Guys, thank you so much for all the great reviews! I really appreciated it.

And from my last chapter, I found out that it (the part about the cashing thingie) was a cash register. I have my stupid moments quite often. Sorry about that, and thanks to f0reverinfinite for telling me!

Oh yeah, guys, I'm going to try to update once a week, but I have a lot of camps to go to this summer, and they last REALLY long, so please excuse me if I don't get many updates. I'll write the chapters ahead of time and post them all when I get back. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience.

And I'm sososososososo sorry about this, but I still have e about 5 more camps and family vacations to go. So it's gonna be a sparse summer, I guess. Oops.

Hope you enjoy this chapter, and thanks again for the reviews!

After my little emotional bubble burst and I had cried myself out, I got off of Fang. Without looking up into his eyes, I mumbled, "Sorry for ruining your shirt."

He snorted softly. "Max, you're crying your eyes out and you say you're sorry for ruining my shirt? Come on, you can tell me. What's wrong?" The tone of his voice had changed from slight annoyance to concern.

I sighed deeply, controlling myself so no more tears would further escape. "It's about," I sighed again, steadying myself, "my ex-boyfriend, S-Sam. Sam Hawkins. He sorta, well, he did, actually, but he…" I paused for a moment, then continued on, "broke my heart," I finished, my voice soft and filled with pain. My eyes drooped down low to hide the tears that I had tried so hard to conceal again, yet burned to spill out of my eyes now. After that confession, the rest of the story came tumbling out.

When I finished, Fang's strong, ropy arms went around me, hugging me into a gentle embrace. I sort of melted inside his arms, being comforted. We just sat there, hugging, not awkwardly or all coupley, just as best friends. Best friends that caught the other when they fell.

About 3 minutes later, Fang sat up. "Max, you ready to go home? Cos it's getting pretty dark right now, and I want to get us home before dark." I looked around. He was right; it was getting dark pretty quickly. Fang stood up and held out a hand. Grasping it and entwining our fingers, I stretched and heaved myself up. Without thinking at all, I reached out and kissed him softly on the cheek.

He stiffened for a moment and then relaxed. As I leaned away to search his eyes, I could see a faint flush on his face. I smiled slightly and said, "Thanks for being here, Fang. You're my best friend." I could've sworn I saw a flash of disappointment in his eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come. Swinging our clasped hands, I set off in the direction where the others went, half dragging Fang.

We stopped in front of my house, where we were all supposed to meet after the ice cream. I turned to him. "Do I look like I've been crying?" He peered at my face closely and said in a serious voice, "No, you look tough. Normal. Strong." Satisfied, I grasped the door handle and twisted it. We both let our fingers fall at the same time, right before I opened the door, and stepped inside.

I could tell immediately that everyone was in the kitchen. I mean, I can smell pizza from like a mile away (yeah, just kidding). That and we could both hear everyone laughing. I ran towards the kitchen with Fang at my heels.

I peeked through the doorway to see the whole gang minus Angel eating pizza and laughing at Iggy about something he was saying. Ella noticed me right away and rose from the table, barreling towards me. As she reached me, she hugged me tight, whispering, "I'm so sorry," over and over again. Nudge and my mom soon joined the group hug, rubbing my back. I could feel the tears prickling at my eyes again, and I did not want to cry in front of everybody. I usually don't cry at all. Literally, I could count on one hand on how many times people have seen me cry. But these tears would start spilling outta my eyes soon, so I gently pushed everyone back.

I said in a slightly thick voice, "Guys, can't breathe here! I'm literally being squeezed by three girls to death. Not a pleasant way to die." I forced out a laugh that came a little more naturally as the three of them laughed along. The remembering the boys, I looked past Nudge's shoulder.

I murmured in a low voice, "The guys are looking mighty awkward, people. Let's get moving." I turned around and plopped myself in a seat next to Fang, smiling at the three of them. The girls returned to their seats, and the chatter generally started again and flowed around the table.

I was curious about one thing, though. "Where's Angel?" I asked.

Iggy replied, "She went home, her best friend just came back from Hawaii, so they're sleeping over at her house. The girl's name is Sophie Davis, and those two are inseparable. I'm talking like joined-by-the-hip kind. Angel was really sad that she was going for a week until you guys moved in. Now I think she can handle Sophie leaving at times. But those two are the best of friends." After that cleared up, general conversation switched around.

I wasn't really paying attention to the current conversation, just stuffing my face with pizza, when the subject of school shopping came up. Yeah, better get out of here.

