HELLO MY PEEPS! WHAT. IS. UP. I know I haven't written in a while and I know that makes me a total and complete jackass, but oh well! I am back so that is all that matters. HERE'S A NEW CHAPPY FOR YOU GUYS SO ENJOY!
Disclaimer: How many times do I have to say I don't own anything! I mean if I did, do you think I would be spending my time writing a fanfiction?! NO. I WOULDN'T. I would be wasting my money on some island in the Bahamas with some very hot and very naked dudes. Jk. Jk. I'm a saint. But still, if I owned anything, I really wouldn't be writing a fanfic, but seeing that I don't own a thing…yea.
1 MONTH AND 18 DAYS
The past few months blurred into a single memory: Fang. Fang's hands on my hips. Fang's scent on my clothes. Fang's heat on my skin. He practically breathed the life into my lungs and I was becoming addicted to the way he touched me, the way he held me, the way he kissed me. Ever since I had met him, I had wanted him. Now I finally had him and there was no way in hell that I was letting him go any time soon. For the first time in my life, I was truly happy. Everything was perfect. None of it would last long. If only I'd known that my world would collapse and that I'd be sucked into the inky blackness called Hell. But that's the thing about "the beginning of the end". You never know that it's happening until it's too late…
"Hey, Max!" I whipped around to see Fang running toward me across the school parking lot. I had just arrived at school on time (I know, shocking) and already I was fired up and ready to go. Today is going to be a good day, I thought. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the world's sexiest man is walking my way. Yup. Life's good.
Fang smirked and wrapped his arms around me after pecking a kiss on my forehead. "Yes, yes it is." Startled, I looked up at him. Can he read my thoughts or something?
"No, you just happen to say everything that you're thinking out loud." His smirk turned to a dimpled grin. "And I agree, I am the world's sexiest man."
"Shut up," I rolled my eyes and shoved him playfully. Turning around so that he couldn't see my smile, I began walking toward the school, but before I could get even halfway across the parking lot, Fang grabbed me by the hips, pushed me against a nearby wall, and kissed me with the ferocity of a hungry beast. Rustling my hands through his hair, I pulled him closer to me, wanting more of him. Fang's body pressed against mine and my breath hitched as he made his way from my mouth, to my cheek, to my neck…I bit my lip to stifle a moan.
"EW. YOU PEOPLE DISGUST ME." We jumped apart and turned in unison to find Iggy glaring daggers at us with his hands on his hips looking hella pissed. Mumbling apologies, we turned our eyes to the ground like scolded children. "Seriously, man. How many times do I have to tell you guys, no P.D.A.! You guys are almost as bad as Lissa and Dylan."
"Ugh, we are nothing like those two," Rolling my eyes and crossing my arms, I looked at Iggy with ridicule. "Unlike them, we actually have a relationship. Those two aren't even friends with benefits, they're just plain-old fuck buddies."
"Plus," Fang added, "we're both saints." Fang glanced and saw my raised eyebrow and corrected himself. "Well, at least one of us is a saint. Unless you want to change that…"
Wriggling his eyebrows at me, Fang tried to creep an arm around my waist but I flicked him in the forehead. "Don't even think about it, mister. Let's just get inside before we're locked out." Charging ahead, I lead the way into the school.
Snickering, Iggy easily caught up to me while Fang moped to my right. "At least we don't have to worry about that dumbass rule anymore." At this, Fang perked up.
"I know, right. Man, I can't believe that we're graduating today!" Oh, yea. Did I forget to mention that? As Fang said, today was the day that we were going to finally graduate high school and officially be adults. It may sound awesome, but graduating high school is some scary shit.
"Let me guess, neither of you know what you're going to do with your lives," I looked at each of the two knuckleheads walking next to me.
"Nope."
"Not a clue."
"I figured as much." Sighing, I shook my head. I couldn't say I was surprised.
Iggy laughed and slung an arm around my shoulder. "And what about you, Maxie-Pad? Do you have a plan for your future?"
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? And yes, I do have a plan. I'm going to UC Davis to become a veterinarian." I flicked Iggy's arm, causing him to wince and get off me.
"A vet? Really?" Iggy narrowed his eyes and looked me up and down.
I stopped in my tracks, put my hands on my hips, and glared at him. "What's wrong with that?"
Seeing how I was on the offense, Iggy raised his hands in mock surrender. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with being a vet, it's just…you."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. I can't see you as the veterinarian type. You strike me more as a game changer rather than a clinic lady."
"First of all, who uses words such as game changer and clinic lady? Secondly, what do you mean by game changer?"
