Hello people!
So I'm finally getting back to a regular updating schedule and I'm going to try to get a new chapter out every week. Also, in a few of my A/N's I've mentioned having a 20 chapter story and a lot of people have asked me about it. No, it's not going to be 20 chapters BUT it definitely won't have more than 30. I'm still working all of that out.
You people might hate me for this chapter, you might love me, and you might want to yell at me for being cliché but… let's see what you think!
Anyways, enjoy!
"Max, what are you talking about?" My mom asked me as I plopped down onto my chair. "You've been talking about this party for days! You get to see Iggy and Fang and all of your other friends!" She added, a more confused expression coming across her face.
"I don't know." I said, frowning. "I just don't really want to go anymore. Plus I'm already getting sick! I think I caught something when I was outside with Fang on Christmas." I said, for once not faking sickness.
My mom looked down at me, her eyebrows furrowed. "You do look a little pale." She said, reaching over and putting the back of her hand on my forehead. "But you don't have a temperature." She added.
"But I might get sick and throw up all over!" I said, trying my hardest to get out of the party. "Maybe I should stay home." I added hopefully.
She sighed and frowned at me. "Look, I'll make you a deal." She said, making me sit on the edge of my seat.
"I'm listening."
"If you go to the party and at least try to have fun, then I'll be waiting here tomorrow morning with a fresh tray of Ella's chocolate chip cookies." She said, knowing that I couldn't resist those cookies. "At least stay for an hour. You need to get out of the house more. If you really do feel sick then come on home. I'm sure Iggy wouldn't mind taking you."
I thought it over. After an hour, I'd be able to come back and I'd get cookies. That sounded like a great deal to me. "Done." I said, reaching my hand out to shake hers. We were very efficient when it came to deals and bets.
"Okay, I'm going to go get ready for my own party." She said, winking as she walked out of my room. I frowned and turned to face the mirror on the wall behind my desk. I took my hair out of the ponytail and let it fall down my shoulders. I shook, suddenly getting the chills as I stood up.
Ella had already left for her own party so I didn't have to worry about her trying to dress me up. I walked over to my closet and just reached in, pulling out whatever my hands hit first. I pulled out a pair of light grey jeans and a dark red v-neck tee shirt. I quickly changed and walked back over to my desk, pulling a small jewelry box out of the bottom drawer.
I pulled out a silver necklace with a small wing on it and put it on, straightening it out as soon as it touched my neck. Then I stuck a silver and red ring and put the box back into the drawer. I never really liked to wear jewelry but I felt like switching things up. I shoved my feet into socks and then into my old black converse.
"Max, I'm leaving." My mom said, poking her head into my room. I realized that she had already had her hair and make –up done when she was in my room before.
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." I said, smiling over at her. I went to turn around but she stood in the doorway and I paused, turning back around. "What?" I asked, seeing her stare at me.
"Oh, nothing!" She said like a little kid. I glared at her and she sighed. "You just look so much like your grandmother did when she was your age." She said, smiling lightly. She walked up to me and gently moved my hair off of my shoulders. "You're beautiful, Max, and don't you forget it!" She said, winking. I smiled and watched her walk out.
Well that was weird, I thought to myself as I grabbed my bomber jacket and started to walk downstairs. I took the steps two at a time, sniffling a little at each step. I needed one last cookie before Iggy came. I walked into the kitchen and dropped my jacket on a chair as I reached for the cookie jar.
I must have eaten about ten cookies by the time Iggy got to my house. "What, you didn't save any for me?" He asked as he walked into the kitchen.
"Do you ever knock?" I asked, wondering how he got into the house. "Or use the doorbell? Or even let the people know you're in their house for that matter?"
"No, not really." He said, smiling over at me as he grabbed the cookie out of my hand and shoved it in his mouth. He smirked at my hurt expression.
"That's not very nice." I said, putting the lid back on the jar and putting it back on the counter. I walked back over and slid my jacket on.
"Whoever said I was nice, Maxie?" Iggy said, laughing when I stuck my tongue out at him. "Let's go," he said in-between laughs.
"So do you know who is going to be there?" I asked once we had been in the car for a few minutes.
