"Okay, everyone out to the courtyard!" Barb called out through the halls.

Our group was already by the doors so we all left before everyone else. Outside, there were a lot of giant tables. One had shirts. One had skirts/pants. Another had shoes. And then the last had accessories like ties, headbands, etc. There was a small table near the wall of the school and there sat seven people with clipboards. We were to go to them to tell them what we needed. On the other side of the courtyard, there was a backdrop set up along with a camera. We were going to have our pictures taken for the uniforms.

Barb came out, shoving past students, and stood before us all. "Okay! Go out to the tables and choose your uniform! Once you choose everything you want, go into the bathrooms and change. Come back out and get it approved by the people over by the small table and then go for pictures!" She jumped out the way while people went to the tables.

We took our time.

"Max." Barb called. Angel, Ella, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, and I stopped with Max, waiting for her. She came up to us. "You and all of you," she addressed all of us. "Have that special privilege I mentioned before." She went off to the tables to make sure no one ripped each others' throats out.

We all went to the tables. We immediately started looking. There was actually some good stuff here. I picked all my stuff easily. I chose a black button-up shirt, white wife beater, black pants, and a red and black striped tie. The stripes were diagonal like all the others. I was going to keep my Converse. One shoe would have red laces and the other would have black.

Iggy found his easily too. He had blue gym shoes that had white laces and white around the bottom and on the toe. Tan pants with a black belt. He chose a white button up and a dark blue blazer. His tie was yellow with dark blue stripes. They were diagonal.

Ella, Nudge, and Angel decided to match a bit, getting clothes that looked alike. Ella chose a black pencil skirt and a white blouse. Her tie was grey and black, stripes diagonal. She wore black tights along with black, short heels. Nudge took a white blouse, like Ella, and a mini skirt that was black. It went to mid thigh. She got black tights under those and black flats. Over her blouse, she was going to put a black vest over it. Her tie was the same as Ella's. Angel's uniform was more childish but has sophistication to it. She took a white blouse too but over that was a black dress that ended above the knee. The dress was low cut and had one inch straps. There was a fake belt under her bust. She took the same kind of tie as well. She wore black socks that stopped below her knees. Her shoes were black Mary Janes.

Gazzy took a white button up and black pants. He grabbed black sneakers and a dark green tie. Simply casual.

Max chose a black shirt with buttons and the shirt ended mid-thigh. Black skinny jeans to match, they were a lighter shade than the shirt. A blue jean vest went over that, not buttoned. Max was going to keep her black Converse and replace the purple laces with blue. She found a: It was dark blue and black, striped diagonally. Everyone was required to wear ties.

We all went to the bathrooms and changed. I think Max was the only girl who took pants instead of a skirt. As we were getting our clothes approved, it got quiet. There were snickers a few places. We all turned and saw Lissa standing there, head down.

She was wearing a red sweater- a FULL sweater- and a black and red plaid skirt that went a little past the knees. She wore black socks that went to the knees and black flats. Her tie was a ribbon type bow tie. It was black.

Max covered her mouth to keep from laughing. It didn't work. You could still hear her laughing. I placed my hand over hers to try to help her keep quiet and it worked- sort of. I could still hear her but it was barely there.

After a while, Lissa couldn't take the silence. "Aren't you going to make fun of me?" Lissa directed the question to Max.

Max's eyes trailed up and down her body, examining her. I removed my hand. "Nope. Because this time, you aren't doing anything wrong." She smirked. "Although, that does suit you, Blowing Ball." She smiled and turned around.

People went back to conversations they were having and choosing outfits. Every one of us got approved and we went to take pictures of the clothing and fill out paperwork on what we chose. Max, though, was having trouble convincing the woman that her outfit was fine.

"Listen, just choose another outfit as a second option for the hot days. Those jeans are going to give you heatstroke on the bad days. You can keep that but have an alternative too." I could hear the sincerity in her voice but it wasn't really her place to tell Max that.

"But there aren't any shorts for girls, only skirts." Max argued back lightly. I could see her fist trembling- she was trying to keep calm.

"Choose a skirt then. You can have leggings on underneath it if you want or you can have a long skirt."

