Hey guys! You guys are AMAZ-BALLZ!(And yes I said amaz-ballz, don't judge me) Besides being amazing, you know what else you guys are? AWESOME! You know what I am? A DIPSHIT. And you know why I'm a dipshit? BECAUSE I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN, LIKE, THREE WEEKS AND I AM SOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY! *releasing breath tiredly* Phew. That was a mouthful! ANYWAY, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and as thanks to all of y'all, I'm going to try to update again tomorrow! This chappy will also be really long just for you wonderful people! I LOVE YOU! ENJOY!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own MR. I DO NOT own any of the characters. I DO NOT own a life. There I said it, happy now?
11 MONTHS 10 DAYS BEFORE MY DEATH
Max POV
"Guys, I'm home!" Fang practically screamed as he entered his AMAZING house. Normally, I'm not impressed easily, but when I first stepped through his front door, my mouth dropped down to the floor.
Through the front door is an indoor water fountain (like the ones you see at the mall sometimes). There are 6 bedrooms, 2 guest rooms, an arcade, a TV room, an indoor swimming pool, an outdoor swimming pool, a golf course, and a kitchen the size of my house. All together, the Walker's own about 5 or 6 acres of land.
Anyway, back to the story. Fang left the door gaping open for me, Ari, and Iggy to follow. Even though I had been there about a kabillion times, the place still amazed me.
"Hey Max!" called Ella as she slid down a winding banister. Ella is Fang's 16-year-old little sister. Right after Ella is Nudge, Ella's twin, Gazzy, a 12-year-old pyromaniac (courtesy of Iggy), and the adorable one of the family, little 8-year-old Angel, whom Ari absolutely ADORE.
"OMG! MAX AND IGGY ARE HERE!" Nudge shrieked as she flew down the steps and gave us an eager smile. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS ARE ACTUALLY HERE! IT'S LIKE WE HAVEN'T SEEN EACH OTHER IN FOREVER, AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNOW THIS, BUT FOREVER IS A REALLY LONG TIME! ANYWAY, WE SHOULD TOTALLY HANG OUT! BUT WHAT DO WE DO?! SHOULD WE PLAY A GAME, WATCH A MOVIE, EAT POPCORN, PLAY TABOO-" Nudge was going to say more but thankfully Iggy slapped a hand over her mouth. But hey, that's Nudge for you, always the talker.
"Nudge. Chill. The last time we hung out was YESTERDAY!" I ground out in exasperation.
"MLHASDFFAGFALHKWHSLAWEFKLDG," Nudge tried to speak through Iggy's hand, but as you may have guessed, she failed miserably.
"What?" Ella asked.
Nudge just rolled her eyes and slapped Iggy's hand away from her. "I SAID, 'but it seemed like forever to me'. God, can't you people understand English?!" At this we all rolled our eyes in unison.
Plunk, plunk, plunk.
Pink and purple shoes plopped down the staircase. At the base was little Angel in a pink tutu and purple blouse. While everybody simply said "Hey" and went into the kitchen, Ari just stared at her like a dork stares at a brand-new top-of-the-line calculator (Author's Note: Ok, so I'm not calling anybody a geek or a dork or a nerd or saying that all geeks, dorks, and nerds love calculators more than they love people. I am not trying to be offensive in anyway. This was just the best simile that I could come up with. Don't judge me.)
"H-h-hi, Angel." Ari stuttered as his cheeks flamed red.
"Hey, Ari! Do ya wanna play with me?" Angel asked with her usual brilliant smile.
"Sure!" Angel skipped away and Ari practically floated behind her. I shook my head and went into the kitchen.
"What do you guys want to do?" I asked.
"Guys, we should TOTALLY watch [Rec]! I hear it's SKIN-CRAWLINGLY TERRIFYING!" Nudge exclaimed as she bounced up and down on her toes.
"But Nudge, you hate horror films." Fang said.
"I know! Isn't it GREAT!" Nudge began to bounce on her toes even more ecstatically. I honestly think that that girl is on crack.
"Ok, then," I said uncertainly. "I guess we can watch [Rec] if you really want to, Nudge."
"I'll get the popcorn." Ella skipped into the kitchen.
"I'll get the junk food." Iggy muttered as he followed Ella.
"I'll get the movie." Nudge sprinted upstairs to Fang's room.
"And I'll-" I started to walk into the living room-"do nothing." I finished as I plopped onto the extremely comfy sofa. Fang sat beside. As I sat there, I noticed how different the two of us were. I slouched. Fang sat perfectly straight on the edge of the chair. I blabbed my mouth until it got me into trouble (which it always does), Fang was the strong and silent type. And that's just what he was. Strong. And another thing I realized then was that no matter how messed up I would become, Fang would always be there for me. And now that I think about it, I think that that moment was when I started to fall in love with my best friend.
***3 DAYS LATER***
The beatings were getting worse. Although the change was small, it was still noticeable. Jeb had begun to beat Ari and me more viciously than before.
