"Max!" A young, female voice rang out before a body slammed into me. I laughed, hugging Angel, my sophomore student.
"Hey, Angel. Shouldn't you be in band?" I asked as I pulled away. I turned back to some papers on my music stand.
She nodded. "Yeah, but there's time. I wanted to see you." I smiled at her. She was Gazzy's little sister and he was one of my junior students.
Gazzy and Angel lived with their parents across the hall from me.
"Must you always steal my students, Max?" A female voice called, a smile in the voice. I turned around to see my best friend Nudge near the secret door to the band room. She was the band director and twenty-three, like me. She smiled at me. "Come on, Angel. Class is starting soon." Nudge lived above me for three years now.
Angel hugged me one last time before walking over to Nudge. There was a knock on the choir door and an older gentleman walked through. "You called me in, Ms. Ride?" His voice was deep and rough, startling.
Nudge and Angel walked into the band room.
"Now, Mr. Wolf-" I started, walking into my office with him in tow. He leaned against the doorway as I sat down.
"Fang."
"Pardon?"
"Call me Fang." He smirked. "First name basis."
"Okay," I leaned back and motioned for Fang to sit on my couch. "Fang, I'm sorry to have called upon you but there's an issue with Ella and I have been told you were her guardian."
He was silent for a while. "Did she skip again, Mrs. Ride?"
"Miss. I'm not married, Fang. And yes, she has but not because she didn't want to come to class."
His eyebrows drew down. "So… why am I here?"
"Ella is… having trouble getting along with other students. There have been fights-"
"Are you calling my niece violent?" He growled at me.
I raised an eyebrow. "No, I'm saying you or Lissa need to talk to her. She always comes late, bloodied and bruised. I would like for her family to talk to her and get to the bottom of this. She won't tell me anything." I was concerned with her well-being. Lissa was Ella's godmother. She was always there for Ella for guy troubles but when it came to other things, Fang was the one Ella went to. Lissa had been Ella's mom's friend, no relation to them, really.
He looked at his hands before nodding. His hair was jet black and it was pulled back into a small ponytail at the base of his neck, it was so long. His eyes matched his hair: dark, sleek, depthless, and gentle.
He stood. "I should get going now."
"Of course." I stood and walked him out of my office. Iggy was walking in.
"Maxie!" He sang out happily. "Let's go get some late lunch, shall we?" He clapped his hands together before stopping and smiling once more. "Yo, Fang! Why don't you join us?"
Fang smiled, his bangs covering his eyes. "Iggy, you didn't tell me you were at work today."
"He's here everyday." I rolled my eyes and walked over to Iggy, hitting his head in the process. "I'll go first while you two can talk."
The band room door opened and Nudge stepped out right as the bell rang for the end of the day. She smiled at me and then it slipped from her face as Iggy turned around.
He gasped. "Nudge!" he ran over to her and gave her a big bear hug. He may work here every day but he never gets to see Nudge, always running around the school.
Nudge pulled away from his embrace, blushing. "Can't you treat me like you treat Max at least once!?" Iggy always was cuddly to Nudge, just to bug her, never treating her normally like he did to me. But to me, it seemed as though he liked her. And I mean really liked her.
I laughed at them and backed away, getting away from the argument. I wound up next to Fang. "So, will you talk to Ella?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I don't know why she didn't tell me." He leaned against my podium.
I shrugged. "It's possible she didn't want you to be disappointed in her because she couldn't fix the problem herself."
The choir door opened and Sam walked in. I held back a sigh as he smiled, coming forth. "Hey, Max. Want to grab some lunch?" He tried to smile sweetly but it came off as sickly.
Nudge and Iggy stopped "fighting" and faced us.
"What are you doing in here, West?" Iggy questioned, arms crossed.
"I'm asking Max to lunch." He stated as if it was obvious.
"I'm sorry, Sam, but no. I have to help out somewhere else." I started heading back to my office.
