Me no owny Maximum Ride.

~* O *~

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE-

I whacked my alarm clock and shifted in my bed to find another comfortable position. Mmmm, just ten more minutes…

"MAX! Get up! School starts in fifteen minutes!" My mother was shaking me awake as she practically yelled in my ear. I opened my eyes and blinked groggily as the blinding light from my room pierced my eyes.

"I don't wanna go to school today," I mumbled almost incoherently. And especially today of all days. Want to predict what today was? The end of the world? Close guess, but good try. It was Valentine's Day. And Tuesday. Hurrah.

"Max, I know you don't want to go, but you're going to have to. Now get up, or you're not getting any chocolate chip waffles." She patted my head and stood up to leave. My eyes widened and I jumped out of bed, precipitously filled with renewed vitality. Once my mother had left my room, I scrambled to change out of my pajamas and into my jeans, converse, and hoodie.

I all but ran down the stairs after dressing and brushing my teeth and scarfed down the waffles without sitting down. After I had finished my last bite, my energy and adrenaline noticeably diminished. Peering at the clock on the kitchen wall, I perceived that I had only ten minutes left to get to school. Mission accepted.

"Have a good day at school, Max!" my mother called out to me as I grabbed my backpack and bounded for the door. Yeah right, Mom. Knowing what today was? Definitely not a good day.

~* O *~

After parking my car in the senior section and sprinting through the parking lot, I didn't have time to stop at my locker. I raced through the door to my first period a second before the bell had rung.

"Miss Ride, finally cared enough to arrive on time? How remarkable. Have a seat." My teacher, Mr. Brown, turned to the board and began preaching about something encompassing history.

I sighed in relief and took my seat at the back of the room. Usually I wasn't so determined to arrive on time for school, but since I had exceeded the threshold of tardies for this semester, my next tardy would result in my having to come to Saturday school for the next month. Bright and early in the morning. See my predicament? Yeah. No freaking way.

Class droned on and I spent the time on my school-provided laptop reading fanfiction. Taking notes? Psh. That's for pansies.

In the middle of class, a man carrying a huge bouquet of flowers entered our room. "These are for," he looked at the card that accompanied the bouquet, "Susie?"

Susie, a short girl with blue eyes and slick-straight brown hair, provided a very pig-like squeal and stood up. "That's me, that's me!" It was as if she were a child who had just won a sweepstakes for a luxury cruise, holding her hand up and virtually jumping in her spot. An immense smile was plastered onto her face. I rolled my eyes. Prototypical cheerleader. (I don't mean any offense! :p )

The man approached Susie and handed her the bouquet, eyeing her apprehensively, and quickly left the room. Yeah, I'd be a bit worried about her, too.

She read the note on the bouquet and hugged the flowers to her chest, sighing dreamily. "Oh my gosh, these are from Harry! (I DID THIS JUST FOR YOU, SUSIE! HEHE) Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" She gave another squeal and sniffed the flowers, sighing once more. Gag. And this was why I hated Valentine's Day.

Mr. Brown gave an intentional cough and scowled at Susie. "Do I have your permission to continue with the lesson, or do you need another few minutes?" Attaboy, Mr. Brown.

Susie paused to contemplate for a moment and then sat back down in her seat. All of her friends began whispering with her, and Mr. Brown reverted back to teaching.

Valentine's Day was too mushy and cliché for my liking. The candy, the gifts, the confessions; they all made we want to gag. Well, except for the candy. I'd blithely accept candy from any idiot. And a message to all those girls who have complained about how lonely it was being single on Valentine's Day: Shut up. Seriously. Nobody cared. Instead, embrace the solitude! Happy Single Awareness Day, losers!

The bell finally rang, and everyone bounded out of his or her seats, all too enthusiastic to escape. Mr. Brown went to the door and called out, "No PDA! Or I will destroy each and every one of you!" That's my history teacher for you.