I stared at myself in the mirror. There were bruises all over the right side of my face. Most of them were small patches of darkened skin, but there was one in particular that stood out more than the rest. It trailed from my cheekbone all the way down past my collar bone and ended at my chest area.
That's probably from when Jeb whacked me with a baseball bat. I thought as I applied extra heavily concealer onto the bruise. My hands were shaking from the memory of the pain. Last night had been the worst beating I had ever endured in my life. It happened like this:
Ari and I had just stepped through the door and onto the threshold of our house when Jeb came in behind us and slammed the door shut.
"You were out late, weren't you, sweeties." His voice was slurred, so I knew that he had been drinking.
"I-I-I'm sorry. It wo-won't happen again." I stuttered as he backed me and Ari into a corner. His figure towered over us. "I swear." I whispered faintly.
He looked at the two of us and gave us a smile but it didn't go up to his eyes. "I know it won't." His cold eyes burrowed into my soul as he took out a baseball bat from behind his back.
And right when he looked the most victorious was when he was the most vulnerable.
I took a step forward and kicked him in the balls. "RUN, ARI!" I screamed, and the little midget shot past me like a bullet.
"YOU LITTLE BITCH!" Jeb screamed and he grabbed my waist when I tried to make a run for it. He spun me around and punched me so hard that I could see stars. I was hurled across the room by the force of his punch and I hid the wall with a THUD. In my daze, Jeb managed to tie me down. When I could finally make sense of what was going on, I was too late and Jeb had me secured.
Suddenly, Jeb was knocked back by a force. Ari stood over me in a protective manner.
"Leave Max alone." Ari was trying to fill his voice with steel, but there was still a slight quiver in it. (Author's Note: Ok, I already know that there are gonna be some haters out there asking in the comments why the heck didn't Ari go hide. Well, before anybody does say that, think about it. Your sister, YOUR PROTECTOR, the ONLY PERSON IN THE WORLD besides you who knows about what happens at home is getting beaten senseless and tied down by your maniac of a father while you're only supposed to run away and hide! What's the justice in THAT?! I don't know about you, but I would want to fight back and protect my sis. Just saying.)
"Ignorant boy! You should have run while you had the chance!" Jeb grabbed Ari by the hair and dragged him into living room where I had a perfect view of the beating that would follow.
Jeb began to beat Ari as if he were the cause of all his problems. All the while I was wriggling, trying to get to Ari and help him.
"NO! STOP IT! LEAVE HIM ALONE! IT'S ME THAT YOU WANT! PLEASE, STOP!" I screamed at the man who was supposed to be my father when he was really nothing but a monster.
After a couple of minutes, Jeb paused and looked at me with shining eyes of hate. At this point, Ari was nothing more than a bloodied, badly bruised pulp.
"See, Max." Jeb said. "This is what happens when you try to save someone you care about. You always fail." And with that Jeb slammed Ari's head down on the coffee table. I sat there, shell-shocked because what Jeb had said actually was true. I always fail.
Jeb strode over to me and I looked up at him blankly.
"Good, you're not screaming anymore. I'd hate for you to have woken up the neighbors." He leaned down and patted my cheek. "You're a smart girl. You'll figure your way out of the ropes." And with that he tromped up the stairs.
I snapped out of my daze.
Don't think about it, Max. If you don't think about it, it never happened. But that's the thing. It did happen. No matter how many times I told myself that it didn't, it did. And I would just have to deal with it.
"Max, you ok in there?" Nudge called outside of the bathroom stall.
"Er, yea. I was just thinking. I'll be out in a second!" I yelled back at her. I quickly applied as much concealer as natural and rushed out of the bathroom.
The gang had all come out from their respective shells and gathered at the Eastdale Mall-again, still live in Eastdale-and we were all just hanging out.
As I stepped out of the bathroom, I saw Fang. The sight of him takes my breath away. He isn't exactly skinny, but he isn't completely a body builder. I could easily see his toned, lean muscles inside his black skull shirt. Over that he had a black leather jacket and skinny jeans. But his dark, nearly black eyes made me melt. To others they seemed hard and cruel. To me, they seemed soft and sweet.
Stop it, Max! He's your BEST FRIEND! He will NEVER like someone like you! My brain told me. (Is it just me or is my brain a bitch?)
Fang POV
Oh, Max.
As we were hanging out at the mall, I kept glancing at her. I couldn't help it. She was just so poised and strong and confident in everything she did. Yet there was something in her eyes. Something that screamed for help. And whatever was going on, I would protect her from getting hurt. No matter what. Because that's just what you do when you're in love.
So yeah that's that! So I really hope you guys liked it. PLZ R&R, READ AND REPLY! Cuz I would love to both get CONSTRUCTIVE criticism and to answer any questions that you might have about this story. Oh, and ViralWolf to answer your question, Max copes with it all because of Ari. Even though she is trying to be strong for him, in a way, she gets strength for him. Because without Ari, she would have long ago committed suicide. But somebody has to look after Ari, right? The real question is this: Is going to be Max, or somebody else? Well, on that cliffhanger, I'm gonna go!
Watch the skies,
Doctor Bessy.