Disclaimer: I claim no right to the Maximum Ride universe. Thanks for all your support. I hope you like the new direction. Much Love!
Nick spent the rest of his afternoon and evening ensconced in the theatre room in the basement. He, Jason and Abby, Jason's new girlfriend, watched half a season of 24 and drank their way through four bottles of Jason's parents' ridiculous wine collection. Nick blamed them for his particular taste in alcohol. They had tried to educate him just as they had Jason. Their efforts had paid off with him. Jason didn't care what he drank, as long as it impaired his judgment.
Only when the clocked beeped out the hours for midnight did Nick crawl out of the basement. The party was in full swing with half the school in attendance. Nick squeezed his way through the halls, saying hello to people he knew and avoiding the groping of several drunk women.
The walls of the main parlor vibrated with the beat of the latest radio hit. As Nick passed the door, a pretty brunette grabbed his hand and dragged him into the middle of the makeshift dance floor. Since he had nowhere special to be, he let her. They bumped and ground their way through three songs and had started on a fourth when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
Please live, Fang. Live and be okay.
Max.
Nick twisted around, trying to locate her. Somehow he knew that she was close by. He glanced toward the door and caught a glimpse of her. It looked like she was being pulled, but she was laughing. He only saw her for a second and then she was gone in a flash of blonde hair. He started after her, but small hands wrapped around his wrist.
"Forget her," said the brunette with whom he had been dancing. "She's with Dean Townshend. You don't want to mess with that. Besides, " she purred, rubbing up against him. "I'm right here."
"Excuse me?" he said.
"Pretty blonde? Tall, looks like a dancer, freaky eyes? Yeah, we all know her." She looked up at him expectantly. "Cheer squad? Theta Pi Delta?"
His face remained blank. What did he care about cheerleaders?
She frowned in annoyance. "Whatever. Anyway, she's dating Dean Townshend, the quarterback who is sure to be first draft pick for the new season. I mean, no offense and all, cause you're really hot, but I doubt you have a chance. Once he gets a hold of a girl, she's ruined for life."
"What's her name?"
The girl scoffed. "Maximum Ride. Ridiculous, isn't it? Can't say I haven't wondered how she got it."
Nick left her behind. He had no time for idiots.
He searched through the house and found Jason in the kitchen and got dragged into a couple of rounds of King's Cup, fortunately avoiding the actual King's Cup, but still downing plenty of alcohol. A little unsteady, he escaped Jason's clingy drunken grasp and wandered out of the kitchen in search of Max.
The heat and music began to annoy him, so Nick slipped out the back door. The cool mountain air helped clear his senses. He meandered down toward the lake, thinking about Max. He passed a few couples making out just beyond the flickering tikki torches lining the path to the water. He stopped at the edge of the trees, staring out over the water.
A shout caught his attention. Nick headed in that direction. Chances were that it was just a couple of drunks being loud, but he wanted to make sure. Years of being the peacekeeper at Jason's parties had the instinct ground into him. A group burst from the trees about fifty yards down the beach. Two figures, one huddled into the other, hurried back toward the path, and three more followed, their raised voices carrying in the clear mountain air. One of the three figures behind ran up and grabbed the more upright of the two in front.
Nick could see that the two being followed were women and the three pursuers were men.
The taller girl shook off the guy that grabbed her, but in doing so accidentally knocked over the girl she had been holding up. That allowed the other two guys to catch up. Nick sped up. It didn't look like a good situation. He could hear them yelling from where he was and that tall girl had a set of pipes. The more he listened, the more he thought that it sounded like Max. He was near enough now to identify them and sure enough, it was Max and the girl attempting to get to her feet was Lissa. God damn.
No one had noticed his approach yet, so the guys were still ganging up on Max. She didn't even budge.
Max snapped at the man standing next to her. "There is no fucking way I am going to just walk away while they try to take advantage of her. She's drunk as fuck, Dean. That's called rape."
"Come on, babe. She's just asking for it getting like that. Quit making a scene," Dean snapped. His eyes flickered over her shoulder and noticed Nick coming up behind her. He grabbed her arm again and jerked her close.
Max slapped his hand off of her arm and backed up, not bothering to lower her voice. "No, I am not going to calm down. I don't give a shit. They have no excuse."
One of the guys stepped forward. "We were just having a little fun. She was into it."
Lissa whimpered.
Max snarled at him. "Yeah right. Get the fuck back."