She sighed and went over to a table where Angel, Ella, and Nudge went up to her. I wound up by my motorcycle with Iggy and Gazzy, talking about bombs and guns and whatnot…

Devin came up to me holding a box.

He smiled at me. "Hey, Fang."

I nodded my hello to him. He handed me a box and told me they were the pictures. "That was fast." I mumbled.

I shook his hand in thanks and he left. Max came over to us.

"Hey," Max was holding an identical box under her arm.

I stared at her and then the box, looking back at her at last. Did she…? Did she get the pictures too?

Her eyebrows drew down. "What's up?" She sounded wary.

I shook my head. "Nothing. Nothing important." I didn't want to pry. Plus I doubted she wanted the pictures… I glanced down at Max's uniform and tried to hide a smile. "Nice uniform."

She scowled. "I have another. This is for the hot days. I just think they want me to be more girly."

I chuckled. "Maybe." The school might want that- but I didn't. I liked Max the way she was.

She smiled up at me.

"Well, well. Looky here, Max has herself a friend." A snarl rang through. Max froze and her smile shattered. I could see the fear in her eyes.

Max turned her head to look at them, replacing the fear with as much courage as possible. Everyone was quiet. There were five people standing near the parking lot. Two boys and three girls. They were standing like a pyramid. A girl in front, two boys behind her, slightly outward and two girls behind them the same way. The girl in front was wearing black pants, a black tank top, and a red leather jacket. Her dark brown hair was cut extremely short and looked like it was cut with scissors.

Everyone else sort of resembled that fashion. The guys wore black muscle shirts though and black leather jackets. The other two girls wore the same as the first but their jackets weren't leather.

"Maxie, come on over here. Say hi to your old friends, won't you?" The girl in front said.

Max slowly made her way over to them after handing me the box. I almost grabbed her hand and pulled her back to protect her but then I remembered that Max had been a gang member- she could handle herself. Max stopped walking at least two feet away from them. "Tabitha, Henry, Carlos, Angela, Yvonne." Max's voice was glass, even I flinched.

I saw Carlos and Yvonne flinch slightly along with me. I never heard Max use that voice before- it was, dare I say, terrifying.

Tabby frowned. "Maxie, you should know better than to address us by the wrong names." She backhanded her face, whipping it to the side. She didn't do anything back. I placed the boxes on my motorcycle seat, fists clenched, teeth grinding together. Nudge, The Twins, Gazzy, and Iggy were all standing near me, all angry and worried about Max.

"Tabby-Cat, Shredder, Blaze, Avenger, Blade." Max was monotone and she didn't move her head. I wanted to do something so bad but this whole thing was about power. No one is supposed to intervene when trying to display their control.

"Lilith." They all greeted her at once. My eyes widened… No, no, she couldn't be…

"I'm not Lilith anymore." Max said in a deadly voice. She stared Tabby straight on. I swallowed the bile in my throat. Max was THAT gang member?! The leader of all?!

"Lilith, you should watch how you talk to us. Remember what happened last time?" Tabby threatened.

"How the hell did you get out of jail?" Her voice wavered in fear and I could tell she was pissed about it. It was like all I could do was watch- unable to do anything. I didn't like it. "You were supposed to be locked up for years!"

"Got out on good behavior." She smiled maliciously. "You miss them, don't you? The McGraths?"

Tears started to form in Max's eyes but they didn't fall. She didn't speak.

"They disobeyed us. And, well, you know what happened. But they never went against us. What do you think the punishment for that is?" Tabby got right in her face.

Max punched her in the face. She stumbled back. "You don't EVER talk about the McGraths! Damn it, Tabs, they were your family!" So… Tabitha killed her family.

"Who are you, to talk to me that way!? I'm the boss, I'm the leader! You do not command the leader! Which is why they are gone!" Max stopped dead in her tracks. She had been about to punch her again but she stopped. "You were not- and still aren't- allowed to command me! I am above you! To prove it-"

"She killed them." Shredder finished, keeping Tabby upright.

"And it's all your fault." Tabby said in an eerily calm voice.

Max lunged for her and punched her, knocking Shredder away from her. When gangs fight, they normally stop before someone got severely hurt. Not this time. Someone might die.

