A/N: I know I suck. I was supposed to update earlier but the power has been out so I couldn't get on my computer (Desktop) and I lost my whole chapter (.-.) so yeah. This wasn't as good as my first one but OH WELL. I also thought that you would rather me make it longer than update what I had on Sunday (2,700 words). Maybe. Now I'm rambling. Erm…typing too much. Carry on.
Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or the characters and stuff. JP does my initials are not JP (or are they?)
The last thing I saw was Fang's blood as I ran out of the school and to the place I once called home.
Gasping, I leaned against the tree and wiped my forehead with my sleeve. I scratched off crusted blood from Fang's nose and sat down. My mom was still home and I couldn't go inside or else she will see me. I walked to my backyard and kept going until I reached the little batch of forest behind my house. There was a little pond in the center that I usually sat at, to think.
I sat in the mud and washed my hands in the murky water. I peeled off all of the stray noodles and tossed then into the water. I grabbed handfuls of water and poured it on my head, getting rid of the sauce. I should have seen Brigid behind me, I was…distracted. I heard my mom's truck pull out of the driveway and I made my way back to the little ranch.
Once I got in, I showered and threw on a pair of sweats and a…friend's old T-shirt. By the time I ran all the way home and got ready, it was about 7th period so I still had a few hours left to myself. Since I never got to eat my lunch, I decided to order pizza. After I ordered, I heard my mom's truck pull back into the driveway. I cursed under my breath and headed for the closet—a perfect hiding place.
"MAXIMUM RIDE," my mother shrieked. I could imagine her face when she got the phone call, explaining to her what happened. "GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" Just as my hand brushed the door knob, I turned around with a groan.
"Yes, mother?" I asked innocently.
"Why are you home? It's only been you're second day and you're already making trouble? Fights? Really Max? I thought we left that behind when we moved," my mom asked with a disappointed look written all over her face.
"This time it's not my fault, I swear," I quickly stated. I didn't want her making assumptions then we would have to move back. "She was in my way then she challenged me. Smart, right?"
"I thought you knew better than that," my mom replied.
"Well, then I guess you don't know me as good as you thought," I murmured under my breath but my mom caught it and whipped her head in my direction.
"You're going back to school. Now," she began to raise her voice.
"But mom," I whined, which is taking it far even for me. "She humiliated me and I'm afraid to go back," I lied. That was only partly true. I was embarrassed but I didn't care. I just didn't want to get carried away and hurt them so bad; I would even feel shameful of myself. My mom looked like she wanted to say something when she opened her mouth, but just closed it again and gathered me in a hug.
That's when I heard the doorbell ring.
"Mom, can I have a twenty?" I asked holding out my hand. We've gone through this process so many times; she knew it was for pizza. She slapped a twenty into my hand and I grinned, heading for the door. I whipped it open and instead of seeing the pizza, I saw someone I never expected to see again.
"Why are you here?" I growled, venom dripping from my words.
"Maxi, don't you miss me?" Dylan said with a sneer.
"As if," I snorted. "Don't call me Maxi. Now answer my question." Dylan was my ex-boyfriend of 2 years and it was a horrible break-up.
Let's just say…someone was paid the whole time and when I dumped his sorry ass, it was only because he was cheating on me with another woman, NOT because I knew about the money. He stayed silent…never answering my question. He leaned forward, trying to make a move. Well, I made mine first.
I swung my knee upward and hit him in the place where the sun don't shine. He groaned and went down on his knees before I slammed the door shut and walked away. My mom asked, "Where's the pizza?"
I didn't want to tell her about seeing Dylan, as she was oblivious to everything that happened.
"They got my order wrong so I made them take the pizza back and they are getting me another," I said nonchalantly. "So you can be on your way back to work. Don't want you getting in trouble because of me," I continued with a sickly sweet smile. Hopefully she didn't see the boy with turquoise eyes and honey-colored hair, lying on our front porch.
"Alright," my mom said, eyeing me suspiciously as she grabbed her keys. I heard the doorbell ring and prayed it was the pizza this time. I was starting to get really hungry. I looked through the peep hole to see a man holding a large pizza. Finally. I swung the door open and grabbed the pizza quickly, shoving the twenty dollar bill into his hand. I noticed Dylan was gone, probably smart enough if he knew he would have to go through me a second time.