Sam grabbed my hand. "Then at least let me warn you." He pulled me back toward him and I shot a look at Iggy to not rip Sam's arm off. My brother was very protective, especially against Stalker Sam. Nickname provided by Iggy. Fang was just watching us, bored.
"Fine, what?" I pulled my hand away and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Mr. Betchelder has been looking for you." He sounded worried.
My eyebrows drew down and I looked at Iggy. "What's Pops want?" Pops was my nickname for Jeb (Mr. Betchelder) because he was way older than me and he was like a father to me. He was about fifty-two.
Iggy shrugged. "I don't know. Probably nothing."
I rolled my eyes and started walking toward the secret stairs.
"Max!" Sam came up from behind me. "Promise me you won't mouth off to him? I really want you to keep your job." He bit his bottom lip, giving me an appreciative look.
"Iggy." I called softly.
Iggy pulled him away. "Why don't you hang with Fang and I? We've got nothing better to do."
"I have classes to teach." He excused rather harshly, pulling away from Iggy's grip.
I was walking down the stairs, ignoring their arguments.
--!--
"Yo, Pops," I stepped into Jeb's office. He was the assistant principal. "You wanted to see me?"
He looked up from his papers and smiled, his eyes crinkling, showing his inside youth. "Yes. We got a new staff member and he's going to be the music department's assistant. He'll be working with you and Nudge."
I nodded. "Okay," He didn't say anything more. "Anything else?"
He blinked before thinking. "Ah, yes. Um, the Holiday Concert…how ready do you think you are?"
"Pretty ready. We just need to tweak some notes and then we'll be good."
He smiled at me. "Good, good. How've you been? Iggy's been telling me some things-"
"Oh boy." I laughed, leaning back in my seat.
"All he said is that you seem pretty lonely." He grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. "We all feel lonely sometimes but remember: you're never alone. Not really. We're all here for you, we're your family: Iggy, Nudge, Me, Val, and everyone else. We want to see you be happy."
I returned the squeeze before pulling away. "I am happy. I have a great job, great students, and a great substitute father." I gave him a wide smile before standing up. "I've got to get back."
He nodded.
--!--
Ella walked into the choir room, freezing when she saw a familiar man standing near the piano and Iggy. "Uncle Fang." She choked out before clearing her throat.
He turned around and looked at her sternly before walking over.
She looked at her feet. "I'm sorry."
Instead of yelling as she had anticipated, he embraced her tightly. "I'm always proud of you but sometimes you need to let go of your damn Wolf pride and ask for help. I'm glad that you were getting help from at least one person, though, even if it isn't me." He murmured to her.
She pulled back. "You're not mad?"
"At you- no. At the kids that hurt you- yes." He ruffled her hair.
"Mr. Wolf, you're still here?" Max's voice rang out from the secret stairs.
He turned around and shrugged. "I suppose."
She nodded once, letting him silently know that he was welcome. "Iggy, I'm going to be on a conference call, don't let anyone bother me. It's important."
"Who with?" He looked at her, over his shoulder. "Michael again?"
"Wait, Michael?" Ella stepped forward, smiling. "Can I talk to him? Please?!" She clasped her hands together.
Max chuckled. "No, El. This is important- not about tickets again but about providing music. Plus, I want to see if they can all come in to see the concert." She stepped into her office and Ella sighed as the door shut.
"Uncle Fang, why are you still here anyway?" Ella asked, turning toward him and looking at his face through her blackened brown eyes. Her dark brown hair was put into a braid at the base of her neck, dropping down her back, ending under her bust.
He pursed his lips. "I can't see me friends? Now, get to class. I know you have Photography now. Don't think you can skip class."
She pouted and stepped out of the room.
"Yo, Fang, let's go get some grub in the cafeteria." Iggy stood from the piano and led him down the stairs. "I'll get the food, what do you want?"
"Bosco Sticks." Iggy nodded and left to get them both some Bosco Sticks. Fang leaned against the wall, waiting.
