Chapter Four

Needless to say, things between me and Alec were even stranger after that night. Not that he seemed to notice at all. Well, he noticed I was acting even more resistant to him, but he didn't know why. Or if he did-highly unlikely unless he was Freddy Kruger...ew-he didn't show it. He was his usual teasing and taunting self. I wasn't sure if I should be grateful or disappointed.

As if things weren't nerve-wracking enough, I could tell my mom was trying to plan a surprise party for my 18th birthday. Honestly, getting a year older is about the last thing on my mind. But it seems to be taking a creepy first on hers.

I'm not trying to sound ungrateful, because I'm not. I think it's great that she's trying to make it fun for me, but there's always that niggling thought that she may just be easing me into something big she's gotta tell me. Like I'll probably have to pay rent if I'm gonna stay at home after I finish high school.

When she told me that she got a promotion and that we'd be moving into a bigger house, she sent me, Original Cindy, and Sketchy to Wild Waves for the day even though it wasn't exactly bad news and we hadn't actually been there for like six years. But then she also does this kind of thing for the not-so-good news.

I was only about two or three when my dad left us, but according to my mom and some other family members, she spoiled me with toys and stuff for almost a week before actually telling me out loud. As if I hadn't figured it out myself when I'd be crawling around and saw all of his stuff gone. Not that I remember, I just figure that's how it was.

Anyway, back to the situation with Alec.

We started Pickleball in PE on Wednesday, one of the many sports I suck gloriously at. Therefore I was none too happy. Especially since, big surprise, Alec was the exact opposite. And we were doing challenge court, which meant we partnered up, went to the court that fit our ability-awesome to horrible-and played a bunch of games. Winners would move up and losers would move down. Unless the losers were at the very last net, then they couldn't move at all.

Well, after a few sucky games guess who ended up there? Yep, me and OC. And guess who played so freakishly well and didn't lose a single game so he ended up there as well? Yeah, that would be Alec and his partner Derek, who was almost as good.

Alec greeted me with a wide smile as he twirled a paddle in his hand.

"Hey Maxie, Cindy," he remarked happily. I felt like throwing my own paddle at his head.

I think we've already established that I'm generally a violent person by now...so no need to act shocked anymore.

Instead I gripped my paddle and gave him my own smirk by way of hello. I saw Cindy roll her eyes.

"He's just another asshole, Max. He's gonna want to embarrass you. Don't make it easier for him," she muttered as we got into our positions. I opened my mouth to retort but she already served the ball.

Derek effortlessly hit it back over. A simple rally like that went on for a bit. But just when I felt I was starting to get the hang of it, Alec thwacked the ball so hard I had no time to retaliate.

I felt the beginning of a glare coming on, but I remembered OC's advice and relaxed my face, even forcing a smile. Alec just cocked an eyebrow at me when I picked the ball up to serve.

Another easy rally went on for a bit and I knew Alec was gearing up to whack it again. Sure enough, a few seconds later he held his arm back farther than usual before connecting with the ball. It streaked over the net straight towards me. I swung at what I thought was the appropriate time, but I just barely missed.

I wanted to wipe that cocky smirk off Alec's face and one look at OC's expression told me that it was showing so I attempted to relax again as I tossed the ball to Derek. It was his turn to serve.

Yet another simple rally resulted once the ball was in the air. I waited until Alec showed his usual sign and this time, I didn't miss. I gave the hit as much power as I could to send it soaring over the net into Derek's side of the court. It dipped at the best possible point so he didn't stand a chance.

I couldn't help it, I shrieked with joy.

Cindy gave me the beginning of a weird look, but a second later she was grinning too once she saw my face. We slapped our paddles together with a loud clank.

"Good job, boo."

Still grinning, I turned to look at Alec as he was about serve. He wasn't smirking, but the corners of his mouth were turned just a little and his eyes had a strange glint as he watched me. I swear it was almost...predatory.

Just before he was about to serve the ball, our teacher blew the whistle. It was time to go change. Needless to say, I was relieved. That look Alec had had given me a very strange feeling. I don't even want to attempt to describe it.

And of course my next class included him along with the evil anti-Santa teacher. Hellish fun, here I come.

Vicks had apparently made a seating chart from the places we had sat down in on the first day last week, so I was stuck with Alec across from me. At least everyone was so afraid of Vicks biting their head off for talking, hardly anyone spoke. Usually that included him, but I guess today he was feeling extra chatty.

