Very cool to see reviews for last chapter. Keep it up! Soon we'll reach the part of the story that extends past the Flamin' timeline. Just six chapters to go till the story's over anyway.

When I walked into school the next day, I had Max's hand in mine. With that, I felt so much stronger, so much more ready and prepared for the looks and the whispered conversations from the douchebags at school.

Now I have someone at my side. If Josh wanted to give me shit, he'd have to give it to the both of us, and Max told me he doesn't take shit from no-one.

So when Josh saw us in the cafeteria, all he had to do was look at us the wrong way and Max informed him he had a black belt in karate and that his hands were "Licensed by the government as lethal weapons" and Josh soon shut his trap.

And now it's a whole week later and things are going okay for us. I mean, people are still hesitant to sit next to me in class or ask me my opinion on the book in English, but it's tolerable.

I only wish Thermopolis could be as happy as me. I think I'm going to have to give her a helping hand on that issue...

"Max," I said after school one day. We were sitting in his apartment studying for an upcoming Bio test.

"Mmm?" he asked, flipping the page and glancing at the answer.

"What's up with Leaves?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking away from his notebook and up at me. "You're not thinking of ditching me for my younger, less handsome brother, are you?"

"Of course not!" I replied quickly. "But I know Mia's interested in him, but she'd never make the first move. Do you know if he's seeing someone? Or if he's interested in her at all?"

He let out a little laugh. "Nah, Leaves left his girlfriend, Sydney, back in Santa Monica a few months ago when we found out we were moving. He said he didn't want to end on bad terms with her, and he didn't think a long distance relationship would work. After all, he's only fifteen. But, uh, if by interested you mean does he think about Mia every five minutes? Then yeah, I'd say he was more than slightly interested. Do you think they need a little push in the right direction?"

I nodded eagerly. "Definitely."

A few days later we cornered Leaves in the kitchen as he was getting an after school snack.

"So, Leaves," Max said casually, sitting down at the table across from him. I sat down next to Max.

"Wassup?" Leaves asked through a mouthful of peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"What are your intentions with Mia?" I blurted out, probably sounding more like a protective father than an eager-to-help friend.

He looked at me blankly. "Uh, I don't have...I don't...I mean...uh..."

Max shot me a scornful look. "Let me handle this," he hissed. I sat back and he turned back to his brother. "We want to help you," he insisted.

"With staying away from Mia?" he asked, eyeing me suspisciously.

"No, you idiot. With getting her."

Leaves let out a sigh of relief and sat up. "Oh, okay. So...what are you going to do about it?"

"Well," Max started. "What are you doing right now? Apart from studying at her house after school."

Leaves shifted uncomfortably. "Nothing..."

"Then there's your first problem," I pointed out, ignoring Max's insistence that he can 'handle' it himself. "Mia isn't the type of girl who clues onto things very easily. I'm not saying she's stupid, but she doesn't like to think that people like her that way. She's very hesitant."

"Exactly," Max piped up. "So you'll have to do more to show her that you care. Call her at night to talk about something other than homework. Take her to the movies and take her hand during the scary parts. Show her you icare/i." As Max said the word 'care' he slipped his arm around my shoulder.

"Trust me," I added, enjoying the warmth of Max's strong shoulder. "She'll be putty in your hands once you start paying more attention to her."

"And you're happy with me going after her?" he asked skeptically.

"Anything that makes Mia happy, makes me happy," I told him. Adding, "But if you hurt her, you'll have me to deal with."

Leaves laughed, clearly not understanding that I was being totally serious. Do people just not take me seriously when I have a buff, strapping young man across my shoulders anymore?

Maybe I should enter my views on how society judges minorities in mom and dad's book...Nah.

Leaves reported back to us a few days later.

"I don't think she's interested," he said as we walked into the school.

"Whatddya mean?" I asked. As far as I knew, Mia was MORE than interested in Leaves. She spoke of nothing and no one else.

