logan POV

"So, What do you think of Max?" I asked Brett as we headed back to our apartment.

"Nice girl. She seems very nice. Mom would love her; Dad would think she is really cool." He looked over and smiled. "Nice pick bro." He said slapping my back. I couldn't pretend to not know what he was referring to. I did like Max. She had something about her that was amazing. I would have to figure out why exactly I liked her as much as I had. I don't really believe in love at first sight, all I was sure of was that Max had stolen my heart and if a relationship wouldn't work out then I was going to have one heck of a fight getting my heart back.

"I saw a portrait of a woman in there, which must be Max's mom. Max must look like her dad." Brett said interrupting my thoughts.

"What do you think about inviting her over?" I asked him. Brett was my best friend, along with being my brother. He and I were very close.

"Dude, totally stole my thoughts. Mom would love it."

"Yes, Tami would love to meet her, Dan would too."

Tami and Dan were my parents. They were really amazing. They loved to meet people. Dan encouraged me to meet girls, but he warned me about how if I decided to do something I'd better be ready for what happens afterward. I had no intention of going there. Tami, like Dan, didn't really care just so long as I got married to the girl before anything major happened. They were referring to the same thing, I realized later. I was sure they would like Max. I opened the door and went inside. I was heading for my room but Tami stopped me.

"So? How did it go? Is she nice or what?" Tami was anxious to hear my answer.

"Relax," I said laughing. "She is really cool, you guys are gonna love her. She lives with her mom, just the two of them, her dad died. Say, what if we invited her over here for dinner?"
"Already ahead of you," Tami replied. "What should we have?"

"Something homemade if you don't mind. She probably doesn't much homemade stuff. When I walked in I smelled pizza, most likely store bought."

"Do you see her tomorrow?"

"Yeah, she is in every one of my classes."

"Well I hope she is nice for your sake." Tami had a twinkle in her eye.

"Oh whatever," I rolled my eyes. "I am going to my room, if you don't mind."

"Go right ahead sweetheart." Tami moved so I could get to my room.

"Night, Tami."

"Good night, Logan."

I walked in my room, shut my door and flopped on my bed. Max, she was very pretty. I couldn't believe she had never had a boyfriend before. I had never had a girlfriend so I guess it was even there. It would be a new experience for both of us. If she even liked me that is. I wasn't sure if she did. I remembered Max saying how she didn't want to end up like her mom. They really don't get along. I was thankful for what I had. My life seemed perfect. What kind of a mom would move so much? Why did her mom want a change of pace so often? Was it because her mom couldn't keep a job? I would have to ask Max about that. I wondered why Max hadn't told anybody about her mom hitting her. Then I remembered how she had said that she did tell a counselor but that had caused them to move. Maybe she put up with it because she figured if she wasn't a problem, maybe her mom would stay in one spot. I wanted to be a good friend to Max; I wanted to be a friend that she has been looking for. That would be amazing. Tami told me that being crazy about someone is alright, just watch yourself. I was tired and before I knew it I fell asleep.

Next thing I knew my alarm clock went "Beep, BEEP, BEEP!!" It was 5:30 in the morning, time for jogging. Getting dressed quickly without bothering to turn my light on, I threw on some jogging clothes and put on my shoes. The fresh morning air, I loved it. I walked out of my room and headed for the door.

"Morning Logan, have a nice jog." Dan said as I walked through the living room.

"Moring Dan, Have a good day at work." I replied, going out the door. Dan usually left for work before I got back from my jog. I was just passing Max's door when she came out wearing sweats, a t-shirt and some jogging shoes. Her straight dark brown hair had been thrown up in a sloppy ponytail. We almost bumped into each other.

"Sorry," Max apologized, a little surprised. "I didn't know anyone went jogging this early in the morn-," she stopped, a grin spreading on her face. She started to laugh. "I'm sorry for laughing at you again," Max apologized again.

"I'll forgive you, if you let me in on the joke," I teased her.

"You didn't pay attention to what you wore did you? I mean orange and green? I thought I was corny."

"Huh?" I looked down at my clothes. I was wearing my black and white knee length shorts, a green t-shirt and my socks ended up being orange. Laughing I agreed with her. "No, I didn't." I came up with the perfect excuse. "Hey, I'm a guy. We never pay attention what we wear. Do you want to come jogging with me?"

"Convenient excuse Logan. Sure," Max said, accepting my invitation. We started jogging. Max jogged faster than one would expect. I knew she had to be athletic. "You do know where we're going right? Just so I don't' get lost." She added.

"Yes I do." I told her, she smiled.

"Good, just so one of us does. How did you meet Brett?"

I looked over at her. "Well, our parents were really close. So when my dad, actually, according to Tami my mom was the last one to die, but when my parents were deceased they naturally took me in. They made it legal the next month. I think I was about 5."