"Great game in PE, Maxie," he said, his voice just low enough for only me and the two people next to us to hear, but they just ignored him. An ability I envy.

"Shut up," I hissed back, keeping my head down. "And stop calling me Maxie."

"Why not? Isn't that what your buddy Zack calls you?" My head snapped up at that so I could glare at him. He just looked at me expectantly.

"I don't want you calling me that. You're not Zack." His jaw slowly slid from left to right as if he wasn't quite sure what to say next. I put my head down again to concentrate on the design we were supposed to be drawing before actually building, but then he spoke.

"Like I would want to be. Big block head and pansy blonde hair..." His voice was surprisingly spiteful and I almost laughed out loud.

"Geez. Jealous much?" I taunted, not looking up. Then I heard a dull snap. I glanced up in surprise to see that he'd snapped a pencil in half. My eyebrows rose practically up to my hairline. He blinked a few times as he stared at the broken pencil, as if he hadn't actually expected that to happen.

"Problem, son?" I nearly fell out of my seat. I hadn't seen Vicks come up to our table. I glanced at his expression and instantly was filled with dread. I never knew a person could literally shoot out rays of hate from their eyes...

But Alec seemed unaffected. His mouth spread into an innocent smirk as he said, "No problem. Dad. Guess I was just so excited with the prospect of making my drawing come to life." He held up the useless pencil and piece of paper to demonstrate. Vicks' jaw was incredibly tight and his face was turning a strange mixture of red and purple.

I couldn't stop it. A giggle escaped.

Then his eyes were on me like a hawk to its prey. Dammit.

"Think the pretty boy's antics are funny, eh?" he taunted. I felt a blush creeping up my neck and I couldn't look at anything but the 8 x 11 paper in front of me.

"No sir," I muttered to the table.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you girl!" he roared. "And say it again. Did you find his careless destruction of school property particularly hilarious?" I felt my entire body tighten and I slowly lifted my head to look at him. I knew my face was on fire, but I hated it when people yelled at me in front of crowds. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of completely embarrassing me. "Well? Speak up!"

It took a lot of effort to unclench my teeth. When I spoke, my voice sounded scary even to me. "What I find so funny is the fact that you're so bent out of shape over a sliver of wood and lead when on your desk is a cup full of at least ten extras. And aren't you a Woods teacher? Surely you can fix it without too much complications." I didn't dare lower my eyes from his as his face became an even darker purple.

The rest of the class gasped audibly as it were some court room drama. If I wasn't having a staring contest with a life-size eggplant, I'd be laughing. But I guess Alec had that covered. Vicks and I looked over at him at the same time as the rest of the class.

He had on the biggest smile I'd ever seen.

"That's it! Both of you report to the security office right now! I won't be mocked and disrespected in my own classroom!" Alec was still smiling while my face felt numb as we picked up our things.

"Sure thing, Pops," he remarked. Vicks looked like he was about to explode so I quickly pushed Alec out the door before he spewed lava.

Once we were outside, we paused to sling our messenger bags over our shoulders. Then I punched Alec's shoulder as hard as I could. He wasn't expecting it and let out a cry of pain.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" he asked, rubbing it while I stalked off ahead of him towards the office.

"That was for getting us in trouble, dumbass!" I hissed after he caught up. He scoffed and put out an arm to stop me. I did momentarily, but only to thwack him in the same spot before moving on.

"Ow! Would you stop that?!" He reached out and grabbed my bag, pulling me back to face him. "Hey, no one made you talk back to him. You could've just repeated what you first said. That you didn't find what I did particularly funny." I tore my bag out of his grasp as I glared at him.

"As if I was gonna just let him treat me like some worthless smuck. All I did was laugh! He had no right to yell at me." Alec opened his mouth to respond but I jabbed my finger at his chest. "And you are evil incarnate for talking to me in the first place! If you hadn't said anything, then neither of us would be about to get detention." His jaw tightened as he grabbed my finger that was pointed at his chest, not hard, just enough to get my attention.

"Again, no one forced you to talk to me either! You could've ignored me like you usually do. Stop trying to load all this on me. You know you had a part in it too," he argued. I wrenched my hand from his, but didn't say anything for a few beats as I looked away. He was right, I guess, but that didn't make me feel any better.

When I met his eyes again, he was watching me carefully, probably wondering if I was gonna smack him again.

"You antagonized him first," I commented, not able to think of anything else to say. "You called him 'Dad'." A smirk began to appear.

