinge seeing his disappointment. Why? I have no idea. It was completely ridiculous that I should feel disappointment over not being able to hang out with a teacher from that hell-hole we call school. Yes, completely ridiculous.
Fang, with his head lowered, peeked at me through his shock of black wavy hair. Then he pulled himself up to his normal, prudish stature. "Then you should address me as Mr. Carson while school is in session," He stated. Maybe it was just me, but his voice didn't sound as polite or as happy as it had earlier. "I wouldn't want you getting in trouble."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." I replied.
"I'm always right." Fang said back with an impish smile stitched onto his face. I don't know what it was, but something about it made my heart flutter. Ugh.
I was about to comment when my cell phone rang blasting out what people like to call "The World's Most Annoying Ringtone." I sighed and pulled it out of my pocket. And when I looked at the caller ID I think I almost fell over from shock, but Fang's hand grabbed my elbow. His touch sent sparks up my arm.
Reclaiming myself, I pressed the "answer" key and slapped the phone to my ear. "What?" I snarled. "What could you possibly want, Mom." I hissed the last word, my voice like nails on a chalkboard.
Pressing the phone to my chest, I looked at Fang and apologized with my hands. I couldn't help it. I had to take this call. The young man just shook his head and signaled that it was fine.
"Well Maximum, I just wanted to inform you that I will be coming back home this Sunday," My mother's crackled voice said through the earpiece. A startled breath left my mouth. She was coming back? After five years?
"No," I said, jaw clenching. "You're not coming here. You are never coming back. Ever. This isn't your home anymore." My voice shook and feelings I had suppressed so deeply made their appearance once again.
"Maximum, you are my daughter!" Oh great now she was screaming. I held the phone away from my ear and rolled my eyes at Fang. "You will not tell me what to do! Do you hear me?"
"I am not your daughter," I enunciated. "You had a daughter five years ago, but you left. Don't come back here. No one wants you here." I was seething. Who was she to tell me what to do?
"What has Jeb been teaching you?" Her voice sounded startled more than angry when she asked the question. Probably was too. How smart could you possibly be if you thought that after leaving for five years you would be accepted back with open arms? Obviously you weren't that bright.
"Jeb has taught me everything. Including the fact that you, my dear mother," I had to hold myself back from laughing. "Are an untrustworthy bitch that needs to descend back to the seventh layer of hell. He also advised me to tell you that it wouldn't be a bad idea to stay there this time."
I heard her voice rise again and ended the call. For good measure I took the battery out of my phone. It was then that I realized Fang was still here and was looking as uncomfortable as ever.
"Sorry about that." I forced myself to look him in the eyes. "She needs to learn to back off."
Fang furrowed his eyebrows and his gemstone eyes shined. "She's your mother," He said darkly. "You shouldn't treat her so badly. She deserves your respect."
I looked down at my shoes, chewing my lower lip. I didn't even bother to nod. He obviously didn't understand how many problems she had caused. He didn't know how badly it hit me when she left and Dad had to tell me that she wasn't coming back. He didn't know that I am still going to see a psychiatrist once a month for refills on depression medication. He didn't know.
Before I could stop it, everything just came bubbling out of me. "No. She used to deserve my respect. That was until she screwed Dad and me over. She deserves nothing now." I glared at him, my eyes daring him to argue.
"Don't you think that's a little bit too harsh?" Fang said in his same flat tone. My hand instinctively rubbed the inside of my arm where thousands of tiny scars marked the pain I had gone through. Fang's eyes caught the movement and he raised an eyebrow, but I shook my head in response.
"No. If anything, I'm being kind to her," I said. "I could do much worse." My mind wandered. I was being nice. I could make her feel all the pain that I did.
Fang opened his mouth to speak again, but my dad's car pulled into the driveway. "Max. You're in my spot." He shouted to me from the car after parking. Through the crinkles of his white-toothed grin, I saw how his eyes drooped slightly and knew that my mother had called him too. Sliding out of the car, my father clapped the door closed and made his way to our porch.
"Yep. And you'll let me stay there because you love me." I reply with an almost innocent smile. He sighed and nodded his head, mumbling something about me using his love to my advantage.
Suddenly, he turned his attention to the young man at his right. "You must be the new teacher. Nice to meet you. I'm Jeb Ride." Jeb extended his hand and Fang returned the gesture.
"Nicholas Carson." Fang looked relaxed, but I saw the slight tightening of skin around his eyes and the way his teeth mashed together beside his lips.
"Sorry about Max harassing you." I rolled my eyes. Of course Dad would say that. "I hope she didn't ruin your day."
"No. Not too much, anyway." Fang cocked his head again and winked at me.
"Why don't you join us for dinner?" my father said, fishing his hands deep into his pockets. "I'm sure you're hungry after unpacking all day."
No. I don't want him to stay for dinner. Damn Jeb and his politeness.
Fang didn't help matters, either. "That would be great," the dark-haired man replied graciously. "Thank you."
I let out a tiny, discreet sigh. So let hell begin.
How was it? Please review. It really means the world to us. If you don't like it, don't review. But if you want this story to continue it would be a good idea.
