Again, Max's POV in italics, Hayley's POV in regular.

I drummed my fingers absentmindedly on the armrest of the couch. Besides the light from the television that occasionally flickered across me, the room was dark. I realized that at any moment, Mom could come home and find me lying around instead of studying for finals week. She would probably ground me for next weekend, or take away my phone or something drastic. And then I realized something else. I just didn't care.

It had been a few days, almost a week, since I had found Riley in her bedroom and I was only just beginning to move on. It had helped going to school, and having finals coming up, giving my mind something else to concentrate on for a little bit, but even that, eventually, went away.

I could see my sisters scrutinizing me closely, as I was not bullying them as a big brother should, like usual. Once even, I caught Hayley looking at me, trying to read my expressions, but I knew they couldn't really guess what was going on unless they had heard something at school. Oh the joy of having your siblings at the same high school as you. They would now know everything that went on in your life thanks to the usual high school gossip. Come to think of it, they probably had heard already, or realized that Riley never came over, or called. They weren't that blind, even though they were merely freshmen. Sometimes I got the impression, especially from Melanie or Hayley, that they were wise beyond their years. In a way, that depressed me. Even though I was supposed to dislike both of them – Melanie for being my kid sister, Hayley for being her best friend – I found myself feeling sorry for them, for the fact that they couldn't enjoy their teenage years as much as they should.

Whoa, I thought, sitting up suddenly. I was starting to sound like my Grandpa Paul. I shook my head, attempting to clear it. I had to get out of this hole. I had to do something. I looked around for my phone but didn't see it. I reached behind my head, then, and into the crack between the couch cushion and the armrest. And came out successful with my phone crushed in my fist. I flipped it open quickly, dialing my best friend's number, the only one I could count on.

"Kevin?" I asked, adrenaline now pulsing through my veins. He'd find something exciting for us to do, to get my mind off the sorry piece of scum that was my ex-girlfriend.

"Max, buddy, what's up?" It sounded like I had woken him up although it was four in the afternoon.

"I need a distraction," I said quickly, "anything."

"A distraction, eh?" Kevin sounded more awake now and I heard rustling, meaning he was getting up and moving. "I have just the thing. Get your swimsuit on and meet me in your driveway in eight minutes." He hung up before I could ask or even begin to wonder.

I raced up to my room and once there dug like a maniac through my drawers, trying to find my swimsuit. Aha! I slipped it on and pulled a t-shirt on over it before running back down the stairs. When I got outside, Kevin was already waiting, the windows to his old black Camaro rolled down and the engine off.

"Ready Freddie?" he joked as I climbed in. I shot him a look, snickering, as he turned on the engine and pulled out.

"So where exactly are we going?" I asked as swung out onto the highway, though immediately getting off at the next exit. When he didn't answer, I looked over at him, and he pointed out my window. The only thing I saw was the mountain, which was actually an enormous hill, which divided our town from the huge lake on the other side of it. Suddenly, I realized that I just did not want to know exactly what he had planned.

An hour later, after weaving through the roads that traveled through the hill, we arrived on the other side. There was only one problem. We were still up on a cliff. I looked at Kevin questioningly. He grinned.

"Cliff diving, Max, what else?" He looked slightly manic as he climbed out of the car and stripped down to his swim shorts. I followed suit.

"Cliff diving?!" I exclaimed as he walked over to the edge and peered down. Again, I followed him and looked down as well. It was about a one hundred-foot drop.

"How have you been friends with me without having been cliff diving before?" he asked me, backing up a few steps and bouncing on the balls of his feet. I could only shake my head before he was taking those steps back towards the edge of the cliff and bounding off of it.

"KEVIN !" I screamed. I peered unwillingly over the edge and saw the faint splash at the bottom. I waited several agonizing seconds before I saw a mop of red hair appear above the water. "Kevin?" I shouted again. I barely saw his arms wave in answer.

With a deep breath I took a few steps back and prepared to cliff dive for my very first time. And then I just had to laugh at myself for being such a pussy. I continued laughing, somewhat manicly, as I bounded off the cliff, dive-bombing towards the water, my arms flailing wildly. About ten feet above the water, I managed to bring my arms together in dive formation before I hit. I could feel the weight of my body helping gravity to bring me down before the current shoved me back up again. Immediately after I broke the surface, Kevin was laughing and dragging me back to the shore.

"Well?" he asked, shaking his wet hair at me.

"You waited so long to show me that because…" I said, grinning. Kevin slapped my shoulder and we raced back to the top, spending the next hour trying different jumps off the cliff.

"MAXWELL STANLEY GARRINER, WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" was the greeting I received when I walked in the door two and a half hours after leaving. Shit, I thought, I forgot to tell Mom where I was going.

"Mom, oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, I forgot, I went out with Kevin." I took a deep breath, preparing for whatever was next. I saw my mother do the same.

"Please, please, please tell me you were just studying and nothing else." She closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose and resting her free hand on the counter. I didn't say anything at first and she opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Max…" she said, sighing.

