Hey, y'all! Thanks for the views and such! Although I would REALLY appreciate some more comments, I am still pretty happy about all the views! I already have the last chapter written down that will reveal what the heck happened to Max. So the more reviews that I get-even if they're pointless-the faster I will get to the end of this story. So, yeah, besides that, I hope you guys really enjoy this chappy and PLEASE REVIEW AND FOLLOW!
Disclaimer:
I don't own MR, I don't own any of the characters, and I don't own a life or any friends. PSYCH! I have friends, but you don't! I kid, I kid. Sort of. Oh well! ENJOY!
11 months and 29 days Before Death
"Ari, it's safe to go now," I whisper behind me to where he is standing and he rushes over to my side. Like mice, we scurry across the living room and escape the dark clutches that used to be our home but now were a hell hole. Once the door is shut, we race down the ten blocks between my house and school. Ari beats me to the doors because of my sprained ankle and holds the doors for me like a little gentleman. As I pass, he gives me a mock bow and I reply with a curtsy. Eastdale High School-my school-and Eastdale Middle School-Ari's school-were connected and they were right down the street from Eastdale Auto Shop, Eastdale Tech, Eastdale Burger Hut, and Eastdale Marketplace. As you can guess, we live in Eastdale.
Anyway, I watched as Ari's small figure retreated to the door that separated our schools. Once I couldn't see him anymore, I limped through the halls to my locker and slumped against it.
"Fat."
"Ugly."
"Stupid."
"Disappointment."
"Curse."
The words that Jeb usually spit at me whenever he beats me kept on echoing in my head. They formed a wall made of steel that was a barrier between me and peace of mind. The longer I sat there, the louder the words became until they were a lurid chant, each scream of each word adding to my growing headache. I clamped my hands down on my ears in a vain attempt to block the voices out. But how can you block out voices when they are in your head? I screwed my eyes tight and prayed that the voices would stop soon.
"Max. Max. MAX!" My eyes snapped open to see Iggy shaking my shoulders madly.
Remember how I said that I had no friends? Well, I lied. My ONLY friend (emphasis on ONLY) was Iggy. He and I have been best friends since before the accident, and when I was losing all my other friends, he stuck by my side. We told each other everything and we went through everything with each other. Iggy was basically my big brother, the only one that I could go to for comfort.
"Max, what the hell was that? Are you okay?" Iggy's look of concern almost made me spill my guts about the whole being abused thing. And you know how I just said that we told each other everything? Well, I lied again. You should know by now that I lie A LOT about things. But what can you expect from a girl who gets beaten every night?
Anyway, AGAIN, I feared telling Iggy about how Jeb beat me not because I thought he would go to the police, but because I was afraid that he would try to beat the shit out of Jeb, and THEN go to the police. And if he went to the police that would mean me and Ari would be put in foster care. And that would mean that Ari would get adopted for sure because of his absolute ADORABSNESS-and yes in my vocabulary, adorabsness is a word, so don't you judge-while I would be stuck going from foster home to foster home, meaning that I would never get to see Ari again, and a life without Ari is not a life worth living.
So as Iggy looked at me with big eyes full of concern, I had to bite my tongue and say, "Nothing."
A fresh wave of guilt washed over me for lying to my best and only friend and it must have been evident on my face because Iggy raised an eyebrow and studied me closely, otherwise known as Iggy's "you-are-a-terrible-liar-and-I-don't-believe-you-one-bit" face. I fidgeted under his intense gaze, and seeing my discomfort, Iggy didn't push it. Instead, he held out a hand for me to get up from the floor. I graciously took it and gave him a weak smile which he returned with his famous grin. We walked-well, Iggy walked while I limped-into the classroom just as the bell rang for class to begin.
I sat next to Iggy in the back left-hand corner of the room with one empty seat beside me that no one dared to take. I slid into my seat and took out my notebook and furiously started writing, blocking everybody else out.
