Chapter 3:

Dark eyes flashed at the twins then burned into the ground. The girl folded her arms over her chest, pressing the large shirt taut against her front and making her femininity all the more evident. Cody lowered his face and Zack's cheeks flushed but he kept his focus locked on the young lady.

For a fleeting moment, they weren't certain if Cody was right. It had been years since they'd last seen or spoken with Max. She'd been a close friend; one of their first when they'd initially moved to the Boston area, but as time went on, they'd grown apart then ultimately lost contact. As far as they knew, Max might of moved and didn't even live in Boston anymore.

"Hey guys, could we skip the 'wow, it's been such a long time, it's so great to see you again,' crap? Please?" the girl muttered in annoyance.

Cody and Zack blinked in unison.

"Max, it is you," Zack gaped.

"Wow, it's been a long time," Cody started only to gain an elbow to his ribs from Zack. He chuckled nervously, shrugging apologetically at the girl glaring their direction, and mumbling, "Well…it has been a long time…"

"What are you doing here?" Zack questioned as Max swiped her hat off the ground and tossed it into the open pack.

"Playing basketball. Getting robbed. What does it look like? Your friends cleaned me out. So these the kinds of people you two hang out with now, liars and cheats? Should of figured…" she sneered, lifting up her pack and slinging it over a shoulder.

"They weren't exactly friends, one of them is just a classmate. He asked us if we wanted to play a game but we had no idea about any bet," Cody clarified haughtily, then, narrowing his eyes, "What exactly are you doing making bets with guys like that, anyhow?"

"Not your business," Max replied curtly, she turned slightly, focusing on something in the distance, "Your classmate is a jerk. Those three came here last week with two guys who didn't even know how to dribble and made a bet with me. Their team against mine. Then this week they show up with you two? If they really aren't your friends, well…" she turned her eyes on the twins, "Congratulations, boys, you just got used."

The twins stood stunned as that observation slowly sank in and Max spun on her heel and started away. She paused in her retreat, momentarily, and called over her shoulder, "It was good…seeing you guys again, I mean."

"Yeah," Zack murmured, and then as though remembering something, "We should get together…catch up sometime."

"No, we really shouldn't," was all she said, and then she rounded the corner and was gone.

With Max's departure, the two had nothing left to do at the basketball park so they wordlessly started their trek home; too rattled by the recent events to say anything.

"Crazy, huh? Running into her after all these years?" Zack finally broke their silent reverie when they were halfway to the apartment, "She doesn't seem to have changed much."

"What are you talking about? She was a completely different person," Cody replied.

It was true. Max had always been a tough tomboy but before there had been a sweet and innocent playfulness about her that the Max they'd just met lacked. Teenage Max was unforgiving, unflinching, and, almost, scary. Despite having been manhandled, had a knife pulled on her, and had her cash stolen, she'd remained calm and collected, only seeming angry at the lost money. It was as though the entire incident were all in a day's work.

"Yeah. I guess. And hey, did we part on bad terms with her or something?" Zack questioned, looking thoughtful.

"Hm…? Oh, I don't remember. I don't think so. I don't even remember why or when we all stopped hanging out. She didn't seem to want to chat, huh?"

"Not really," Zack sighed, scratching his head in annoyance, "She seemed…I don't know…mad at us."

"Well, I guess we did unwittingly lose her that basketball game and, apparently, a lot of money."

Home at last, they made their way into the apartment and Cody headed for the first aid kit as Zack plopped on the couch.

"Man, that was a painful game," Cody muttered, returning with antiseptic cream and a box of Band-Aids. He took a seat next to his brother and started cleaning his left knee, "It was like everyone was out for blood."

"Tell me about it," Zack groaned, picking at a fresh scab on his elbow, "Just because you ran into Max once…" Cody blanched suddenly and Zack peered curiously at him.

"Oh man. I just realized…" Cody stammered, "I hit a girl."

Zack laughed.

"No. You hit Max," he said teasingly, then in a different tone, "Besides, that was just an accident. You weren't trying to hurt her. Those other guys are a different story…"

"Yeah. I guess you're right," Cody sighed, "It still feels kind of wrong, though."