Max looked at me. "I am sorry to hear that. Then you don't remember much of your parents do you?"

"No, I don't really. I have pictures of them, and I have some scrapbooks of stuff, but mostly I learn about it from Tami and Dan. I do remember one time, when I was five, it was my birthday and Mom had baked the cake. Dad had set me down in front of it and I went to blow out the candles, and ended up blowing the sprinkles everywhere. It was pretty funny. What about your dad? I would like to know more about him. I get the feeling you take after him more than you do your mom."

"I am like my dad. Everything about it. The only gift he didn't give me was cooking. The extent of my cooking is box cereal and heating up TV dinners in a microwave," She laughed, but then became serious. "If you really want to know, Dad died when I was 10. Mom, well, I've never lived with just her before. She left when I was five. We don't get along."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that, if you don't mind my asking?" I was watching Max, to see if she would respond, or if she would get offended, I didn't know what to expect. Max stopped jogging. I stopped too.

"Well, it's just that mom has an issue, and I don't agree with her on it and it just makes us different. Like I said, I am like my dad, personality, character, build, everything. She doesn't like dad. I think she is still mad at him." Max looked like she wanted to punch a wall.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"Yeah," Max replied. I could tell she was fine, but something was bothering her inside. I was good at reading people, particularly people that most other people couldn't read. "It's just that, well, I guess I miss my Dad a lot and I wish that he were here."

"How did he die?"

"7 years ago, today. I don't want to come to school today but I had to, I promised my dad that I would graduate high school and become a mechanic, someone he could be proud to call his daughter. He always told me he was proud of me, I didn't need to make him more proud. He was a mechanic, the best around. I get my love of cars and the natural gift of working with them from him. Man, I wish he could be here to meet you. He would like you." She smiled at me and then started jogging again. When we got back to our apartments I asked her if she wanted to come over for dinner. "Sure, I'd love to. Do you want me to invite my mom as well?"

"What is your mom like? I want the flat truth, Max. What about her is so aggravating to you?"

She turned and looked at me. Her eyes got steely. Her fists clenched. Then, she relaxed completely, her eyes returned to normal. "She comes home from work plastered sometimes, usually with a boyfriend. Mom only talks to me when the boyfriends are there, pretending to care when she doesn't. Every time we move it's cuz she doesn't want to see the boyfriend she was with again. Honestly, she must have a hundred exes."

"So basically she runs away from everything?"

"YES!! It bugs the crap out of me. Dad, he taught me to face everything head on. Live with your decisions. You tend to learn better from them. She really could take that advice. She needs to follow it. Dang! I want him here now!"

I felt a strong urge to hug Max, so I did. "I am sorry, about it." I whispered into her ear. Max was a little tense, and I remember her telling me that the hug stuff isn't exactly her personality. Whatever. It was now. She just stood there for a minute and then hugged me back. "Thanks," Max said looking at me. "I needed that."

"How did you manage to keep your head up? Out of all this, you are still standing here, keeping everything your dad gave you with you, living by it."

"Lisa. She was the person that helped me. She was nice and I could tell we were friends even though we had never met. I guess the hope of meeting her, and one day turning 18, is what kept me going."

"You want to go to school with us later?" I asked Max, hoping she would say yes. A ride with Tami wasn't that bad, but I was hoping she would say yes.

"Of course. We'll take my car." Max smiled and turned around.

"Wait, before you go, which car is yours?"

"The black mustang with the flames on the sides, you can't miss it." She said proudly.

"See you later, thanks for the ride." I smiled at her and turned around, walking back to my place. That car belonged to Max?! Where did she get that? It was an awesome car. I wouldn't mind having it myself. Walking back to the apartment, I came up with three ways Max could've acquired that car, a) she bought it, b) she received it as a gift, or c) she stole it. Max didn't look like the kind of girl who would steal but I didn't know that much about her yet so I couldn't rule that possibility out yet. I didn't want to believe Max stole the car, which would mean she was a thief. I wondered who would give it to her as a gift, obviously not her mom. The way Max described her relationship with her mom, it seemed like her mom would rather have her buy the car herself before giving it to her. The more I thought about it, the more the second possibility seemed real.

When I got back inside, Brett was up and getting ready. I showered, put on clean clothes and ate breakfast. I filled Brett in on the ride to school. As it turned out, we would be meeting Lisa at the school as well. When I told Brett that Max was taking us in her car, he said, "Which car is hers? I'll bet it is the beat-up Chevy."

"Nope. You're not going to believe this," I told him "But her car is the black mustang with the flames on it."

"No way! How did she manage that?"

"I came up with 3 possibilities, and since she is living here and she doesn't get along with her mom, that leaves the other possibility which doesn't seem that logical but it could possibly be."

"And the other possibility is…?"

