Max's Pov

I opened the bathroom door and slammed it shut. I locked it from inside and ran to stall. I locked that also and fell to the ground on my knees. I cant work with Fang. H-He no. I cant. Jeb isn't going to like it. He wont like it. He wont like it, He wont like it! He's going to hurt me even more. He-He..Breath Max...Breath. I shut my eyes as hard as I could and put my hands over my head while shaking my head. No,No. It cant! He wont like it. Breath... 1...2..3..4...

Maybe Mr.P will understand. But he said to not complain about the project. If we did, we'd have to work alone. Wait...Yes! I could work alone. But then I would have to talk, and if Jeb finds out. I shook my head. I had to do it, work in a group I mean. No matter what happened, I guess...I'd have to deal with it. I stood up and dusted my pants. I gulped and unlocked the stall. I exited and headed towards the sink to wash my face, trying to get rid of the puffy red eyes. I blew my nose with the paper towel that doesn't even feel like a paper towel, it feels more of rough sand smashed together. Once I was finished, I checked in the mirror and was horrified to see the concealer had washed off. Quickly as I could I took out the small bottle from the mini bag I always carry around. I quickly applied it to both of my cheeks and gave out a sigh of relief when it was well covered up. You could tell it was makeup but only if you look real close.

That said, I quickly put away all of my sutff away and exited the bathroom, I headed towards class and opened the door. Everyone was amongst their groups and already talking.

"Are you alright Max?" a voice came from the side. I turned and noticed it was Mr.P, I nodded and pointed indicating if I should go to my group.

He gave a confused look at first but soon got it,"Yes, go find your group. I believe that they are in the back of the classroom waiting for you." I nodded and headed towards where he pointed at. As I neared, I saw three figures. One was a girl with mocha skin and poofy hair. I noticed Iggy was their and...Fang. I took a sharp breath of air and finally reached them. I noticed the girl was talking very fast amongst the group, I almost laughed at the bewildered expression Iggy and he had. The girl seemed to notice I had arrived because she turned to me and squealed. I cringed at how loud she was but of course didn't say anything. She crushed me into a huge bear hug and I almost cried out in pain it was causing my ribs. I bit my lip and shut my eyes and awkwardly hugged back. What was this, a family reunion?

After she pulled back she spoke, "OMG you must me Max! We've been waiting forEVER but that's ok. I found out a lot about Iggy and Fang. Those are strange names, but why am I talking? My names Nudge! Can you believe it?! It reminds me of fudge! Ooo do you like fudge? I love fudge! Especially with Ice-cream. Oooh I haven't had ice-cream in a long time. I usually buy it at the mini frozen yogurt store. Wait but that's not ice-cream is it? Oh god I've been tricked, well whatever I guess frozen yogurt is-"

"Nudge!" Iggy exclaimed. I must have had the same bewildered expression because Iggy started laughing.

"You tortured us with this device for about 20 minutes. It was much worse." Iggy said. I shook my head and looked at the ground.

"So...You're Max eh?" he asked. I nodded while looking out.

He narrowed his eyes, "You don't talk much do you?" he questioned. Again, I nodded. From the corner of my eye I noticed Fang give a confused and get this...concerned expression, but as soon as I saw it, it was gone.

"Ok...um..so where should we meet first?" Iggy spoke. I took out my notebook and wrote,

Can we not meet at my house? Its...its a mess.

Iggy read it and nodded, "We can go to you're place last. Where are we gonna meet first?" I tried to hide the terrified expression of them coming to my house. My house...or Hell. Is not somewhere you would wish to live. From the minute you step inside, you could smell the distinct aroma of alcohol and there are bottles of tequila and whisky on the floor. I guess I have a lot of cleaning to do before they come.

No one was speaking. Fang had his arms crossed and was leaning against the wall, Nudge was looking around the room and Iggy was just waiting for someone to say something.

"Well, than I guess we can meet at my place first, then Nudge's, Fang, and then Max's." Iggy spoke. Nudge squealed and Fang shrugged his shoulders in a way saying I don't care. "Ok well, here's my address. I'm not sure if we have to meet tomorrow or today. Why don't you all write your address on my paper too so we already have it when its your turn."

