Hey guys! I'm back! I am super happy right now cuz I just perfected a really pretty song on the piano and although it took me, like a month, IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT! It's called Canon in D. If you've never heard it, you should check it out because it is really pretty and sad and it will possibly make you tear up. I don't know why but it will. ALSO I AM SUPERDUPERUPER HAPPY ABOUT THE REVIEWS YOU GUYS HAVE GIVEN ME! YOU GUYS ARE ALL AWESOME! Like for example iluviggyhesthebest. SHE IS SO FREAKIN AWESOME! AND SHE WRITES AMAZING STORIES! IF YOU GUYS ARE LOOKING FOR ANYTHING NEW TO READ ON THIS SITE GO CHECK HER OUT! I AM COMMANDING YOU! OBEY ME! Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoy this chappy! I LOVE YOU GUYS!
Disclaimer: I don't own shit. It all goes to James Patterson. The only thing I own is this plot and that's all.
9 MONTHS AND 2 DAYS BEFORE DEATH
"Max, you gotta get up! We're going to be late for school!" Fang tried to shake me awake, but I just burrowed deeper into the warm covers. Fang yanked them off of my body and dumped them unceremoniously on the floor.
"Fuck off, Walker. I'm trying to sleep." I flipped him he birdie and threw a pillow at him. He chuckled, a rich deep sound that I've come to love hearing.
"You do realize that it's 8:50 right?" He sighed in mock exaggeration. My eyes snapped open. It was 8:50. School starts at 8:55. We were currently 20 minutes away walking distance, 15 running. Our school had a stupid policy that 5 minutes after the bell rang, all doors leading outside were to be locked and anyone missing will be automatically marked absent. Meaning that Fang and I were in some deep shit.
"FUCK!" I screamed as I leapt out of bed and bolted to the bathroom. I splashed freezing water on my face, wrenched a brush through my hair. Throwing on a shirt and tugging some pants on, I sort of half wiggled, half staggered down the stairs while still brushing my teeth. Downstairs, Fang was making bacon and eggs, blending a smoothie, and toasting bread simultaneously. After tripping down the last three steps, I shoved all of our homework into our backpacks and then turned to assist Fang in his cooking spree. The way he was dancing around from stove to blender to toaster, he looked like an Indian chief dancing some kind of Celtic Macarena. We danced around each other, shoving burnt food into our mouths and various plastic bags. Not bothering to wash the dishes, we raced out the door and across the pavement. We ran as fast as we could, through alleys, across streets, passing block after block. Sweat streamed into my eyes and down my shirt in fat drops. Through bleary eyes, I could see the school in the distance. And by some miracle, the doors were still open.
"We're…gonna…make it!" The words mixed together with my ragged breathing so that it all sounded like gibberish. But Fang got the gist of what I was saying because his speed increased as did mine. We were at the parking lot when Ms. Flores came clacking towards the door in a white blouse, pencil skirt, and black heels. She kicked in the right door stopper, leaving only the left door open.
"W-Wait!" Fang yelled. We were nearly there. With a rueful smile, Ms. Flores kicked in the left door stopper, letting it slam shut, just as we came to a halt in front of the door. I stared at the closed door in shock. Fang was banging the flat of his hand against the cool, black steel of the door. Ms. Flores just smirked and sauntered away, wiggling her hips as she went. I sighed and slid to the floor with my back against the door. Fang did the same. "Bitch." He muttered.
After a couple minutes of glum silence, I leapt to my feet. "Well, it does us no good to just sit around and mope. Let's go and do something fun!" I offer Fang my hand and help pull him up.
"Like what?" Fang asked. A lock of his thick hair fell into his eyes, but he didn't seem to even notice.
"Well, how 'bout we go to the Lake Shoreline," I suggested. I have always loved Lake Shoreline. When my mom was still alive, she would take me there and we would just sit there on the docks and look at the waves beat against the sand. After she was gone and Jeb started to drink, I would sneak out at night and sit on those same docks. I would watch as the waves would beat against the sand in an endless cycle. Rise. Swell. Impact. Pull back. And so on and so on. Wondering how my world fell to hell so quickly.
"Sure."
We walked the short distance to Lake Shoreline and sat on a dock. After a while, we started talking. We laughed about how we were so going to be dead when Mrs. Martinez found out that we didn't go to school. Now you're probably wondering why I was at Fang's house this morning, sleeping in his bed. Well, after Mrs. Martinez fixed my head up after Jeb beat me senseless, they let us (that being me and Ari) stay with them for a while, partly because I was afraid to go back to Jeb's house. His warning was still fresh in my mind.
"Until you learn some respect, you are not allowed to leave this house. Ever." His words still send shivers down my spine. It's very unlikely that I will ever learn any respect for that bastard, and I damn well wasn't going have Ari stay in that house any longer than he has to. So the question remained. What was Jeb going to do to me? Just the thought of it sent me breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Max. Max! MAX!" Fang shook my shoulders gently, pulling me back to reality. "Are you alright? You're pale." His eyebrows knitted together and the corners of his eyes crinkled with concern. I glanced up. The sun hung lazily in the sky and was a little past the midway point, inching slowly towards the other side of the horizon. It was probably around 3 o'clock. Meaning we had been on the docks for about 6 hours. Jeez, I thought. My eyes slid down toward Fang's. His eyes were a dark, dark shade of brown, almost black. Near his pupil, the color got lighter and turned into a sort of dark hazel. My gaze shifted then to his button nose with a slight hook in it, then down to his lips. Damn, Fang had some sexy lips. They were plump, (Author's Note: Would you describe lips as plump or round or fat? I personally think that plump sounds funny so therefore it is better. LOGIC!) but not so much that it didn't look swollen. For some unknown reason, I felt a sudden urge to wrap my arms around him, pull him in close, and never let him go. I looked back into his eyes. His eyes no longer looked concern, but sort of fascinated and transfixed as he stared back at me, probably pointing out my flaws as his eyes raked over my body. A shiver ran through me and my arms became covered in goose bumps.
