Thanks for the review, guys! And a big thank you to blueberryoreo and JustaBunchaHOOPLA for telling me about the uploading thing!
Max POV
It seemed I had just put my head on my pillow when my Mickey Mouse alarm clock started beeping. In one swift movement, I hit the button without looking. I'm just awesome like that. Then, ice cold water hit my face.
"Wha-wha?" I stammered, only to see Ella grinning menacingly above me and the balcony doors open wide. I walked towards it, and as I went to close the doors, I saw Fang. That must be his room with the balcony. And Fang was shirtless. I tried not to look at his perfectly chiseled torso and focused on what he was saying. Then I realized I was all soggy and in an unfitting T-shirt. Shut up, Max, I thought. Why the heck do you care anyway? This is ridiculous. FOCUS! I shut myself up.
Good luck, he was mouthing.
"Wait, why would I need that?" I yelled back. But then something clicked and my eyes widened. I turned back to Ella. She normally wouldn't have been able to lock me in my closet, but the element of surprise was on her side. And Tess had magically appeared.
"Change," they demanded. They handed me a pair of white shorts, a gray cardigan, and a STRAPLESS black pinstriped shirt with three small buttons at the top and gray and red ruffled edging. Did I mention it was strapless?
"GUYS! I can't wear this!" I shouted, half hysterical. My closet was too small, and I hated tight spaces. "Guys!"
"Max, we're not letting you out until you change into those clothes!"
"Fine," I grudgingly changed and barged out of the closet, gasping for air. "Am I done now?"
Before I could react, they quickly tied me to a chair. A FREAKING CHAIR.
"Now," Tess said gleefully. "We made a deal with your mom that we could dress you up every day, or no chocolate chip cookies for you!"
"Mom! How could you do this to me?"
"Because you look cute," she popped her head in the door and winked.
"Don't move," Tess warned. "Let's see, Ella, should we curl?"
"I'm thinking we should keep her hair the way it is, but maybe straighten a few strands to make it super straight."
After they did my hair, they managed to get some mascara and bronzer on me. But lip gloss was a big no-no. I hated that sticky stuff. I squirmed to the best of my ability, and at last, they just gave me fruity tinted lip balm. VICTORY. Shoes were another thing, though. They first wanted me to wear heels, but then decided to work their way up slowly. I could wear my converse for now.
"Yay!" Ella exclaimed. "You look hot! I'm so glad we get to do this everyday!" She high fived Tess, who strung a silver necklace with a key around my neck. Oh, no. I couldn't bear this everyday. I felt like my shirt was falling off.
Maya POV
Yesterday night, I talked to Brigid. She told me that she had a couple tips for me. Tip #1 was to pretend to accidentally bump into him and drop your books. She also told me that she was visiting over break and I got so excited I forgot to tell her Fang's name. Oh well. Whoops. (A/N: Pay lots of attention to that detail. It becomes important later on!) Today I dressed in a hot pink halter top and denim shorts. When I came downstairs, I saw that mom had dragged in two hobos to dress up Max.
"Oh, thank you Ella and Tess," she gushed. "Max, you have great legs!" And there sat Max, looking uncomfortable and unbearably pretty. I clenched my jaw in disgust.
Max POV
When I got to school, everyone was staring. Stupid people. LOOK AWAY! Didn't your mothers ever tell you it was rude to stare? And they were all whispering stuff like, "Isn't she the new girl from yesterday?" and "When did she become a model?". I hated all the attention. For some reason, it just bothered me. In homeroom, when all the guys whistled, I snarled at them and gave them my best death glare. And let me tell you, it's intimidating. Most of the boys shirked off. But not one.
"Hey pretty!" he yelled. When I stared him down, he just grinned. "Feisty, eh? That's just how I like them! My name's Dylan!"
"Now, now class," Ms. Murphy said calmly. "It's no time for talking. Today's my meditating day." She was sitting atop her desk, her orange hair blowing with this aritificial wind machine. She closed her eyes and hummed. Dylan rolled his eyes but stayed silent. He winked at me. He had shaggy dark blond hair and blue eyes.