Everyone nodded and scribbled down their address, including me.

"Alright class, are you all ready?" Mr.P spoke breaking the chattering. Everyone replied with a yes.

"Alright, the project involves creating 2 different posters indicating the way the system of government is. I want all of you working on one poster to inform us about the democratic group and republican group. I want you all to compare and contrast each groups, and after you're done with that, I want you to search up 10 different presidents that were republican and democratic and give me 3 details on each president indicating why they are put in that group." Mr.P said. Everyone groaned and sighed at the amount of time we might have to work on this.

Mr.P laughed, "I told you, you would need your group to work on this project. Now, as you can all see I put a specific number of people in your group, which is four. I suggest 2 people work on one poster, while the other 2 work on the other poster." Mr.P finished. My eyes widened, please don't let me work with Fang, please, please, please! "The bells' gonna ring any minute now, please pack your stuff. Oh and I would also like you guys to start working today. The projects gonna be due in...hmm..I'll give you 4 weeks. I understand the project may be a difficult, but if you guys try your best and work your hardest I know you can do it."

Some people snickered, probably at the cheesy speech he had last said. At least I think it was that since Mr.P's cheeks tinted red. He cleared his throat and shook his head while heading towards his desk. I put my head down on my desk and tried to manure my stomach, it was killing me and I decided to exit the room last since, I didn't want to get washed in the crowd. I closed my eyes for a second I was extremely tired, last night I couldn't sleep well, each time I turned, my ribs seemed to crush even more. Jeb sure did have energy yesterday. I could still feel the sting my cheek had from him slapping me.

"Max?" A voice spoke. I looked up and noticed Iggy was looking at me with a concerned expression. I tilted my head and rose an eyebrow.

"Are you ok?" He asked. I took out my notebook and scribbled something down.

I'm fine I wrote. He still looked very skeptical. "What's class do you have next?" He questioned.

Math I wrote down. His eyes lit up, "Really? So do I. Do you want me to walk you there?" He questioned. I bit my lip, what if Jeb found out? If he found out, I would get an extremely hard beating and probably and up in the hospital again, and yes again. I have been in the hospital before, Jeb acted like a concerned father but the act was all over one I stepped foot in the house. I looked up at Iggy and realized he was still waiting. But jeb doesn't have to know and Iggy's being extremely kind though, and I cant reject his offer. I smiled and nodded.

"Great! Nudge has it too so were all walking there, come on, Mr.P let us go early since the bells broking. He just got an email about it saying it." Iggy said. I nodded, I looked at the door and noticed Fang was looking towards my way with an expression...I cant say, but it almost looked like...jealously? WTH? I looked in back of me to see if their was a girl in back of me. No...hmm, maybe she left and that who Fang was staring at. I stood up and grabbed my stuff.

"No here, let me carry it." Iggy said. I almost burst out laughing, was he serious? I looked at him and saw that he had a cocky expression printed on his face, Sexist pig... I smiled and shook my head indicating that I didn't want him to. As we walked I felt an arm hook in my arm, I looked to see it was Nudge. I smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Is Iggy bothering you again? Oh God hes so annoying. He already has all girls head over heels from him, actually from the minute that he looked at a girl they fell for him. He's new and he already thinks he own the school. Annoying!" She spoke.

"Hey! I heard that!" Iggy exclaimed from beside me. Nudge laughed and I smiled, I seemed to be doing that a lot lately. If Jeb found out...no. I have to stop thinking about him for a few moments. I may be traumatized and cant speak because of him, but he cant keep controlling me like this. I tried acting tough and such, I even contacted the police once to tell them Jeb was hurting me, they arrived but Jeb convinced them saying that I was upset that he didn't buy me something I wanted and that he told me I wasn't allowed to date. And the fucking police believed him, I wouldn't call for something as stupid as that! But of course the police believed him. Right as their car had pulled out, Jeb started hitting me. And let me say that would have to be one of the most hurtful beating I had ever received, I still had scars on my back from where he poured the boiling water...So the tough act is gone.

"That's was the point!" Nudge suddenly exclaimed, it took a minute for me to understand why she said that. When i did, I had to bite my tongue from saying something.

I almost laughed at that.