New chapter is UP! FINALLLLY! Long overdue, I know! I hope you all are still with me! I'm sorry! Basketball season is almost over, and I should have more free time after that… It has been quite the week and the, um, excitement did not stop today… My school was evacuated due to a fugitive on the loose! Talk about scary ishh! Our country is in trouble, like legit. People are insane. Anywho…. The reviews were great on the last chapter. Keep them coming. I love you all and hope this chapter is up to par. REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! And let me know your honest thoughts. Anything is appreciated, positive or negative.

KarleeRay

"Stop it, Fang," I chastise, swatting him off of my neck. "We have to finish this." My eyes roll as he dutifully ignores me, trailing kisses across my neck and shoulder. Gah, teenage boys and their raging hormones.

"Can't we take a break?" He mutters, annoyed.

"If you don't stop whining, then I'm going to give you something to whine about," I tell him calmly, my eyes never leaving the open textbook in front of me.

A groan escapes his lips, and I resist the urge to slap him. "Go," I order. "I'll do it myself. You're not doing anything but distracting me."

"Okay. Fine. Hands off." His hands come up in surrender, and he scoots away from me on the bed. "Happy?"

Hah. Happy? Not at all. We've been working on this project for hours now. Really the only thing that could make me happy at this point is a mountain of food and the boy I just demanded to get away from me. Great job, Max.

I'm busy chewing furiously on the tip of my pencil when the shrill sound of the doorbell ringing echoes throughout the house.

"Aah. Look at that. Saved by the bell," I sing-song, scampering out of bed and down the stairs to get to the door. I hear Fang ambling down the stairs behind me as I fling open the door to welcome whoever is waiting.

Hair mussed, make-up smeared, and clothes rumpled, Carter stands shakily before me.

"Max!" She slurs. "I knew you'd help me!" She falls forward, flinging her arms around my neck. I grunt in surprise under her dead weight.

My hand comes up, and I pull her back by her hair so that I can look her in the eye, sensing that something is off. I'm about to begin interrogation, when I am hit with a reeking wave of alcohol.

"I need… Um… I don't.." She presses a hand to her forehead, blinking around with a confused look etched on her face before promptly turning and vomiting onto the grass…. That poor grass. I feel sorry for it, really I do. But I guess that's just me being compassionate. The smell and sound is awful, and I have to resist the urge to put as much distance between her and I as possible. However, being the great friend that I am, I step forward and steady her when she wobbles, almost face planting into the pile of puke.

"Are you done?" I ask, having to talk to her as if she's five for her to comprehend anything I'm saying. She's so far gone, she's practically walking on the moon. "Carter." I grab her chin, force her to look at me, ignore the puff of vomit breath that wafts towards me. "Are you done or are you going to be sick again before I can get you to my bathroom?"

She laughs, flashing her white teeth, and slurs something incomprehensible.

I roll my eyes, grab onto her arm and begin hauling her in the house. She stumbles behind me, runs into the banister on the stairs. "Ouch. That wassn verr nice…"

"Shhh," I hiss. "Do you want Mom to know you're here?"

She shakes her head quickly, making her eyes unfocused with the sudden movement. She absentmindedly presses a hand to her stomach, and I can see her throat muscles begin to work. "No! Don't you dare!" I squeak, practically carrying her up the stairs. As soon as we reach the second floor, I shove her into the bathroom, hold her face over the toilet while she lets fly for the second time.

"I bet that felt great," I tell her sarcastically, referring to her deep dry heaves that sounded painful and not feeling particularly sympathetic. "Stand up." She obeys, pressing a hand to the wall for balance.

"I have to pee," She says, and her voice sounds so innocent and young that I have to laugh.

"Go ahead… No! In the toilet, Carter! We pee in the toilet not the bathtub."

"Oh," She pulls down her pants, does her business, all the while talking very seriously about how sorry she is for eating those poor chickens and cows for all these years. "I think… mayb ishoulld.. be a veg.. vegat..v"

"Vegetarian," I finish for her. "Are you done yet?"

"Yes," She confirms but stays firmly seated on the toilet seat, waiting for my next command.

