Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.
Max's POV:
"Shh!" He shushes instantly. I get up and flick the lights on. I was glad I had worn my more concealing pajamas as opposed to my boy shorts, even if they were spider-man patterned.
"What are you doing, Fang?" I repeat.
He shifts uncomfortably. Good. That makes two of us. "I needed to tell you something."
I wave my arm at him. "By all means, go ahead."
His eyes bore into mine with a freaky amount of focus. I shrink back, but cannot move my eyes from his; I've lost myself in his eyes. It's not cheesy love, it's eerie. His eyes, just like other bits of him, seem achingly familiar, seem like I should know him, seem as if I should confess all my thoughts to him, all my fears and ideas and loves. I manage to tear myself away from his gaze a few seconds later.
"What are you, a freaking hypnotist?" I snap.
He looks at me, sad and long. "No, not exactly."
When he takes too long to continue, I speak up again, impatient. "Then what?"
His dark eyes still don't leave mine. "I'm not really sure where to start."
"At the beginning." I suggest rudely. He smiles at me patronizingly, which only infuriates me further. "Kindly explain why the heck you're in my room at 10:30 in the night, all alone, without invitation, speaking in riddles like a fortune cookie."
He looks away for the first time, and when he turn back to face me, his eyes are swirled with sorrow. I feel a pang in my chest at his sadness, but force myself to push it away. I don't care about him! I only met him a few days ago! I chant, but the tiny shard of ice that has formed on my heart is quickly melting by the expression on his face. I resolve to giving him the silent treatment and cross my arms. He can explain when he's ready to.
"You don't remember any of it, do you?" He says softly after several beats of silence.
"Remember what?" I ask, my curiosity stronger than my resolution.
He blinks slowly. "No, you don't. I can't dump it all on you at once. But Max…" He trails off.
Again, after several moments of silence, I pipe up. "What, Fang?" My tone is bewildered, but less rude.
"Things aren't always what they seem. Promise me you'll think about that." His eyes search my face for something, I don't know what, but when I nod, he looks away. On that cliché, cryptic note, he walks out of my room.
That's cool.
Nice talking to you, too.
"Maaaax, wake UP!" I wake up with a start and roll out of bed. Mattie laughs openly at my posture on the ground. I'm rolled up like a taco in my sheets, and it takes me a few seconds to pull myself out of the bundle. I place the sheets on the bed, which contrasts extremely from both Mattie and Brigid's perfectly made beds.
"Good morning." I try to mumble, but I'm pretty sure it comes out as a snarl. I stumble to the bathroom and lock the door behind me. I groan when I see my reflection.
I'm having one of those days.
What, you mean you don't have them? Funny. Everybody cool has them, so I guess that speaks volumes about you. It was one of those days where I had dark circles under my eyes; my face chose to sprout a zit, my forehead looked greasy and my hair incredibly tangled and frizzy. I'm not one to care about how I look, especially for school, but I refused to look like a total bum on the street.
I lean against the wall and fall to the ground with an audible thump.
"Max?" Mattie calls from the other side of the door. I groan in response. "Max, don't fall asleep with the door locked, please! I haven't finished doing my hair." I force myself to get up and unlock the door. I sit on the edge of the bath tub when Mattie comes in.
"What's up with you?" She asks, not unkindly.
I shrug. "It's one of those days."
Because Mattie is cool, she knows what I mean. She nods understandingly as she looks me up and down.
"Stop checking me out." I say, too tired to think of something wittier.
Brigid pokes her head through the door and tsks at me loudly. Then she enters the bathroom and begins liberally applying some goop to her face. I watch her lean close to the mirror and use a fat little brush to pat some blush onto her cheeks.
"Brigid, I know we don't like each other, but I need to borrow some make up." Mattie announces. Brigid turns to her and looks at her sharply.
"Excuse me, but why?" She snaps, her face awkwardly colored from only having finished half her make up.
"Because your skin tone is much closer to Max's than mine. And look at her, she needs some foundation." Mattie pleads uncharacteristically.
Brigid and Mattie both look over at me and inspect me. I look them straight in the eye, not self conscious in the least.
"Yeah." Brigid says eventually. "She does need it."
"No, I don't." I object. "I'm going to shower, and then I'll be fine!"
They both shake their heads, freakily in unison. "Shower." Mattie suggests. "And then we'll fix you right up."
Yawning obnoxiously, I trudge into the shower. No, I'm not being compliant, but it'll be easier to resist them when I'm more awake and showered. Besides, this way, if it comes to a hand to hand fight, I can slip past them and run to the dining hall. Breakfast makes everything better, always. I turn the water to the hottest it can go, although it's nearly scalding. I just stand there, not bothering to shave or soap up or anything. The hot water running off my body feels amazing, and wakes me up like a jolt of caffeine.
I jump out of the shower when the water begins to turn lukewarm. Nothing ruins a hot shower more than getting hit with a blast of cold water right at the end. I toss on an old soccer t shirt and jean shorts and stride out of the bathroom, where a pair of rabid dogs are waiting for me.
Oh, I'm sorry. Did I say rabid dogs? I meant Mattie and Brigid, armed with a bottle of foundation and a tube of cover up, respectively.
There's only one thing to do when dogs are after you.