"Well there is us, Fang, Lissa, Sam and Tess, uh," He said, thinking. "I think that Josh is going to be there with some girl." He added, looking over at me.
"Josh has a girlfriend?" I asked, shocked. "I haven't seen him since school." I mused, trying to think of anyone he may have liked.
"Yeah it turns out that his younger sister is twelve or something and she made friends with his girlfriend's sister. Then they met somehow or something." He said, shrugging.
"Good for him!" I said, getting over the initial shock. "I hope we see them tonight."
"Me too." He added, "You know, I actually thought Josh was gay until I heard about him and that girl."
"Does she have a name, or is she just 'that girl'?" I asked, smirking over at him.
"Actually, she's 'that girl over there with the face and outrageously large nostrils'." he answered, smirking back at me as I burst out laughing. It took me a minute but once I stopped laughing he said, "I don't know her name. I just heard that he started dating a girl in his art class."
"Well you could have said that instead of insulting her nostrils!" I said as he parked on the street next to a huge house with music blaring.
"Fine," He said, "Her nostrils are normal size. You happy now?" He asked and I nodded, trying not to burst out laughing again.
I got out of the car and stared at the house for a minute. Iggy had to push me towards the driveway to get me to stop zoning out. We walked in and I was surprised to see almost the entire contents of the junior and senior classes and even some people from other schools.
I looked over at Iggy to tell him something but I figured it would be pointless because of how loud the music was. We just walked farther in until we found someone we knew. I looked over to my left and saw a group of people I knew, but I didn't really feel like talking to them. I saw Sam with his arm around Tess. I smiled, remembering when Iggy told me that they got together after the dance. Next to them, I saw Josh standing with both of his arms wrapped around a blonde girl I recognized as Melissa from my English class. I smiled and elbowed Iggy, pointing over to them. He grinned and grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the area where everyone was dancing to some Lady Gaga song.
"Max! Iggy!" I heard a high pitched voice shout from my right. I looked over and saw Lissa standing with Fang and a few other people. I smiled and waved, yanking on Iggy's arm, causing him to run into me. We stumbled and fell over to where they were standing, trying to contain our laughter. "Hey!" Lissa said, reaching over. I hugged her and then let her hug Iggy. She really wasn't that bad of a girl.
I walked over to Fang and smiled. "Hey you." He said, leaning down and hugging me tight.
I smiled again and broke away from him, taking a step back to stand next to Iggy while Lissa walked back over to Fang.
We stood there talking-or rather shouting over the music for about a half hour before Iggy decided that we should go dance. I was kind of relieved to have an excuse to stop talking about hair styles for cheerleading with Lissa. She was a nice girl but we just didn't have anything in common.
"Come on!" Iggy said, flashing his blinding smile as he pulled my hand. I pulled off my jacket and threw it onto the couch as I shoved my phone into my pocket. I let him pull me into the middle of the dance floor. I smiled as some pop song came on and I felt Iggy's hands grip my waist. I smirked up at him and started swaying my hips to the music, occasionally stepping on people's feet because as everyone may know, I'm not the best dancer. I looked up and caught a glimpse of Lissa dragging Fang upstairs. I shook my head and looked back at Iggy, who was looking at me questionably.
I shook my head and smiled, not wanting to yell over the music to tell him that I was okay. He took the hint and smiled again. The song ended and I turned, standing on my toes to look up at the DJ. He looked like he was having the time of his life but everyone could tell that he was completely wasted. I started laughing with the rest of the crowd as he tripped and fell down the stairs of the stage (they brought it in when setting up for the party). I watched some senior kid walk up to the turntables and smile as he put his headphones in. I recognized him as one of the duo of guys who already had jobs in the music industry because they were so good.
"Let's slow this down a bit." he said, looking at one spot in the crowd where his friend was trying, and failing, in getting a girl to dance. I let out a chuckle and turned back to Iggy.
"I don't think he's ever going to get that girl." Iggy said, letting out a laugh.
"Why not?" I said, turning to look at who it was but I couldn't see over the crowd of heads taller than me.
