Hey Everybody! Thanks for the reviews! Sorry it took so long to update, but now that I'm out of school hopefully the parts will come faster. Here's the next part.

Chapter 11: Miniature Disasters

Liz POV

"Hey! Watch it!" Max yells covering his now injured eye protectively and leaning away from my approaching hand, never taking his other eye off of the offending weapon I hold. Jeez, it was just an accident…if he'd held still it probably wouldn't- nope, it still would've happened…yeah, he shouldn't have pissed me off earlier. Putting the mascara wand back into its bottle, I stand waiting for him to calm down.

"There, I put it away. Now calm down. Jeez, you're such a baby." I say with a huff. "Aren't men supposed to be tough?" He looks at me indignantly and a second later, he removes his hand from his eye.

"Well what do you expect when you mercilessly attack me with that-that thing!" He points childishly at the mascara in my hand.

"It was an ACCIDENT! Get over it already, besides, if you had just held still then we wouldn't be having this conversation right now!" I yell back at him feeling the twinge of a headache forming at my temples. Does he always have to be so exhausting? I move my free hand up to my temple to rub small circles in an attempt to relieve the pain. Okay Liz, you can get through this. You only have one more period after this and then you're out. Thank God for free periods. Taking a deep breath I look up to see him still eyeing me warily. "WHAT!" I shriek out causing him to flinch even farther away from me. It came out more harshly than I intended it to and I look around noticing that our little spat has garnered more attention than before. A better inspection finds me falling under the gaze of my cousin who is currently glaring at me and the scene I am making and I have to literally fight the urge to roll my eyes. She's got to be kidding me. Well, what does she expect? She's the one who put me in this situation, it's not like pairing Max and I together in a pep rally is suddenly going to turn us into best friends, let alone make us be civil. I have to admit, I started this out confident that I could make Jay jealous, maybe even jealous enough to want to be with me again and see how stupid it is for us to be apart. He LOOKED angry enough to begin with…but now I'm starting to wonder if this all was even worth the effort. All this time Jay looked like he could care less and instead busies himself talking to Serena, and Max is seriously starting to give me a headache. Tuning back into Serena's glare I steel myself to turn my attention back to Max, but not before catching Jay turning to look in my direction, his eyes looking murderously at Max and our close proximity, or at least that's what I hope it is. A second later, I watch his gaze move over to me but as soon as his eyes meet mine he turns away. But with renewed hope and feeling my headache begin to ebb I turn back to Max. "Okay, come on. I want to win this thing. There is NO way, and I mean NO way that I am going to lose to my cousin, let alone Courtney." And pass up this opportunity to make Jay see what a fool he's being…I add silently to myself. Heck, after that glare Jay just sent Max's way I'd willingly kiss Max again if I thought that would get Jay to come back to me.

Yeah, like that's the ONLY reason you'd willingly kiss Max again…

Oh shut up you. Can't you just leave me alone? It was a good kiss okay? But even if it was a great kiss that does not mean that I am going to kiss him all the time or forget about Jay.

You just said it was a GREAT kiss…

Yeah whatever; look, I got a contest to win so can you just you know…poof? Or whatever it is you do when you go away?

Fine.

Thank you.

"Liz?" Max asks shaking me out of my mental argument.

"Yeah, what? Sorry, what was that?" I say tuning back into the situation. Come on Liz, you want to win don't you?

"I said, sure, we can keep going as long as you keep that offending instrument of pain away from me." He says gesturing to the mascara.

"But I've only done one eye; I need to do the other one." I state already unscrewing the lid to said mascara. At my action Max backs up two steps and holds his hands up in defense.

"NO! I want to keep my other eye! Keep that thing away!" He yells fearfully dodging my approaching hand once again. "No! Keep it away! It only causes pain!"

"Yeah, well beauty is pain, so deal with it! Now you know what women go through to look beautiful." At my words, a look of sheer horror crosses his face.

"You actually DO this! WILLINGLY! You're a masochist!"

