Thank you for every follower and favouriter! ;)

JustALonelySoul: Thank you for your review! I'm glad you like it :D

Orionastro: Glad you like the beginning, hope you enjoy the rest! :)

Disclaimer: Don't own the plot or the characters. Well, as you know, the plot for the first three or four chapters is purely mine, and the only characters that are mine and mine only are Steve, Camilla, Charlie and Max.

Read on, my jelly babies! :)


Chapter three:

"Did you do the history homework, Erica?" Max asked, as she moved to sit next to the blonde at the back of the history class.

Erica nodded. "You?"

"Completed it last night," She said, smiling. "I had to baby sit my brother last night, so I may have glitter and a child's writing on it, but at least it was done."

Erica laughed a little. "You have a brother?"

"Yeah, he's six and too damn cute," She replied. Max turned her head towards Erica as she got out her notebooks. "What about you? Any siblings?"

"I've got a younger brother and two younger sisters," Erica replied. "It's kind of cool to be the eldest because I can boss them around."

Max laughed. "Amen to that."

Half way through, they settled down to do a task, and Max turned to see if Isaac was here. As usual, the boy had his head down and was very focused on writing.

"Oh, cool!" She said, "You're left handed too."

Isaac nodded shyly, lifting his eyes for just a second.

"Can you write with both? My cousin can, but that was because she broke her right arm playing soccer so she had to use her left," Max replied.

"I can write with both hands," Isaac said quietly.

"That's awesome," Max replied. "Mine looks like a dinosaur has tried to write it, and I'm not joking. And that's with my left. With my right? It's unreadable."

That got a small laugh, so Max counted it as a win.


In Gym, since she was finally doing it, she was running next to Stiles and Scott, the latter having his inhaler just in case.

"So, Scott, when did you get diagnosed with asthma?" She asked, barely out of breath or sweating. She looked at her new friends and discovered that they were sweaty and out of breath. "Guys, you've gotta get fit if you thinking of getting on the team."

Scott glared at her. "It's hard to workout when you have to worry about your lungs and shit. But, to answer your question, I got diagnosed when I was eight. Stiles completely freaked out when I had an asthma attack in front of him."

Stiles slapped him and then kept on going. "Dude, it was freaky. You were breathing really heavily, like Darth Vader, and then you almost nearly stopped breathing. You were lucky I had sharp reflexes."

Max threw a ball at him, which he dropped almost immediately. "Yeah, your sharp reflexes." They all carried on jogging.

"Stop being mean," Stiles complained. "It's not my fault that I couldn't catch that. Jogging and catching don't go." He watched as Max jogged and threw the ball. "Well, you're a woman. They are designed to multi-task."

"Designed?" Max glared.

"That was worded wrong, and I'm sorry for that," Stiles said, "I was just simply stating that women were smarter than men."

"That's better." Max clapped him on the back and they carried on with their gym lesson.

"And they are super stressy when it's their time of the month," he muttered to Scott as they carried on. That earned him a hit on the head. "Ow!"

"I'm a lovely angel when I have my monthlies," she said, carrying on.

They all stopped when they heard the coach blow his whistle, and she stood with her hands on her hips as she listened to what he had to say. After he had finished talking, she turned to go, but Coach Finstock calling her back made her turn and go back to him.

"You're Max, the new girl, right?" he asked. "Ever ran track before?"

Max shook her head. "There's a track team here?"

"Yeah, if you're interested," he replied. "After school on Thursdays. You've got talent, Black."

"Thanks, Coach."

She walked towards the changing rooms, smiling all the way.


"I was asked to join track today," She said as her and her family ate dinner. "Do you think I should?"

Steve nodded. "It'll keep you fit, and if you ever got into any trouble, you could run."

She laughed. "So that's the only reason I should join the track team? Because then I could run from trouble and be fit?"

"Join if you want to, sweetie," Her mom said.

"Thanks, Mom," Max replied, smiling at her mother. "I'm finished, so thank you for dinner also. Can I go to my room? Actually, I might go jogging."

"Are you sure?" Her dad asked, looking at the clock. "It's pretty late, and it's almost dark out."

Max laughed, and kissed his forehead. "I'll be fine, Daddy-o. I'll be taking my phone to jog with anyway. Don't worry or you'll get more greys."

As Max walked out, she chuckled when she heard her dad say, "More greys?"