"He's trying to dance with Brigid." He said simply. He must have seen the confused look on my face so he explained, "This totally screwed up senior. I swear, someday she's going to be some kind of pedophile." He said and I laughed, making a mental note to look for her in school.
Iggy's hands went back to my waist as the song playing got a little slower. I smiled and went along with everyone else, putting my head against his shoulder, but seeing as Iggy was about six inches taller than me, my head was against his chest. I heard him chuckle as I tried going on my tip toes to try and be as tall as him. Obviously, it wasn't working.
"Hey Max?" I heard him say after we had been dancing for a minute.
"Yeah?" I said, pulling my head up to look him straight in the eye. I saw his lips moving but I couldn't hear anything over the music. I felt his hand move from my hip to my cheek as he slowly leaned in.
I panicked.
I jumped back, knocking into the people behind me. "I'm sorry, Ig, I- I can't." I stuttered, turning and running through the crowd, leaving Iggy standing there, alone and confused.
I ran over to the stairs and sprinted up them, trying to remember where everything was. I had been here for a party once before but I wasn't sure where everything was. I finally reached a bedroom and I walked in, wanting a quiet place to think. I opened the door and looked up, stopping dead in my tracks.
I saw Fang, back against the wall, with Lissa in front of him kissing. They both broke away and looked at me when they heard the door open. I noticed that Lissa had tears in her eyes. "Uhm, sorry," I said, trying to stop my eyes from getting as wide as dinner plates. I heard Fang call my name as I took a quick step back and quickly walked back downstairs, fighting my way through the crowd of people and out the front door.
I rushed past a couple sitting on the porch steps and once I was on the sidewalk, I just sat on the curb next to Iggy's car. I just put my head in my hands and thought. I wanted to go home so badly.
"Hey, Max?" A voice called from right behind me. I felt a cold hand on my shoulder and I turned around, seeing Josh. He must have been one of the two sitting on the porch.
"Yeah?" I said, wiping my eyes even there were no tears.
"Are you okay?" He asked genuine worry on his face. "You look like you really want to get out of here." He said, "Can I do anything for you?" He added, taking it from my expression that I didn't want him to answer any questions.
"Could you just get Iggy please?" I asked, taking his hand and standing up. "You're right. I just want to get out of here." I said.
"No problem." He said, grinning at me. "I'll be right back." He added, hugging my softly.
"Thank you." I called out after him as he jogged back to the house. He walked into the house with Melissa, who looked back at me worriedly. I sat back down on the curb and listened for the door to open again, replaying everything that had gone on tonight. I knew it wasn't a good idea to come. I heard the door open twice and I turned around, seeing both Fang and Iggy walking outside. Leave it to my two best friends to want to talk to me when I don't want to talk to them.
I stood up and looked at Iggy first. He looked like he never wanted to talk to me again. His eyes were confused, hurt, and ashamed. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I watched as Fang stopped Iggy and after a minute, Iggy thanked Fang and ran back inside. I looked over at Fang, confused as he walked closer. I looked down at his hand and saw my jacket tightly grasped in it.
"Where's Iggy going?" I asked, looking at Iggy walking through the front door.
"He said he doesn't really want to talk to you right now." Fang said, confused. "Can you explain that to me? Oh, and I'll take you home. I didn't really want to come to this party anyway." He added, smirking. I felt my lips curve up and his smirk changed to a smile. "That's more like it. Now what happened?" He asked as he took me over to his car. I felt the snow fall onto my head and shoulders and looked up, figuring a storm was coming.
"Uh, well," I stuttered, not wanting to tell him. He just put my jacket over my shoulders and waited. "We were dancing and then he said something and then he tried to kiss me and then I ran away because I really don't want to kiss him and I don't think he really wanted to kiss me." I said all in one breath. I wasn't even sure that Fang had heard all of it.
"He-he tried to kiss you?" Fang asked, leaning over to pull open the passenger side door to his truck. I looked at his grip on the car door and saw that his knuckles were white.
"Yeah but I don't even think he likes me like that." I said, positive that I was right. "But that's when I ran upstairs and walked in on…" I said, trailing off as he shut the door after I got in and walked around to the driver's seat.