"Well, usually when I DO this, I am sitting STILL so it doesn't poke me is the EYE! So stand STILL!" Grabbing him by the arm forcefully, I apply mascara to his other eye, but not before-

"OUCH! You poked me in the eye! AGAIN! I think you're doing this on purpose!" He announces sulkily jutting out his bottom lip. It's completely adorable and I almost want to ki- I mean, it's completely annoying! When I realize he's not going to cooperate I take a step back from him and fold my arms across my chest in annoyance.

"Of course I'm doing this on purpose! It's part of the pep rally! And I REALLY want to win-"

"I don't think injuring me is part of the pep rally…" He says as if stating a point I have overlooked.

"Yeah, well, like I said, beauty is pain; and the object of this pep rally is to makeover you guys into some pretty ladies. If you didn't want to do this then you shouldn't have volunteered."

"I didn't! My sister pinched me and when I stood up, your cousin so kindly picked on me!" He shouts loudly and I know my cousin has heard because when I turn around to glare at her she has the grace to look embarrassed if not nervous. Hmm…what are you playing at Serena? Don't think I won't get you back for this. Almost as if she can hear what I am thinking she immediately busies herself with making over Jay, which reminds me-

"Oh well, you're here now so let's just deal with this and get it over with. Now come here. The worst part is over. Now let me do your blush." I say calming down a little and once again grabbing him by the arm to bring him closer to me. I start applying the blush to his skin and Max quietly complies and just when I think this might even work out and we might win he opens his big mouth.

"Should you really be putting this much make-up on me? I've seen my sister do this hundreds of times and I don't remember seeing her ever put this much on. You're not making me look like a slut are you!" He asks worriedly as his eyes get as wide as saucers. "Whoa, there's a vein popping out in your forehead-"

"SHUT UP! Just be quiet. Don't talk unless you can improve the silence. And hold still, unless, you want to look like Marilyn Manson." Ah, silence. At my threat he settles down into a pout. I finish applying his blush and then make a grab for the lipsticks provided. Hmm…iced mocha, plum, or peach blossom…

"Okay Max, which one do you want? Iced mocha, plum, or peach blossom?" I ask holding up the three options for him to choose from.

"Uh, I don't know, you're the make-up expert, you choose."

"Yeah, but just a second ago you were criticizing my techniques. Aren't you concerned I'm going to make you look like a slut?" I ask smugly.

"Fine, fine. I'm sorry. I'm sure you're doing a fine job. Just pick whatever you want."

"Thank you. Now, I think with your skin tone you're more an iced mocha than anything." I say thinking out loud. Putting down the other two tubes of lipstick I move his face down so I can get a good look at his lips. Wow he has nice lips. Whoa, focus Liz, focus. "Okay, now relax your lips and hold your mouth open a little bit like this." I tell him showing him how I want him to put his lips by doing the same with mine. Max looks down at my lips and suddenly I feel the heat rise to my cheeks because I realize that he's staring at them fixatedly. He finally allows his eyes to flicker up to my face to look into my eyes and for a second I stop breathing. He looks like he wants to kiss me senseless. I close my eyes to clear my mind. It's only in your head Liz, when you open your eyes again, Max will just be waiting there for you to put the lipstick on him. Yet as I open my eyes it's only to see that Max has lowered his face dangerously close to mine. His mouth hovers only inches away from mine and the memory from this morning's kiss only makes me want to close that distance all the more. I want to taste him again. Wait, Liz, what are you thinking! Breaking myself out of the fog I'm in, I push Max away quickly before it goes any further and take a few steps back. This is NOT good.

"What are you DOING!" I whisper harshly to him hoping to snap him out of whatever he was just thinking. I can't believe I almost kissed him, AGAIN. In front of Jay- and oh crap. Looking around to see if anyone had noticed our near-kiss, because if anyone had been watching that's what they would have seen. There is no other reason why Max's face would be so close to mine. I am surprised though to see that everyone's attention is on my brother and Courtney who, from where I'm standing appear to be in a heated argument. Breathing a sigh of relief, I take this opportunity to grab Max by the collar of his shirt and apply the lipstick to his soft lips.

Soft? Now how do you know they're soft?

You? I thought you were gone.

Silence…

Thank you now let me get back to winning this.

"Now Max, rub your lips together like this." And still slightly confused at what just happened complies easily.

