A/N: I got heaps of feedback from that last chapter. Thanks for the support. Keep it up ;)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Maximum Ride
Chapter Ten – Evident Evidence, Part 2
Max's POV
When Fang started his car the radio came on, blaring music. He quickly turned it down, giving her an apologetic look. From what she heard, the music was loud and angry. She liked it.
He put the car into gear and expertly manoeuvred the old piece of junk across the car park and onto the main road.
Max plucked at the fraying sweatpants he'd leant her, trying not to show how rattled she was. Lissa had actually attempted to humiliate her! Luckily, no one except Fang had seen, but no doubt everyone would find out. It didn't matter if no one else had seen, gossip was still gossip.
"So, you reckon Lissa has a broken nose?" Fang asked hopefully.
Max smirked. "I sure hope so. Or maybe a big fat black eye," she said wistfully.
"She deserves it. She didn't really waste any time getting you back, though," he added.
"Yeah, I was wondering about that. I'm thinking that maybe she'd already planned the shower scene. Her little minion probably didn't even know Lissa had been punched. I'm guessing it was all set up beforehand."
"That makes sense," Fang said, considering. "But how were they going to get you in the showers alone?"
"I thought of that. Maybe Lissa was going to do something to distract me or get me in trouble. She wasn't counting on getting punched, I would say. Do you think that she planned to be the one to catch me out naked? Maybe she was going to walk in on me with some of her friends, or send the Worthington twins in. But she never got to it because of the punch."
"Sounds about right," Fang said with a large amount of venom in his voice.
"So she planned it so that someone would catch me out. She didn't count on you, my hero," Max surmised with a grin and a bat of her eyelashes.
Fang laughed and the sound made her insides clench with desire.
"So, what's the plan?" Fang asked as he stopped at a stop sign. He looked over at her, showing without words that he was ready to follow her anywhere. She sensed that he was extremely angry about Lissa's attempted humiliation. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel and his breath was shorter than usual. But otherwise, he seemed perfectly calm.
"Well, I did punch her," she reminded him.
He grinned and his knuckles relaxed. He coaxed the car forward, past the stop sign.
"I don't really like playing petty bitch games," she admitted, peering out the window towards the houses on the cliffs. She had never felt so sick of the stupid games teenagers played. She wanted to forget about the whole thing, but she knew she was in too deep. Lissa wasn't going to leave her alone now, and stopping would look like surrender. Her pride was at stake. She couldn't knowingly walk away from this fight.
She would not lose.
Fang seemed to sense her determination. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and she knew he felt the same.
"I'm a part of this…thing... now, even if I didn't really want to be. Lissa wants to use me as some kind of chess piece in her game to stay the queen. But she doesn't realise that you're a king, Max. You're not going to give up, even if this goes against what you find comfortable. I know you don't like being sneaky and underhanded, but you will if you need to be. But, you can also win this thing in an upfront way. I'm going to be with you the entire way. Iggy and Nudge, too. We can pull this off."
Max was speechless.
Fang seemed embarrassed. Max placed her hand on his and gave it a squeeze.
"I really appreciate your help," she said.
He nodded his head, but didn't look away from the road.
The ancient car drove along the windy Cliffside road. She knew it took a lot for him to venture this close to the Cliffs. He was still wary of any Cliffy. She sighed, wondering if they could ever live a life together. Money meant power in this small town. But not just money, she told herself, old money. New money was treated with as much contempt as the poor. Even if Fang miraculously became rich, he still wouldn't fit into her world.
Sometimes she really hated her world.
Would she really be giving anything up if she ran away from it forever? She pictured herself living with Fang, having to work her way up from a normal job. They could have children without having to put up with her parent's interference. They could love each other. They could exist together.
She sighed again. She didn't want to give up her father's job. But she desperately wanted Fang to be involved in her life.
She shook the thought from her head. Being a friend – or more – to Fang was not an option. She might as well forget about it now. As soon as school was over, they would most likely never see each other again.
"Home sweet home," Fang announced, snapping Max out of her thoughts. He'd pulled up in front of her house on the opposite side of the road. She could see his tension at being so close to her mother, which would've made her laugh if it wasn't well deserved. Val Ride was a woman to be feared.
But Max wasn't afraid anymore.
"Thanks for the lift, Fang," she whispered with a tight smile.
"No worries," he replied, giving her a small smirk.
She crossed the street and gave Fang a quick wave before she entered the house at the highest point of the Cliffs.
Max quietly shut the front door behind her. She paused, drawing herself together and ridding herself of thoughts of Fang.
"Maxine?"
Max started as her heart beat increased. She swallowed and turned away from the door to face her mother.
"Mother," Max said, taking in the regal form of Valencia Ride. Her mother was wearing a beautiful dress the colour of royal blue. Her hair was in a tidy bun and her lips were pursed.