"Not as wrong as Jason using us like that," Zack growled, "Max was right. He played us. Man, I knew I didn't like that guy."

"Yeah. Same here," Cody agreed, drawing in a quick breath as he coated his cut knees with antiseptic cream. Zack arched a brow at his brother as he stole the cream to tend to his own injuries.

"Then why'd you agree to go play hoops with him?"

"To punish you for staying out so late. Word of advice, Zack, next time you plan on lying about how late you were out don't make so much noise when you come home. I was kind of hoping you'd be hung-over," Cody replied nonchalantly, applying bandages. Zack fixed a glare on his brother.

"For your information, I did not drink last night," he stated matter-of-factly, then ducking his head, he sheepishly added, "Much…"

Cody rolled his eyes. He tossed the box of band-aids to his brother and limped to the refrigerator, procuring two cans of cola. He hobbled back to the couch and handed one to Zack, popping the other one open for himself and taking a long draught. He rested his chin in his hand, propping his elbow up on the arm of the couch, and stared off into the distance, pondering their morning events.

"Six years," Cody said distantly.

"Hm?"

"That's how long it's been since we last hung out with Max. Six years," Cody explained. He sighed, "Though it hadn't really felt like we were friends then. We were doing that school project together, remember? That was the last time we saw her, really. Afterwards, I went to the mall with Tapeworm."

"Oh yeah…I had a date that night…with a blonde eighth grader," Zack recalled, grinning goofily. Cody smacked him, more out of habit than irritation.

"I'd asked if she'd wanted to come with us, to the mall, but she turned us down."

"As usual," Zack interjected, "It's starting to come back to me. She'd been bailing on us more and more during those days. I hadn't really noticed it then…"

"But looking back on it now it seems obvious," Cody finished, "Maybe we had done something to make her mad back then and we didn't even realize it. It would make sense, what with her not wanting to chat with us at the basketball court and all. Do you think we pulled a prank on her or something when we were kids that she never forgave us for?"

"Who knows? I don't remember. Man, girls sure can hold grudges," Zack chuckled, then, "Hey, maybe if we got her money back she'd forgive us for whatever it was we did or, at least, tell us what it was so we could apologize or laugh about it or something."

"And how exactly would you propose we get her money back?" Cody demanded. A smirk played in the corner of Zack's mouth.

"We'll just talk to Jason tomorrow. I'm sure we could find a way of convincing him to return the money," he answered. Cody eyed his brother suspiciously.

"Well…I guess talking couldn't hurt. Not sure what we could say to get the money back but I would like to give him a good reprimanding. It would just be talking though, right?"

"Oh yeah, just talking."

Cody didn't feel reassured. Wistfully, he reminded his brother, "Jason's friend had that knife and he didn't look afraid to use it."

"Don't worry, Cody, we're just going to talk to him."

-0-0-

Max balanced herself on the boardwalk railing, shuddering against the night breeze. The moon was low on the harbor, just kissing the ocean, and a field of stars lit the sky. Her stomach grumbled and she placed her palm over it absently as she chewed at her bottom lip. She'd spent the day going over that basketball game in her mind. She knew she should have called it off the minute those three had done the switch, but there was something about seeing the twins again that had clouded her judgment. Maybe she'd convinced herself that since she had known the boys as kids, had been their teammate, that she would know their game.

Grimacing, Max played back that moment in her mind, the moment when she'd frozen and lost the game. Collin, in his bright yellow shirt, had been open. She could have faked left, Zack would've gone for it – he always did – and she would have made the pass, Collin would have made the basket, they would have won. She just hadn't counted on Zack having gotten so much taller, his features more defined, his voice deeper. Hadn't counted on him leaving behind the rounded baby fat of boyhood in exchange for the lanky angular form of adolescence.

Warmth flooded Max's cheeks and she buried her face in her knees. She hadn't counted on, after all these years, those eyes still being the same shade of green.

"Damnit. Idiot. Stupid, goddamn, idiot. What was I thinking?" she demanded of the empty ocean air. She wrapped her arms about her legs and a gull crying in the distance was her only answer.

A/N: Another chapter, for your enjoyment. We're having a Pie Day at work tomorrow, I'm in a good place.