About ten or fifteen boys stepped to the front of the cafeteria, getting in position. People started clapping. Iggy came up next to Fang and laughed.
"They do this all the time. The Guy's Chorus sing for the students in their lunch. There's about fifty boys in the chorus in all."
Fang raised an eyebrow as they claimed a table. The boys started singing.
"On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. A partridge in a pear tree. On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree. On the fourth day of Christmas, On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens,
Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.
"On the ninth day of Christmas, On the eighth day of Christmas, Nine ladies dancing, My true love gave to me. Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying. You better not shout. You better not cry. You better not in a pear tree. On the ninth (NO) On the eighth (NO) On the seventh day of Christmas Deck the halls with boughs of holly (My true love gave to me) Here we come a wassailing among the leaves so green (Seven swans a-swimming,) (Six geese a-laying,) Five golden rings Four calling birds Three French hens, Two turtle doves, (Here we come a wassailing among the leaves so green) The boars head in hand bear I be decked with bays And Partridge in a pear tree On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords a-leaping, Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And Rudolf the red nose reindeer.
"On the 12th day of Christmas- I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay and when it's dry and ready. Oh dreidel I shall play. Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel… On the 12th day of Christmas do, do, do, do, do, do. On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me. Twelve drummers drumming like Olympus above the Serengeti, Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords a-leaping, Nine ladies dancing they were dancing for me, Eight maids a-milking they were milking just for me, I had Christmas down in Africa (5x) (Five golden rings) (3x) Gonna deck the halls and do the things we never had. Do, do, do, do, do, do Partridge in a big tree. Partridge in a big tree." {The 12 Days Of Christmas by Straight No Chaser} [I recommend looking it up on their website: www(dot)sncmusic(dot)com. It's really cool]
Fang's jaw almost dropped, his chewed up food close to being displayed to other students.
Iggy laughed and clapped with everyone else. "Every lunch does a different song with a different choir group. It's to give students ideas of how the whole concert will go through. And it's to encourage students to join. And let me tell you, it works." He chuckled, finishing his coffee and standing with Fang to throw out their garbage.
"Did Max tell them to?" Fang asked as they made their journey back to the choir room.
Iggy shook his head. "No. At first, this lunch did it and Max saw them perform since she grabbed something to eat. She thought it was a good idea so she let everyone do it. It's not just for the holidays, either. Just in general. Band does it too sometimes, if they can at least."
Fang nodded. "It's cool."
"Yeah, and the whole reason the students did it was because they heard people talking shit about my sister, saying she wasn't a real teacher since she taught choir. It was to show how much work goes into the songs. And the kids really enjoy it."
Fang stared at him. "You two really enjoy it here, don't you?"
Iggy nodded. "All the choirs are one big family. Max and I think of them all as sisters and brothers, except for Angel and Gazzy. Max thinks of them as her kids. Speaking of which, did you and Ella talk through it all?"
Fag nodded. "Yeah. I'm just glad, out of anyone, she chose Max to go to."
"Hey, man, don't be crushing on my sister. Otherwise, I get to crush you."
Fang chuckled at the threat. "Don't worry."
"So, why are you still here? Ella's fine now…"
"I'm the new music assistant. I'll be working here from now on."
"What happened to being an agent?" Iggy's eyebrows drew down as they stepped into the choir room.
Fang shrugged as Max opened her office door, talking on her cell. He watched her stand up, Bluetooth in her ear, phone tucked in her pants pocket.
"Dude, Michael, come on! Please?! Can't you guys make it out here?" She started pacing as she got a response. "Look, the kids adore you- all of you. You wouldn't be…" Her face pinched up as she thought and listened. She sighed. "Would you believe me if I just said I wanted you all to come? I really think you guys would enjoy watching them, seeing other people perform your songs…And don't give me the excuse you guys are out of town. I know for a fact that you guys are going to be in town when we have the concert." She stopped pacing and smirked triumphantly.
"That's why she's the boss." Iggy murmured to Fang as he made his way to Max's office. As he passed her, he high-fived her. Fang chuckled.