Being the last one left in the room, I stood up and slowly put my laptop into my black Under Armour backpack. Eh, there was no rush getting to my next class. Nothing too sensational awaited me there.

With a head nod to Mr. Brown, I departed the classroom and abruptly bumped into someone. Having my head collide with his chest (I presumed the person was a guy because his chest was hard and flat), I stepped back and rubbed my forehead. Ouch.

"Watch where you're going," I said through my teeth, glaring up at whoever had dared to enter my path, only to see that it was Fang. My heart started beating faster, and my breath hitched.

Why was this happening? I've been reacting this way around Fang lately, and it really bugged me. He has always been my best friend. Why did I now feel more self-conscious and insecure about myself when around him? I didn't comprehend why, but I tried to shove the sentiment down.

Fang's semblance of concern, for he didn't know it was I whom he had bumped into until now, dropped and was superseded by a grin. "I could say the same for you, since you're the one who had bumped into me."

I opened my mouth to retort back but was interposed by a, "Hey, Fang!" Fang and I both turned to the owner of the voice, only to see a girl whose name has absconded me. I crossed my arms over my chest, a bit incensed at her interrupting me, and Fang lifted an eyebrow.

The girl clasped her hands in front of herself and looked down at the ground. Aw, the poor girl was embarrassed. How funny. "I was wondering if you wanted to be my Valentine," she spoke to the floor, a blush spreading over her cheeks.

Ha. What a sucker. I knew it was Valentine's Day and all, but did people really go around and ask that? And he wouldn't say yes, would he? Gosh, I hoped not. He should just tell her no, and then she could go home crying. Yeah, good plan. But then, why would I care if he said yes or not? I was just, and only, his best friend. Nothing more.

Fang regarded her and finally responded with, "Sorry, but I already have a Valentine." My head snapped up as well as the other girl's. He…. already had a Valentine? Disappointment flared through me, and I tried to maintain an impartial countenance. I didn't feel…. jealous… did I?

The girl, however, openly displayed her own disappointment and dropped her head. "Oh, okay. Sorry for asking." She turned around and trudged away, leaving Fang and me in an uncomfortable silence.

"Look, Max, I was – "

"Uh, I should probably get going to my next class. See ya, Fang." I didn't wait for a response and walked down the hall to my locker. Glancing back as I did the combination, I observed Fang's giving me a quizzical look before heading off in the other direction.

I fathomed that he knew something was up, but I was thankful that he didn't try to follow after me. After his small 'confession', I felt like I just needed to get away from there and get away from him. The consideration of his having a Valentine just… perturbed me somehow. I didn't like it.

Opening my locker, I was astounded to discover a bouquet of white iris flowers sitting on top of my books. They were my favorite flowers. Who would have done this? I wasn't necessarily the warmest kid on the block. I closed my locker, leaving the flowers in there, and walked to my next class.

I tried narrowing my possibilities as to who would do this, thinking back to my friends. Iggy? Nope, he was dating Ella. Gazzy? Nope, dating Nudge. Dylan? Nope, dating Maya. Ari? Nope, dating Angel. And Fang? Haha, what a joke. I knew he wasn't interested in me like that, and he said so himself that he already had a Valentine. I felt another pang in my chest and tried to plunge the feeling down again.

So I concluded that the bouquet must have been from some timid underclassman, since I didn't see any other probabilities. I could deal with that.

~* O *~

Lunch finally came around but I was marginally dreading it. Lunch was the pinnacle of all sappiness and mushy grossness, where everyone would be passing out his or her flowers and treats and other romantic crap. Also, I'd have to face Fang.

I bought my lunch and sat down at our usual table. Since I took my sweet time getting over here, all of my other friends were already sitting down eating their lunches. The only available spot was next to Fang. Go figure.

Generally I would have been delighted to sit next to Fang, but with the disappointment and awkwardness of today, I desired the contrary.

Fang gave me a smile, and it made my heart thud faster. Could I just blame my girly reactions on my hormones? That's what every other fictional female character did, so I guess I could to it too. Curse you, hormones!