"I figured it was appropriate. He called me 'son'. I hate it when people do that," he replied. I rolled my eyes.

"And look where it got us." He shrugged.

"How was I supposed to know you had some fire in you reserved for authority figures that piss you off? Or even that you might find it funny at all..." I copied his shrug.

"Guess I'm just full of surprises," I said simply. The genuine smile that came next lit up his face. He looked proud of my statement.

"Guess so."

The silence that fell between us wasn't exactly awkward, but it still made me a little uneasy. He seemed to notice so he gestured for me to go first. Then together we continued our trip to the security office.

What I still didn't understand while we were sitting in Chemistry later on, was why Alec had broken the pencil in the first place. He had pointed out that Zack was allowed to call me Maxie, and when I teased him by saying he was jealous...

Was that it? It just didn't seem probable. Why would Alec be jealous of Zack? I didn't want to put myself on a pedestal and say it was all because he and I are so close that Alec wants to be in his position. That's just too absurd. If he thought of me that way he wouldn't irritate me so much, right?

Crap, now I have a headache.

I bet it was just an accident. The pencil was probably just flimsy.

I looked down at the pencil I held in my hand as Ms. Seri continued to talk about atoms, moles, particles, and a bunch of other things I didn't understand. I bet Alec had just gripped the pencil a little too hard. He does have very strong hands, it was probably really easy...

Oh god, I did not just think that.

I gave my head a slight shake before continuing to stare at my pencil. It wasn't exactly a productive thing to do, but I couldn't help it. Not knowing his reason for snapping it was driving me crazy. Why didn't I just ask him? Why didn't he tell me? Why...

Snap!

Startled, I stared down at my hand. I'd broken my pencil in half. Suddenly amused, I let out a small laugh and glanced over at Alec. He cocked an eyebrow at me and started to smile when I held up the two parts of my pencil.

I mouthed 'oops' before turning to ask Sketchy if I could borrow a pencil of his.

The rest of the period went by surprisingly quick. As I was putting my stuff away, Alec came over to my and Sketchy's table.

"Get down the notes okay?" he asked casually. I smiled a little and nodded. "Good. It's hard to write when you break your utensil in two, huh?" I nodded again.

"Luckily Sketch had an extra one," I replied. Sketchy was looking back and forth between Alec and me with a funny look on his face. "What?"

"What's this? You actually managed to say complete sentences to each other without adding any hostile language. Am I in bizarro world?" I exchanged an amused glance with Alec before answering Sketchy.

"No, he and I just bonded over a live demonstration of the first amendment," I joked. His nose scrunched in confusion.

"You bonded over talking about the constitution?" he asked, as if it were the dumbest thing he'd ever heard. I rolled my eyes.

"I wasn't at lunch, remember?" He nodded. "That's because Alec and I got in trouble with Vicks." His eyes widened eagerly.

"Dude, that was you guys? Everyone's been talking about a girl and a guy who back-talked that psychopath, but OC and I didn't get a name. No one's ever done that before. Well, maybe someone has and they just didn't live to tell about it. Tell me exactly what happened." I exchanged another look with Alec before we recounted the story, complete with the fact that we now had detention together after school on Friday picking up trash around the campus.

"Wow, that sucks," Sketchy commented somberly when we'd finished. He patted my shoulder with an exceptionally sad face. "Especially for you." I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Why?" I glanced fleetingly at Alec. Did Sketchy think it was all his fault like I had at first? "I deserve it just as much even if Vicks is a psychotic ass." Now he was looking at me like I had a gazillion heads.

"Max. It sucks because you're turning eighteen on Friday."

My jaw dropped open. Alec started to laugh. "Wow. You actually forgot your own birthday." I thumped the heel of my hand against my forehead.

"Ugh...I'm so stupid! And my mom's got this whole party thing planned, what am I supposed to tell her?" Sketchy stared at me in shock.

"You know about her idea to send you, me, Cindy, and Zack over to Crash?" I felt Alec bristle beside me, but I didn't want to question the cause so I just stared at Sketchy in amazement.

"That's my mom's plan? She's gonna actually let me go there now?" It dawned on him that I actually had no idea what my mom's plan had been. A sheepish expression steadily spread across his face.