"She stole it."

Brett turned and stared at me. "You can't be serious, Logan. Doesn't she have any friends, anywhere? Come on, I mean she may live in this shabby apartment house but look at us. We live here and we are not poor. I mean Dad owns a plane for Pete's sake!"

"Then why are we living here Brett?"

"We aren't exactly that rich either. And this is close to Dad's work. Plus, she may only live here because she is still a minor. Look at it this way, her dad died; if he was a good mechanic as she said, he was probably rich."

That gave me an idea.

"Do you suppose, Brett, that her dad could've left the car for her in will of some sort?"

"Maybe, but I doubt it, Logan. That car looks like a make from about two years ago. Her dad has been dead for about ten, remember?"

"You're right. I guess I am just going to have to ask Max then."

"Bye boys. Have a good time at school!" Tami shouted from her bedroom.

That was the signal that we needed to leave. Sometimes we were late so Tami kept an eye on the clock and if we weren't gone, then she would yell bye. It was a nice system.

Brett and I walked out to the parking lot.

"Hey!" I heard Max yell. She was sitting on the hood of the car she said was hers. She looked cute, wearing a 'Jeff Gordon, #24' sweatshirt, jeans and skate shoes. Her hair hung loose around her face. Momentarily caught up in Max's appearance I forgot about the car.

"Hi," Brett replied. "If you, uh, don't mind our asking, where did you get this car?"

Max started laughing. "Tripp sure knew what he was talking about."

"Tripp?" I asked. "Who's that? I remember you mentioning him, but I think I forgot to ask who he was."

"My former boss from California. I was there for two years and he remembered me from when he and my dad used to hang out, and so he helped me "create" this car." She made quotation marks in the air. "Well the Mustang was intact but it was a piece of junk back when I found it. I was 15 and Tripp told me that he would help me take it and fix it up. We went down to the main ware house where they had extra car parts and stuff and fixed it. It took about a week to get it all fixed up. When that was done, Monty, one of the workers' who specialized in car painting, took me to his office and we picked a paint pattern. Actually it was more created than chosen. The next week Monty painted it in his free time. When it was all painted, I got to wax it. I like keeping it shiny. Would you believe me if I told you this car was actually made 4 years ago?" she looked at our astounded faces. "Yeah, I can tell you don't. It took a lot of work, and the story might be hard to believe but it is true. This car was given to me from Tripp. Well technically it was given to me by Star Auto Mechanics in California for 'Best Employee of the Year.' We had a vote. Originally I knew this car was going to be given to the employee of the year but I didn't know it was me until then. I don't blame you for not believing me."

Max looked down at her shoes. "I guess we better get to school then." She added quietly. While Max was talking, I had noticed 'Hardy' on the top of the car. As we got in I told Brett, "That story actually isn't too far fetched. I could believe it. And so far, every thing else has been checked out to be true. Besides, Tami said it is better to give people the benefit of the doubt."

"Yeah, I agree." He whispered as I shut the door.

"Max," I said from the back seat, "just so you know, we do believe you. At least I do. I don't know about bonehead next to me but – "

"Oh, so I'm bonehead now, huh? Max, pay no attention to the thing next to me, it is rather noisy but I think I can shut it up." Brett said elbowing me in my side.

Max gave a short laugh. "Wow, anyone could tell you two are brothers."

"I'll take that as a complement." Brett replied.

We got to the school in record time.

"We are supposed to meet Lisa by the door," Brett reminded me.

"Do you want to meet Lisa?" I asked Max.

"Duh," She replied. "Of course I do." She looked at me like I was dumb.

We walked over to the door and waited. Not for very long though. Lisa came up half running.

"Wow you guys are here early," she panted. Then noticing Max she asked, "Who's your new buddy?" She put her hand out to Max to shake it. "Hi. I'm Lisa Benson. You remind me of somebody I know. Have I met you?"

Max shook it. "Hi, Lisa, I'm Max Hardy. Oh, yeah, so just out of curiosity, you wouldn't have a dad who runs a freight office in Puyallup have you?" She said smiling.

Lisa did a double take and then started laughing really hard.

"Max, what's so funny?" I asked her.

"Yes," Brett chimed in. "I would like to know as well."

"I don't know, really. It really isn't that funny, I think I'll believe that she is just glad to finally meet me."

Lisa had finally calmed down to the point where she could talk. She gave Max a big hug and said, "It is good to finally meet you. So, when do I get to see this amazing car you sent me a picture of?"

Turning to Brett and me she said, "Did you know, that she helped make that car when she was 15? I didn't believe it at first so I called her boss, Dan Tripp, to see if it was true. He is a nice guy by the way. She really helped make that car. I would die for a car like that."

"You better not," Brett teased, "I need you here."

"See what I mean?" Lisa said to Max.