FANG POV
As I walked through the classroom, I saw the dull of faces that just about every single high school student in America replicated. Blank faces and eyes incapable of learning anything. Slouching posture and lazy gazes roaming around the room.
"Good morning, class! Today we have a new student named…" the teacher, Ms. Flores, hinted for me to say my name.
"Nick Martinez." I said-more of a grunt really-as the Ms. Flores nodded.
She continued on with telling the class how they were supposed to be nice to me and all that crap, but I zoned her out. Instead, I focused on where to sit. In every high school, there is always groups that sit together. It's just predictable. Just by looking at all these mindless buffoons, I know that the nerds and geeks sit up front, the jocks sit in the middle, and the sluts sit right behind the jocks. In each of these groups, there is always a leader. From my guess, I would say that the tall lanky kid with mouse hair in the center front is King of the Outcasts, the overly toned dude in the blue letterman jacket surrounded by red letterman jackets is Jock-zilla, and the red-head with the pink mini skirt and practically see through tank is the Slut Queen.
Like I said, predictable. It all added up in my head except for one thing. There was a girl in the very back corner. She definitely wasn't a slut based on her gray hoodie and stained jeans, not a geek because she wasn't paying attention to Ms. Flores in the least, and for sure not a jock 'cause if you compared her to a toothpick, she would be skinnier. But she wasn't a Nobody either. She had blonde hair with sun streaked highlights, high cheek bones, chocolate eyes, meaning she was H-O-T HOT. And there was something about her that just pulled me in, made me wants to just sit and stare into her eyes for an eternity. But the question was: Who was she?"
"Nick, would you please take a seat…" Ms. Flores scanned the room in search for an empty chair. "Right next to Maximum Ride." Ms. Flores's finger landed right on the empty seat next to the girl I had been admiring. I shuffled forward and sat in my seat just as Ms. Flores turned around and began to drone on about Physics.
"Psst."
I raised an eyebrow and looked to my left at the girl next to me.
"Let's get one thing straight here," she hissed as she leaned in so close that our noses were practically touching. I could smell her strawberry shampoo and concealer (AUTHOR: Is it possible to smell concealer? If it is, cool. If it isn't, fuck it). "I don't like you. I don't like how you look, how you walk, how you move, or even how you breathe. Don't look, smell, see, hear, touch, or even breathe in the same air space as I am. Got that?" Her once chocolate eyes turned dark and stormy as her face morphed into a crude mask of secrets.
I nodded my head and she backed off ever so slightly. I returned my attention back to Ms. Flores but I couldn't pay any attention to her as I tried to shake the uneasy feeling I got from seeing my desk neighbor's eyes.
"Psst."
I tried to block out the girl and it worked for a while, but you can only ignore something for so long before you get something thrown at you. In this case, it was a crumpled up piece of paper.
I picked up the piece of paper and tossed it back to the girl. I ignored her chuckles and tried in vain to focus on the lesson. Again she tossed the paper at me.
"What do you want?" I hissed at her in annoyance and gave her my death glare.
Instead of doing what most people who get my death glare, which was to back off, she just smirked.
"I'm Maximum Ride, by the way, but everybody calls me Max." She stuck out her hand for me to shake, and after a moment's pause, I took it.
"Nick Walker, but call me Fang." Her grin was so wide, I thought that her face would split in two. The guy next to her leaned over her and stuck out his fist.
As I pounded it, he said, "Nice to meet you, Fang. I'm Iggy."
And that was how I met Max and Iggy.
So…yeah. I'm sorry that I haven't updated in like a week. But I have an excuse for it. I got this swanky disease called Laziness and it prevents me from doing anything productive or remotely related to work, including writing a chappy. In fact, it's a miracle that I'm writing this right now. So, anyway, READ, REVIEW, AND FOLLOW. DON'T FORGET TO ANSWER MY IDIOTIC QUESTIONS.
Watch the skies,
Doctor Bessy.