Awww! You guys are the best! I WAS going to update later, like, in a couple of days, but I woke up to see so many reviews and story alerts and favorites...YOU GUYS ROCK. Seriously. So, I'll just post another chapter!

BTW-ANYBODY about the life thing? ANYBODY? When you upload a new chapter in the column it says life of _ days. It scares me! ANYBODY?

Maya POV

Yes! My luck has turned! I was so excited to see Fang (and even his nerdy sister) at the door. I was meeting the family already! He looked so cute in his black jeans and black dress shirt. He went shoeless, only wearing his socks, but there was a dog at his feet. A scruffy, small black dog. What were those called, again? A shaggy dog? A Swiss dog? No...Swiss was a type of cheese...

I gave him a wink as I went in.

"Oh hello!" Fang's parents came to greet us. "It's so wonderful to meet you Valencia!" His mother smiled cheekily, showing a dimple.

"It's nice to meet you too," my mom smiled back. "These are my two daughters, Maya and Max."

"Oh, I know Max," Ella chimed in. "I can't believe you dressed up, Max! I love your dress!"

And, there the compliments for my sister started.

Max POV

Ella. Fang. Neighbors. It was great, of course, but Ella. Oh no. It was positive she would dress me up tomorrow, knowing the only thing separating her and accomplishment was a door. All throughout the dinner, I her talking to my mom, sharing knowing looks and glancing at me. They were talking earnestly, and she had on a smirk that I just wanted to rub off her face, and my mom had this evil glint in her eye. I could only eat my potatoes in meek silence as I heard Fang's mother talking about how she delivered Fang in a cab.

"Oh," she said, her hands gesturing wildly, "it was a stressful day, very stressful, I had a conference with Luxembourg in one ear, and a meeting with Thailand in the other. I hailed a taxi, and BAM! Fang popped out! After all the mayhem was over, the cab driver, sweet old man he was, came up to me to wish me well wishes. And do you know what Fang did? He tried to bite the driver's finger off! 'My, my,' the man said, 'grew you fangs already?', and he's been called Fang ever since." She looked fondly at Fang. "But, of course we named Ella something more normal. She was named after my sister, dear child, after my sister rescued her from a biting dog. Oh!"

"Something wrong?" Fang whispered.

"Oh, just look at those two," I stared at Ella and my mom.

"Planning your fate already? Those two really hit it off!"

I winced. "If I come to school tomorrow in heels, blame it on your sister."

"I'll do that," he replied, smiling slightly. He was interrupted my Maya, though, who was desperately trying to get him to talk.

Figuring no one was listening to her animated converation with herself, Fang's mother turned to me. "Your name is Max, right?"

I nodded. "It's short for Maximum. My mom named me. She wanted me to be strong. Maya was all my dad's."

"Well, I like Maximum. It's such a unique name, and Max is a wonderful nickname. I thought about naming Ella Max, but then her dad thought against it." She glared at him playfully. "But what was that about your father?"

"Oh, Maya was like his perfect child. It was like he knew at our naming that I would be the one who caused trouble, made a mess, while Maya would sit back and help him around the house and sneer at me. So, he named her Maya, after his secret girlfriend. We found out about it after his death, he died of lung cancer from smoking too much, but my mom was okay about it. She's cool like that."

Flashbock

Why? Why did he die? I was so confused. I didn't like my dad, not one bit, but he didn't seem like a bad person. He was always caring for Maya, and making me do dirty work, so I shouldn't shed tears anyway. But why?

As I got off the bus, I looked at a clearing between two bushes. Just small enough for me to fit through. I dashed, so no one could see me. Through the bushes, and into the large woods behind our school. I needed time to think; I didn't care if it was school time or not. I dropped my backpack in awe. Everyone said the woods were dangerous, but not me. I walked slowly, aimlessly, until I reached a small stream next to a large tree that towered over all the others. I leaned against it, until my eyes spotted an object lodged in between the roots of the tree and the cattails that lined the water bank. I pulled, hard, and slowly wedged the object out. I didn't know why it was significant, my insticts just told me to pull.