"Max…" Fang whispered. As he said my name, a lock of hair fell into his eyes.
"Yea…" I replied. My hand seemed to move on its own and tucked his hair behind his ear, then rested on his cheek. This time it was his turn to shiver.
"I-" Before Fang could finish, a shrill ring resounded from Fang's pocket. He nearly jumped out of his skin until he looked down and realized that it was his phone. Looking at caller ID he said, "It's Lissa," with a frown. He didn't answer it. I immediately retracted my hand from his cheek and scooted a few feet away from him.
"What's wrong?" Fang asked, noticing the sudden change of mood.
"Why are you even dating her?" The question popped out of my mouth before I could even stop it.
"Who? Lissa?" Fang's eyebrows shot up when I nodded. "Well, um, I don't know. It just…happened." He shrugged his shoulders.
"Dating sluts don't just happen, Fang!" I had no idea why I was so mad. Neither did Fang.
"Why do you even care? Besides, it's not like your boyfriend is Mr. Perfect," Fang was standing up now, so I stood up too.
"What do you have against Dylan? He's never done anything to you before!" My voice was rising but I didn't care.
"Max, you don't know anything." Instead of matching my rising voice, his dropped down to a whisper. This only made me angrier.
"How can you say that 'I don't know' when you waltz around judging me and my choices as if YOU know the full picture? Well, guess what Fang, YOU DON'T!" At this point, there were some bystanders staring at us, which only made me even angrier.
"Well, why don't care to explain to me?" Fang's voice was finally raised so now it matched mine, giving me slight satisfaction.
"BECAUSE IT'S NONE OF YOUR GODDAMN BUSINESS!" With a huff, I stormed off of the docks. When Fang started calling my name, I ran. My brain kept telling my legs to stop and turn around so that I could apologize for being an emotional ass, but my legs weren't taking orders from nobody. I wasn't only running away from Fang, but I was trying to run away from all my problems. Jeb. Responsibility. Fang's pleading eyes. Fear. I could feel the weight of it all trying to bring me to my knees, and I desperately needed to be free.
I finally slowed to a stop at an alley that ended in a dead end. I had probably run across half of town and I was exhausted. Turning around, I was about to walk out of the alley when a pair of hands grabbed me from behind, firmly clamping my mouth shut.
"Hello, Maximum. You've been a very naughty girl." Jeb purred next to my ear. I squirmed around, but his grip was iron. I even bit his hand and for a moment, my mouth was released, allowing a single, blood curdling scream to escape my lips. "BITCH! SHUT UP!" He backhanded me so hard that I saw stars dancing across my eyelids. Re-adjusting his grip, he brought my ear back up to his lips. They smelled like liquor. "Now this is what we're going to do, Maximum. We're going to pick-up Ari from school, and then all three of us will be taking a little family vacation to the farmhouse outside of the city. Doesn't that sound fun?" He sneered. Then he dragged me away, tears stinging my eyes.
ARI POV
"Ari Ride, please come to the office." The monotonous voice of the electronic announcer rang throughout my classroom. Silently, I got up, packed my books, and left the class. Walking through the halls, I began to worry about what I had done this time. Mentally, I checked everything I had done wrong in the past week or two, but nothing seemed bad enough for me to be called down to the office.
"Hello, Ari," the office lady, Linda, greeted me. Linda had always been nice to me, and would sometimes sneak me some candy when no one was looking. Now, she smiled at my worried face. "Don't worry. Your big sister Max is her to pick you up early from school. She says you guys are going on a little vacation. I hope you have fun!" And with that she turned back to her paperwork.
Vacation? In my family, a vacation wasn't exactly cause for celebration. I cautiously looked past Linda and saw Max in the waiting room. She didn't see me and I could tell she was trying her hardest to hold back tears. My suspicions were immediately proved right when Jeb stepped out from behind her and laid one of his mammoth hands on her shoulder. Max whimpered.
"Come on, Ari! It's time to have some fun," Jeb grinned through crooked yellowed teeth. I took a reluctant step forward and gulped.
FANG POV
The next day, I didn't see Max in class. I was too angry to care and just brushed it off as her playing hooky again. But when she wasn't there again the day after that, I became doubtful. My doubt grew when a full week went by and there was no Max. Another week passed and I became terribly worried. I stopped by the office during a passing period and asked if they had heard anything from her.
"Relax, kid." A nasally office lady said as she slurped her coffee. "She's on vacation."
Vacation? A month before mid-terms? Maybe it was just me being paranoid, but that just didn't sound right to me. After school, I went to her house to check, and sure enough, no one was there. Sighing, I turned back around and proceeded to walk back to my house. There was nothing I could do but wait and see if Max was alright in the end.
SO YEA! What do you guys think?! Right now, story is nearing the most suspenseful part and in the next chapters to come, I promise that there will be more Fax. But for now, I hope you guys enjoyed this chappy! Please review and follow this story! BUT MAINLY REVIEW BECAUSE I LOVE HEARING FROM YOU GUYS! I LOVE YOU ALL! HAVE A GREAT DAY! I LOVE YOU GUYS! (Did I say that already? *shrug*) Ok, so I'm gonna wrap this up so that I can start brainstorming on what I'm going to do next to torture-I mean entertain you guys. SEE YA!
Watch the skies,
Doctor Bessy