Fang P.O.V.
"I don't get it…" Maya declared, flipping through her Physics book tiredly. She was sitting cross legged on the floor of my bedroom, next to Nudge. Iggy was spinning round in my desk chair excitedly, grinning ear to ear each time he faced me. I rolled my eyes at his childish behaviour and stood from my bed to crouch next to Maya.
She was frowning at her paper, as if the question would disappear if she glared at it long enough. I smirked and took her paper from her hands as she smiled hopefully at me, eyes wide under her long lashes.
"Okay, so the energy transferred is power x time. So you take the 500w, which is the power, and multiply it by the 30 seconds. Answer?"
Maya chewed her lip and punched the numbers into her pink calculator. "15000?" I nodded and scribbled it down on her paper.
"So it's 15000 joules. Simple. Try the rest. If you need help, just ask." Maya beamed at me gratefully and I couldn't help but notice the way her eyelashes fluttered against the smooth skin of her high cheekbones.
"Thanks Fang, you're a star." She exclaimed. Max scoffed from on my bed and scowled as I sat back next to her.
"Thanks Fang, you're a star. You're a hero. I love you Fang, blah, blah, blah." She muttered quietly. I looked at her incredulously.
"What's your problem?"
"She's all over you Fang. Like a rash." Max mock shivered and I snickered.
"Jealous?" She huffed and crossed her arms.
"What, of her? A) I do not get jealous and B) why should I be? You're free to befriend anybody you want and if you wish to lower your standards and be with… her it's perfectly fine by me. So no, I am not jealous."
"Sure sounds like it. Don't worry, you're cute when you're jealous." I smirked as Max glared at me, her proper death glare. "Chill, I'm just kidding."
"What are you two whispering about over there?" Maya asked cheerfully. Max scowled even more and threw her pen down on my bed.
"None of your freaking business." She ground out. I elbowed her in the side and smiled at Maya.
"Nothing important. Let's take a break. Studying gives me migraines." Max scoffed again and rolled her eyes.
"Hard work gives you migraines. But yeah, whatever. I'm bored of doing past papers for stuff I already know. Let's go do something fun." Max suggested as she stood up from my bed, brushing her jeans off. Iggy stood up too and pulled Nudge up from the floor. He didn't let go of her hand and I noticed Max looking at them almost…longingly. Like she wanted that. A second later, the look was gone and she was flinging my bedroom door open and stalking out confidently. I held my hand out to Maya and she took it gratefully.
"Thanks." She said, pulling herself up to stand. I dropped her hand and led her out of my bedroom. I couldn't help but admire the confident sway of her hips as she walked down the stairs. The way she chewed on her bottom lip practically had me falling at her feet. The way her wide brown eyes shimmered with happiness all of the time and the way her long, black eyelashes fluttered whenever she wanted something. Her under the eyelash look sure had ever guy at Itex high going crazy for her. I was impressed at how that simple look could get her anything she wanted. Anything. Max absolutely despised the girl. But I simply couldn't understand why. She had me wrapped around her little finger. Not in the same way Max did. I would take a bullet for Max because anything, absolutely anything, would be better than living without her. I loved Max. I loved her as a sister, a best friend. But Maya, she was something else. I had known her for a week and she had me hooked. She looked similar to Max, but not enough for it to be weird. Her personality though? Now that was nothing like Max's. Maya was shy, yet incredibly flirtatious. She knew she was a pretty girl. Max, despite how cocky she could be, was oblivious to the effect she had on people. She was beautiful, but what made her more beautiful, was the fact she didn't know it.
I was so confused. What were all these feelings? Did I like Maya as more than a friend or was it just a hormonal thing? And what about Max? Why did I keep noticing these little things about her that I never would have before? Why did I have to notice the way her nose crinkled cutely when she smiled, a real smile? Why did I have to notice the way she clenched her fists anytime anybody brought up the touchy topic of her estranged father? And more importantly;
Why the fuck, did I have the sudden urge to kiss her when we were swimming in the lake?