"Well, I did what you suggested. I rang her last night to talk about something other than homework, and she hardly said anything. I could hear what sounded like someone gasping for air, and when I asked her about it she blamed it on some fat guy called Louie. Then she quickly hung up. Obviously she wasn't interested in talking to me."

I sighed. "Um, maybe it was a problem with her cat," I lied. "I'm sure it had nothing to do with you calling. That was just a coincidence."

He nodded unsurely. "So you think I should call her tonight?"

"Yeah. And ask her to see a movie. Something scary, like the Ring 2 or something."

"Okay. I'll give it one more go."

He patted me on the back and skipped off to his locker.

Oh, Mia, pull yourself together! This boy is ripe and ready for the taking!

Thermopolis was practically in tears when I saw her in G&T.

"Michael," she whispered, sliding into the seat next to me. "I did the worst thing. The most horrible thing. I wouldn't be surprised if he never spoke to me again. God, why am I such an idiot?"

"Mia, slow down," I said. "What are you talking about?" Of course, I can't admit that I know what she's talking about, because if she finds out I planned it, she'll kill me.

"iLeaves/i called me last night!" she squeaked. "At first I thought he wanted to know something about homework, becuase we'd been doing our English papers a few hours before, but no, he said he just wanted to talk!"

"So what did you talk about?" I asked.

She looked away, totally embarrassed. "I freaked out. I didn't know what to say and there was a long silence. Then I started having problems breathing because I was having a panic attack. He asked what the noise was so I blamed it on Fat Louie and hung up. Oh, Michael! I HUNG UP on him! What if he never calls again!"

I gently rubbed her back. "It's okay. I'm sure he'll call again. Tonight in fact. I bet he'll call tonight."

She coughed out a laugh. "Yeah right. I've been avoiding him all day because I can't bear to see him after what I did. He probably thinks I'm the biggest loser ever."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"Well if he doesn't think it then he's an idiot. Because I AM a loser."

"Mia, you know that's not true."

"Pfft. Yes it is. But it doesn't matter anyway. Because he won't call back." She dropped her head and it landed with a bang on the desk top. "Ow," she muttered, without bothering to lift her head.

"Things worked out for me, Mia," I told her. "Maybe things can still work out for you."

She didn't reply.

Max and I went to the video store that night. We figured Leaves would be on the phone to Mia all night and we didn't know what else to do.

"I bet you've never seen this one," I said to him, picking up a movie and shoving it in his hands.

"The Blues Brothers? Who HASN'T seen that movie? Dan was obsessed with it, we used to have to watch it at least once a weekend."

"Who's Dan?" I asked, thinking he had another brother I didn't know about.

"Oh," he replied, looking away. "He was um...he was my..."

...Love of his life. Damnit. I should have known I wouldn't be Max's first. Not everyone is as slow to escape the closet as me.

"Your first boyfriend?" I asked, my voice catching on the words despite my best attempts to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah, something like that..."

Max didn't offer up any more of an explanation, and I didn't ask for one. But that doesn't mean I'm not anxious to know exactly who he was.

"Let's go over to tke kids section," Max said exuberantly. "I want to get something I haven't seen in ages. Like Aladdin!"

We took three steps towards the kids section and almost ran head first into someone. And not just anyone. Felix.

"Michael!" he practically yelped, thrusting the movie in his hands behind his back before I could see what it was. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Felix," I said casually, strangely not caring about seeing him again. We haven't spoken in weeks, but we don't need to now. Now I have Max. "We're just getting a movie."

He looked up at Max. "Right. I'll uh, see ya around."

Once Felix was out of ear shot Max asked me, "Ex-boyfriend?"

"Felix?" I echoed. "No way. Just an old friend. I don't have any skeletons in my closet."

He grinned. "Oh, It's just he had...Nevermind."

"He had what?" I asked, interested.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter. Now let's find Aladdin and get out of here."

After seeing Felix, I couldn't have been happier to get out of there.