Terribly sorry about the wait again. Things have been crazy, and as usual I wrote it, knew it needed something more, and then gave up for a while.

I'm sorry, but I have broken a promise. Trouble is that Max's dad needs a girlfriend, no Beyblade characters are really suitable for this position, so… *sigh* Enter: OC. Not to worry, though, she has an extremely small role. She also has two kids, who don't even get names. So yeah, just politely ignore them, thanks. XD

Anyway, here is a Ray chapter. Not extremely interesting but I hope it's alright.

Warnings: Sugar crashes, spandex jumpsuits, angry Mariah, lemonade abuse.

Thanks for all the reviews! :D

Religion class.

Everyone is sleeping. Actually that's not true, only Max and Tyson are sleeping. Kai is staring at a wall and I am chewing on sour gummies. And the rest of the class is… well, who cares?

"Ray."

"Yes?"

"Stop chewing."

"But how am I supposed to eat my gummies without chewing?" I asked.

"That's a good question."

Kai is evidently not the best conversationalist in these parts, so I continued chewing on my cherry flavoured candy. The project is due tomorrow and we aren't working. Why? Because Tyson was tired, and he didn't want to work, and life isn't fair. Kai gave him a good smack on the forehead, but it only made him even more sulky. Somewhere in the middle of all this Max did a faceplant on the desk and Tyson soon followed, leaving me to eat my candy in peace.

Relative peace, that is, since I have recordings of Mariah on repeat in my head. When I subtly complained to Tyson he immediately said, "Then break up with her, stupid."

I am being stupid, aren't I?

But since when is Tyson smarter than me?

And since when is it a good idea to walk away from someone you've spent years with just on an impulse like that?

And why am I taking what he said so seriously?

And why are my hands shaking?

XX

It's ferocious, it's dangerous, it's livid, and it's pink.

You guessed right, it's Mariah. And those nails look sharp. This is no laughing matter, folks.

I'm at her house, since when I realized I needed to confront her I decided it would be best not to make her have to walk home after, and not to have Lee in the room trying to strangle me. My hair is a tangled mess, I'll admit, and in annoyance I've put it in a messy sort of bun at the back of my head. I can't look up from the floor just yet.

Remember how I said I was scared to lose Mariah? Yeah, that fear was a lot bigger than I expected. My hands are clammy.

"Ray, I don't understand what you want from me." Her voice is quietly hysterical.

"I just need some… space. Just for a while." My voice was shaking. I felt like my body temperature had dropped about ten degrees.

"I don't understand." Is she going to make me say it again? I finally looked up to meet her eyes, they were wide and a bit wild.

"I need a break from this."

"You're breaking up with me?" she asked in a horrified whisper. I swallowed hard.

"No, no, it's a break, I just need some time to…" To what? Not even I know.

"Is there someone else?"

"Of course not."

"So you're expecting me to wait for you until you're ready to see me again."

"No!"

The look she gave me was of frustration. "What do you want from me?"

If I knew that, we wouldn't be having this talk. I sighed and ran fingers through my pulled back hair – for a moment, anyway, before they got stuck in tangles. All I really wanted was some breathing room. The more I talked to my new friends the more stifled I felt with Mariah. I was meant to be a people person and they were holding me back. If it weren't for my stupid fear of the unknown I might have just cut her from my life altogether, but something told me that was a mistake.

"I just want… less of this." That was my pathetic attempt to explain.

"So you're bored of me."

"Mariah, I'm not-" Or am I? She spared me finishing that statement by standing up, eyes filled with tears.

"I understand. Please go home."

The politeness was frightening so I obediently hopped to my feet and left her house at record speed, feeling relieved to be in once piece and not much else.

But no, I lied. After only a moment it became clear that there was no relief here.

I felt downright miserable.

XX

You always have to look on the bright side, I always say. And this time, the bright side is that I am not Max.

He didn't look quite well during religion today, actually he was asleep for most of the period, but he seemed happy to agree to work on the project tonight, tie up loose ends and so on. Tyson was at work, Kai was mysteriously busy, so it was just Max and me.

I ended up at his dad's new place, tucked away in his new (may I say massive) bedroom. Actually it's a guestroom; Mr. Max's Dad's um, girlfriend, has two kids and a four bedroom home. The guest room has an en suite bathroom. These people have so much money, it just doesn't seem fair. The bed leaves something to be desired though, since it is a futon, and most of the room is taken up by mismatched random furniture.

Anyway, we settled comfortably on the floor and spread our creepy cult-like stuff around us. I hope no one walks in just now, especially since we are both humming the quadratic formula song.

Soon I had enough of this. "Hey Max, can I ask you a terribly awkward question that is going to make you hate me?" Let's bring up awkward subjects!

"Um…"

"Yes, I can."

"Okay."

"Well, remember how you said you don't get into relationships?"

Max looked horrified. "Yes…"

"Don't look so scared, I was just wondering why Emily was hanging off of you in the caf yesterday."

"You noticed that?" He sounded mortified and I shrugged.

"I only glanced over because you were spacing out in religion."

