So. Thank you to all those people who put me on their favourites or alerts. I really appreciate it, but I was hoping for at least 5 reviews...is that too much to ask for? :/ But for this chapter... 10? Please? :D
Chapter 2: Didn't see that coming, did ya?
Max POV
I have been dreading this moment. The moment when my stupid alarm clock blared a stupid cheery tune at a stupidly early hour. Also, when my brother Gazzy would threaten me through his… curious digestive system's skills, he calls it, to get me to wake up. Ella just warns me about a makeup ambush while still in bed. She calls that the 'Fashion Breakfast in Bed that Max Ride Needs Urgently'.
I saunter out of my warm and cozy bed reluctantly into the bathroom, not wanting an Ella session. Getting ready slowly, I head down for breakfast. Pancakes… I gulf them down quickly.
In around 2 seconds, I was ready to walk to school. Ella and Gazzy were going into freshman year, while I was a junior. I bet people would drive there, or go on the bus or something. Walking was fine with me, though. I don't mind.
When I get there, I instantly see Iggy standing with a fairly large group. He follows the gaze of many others, and finally sees me. With him is that Fang dude and a scruffy haired guy with brownish hair. Also standing around was a mocha skinned girl, a beautiful Asian girl, an angelic beauty, a blue-eyed girl and also a dark haired girl. They all looked like they were freshmen like Ella and Gaz, sophomores, or juniors like me.
"Max! It's me, Iggy." He waves us over.
Introducing all the people as Fang Colt, Total Graham, Nudge Colt, Kate Ying, Angel (the irony) Colt, Tess Sanders and Maya Gold. So… freshmen: Iggy, Nudge, Angel, Ella, Gazzy, Tess and Total. The only sophomore present was Kate, who was in their soccer team. She seemed pretty cool. The rest were juniors. No seniors at all, but apparently a guy called Ari had to go early to class or something.
Yeah, from what you have just read from the above sentences, I am holy crap good at categorizing.
They all greeted Ella, Gazzy and me the same way; with a nod. Except for Nudge.
"OMG. I really wanted to have some new people come in this year, and here you are! We are going to have so much fun, you guys wait and see!" (Insert eardrum breaking squeal here) "You guys should totally come over to our house to have, like, a makeup sleep over. Well, not the boys of course! Talking about boys, did you see that newly uploaded picture of Taylor Lautner yesterday on Facebo -?"
I see a hand clamp on top of Motor Mouth here.
"Yeah, we call that the Nudge Channel. Full coverage of almost anything 24/7!" Iggy says melodramatically. In a loud whisper he adds, "Be warned. May be subject to un-installment. There are no off buttons or advertisement breaks."
While Nudge's playful glare doesn't last long, Ella is staring at Iggy like he's a…well, god. Oh, whatever.
I smile angelically at them as a way of greeting.
Wait. You really fell for that? Ha, Max Ride, who changed her name just because it sounded more kick-ass, smiling angelically? Never gonna happen, baby.
Instead, I just raised an eyebrow. "So you guys are a big group, huh?"
"We are, but we love each other a lot," Tess says sheepishly.
How sweet. I think I could deal with them.
"Hey guys. I'm Zephyr, but call me Gazzy for obvious reasons," my brother introduces. "This is Ells here, and, apparently, some of you have met Max."
Now Ella smiles angelically. That kid is nothing like me sometimes.
"OK. We better get our schedules ready from the office. Meet you guys later."
"Yeah, okay! I'm sure we will have some classes together! I must warn you though. Some teachers are as boring as cows and…"
I run for my ears life. Nudge seems easy to hang with, but boy does she have some breath.
After we get our schedules from the kind secretary (I'm sure she gets paid a lot. Who can be so cheerful at this time in the morning?), we head our separate ways. Ells and Gaz both have English first period after their homeroom, while I have homeroom in a different class. Then, guess what I have. Just guess.
Mathematics Algebra.
The above sentence does deserve a whole fricking line. Why? It's the worst subject in the world. It deserves to be lonely without any other word company. That is how much I hate Math.
What I great start to my morning! (Strong sarcasm detected)
While I stare daggers at my almost-crushed timetable, I collide with a wall. Wait… why does this wall have cloth on it? And why does it fricking move? I look up to meet amused, onyx eyes. Not those eyes again. The eyes with no depth, no end…
"You look lost." Fang says cockily, raising a brow.
"Psh. Yeah. Who the hell made this timetable? That person needs to get a life." I shake my head, exasperated.
The corner of his mouth twitches.
"Follow me."
He leads me to a basic classroom, just as the bell rings. People are already seated in their chairs, chatting to their neighbors. The moment we walk in, all conversation stops. I hear fragments of speech.