"Uh...oops." I opened my mouth to say something else, but my cell phone suddenly started to ring. Thankfully the rules involving keeping them off at all times didn't apply when school had officially already ended, otherwise I might've been looking at even more detention. I fished the phone out of my bag and checked the caller ID. It was a number I didn't recognize, but I answered it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Max?" I didn't really recognize the voice either, though it was definitely a guy.

"Yeah, speaking. Who's this?"

"It's Logan. Logan Cale. From the college." My eyes widened in surprise. I'd forgotten I'd given him my number.

"Oh, Logan hi. I didn't expect to hear from you so soon. What's up?" Sketchy and Alec were looking at me with strange looks on their faces so I grabbed my stuff and headed towards the door. After a beat, they followed me.

"Nothing much. I was just taking a break from this essay that I have to write and I decided to call you. See how you were." I felt my face break into a wide smile.

"That's sweet. I'm doing great." Except for having to have detention on my friggin' eighteenth birthday. Stupid school judicial system. "How are you?"

"I'm alright. But you know, with this, uh, little break I'm on now, I'm kind of bored. Are you busy?" He actually sounded nervous. I looked up as Original Cindy came striding up to us. When she saw me on the phone and Alec and Sketchy leaning casually against the 500s building while trying to eavesdrop, she raised her eyebrows in questioning.

"No, school just finished," I replied as Sketchy mouthed 'Logan' then proceeded to quickly fill her in on exactly why Alec was there at all.

"Oh, do you need a ride? Because I, um, could give you one. If you wanted. Then maybe we could go...out for coffee or something," he said that last part in such a rush it made my smile widen.

"Sure, that sounds great. Do you know where it is?" I heard him give a small sigh of relief before quickly saying that he did. "Great, see ya in a bit." I hung up and turned to see my friends giving me sly looks while Alec seemed carefully neutral.

"Boo, did you just get a date with a college boy?" Cindy asked, a grin already sliding across her face. I gave them an enigmatic smile as I readjusted my shoulder bag. I put my phone away. Of course they knew it right away.

"Wow, Maxie's playing the field," Sketchy commented, giving me an appraising look.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, not sure where he got that idea. I hadn't been dating anyone since the summer.

"That Matt guy." Was it just my imagination or did Alec just become as rigid as a brick wall? "The summer just ended and already you're going for somebody else." Yep, I bet if I poked him with my finger he wouldn't even notice. If I tried to kick him I'd probably break my foot. I was about to try when what Sketchy just said began to register. I stared at him in bewilderment.

"What? I haven't seen Matt in like a month, how does that count as playing the field?" Sketchy just shrugged and began to lead Original Cindy away.

"Whatever you say, Maxie. Unlike you, we don't have a homely college boy coming to give us a ride, we gotta take public transportation." I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Is that a subtle way of asking for one for yourself?" He chose to ignore that comment and turned to Alec.

"Dude, do you ride the bus?" Alec blinked a few times before shaking his head. He seemed to have forgotten anyone else was there.

"No, I'm good. I've got my own ride." Sketchy's eyes lit up, probably hoping to hitch along.

"Car?" Alec scratched the back of his neck, a clear sign that he was uncomfortable. I didn't quite get why. Sometimes Sketchy smelled a little funny but he wasn't that bad.

"Uh, yeah. But it's not mine. I'm getting a ride from some friends." Oh, that's why. Sketchy's eagerness deflated as he and Cindy waved goodbye. I got a special look from Cindy though before she turned her back. I knew that she wanted to know my version of exactly why Alec was there without my biting his head off. I'd also have to give her all the details of my 'date' with Logan.

I turned to Alec, who had an odd look on his face again. An awkward silence hung in the air so I quickly cleared my throat. The look disappeared. "So. Guess we should get to the parking lot, huh? Unless you're meeting your friends somewhere else?" He shook his head.

"No, I usually meet 'em in the lot." I nodded. Then, having nothing else to say, led the way towards the student parking area. Luckily it wasn't that long of a walk because I was about to die from the tense silence. I didn't even know why it was tense, it just was. But maybe that's because I can be pretty dense sometimes. As would be proven a few minutes later when Alec's 'friends' joined us.

I was expecting just a group of average guys. Maybe they were overweight or chose to dress like they just rolled out of bed. Or maybe they were the loud jock types and would come running into the lot trying to catch a football or something. What I didn't expect them to be were two girls.