"… on me and Lissa." He said, finishing my thought.
"Yeah," I said as he started the engine. "Why was she crying?" I asked, wondering if Fang had done something.
"Uh," he said, pulling out onto the street. "I kind of told her that I wanted to take a break." He said, shrugging.
"Why? I thought you really liked her." I asked, shocked.
He just looked at me out of the corner of his eye and gave me a grim look. "I do. Kind of. Okay not really; she's just really clingy. It was really getting annoying." he admitted, frowning.
"If you wanted to take a break then why do you look so sad about it?" I asked, looking at his expression.
"I'm not sad," He started, "It's just… I made her cry. Beyond popular belief, guys don't like to make girls cry." he said, looking over at me. I felt my whole body jerk as he stopped at a stop light. "But I'm glad I did it. I mean, she uses this really sticky lip gloss crap. I swear my lips are going to stick together for the rest of my life!" I tried to hold it back but I chuckled, a smile finally falling on my lips.
"There we go." He said, leaning over and moving some hair out of my face. "There's the Max we love." he said and I blushed. We sat there in silence for the rest of the ride. It wasn't one of those awkward silences though. It was comfortable.
"Here we are." Fang said, pulling into my driveway. I looked up at him and gave a small smile. "You know, it's really helpful that we're neighbors. I don't even have to drive home now. My car can just live in your driveway tonight." He said, looking over at me.
"Very funny." I said dryly. "Come on, you're making me hot chocolate." I said, looking at the snow start to fall harder while I climbed out of his truck.
"Ah, if I must!" he said turning the car off and throwing his keys on to the seat. He walked over to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to his chest. We started walking up the driveway but about halfway there, I slipped on a patch of black ice.
I fell on my back and as soon as I landed, I burst out laughing. "Are you okay?" Fang asked, immediately putting his hands out to help me up. I nodded, still unable to speak from my uncontrollable laughter and grabbed his hand, letting him pull me up. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, clearing my hair from my face and looking straight into my eyes.
"Y-yeah," I said, looking into his deep brown eyes and feeling a shiver run down my spine. "I'm fine."
I saw some of the pure white snow fall onto his eyelashes and smiled. I leaned up and gave him a small peck on the lips. I smiled, blushed, and started walking up to my house, leaving him standing there looking at me. I heard his footsteps behind me and I opened the front door, walking in and turned on the lights.
"Come on, I'll make you that hot chocolate." He said, walking past me. I saw a smile on his face and couldn't help but smile myself.
Ten minutes later we were sitting on my bed with our hot chocolate, watching some cheesy movie about New Years. I put my hot chocolate down on my nightstand next to Fang's empty cup and looked over at him. We had the lights off, mainly because we really didn't plan on either of us going anywhere.
"Can I ask you a question?" I asked, changing my position so I was facing him.
"Was that it or is there another one?" He asked, smirking as I frowned at him. "What is it?" He asked, egging me on.
"What was the real reason you broke up with Lissa?" I asked, knowing that he didn't tell me everything when we were in the car. He took a deep breath and sighed.
"The truth?" He asked and I nodded. "The truth is that I kind of have a crush on someone else." He said. I frowned and looked down at my hands. "Actually it's kind of more than just a crush. I think I might actually love her." He added. I tried everything to avoid his gaze but after a few moments he sighed and pulled my chin up to look at him. "Geez, Max! For someone so smart, you can be really stupid sometimes!"
"Wha-?" I started but he cut me off by bringing his lips down to mine. It took me a minute to register but after a moment, I closed my eyes and brought my hand up to his cheek. He kissed me sweetly and as I felt his lips move against mine, I felt completely safe.
He pulled his head back and rested his forehead against mine. He kissed my nose softly and I smiled, looking into his eyes. "Yeah, I think I might love her."
Sooooo that was my insanely cheesy chapter 20!
I tried to make it as un-cliché as possible but to be honest, I kind of like the cheesy, overused scenes where Max and Fang get together…
But anyways... Like I said, some of you may hate me; some might love me; and feel free to yell at me for being cheesy and cliché!