"What is she wearing?" I could ask you the same, bitch.
"OH, MY. Fang! W-w-why'd he choose to walk with her?" 'Cos I'm awesome, that's why.
When the teacher sees me, she asks me to 'introduce myself to the class'. This should be interesting.
"I'm Max, and if you dare to tell me it's a guy name, your face will be rearranged. How? Well, to say the least, I do karate, gymnastics, track, basketball, soccer and taekwondo. Do not mess with me." I pause for effect. If Ms. Nolan weren't so surprised, I'm sure she would have stopped me right there, if not send me to the office for threatening fellow students in front of her. "But other than that, I hate dresses," I look pointedly at a bunch of redheads who are wearing short, short shorts. Oh, and mini, mini skirts six sizes too small. Yeah. You get the picture. "And heels." In a totally 'teacher announcing the rules way', I conclude: "That is all."
I glide into a vacant seat which so happens to be next to Fang. If they all love him so much, why is there not an ass sitting at that plain old chair? Maybe Fang scares them. Ha, not me, though.
Clearing her throat loudly, I was surprised to see Ms. Nolan smirking. Hm. I guess she hadn't stopped me not because of her surprise, but because of her interest. I feel self-conscious now.
"You might like to discuss some of your skills with the sports department, Max. And I'm sure everyone here will do you no harm. If they do, just kick their ass to next year."
Oh, I love this teacher already. Why? One: she had called me Max, not Maximum. Two: she had flippin' told me to talk to the sports department. Much different from my expectant 'go see the principal or counselor. You have over-confidence issues' speech. Three: she had sounded so colloquial. Four: she was my awesome-tastic, sweetly sick, wicked (in the slang way – AWESOME)… aunt. Yeah, she's married to my uncle, Luciano Martinez.
Anyway, she gave off a vibe that I interpreted as: I like this girl. I had a feeling she only liked certain people this much, although everyone seemed to respect her. I could see them try to suppress their glares.
All in all, my aunt (which will be kept a secret from everyone at this school. Except for the people I might later trust) seemed like a cool teacher. People didn't shout at her, unlike most classes. She treated everyone fairly, except for some who just never cooperate. Yeah. She's a teacher I think I would enjoy working with. (She reminds me of my own teacher, who is beyond awesome. She treats everyone fairly, and she is so cool. Just had to mention it!).
Anyway, after my speech, I couldn't help but admire the fact that people kept glancing at me in the corner of their eyes when they thought I couldn't see them. They should know better. But it's good to know I can still keep up the reputation of kick-ass Max Ride.
After a while, I hear a fluttering sound and a crumpled piece of paper lands on top of my desk. On the scrap paper was rushed writing, although it looked quite formal.
I knew you did some kind of martial arts.
I look around and see that Fang is looking at me expectantly, if not amusedly.
I scrawl back in my messy writing.
Good of you to notice, Mr. Emotionless.
Already making names? So quick. We just met a day ago. That's no way to treat someone you have barely met.
Already making faces? That's unfortunate. I thought the only other thing you can do with your face other than nothing was smirking.
You mean like this?
I look up to see a killer – and I mean murderous – smirk etched onto his lips. He probably practice's doing that in the mirror every day, that's how perfect it was.
Something like that. I write back hastily, anything to stop myself from staring endlessly at those lips. I can imagine what they are able to do…
Just as my thoughts drift into a place I do not want it to go, the bell saves me. Jumping up from my chair as well as my thoughts, I rush outside just to find myself confused again. I had no clue where to go.
I stop dead in my tracks and hear a voice chuckle quietly.
"See? You still need me."
I huff indignantly. "Where are the PE lockers? Or the gymnasium itself?"
He snatches the timetable out of my hand. "Seems like we have almost the same subjects. Just follow me the whole day. Almost like a dog."
I look at him, bewildered. Woah, man. I never knew he'd be this… open? Annoying? I had thought of him as emo, at least a little. He didn't seem to talk much.
He seemed to look kind of surprised as well, but he was masking it quite well, if I do say so myself. But somehow I can see through it.
As we fast-walk towards the locker rooms, I spot the girl Maya and a bunch of $lutty red heads. The weird thing? She seemed to fit in. Beside me, Fang stiffens. I can feel him trying to not walk up to her and ask her why she was with them.
When we separate, I rush into the locker room to change. It seems like all the freshman, sophomore, junior, and seniors have it together. When I see Nudge, she sees me too. Scurrying me to the door, she tells me all about PE. And I mean all of it.
"So, this year we are going to be into two groups. It's going to be freshman students and juniors together in one part of the field or gym, and sophomores and seniors in another. I love PE because we always get to see each other in the locker rooms beforehand, such as with Kate - the pretty Asian girl? You remember her? – because she is a sophomore, and we won't be seeing her during the class, but before, you know? She is so pretty, right? Not that you aren't, I bet you will look so hot in a dre-"
"You're scaring her, Nudge."