"Mom, I'm sorry alright, I needed to get my mind off of…" I waved my hand, not wanting to say it.

"Okay," Mom said, nodding, "then just please go study now before dinner." I was quiet again and this time her gaze went to the bag in my end. She sighed and turned away, waving her hand at me to get out of the room. I glanced down at the Taco Bell bag in my hand, before doing exactly what she wanted.

As I was walking down the hallway towards my room, I passed Melanie's room and saw Hayley sitting in there by herself. I paused, debating on whether to make a sarcastic comment or not. Yes, I decided, this definitely called for something sarcastic.

"You're looking especially disgusting today," I said, just loudly enough for Hayley to hear. Of course this was completely sarcastic as she actually looked kind of cute. Whoa, I thought, banishing that thought. No way, buddy, do not even go there.

"Quit talking to yourself, Max," she retorted, hiding her smirk well but not before I caught it.

"Touché," I replied, heading into my room. I tossed the fast-food bag onto my bed before plopping myself down at my desk and pulling out my chemistry binder. I bent my head, intending to at least attempt the review packet when I heard a rustle. I turned around and saw Hayley standing in my doorway, looking slightly awkward.

"Can I help you?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. She just shrugs and then turns so her back is against the doorframe. She then proceeds to slide down it so she is now sitting on the floor, facing the other side of the doorframe.

"I'm just bored," she replied, examining her outstretched feet. She's wearing bright purple socks with frogs on them. I know what you're thinking and she's not some huge dork- well actually, she is, but not in the way you're thinking- she just tends to like funky things like that. Don't even ask how I know that though because I have absolutely no idea.

"Uh, where's Melanie? Or Grace?" I questioned, rifling through some of the CDs that littered my floor. Maybe Melanie would want to organize these for me…if I paid her? Wow, was I really that desperate?

"They had to go down to your neighbors' house for twenty minutes for something or other." She now turned to look at me.

"And they left you behind?" Hayley nodded, once, before slouching some more and closing her eyes. "Well then here, listen to this, I found it on my dad's stuff in the basement." I had found the CD I had been looking for, an ancient Foreigner disk that was hard to find in even the oldest stores. I popped it into my stereo, turning the volume up to a decent level so I could still hear Hayley if she spoke.

"Who is this? They're amazing…" she asked in wonderment, returning her gaze to me. I could see one purple toed foot tapping, and her fingers drummed on her knee, seemingly without her notice.

I smirked and nodded. "Of course they're amazing. It's Foreigner." She gasped and her eyes narrowed to slits, her mouth turning up in a sly smile.

"Max, Max, Max, Max, Max," she repeated my name five times. "I cannot believe you are still arguing me on this topic. You know I'm going to win." She smirked, standing up and taking a couple steps into my room.

"May I?" she asked, gesturing towards the CDs on the floor. I nodded and she knelt down to rifle through them.

"You really think you'd win, huh?" I asked. Hayley stopped in mid-rifle and stood up again.

"Yea," she challenged, "I do." I arched an eyebrow and rose from my chair, taking a step towards her.

"Really…" I wasn't asking, just pretending to be thoughtful. And then, before she could take two steps, I closed the gap between us and wrapped my arms around her waist, lifting her up. She laughed out loud, halfheartedly slapping my arms.

"Max," she paused to giggle, "put me down! Put me down, Max!" She laughed some more as I spun her around.

"Only when you admit that Foreigner is best!" I exclaimed, holding her up with my arm and tickling her stomach with the other. She squealed but somehow managed to speak.

"Never!" I tickled her some more. "No! Guns n' Roses is better!" she said in between breaths so it came out more like 'Guns...n' Roses...is...better!'.

"What are you guys doing?" a familiar yet unwanted voice said from the doorway. I immediately set Hayley down, taking a step back.

"Nothing," I said, trying to keep my voice innocent as Melanie gave us both the evil eye. I looked at Hayley and saw her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open. "I was uh…we were just…"

"I was waiting for you guys to get back and I just bet Max that he wasn't strong enough to lift me up…Sorry Mel, I was just bored. Did you guys have fun?" She walked towards the door, grabbing Melanie's arm, who gave me one last suspicious glance before following Hayley. As they went inside Melanie's bedroom, Hayley turned around and mouthed 'that was close'. I nodded and smirked before she could disappear completely behind the door.

"Well, where is everybody else?" I asked, crossing my arms. I looked over at Will as I waited for him to answer. He looked over at me and shrugged, glancing one more time at the door to the theatre. The street outside was empty except for an old man walking a dog and a black SUV.

My mind strayed towards the day before, when Max and I had spoken while I had waited for Grace and Mel to get back from their neighbor's house. I remembered how difficult it was to convince Mel that nothing was going on, we were just screwing around. Luckily, she bought my story about me betting against Max's strength.