After I finished the whole pizza, I went outside and sat on the porch stairs. I was half-hidden behind my house so the people coming off the bus couldn't see me. The bus should be here shortly, and Iggy and I had to talk. I would go to Nudge for these kinds of things, but she was on a different stop so that left me with Iggy. The bus came into view and I went deeper into the shadows.
Lissa was the first person to get off the bus and I saw a huge bruise spread across her jaw. She still had an icepack over it and wasn't giving off her perky vibe. Thank. God. Fang was off second and he noticed me right away. We locked eyes as he kept walking towards his house, never breaking contact.
A few other people I didn't know came off the bus before Ari. He didn't notice me, keeping his head down, texting and walking at the same time. He nearly tripped over the sidewalk and it took me all of my willpower not to laugh out loud.
Finally, Iggy came off of the bus and he was the last person. I called Iggy over, making sure Lissa and Fang were out of sight first. He looked surprised to see me and jogged up to me, first leaving his backpack in the garage. I lead him to the pond behind my house, giving us enough privacy so that Ari wouldn't hear us. Ari probably knew by now what happened although he doesn't have the same lunch period as me.
"Max! How are you? What happened in lunch?" Iggy questioned at once.
"Lissa took the comment in math a little too seriously, and tried to challenge me. Not smart of her, may I add. Then Brigid got involved in something she shouldn't have and I gave her a quick pay-back," I gave it to him short.
"I knew that part. Kind of. But what happened to Fang? You should have seen his face when he walked back into the lunchroom." Iggy snickered at the last part before becoming serious once again.
"Well, let's just say that you don't hang with the smartest people. He decided to confront me and I sort of snapped and then hit him in the nose with my head," I stated nonchalantly. Iggy's eyes widened as he realized who he was hanging out with. I could tell he became a little nervous.
"I certainly don't want to be on your bad side," Iggy said with a nervous chuckle. It became a little awkward after that as stillness passed through. I began throwing rocks into the pond before Iggy cleared his throat.
"Are you still going to the party tomorrow night?" Iggy asked.
"Yeah. Where is it?" I wondered out loud.
"It's at…my house. Remember, its Lissa's house too," Iggy commented. I groaned and put my head in my hands. That means I'll have to see Brigid, Lissa, and Fang. "Please? Fang's been ignoring me lately and I'll have no one to talk to," he trailed off at the end.
"Can I at least bring Nudge? She loves parties and I'd have more 'sidekicks'," I put quotes around the word 'sidekick' with a smirk. "Lissa and Brigid better think a third time when she sees the three of us. I've seen Nudge with a curling iron and it ain't peaceful." Iggy genuinely laughed at my last comment.
We became more comfortable with each other as we started rambling about different things. I learned Iggy and Lissa are twins which did not help my case. Iggy was older by a minute and they were obviously fraternal. I heard footsteps along with twigs snapping and I froze, along with Iggy.
I turned around, but couldn't see anyone. Either I was really paranoid from seeing Dylan today and no one was there, or the person was hiding in the dense trees, bushes, and leaves.
"Did you hear that?" I whispered, glancing around in a circle. Iggy shook his head and we continued walking. I jumped when my phone started ringing. I glanced at Iggy and answered the phone.
"Hello?" I asked.
"MAX, GET HOME RIGHT NOW, WE NEED TO TALK!" My first instinct told me it was Ari, and I definitely didn't need another lecture in the same hour.
"Oh yeah, it's Nudge by the way," Nudge giggled over the end of the line. Before she could ask an indefinite amount of questions, I hung up gripped my phone.
"I got to go… Wish me luck from the wrath of Nudge," I grumbled as I mock shuttered.
"Bye. See you tomorrow," Iggy laughed. We walked together out of the trees until I caught sight of a curly mass of brown hair. I jogged up to her and she gathered me into a hug and squeezed me tight. I saw Iggy slip into his house and before he was out of sight, I mouthed 'help me' and he just smirked.
"Are you okay? I would hate if I got humiliated at school. But then look at you! You just beat all three of them up without a word. I wonder— " Nudge didn't seem to mind that I couldn't breathe and just went on and on. I ducked and got away from Nudge's arm and she just pouted.