She looks sheepishly at me, then at Fang, and then back. She tells me sorry so many times, and it's all I can do not to tell her to stop talking nonsense.
I smile kindly at her. She seems like a cool kid, a kid that should be a radio commentator or something. "It's okay. Just get to the point sometimes." I say to her nicely. I didn't want her to get it the wrong way.
It seems to work. Nodding vigorously, she says goodbye and rushes towards her sports coach. He was such a tall man he had to bend down to hear if people said "HERE!" or not. OK, maybe that's exaggerating, but you get my point.
"I'll meet you later with Ms. Warnock. I have to do the role first!" Nudge shouts while running towards the man.
"Soccer coach. Mr Pile. Cool dude." Fang says quietly to me.
"Hm. I think I'm gonna join the team. When's the tryout or something?"
Fang suddenly shows a smile. "Tomorrow after school. You like soccer?"
I shake my head. He looks a bit bewildered. "Then why do you bother tryi-"
"I L.O.V.E soccer, doofus!"
He's lips twitch into a half smile. "That's what I thought."
I sprint after Fang towards the piercing sound of a whistle. It's coming from the thing in a woman's hand. For those who are so dumb, it's 'the whistle'.
Back to point. She was so pretty. She had blonde hair with dark brown streaks tied back into a ponytail. She had a fairly long face, with an athletic body. She looked pretty young, but I instantly knew she was beyond qualified.
"Hello, everyone. Shut up and sit down. I'm Ms. Warnock, for those of you who don't know. I'm track coach as well, so if you're interested in the team this year, come see me straight after school. No excuses if you're late. Your ass will not be in the team if you don't try." Hm. Very colloquial and fierce. I decide to like her a lot. Even more than my aunt, Ms Nolan. (This teacher is based upon my own PE and PD – personal development – teacher. She is super cool and nice. Not exactly the same as this Ms. Warnock, cos she is much more fierce. But my teacher is also young and doesn't mind swearing if necessary. ;D)
Murmurs arise from the gathered students.
"Today, we will be doing some laps to see what level of cardiovascular endurance each student is at. You will be timed so run like you mean it. Remember: Don't get too tired in the beginning, though."
Groans erupt from both us (the juniors) and the freshmans, who are on the other side of the field. Wow. They hate it so much.
However, some people were cheering. Diverse opinions, I guess.
As for me, I absolutely love running. Track keeps me thinking and peaceful. Yeah, even with the huffing and puffing and blowing the person in front of you down. The thing is, that doesn't happen to me anymore, which is super good. The air rushing past you, as you rush past everyone else. That is the feeling I love most.
Other than chocolate chip cookies melting in my mouth.
"On your marks, get set, GO!"
I run alongside Fang, Nudge, Angel, Ella and Gazzy for a while, but then we spot Iggy and Total running towards us. Maya is still with the Posse aka Redheads.
"Tess had to go to the nurse again."
I hear a collective sigh from my friends – yes, they are now counted as my friends.
"Tess has had a heart disorder ever since 2008. Her mother says she might need an operation if it gets worse, like it has these past few months," Total explains to me, talking to me openly for the first time. He had a deep voice which actually kind of matched his scruffy hair…if possible.
I felt a pang of sympathy. Even if she wasn't at the nurse, she wouldn't be able to run in fear of an asthma attack. Poor girl.
"Can we visit her after?" I say unexpectedly. In a soft, caring voice, no less.
Even though they all had just known me for, what, a few hours? They all looked at me like I was an alien representative for the original Max Ride. If aliens were even as kind as this… (No offense intended to the aliens who are readin' this. :D I feel honoured.) Fang and Iggy must have told them about my awesome (understatement!) ninja attacks yesterday. Good to know they mentioned me.
"Um…sure, Max."
To escape this awkwardness and despair, I run ahead easily. Well, to me I was jogging, really. I passed sweating guys who were evidently trying not to heave. Fang catches up to me.
"Hey," He says quietly. "What happened there?"
I swallow. "I just have a… thing for heart diseases." Oh, God. Who says they have a 'thing' for something that can kill? They do that for stuff they love! Like… I have a 'thing' for cookies! "I mean, I lost a family member because of it," I blurt out. Wow. I just told him a secret I haven't mentioned for years.
It's for the best, I guess. He would have thought I was a heartless girl when I said I had a thing for heart failure. Argh, I have to get that out of my vocabulary soon…
"Me too."
I should be surprised, but, frankly, I'm not. Many people have lost loved ones because of the heart. We depend on it, and I just think it's cruel when it fails on us.
