"Maxine?"

Aw, shit.

What could I have said? What do I say? He found me out. I looked up at him to see his dark eyes glazed over in hurt and anger.

"Fang, I-I didn't want you to find out this—"

He interrupted me. "Wow. Just wow. I mean I suspected, but I didn't actually think you could be Maxine," His fingers wove between his black locks, something he did only when he was thinking. I could tell he was piecing everything together. "How could you? The both of you. Sam, when all this shit had happened I had confronted you about it and you didn't tell me Maxine was there with you in California."

My eyes widened in shock, Sam had never told me anything about Fang confronting him. I switched my gaze to Sam and he shifted his eyes nervously between us, apologies shining through.

Fang continued, "And you too Maxine. Did our friendship mean nothing to you? I mean, our past friendship should have at least— what's the word?—compelled you to tell me but then the new friendship we formed with you as Maximum Ride— did that mean nothing to you either?"

I could the feel the anger rushing through me at this words.

"You—Fang, you have no fucking right to be mad at me and say that our friendship meant nothing to me! Our friendship means as much to me now as it did in the past, and that's a lot. But what did you expect? Think I was gonna waltz back here as Maxine and get my heart broken all over again? Hell no, Fang! That would be like setting myself up to get killed—"

I got cut off by the sound of a popcorn tub dropping and the sound of heels against the ground, hurrying to clean it up. I turned to look to see Nudge cleaning up what looked like a hundred popcorn kernels, with Iggy helping her.

Oh, yeah. I forgot she and Iggy had gone to get popcorn before Fang came. "Max, Fang! What the hell are you guys doing?"

"Uh, sorting out our differences?" I told her, but it came out more as a question.

Iggy turned his crystal eyes to me and smirked, "You mean you're fighting?"

Fang was the one who replied "Yeah, sure Iggy. Can we go back to the matters at hand?"

"Sorry, Max, Fang! You guys continue on! Iggy and I'll clean up. Go on!" She encouraged, shooing me with her hands.

I was bewildered; what was wrong with the world today? I turned back to Fang, my anger only having ceased a little bit.

"What the hell were you talking about, Maxine?" Fang asked confused.

"Fang, don't try that shit with me! You know perfectly well what you did!"

"No, Max—er, Maxine, I don't know what I did, so would you please tell me?" Almost all the anger had seeped out of his voice and his voice had an edge of desperate pleading.

But I was still angry. And I felt a bit sorry for him. I bet his mind was working on overload processing all this information. You know, because he's a guy. Their minds tend to go a little bit slower.

Some of my anger seeped out, too.

"Fang, you honestly don't know what you did?" My voice was incredulous.

"No, Maxine. I don't."

Before I could continue on, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a mother and her daughter looking at me.

"Can I help you?" I asked, confused as to why they came up to me in the middle of this.

"Yes, you can go locate yourself elsewhere, beyond the immediate premises."

"Excuse me?" Who the hell did this woman think she was? Barging up in between this fight and telling me to get out…. She got another thing coming.

"The high profanity level between you and your 'boyfriend' is disturbing my daughter."

I was about to reply (in not so good ways) when Fang grabbed my wrist. "Let's take this outside, Maxine."

He pretty much dragged me out of the deserted movie theater hallway we were in and out the main doors.

He sat down on the cold concrete with his back resting on one of those square column things they have in front of the theater. He motioned towards the column he was facing, basically telling me to sit down across from him.

I walked over, slumping down the column and trying to get myself comfortable but it was hard to with the cold concrete floor and granite rock column behind my back. Once I was situated, I looked across to find Fang looking at me.

"Now explain, please."

I took a deep breath, "Do you remember back two years ago, Fang?"

"Yeah, of course I do, Maxine. That was the year you left." Fang replied. Beneath his breath he mumbled, "How could I forget? It was worst year of my life." I don't think he knew I heard but I did. I felt like apologizing but then I reminded myself of what I had been talking about.

"Do you remember the day before I left?"

He looked up towards the small overhang of the building where the columns attached. "I vaguely remember that day. I think all I remember is that I had walked into 5th period Math and I had asked someone—can't remember who right now— I asked them where you were and they told me you had walked out of school. I remember I couldn't believe it. It seemed so unlike you."

"Okay, now let me tell you what I remember from that day. I had been walking around after lunch and I think I was looking for you-maybe; I'm not sure-when I heard my name from a classroom. I wasn't sure so I went and-"

I stopped abruptly and shivered. The temperature was changing. It had been a warm 67 degrees Fahrenheit when we had come here, but now it had dropped to what felt like a cool 48 degrees. I shivered again. It was a bad idea to have let Ella dress me. This halter top was not the ideal wear for it to be 48 degrees outside. Fang, seeing that I was cold, stood up and took off his jacket and walked over to drape it around my shoulders. He awkwardly walked over and sat back down.

"Where was I? Oh yeah. So I went and put my ear to the classroom door and I listened. I couldn't believe that you out of all people would talk about me like that." The thought of what happened that day still hurt.

"Maxine, what are you talking about?"

"You really don't remember? I remember the conversation I heard was you and Lissa bitching about me. 'OMG, Maxine is so fat'," I said imitating Lissa screechy voice and then Fang's deeper one. "'Yeah, and she thinks she's my friend. She's so clingy'. Yeah, don't remember that wonderful conversation, Fang?"

His eyes glazed over as he thought about it, suddenly he sat up as straight as a plank, his head hitting the column behind him, his eyes filled with panic and confusion.

"Holy shit! Maxine! I thought— I thought you would have figured it out by now."

"Figured out what exactly, Fang?" I was so completely and utterly confused.

"Think about it, Maxine! Why would I ever say something like that about you! You were—are— my best friend."

"Well, why don't you tell me if I am your so called best friend?"

"Don't you get it, Maxine! I didn't say those things about you! It wasn't me!"

GUYS, IT'S MAZY! THANK YOU SOO MUCH FOR ALL THOSE 'THANK YOU MAZY'S' LAST CHAPTER! THEY MADE ME SOO HAPPY. I want you all to thank Menna for this chapter. She did an excellent job with it, don't you think? AND GUESS WHAT, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY. YUP, I'M A NEW YEARS EVE BABY! SO I WANT A 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY RIMAZ' FROM EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU :))

Yeah, Mazy's so selfish! Anyway, I hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas and a lovely winterbreak and I wish you all a Happy New Year!