"Do you want to go to a party with me tomorrow night? Iggy invited me—" I stopped talking when Nudge started wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. "No! It's not like that, he's my friend and he would rather talk to me than Lissa, Fang, and Brigid."
Nudge slumped when she heard that but then raised her head again. "Finally. I have an excuse to take you shopping for some new clothes." When I raised my eyebrow in question, she snorted. "Come on. Do you really think I would let you go to a party with popular people with those clothes?" She gestured to my baggy T-shirt and sweats.
"Come on. We're going now," Nudge demanded. I whined as I let her drag me to my car. "Drive. Now." She pointed to the gas pedal and the wheel. I groaned but started the car as Nudge commanded me to drive to the mall. Fun.
The moment I stepped into the mall, I winced as Nudge squealed. A few heads turned in our direction.
"I can't believe we are doing this!" Nudge's squealing went on.
"Yeah, me either." I murmured and I could tell Nudge heard me when she gave me a sharp stare.
"How can you not be excited for this? Shopping is one of the best things you can do with your best friend," Nudge said.
"How can you be excited for this? If all of my best friends took me shopping every time I saw them, I would have lived a very lonely life," I bluntly stated.
"Too bad. You're here and I'm taking you shopping," Nudge stated triumphantly. We walked by a Victoria's Secret and Nudge stopped dead in her tracks. I nearly walked into her as she turned to face the store. I looked to see what she was so excited about and my eyes widened.
"No. No, no, no, no," I repeated and Nudge repeated the opposite.
"No way am I going in there," I said, pulling my arm from her grasp.
"Yes you are," Nudge didn't let me get my arm free. When it comes to shopping, Nudge can be pretty scary.
She dragged me inside, but I didn't let her pull me into the dressing room when she grabbed a few undergarments off the shelves. It was enough of an achievement for her to get me inside the store, but nothing besides was going to happen.
"Come on. I got you inside so we might as well try these on," Nudge whined, waving a bra and underwear in my face. I shook my head and she walked away. Phew.
Nudge came back with a bag and a grin on her face. "We can go now," Nudge said, waving the bag back and forth. Just because she bought me something, doesn't mean she could make me wear it.
We walked around the mall some more with the same process. First, she tries to get me into a store and I let her. Second, she picks up random clothes or accessories and fails at getting me to try them on. Third, she buys them anyways, no matter if they are big or small. Last, we walk away to get more useless things.
We ended up buying a dress, shoes, a purse, jewelry, undergarments (I don't know why), and makeup since I didn't own any, and a few other things I didn't know existed were thrown into bags. After we finished shopping, I went straight home with a goodbye from Nudge. She wanted to go at this salad bar and I declined. Salads, really? As if I would ever eat one of those.
The next day I decided to skip school. I told my mom the same excuse as yesterday and she bought it. I told her that I was still too embarrassed to face the kids at school. Of course, I didn't really care at all what the kids at school thought of me. I only stayed home because I finally had an excuse to and my mom was a sucker to my begging because I hardly did it. I almost felt bad for her. Almost.
I just sat around all day, ate some more pizza, and watched movie after movie, like someone trying to get over a break-up. Nudge came around 4:30 so we still had four hours to get ready. Now, I was sitting on my bed, waiting for Nudge to bring all of the clothes out of her car. She decided to keep the clothes at her house which was smart if she didn't want them burned or destroyed.
"I'm so excited. I can't believe we are going to this party! We are gonna have so much fun!" Nudge squealed. Nudge was already dressed when she arrived in my room. She had a tight, sparkly, purple dress that went mid-thigh. It was sleeveless and showed some of her cleavage. Her huge mass of hair was straightened but she still couldn't beat my height in her black stilettos.
I was shocked at this new Nudge as she always despised the way Lissa was dressed. Her excuse was that it was a party and didn't matter how you dressed. Nudge shoved me into the bathroom.
"I'm going to give you clothes and you are going to put them on," Nudge commanded from outside.
"You can't make me," I stated defiantly, crossing my arms although she couldn't see me. Not for long, anyway. Nudge whipped open the door and stuck her bottom lip out, giving me the best Bambi eyes I have ever seen. They were the end of me.
"Please, please, please?" Nudge begged. I stomped my foot like a child who didn't get what they wanted for Christmas. Sad story.
