Disclaimer: I no own.
A/N: Response for the last chapter: amazing. Thank you all so much, makes my day seeing all those emails in my inbox ^-^ Anyway. In this chapter, there's a line from the absolutely amazing Lovely Complex manga. If you like anime/manga, then seriously, go watch it/read it. Both the anime and manga are crack-up funny, and I'm completely in love with it.
Other than that... enjoyeth.
Monday morning, as I stroll into school with a curious Ella at my side, I immediately clock several anomalies (I know, I feel clever right now thanks to that one word. Don't laugh at me). Which, for me, is pretty freaking amazing, because I'm only ever a quarter conscious on good Monday mornings. On a normal Monday, I sleepwalk. No joke.
Anyway, the anomalies (I'm just going to keep using that word now. It makes me feel like the next female Einstein): one, Fang wasn't leaning against the gates, trying his best to ignore Iggy and pretend he wasn't with him whilst scanning the incoming crowd for me, and two, Dylan was there in his place, jumping up and down on the balls of his feet, both to keep cold, and because he was nervous. I know these things. Wow, that sounded cool.
"Ohmigod!" Ella reached out and pulled a lock of my hair, which she knows annoys the crap out of me. Okay, so I accept that I'm petite (no, not short or small) but I really don't need to be reminded of it every five minutes by just about everyone. "Look! He's there! He's so waiting for you!"
"Thank you Captain Obvious," I rolled my eyes. Boys really do have a strange effect on Ella. They turn into a babbling idiot, i.e. Nudge.
"No problem, Lieutenant Sarcasm," she said with a grin, her eyes still flicking between me and Dylan. Honestly. The girl knows no shame.
"Hey, freaks," I greeted them affectionately, Ella waving cheerfully next to me.
"I take that personally, you know," Ig mimed crying, one hand over his heart.
"That's the point," I reminded him, rolling my eyes, before turning to Dylan. "Hey, Dyl!" I could see in his eyes that he was sizing me up, trying to figure out whether last night had changed anything. And, honestly? I was kind of waiting for him to tell me. Did I want something to change? ...God, I don't know. If you'd asked me last week if I wanted a boyfriend, I'd either have given you a strange look, or punched you in the face (if you're a boy). If you'd told me last week I'd be wondering whether or not Dylan was my boyfriend, I would've cracked up laughing. Now... not so much.
"Hey," he replied, smiling slightly. The way one of his hands fingering the strap of his backpack, though, betrayed his nervousness. Ella nudged me oh-so-obviously. See, this is where I should pretend that nothing just happened, and enter into a completely normal, neutral conversation with Dylan, right?
"What?" Instead, I rounded on Ella. "Is this because I didn't just start making out with him instantly? God, El."
There was a long, long silence, and everyone looked at me. I mean, everyone. Dylan's cheeks were practically on fire, Iggy was holding in laughter, and Ella looked absolutely mortified for me. Or maybe because her dance partner from last night was standing right behind me, staring at me like I was from another planet (that's Ig).
"Um... I was just gonna say that Fang's over there," Ella finally said in a small voice, pointing to where I could see Fang heading into school with a rather familiar, red-haired girl at his side. She really does have the most annoying walk. And I mean, God, what was she thinking with her hair? It's like she set fire to her head and forgot to put it out. It's like, all out of control in the most horrible way. Eurgh.
"Oh, right," I replied, mentally slapping myself a million and one times. "How come he didn't walk with you?" I turned to Ig, eyebrow raised.
"That," he said darkly, gesturing clearly at Brigid, "turned up at our house this morning, with some bull about having no one to walk with. She woke Pikachu up!"
"How she know where you live?" I chose to ignore his last sentence.
"I mean, she needs her sleep! How can she be expected to go kick some Gym Leader ass if she's half-asleep? It's ridiculous!" He chose to ignore me.
"Snap out of it," Ella rolled her eyes, though most of her attention was clearly on the boy from last night, who was walking away.