"Would you please join your father and me in the dining room," she said, turning around sharply and leaving Max to follow her.
Her heart sunk as she realised what this was all about. Coach had dobbed her in for punching Lissa and now she was being dealt with.
"Maxine," Jeb Ride greeted as she sat down on the opposite side of the table from her parents. Jeb was hardly ever home nowadays, so she knew he was here for the sole purpose of helping her mother deal with her. He was still wearing his business shirt and tie, but his jacket was missing. Some silver hairs had appeared near his temples.
"Hello, father," she replied.
"What on Earth has gotten into you?" her mother said harshly, a strand of hair escaping her perfect bun.
She stayed silent.
"Punching Lissa? I told your coach that some sort of mistake had occurred, but I was assured that there was no mistake. You're lucky to still be attending that school! I had to bribe the principal to allow you to stay on and for this event to be stricken from your record. Now, I'm asking you what on Earth has gotten into you."
Before she could respond, Jeb cut in. "What are you wearing, Max?"
The room went deadly silent as they both took in what she was wearing. She was surprised her mother hadn't noticed earlier.
"Well, Lissa took all my clothes when I was showering after Gym. So I was nearly humiliated in front of everyone. Luckily, I borrowed someone's clothes and managed to get home safely, even though she slashed my tyres."
That made them shut up.
"So you punched her?" Her father inquired, perplexed.
She didn't bother correcting him.
"Lissa would never do such a thing. She is a proper lady," her mother said like a true snob. She had more respect for Lissa than her own daughter.
Max rolled her eyes.
"You're grounded, Maxine. You are not to leave the house except to attend school. I want you home by three-thirty every afternoon," Jeb said with a hard glint in his eyes.
He stood up and smoothed out his shirt. "I'm going back to work. I'd appreciate it if I wasn't interrupted again today." His last remark was shot at her mother, who promptly ignored it.
Val stood from her chair, kissed Jeb on the cheek, and watched him leave. The room remained silent until Val turned her gaze onto her.
"What is that on your neck?" Val inquired.
She swallowed.
"A cat scratched me," she lied lamely.
With three steps Val was on her side of the table, peeling off the bandaid. Her mother's face went rigid as she saw the hickey on her daughter's neck.
"Who gave you this?" Val demanded.
"A cat," Max said without humour.
Val pierced her with a cold gaze.
"Kurt Peterson," she lied.
Her mother's face lightened. "Now he is a nice kid." By 'nice', she meant 'rich'.
The silence continued, making her mother suspicious.
"You're lying, aren't you?" Val asked, her face instantly hard again.
"Yep," Max said, steeling herself. She wasn't going to be afraid of her mother anymore.
"You were with Fang." Val's face was red and quite unattractive. She looked so angry that Max nearly lost her nerve.
"We're friends, Mum. We hang out together."
"And give each other hickeys? I thought I made this clear two years ago. You are not to see Fang anymore. He is trash."
Max gritted her teeth. "No, you're trash. They way you treat people is despicable. You act like you're so high and mighty, when you're actually pathetic. Where are your friends, Mother? And I don't mean the snobs who all gossip about you behind your back. You're alone. Even Dad can't stand to be with you for long. You want to know why?-"
"That's enough! I don't want to hear another word from your mouth!" Val interrupted, losing her temper. Val never lost her temper. She prided herself on her control.
"I don't have to listen to you anymore! You've controlled my entire life. I know about how you manipulated me into becoming a 'lady'. Well, I'm not your puppet! I'm going to learn to run Father's business. I'm going to take over the company. I'm going to marry whomever I want. I'm going to be my own person." Max abruptly lowered her voice and gave her mother a menacing stare. "Just try and stop me."
Val swallowed, the vein above her eyebrow bulging.
"You're going to go to your room, Max, and think about whom runs this household. You may think that you can control what goes on in this house, but you're mistaken. I have all the power. One word from me and you'll be out on the street like a common beggar. I decide your future."
"So be it," Max replied. Val flinched, as if she didn't quite believe what Max was saying. She wasn't afraid anymore. She wasn't afraid of losing her inheritance or her father's job. She would simply work her way up from the bottom. She was a survivor; she wasn't going to give up.
She grinned at her mother and stalked past her towards her room. She wasn't going there because Val had ordered her to. She was going there because it was the only space inside the house that truly felt like her own.
Her mother might think she was Queen of the Cliffside Mansion, but Max was already learning how to overthrow a Queen Bee at school. She would soon have the skill to show her mother that she was indeed her own person.
When she reached her room, she calmly walked to her balcony and stared out across the ocean.
Max smiled as she convinced herself that she could see her and Fang's cave on the beach.
A/N: What would you like to see in this story? Maybe I can incorporate it somehow. :)