To be specific, they were Brin from my math class and the girl I had nearly bulldozed over on the first day back. Turns out she was new, not a freshman. She was a senior and didn't look nearly as mousy or shy without all the contents of her backpack spilled on the ground. Her hair was pulled back in a modest ponytail and she was wearing the traditional hip-hugger jeans and t-shirt that most girls in our generation tend to lead towards. Brin was thankfully less girly and wore cargo pants and a long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up. It was still about eighty degrees out after all.

Both looked surprised to see me standing with Alec. My facial expression probably wasn't that different, but I quickly forced a smile.

"Hey Brin. And, um..." I looked at the other girl but I couldn't remember if we'd exchanged names in our collision. Thankfully she smiled back and introduced herself.

"I'm Jondy," she held out her hand. It took me a moment to realize I was supposed to shake it. That's how far gone I was. I know, I'm a idiot.

"Max," I responded. She nodded in greeting. Then all our eyes turned to Alec at the same time, as if we expected him to be the one to explain.

"So you guys know each other?" he commented, the hint of a smile on his lips as he rocked back on his heels. I rolled my eyes. Leave it to him to find the whole situation amusing.

"Well..." Brin glanced at her watch before looking back up at Alec with a pointed look on her face. "We've gotta get going. See you in math tomorrow, Max." I opened my mouth to say bye but she was already pulling Alec and Jondy away.

What had happened to the overly-polite girl?

Alec gave me a crooked grin and a wave as he was dragged towards Brin's car. I didn't wave back. Not very mature, but I was suddenly feeling very distracted. And like a complete fool. Of course Alec would have girlfriends, by that I mean simply friends that were girls if I took what he said earlier literally, but for some reason telling myself that didn't ease the weird feeling that was coming over me. I think it had more to do with Brin's sudden change in behavior than Alec's choice of company. To be fair, I don't actually know her that well, but I don't think I was imagining her coldness just now. Had I done something wrong?

Just as I was questioning this, a car pulled up in front of me. I wasn't paying that much attention to it when the window rolled down and there was Logan. I blinked a few times in surprise before quickly recovering with a bright smile that I had to partly force.

"Hey. Wanna get in out of the heat?" he asked. My answer was to open the passenger door and hop in. "Of course, it's not that much better in here."

"It's fine," I assured him, beginning to wonder if he was always this nervous. Or if it was just when he was around a pretty girl.

Ha ha.

"So where do you want to go?" he asked as he steered the car out of the parking lot. I looked out at the traffic ahead of us. A bunch of students were trying to get out at the same time so it was particularly crowded. But I also noticed a slight gap in the lane that was going to the left.

"That way," I responded, gesturing to the open space. Logan glanced at me.

"Alright, but what exactly is 'that way'?" he asked as he pissed off a bunch of anxious high school students by crossing in front of them. There was quite a chorus of angry car horns. None of which were actually musical.

I tried to think of some place that we could hang out in that direction, but my mind was currently on other topics that had nothing to do with the guy next to me. I had just pointed out the gap because it was there.

"Uh, why don't you pick?" He gave me a strange look, probably contemplating whether or not he made a mistake and should just turn back around to the school. Then his lips formed a slightly unsure smile.

"Well, I don't hang out in this neighborhood a lot anymore, but I do know of some places downtown. That is, if you don't mind going." I raised an eyebrow at him in reply.

"I'm in the car aren't I?" His smile gained some strength.

"Great. Ever been to the Seattle Center?" Now it was my turn to give him a weird look.

"Uh, yeah. I believe everyone who's lived in Seattle for a least two years would have at least spent five minutes in there." Logan didn't seem bothered by my response, in fact he nodded as if it were exactly as he'd expected.

"So you've been up the Space Needle then?" I didn't say anything. He laughed, correctly assessing the reason for my silence. "Never? You haven't even just ridden the elevators up and down?" Now I shook my head, laughing.

"Sounds like fun, but no. I've never done that. It always seemed like just a tourist attraction. Why would I join in on that when I'm not a tourist? I legitimately live here." He nodded in understanding.

"I get that. I myself have only been up there once or twice. I know it's a, uh, school night." I laughed at the way his voice showed his obvious disbelief that he was actually using those words in a 'high school' related capacity. "But would you like to go for a bit? At least just to see the scenery?"

I nodded in answer. "Yeah, I'd like that."

With that said, twenty minutes later I was on top of the world.

A/N-This chapter didn't have a whole lot of exciting stuff, it was more of a stepping stone or a filler, I guess. But don't worry, the next will have plenty...heh heh ;o) Review please!