Max sighed as she jogged slowly through the calm and tranquil woods, breathing the fresh scent of the woods. Everything was so peaceful. The moon was bright, full and above her, and it just showed the colour of the leaves under it; the nice contrast of dark greens and light greens brought a smile to Max's face as she figured out what colour she wanted her room.

The crunch of the leaves and branches under her feet were the only things to be heard through the calm night as she ran along a track, listening to the likes of Bowling for Soup, and Linkin Park, which was blasting out of her headphones. She came to a stop when she realised that she had reached the Hale house; it was eerie looking at night, with the moonbeams lighting it up like a spotlight, and she watched as the tree swayed in the slight breeze, like they were trying to tilt themselves away from the house in the middle.

It was the same shape –kind of – as it was six years ago, its original structure still standing even though there was a fire. It was charred and practically burnt to a crisp, but it still reminded Max of the times when she used to play over at the Hales, while her parents sat out on the porch with Mr and Mrs Hale. She sighed sadly and carried on going, following the trail until it led out to the main road.

Now, without the trees, the moon shone down, big and white and whole, and it was quite a distraction while she was running. When she was running in D.C, she usually saw others, and they always used to smile when they went passed. In Beacon Hills, it was quiet, and no cars were going by. It was only nine pm. She carried on jogging until she reached the end of her road, and she sprinted all the way to the finish line; her front door.

"Nice jog?" Her mom asked as she took off her shoes and came into the kitchen.

"Brilliant," She answered. "I didn't know the woods were that pretty at night. They really are."

The knife her mom was using to butter Charlie's sandwiches was dropped from her hand as she spun to look at Max, a horrified expression on her face. "Promise me that you won't go out into the woods at night. Promise me, Maxine."

Knowing that it was serious because her mom had just used her proper name, she finished her mouthful of water and nodded. "I promise, Mom. Can I go to my room now?"

Her mom sighed – in relief, she concluded – and nodded.

Climbing the stairs, Max was too tired to question her mom's weird ways.


"…and that's that," Mr Harris concluded, just as Max stopped writing. She sighed as stretched a little, noticing that Stiles looked cuter than usually today. "New project, by the way, which is due Friday before we break up, otherwise you are in detention, with me after summer break. And don't think I will make you. Because I will."

Stiles groaned – it's the shirt that was making him look cuter. It wasn't plaid, but just a plain black, and she loved the fact it was tight, but it wasn't too tight, leaving something to imagination – and looked towards her with a smile, which evidently made her blush. "Great, project time."

"Have to spend more time with you," She said jokingly.

Stiles put on a hurt face and held his chest. "I'm hurt. So hurt right now."

Max laughed and pulled the project sheet that was hanging off the table back towards her. "Zeesh. This is terrible."

Stiles nodded and hummed in agreement as he tried to sneakily text on his phone beneath the table. Max shook her head.

"Are you even listening to me?" She asked. All she got was a hum. "Of course you are. I'm a drug addict." No response. "I'm naked."

"Really?" His head shot up so fast Max was surprised he didn't have whiplash.

"No, you little pervert. You weren't listening to me."

"Man, you got me excited."

Max blushed, and she turned away with her cheeks as red as a tomatoes. "Anyway, I say we get started on this project if we are going to finish it in time. Last week before summer break."

"I'm excited," Stiles said, shoving his phone back into his pocket. "It's going to be a fun summer this year. I don't know how, because I don't really have that many friends outside you and Scott, but it just is."

"You talk to much, you know that?"

Stiles nodded his head sadly. "I've been told."

"What would you do if I talked a one hundred miles per hour at you?"

Stiles took the time to think about his answer before grinning and making Max blush like the little seven year old girl she was. "I'd tell you to shut up and then duct tape your mouth shut."

She was about to answer, but the bell had gone, and he had picked up his bag and rushed out before she even had the chance to hit him.

Oh well.


Max's ride home wasn't all that great.

Stiles was playing his music so loud that it was shaking the car. And it wasn't even good music. Her head was now pounding with the deep bass of the music, the 'boom boom' a constant in this song. She was about five seconds away from murdering her new friend. And Scott wasn't much help. He was singing along!

As the song slowly ended, Max's hand twisted the dial for the volume until it was about eight and then started to rub her forehead as she sighed in relief. Her head was still pounding, yes, but that god-awful music was gone.

"Dude, what you do that for!?" Scott shouted, and reached from the back to turn it back up.

Stiles slapped his hand away before Max even moved her hand. "Dude, be quiet. She's got a headache."

