Chapter #2- Stand Under My Umbrella
A/N: Go to James Patterson's website to read an extended version of MAX, MR book 5!


A loud CLAP! and it felt like pigs were falling from the sky as heavy droplets of water crashed down on and dampened us in, like, 2 seconds flat.

Out of nowhere, Fang got out his black (seriously, what other color would they be? Pink?) umbrellas and handed two to the younger kids while he and I shared one. Fang gave me a small smile, and at that moment, all I could think about was: one, I was soaked, two, it was raining, three, Fang, and four, Fang.

~.~.~.~

I went home, finished all my homework, and right before dinner, I went to Fang's computer to get the lyrics. I was going to print it out, but before I got the chance to, mom called me down to eat.

Umbrella by Rihanna

You have my heart
And we'll never be worlds apart
Maybe in magazines
But you'll still be my star

Baby 'cause in the dark
You can't see shiny cars
And that's when you need me there
With you I'll always share
Because

When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath, I'ma stick it out 'till the end

Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella

(Ella ella, eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella, eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella, eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella, eh eh eh, eh eh eh)

These fancy things, will never come in between
You're part of my entity, here for infinity
When the war has took it's part
When the world has dealt it's cards
If the hand is hard, together we'll mend your heart
Because

When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath, I'ma stick it out 'till the end

Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella

(Ella ella, eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella, eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella, eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella, eh eh eh, eh eh eh)

You can run into my arms
It's okay don't be alarmed
Come here to me
There's no distance in between our love

So go on and let the rain pour
I'll be all you need and more
Because

When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath, I'ma stick it out 'till the end

Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella

(Ella ella, eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella, eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella, eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella, eh eh eh, eh eh eh)

It's raining
Ooh baby it's raining
Baby come here to me
Come here to me

It's raining
Ooh baby it's raining
You can always come here to me
Come here to me

It's pouring rain
It's pouring rain
Come here to me
Come here to me

I saved and x-ed out of Microsoft Words and went down the stairs.

~.~.~.~

Fang always finishes dinner before me, because he hardly mutters a single word in our conversations. So when I went back upstairs to print out my lyrics, it was already printed out. Fang reading through me again.

You should be expecting it, Max. He knows you inside out.

Huh. Nice to know. Now get out my head, Mr. State the Obvious. Or... I paused. Are you male, female, or "it"? The thought entered my mind and I was surprised I even asked. But even if I didn't, I don't think my thoughts could escape the Voice.

The Voice didn't answer for a while, so I just thought the discussion was over. But after a while, the Voice answered.

Are you supposed to know?

Wow... Am I supposed to live? Am I supposed to breathe? Are you supposed to tell me? After this rebut the Voice got silent.

Fang walked into the room just as I was about to lug the laptop to my room. He looked at me hard and long.

"No." His voice was deep and had determination in it. I raised an eyebrow and started sprinting down the hall and into my room. I closed the door quickly behind me, fumbling with the lock, and then leaned myself against the door in relief with my eyes closed. When I opened them again, I was staring straight at my open window. Holy crap! And I raced over to lock the window as well before Fang could get in. I shut the curtains and decided to treat myself to listening to the actual song on YouTube. My hand automatically reached for a small bowl on the side of my desk as I grabbed the small, pink square. I peeled open the wrapper, popped the chocolate into my mouth, then read the back of the wrapper.

Embrace life.

As I listened to the song and nodding my head along with the beat, I wrote my analysis.

Analysis:
The artist, Rihanna, talks about friendship. She talks about how she and her friend will always keep each other in their minds no matter how apart they are and how fights will not pull them apart...

I went on, writing, writing down the meaning for each word, for each figurative verse. And finally, I got to the reflection part.

Reflections:
I picked this song because my friends are so close to me. We think of each other as family, and we even fight like one...

And so I kept on writing. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore, so I opened the window. I leaned forward, letting the cool night breeze blow through my hair. I closed my eyes to savor the moment. I soon opened them, and decided to go downstairs for pop. Now, does it look like I actually care about what the caffeine does to me at night and maybe even how many calories are in there? This is the problem with most teenage girls. They are all skin and bones and they still think they're fat. Losing the stupidity might help.

I sprinted to the fridge, because the sugar from the chocolate was kicking in. I grabbed some Coca Cola and chugged it down. More sugar in my system. What I really needed now. I climbed back upstairs to my room, and the first thing I saw, was Fang.

"Fang! What are you doing in here?! You didn't even knock!" I yelled, because even though I wasn't in my room, I would still say that.

"I wanted the laptop back," he said simply. But he was on my bed, reading my project. He saw me looking and said, "Nice song."

"Ugh!" I exclaimed in frustration, putting my hands on my hips. Fang was grinning now, a grin that made me lightheaded. "Out. Now."

Just as he was leaving, I saw a small pink object in his hands. And he was NOT doing a good job hiding it.

"No one takes my chocolate!" I reprimanded him. 'Cause, you know, I was on sugar.

"Ohmigosh! Chocolate! I totally want one! Is it white chocolate? 'Cause white chocolate is my favorite kind of chocolate. Sometimes I get it confused with milk chocolate, you know, because milk is white and everything. I think white chocolate should be milk chocolate and milk chocolate can be dark chocolate and dark chocolate can be black chocolate. I don't really like dark chocolate because it's too bitter and sweet at the same time and-" I put my hand over Nudge's mouth and she looked at me sheepishly. There's a reason why we call her Motormouth...

"Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate!" exclaimed Gazzy and Izzy.

"I want one!" cried Angel, and the Flock and Ella were soon gathered around me, asking for chocolate because I would not let them snatch some from my bowl.

"No! No one takes my chocolate!" I yelled in response to everyone's chatter and they all looked at me, sad, and of course, Nudge and Angel gave me the Bambi eyes. Before I could cave in, Fang ushered everyone out. "Ah... Thanks, Fang! I love you!"

I didn't mean it THAT way, but either way, he smirked a smirk that gives me a mental kick and smugly said, "Uh-huh. You love me this much." He held out his arms in an exaggerated way and I groaned. I closed my door on him before he could say anything else and slid down to my floor, my face in my hands. I seriously needed to get my feelings straight.


A/N: Thank you readers for making me feel really nice about my first chapter! People put me on story alert/something like that and 2 people reviewed, so thank you! I would really appreciate it if you guys stuck to reviewing, though. Think about it, 2 reviews... My personal goal is to hit 8 reviews by the time I decide to update chapter 3. (this is not a threat)

REVIEWS ARE MUCH APPRECIATED!!!