"You snap out of it," he replied childishly.
"Excuse me?" Ella turned her attention to him finally, her arms folded and eyebrows raised. She really is becoming more and more like me, you know. She's like a mini me. Except, she's not really a mini me, because she's taller, you know? I think you do.
"Either tear after him like a camel with no head, or Pikachu on steroids, or a penguin with only one flipper, or Sam deprived of COD, or-"
"The point?" I interrupted, earning a chuckle from Dylan (whose cheeks seemed to have cooled down to a healthy rosy colour, thank God) and a dark glare from Iggy.
"Or stand there like a lemon and do nothing."
Their eyes met for a moment, just a moment, before Ella mumbled a quick 'Seeya' and started sprinting after him. Nudge, who'd just walked in, shot me a WTF look from over at the gates. I just shrugged, mouthing 'boy.' She nodded, like she suddenly understood the meaning of life, and sprinted off after El.
So, that leaves me with Pikachu's boyfriend, and Dylan. Whose company do I prefer? Is it really that hard? Is it? Is it really? Why am I still asking myself questions like one of those crappy Gossip Girl episode intros that Ella's always watching?
"Go find Lily," I told Iggy, suddenly. He looked at me like I was mad. Which I'm not, just to clarify.
"Why?" he asked, his voice coloured with suspicion.
"Just go!"
"Why?" he whined.
"Go. Now."
"Or what?"
"I'll kill Pikachu."
"Just tell me why!"
"I hate her with every fibre of my being."
"Yeah, tell me something I don't know! I mean, why do I have to go?"
"Dude," Dylan cut in, shaking his head. "Just go. Please?"
"Fine," Ig finally conceded, backing away slowly, bringing two fingers to his eyes then flicking them at us at hyper-speed. "But I'm watching you... very closely..." he gave his sad idea of an evil laugh that sounded like a choking cat.
"Just go!" we yelled out together. Finally, after a few more minutes of obscene mining I really do not want to describe, the crowd swallowed him. Let's just say I'm bleaching my brain once I get home. Anything to get rid of those gestures. Anything.
"So..." Dylan said awkwardly after a few minutes of – you guessed it – awkward silence. I flicked my hair out of my eyes – awkwardly, and he pulled his bag strap further up his shoulder. Awkwardly.
Let's just say it was a rather awkward moment all around.
Our next conversation went a little bit like this:
Me: "So."
Dylan: "So..."
Me: "Sooooo..."
Dylan: "So, uh..."
Me: "So..."
Dylan: "Yeah, so..."
Me: "So."
The bell rang.
Dylan: "So, yeah?"
Me: "Yeah."
And then we both walked away. I don't know about him, but in my mind, I was giving myself a seriously severe beating. What kind of idiot am I? A Max-shaped one, that's what kind.
I let myself fall into the crowd easily, fighting back the wave of nausea that threatened to roll over me at the feeling of being squashed between so many warm bodies. Once free, I took a deep breath, then started down a much quieter corridor, scuffing the floor with my Converse angrily with each step.
Ow, ow, ow. My toes hurt. What an Iggy thing to do.
"Hey, Max?" I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, and did what I always did with a possible threat: I turned round and slapped whoever it was right in the face.
"Ow," Dylan rubbed his jaw tenderly, looking at me with reproachful eyes. "Too far too fast?"
"Are you okay?" I asked, laughing at both his joke and my paranoia.
"Yeah," he grinned at me, though his left cheek was scarlet. "I'm fine. I was just gonna say... uh... what was I gonna say? Smooth, Dylan, smooth..." he gazed heavenward for a moment, seeming to forget I was there, before snapping his fingers. "Oh yeah! Uh... I'll see you at break."
"Lame," I sang, giggling.
"That's me," he said with a wink.
"No shit Sherlock," I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling. "You should go, you know. Want to get your butt kicked by Edwards?"
"See you," he pulled a face, then grinned and ran off again.