"Who cares?" Will said, bringing me back to reality. "Let's just go, we'll miss the movie if we wait any longer." He started walking backwards, watching me as I tried to decide what to do. I shrugged and followed him.

Will was my best guy friend. We hung out at least twice a week and I tell him pretty much everything as he does with me. We had planned to meet at the movie theatre tonight with a huge group of people to see the newest movie but as we bought our tickets, we were the only two there. Not even the scary movie lover of all scary movie lovers, Grace, was there.

"Where is everybody?!" I asked again as we bought our popcorn and sodas. I looked once more at Will and caught him looking at me, a faint smile on his lips. He shook his head and his eyes shifted above my head for a second.

"No idea, let's go." He picked up the popcorn and I took the sodas, throwing one last glance towards the doors that led to the world outside.

The movie was starting as we slid into our seats, the center of the highest row, leaving no time to talk. I settled down into the seat, crossing one leg over the other with my arms on the arm rests. Will set the bucket of popcorn in his lap and immediately took a handful. He offered it to me and I took a larger handful. He laughed and returned the bucket to his lap, turning his head towards the big screen. I did the same.

I had told myself before we had even come that I would not get scared, though I knew this movie was considered Horror. And yet, halfway through, I found myself with my head buried in Will's chest and his arm around me so I could not see any of the movie, only hear it and the screams of everybody else in the theatre. Every once in a while I could hear his laughter vibrating in his chest when I'd flinch at a particularly loud scream but otherwise all I felt was his chest rising as he breathed in and out and his arm warm and comforting around me.

Why hadn't we tried this before? I thought to myself as the screams continued, along with my flinches and Will's laughter. It seemed odd, especially since I fit perfectly in the crook of his arm.

My gosh, I thought, mentally shaking myself. What was I thinking? Will was my best friend. Jeez Hayley, get a hold of yourself.

But then, as the credits began to roll and I pulled away from Will he suddenly leaned down, his lips brushing mine. He pulled away but held me close, his eyes searching mine to see if this was okay. I looked back at him earnestly, before answering his unspoken question by kissing him back.

As we broke apart, Will rose, clutching my hand in his and leading me out of the theatre.

"Now why haven't we tried that before?" he asked, laughing softly as we waited for his older brother to come pick us up. I just shook my head, grinning and he leaned down and kissed me again.

Later

"Well, you missed a big event," I told Grace later that night as I sat on her kitchen counter as she blended some ice cream shakes for us. She had already explained that they had thought we were all going to see the movie at four, instead of seven.

"We were all there, waiting for you and Will to show up but then it just got too late. And then you're phone wasn't on so we couldn't tell you. Although don't ask me how you and Will both thought it was at seven, that is something that I cannot answer for the life of me." She had told me when I had first walked in the door. "Unless…" she trailed off, thoughtful.

"Unless what?" I had asked.
"Unless will had planned that somehow…" she trailed off again.

"You who, earth to planet Hayley, time to come in for landing," I was brought out of my daydream by a mint chocolate chip shake floating in front of my face.
"Thanks," I said, taking it with a grin.
"Man, I don't know what we are going to do with you now that you have a boyfriend," Grace said, dragging out the 'boyfriend' part of it.
"Who has a boyfriend?" Melanie chose that moment to walk into the kitchen, stopping to take a sip of my shake before opening the fridge.
"Yea, who has a boyfriend?" Max asked as he came up the stairs from the basement, a lone drumstick in his hand.
"Hayley does, that's who," Grace replied, snickering as I blushed redder than the shorts Max was wearing. I looked down at my shake before raising my eyes back up. That was a mistake. They met Max's for only a second but he looked tortured somehow. He turned away then and when he turned back around the look was gone, replaced with a smirk, and I wasn't sure if I had just imagined it or not.
"Hayley? Puh-lease. Who would want to date her?" Max's voice came muffled from inside the freezer, though it still came through, loud and rude.
"Will," Grace retorted, taking her shake to the couch.
"WILL, YOUR BEST FRIEND WILL? WILL TAMEDAN? THE WILL WE KNOW?" Melanie shouted, turning around to look at me. When I blushed again and nodded, she pounced on top of me, wrapping her arms around my torso and squeezing so hard I could barely breathe.
"That is so cute!" she exclaimed, pulling away and going back to the blender to make her own shake.
"Your best friend? You're dating your best friend?" Max sneered, reappearing out of the freezer holding Popsicles and frozen Magic Cookies. Magic Cookies were the best things you'd ever taste if you knew the Garriners as it was their secret recipe. As he opened the box containing them I held out my hand, palm facing up. He looked at it for a second, one eyebrow raised.
"I'm not giving you a high five Hayley, sorry," he responded, keeping a straight face though I could see a twinkle in his eye. I smacked him upside the head and he narrowed his eyes at me but gave me a cookie.
"That's all I wanted," I snickered, walking over to the couch and plopping down in between Grace and Melanie. As they started the movie I turned around to see Max's reaction and just saw him rubbing his hand over his eyes, his head bowed.