I shook my head and sighed. I couldn't be bothered to think about it right now. At this precise moment in time, I was more worried about Gazzy, who was hurrying out of the kitchen, can of minestrone soup in hand. I grabbed his arm as he tried to dodge out of my way.
"What's up with the soup?" I asked him suspiciously. He had been acting weird all week. After his day off on Monday, he had had the rest of the week off, claiming that he was contagious and should probably stay off. Now it was Sunday, and he had made a miraculous recovery.
Until now. He groaned and clutched his stomach. "I don't feel well. I think I'm still sick." He stated as he made a move past me.
"And you're suddenly craving soup? Are you pregnant?" I asked him sarcastically. He scowled and held his stomach tighter.
"Shut up. I just… it's for a school project." I raised an eyebrow.
"What school project requires minestrone soup? As far as I know, you're not allowed to take part in the cooking lessons after the incident."
"It was a tiny fire!"
"You set the entire kitchen alight." I retorted.
"Nobody died." Gazzy replied adamantly. I gestured to the soup again.
"Seriously Gaz, what's going on?" He sighed and shook his head.
"Nothing. Just leave me alone."
The next morning though, I woke up to the sound of retching. Slow, painful heaving coming from the bathroom. I stood outside the bathroom and knocked on the door.
Gazzy opened up and stood aside. "Can't you flush?" I asked my unhygienic foster brother as he made his way to Chris and Anne's bedroom.
"Mum has to see that I'm not lying first."
"She knows you're not lying." Gazzy shook his head and came back to the toilet to flush it as I tried to hold my breath.
"Gazzy, would you like to explain why that smells like minestrone soup?" Gazzy grinned at me sheepishly and made a move to flush the toilet.
I got there first though. "And why is there an entire can of minestrone soup down the toilet? Are you faking?"
"Well… I… Urggh, fine. Yeah, I'm faking."
"Why don't you want to go to school?" I asked him, flushing the toilet and grabbing my toothbrush.
"I can't say." I brushed my teeth vigorously and eyed my little brother.
"Why?" I asked through a mouthful of minty toothpaste.
"Just can't." He shrugged.
"Gaz."
"I can't." Gazzy's voice was firm and held no room for argument. Too bad I would argue anyway.
"And why are you being extra helpful all of a sudden? What's going on?" He sighed and sat down on the toilet seat, head in his hands.
"Because he told me they'd send me back." His voice was muffled by his hands and I had to crouch by him in order to hear.
"What?"
"This boy at school. He said that Mum and Dad would send me back to the foster home and that they only fostered me for the money. Is it true?"
I shook my head. "What? No. They love you Gaz. And if they were sending anybody back, I'm pretty sure it'd be me buddy. I'm not exactly your poster child for perfection. Why are you so worried?"
"Because. What if they did make me go back? I don't wanna go back there Fang. I can't go back there!" Gazzy was close to hysterical now and it broke my heart. Why was he so afraid of this place?
"Gazzy, what happened? Why are you so scared?" I asked him gently, moving his hands from his face.
"He said that I was a useless waste of space and that you guys didn't want me. That I'd be sent back to Ridgeton. I can't go back there Fang."
"Why not? What did they do to you Gaz?" His hands were shaking and I could see a trail of fresh tears making their way down his cheeks.
"I'm scared Fang. What if they send me back?"
"Gaz, they're not going to okay? Listen to me. You are not going back there. Okay?" He shook his head, tears now flowing freely of their own accord.
"But they will! I'm useless. I'm horrible. And then, I'll be back in Ridgeton and they'll be mad at me because they didn't want me back. Just like my parent didn't want me. They'll send me to the cupboard for a week because I've been bad. If I get sent back, I'm bad. So I have to be punished. Please don't let them send me back there Fang!" I pulled Gazzy to me in a tight hug as he sobbed quietly into my shoulder. I had never seen him break down like this.
