I have finals tomorrow and I'm freaking out.
Love or hate, whatever comes first
I never realized how quickly time passes.
It's the beginning of September and Vix, Vulpe, and Nudge are going to return to school today.
I had left my siblings with Vix and Vulpe to talk about school or whatever they do these days. My only concern was Angel and Gazzy's education. I'm still a minor, so it's not like I can just sign them up for school. Without their birth certificate and their medical information, I won't be able to do anything for them.
"Max, do you remember your first day of high school?" Nudge brought me out of my thoughts as she twirled in her mirror. It was around 6:30 in the morning and we were both lounging around in her room.
"Kind of. Freshman year was a roller coaster," I stated, leaning back onto her bed.
"Like how? Will I meet any cute guys? I hope the teachers aren't mean. Last year I had the worst history teacher. I mean, he was nice, but his class was incredibly difficult. It should've been an honors class. I barely passed." Nudge ranted, positioning her hair in different styles.
"High school was socially difficult. Academically, it was okay," I mumbled, playing with my hair. These days I have to wear a baseball cap. My hair is becoming too long, barely passing my chin. While looking in the mirror, I could actually identify myself as a girl from certain angles.
"You're hair is so pretty. I hate that I can't see it long," Nudge pouted and changed her shirt for the fifth time.
"Nudge, honestly, the first dress looked the best," I mumbled.
"I can't just look pretty. I'm setting the bar. I won last year's Fall Pageant, I can't be seen trashy on the first day of school," Nudge fussed.
"What pageant?"
Nudge whipped her head around to look at me, "You've been in this city for like three months and you don't know what the Fall Pageant is?"
"Uhh. Yeah."
"Girls from ages 13-18 have been preparing for this Pageant since the last one ended. This is something that every girl takes seriously. It's coming up on October 3rd."
"That's in three weeks."
"That means every girl is going to be going crazy."
Luckily I don't have to worry about that.
"Max, I want to go to school," Angel pouted as we walked back to our make shift home.
I groaned. In high school, I always hated waking up early and doing homework. I think that's the only thing I had in common with the popular people. Every single person begged to stay home from school.
"Angel, you know what I told you."
"I know, you don't have our medical records and you're not our legal guardian," Gazzy mimicked perfectly, kicking a stick with incredible force.
"But Max! I want to learn! Vix and Vulpe are so excited to see their school friends. I want to make more friends, too!" Angel protested. Her little hands curled into defiant fists.
"Angel, I-" My head whipped around as I clutched the straps of the backpack to my shoulders. The hair on my arms raised upwards like it was attracted to a balloon. My hands twitched towards the bushes to my right.
Angel's head whipped around to look behind us, as if she sensed it too, "Must have been my imagination, but I thought I heard-"
Suddenly, I was on the rusty sidewalk with my cheek smashed against the cooling stone. Pain ruptured through my body as my stomach was furiously kicked. I let out a shriek, expecting to see Jeb looming over me. I could hear Angel running with her sneakers slapping vigorously against the floor while Gazzy yelled at the attackers.
I could tell by the intentions of my attacker, it wasn't Jeb. They clawed messily at my pockets, searching for the littlest things. A bobby pin. A wrapper for gum. A quarter.
I furiously kicked backwards and tried elbowing whoever was behind me. My attempts to through off my attacker was futile, only hitting air behind me. A strap of my backpack was yanked from my shoulder as I cried out.
Gazzy grunted as he landed on his butt, trying to outsmart his opponent.
An uppercut to my stomach sent the air in my lungs out of my bodies. Another round house kick sent my body rolling into the street while my backpack remained where I was.
"We have the stuff! Let's go!" a masculine and rough voice commanded.
I heard Gazzy spit after the gang pair fled from the scene.
I managed to drag myself back onto the sidewalk before a car came and found me. I collapsed on the sidewalk and let the familiar throbbing take over my senses.
"Max?" Angel's small voice came from above me, "Are you okay? Do you want me to get Fang? We're not too far away."
I let out a feeble cough, "No."
Gazzy held out his hand and they both gingerly helped me up.
"They took everything," I wheezed with defeat, checking the surroundings for anything that they might have forgotten.
They knew that I always carried the money I made from the job at Fang's with me at all times in that stupid backpack. Now that I actually thought about it, I should've anticipated something like this happening. I could've split the money and hid it in different places. Now all my hard earned money was lost, along with some nonperishable food.
"Don't worry, Max. Gazzy and I can try doing some street tricks to get some money," Angel chipped in as an attempt to cheer me up.
I dusted off my clothing and dragged my feet along, even without the comforting weight of our backpack, "Thanks Angel." But it's my job to keep us alive.
Fang let out a low whistle when I walked into his house grumpily. My shoulders were hunched forward to alleviate the pain in my side from being thrown around like a rag doll.
"What happened to you?" Fang examined my swollen eye and angry red lines on the left side of my face.
"You should see the other guy. He probably can't walk," I hissed, slapping away Fang's prodding finger.
Fang backed away, sensing my tense attitude.
"I'm going to take the day off. I'm not feeling my best," I mumbled, collapsing on Fang's couch. In the back of my mind, there was another part of me telling myself not to give up easily. I needed money and couldn't afford to take a day off, but in my condition, anything I did would be literal shit.
"Whatever, man, I was going to tell you not to do anything anyways."
It was a Saturday afternoon, so Nudge was in her room and painting her nails. I nudged the door open and cringed as the chemical scents of nail polish hit my senses.
"Hi, Max…" Nudge looked up and gasped in shock, "Did you hurt yourself?"
"Not on purpose."
"Well, that was given. What happened?" Nudge stopped her tedious task and jumped off her bed to examine my face, "Don't worry the eye will heal in a couple days with a bit of ice."
"We got mugged last night," I rubbed my good eye from the lack of sleep I had received last night.
"Max!" Nudge sighed, "Do you need some security system installed in your house? Fang can come over and help you."
My laugh sounded dull and lifeless, "If robbers ever broke into my house and searched for money, I'd just laugh and search with them." I haven't told Nudge that we didn't have a mom, or a stable house.
Nudge's eyes lit up with a mysterious gleam, "I think I may have a way to help you, but we're going to have to wait a little bit."
I took an uneasy step back. This can't be good.
Sorry for the short chapter. There wasn't a good place for me to stop the chapter without it becoming gigantic. The next one should be a bit longer.