The sun is mocking me.

They say that this is the wrong thing to think—nothing is mocking me. And certainly not the sun. The sun cannot think, Max. The sun cannot mock you.

Yet it is. Its white-hot fire is burning me, gradually incinerating my flesh, boiling my running blood. Let it. Let me taken by the flames, let me be burnt. Please.

Remember that song? There are two little magic words / that will open any door you please. So why don't they? Why?

"Earth to Max. Earth to Max. Do you read me?"

I wish. The earth hates me.

But I slip on my mask again. I man, it's what they want, right? Happy, happy Max, the boy who never existed. And it would not to let them know.

"Max to Earth. Reporting in." I grinned as I replied to Tyson.

"Good!

"Hey, Max, you O.K.?"

No, not really.

"Yeah, of course. It's just…more colourful then I though it would be." Trust it to Ray to notice my spaced-out look. Well, what did you expect, Max? You were staring—no, glaring at a cotton candy stand for five minutes. Anyway, the lie was well spun, considering my half-millisecond to answer. Now I just had to pray no one noticed my quarter-second pause.

Whatever. I'd give Tyson money for cotton candy—that ought to distract them. Come to think of it, I could probably go hyper-spaz and jump in the duck pond or something…

"COTTON CANDY!"

I smirked, inwardly, grinned outside. Right on cue, as always, Tyson was racing towards the Cotton Candy stand. Yep, that should distract everyone for a bit. Looking behind me—I was standing a bit behind Tyson, at least until he took off—I could see Hilary shaking her head, Kenny groaning, a amused smile from our oldest member, Ray, and, well, absolutely nothing from Kai.

Kai is pathetic.

Anyway, I caught up to Tyson, at the pink-flavoured booth. He was sorting out pennies and quarters in front of a very annoyed vender. When he saw me, he looked up and waved.

"Hi Max? Care to lend me some bills? I need…um…twenty four dollars?"

Oh, and are you planning to pay that all in pennies? No, don't worry—it probably won't take more then a week.

"Sure." I handed him the money.

"Thanks, Max! You're the best!" Tyson shoved the money into the man's hand, and waited as he made the cotton candy.

Tyson. If only you knew.

And here we have the end of the second chapter of One-Way Mirror. Like? Hate? Or feel like exploding your computer into a zillion little pieces and cursing the words on the shattered screen into oblivion? (Which is a bad thing peoples. Don't tell me that unless you really hate it.)
I want any suggestions. I can't figure out how to get it right, so…

For clarification—Max is not talking to you. Ha. He's sort of talking to himself. Don't ask why. It may make more sense later. And then again…it might not…

There are a few clues dropped in this chapter, as to the rest of the story, and WHY he's as he is. You may scour, but you probably won't find anyway…as the story goes on, later chapters may make my subtle hints a little more obvious!

And thank you SO much to all you nice peoples who reviewed! I shall respond…

Kenzie Jadenwie: Thankee. I am updating now!

personne du monde: Um…is that a good thing?Thanks if it is!

twincharm: Thankee! The first chapter was a sort of introduction. They get longer from here on. Promise! And thanks for the correction—guess I'm not using the Japanese name after all.

Spyrit Phoenyx: Yes…many grammar mistakes. sigh Microsoft Word hates me… And you shall get an explanation for sure. But it's not in the second chapter. Actually, it's somewhere in the climax or turning point, or whatever of the story. So I will torture you until then. (Or you could look for my very subtle hints. I think they're a little too subtle though. (I'll probably put a 'hint guide' later on, where I shall list all my hints. Ha. 'cus I like them.)

Isil Maxfan: Glad you like it! And it will be finished, but if you want to write an alternate version, go ahead. Just stick my name in there somewhere, and tell me where it is… And if you don't have an author account, and it's just on your computer or something, e-mail it to me. And I shall read. And if you want, I could even post it. So…go write a Maxfic! The world needs more of them…