"You're not going back okay? I promise. I wouldn't let that happen."
"But how can you stop them?" He wailed.
"I promise you now, I'm not letting it happen. Anne and Chris adore you. They'd never make you go back there." I patted his back and tried my hardest to convey my sincerity. I wouldn't let it happen. I promised, so I would never let it happen.
"You really mean it?" Gazzy asked me hoarsely. I nodded and pulled away from him.
"Always. I told you, I promise. And I don't break promises." Gazzy smiled and hugged me again.
"Thanks Fang. But… this never happened."
"Totally." I agreed as he wondered out of the bathroom. I sighed and shook my head.
Yet another crisis in the Walker family. Hey, it wouldn't be a normal day for this family if everything was sunshine and rainbows. We were a family built on worried, overbearing parents and screwed up kids. But we were a family all the more.
"Am I boring?" Max asked me gently on Friday evening. She was laying out on the living room floor on her stomach, whilst I sat next to her, flicking through channels on her T.V.
"What?"
"I just feel like I never go out of my comfort zone. Like seriously, when do I get out? You get out right?" She questioned, looking at me expectantly.
"I guess. I used to go out a lot. To a lot of parties with the football team. They always throw raging parties" I declared, running a hand through my hair absentmindedly.
"I just feel like all I ever do is study. I wanna go out. Take me somewhere."
"Like where?" Max stood and pulled me up to my feet.
"Anywhere. Entertain me."
"Is that a challenge?" I asked Max, who was standing so close to me that I could smell the intoxicating scent of her apple shampoo.
"Could be. If you want it to be." She flipped her hair to the side and grinned.
"Okay, let's go." Max smiled and looked at her Mum who was now standing in the doorway.
"Mum, Fang and I are going out."
"Where?" Valencia asked her daughter curiously. Max looked at me expectantly.
"A guy on the football team's throwing a small party tonight. We could go if you want?" Max nodded and looked to her Mum for permission.
Val sighed and nodded her head. "Alright, but no drinking, no drugs and absolutely no sex."
"How is sex worse than drugs?" Max asked Valencia incredulously.
"I have enough children in this house as it is. I don't need another baby running around. And drugs doesn't lead to unwanted pregnancies."
"Well…." Max started.
"Can it brat. Just don't have sex. Or drink. Or do drugs. Or anything I wouldn't do."
"Well that doesn't leave a lot does it?" Max asked her mother in a playful tone. I smiled and forced Max upstairs to get ready.
"Hurry up slowpoke. And you can stay at my place after if it's easier." Max poked her head round the corner and grinned.
"Cool."
I had gotten my licence a week ago and was driving around in Anne's old, beat up Peugeot. I didn't particularly love this car, but until I could afford my own, I was stuck with it. So I pushed Max out the door and unlocked the car before sitting in the driver's seat and waiting for Max to hurry up. She slammed her door shut and tugged on the purple t-shirt she had thrown on when we had arrived at her house after school.
"How far away is it?" Max asked me, tucking her legs up on the passenger seat.
"No clue." I replied pulling out and driving down Max's road. Max pulled out her phone when it rang and groaned.
"Hey Mum." She said into the phone. "Mum." She mouthed to me. I rolled my eyes and mouthed back.
"You don't say." Max laughed and snapped her attention back to her mum.
"Yes Mum…. No Mum. Yes! I will. Yes. Mum, I left ten minutes ago. We just had this lecture! Okay. Yes. Bye." I smirked as Max hung up. She turned to me and glared.
"I swear she doesn't trust me."
"Hey Faaang!" Max slurred, holding a cup up to her lips. The drink sloshed from the cup onto the floor. "Oops." She giggled. I laughed and moved her away from the crowd of sweaty teenagers.
"You're drunk. Your Mum is going to kill us." Max giggled again and handed me her cup.