Max punched her and elbowed her gut. Kicked her, hurt her. People were just watching. Iggy and Gazzy were holding me back from trying to help her. Anyone could see the worry on my face. "I've had to go into hiding because of you people! I've had to give up my whole life because of you! What more torture do you want inflicted on me?!" Max screamed at them while punching. Tears were streaming down her face. I wanted so much to go and hold her, protect her from that God-awful world, from her horrible past.

Tabby punched her gut and Max grunted at the impact, her eyes getting slightly wider in shock. Tabitha's face was close to Max's. "Death." She spat. She shoved her off her and stood, a bloody knife in her hand.

Everyone besides our group screamed in terror. We screamed in fury and ran to Max. I tackled Tabitha to the ground, seeing Max covered in blood, gasping for breath. Tears stung my eyes and I could see Ella and Angel with tears streaming down their faces. Max passed out and I kicked Shredder in the chest as he charged at me.

Lissa had whipped out her cell phone and called the police. They were showing up fast after hearing the word gang. I was knocking out most of the people, Iggy and Nudge were keeping Blaze and Avenger down while Angel and Ella were sitting on Tabby. I was dealing with Shredder and Blade.

Lissa and Jason (one of Max's old friends) came over and held them down while I was pulled back by other students. If they hadn't pulled me back, I would have killed them. Gazzy pulled me back so hard, I fell onto my back.

"Sorry, man." He ran and helped Lissa as Blade tried to get up. Lissa was crying, looking over at Max. I looked over and almost cried in agony as I took in her appearance.

She was unconscious but you could hear her struggling to breathe. She was shaking and gasping, face pinched in pain. There was blood pooling around her. I shifted to my knees and literally crawled over to her. I lifted her head up and shifted her into my lap, putting pressure on her wound.

She screamed out in pain but I didn't remove my hand. She was crying in her sleep. I held her head close to mine, resting my cheek to the crown on her skull. I kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I have to." I whispered to her, a tear sliding down my cheek as the police arrived. Barb was standing off to the side, hand over her mouth.

"Nick, get her to a hospital!" She yelled at me, tears in her eyes.

I was getting blood on my shirt and pants but I didn't care. I lifted her into my arms and saw my dad and his cruiser. He was a cop.

"Come on, let's take her to Helen." Helen was my mom. He pulled open the back door for me and I slid in, careful of Max. He got into the driver's seat and sped off to our house.

I looked down at Max's face and a drop of water landed on her cheek, mixing in with some blood. I dropped my head down next to hers, eyes squeezed shut.

"Come on, Max… come on, wake up. You have to." I whispered. "You have to." Anyone could hear the strain in my voice. I placed a soft kiss on her lips. "You have to, come on." I kissed her forehead. "You have to wake up and smack me- call me a sexist pig." I knew that if she was awake, she would have called me that for kissing her. I kissed her cheek, tears running down my face. I could feel her getting colder. "Come on!" I all but yelled. I buried my nose into the crook of her neck, trying to calm down by breathing in her scent: it didn't work, it was overpowered by the scent of blood. My shoulders shook with my silent sobs. "Come on, please… please!" my voice was hoarse, a whisper again.

She couldn't leave. She just couldn't. She helped me- she saved me. She just couldn't leave! Not now! She meant to much to me. I wouldn't let her leave me.

Throughout the ride home, I kept whispering to her, hoping that she would hear and grant my wish. I also realized why I wanted her to wake up so bad:

I loved her. I absolutely loved her. She was my angel.

My world.


Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I know I haven't updated in forever but I've been super busy and I have finals this week. Anyway, this chapter made me cry at the end with how much agony Fang was in. I hope you liked it and I honestly don't think Fang was OOC because I'm sure he'd do that if Max was dying or in serious danger. Plus, since I'm a girl, I'm not quite sure how a guy would act in that situation. Anyway, review and let me know what you think!! I'll try to update in the next two weeks but I make no absolute promises. And I just realized that, if you listen to Transatlanticism by Death Cab For Cutie while reading this, it helps you understand the chapter better- sinceI was listening to it while writing it. i think it fits. Review please! More reviews, faster updates!