A/N: Hey guys! Ch10 should be up next week or soon after. Hope you're all feeling Christmassy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or any of its characters.
Claimer: I own Pete, don't steal him please. Xx
The story gets a little dark for the next few chapters but don't worry it will all be funky in the end.
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Chapter 9
I focus all my energy on making my feet take me forward, out to the tracks, rather than back to the relative safety of the smelly school changing rooms. I try to convince myself of an alternative to my inevitable doom.
Dylan waves at me and I absent-mindedly go and sit next to him; his muscular build might come in handy if the Erasers decide to strike while we're doing PE. I doubt that they would attack with this many witnesses around, even if they are all chatty, perfumed teens.
"Hi, how are you, Max?" Dylan asks, accompanying this with a blinding 100-watt smile.
"Um…"
Not much tall guy. I just got a call from a murderer announcing that he and his team of psycho killers, who take great pleasure in ruining my life, are back on my case after four short years of peace. Not to mention the fact that I haven't faced them since they killed my best friend.
Oh Pete, how I miss you…
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You look pale?" he puts his hand on my forehead and I swat it away like a fly. "Max, what's–"
"Back off, creep," I spit, standing up and trudging outside of the ring of overly made up girls that have accumulated around Mr. Popular and me. Why did my stupid brain have to start thinking about Pete?
"Let's start, people," the unfamiliar voice of the sports instructor yells. I mark up on the start line and notice with distaste as Dylan does the same beside me.
"Will you tell me what's wrong?" he pleads. I roll my eyes and the start whistle goes. We run. "Please?" I speed up, knowing that I can probably lap him if I try hard enough.
A few minutes later I look back: he's fast, but not fast enough to beat me. After five minutes and twenty-seven seconds I cross the finish line for the third and final time, a full lap before Dylan who crosses for the second time a few seconds after me. As I crouch down to try to catch my breath, thoughts of Pete swarm through my head.
-FLASHBACK-
"You'll be okay Max, I promise," Pete struggled for breath and choked out those words.
"Don't leave me!" I wailed.
"Shhh! Run now! Go, you'll be fine!" he released my hand and then uttered his last words: "You're brave Max, and strong. Don't let them change that."
His eyes lost focus and his chest stilled as the last of his life was drained from his body. As I closed his eyes a tear ran down his cheek: my tear.
"I love you." I whispered before running: away from the body that of the man who cared for me as his own daughter; away from the blood-thirsty Erasers who never stopped searching for me; away from everything that threatened to tear my world apart.
-END FLASHBACK-
I rest my head on my knees and hug myself tightly, hoping no one notices the tears streaming from my eyes. Pete was my protector, my best friend. He was there to take me away when Erasers killed my parents in search of me, age three. He was there to rescue me when I was kidnapped by Ari when I was eight. He was there to take my hand lead me into his world whenever I needed him – always. But Pete was murdered by the Erasers at the young age of twenty-three. He'll never be there for me again. And he's not here now.
"Max… what's wrong?" Fang asks, kneeling beside me.
"Oh, not you as well!" I snap, "I'm sick of all you people trying to cozy up to me. You know nothing about my life! Go on, try to puzzle it out." I raise my chin until my tear-streaked face and his concerned one are no more than an inch apart. I continue in a deadly whisper, "You will never come close to figuring out why my life is such a freaking mess, until you're caught in the trap too. Anyone who gets close to me just ends up getting hurt." I narrow my eyes at him, trying not to get distracted by how good he smells, "So make your choice mystery boy." I yell, "Either come over to the dark side or stay out of my face!"
The silence that follows stretches on for millennia. I blush furiously, stepping back a bit as I realize how vulnerable and emotional I just proved myself to be. I look around into lots of silent, staring faces.
Without another word I stride to the changing rooms, opting for an early finish.
A/N: I can see how many of you viewed this. Please review, it'll only take a sec. x