"Like this?" He asks massaging both lips together.

"Yeah, like that."

"Okay, now what?"

"Now…"smack. The sound of skin hitting skin resounds in the air around us as I smack him soundly on the arm.

"OUCH! First you poke me in the eyes probably in an attempt to blind me and now you SMACK me! What the heck! I haven't done anything to anger you have I?" He questions sarcastically, clutching at his now red arm; but due to the attention Michael and Courtney are attracting I doubt anyone paid attention to his words.

"Hmm…let's see, you broke my phone, insulted me, pretty much brought about the destruction of my relationship with that kiss this morning-"

"Oh really, it was that good huh?" He interrupts now smiling smugly down at me and I feel my anger start to boil over. That little…

"NO you jerk! My boyfriend saw you kiss me and got the wrong idea about us-"

"What about US?" He asked, his smile growing wider.

"Are you LISTENING? There IS no us. And thanks to that kiss this morning, my boyfriend wants nothing to do with me." Don't punch him Liz, DON'T punch him…

"If there is no us, then why'd we almost kiss a minute ago?"

"WE didn't almost kiss a minute ago. YOU almost kissed me a minute ago." I tell him, the venom dripping from every word just daring him to say otherwise. He's silent for a minute and as his gaze studies my face I expect him to come back at me with another sarcastic or insulting remark. The last thing I expected was an apology.

"You're right, I'm sorry. Look, I didn't mean to mess up things between you and your boyfriend. I thought that there was something between us, but I was wrong and I'm sorry." At my silence he continues nervously. "You know, I'm not usually such a jerk, I guess you just bring it out in me. Whoa, don't get angry, I didn't mean it like that." He says quickly noticing my fists clenching at my sides. At my still skeptic look he continues. "Look, for what it's worth, he's a jerk if he doesn't trust you. Isn't trust important in relationships?" I fight the feeling rising within me but it soon overtakes me and I can't help what's going to happen next. I burst out laughing so hard that I think my sides are going to split. "What? What's so funny?" Max asks looking genuinely confused.

"Y-you…" I manage to get out between my fit of giggles.

"What? Why?"

"I can't believe I am having a serious conversation with you…dressed like that." Looking down at himself dressed in a makeshift dress made out of a plastic tablecloth and wearing make-up he begins to laugh as well.

"I see what you mean." Then suddenly getting serious he continues. "I meant what I said though, if he doesn't trust you then maybe he's not worth it." He tells me seriously, which I find very strange considering most of our previous conversations consisted of arguing and insults.

"Would YOU trust a girl kissing another guy, right before your eyes, especially after years of your sister bad-mouthing you!" At the tone of my voice he visibly cringes. "Yeah, that's what I thought. So forgive me if I'm a little hesitant to take relationship advice from someone who tried to break up me and my boyfriend just this morning." I bite out bitterly dwelling on the dismal situation of my relationship right now.

"Liz…" At my indignant silence he tries to get my attention and when I won't look at him he lifts my chin up to look at him. "Liz, I'm sorry, really." He looks sincere and part of me wants to believe him. Probably the crazy part, I mean this IS the same guy who just tried to kiss me. Fine, I'll play along with his game. "Look, who's your boyfriend-"

"EX-boyfriend you mean?" I correct him. "Oh that would be that guy over there with my cousin, you know, the one that's been glaring at you for the last five minutes." I add in with a smile. I know it's not true, but maybe it'll scare Max a little. And just as I'd hoped, Max winces a little letting me know my words have indeed affected him. Thankfully and to my delight, when Max looks over to where Jay and Serena are standing, Jay is in fact glaring at Max, and it takes all my self-control to keep a straight face. As I look back up at Max, he turns back to me and his eyes meet mine. Does he actually look remorseful? Could he really be serious about the apology? Whoa, okay, I have got to stop thinking like this. I don't want to think that there's more to Max Evans than what I've met. It's just too…too-

"Here, wait here, and I'll just go and explain it to him, you know, tell him I made a mistake." He says motioning over to Jay and trying to move around me to get to him. Is he serious? If he goes over there now he'll just make it worse. Jay looks pissed off as it is, ever since Max looked his way. This won't be pretty, and as much as I want to see Max get taken down a notch, that annoying little voice inside my head that claims to be my conscience is telling me to stop him; that and the fact that if this goes badly, any chance of a relationship between me and Jay is basically over. Before I even realize what I'm doing then, I grab onto Max's arm, effectively stopping him. He turns a questioning glance down to my hand on his arm and looks back up at me confused. "What?"