I must have said this out loud, because Fang is suddenly looking at me straight in the eye, running backwards. He's staring at me intensely, almost like he's trying to tell me something through those eyes.
"Exactly."
Jeez. That's all he says before he resumes he's position beside me.
I chuckle at the abruptness. He looks at me in the corner of his eye weirdly. Right. Laughing at this moment in time is not a good thing to do.
"Way to ruin the mood."
"Not that it ever was a good mood," I shoot back.
"Touché."
After a comfortable pause, I speak up. "Race ya."
'You're on," Fang replies rather competitively.
(I was about to stop here and spend the next week deciding who should win, but I decided against it. :D)
After (playful…kind of) shoving, (quiet/ innocent) swearing and (unexpected/ really loud) laughter, we made it to the last round aka 14th lap.
"Should I just beat you now?" Fang said, actually panting a little. Progress, but a little isn't enough.
"I could ask you the same thing," I reply, getting a smirk as response.
When it was only mere meters away, I made a quick decision. And must I say, it was the most awesome, kick-ass, clever, marvelous idea I have had since I was born. (That was probably the most adjectives I have used in one sentence…) Except for changing my name from Amy Martinez to Maximum Ride, of course. Yeah, enough said. Amy sounds like an innocent angel. Nothing like me. Na-ah.
Fine. You must be dying to know how I trashed Fang Colt. *insert evil devil laugh here*
You remember how I said I did all those self-defense classes? All of you people must be thinking now: "Uh-oh. Max kicked him where the sun don't shine."
Let me reassure you, I didn't do that. I swear. What I did was actually a perfect round off towards the finish line. That little cartwheel flung me just those few precious meters towards a victory over Fang. However, doing a round off while running is not recommended. My wrist still hurt by the time I faced a stunned Fang.
"Didn't see that comin', did ya?" I say, rather happy with myself.
"Nope," the black haired hottie replies coolly.
While I was still grinning victoriously at him, Ms. Warnock ran up to me.
"Max, right? I must say, that was amazing. You beat Fang here! That's something I don't see very often." Turning to the said boy, she says," How does it feel being beaten for once, Colt?"
"Well, not too bad. I was slagging off anyway." He says, but I could see he was just playing along. Yeah, baby! I have truly beaten Fang! From what I see, he must be the best runner here.
"As a matter of fact, yes. Yes, I am." He says. Dang it. I said that aloud again.
"Not anymore you aren't." I see his face harden noticeably. Oh, no. That was the first time I saw him not as stoic this whole day, and I ruined it. Lesson to self: never rub failure in a man's face.
"Fang, I didn't mean it like… "
I'm cut off by a sudden burst of laughter. "Oh, oh God. You-you should've seen…YOUR FACE! Do you really think I'm that weak?" Fang says between gasps of laughter.
I slap him on the arm, hard.
"Ow, douche bag! Your biceps just hurt my hand!"
"Who asked you to freaking slap it?"
I huff indignantly.
"OMG. MAX! You are, like, the best runner ever! And that flip thingy at the end? Wow. Wow. Wow. And you beat my brother, Fang! That's a record! I can't wait to see Ms Warnock's face when she –"
She stops quickly when she sees the gentle stare of her brother. Yes, he wasn't glaring at her. Maybe it works to remind her softly that WE STILL HAVE EXISTENT EARDRUMS AND WE WOULD LIKE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY.
Slapping her head so hard I think even my forehead hurt from hearing the 'clap' sound, Nudge apologizes. "Please don't hate me. I'm only like this on the first day of school," she says sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it, chap!" I say in a fake British accent.
Another round of laughter comes from Fanglette here. Fang laugh to me= dreamy= staring. Fang laugh for Nudge, Iggy, Total, Angel= once in a life time= surprised= weird stares= HE'S GONE CRAZY.
Iggy jerks him by the shoulders. "Fang, my buddy! What have the aliens done to you?"
Iggy will now be known as Lil' Miss Drama Queen.
Lil' Miss Drama Queen backs away when Fang smiles and then looks at me. The smile is replaced by a questioning look when he meets my eyes. What the hell?
OK. I hope it was a bit better, and I do know that this story is cliche. I just wanted to do an easy, calm story as my debut. ;)
x Random Dude
PS: Anyone like rugby? Soccer? Tennis? Bananas? Didn't see that comin', did ya? ;) Now you know why my pen name is Random Dude...at Your Service!
PSS: I might have another more original story soon. It's pretty hard...but I'll try to update ASAP. This update was super quick 'cos it's holidays and I was ultra bored. I'm sorry to say, but it most likely won't happen again. :/
Please REVIEW THIS CHAPPIE, though!
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