Scott turned his puppy dog eyes on her, full of regret. "Sorry, Max, for shouting at you."

"Its okay, Scott," Max said. "You know what will get you back into my good books? Give me some drugs and we'll call it even."

Scott nodded and started to rummage through his bag as Stiles brought a hand up and started to rub her forehead slightly. "My mom always used to do this when I had a headache. Said it helped."

Max blushed as he kept doing it, and she noticed just how nice his fingers were. Everything about him was nice. Scott practically thrust the packet of aspirin at her and Max blushed as it bounced off her nose and down by her feet.

"Thanks, guys," She replied, before shutting her eyes.


As she walked into her front door, her dad stormed past her, a frown appearing on his face as he headed straight for his car. Her mom, who was washing up angrily, finally gave up with a sigh and started to dry her hands.

"Mom, you okay?" She asked, giving her mom a warm hug.

Camilla smiled. "Yeah, just arguing about silly things."

Max had the feeling they were arguing about her. Usually when her mom and dad argued, which wasn't often but it wasn't rare, her mom would sit her down and complain about this and that. But now? All she got was a 'silly things' like she was Charlie. Next, she'd be expected to play with toy trains and cars and make 'broom broom' noises.

"As long as you're okay." She reached into the fridge to get a bottle of water, sipping it and then placing it on the counter in front of her. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Camilla shook her head. "No. You don't need to worry about silly things like this." Her mom froze for a second before shaking out of whatever she was thinking about. "How was your day? Get any homework?"

"I got a chem. project so I'm just going to get changed and then walk over to Stiles'," She replied, hopping off the seat she was sat on and walked towards the stairs.

Her mom stopped her. "I can take you, Maxie. Aw, shit, your dad's got the car."

"I'll just call him to come pick me up then, Mom, don't worry."

Her mom smiled, still looking distracted. "Okay."


When she got to Stiles', the first twenty minutes was filled of questions and shuffles as the sheriff was home. Max liked him; he was just like Stiles with witty comebacks and smiles, but Max could see pain in his eyes as he looked at Stiles. Stiles hadn't outright told her, but Scott had mentioned something about Stiles' mother dying when he was young. Her heart reached out for her partly orphaned friend.

"Sorry you got the third degree," her friend apologised as they finally reached his room after the twenty questions.

Max smiled and shook her head. "It's cool. And kinda sweet. Your dad thinks I'm gonna corrupt his already corrupted son."

"Keep it down! He'll hear you and lock me up," Stiles joked, hushing her slightly as he sat down on his bed.

Max rolled her eyes. "Because he'll lock his sixteen year old son up."

"Hey, I'm an innocent child! I've never sworn or gotten drunk."

"I hope not," grumbled the sheriff, standing in the door way of his son's room.

"Dad!" Stiles shouted, holding a hand over his heart. "Don't do that!"

"Stop being a wimp, Stiles," Max said to her friend as his dad rolled his eyes. "Or your dad will lock you up for overreacting."

Stiles grumbled as his dad walked further into his room.

"I left some money on the side for you guys to order a pizza when you get hungry, and there's some cola in the fridge if you get thirsty," Mr Stilinski said, checking his gun and badge were both on his belt. "Got to go to work. Won't be back until after you go to school, so see you when you get home, kiddo."

"Okay, bye, Daddio." Stiles waved at his dad before dragging his chemistry text book out of his bag and threw it down on his desk.

"Hate chemistry much?" Max asked as he jabbed it with a compass quickly.

"More like Mr Harris," Stiles replied. "Damn bastard."

"Yeah, you're totally innocent," Max threw back before grabbing her own chemistry text book out of her own bag. "Uh, Mr Harris and his stupid covalent bonds."

"I'm pretty sure they aren't his," Stiles replied, and Max mimicked him before settling down.


"Can I have the last piece?" Max asked Stiles as he shoved the last bit of a stuffed crust into his mouth.

Stiles nodded, still trying to chew the giant piece of pizza that he just threw in his mouth.

"Great, thanks," Max replied quickly before trying to shovel in the delicious Italian dish into her mouth.

"Whoa, slow down there, Maxie," Stiles said, collecting the greasy plates and the glasses from the table and putting them in the washing up bowl. "Damn, I've never seen a girl eat so much pizza. You had more than half of it!"

"I like pizza." Her reply was a little muffled because of the pizza she was still trying to chew gracefully. But it was a failed attempt as half of it fell out of her mouth and she managed to catch it while trying to keep the rest in her mouth. "Well, being a lady has gone out the window."