I forced a smile back, yearning to at least attempt and make everything seem normal between us. He raised an eyebrow (he was really good at doing that), apparently discerning my discomposure. I shook my head and reimbursed my attention to the rest of the table.

Lunch went by and as soon as I had finished my pizza, Fang nudged me. I glanced up at him in question, and he jerked his thumb to the door. Realizing that he wanted us to leave early, I nodded and got up to throw my trash away. Fang did the equivalent and shortly we were out of the cafeteria.

In the hallway Fang gently grabbed my arm to stop me from walking farther down the hall. I gyrated around to gaze at him and situated my hands in the pocket of my sweatshirt.

"You okay?" he simply asked, examining me with speculation.

I shrugged, trying to appear indifferent. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just hate Valentine's Day and everything about it, you know?"

Fang glanced at the floor for a second, and I would have sworn I saw a flash of dejection cross his face. But I must have imagined it, since his face went back to its usual impassiveness. But there was a certain gleam in his eyes. "So, you found a bouquet of flowers in your locker, right?"

"Uh…. yes?"

"Well, I – "

"Max, Fang!" We both turned to see Iggy and Ella's approaching us. "We were wondering where you guys went!" Ella elucidated.

"Probably to find somewhere more private to, you know…" Iggy wiggled his eyebrows and Ella burst out laughing. Heat flared on my cheeks and I glared at him. Detecting my look, Iggy quickly said, "And they want some more alone time! Come on, bunny." He hurriedly grabbed Ella's hand and absconded.

I glared at the floor, refusing to meet Fang's gaze. Way to make this awkward, Iggy. As if planned, the bell rang and students starting pouring into the hallway. Aha, my escape!

"Later, Fang." I strolled in the direction of my locker but Fang swiftly snatched my hand again. Have I mentioned that I felt a spark of electricity whenever he touched me? No? Well, I did. And I didn't know if I liked it or not.

"Meet me afterschool at my locker, okay?" Fang looked me dead in the eye and this time I couldn't avert my gaze. I meekly nodded, and he let go of my hand. Giving me a small smile, he said, "See ya."

As he walked away (yes, I understood how creepy it was standing there watching after him), it dawned on me that he knew about the flowers. But I haven't even conveyed anything about them to anyone yet…?

~* O *~

After seeing many more insistences of sick mushiness from lovey dovey couples, at the end of the day I was ready to go up to any one of those couples and rip their stupid candy out of their stupid hands and throw it at their stupid cheerful faces. Jealousy, you think? You are mistaken! I, a one for jealousy? Psh, you must have the wrong person.

I didn't know whether to feel euphoric or nervous about meeting Fang by his locker. I mean, we were best friends, right? I shouldn't have been overanalyzing this. But that's precisely what I did throughout the periods after lunch. What was Fang going to say to me? Was it something imperative or significant? Ah crap. I was transfiguring into one of those sappy angst-ridden teenagers. Breathe in, breathe out. And no, it was not my time of the month, if that's what you were considering. That ended last week.

With a sigh, I took the flowers out before shutting my locker. Might as well take these home rather than let them rot away in my not-so-squeaky-clean locker.

I made my way over to Fang's locker, only to halt in my tracks. Brigid (class-A slut) was leaning into Fang, dragging her finger leisurely down his shirt. She inclined to kiss him and I looked away. Ah. So that must have been his secret Valentine. Well, whoopdido for him. At least he didn't have to agonize too much on this cursed day like I did. At least he got to be happy, I guessed. Because I certainly wasn't throughout the day, and I certainly wasn't now.

Not desiring to be present any longer than necessary, I turned around, only to grasp that it was compulsory for me to walk down this hallway and pass freaking Brigid and Fang to get to the parking lot where my car was parked. Effff my life.

I began a quick pace and endeavored to go unnoticed as I zipped past them. Don't look at them, don't look at them.