Nick stopped just behind her shoulder, almost touching her. He saw her tense and then, incredibly, she relaxed. She tilted her head to the side, letting her long hair spill over her shoulder.
"Jesus, "he said. "Get your bitch under control, Dean."
"Do I look like I'm his bitch, idiot? Do I sound like it?" Max scoffed.
Dean grabbed her arm again, so hard Nick could see his fingers and the flesh of her arm turn white.
Nick wrapped his hand around the boy's wrist in a flash. "You want to let her go," he said in an icy tone. Dean was no lightweight at six feet two and two hundred and thirty pounds, but Nick knew the boy was no match for him.
Dean released her arm and held up his hands. "Whatever, man. Back off." Then, he took a swing at Nick, not caring that Max was in the way.
Before Nick could react, Max had caught Dean's fist, whipped it to the side and kicked him in the gut.
She let him drop and faced the other two, planting her fists on her hips. "Anyone else?" She said.
Nick tried not to be obvious about staring at her, but he was impressed at how easily she had taken out the quarterback. The other two guys looked just as shocked.
"Didn't think so," Max snarled and turned away.
She squatted down next to Lissa and held out her hands. "Don't freak. We're cool. Let's go back inside. I'll get someone to take you home." She grabbed Lissa's arms and hauled her upright, slinging one arm over her shoulders. Twin yells behind her broke off what she was going to say next as the friends of Dean Townshend charged her while her back was turned. Nick was there. He let one punch slide past him, grabbing the guy's wrist and pulling him forward, off-balance, while Nick's other fist made contact with the thug's temple. The would be attacker dropped like a rock. The other managed to land a blow to Nick's face. Nick cold clocked the sucker.
Max looked back over her shoulder, simply curious. "Nice," she said. She looked up at him and her face brightened. "Hey, Nick Munroe! How're you? Fancy meeting you here." She started back toward the cabin.
Nick chased after her. "Yeah, really. Why are you here?" He pulled her to a stop and took Lissa away from her.
Max made a face. "To party, of course. Although, I always end up at a different kind of party." She jerked her head back toward the heap of college jocks. "Lucky me, huh?" She kept pace with him up to the house.
They walked in silence. He wasn't sure what to say.
"I'm Max, by the way. Maximum Ride," she said, with a sideways glance. She mistook the upward slant of his mouth. "I know, okay. It's a funny name, but I picked it myself, 'cause, you know, I'm the best." She pulled her hair out of its ponytail and let the waves spill down her back.
"I think it's a great name. I'm just excited to finally know it," Nick said honestly. "You picked it yourself?"
She shrugged. "Yeah, I was, like, five and got sick of being passed around the foster care system. So I made up my own name and refused to answer to anything else. It was my way of making myself feel better and getting back at them."
Nick adjusted Lissa. "Well, I think it fits. Somehow it's perfect for you." They had reached the back door and Max held it open.
"Thanks," she said.
He set Lissa on shaky feet and held her steady. She leaned against him with her eyes closed and her mouth open. "I'll take care of her," he said. "It's kinda my fault." He eyed her with exasperation. "We broke up today."
Max made a sound. "So this is Lissa? Does she always get like this?" She twisted her long hair into a bun in the fastest motion he had ever seen.
With her hair back, Max's elegant features were even more beautiful. Nick couldn't help but notice the finer details of her look tonight. Deep purple eye shadow lined her eyes, drawing out the green. Her lips always seemed to curve up at the corners in contrast to the small frown that appeared to hover on her forehead. The dangly silver earrings also served as a distraction. Her grin made him want to smile.
Lissa punched him. Apparently she had awakened.
"What, two hours and you're over me?" she slurred. "That's bullshit. We had six great years and they mean nothing to you." She pushed away and promptly fell.
Max bit her lip and shifted awkwardly. She glanced back outside, made a face and nodded.
Nick wanted to hit something really, really hard or die right then. He dropped to one knee next to Lissa. "Do you want me to just leave you here, then? I'd rather make sure that you were okay, but if you don't want me around, that's fine, too."
"No," she whined.
"You've got your hands full here. I'm gonna take off." Max said and slipped back outside. "Later."
Nick stood, calling after her. "Max, what about – "
She turned to face him with a grin, but kept walking away. "You've got my number, Munroe. It's up to you." And she just melted away into the trees.
He touched the phone in his pocket. He did have her number.