Holding up one finger, Iggy began ticking off the list forming in his head of things he wanted to say. "One: I use words like game changer and clinic lady. Two: Before you say it, NO, I don't think my vocabulary is limited. In fact, I think that it is very much good. Three: I picture you more as someone who would make a huge impact in the world. You know, as someone who fights against governments regarding global warming or someone who could lead a revolution or whatever. The sky's the limit, man. But you being a veterinarian…I just don't get it."
Rolling my eyes, I said, "Iggy, none of that would ever happen. I mean, I'm all about stopping global warming and what not, but going against governments? Me? Ha, you're funny. And how on Earth would I lead a revolution when there's nothing to revolt against. It's not like some crazy scientists are experimenting on children and turning them into mutant freaks and pitting them against one another. I mean, seriously, Ig. Let's be real man. That stuff only happens in books. This is the real world where nothing like that sort ever happens. Trust me, becoming a veterinarian is the right choice for me. Besides, who else is supposed to look out for the little guys?"
Shaking his head, Iggy muttered, "You're impossible to understand."
"What I am is right. And what you are is screwed if you don't figure out what you're going to do in life." I gave him a sideways glance that he pointedly avoided.
"Maxie-Pad, Maxie-Pad, Maxie-Pad," he said in a snarky, condescending voice he adopted that happened to somewhat resemble Dylan's. "I'll do what I do best: wing it."
"So are you seriously saying that you're going to wing you're way through life?" Fang asked incredulously.
"Yeah, man. I already got my pyrotechnic skills on point so what else do I need in life? Maybe I'll hang in Cali. for a while and see how the Hollywood scene treats me. Bet Michael Bay would pay me a shit ton of money to set things on fire."
"How much you wanna bet he'll land his ass in jail for arson in ten years?" Fang breathed into my ear.
"Make that five years." I whispered back.
He flashed me a toothy grin. "You're on."
Having overheard us, Iggy touched his hand to his heart and pretended to stumble. "I'm wounded that you two think so lowly of me. I would have thought that you'd know I'd run to Mexico and change my name to El Chapo if I ever got in a spot of trouble. Besides, Fangie-Poo. You have no room to talk." By this time we had moved our conversation into the classroom and we had taken our seats out of habit rather than obedience. "After all, you don't know what you're going to do either!"
"Isn't it obvious? Where ever Max goes, I'll follow. If she wants to go to California, I'll go to Cali. with her. If she wants to go to vet school, I'll go too."
"You're going to attend UC Davis with me?" I raised my eyebrows in shock and bewilderment.
"Hell no! I'll probably work at a nearby Starbucks or something. Me, go to veterinary school? I love you, but not that much!" Iggy burst into laughter as I slapped Fang upside the head.
"You may be cute and all, but being with me doesn't give you an excuse to slack on your education. If you wanna be my main dish, you gotta get a degree."
"UGH. FINE." Fang, being ever the moody teenager, slumped in his chair and glared at me. I smiled sweetly back.
"CLASS IT IS TIME TO LEARN, SO EVERYBODY SHUT UP," Ms. Flores, whose beginning-of-the-year niceness had evolved to end-of-the-year bitch mode, snapped at our class. Facing the front, we all more or less gave our attention to our teacher as she began the lesson.
Time seemed to move at a snail's pace. Everyone's attention was glued to the clock and the only thing going on in our heads was a countdown to when school let out, 'cause when that final bell rings, we would be free from this hell hole once and for all. Our official graduation ceremony wasn't for two more days, but since nobody wanted to waste another minute trapped in this coffin any more than they had to, the graduation ceremony was almost always deserted every year. It came to the point where it was an option to have your diploma mailed to you.
Anyway, the clock was ticking oh so slowly and at one point, I swear that I saw the minute hand move back a step. When it finally came to be 2:59, all the air in the room was stilled and the only sound was the ticking of the clock. That minute stretched forever and would have gone on for just as long if someone hadn't broken the silence.
"COME ON YOU DAMN CLOCK!" Dylan screamed, and just like that, time began to flow again, the final bell rang, and we were free once and for all.
People were standing on tables, breaking out their High School Musical dance moves, ripping up books notes, and just doing whatever they liked. Our teacher didn't even try to calm us down and instead walked out the room, shaking her head.
"Max!" Fang had to practically yell to be overheard over all the noise.
"Yea?" I asked.
"School's out!" He yelled as if I hadn't noticed. "You know what that means?"
"What?"
"NO RULES!" And he swooped me up in his arms and planted a big, fat, sexy-as-hell kiss on my unsuspecting lips. I could hear snickering in the background, but I ignored it and fell into the flame of passion erupting onto my lips. When we finally pulled apart, Fang said, "Happy Graduation Day, Max."