You run.
I cross my arms and pout all the way down five flights of stairs. Mattie sighs aggravated-ly beside me.
"Chill, Max," She orders. "You got your way, anyway. You look exceptionally ordinary." She was right. In the end, I had won, pretty much. Mattie had got in a few swipes with the cover up, but other than that, my face was makeup free. I had let her put my hair up in a 'tasteful bun' as opposed to a sloppy ponytail, but I still looked like me.
"Okay!" I chirp, bounding down the last few stairs and out the door. Mattie rolls her eyes at my bi-polarness. Upon entering the dining hall, I pile my plate up with fruit and grab a milkshake. Who says I'm not healthy? We join Nate, Noah and Julia at our table. I dig in earnestly, and the others don't spare me a second glance. They've grown quite accustomed to it, I imagine.
"Max, are you even listening to me?" A voice jolts me out of my eating. I look up to see Sam waving his hand in front of my face. I look around wildly and realize that at some point, Dylan, Sam and Fang had joined us.
"Nope!" I answer truthfully. "What were you saying?"
Sam shakes his head. "Soccer try outs are tomorrow at 4, okay? Bring water, and expect it to take about 3 hours."
I nod enthusiastically. "Splendid! I'll be there right on the dot."
Dylan raises one eyebrow. "Come early to warm up, silly."
"I'll be there!" Nate announces randomly. I laugh.
"That's nice, Noah. I'll be there to watch." Julia says, her mouth full of food.
"Ew, close your mouth." I tell her. She sticks her tongue out at me.
"Everyone important will be playing, remember?" Nate asks, ignoring our exchange. Julia gasps and throws an apple piece from my plate at him. It hits him straight in the eye and he falls to the ground in fake agony.
As for the throwing food thing? I guess it's sort of a tradition.
"WE'RE FREEEEEE!" Nate yells as we walk out of team sports. I smile, sort of tired. The first day of gym, I had quickly proven that just because I was the only girl did not make me inept at sports. I showed up most of the guys there, and then they quit treating me like some girly girl. Now, since we were playing football, I was second pick, only after Dylan. Which makes sense, considering that he was the football captain. But I was determined to eventually become first pick in everything, but it could wait for now. I didn't want to tire myself out right before soccer tryouts.
"Max?" Sam asks. I look up and realize that I've slowed down, and everybody else is a few steps ahead of me except for Sam.
"Hmm?"
"Do you want to go see a movie tonight?" He shifts his weight from back to front, his face anxious and expectant.
"That sounds great!" I exclaim, wrapping my arms around him. He looks surprised at my enthusiasm.
"Nate, Noah, Dylan, Fang!" I continue equally loudly. They turn. I've gotten their attention, and that of everybody in the 30 foot vicinity. I lower my voice slightly. "We're going to the movies tonight! And Noah, you will not be invited if you say anything to your dad."
Everyone smiles. "Great idea, Max!" Nate says happily. "What movie?"
I shrug. "It was Sam's idea. And we can vote on it when we get there. I don't have any clue what's playing."
I run up to the common room where we normally meet Mattie and Julia.
"Movie night!" I announce. Everyone looks up. "Sam's driving."
Mattie smiles. "Did you get Noah to agree?"
"Oh, shut up." Noah grumbles. "Just because my dad's the principle doesn't mean I'm a total goody-two shoes. At least I don't vote to watch girly chick flicks like Nate does."
Nate blushes faintly while everyone laughs. Noah continues, "Max and Fang will tip the scale in favor of us, hopefully."
"Wait, what?" I question, slightly confused.
"Me, Sam and Dylan would always pick and action or horror movie. And Mattie, Julia and Nate would always choose a comedy or romance. We always had a tie whenever we went to the movies. Cue many arguments and unhappy people."
"I'm honored to be the breaker of the tie," I say dramatically, fake curtsying.
"Don't get too big a head." Julia retorts. "You're forgetting about Fang."
I scrunch my nose up at the mention of Fang. Everyone else was safe. Fang confused me. I liked being in total control of myself, and confusion was dangerous. I could never decipher his thoughts from his cryptic movements or words. And what did he mean: things aren't always what they seem to be? Thanks for the advice, Mr. Cheap-o Fortune Cookie.
Mattie picks up on my mood change. She knows there's something I'm neglecting to tell her, so she shoots me a knowing look before changing the subject. "We won't all fit in Sam's car."
"You can take mine." Dylan speaks up for the first time. He sounds kind of unhappy. "I can't come, though. Football practice." He shrugs by way of explanation.
"Aw." Julia says, and I nod alongside her.
"Skip for just a day." I suggest, but he shakes his head.
"I can't; I'm the captain. That'd be setting a bad example. You all have fun." He tosses us his keys and walks away. We all look at each other and back at him, not really sure whether to go after him or not.
"He'll come around." Nate eventually says. We all murmur our agreement and pile into Dylan's black suburban. It's the classic bad guy vehicle, and I have to admit I felt sort of badass climbing in.
"We're off to see the wizard!" Noah begins to sing.
I join him while everyone else groans. "The wonderful wizard of Oz!"
A/N- Awkward place to end, I know, but I wanted to put up what I had. Next chapter will certainly move things along, plot wise. Review?