"Great. Set the date. Alright, bye." She chuckled at the end as she shut her phone off. As she took off her Bluetooth, she noticed Fang standing near the piano, staring at the music sheets. "What are you still doing here, Fang?" She stepped out of her office and sat down at the piano, leaning against the cover over the keys. "Just wanting to see me?" She smiled, teasing him.
He shrugged. "Maybe. I haven't seen you in so long so there's nothing wrong with that." He crossed his arms and leaned against the piano.
--!--
"True." I said, laughing. Fang and Iggy had been friends in high school and college. "How long has it been? A year? Two?"
"For you and I, yes. Iggy and I still hang out." He nodded his head at Iggy, his eyes still on me. "But I'm here because I just got a new job."
"Really? What happened to-?"
"Tried asking." Iggy interjected. "He won't answer."
Pops walked in and smiled, seeing Fang. "Ah, good. Max, Iggy, I know you guys already know Fang, I'm sure you three will work famously together."
I looked at him. "Scuse me?" I asked, confused.
"He's the new assistant." Jeb explained. "And, Fang, a little forewarning: Max works her assistants to the bone with work." He left before I could retort.
I glared at where he used to stand before looking back at Fang casually. "That's only because my past assistants were pricks." I explained.
Fang nodded, lips pursed. He started to smirk. "Sure…" He sounded unconvinced.
The bell rang, signaling the end of the day. I stood from the piano as Nudge came in from the band room with Angel and Gazzy. Angel ran at me and hugged me again.
"Mom said you're taking care of us tonight." Angel said seriously. "She just texted and said you wouldn't mind."
I raised an eyebrow. "You guys are in high school. You can take care of yourselves, right?" I looked at Gazzy. "Scratch that- you can but he can't." He stuck his tongue out at me, making me laugh. "But it's okay. When should I come over?"
Gazzy shook his head, coming over to us, Nudge talking to Fang and Iggy. "No, we're going to your place. Mom and Dad are having friends over and they wants to have a small dinner party without us going at each other's throats." I chuckled and nodded.
"Okay, well, come over when it's time."
"What? No, no, Max, tonight's my night!" Iggy whined. We shared an apartment. "I understand that you have no life-" I threw my shoe at him. He ducked before it hit his head. Fang and Nudge acted as though it was natural for me to throw my show at my brother. "But I do have a life!" He finished.
"Oh yeah? Then why are you staying home, huh?"
"Because I'm hosting Guy Night at our place. I can't have you and those two in the apartment."
I rolled my eyes. "Iggy, you invite girls to Guy Night all the time and, plus, this has never bothered you before."
"Don't worry, Max. I'll help you out. I'm coming over tonight for Guy night but I'll help you." Nudge smiled at me.
It clicked. "Thanks, Nudge, but we'll be fine." I smiled and cast an inconspicuous glance at Iggy to see his cheeks slightly rosy, Fang teasing him about it and him fighting him about it. "Angel and Gazzy and I will stay on my side of the apartment."
Iggy blinked. "Max, there are no sides."
"Exactly." I smiled and walked away with Angel and Gazzy.
"Max!" Fang called after me, running to catch up. Angel and Gazzy stopped at their lockers. "I could help, if you want. Iggy invited me but his Guy Nights are lame. It's just Poker and watching action-thriller movies."
"I know but they all seem to enjoy Guy Night so I don't spoil their fun. Thanks for the offer but I think I'll just take them out for food and games."
"Well, I could help with that. Like I said, I don't really like Iggy's Guy Night- I need to get out of it."
I narrowed my eyes, thinking of a plan. "How bad do you want to get out of it?"
"Really bad." He stared at my face. I saw something in his eyes and I could tell that he really didn't like Iggy's Guy Night.
"What would you do to get out of it?" I rocked back and forth in an innocently evil way.
He narrowed his eyes. "What did you have in mind?" He questioned warily.
I smiled. "Well…"