"Come on Fang. Stop being so uptight." She demanded, hands on her hips, swaying side to side a little. I sipped from the cup hesitantly and smirked.
"See. I'm not uptight." I knocked back the rest of her drink quickly. I could already feel the alcohol rushing to my brain and my inhibitions weakening. I dragged Max back into the crowd of dancing teens and grinned. "Dance with me."
She smiled back and laughed. "Now who's drunk?" She threw her head back and laughed again. Her hips were grinding against my own, in a sloppy fashion. And yet it was killing me. I wanted to kiss her. I had to. She looked radiant. And maybe this was just the alcohol talking, but I wanted her. In all the wrong ways. Oh god, I wanted her.
I couldn't take my eyes off of her face. "You're pretty." I declared, laughing at the sound of my voice. It sounded funny, all slurred like that. "Yoouuu'reee prettyyy." I said it again and laughed.
Max laughed too and then we were both laughing. Nothing else. Just this moment, where everything was perfect and Max was perfect and I didn't know what to do. I just needed to kiss her. I needed to feel her lips on my own. I needed to feel her soft skin against my own. I needed her.
"God Max." I groaned as she ground her hips against mine. "Oh god."
"What? What do you need?" She asked me gently, her hand reaching up to stoke my face.
"You." I didn't regret it. Because in the next second, her lips were on mine, kissing me sloppily. Hungrily. I backed her up against a wall and kissed her as though I was drowning, and she was the air I needed to breathe. I kissed her as though my life depended on it.
I just about died when her tongue touched my own. There was nothing gentle about this kiss. It was all want. All forceful and needy. Max needed me. Her lips were firm against mine and I groaned into the kiss. I ground my hips again and slowly pecked my way down her jaw, down her neck and to the collar of her shirt. I needed the damn thing off.
"We should go…. Anywhere but here." Max breathed. I nodded and pulled her out of the house. We sat in my car and Max looked back at me again. "You're not driving are you?" Even I was sober enough to know not to drive.
"No, Iggy's not drinking so he can take us back to my place." Max nodded and grinned at me.
A minute later and Iggy was rushing out of the house, Nudge following behind him. She was stumbling on the grass and had to hold onto Iggy for help.
He got in the driver's seat and started up the car. "Okay, let's go."
"Are you sure you don't wanna stay at my house? Anne and what's his face won't care…" I slurred and frowned when Iggy shook his head.
"No. You live next door Fang. I can just drop you off and then Nudge and I can go back to mine."
"You do? Since when? Since when were you my neighbour?"
Iggy laughed at me. "Since we were five. Now shush. Nudge is sleeping."
I obeyed his order and grinned when the car came to a stop outside my house. Iggy threw my keys to me and I dragged Max into the house, throwing my keys on the kitchen counter and then pulling her up the stairs.
We got to my bedroom and I was sobering up a bit. Max pulled me down next to her on the bed and smirked at me.
"Where were we? Oh right. I remember. This was about to go, right?" Max said as she pulled her shirt off. I looked away from her, afraid that merely the sight of her in her blue bra would diminish any piece of self-control I had left. I couldn't take advantage of her when she was drunk. Not like this.
I laid next to her and shook my head. "No, come on Max. You gotta sleep now okay?"
Wordlessly, she nodded and grinned at me. "You're such a sweetie Fang. You're the sweetest guy I've ever met. I think… I think we should…-"
And then she passed out.
What? We should what? What was she going to say? I had to know. I needed to know.
I pulled my covers over her and placed a kiss on her forehead. I would have to find out in the morning.
What had I just done? I had just put our entire friendship on the line for a moment of drunken passion.
I was so screwed.
Okay so there you have it, some faxy goodness. But we'll just wait and see what happens next. My mum came in and read the last bit over, never blushed so much in my life. This is why I don't let my parents read my writing. Just no. anyway, my embarrassment aside, let's try to reach 90+ reviews. You guys are awesome. I should update by Sunday. I've got a pretty busy week now.