"Oh. Well nothing's going on with us. Except her wanting to hang off of me."

"Just checking," I shrugged, now brandishing a glue stick.

As Max was busy staring into space and I was gluing something onto something else (I stopped paying attention sometime last week, presentations are such a waste of time) the door creaked open.

I don't know what to refer to this woman as, but Mr. Max's Dad's Girlfriend introduced herself as Jeanine and has brought us snacks and lemonade, trailed by her teeny bopper daughter. Both of them were blonde and talked in simpering voices.

Max looked a little bit ill, but managed to be polite by saying "thank you" in a strained voice. And when I say be polite, I mean the bare minimum. But what do you expect from him?

They hovered for a bit, Teeny Bopper looking awkward and blushing and Jeanine asking repeatedly if we needed anything. We both told her no several times and Max eventually stood up and ushered them to the door.

I grimaced at him when he joined me on the floor again. "I kind of miss my psycho mom right now."

Not knowing what else to do but join him with his grim smiles I handed him a glass of lemonade. "At least she's offering sustenance."

"There's always that. You never know, though, it might be poisoned." Max thought about this and beamed at me. "Actually, I hope it is." He took the glass from me quite happily and both of us started laughing in a 'life sucks, but what can we do about it?' kind of way. And yes, that is possible, trust me.

"Me too. Cheers to that," I said, grinning and raising my glass. We each took a sip before turning back to the work needing to be completed.

"By the way, I think your new sister kinda likes you."

Max looked utterly horrified. "Please, Ray, I'm feeling sick already."

"Well don't vomit on the project, I don't want to do this a second time."

Max nodded seriously before eyeing the plate of cookies we had carefully placed on top of the massive unit circle. "Cookie?"

XX

Um, I think Max has become sugar drunk.

Scratch that, I think Max and I have become sugar drunk. Unless that was not normal lemonade. It tasted fine though, so let's go with the sugar thing, shall we?

Max is on his back, giggling at the ceiling, acting more like the Maxie we used to know and love. Not that I knew him when he used to be like that, or that I loved him, really… Let's just forget that statement. The point is, he's giggling and I am too.

Max managed to gasp, "imagine Kai in a jumpsuit like that," before we both collapsed over the empty cookie plate, rolling around laughing.

"No!" I finally objected, though it was too late. See, we'd been discussing what our religious people might wear (this wasn't part of the project, but we ended up talking about it anyway) and had started with lab coats and goggles. Somehow that led to spandex jumpsuits. Max just about had a fit when I suggested my (very old) math teacher in that getup, but I must admit that Kai would be funnier. "Can you imagine the expression on his face?"

"That's not what I'm imagining." I don't know why I chose to take a sip of lemonade at that moment, but it took some extreme skills not to spit it all over the project as I doubled over.

"Just because I'm kind of maybe single now, doesn't mean you have to give me those images," I said after finally emerging. "I think I have lemonade in my hair."

Why was that so funny? Max snorted and was at the point of wiping tears from his eyes. "Ow, Ray, it hurts to laugh, stop."

"Stop what?"

We both started laughing again. Ohhhhh boy.

Max was taking deep breaths and trying to compose himself by crossing his legs and holding his hands out Buddhist meditation style, finger and thumb in a circle and all that. "Okay. Okay, what do we still need to do?"

"Like half the project."

"Lies."

I couldn't help but chuckle one more time. "Um, we need to write the prayer out, but I think that's it for our list."

"What time is it?"

"You're wearing a watch."

"I'm tired." Good enough excuse for me. I grabbed Max's arm and read his watch for him.

"It's 9:30."

"Shit." His eyes had fallen shut and I pushed him before starting on writing out the prayer on chart paper. "Don't push me," he mumbled.

Uh oh, sugar crash coming on. He's like a sleepy puppy, eyes drooping shut as I worked at keeping my writing neat. By the time I was done he was curled up on the floor.

I busied myself cleaning up but soon enough had to wake him up. Big blue eyes focused on me slowly before Max's face finally came back to life.

"Did you write it?" His voice is so mumbly that I barely understood a word of it.

"Yeah."

"We're done?"

"Seems like it."

"Presenting tomorrow?"

"Yes."

Max sighed heavily and I helped him off of the floor. "I'll get going, take some of this crap with me." He nodded sleepily and helped me gather stuff off the carpet before leading me to the door. Funny, really, since he's only known the house for a day longer than I have.

I'll admit that I really didn't want to go home and face Lee, but by the time I had made it to my dark doorstep it didn't seem to matter anymore. I was tired. I was unhappy. And I was not going to be harassed by Lee.

By some miracle I made it up the stairs into my own room, shutting the door as if that would keep anyone out, and under the covers on my bed. How snug. If I hadn't just gotten a text message I would have immediately dropped off.

Dreading what Mariah, Lee, Kevin or Gary might have said to me I sleepily flipped my cell open, but all I had was a text from Tyson.

It said, 'wei wei, bring me a pancake 2 skool 2moro.'

Good gravy. I replied, 'Learn how to spell and we'll talk. Good night.'