"Max!" I heard Fang call out, but I kept my stride and didn't look back.

After what seemed like forever, the end of the hallway loomed before me. The bright sunlight embraced me as I opened the door. Ah, screw it. It should have been thundering and lightning for the sake of my temperament. I trashed the bouquet of flowers in the nearest garbage can and stalked off to my car. Ben and Jerry's? Definitely appropriate.

~* O *~

A thud from my window alerted my senses and I straightened up from my bed. After a pathetic afternoon of eating ice cream and reading on iwastesomuchtime, my temperament had augmented somewhat. Eh, the noise must have been some high squirrel.

Another thud followed the first one, and I sluggishly got out of my bed to see what the crap it was. Couldn't it see that I was wallowing in self-pity and solitude?

I opened my window, only to narrowly dodge an incoming rock. Getting back up to glare at whoever freaking did that, I saw that it was only Fang. He was sitting on the branch of a tree that hovered right in front of my window, holding a few rocks in his hand. I sighed, resting my elbow on the sill of the window. "What are you doing here, Fang?"

Disregarding my question, he inquired, "Can I come in?"

I rolled my eyes and waved him in. "Fine."

Smoothly sliding off the branch, he leapt through the window and landed in my room. Looking me up and down, he gave me that oh-so wonderful smirk of his. "Nice pajamas."

I glanced down at my black t-shirt and Phineas and Ferb pajama pants. "Nothing wrong with Phineas and Ferb," I countered defensively.

Fang chuckled but then his face grew serious. "So how come you didn't wait for me afterschool?"

I pretended to think about it and put a finger to my chin. "Hmm. Maybe it's because I didn't want to interrupt your little 'session' with Brigid? Wouldn't want to be rude."

Fang looked up for a moment and then back down at me. "Max, I swear I didn't know she was going to do that. She was asking me about the math homework and then suddenly tried to hit on me."

"Shouldn't you be explaining this to your 'Valentine' instead of me? I'm just your friend. I don't care if you date anybody or not." I attempted to sound resilient but my voice faintly hitched on the last part.

Fang shook his head and took a step closer to me. "You don't get it, do you, Max?"

I crossed my arms over my chest, peering at him. "No, I clearly don't."

He sighed and ran a hand through his beautiful-cough-hair. "You know the flowers you found in your locker? Those were from me. I got those for you. And when I told that girl about already having a Valentine? It was you. You were supposed to be my Valentine, but I never had the chance to ask." Now he was looking me in the eye and I couldn't look away from his endearing gaze.

I felt shell-shocked, to say the least. And I was pretty sure flies could have caught in my wide-open mouth. Fang chose me? And he even beheld me in that way? I didn't know what to say.

I just stood there, gaping at him. "Max, say something," Fang urged, his eyes almost pleading.

"You – you – really?" was all I could get out.

Fang smiled. "Yes, really."

Feeling more confident now, I commanded, "Ask me, then."

"Ask you what?" Fang asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ask me what you wanted to ask me earlier."

Fang, finally comprehending what I meant, took my right hand and got down on one knee. "Maximum Martinez, will you do me the honor of being my Valentine?"

I smiled, shrugging. "Eh, why not."

Fang rolled his eyes and got up. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he leaned down and placed his lips on mine. I gasped at his forwardness, but soon relaxed into the kiss and relished in the feeling of his warm lips.

Pulling back, Fang beamed at me with his now-tousled hair and glimmering eyes. "Happy Valentine's Day, Max."

Best damn Valentine's Day I've ever had.

~* O *~

Ah, cheesiness and unrealistic-like-ness. Don't know whether to throw up in it or embrace it.

Hello, hello! Happy (early) Single Awareness Day to you all! Don't feel all sad if you're single, because I'm single too! I've been single my whole life, and I've never even had my first kiss yet… I'm 15. Don't judge too harshly! I tell myself I'm just too intelligent for all the other guys :)

~ aalaal