God. Boys. One minute it's all awkward, the next it's... well, still awkward, for me and Dylan, at least.
I pushed the door open and walked into homeroom like in a trance: my mind was still all full of awkward moments, and Dylan, and... ugh, let's just not go there, okay? A virtual tour of my mind means hell for everyone. No joke.
All my thoughts dissipated, though, when I looked at my chair. Let's review those last two words, shall we? My chair. The one I've sat in all year, the one that's known as Max's chair. As in, I sit there, every homeroom. As I've done since the beginning of this year.
Except guess what? There was something stuck to my chair. At least, I'm assuming it's ass is super-glued to my chair, because there's no one stupid enough to sit in Maximum Martinez's chair. Except, obviously, Brigid.
If I was someone else, a typically nice, socially-accepted, charming girl, I'd have gone and sat somewhere else, not wanting to cause trouble. Except, as Ig likes to describe, I'm not a typically nice, socially-accepted, charming girl; I'm loud, annoying, over-violent, more than slightly psychopathic, and I'm going to rule the world one day.
And guess what? The future world leader doesn't particularly like some plastic girl, who probably had 'Made In China' emblazoned upon her back, sitting in her chair.
So I marched right up to her, and just stood there for a moment, glaring down at her. I won't lie to you, I felt tall for once in my life, and yes, I enjoyed it. Giant Max. Has a kind of ring to it, don't you think? I do.
The really, really annoying thing? She didn't even notice. She just kept on chattering away like a really, really annoying chipmunk. Those italics were necessary, yes. And even they don't tell you half of it.
"I think I want to be a doctor, when I'm older," she was going on in that ridiculously high-pitched voice, throwing her flame-thrower hair over her shoulder so flirtatiously I wanted to rip it right off. Yet, I'm not violent at all. Honest.
"Hey, Doctor Stupendous? Mind getting the hell outta my seat?" I finally decided to cut in, letting just enough toxin leak into my voice, though it was dripping with ice. She jumped, looking up at me with those stupid greeny-blue eyes. I mean, why can't they just decide on one colour? What's the point in having two? It's just ridiculous.
"Oh, Max!" Oh my God. She sounded like some crappy actress in some romantic movie, where's it's all about sighing each other's names. The point? There isn't one. "I'm so sorry! I completely forgot! I just got talking to Fang, and..." she seemed to realise I really, really couldn't care less and just wanted my seat back. "I guess I'll see you later, Fang."
And then she stood up, and took her normal seat next to King Lissa, who completely ignored her. Serves her right. She loses her friend, so she goes to her worst enemy? How the hell does that work? How stupid. Well, I guess it is Brigid, so what was I expecting?
I didn't look at Fang as I sat down. Not once. Not even a glance. Especially not a lingering one. Honestly, I didn't want to turn around, and see that he was watching Brigid, or, even worse, smiling at her.
Okay, I know what it sounds like. I know what you're all thinking (that sounds creepy. Not in that way). I know that you're all like 'OMG! MAX LOVES FANG! She's jealous!' and you're all having a total Nudge moment, and all that crap, 'kay? And yeah, I am jealous, but there's no way I'm in love with him, alright? I guess I just got used to having him all to myself. And I guess I figured that he'd stick with me, and not Brigid, and I obviously got it completely wrong. So, no, I'm not in love with him. I'm just torn between whether or not I want to slap him several times around the face, extremely hard, or hug him.
After that encounter with Doctor Stupendous, though, I'm definitely leaning towards the first option.
The real kicker, though? He doesn't try to talk to me. He ignores me just as much as I ignore him. Ouch. I'm not the one who walked off on him last Friday. That was all him.
[ X X X ]
"What's up?" Ella caught on to my foul mood straight off at break. I just shook my head, glaring at the floor intensely.
"Is it Fang?" Nudge joins in, annoyingly.
"He's an idiot," Dylan chimed in.