It was a glass bottle, a note inside. I smiled, as I pulled the cork out. I had heard about these things. People would set them off to sea, with a letter in it, hoping someone would find them. Inside, instead of a story, were many sheets of blank paper. They seemed age-old, all yellow and worn, and when I flipped to the bottom of the stack, a couple of sheets were filled. I read slowly. The first story was a confession of how this old lady killed her son. That was just messed up. The next story was about a fairytale, about a newly wed that sent the bottle off on their wedding day.

At the bottem of it, in neat handwriting, were the words,

'Dear Friend that finds this,

We believe in magic. We first found this bottle when we needed it most, after a bad fight we thought we never would get through. We both walked upon a stream with a large oak tree next to it, and saw a bottle wedged between the roots and the cattails that lined the water bank. And now, look, we're married and truly happy. That first story might have been messed up, but the grandma used it when she needed it most. And on top of that, she was thoughtful. She included paper for others! So, reader, please keep this bottle in a safe place. When you need it, it'll come to your aid. Just put it back where you found it, with a new story for people to find.

Much Love,

Lydia and Will'

I put the papers back, wishing Lydia and Will a very happy marriage. I stuck the bottle in my backpack and rushed back home.

I saw my mom standing there, smirking. "Fun day at school?"

"Um, yeah, we, uh, made fractions! I mean, cards!"

"It's okay, I called the school to tell them you were sick. I used to skip school all the time! And I think you needed it, you know." She looked at me, all serious. "I found something, Max. I was looking through your dad's old stuff, I was ready to get divorced anyway, I just thought you needed a dad. Your-your dad cheated, Max. He had another girlfriend. One named Maya."

And so I kept the bottle, stowing it away in my room, never telling anyone about it, but it was always inthe back of my mind. Sometimes, after a bad day, I would think to myself about how it was time, but then I shook my head. When it really was time, there would be no doubts.

I sighed, snapping myself back into reality. Fang's mother was staring at me with concern. "You okay, honey?"

"Yeah! I was just, um, thinking."

"I'm so sorry about your dad."

"It's alright, I didn't really care for him anyway."

"Well then! If you don't mind me saying, CHEATING? Really? How dreadful of your dad! I could never imagine! And naming your sister after his girlfriend! How awful! Almost as messed up as a grandmother killing her son!"

Strange, I thought.

As we finished dinner, Fang's mom got up. "Thank you so much for coming, we had a wonderful time, didn't we Will?"

Fang's dad nodded.

"Well, thank you so much for having us, Lydia and Will, it was really great," my mom gushed.

"Wh-wait- what were their names?" I rushed to catch up with my mom.

"Lydia and Will? What about them?" She opened the front door.

"Oh-n-nothing." I dashed up to my room, and looked at the bottle hidden deep in my closet. It was still lacking a letter; I didn't need it quite yet.

I dialed Nudge's number. I had promised her I would call.

"Maxie! How are you? Do you like your school? Is it nice? Guess what? Nevermind, I'll tell you. I can visit you over Thanksgiving break in what, three weeks? Angel probably can come too, she just has to ask. I have to see your new house and neighborhood and everything! It'll be so much fun! And, I'll get to meet your friends, too! The only downer is that I have to come with Brigid. She's just so annoying! But, then again, that makes sense that she's friends with Maya." She finally stopped to take a breather.

"You're comng to visit? That's great!" I was seriously excited. "I made some new friends too! I think you'll like them. They're about as fashion-obsessed as you are." I rolled my eyes. I talked to her for a bit. After I hung up, I sighed. First day was over, I thought. I went to brush my teeth and changed into a big old T-shirt. I never wore my dad's clothes, though. I was never close with him. He died when I was ten.

So, how'd everyone like the dinner? R&R? Please? I spent a lot of time on this chappie! Besides, it leads into a subplot. REVIEW!