I sat down next to Ella and Iggy, but I could feel everyone's eyes on me, looking at me like I was some animal in a cage. I was so glad when homeroom ended, to be able to tromp around in my gym uniform without any stares would be heavenly. I weaved past people to get to the door, when the Dylan guy stopped me. "I'll get that for you, Miss Max," he opened the door for me.
"Thanks," I managed as I raced past him. In my head, I rolled my eyes. What a player, I thought. As I walked into the gym after changing, Sam ran up to me.
"Hey," I said.
"Um, well, hi!" Sam stuttered. "So, I heard about you and Dylan and all."
"Pfft. Yeah, he's trying to be weird, all right."
"Well, just to let you know, um, he's a player, and so, um, falling for him might not be the best idea."
"What are you, my bodyguard?" After he started to apoligize, I grinned. "Thanks for the warning, but I don't trust that easily. If he truly seems to be a nice guy, though, I might give him a try."
Sam still seemed tentative. "Al-alright," he finally said, blushing madly. Sometimes I thought that kid was a bit strange.
Again, today, Ms. Anthony seemed like she was hopped up on steroids. "Alright chipmunks, let's play some pickle ball! Now this game is like a mini tennis." She held out a box of small rackets the size of cereal boxes and a bucket of foam tennis balls. "We're going to play doubles today! Since it's so much like tennis, I guess all I need to explain is the serve! Now, you hold the racket like a Wii controller, and you swing as hard as you can! But, remember, if you hit a window, you're paying for it! I'll pick partners for y'all today. Percy and Annabeth, Katniss and Primrose..." She kept ticking off names from her attendance list. "...Iggy and Ella, Maximum and Fang, Maya and Cole..."
Aww, Ella was failing miserably at hiding her blush. I grinned at Fang. "Let's beat the heck out of these people. They won't know what hit them!"
Maya POV
I wasn't even paying attention to pickle ball. My partner was just doing all the work. I was staring at Fang, who was beating the crap out of his opponents. But then I looked over at stupid Max, who just HAPPENED to be partners with Fang. I swear, everyone's plotting against me. Max was grinning at Fang, and he was smiling just as big right back. She was also beating the crap out of everyone, which made them undefeatable.
Ugh. I looked over at my partner, Cole. He was cute, I guess, but no where NEAR Fang. He had dark brown wavy hair and hazel eyes. Huh.
( A/N: Ooh Ooh! Special POV time!)
Ella POV
I took in the scene around me. Court after massive court filled the gym, four people in each, playing their hardest. Well, some of them. Maya, Max's completely fraternal sister, was lumping around, inspecting her perfectly manicured nails and staring at Fang's abs. I seriously wanted to scream at her being all, "What is wrong with you?", going all diva. I mean, really, I was right in the court next to her, and she had the nerve to drool over my brother?
But at least Max and Fang were partners. Gosh, Tess and I really did do a good job that morning. My life goal has now been switched to getting Max and Fang together. I haven't seen Fang laugh like that in a while, not since Iggy did the worm at a formal dinner four years ago. And, I haven't ever seen that sparkle in his eyes before, only when he talked to Max. Even if neither one of them realized it, especially Max, they belonged together. Oh, look, I'm getting all sappy now.
I was so caught up, I didn't realize that pickle ball that was flying toward me. It was like in slow motion, me getting hit in the head, eyes flying open, staggering like a crazy person until I fell on my butt.
"You okay?" Iggy asked, concerned.
"I-I think I'm fine," I stuttered. "Those things are harder than you think!"
"That's what she said," Iggy smirked as he helped me up. I tried to push a blush down that was rising from my cheeks. I never used to be this way. I used to be completely comfortable around him, but after a year ago, things changed. Last year, something just hit me like a train, but ran away before I could catch it. I realized that I did like him, and everything poured down on me. I've been that way ever since.
I want Max to experience that, something inevitable, everything crashing down upon you, and a light filling up your senses. And I was evermore determined to make that happen. Oh, look the sappiness is coming back.
Ok, so do you guys like the special POVs? Because I'll start adding them and further developing the story if you do. Oh, for faxloverforever, the bottle is just something Max found when she was wandering in the woods. The letter in it said that whoever found it should keep it for a time when they really needed it, and send it off with a new letter. Does that make an inkling of sense? I'm not very good at explaining things. Review?