"I like girls that don't act all prissy," Stiles said kindly, passing her a tissue on his way to sit down.

"Yet you like Lydia Martin? And from what I've heard, she's not exactly a girl who will get muddy," Max pointed out, as her friend stood up to grab a bottle of water.

Stiles scoffed. "That's different. Want one?" Max nodded and he threw one at her before sitting down. "I don't know why I like her, but, I, uh, just do."

"Will you ever tell her that you like her?"

Stiles shook his head. "She doesn't even know my name."

"So?" Max took a sip of her water. "What have you got to lose?"

"The little spec of popularity I've got, maybe."

"Wanna go get some chocolate and toast to unrequited love?" Max asked. "I'll pay."

Stiles raised an eyebrow before answering. "You're on."


"You eat chocolate?" Lydia asked the next day as they walked towards French. Max was focusing on walking; the nude heels she was wearing (paired with a navy blue dress) were higher than usually, and she was struggling to balance herself.

"Yeah, don't you?" Max asked. Lydia sent her a glare. "I'm going to take that as a no."

"Do you know how many spots chocolate can cause?" Lydia asked her, stopping her because it was obviously that serious.

Max shrugged. "My face has been spot free ever since I turned twelve and I eat loads of chocolate."

"Are you one of those really lucky girls who can eat shit and stay as skinny as a twig?"

"I guess. I run a lot too."

Lydia started to walk again, and Max was left trying to balance and keep up with her. "Anyway, did you do the French homework?"

"No, I thought it wasn't due in until Friday." Max started to panic on the inside; she forgot to do homework? Her mother was going to kill her.

Lydia smacked her arm gently. "Don't get so worried, Snow White, it isn't due until Friday. I was just asking if you'd done it yet, otherwise you can come round and we can do it together."

Max sighed with relief. "Don't ever panic me like that again. And I didn't, so maybe we could do it together."

"Great. Tonight, bring all the nail varnishes you possess, and your make-up bag. We'll make over one another, and then do our French homework in between."

"Okay. I don't own that many nail varnishes though, I can't really paint my nails."

Lydia flicked her orange hair over her shoulder and gave her a serious look. "Oh, honey, you'll learn. I'll make you learn."

Max sighed as she watched the red head walk into French. Being friends with Lydia Martin was hard.


Lunch found Max trying to apologise to Stiles after she had to turn down plans with him. Granted, Lydia had asked first, and Stiles had wanted to just mess around playing on his x-box, while Lydia actually wanted to do something productive between the makeovers and nail painting. Scott was busy anyway; something about a mother-son bonding night, which Max thought was really sweet.

"Stiles, look, I'm sorry," she said for the fiftieth time in five minutes. "Will you please just talk to me?"

Stiles shook his head and folded his arms more firmly across his chest. "Scott, tell her I said no."

"I can hear you, you Neanderthal," Max replied. Stiles glared at her. "Look, Stiles, buddy, pal, I'm so sorry. And I promise to spend all the summer with you."

"Okay, you're forgiven," Stiles said, as he started eating his lunch. "Just remember that you're one of the guys and not one of the girls."

Max raised an eyebrow. "Stiles, in case you hit your head and forgot, I'm a girl."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "I know that."

"What you guys doing this weekend? I say Die Hard movie night and sleepover," Scott said, smiling as his friends turned to him with grins on their faces. "So, I'm gonna take the grins as yes's?"

"Hell yeah! Bruce Willis!? Why the hell would I miss that?" Max all but yelled at her new friend. "Mmm…Bruce Willis with hair."

"Ew, gross, Maxie," Stiles said, pushing her away from him.

"What? Bruce Willis is quite sexy with hair," Max tried to defend herself but her friend shoved her once more and she huffed. "You wouldn't be pushing me if it was a woman I was talking about."

"Of course not," Stiles said, "We are of the male species, Maxie, of course we wouldn't complain if you were talking about a very fine woman."

"You're a pig," Max complained just as the bell went.

Stiles snorted, producing a chuckle from her as they dumped their lunch in the bin and went off to their lessons. "Have fun in history, doofus."

"Thanks, Stiles. Have fun in whatever lesson you have next, pig."

Maxie smiled and blushed as Stiles gave her a one armed hugged and rushed off to his class.

That kid.

She smiled as flounced to her next lesson.


Hope it was okay! :)