Max nodded her head and replied, "Ha ha. You know you like it though, you can't fool me."

I was completely confused. What was she talking about? Lisa looked at me and then back at Max.

"Just wait, Max. You will -"

Max interrupted. "Oh no you don't, not today. It wouldn't happen anyway." She turned and opened the door. "Let's walk around, shall we?"

We all walked in. "What was that about?" I asked Max quietly as we walked in the door. "Mind sharing the secret?"

Max looked at me. Her face was serious but her crystal blue eyes sparkled. "What secret?" she said. If I hadn't looked at her eyes, I would've thought she was serious.

"You know, the one with you and Lisa at the door."

She smiled mysteriously. "There is no secret, just an unknown fact to the rest of you." She looked over to Lisa and Brett. "Seriously, Logan, is it really that hard to read the chemistry you see there?"

I thought about that. Brett had said something to Lisa and – wait, I got it! Lisa was sort of embarrassed and Max had teased her. Duh, that was obvious. But if that was true then what did Max mean, 'it wouldn't happen anyway?' Man, I would have to think about that. I remember Lisa telling us about Max, one time. It was a while ago, though so I didn't remember most of it.

"Hey, Logan," she had told me, "Maybe you and Max could hook up."

"Very funny, Lisa," I had told her. "No way, I don't even know who she is."

"You would completely love her."

"So then tell me about her."

Lisa had described Max. I realized now, that Max was better than Lisa had described her. I was wondering why it didn't click, back in the apartment, that this was the Max Lisa had been talking about. Now I got what Max had meant. She had said back at her apartment yesterday that she didn't really make any friends.

Duuhh, Logan! I thought. "Well it looks like I'm just gonna have to prove her wrong, and I will definitely will like doing that." I smiled to my self and heard Brett saying, "And he doesn't even know what we are talking about."

"Huh? Hey, what's going on?"

"Dude, you totally spaced out."

"I know the perfect name for him," Lisa said.

"Yup," Max agreed. "Space head."

"Ha ha very funny." I smiled. They would all laugh at me for thinking about the conversation. If I really wanted to know so badly, all I had to do was wait. Brett would ask Lisa, and then he would tell me. That was the way it always worked out in the end.

"I hope you like this place, Max," Lisa said.

"Well, so far I do," Max replied. "Between the three of you, you all know how to make a person feel welcome. I just hope I can stay here long enough to be able to live here."

"What do you mean?" Brett asked, looking very confused.

"I think I know," I said. "Max moved a lot remember? She, like us, isn't 18 yet so she can't legally live on her own. I think she is hoping that her mom stays here until she is 18, am I right?"

Max looked at me for a moment, like she was trying to figure out how exactly I knew what she meant. "It shouldn't be that hard for you to figure out, Max." I thought. "You practically said it yourself."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it. Besides, Even if mom did move, I would move back here." She half smiled.

Lisa and Brett said they were going to talk to one of Brett's teachers. "You can come if you guys want," Brett said.

"No thanks," Max declined. "I think I am going to go walk around a bit, thanks anyway though,"

"I'll go with Max," I said "That is if you don't mind, Max."

"Why would I mind? I don't care." She started walking, away from us. When she was out of ear shot, Brett whispered to me, "Good job, Logan. She doesn't care!" he was joking I knew but that made me wonder if I had really made her upset. I didn't think so but I could never forgive my self if I upset her and didn't apologize. That was not a good way to get a girl to like you. I ran to catch up with Max.

"Welcome back, Turtle." Max said with a straight face.

"Whatever," I said, playfully bumping into her.

"What is this, Bumper cars?" She joked, bumping me back. She had a half smile on her face. When I went to bump her again, she stopped short and I went flying into the lockers, on the other side of her.

"Ow," I said, rubbing my shoulder. "You're evil."

"No one ever said I was nice." Max said laughing. "Are you ok though?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I gave her the evil eye, making her laugh harder. She stopped and leaned against some lockers, holding her sides, laughing. Getting a hold of herself she stopped laughing.

"I think your new name is…" I paused, thinking.

"Ha! No names for me. The only one I have is one Tripp gave me. You aren't going to know though."

"Aww, why not?" I said, whining just a little.

"Cuz I don't like it. GR! Whatever, ok so I'll tell. He calls me Robot. Don't ask."

I was about to when the bell rang to go to class.

"Lucky Duck!" I said giving her playful shove.

"Hey! Uh, would you mind if I tried to find our way to first period myself?"

"So you want me to leave?" That blew my sunshine out.

"Oh sorry, please don't!" Max had a momentary flash of panic on her face. "I meant that I could try to lead us back to class, I would need you here in case I made a wrong turn. This is only my second day here, and probably your 500th."

My sunshine came back. "Sure." I gestured with my hand for her to lead. "By all means lead the way."