"Look, I believe you're sorry." I rush out hurriedly. "Don't do this now; you'll just make things worse."

"Oh, come on. It won't be that bad, just chill out. Go practice a cheerleader routine or something, I'll be right back." His sarcasm, to my annoyance has returned. And with that said he takes hold of my hand around his arm to release its grip on the appendage. He starts to move away from me and towards Jay and my mind frantically searches for a solution. Later I'll regret my next action but in desperation, I latch my arms strongly around his waist trying to stop his escaping form. He stops and I realize the extremely awkward position we are both in. Him, standing mid-step with his back turned to me, and me bent forward, my shoulder resting on his back and my arms latched firmly around his waist. Turning his head to look down at me where I'm frozen he smiles amused.

"Wow, you just can't keep your hands off of me, can you?" He asks smugly. Finally looking back up at him I say only one word.

"Don't." I growl out. If kindly asking doesn't work with this man, maybe fear of being beaten will stop him…Suddenly without warning, he turns in my arms so now my face is in his chest and my arms wrapped around his torso. The awkward turn causing me in the confusion to stand to my full height. It still hadn't crossed my mind to release my arms from their current position which if it had, it would've saved us quite a bit of trouble since right about now it looks like we're locked in an intimate embrace and this time, we don't have the arguing voices of Michael and Courtney to take the attention off of us. Then, before I have time to form a coherent thought, Max begins to whisper softly against my ear. I never noticed him leaning down…

Probably, because you were too distracted by the feel of being in his arms…

Shut up! What are you talking about! I am not in his arms! His arms aren't ar-around me…It's then I notice that his arms are indeed around me.

See?

Just go away, would you?

"I think you've probably just made things worse on your own." I shiver involuntarily at the sensation of his warm breath against my ear. Then as his words register I lean to see around Max to look at Jay who looks more ready than ever to kill Max. Then Jays gaze drops lower and he lets out a growl. I follow to where he's looking to still see my arms wrapped firmly around Max's torso. I immediately drop my arms as if burned, but the damage has already been done, and it's made even worse when Max raises his hand to my cheek in a soft caress and moves an errant strand of my hair behind my ear. The realization that this is not only happening in front of Jay this time but the whole school hasn't officially hit me yet. In fact, the only thought running through my mind is that I've got to get to Jay. I've got to make him realize that this is all a big misunderstanding. Jay looks away from me in disgust and with a little help from Serena, who looks at me disapprovingly, ignores me. Panicking, I immediately try to sidestep Max to get to Jay; all that matters right now is making him understand. But apparently my body had other plans for me when instead of by stepping Max; I feel the ground drop out from under me and in my desperate attempt to prevent my face from totally eating the gym floor, I grab onto the very thing which tripped me in the first place: that stupid plastic tablecloth that we used to make Max's dress. Unfortunately, the dress was still ON Max when I grabbed for it.

How could this get worse you ask? Well, the student body president, who has the microphone by the way, picks this very opportune time to narrate what's going on. Or, at least what she thinks is going on.

"Well, it looks like one of our teams is "cozying" up to each other." She speaks into the microphone conspiratorially as if the rest of the school couldn't already see Max and I locked up in a tangle of limbs on the floor of the gym. Max's body on top of mine in a VERY compromising position, and of course, in the shock, an attempt to move wasn't made right away. To everyone else in that gym we looked more like a hormonally driven couple than the victims of a klutz attack. And by everyone, I mean EVERYONE. If I was wondering how Jay would react, I didn't have to wait very long.

"Get of my girlfriend!" Jay yells making his way towards us.

"JAY! JAY!" Serena yells rushing after him. "Jay! Jay, stop!" But before she can stop him, he reaches where we lay. And before I can utter out a word in explanation, he throws the first punch.