"Guys!" Iggy's mom called us over to the back corner, near a table with some men in suits were sitting. We glanced at them a few times, questioning who they were. One man, I was guessing the boss of the other two, stood up and took my hand to shake it. I was utterly confused.
"My daughter came by here the other week and told me about you guys. What are you guys called?" He asked.
"Umm . . ."
"We'll work on it later. How would you guys like it if we moved your band to a more public place? You guys were simply amazing and I want you to be heard."
"Where would you move us?" I questioned and I looked over at Fang who just shrugged.
"The Gold Band Shell in Memorial Park. You ever hear of it?"
"Heck yeah! It's not far from here either." I turned to the others. "What do you think guys?" They all cheered, except for Fang who just nodded and smiled.
"Excellent. I'll see you all . . . next week? Would that work for you?" Everyone nodded. "Great. I'll see you there at seven. No minute later. Just play the songs you did tonight. I've got big plans for you all." He smiled once more at us and left. Everyone hugged and laughed and cheered and whistled. Then Fang leaned forward and whispered in my ear.
"Good luck's already coming to us, huh?"
"So, do you think he's the manager of the band shell or something?" I asked Fang the next day.
"I don't know. Probably. It seems like nobody else would move us there except for the owner." He sat down in the grass next to me. I ripped some grass apart and let it fall back to the ground before I answered.
"Yeah . . . I guess. I really don't trust him though. Like, he didn't give us his name or his daughter's name and we didn't even get to talk it through. I mean, I know I was the one who agreed to it at first, but then I thought about it and . . . I was really stupid to agree to something so quickly."
"Yeah, you were." He said. I smacked his arm and laughed. "So why'd you call me over here anyway?" He asked.
"Umm, well I . . ." I wasn't sure how to say it.
"Just say it. You can be honest with me." Fang looked at me, waiting to hear something. I took one long deep breath.
"I want you to be my first kiss." I said it quickly, hoping that he wouldn't hear. But of course he did. I glanced over at him and he had a weird look on his face. I mean, I can't even describe it. But it mostly looked like confusion. I bit my bottom lip; why did I even say that? He answered me with one question.
"What?"
"Just . . . never mind. Forget it. Sorry." I started to get up but Fang grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down next to him. I tilted my head downward so my hair would shield my face. I was scared to face him; I might've possibly just ended our friendship . . . again. Fang took my hair and put it behind my ear. I threw it back in front of my face. He tucked behind my ear again, I untucked it. It went on like that for about two more minutes.
"God damn it, Max. Just look at me." I did and his eyes held some other kind of emotion. I couldn't stop looking at them. Before I could even think about what emotion I saw, Fang was kissing me. I mean, I know I asked him to but . . . it still surprised me. I closed my eyes and kissed him back, but a few seconds later, I pulled away.
"What's wrong?" He asked. "I thought you asked me to."
"I did but . . . we're in relationships. Isn't this technically cheating?"
"No, because I'm doing a favor for you; we're not going out." He explained.
"Well . . . thanks, I guess." It was kind of awkward now. To me, at least. We walked inside and got something to drink and then we played Halo 3. I totally kicked his ass . . . five times out of six too! I was laughing and making fun of him and he'd just smirk and roll his eyes. He was too chill all the time. He'd always somewhat been that way though. I looked over at him and thought about Lissa. She didn't know how lucky she was to have a guy like Fang. Fang was caring and nice . . . even if he didn't seem like it.
"Your birthday's one week from tomorrow." Fang brought up. "Have you thought about what you want for a present?"
"Don't get me anything." I sighed.
"Why not?"
"I don't like people spending money on me." I told him. We were still playing Halo 3 and I noticed he was near me but couldn't see me yet. I hid in a little nook and when he walked by, I shot the heck out of him. "That's gonna be you if you buy something for me." I explained.
"Alright, I won't buy you anything. Are you happy now?"
"Very." I said smugly.
"So what're you gonna do on your birthday?" Fang asked.
"Nothing. Go to school."
"Max, your birthday is on a teacher duty day . . . we have no school."
Birthdays. Aren't they just fun? My mom planned my entire day out. I would be allowed to sleep in until ten and then get up, eat a yummy homemade breakfast, and be showered and dressed by noon. From noon until three, I'd have lunch and present time with my family and younger friends (Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge). From three until six, I'd have dinner and present time with my female friends. And then from six until nine, I'd be hanging out with my guy buddies. Then I'd have one "hour to do whatever I want" before bed as my mom put it. That's basically her code for "you better put those away before you go to sleep".
My breakfast was amazing. I had like four pancakes with bacon and eggs, plus fresh squeezed orange juice. My mom's mom and dad came but my dad's dad couldn't make it. Of course, my dad's mom couldn't come because she was, well . . . dead. So now everyone was here; my mom, dad, sister, grandma, grandpa, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel. My mom and dad got me a new laptop, which was amazing. My grandma and grandpa gave me some kind of check to help pay for college after next year. Nudge got me a fashion magazine and told me to "order anything from it and her family would pay". She was rich and I did have some fashion issues. I thanked her and moved on to Gazzy and Angel's presents.
"We have different presents, but they go together." Gazzy told me.
"Mine first." Angel claimed. She handed me a long thin box and I opened it. There was a poster and I unraveled it. It was a Hannah Montana poster. I frowned and Angel said I'd like it better once I opened Gazzy's present. So I did. I started laughing when I unwrapped it. It was a box of permanent markers and a box of darts. They knew me so well.
"Fang helped us pick it out." Gazzy said.
"Thank you guys." They came up and gave me a hug at the same time. They were just so darn cute. We ate lunch and had birthday cake. Before I knew it, it was already time for the next group to come in. This time it was just gonna be JJ, Tess, and . . . Lissa. My mom just had to invite her. I smiled as they walked in but glared at Lissa. My mom brought us cupcakes and then left us on our own. JJ got me a necklace with a small dream catcher on it and I put it on immediately. Tess got me a CD by Wakey!Wakey! and I thanked her. Lissa got me a card and twenty bucks. Unfortunately I had to thank her too. We talked and hung out for a little and Lissa acted all happy and cool. All I could think was, how do they not realize how fake she's being?
And finally, it was time for my guys to get there. Just Iggy, Fang, Sam, and Dylan. Iggy . . . I don't even know what was going through his head from what he got me. I opened up a pack on 96 crayons with the sharpener and three princess coloring books.
"Iggy? What's this for?"
"Oh, come on Max, we all know you secretly wanna be a princess." He said. I laughed and gave him a hug. Sam gave me the next present and it was a gift card. I only gave him a one-armed hug. What with him being my ex and all. Fang smiled at me and handed me the next present.
"Be careful with it. Please." He instructed. I carefully unwrapped the box and opened it. Once I got the bubble wrap off of the gift, I gasped.
"Fang, is this . . . ?" My voice trailed off as I opened the wooden music box. It played the most beautiful tune I could ever think of and I started to cry. I couldn't think of any way better to thank him except for to give him a really big hug.
"This is your mom's music box though." I said.
"Well, I remembered how much you loved it when we were little and it didn't cost me a penny." He told me.
"You're stupid. Always trying to find a loophole." I laughed and dried my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt. I carefully set the box down on the side table and noticed, when the light shone on it, that the box was worn where his mom had handled it. I smiled one more time before Dylan spoke up.
"I've got a present too you know. I really hope you like it." He handed the box over to me. I smiled again – my cheeks were starting to hurt – and took the bow off the present. Once I pulled the lid off and lifted the tissue paper, I frowned. He was a liar! I was dating a freaking liar! And I was not to happy about it.