I turn the water on in the tub, fill it to the top. "Get in…" She sighs, makes her way over to the tub with her pants still at her ankles. "Not with your clothes on. Give them to me, I'll put them in the wash." She hands me the rest of her clothes, most of which have puke clinging to them. I help her into the bath, can't help but crack a smile as she squeals, beginning to splash around in the water. Reaching out, I grab her chin, force her to focus on me. "I will be back in two minutes, tops. Don't get water on the floor. Don't puke in your water. And stay conscious okay? Two minutes."

She nods, eager to please me, and I turn and hurry out the door and to the laundry room.

As I'm coming back up the stairs, I run into Fang.

"Did she come over just to use the shower?"

I laugh. "Nope. Homegirl is wasteddd..."

Fang rolls his eyes. "I'll have to thank her later. Got me out of that project."
"Aww, aren't you just a lucky little fellow?" I tease, stepping close and pressing my body against his.

He swallows. "I don't know. You tell me.."

I bend my head to his, feel his breath on my lips, and just as he brings his head down to kiss me, I scamper out of reach, snickering. "Fang? Lucky? Please!"

Remembering my extremely drunk friend in the bathroom, I pick up my speed, ignoring Fang's annoyed growl from the stairs.

"You're going to regret this tomorrow," I tell Carter as I help her dry off.

She glares at me, folds her arms over her chest like a child. "You're meanie."

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Here," I say, handing Carter some Aspirin and a glass of pickle juice. She wrinkles her nose as the sour scent hits her.

"I'll puke before I get this down," She murmurs, eyeing the green liquid through the clear cup.

"Suck it up, Princess. You wanna party like a big shot? You c-" I start, but she cuts me off.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. You don't approve."

"Just drink it. It's supposed to help," I tell her and watch with interest as she gulps it all down. "See? Not so bad, huh?"

"Whatever," She mutters, irritable. "Can we just go to school already?"

I get a sick satisfaction watching Carter try and hold her cookies in onthe car ride to the school. What? Oh, don't look at me like that. It's not that I like seeing her sick, I just hope that this killer hangover will remind her why she shouldn't drink in the first place. Yeah, yeah. Call me a Momma Bear. Call me lame, but who feels fine and who is tossing their cookies in the bathroom stall?

"Do you have gum?" She asks me miserably, washing her hands in the sink.

I hand her a stick of spearmint while she rinses her mouth.

"Stop looking at me like that," She snaps. "Lesson learned, okay? You win."

She marches out of the bathroom, obviously annoyed with me, and I don't attempt to stop her. Instead, I seek out Fang.

I find him walking with Iggy down a side hall amongst the mass of students hustling to their next class.

"Hey Mom," He fires at me, slinging a careless arm around my shoulder.

"Don't you start too! She made a bad decision, and I want her to learn from it… In my opinion, that makes me a good friend, not a mom," I tell him, realizing that I sound defensive but not caring.

"I know, Max. I'm just messing with you," He murmurs, voice muffled as he turns and buries his nose into my hair.

Iggy "coughs" into his hand, and I can distinctly hear "lame" leave his mouth.

"You shut up. If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it."

I spot Ella at the end of the main hall at the same time Iggy does. He speeds up, leaving Fang and I behind and muttering over his shoulder about how he didn't know it was a crime to cough these days.

"Plans today?" Mom asks, wrapping her favorite apron around her hips. I admire her womanly curves, envy them, wish I wasn't such a stick. Stupid bird kid genes.

"Shopping with Carter. Pure joy," I say sarcastically. Carter has a date tomorrow with someone other than Austin, which is ridiculous. Sure, they broke up, but it's obvious to anyone that they're still pining over each other.

"Don't sound so excited, babe," She laughs, washing her hands in the sink before beginning to gather her ingredients. "How is Carter? I don't think I've seen much of her lately."

This is true. Mom hasn't seen much of Carter, but that doesn't mean she hasn't been around. Ask my poor toilet how much puke it's seen in the last couple of weeks.

I shrug in response to Mom's question, looking up when I hear the front door slam shut.