I rose from the table quickly while grabbing the nearest filled pizza box, about to make my escape, when Nudge and Ella sprang up on me and forced me down. I growled at them, "Let me go!" Of course they didn't listen to me; just as stubborn as me. Nudge took out two rolls of duct tape and tied me down to the seat while I was still struggling against the bindings that now secured me to the chair. Ella leaned in next to my ear and whispered, "You can both eat and stay quiet, and we'll keep your mouth free, or you can shush and can get duct tape ripped from your mouth later. Which one, Max?" I glared fiercely at her and snarled. "You won't get away with this later, Ella. But, hey," I changed to my normal mood, "I'll keep eating." Ella nodded at Nudge, who put down the damned roll of duct tape. The two little devils returned to their seats and said in excited voices about how fun it would be to shop for clothes and all that crap. I tuned most of it out (with practice over the years; this happens every year anyways) while I stuffed myself again; Nudge had fortunately left one arm free so I could still grab pizza.

"OMG, Max, I saw this really cute top the other day that would sooo bring out your eyes! We should go shopping again!" Ella squealed excitedly. I groaned. My arms were still sore from holding the shopping bags when the three of us plus Angel went shopping. Grasping at straws, I desperately blurted out, "But we just went shopping the other day, remember? You bought me seven bags of clothes. How more could I need?" Ella and Nudge looked shocked.

"Max! Two of them were for makeup and accessories, so that's only FIVE BAGS! Besides, you need a lot more clothes than just five bags. We need to go shopping. Nudge and I are going whether you like it or not, and we'll drag you down there if we have to!" Ella snapped at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, Max, five isn't enough! Besides, we never went to the party for Saturday because we were all tired from walking around and just moving in and all that (A/N: This was mentioned when they went shopping and they saw the 'perfect dress' for Max). We've had more time now, so we have to gooooo!" Nudge wailed pitifully and gave me Bambi eyes. Ella quickly followed with her own Bambi eyes, both of their eyes begging me. I averted my eyes, not falling for it. With my head still turned, I told them, "No, no, and no. I will not go shopping again. Take the guys with you. They can hold more shopping bags than me, anyways. Probably."

The two of them sniffled, looking sad. Nudge complained, "But we're shopping for your clothes, not theirs! But hey, I guess we could bring them along. Like you said, they could probably hold more bags than you; especially you'll be trying on clothes the whole time and whatnot." At those words, my head shot up as fast as lightning. "Excuse me? Nudge, I did NOT say that I could be your Barbie doll for the day again. Once a week is more than enough for me, thank you very much." I frowned.

Ella rolled her eyes. "Max, don't frown. It's going to give you premature wrinkles. Don't you know that it takes 42 muscles to frown, but only 26 muscles to smile? It conserves energy, Max, so smile!" Ella grinned toothily. I smacked her on her arm, laughing now.

Nudge sighed. "So, Max, can you please come with us?" I shook my head no firmly, my smile disappearing. She blew air out of her mouth, exasperated. "I didn't want to have to use this, but you asked for it." Nudge motioned at Ella, and they both turned to me with pleading Bambi eyes.

I stared those eyes down for as long as possible, my mouth pressed in a firm line in concentration. At the corner of my eyes, the guys were laughing silently, hands pressed to their sides, even Fang. Groaning in frustration, I sighed in defeat.

"Fine, you win. I'll go," the girls cheered, "on two conditions. The guys have to come, "the three glared at me accusingly. "and I get to choose what I buy. If I like what you guys picked out, I'll buy it. Good?" Ella and Nudge nodded solemnly before big grins burst on their faces, rushing over to hug me excitedly. I shook them off and walked to the three guys that were pissed at me.

All three of them had simultaneously crossed their arms, even Fang. Which is totally creepy, because I thought only girls did that. I mean, I'm not surprised when Iggy does it, cos he acts like a girl. Screams like one, too.

"Hey, I do not act like a girl, Max," Iggy stated. "Or scream like one. That's Gazzy's job." My eyes widened. "I said that out loud?"

"Sure did, Maxie. You might wanna keep your thoughts private, cos I know you think about me all the time. We don't want to let anyone know we're dating now, do you?" At Fang's words, my eyes went from slightly wide to bugging out of my head, my mouth dropping open. I flushed, the deep crimson turning darker as everyone started laughing. Glaring at Fang, I punched him in the arm as hard as I could. He rolled his eyes and said, "You know you love me, Max. Don't deny it." I kicked him in the shins, making him groan faintly in pain.

I glared at him, frustrated. Throwing my hands up in the air, I stomped out of the place up towards my room, the echoes of their laughter trailing behind me.

Okay, I've been so horrible, and I'm like SOFREAKINGSORRY but I have another church event to go to that lasts a week. So I'll be gone for another week. And for not updating in like 2 months, I know y'all probably hate me, and I understand.