"Finally!" Iggy rejoiced. We all turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. "What?" he shrugged. "I just shed my status as the school idiot!"
"Dream on," Ella elbowed him, rolling her eyes.
"Where is he, anyway?" Sam asked, looking bored as always, though his eyes were concerned. See. They all love me really.
"With Doctor Stupendous," I said darkly, my glare returning sevenfold. Ella just raised an eyebrow. "Brigid."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
There was an awkward silence for a moment, and even Iggy and Nudge didn't break the silence, which is pretty damn amazing for them.
"So..." Dylan finally said.
"We are not going back there," I shot back, smiling slightly.
"Thank God," he grinned back, brushing his hair out of his eyes.
"Hey," Ella drew my attention a few moments later, "he's coming over here."
I glanced up, and, lo and behold, the man himself was slouching his way over here. His walk's really annoying too, now that I think about it. Maybe that's why he and the Freak Doctor make such an 'amazing' couple.
"Hey," he nodded at me directly. At me. All my anger from earlier seemed to bubble up, from Brigid this morning, and from watching them dance Friday night.
"What," I said very distinctly through my teeth, "do you want?"
"What," he mimicked, "do you mean?"
"Here she goes..." I heard Ella murmur. Fang's gaze flickered to her for a millisecond before landing on me again, curious, but I barely even noticed, my gaze was so red.
"What do you think I mean? You think you can just go off with her, all the freaking time, then come back over here and act like nothing's even happened? Like you think I don't care?" I let rip, my voice weighed down with anger. "Go on. Go back to your damn girlfriend."
There was absolute silence. Not even the sound of anyone breathing. Pure silence, and I wondered if he was just going to walk away. Our friendship over, just like that.
But then his eyes met mine, the butterflies stirring again, and he spoke, "She asked me to dance." I waited for elaboration, but it was like hoping for rain in the Sahara desert. Nothing. Like that one sentence solved it all.
"So all she has to do is bat her eyelashes, and that's it? Whatever, Fang."
"I had no choice."
"And then you walked into school with her too? What about Ig? And me? You just left us all, for her, again!"
"I had no choice."
"Oh play me a new record," I gave him the death glare reserved for only when I'm at my angriest.
"Re-enaction!" Ella suddenly called out, causing us all to look at her like she was mad. She ignored us, turning to Iggy and giving him her sparkly, tear-filled eyes. "Hold me..." she spoke in a winsome voice.
"I have no choice," Iggy said, catching on, and replying in the sad tone she obviously wanted him too. I raised an eyebrow, but they ignored me.
"Kiss me..."
"I have no choice."
"Don't act like you're in some weird drama," Fang sighed. It was one of the longest things I think I'd ever heard him say. Typical.
"But I had no choice?" Iggy said, clearly confused.
"Just because we're way too like you and Brigid for your own comfort, Fang," Ella said pityingly, rolling her eyes at me.
"It's not my fault," he said, his voice finally reflecting emotion: anguish.
"It's never your fault, is it Fang?" I sighed, my eyes still narrowed in a glare.
"It's not!" he shouted, the sound reverberating around the room. He was tensed, his shoulders hunched, and as he slowly relaxed I realised I'd jerked away from him, out of our little bubble, surprised.
"Just go to her, Fang," I said, tired. Then I lied, a huge lie that sealed the deal, the ending of our 'friendship'. "I don't care any more."
And you know what hurt the most? As I watched him walk away, as Ella wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and Dylan whispered softly into my ear, I knew that he believed it. That he wasn't going to come back any time soon. He'd chosen Brigid last Friday night – he'd spent all weekend with her, from what Ig'd told me.
He'd chosen her over his best friends. And I'd just cemented that decision.
A/N: I know, I know, way too over-dramatic and crap, but honestly, what did you expect from Max? Meh. It'll all work out, you know all that. I'll reply to reviews tomorrow from the last chapter, I don't have time right now, I'm sorry! I will reply though, I promise. Anyway, I hope you kind of liked it.
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