"Dr.M!" Carter chirps, sauntering into the kitchen. "Long time no see." She comes up behind me, wraps me into a hug. "Hey Maxie-Pad," She breathes over my shoulder. Mom laughs as I turn around, swat at Carter for calling me the ridiculous nickname I forbade her to call me. It's easy for me to ignore the way she smells, like alcohol and cigarettes masked in too much perfume. In fact, she comes in smelling like that so often now that nothing seems out of the norm. I'm accustomed to it. I haven't confronted her about it. I'll back off, let her have her fun. It's normal for teens to party. Doesn't mean I have to, but Carter's her own person, and that's what I'll let her be.

"Let's just go."

"So who is this guy?" I ask around a mouthful of chocolate ice cream.

Carter tosses her jet black hair, gives a small shrug. Her eyes roam the store windows as we walk through the mall. "You don't know him."

"What's he like?"

She ignores my question, continues eating her ice cream in small, distracted bites.

"Carter."

Finally, she turns, meets my eyes. "You don't know him, Max. Okay?"

I stare into her eyes, search them, and come up short. "Okay," I agree because I don't actually care what he's like. He's not Austin, and that's all that matters to me. I know. I know. I should give new people a chance, but what am I if not stubborn?

Suddenly, Carter grins. "Max those jeans would work wonders on your figure! What size are you again? A zero? God, I wish I had your legs. Come on. You're totally trying these on."

And just like that, any tension we had eases away.

Tonight we watched The Hunger Games, not exactly a great choice. It hit just a tad too close to home, and we all dispersed quietly after the movie was over, needing to be alone with our thoughts.

Feeling a little suffocated, I amble down to Fang's room, poke my head in the door. "You wanna go for a therapeutic flying session?"

He agrees immediately, and we jump out of his window together, unfurl our wings, welcome the pull of our muscles that don't get worked often enough anymore. It's amazing. We soar for over an hour in companionable silence, not needing words to express our feelings.

Finally, we land in the park, settle onto the swings.

I glance around, a bittersweet memory forming in my mind. "The last time I was here was when Trent told me he was sick," I say, my words disrupting the still silence around us. Fang sighs, standing up and coming to put his arms around me from behind. He rocks us just slightly, tugs my shirt farther down on my arm so that he can kiss my bare shoulder. I turn into him, letting him kiss my cheek before I touch my lips to his.

"I love you," He whispers into my mouth. I don't say it back, just put every ounce of my feelings into my kiss. We talk with our body language, the way we have been doing since we were in diapers. I don't have to say it. He knows.

I amble down the empty school hallway until I come to Mr. Perkin's room to turn in an overdue paper. I twist the knob, let myself in the dark classroom.

I try not to jump when my eyes take in a figure that I don't expect to be there.

"What are you doing in here? What do you have against being on time to lunch?"

"I could ask you the same questions," Kace replies calmly.

I roll my eyes, continue across the room to the turn in basket. "Whatever…. Seriously what are you doing in here? It's creepy and weird to sit in a dark classroom all by yourself and sneak up on innocents like me." Okay, that was stretching it, I know, but I was on a roll.

Now it's his turn to rolls his eyes. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

I purse my lips. "True."

He shrugs, my dismissal. I sigh. The kid is impossible.

"Fine." I march past him, heading back out the door.

"You should watch out for your little friend!" He calls.

I stop dead in my tracks, turn on my heel, and stalk back into the classroom. "What did you say?"

"Your friend." His gray eyes bore into mine. "You should watch out for her. Carter. I think that's her name."

My eyes narrow. "Why?"

"Don't act like you don't see it."

"Enlighten me," I tell him.

"She has all the telltale signs of being an addict," He admits, looking me square in the eyes and not backing down when I turn on my frosty glare.

"Please!" I scoff. "She's just having fun."

He stares at me, for such a long time that I begin to feel uncomfortable. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

I stare at him, incredulous. How dare he act like he knows Carter better than I do!

"Take it from someone who would know. You've been through a lot. I get that, but I somehow doubt you know as much as you seem to think you do about addiction. Put away your pride and listen to me. She needs help. Stop it before it gets bad."

"You don't know anything," I mutter before turning and walking back out the door. Screw him and his predictions. I know my best friend.