"Fine," I said exasperatedly and Nudge grinned and slammed the door, but not before giving me two pieces of lacy clothing. I spread them out to see the black lacy bra and black lacy underwear from Victoria's Secret.
"Really Nudge? Why do I have to wear these?" I called through the door.
"You never know what might happen. Better wear it than regret it," she chorused, no doubt was she wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. I snorted. I tried squeezing into the undergarments and groaned.
"Nudge, the bra is too small, they make my boobs look huge," I whined, banging the door so Nudge would take a hint at my distress. The underwear was too small too, but it was bearable. The fact didn't help either that the bra was strapless.
"Bigger is better," Nudge started cracking up. Not. Funny.
"I'm gonna take it off," I threatened.
"No. Keep it on or else," Nudge threatened back. I wasn't about to ask what 'else' meant so Nudge threw the next clothing in. It was a little shirt, black and sparkly.
"It's your dress. Ours are quite similar except yours is black and mine is purple," Nudge called in, answering my questions.
"A dress? This barely fits as a T-shirt," I called again.
"Just put it on," Nudge retorted. I squeezed into the little thing. I wanted to start crying at the sight of the horrid thing squeezing me to death. I can take lunatic ex-boyfriends and a whole group of devils but I can't take on a pathetic dress. How sad.
"Nudge, how small do you think I am? You bought everything too small," I said.
"How do you know I bought everything small on purpose? Did you know that the smaller the clothes, the more they hug to your curves?" Nudge responded. These words sounded like they came from Lissa's mind, not the almost-innocent girl on the other side of the door.
"Which, I might add, is great since you have a beautiful body. It doesn't help you always hide behind T-shirts and sweatpants." I stood there, mortified by Nudge's words. I quickly shook them off and finished getting into the dress. It came up even higher for me since I was many inches taller than Nudge.
The dress, no doubt, would show my underwear if I sat down. I told Nudge this and this is how she responded:
"See, my friend, this is why we bought undergarments to match your dress. Of course there are other reasons too but…" Nudge trailed off from her words of 'wisdom'. I walked out of the bathroom and posed for Nudge.
Nudge started squealing, jumping, and clapping.
"Come on… we still have to do your hair and makeup and accessories and attitude," Nudge started ticking off her fingers. My attitude? What was wrong with my attitude? Nudge pulled me to sit at my vanity, the worst two hours of my life began.
After many tugs of the hair, burns, coughing fits, and pokes to the eye, Nudge finally finished my makeup and hair with an hour to spare. (A/N Did you catch that?)
"Finally. Come on, let's go look in the mirror," Nudge grabbed me by the arm and pulled me with all her might. I walked in front of the mirror and stood there awe-struck. I've been told I was pretty… by family.
But the girl in front of me was beautiful. Her hair was straightened all the way down her back and it looked very neat. Her face was even more beautiful. Her eyes had a smoky effect and her blood red lips screamed, 'catch me if you can.'
"Come on, we still have more to do," Nudge said leading me to my shoes. I saw a black pair of seven-inch heels and nearly fainted. Wasn't I already tall enough?
"How do you expect me to walk in those," I pointed in disgust.
"We still have an hour to practice," Nudge sang. I carefully put on the black, sequined shoes and nearly fell, except for Nudge's arms wrapped around me. Nudge grabbed mine and her black handbags and we headed downstairs carefully.
After the hour was up, I felt bruised. Nudge couldn't catch me all of the times I fell and I walked like a turtle. This was so not going to work. At eight-thirty I heard a doorbell ring and I headed for the door as Nudge was touching up her pink lip-gloss. I swung open the door to find Iggy, looking at me with shock. Iggy cleared his throat.
"I…um…I'm looking for Max," he whispered.
"Ha, ha, Iggy. Very funny," I gave a bitter laugh.
"Max? You look…different," Iggy was blushing again. I snorted at that.
"Come on Nudge, let's go," I called to Nudge and we headed to the party next door.
A/N: I would have made it longer but my mom was yelling at me to go to bed soooo…yeah. I'm sorry it's bad, I was really rushed. I'll update by the end of the week (not setting a specific date again). Accepting criticism, and reviews so please REVIEW! Thanks =D