"Happy Graduation Day to you too, Fang," I breathed.
"Oh, and one more thing." Fang looked over my head at the rest of the crowd of people and spotted Dylan making out with Lissa. "OI, DYLAN!"
"What the hell do you want, you little fucktard?" Dylan replied, obviously irritated that Fang had interrupted he and Lissa's snog fest.
"In the spirit of new beginnings, I thought it would be a good thing to tell you that you might want to keep your thing in your pants when it comes down to Lissa. She has chlamydia!" Everyone within a five feet radius of Lissa took a step back, Dylan included. "You're welcome!"
Grabbing my hand and wrapping an arm around Iggy's shoulders playfully, Fang whisked us out of the classroom. On our way out, Lissa screamed, "FANG, YOU ASSHOLE!" To which I replied, "SUCK IT, BITCH!" A trail of laughter followed our departure.
"Dude, I'm pooped." Iggy collapsed onto Fang's bed. Me, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Ella, Gazzy, Ari, and Angel had all met back at the Martinez house right after school ended. We were all planning to celebrate the end of the school year when Iggy decided to be a little bitch and whine about nothing.
"What do you mean, "you're pooped"? We just got out of school, like, thirty minutes ago?" Ella asked.
"I mean that I'm pooped. As in tired. As in lazy. As in not moving my ass another inch." Iggy haphazardly draped his arm over his eyes and shuffled around in Fang's sheets to become more comfortable.
"First of all, language. Second of all, we need to CELEBRATE and we can't do that if you're lying around proclaiming how POOPED you are." I didn't care that irritation was creeping into my voice because guess what: I was irritated.
"Can we celebrate tomorrow? I wanna sleep." Iggy threw a pillow at us and muttered some other nonsensical.
"NOT IN MY BED YOU AIN'T!" Fang yelled.
"IGGY IT'S ONLY THREE-THIRTY IN THE AFTERNOON." Nudge rolled her eyes.
"Goodnight." And with that, Iggy dozed off.
"Are you kidding me…?" Fang ran his hands through his hair in annoyance.
We all knew that there was absolutely no way to wake up Iggy when he was asleep. He wasn't exactly a heavy sleeper, but if you tried to wake him up before he was ready, it brought the worst in him and could quite possible land you in the hospital.
"Well…good luck with that, babe." I patted Fang on the back, and grabbed Ari's hand, and left their house.
"But…" Fang stuttered.
"Nice knowing you big bro," Gazzy, Nudge, and Ella also left.
"Wait…" Fang tried to get to them before they left but failed. Turning around in near defeat, Fang looked on at Angel. "Will you help me out?"
Angel just shrugged and said, "It's you're room," before bouncing out the door. Groaning, Fang threw himself down into the chair next to his bed in defeat.
Later that night, I was searching my phone contacts looking for who I would want to invite for a graduation party. Looking through the "C" section, my eyes landed on a contact that I had added a year before out of fear: Custody Lawyer. My mind flashed back to when I had first made that promise to Ari almost a year ago. A promise that I would whisk him away from a life of pain and suffering by the hands of our father, a life away from the lies and the secrets. I had promised him happiness, a joy I hadn't known at the time myself.
But so many things had changed in the past year that I would never have expected. Jeb wasn't an abusive asshat anymore and he turned out to be actually nice when he was sober. I fell in love and was finally happy. Ari's scars were beginning to heal over, both physical and emotional. I dare to think that everything would be okay.
If everything is going to be all right, then why have this contact in your phone? The Voice in my head questioned me. It's a backup plan, I tried to reason with myself. But the more I tried to deny it, the more ridiculous I sounded to myself.
My hand moved to delete the contact, but my thumb hesitated over the trash can icon. What if I need this? I thought to myself. Don't be ridiculous, Max. There's no need to fix something that has already been healed. The Voice in my head answered and I found my hesitation was gone as I pressed the button, deleting Custody Lawyer away from my phone forever. No going back now, I thought. After all, I had gotten ahold of that guy about a year ago, and I had absolutely no way of finding him again. Life doesn't come with safety nets, the Voice told me. Nodding to myself, I shut off my phone and set it on my dresser. A wave of fatigue washed over me and I felt the urge to give into the obliviousness of sleep. As I drifted off to sleep, I thought again to myself, No safety nets.
If only I'd known that deleting my only safety net would kill me.
I'M FINISHED! AND IT'S WEDNESDAY, MY DUDES! BUT YEA, I FINISHED THIS CHAPPY JUST FOR Y'ALL AND I HOPE YOU GUYS HAVE ENJOYED IT. REMEMBER TO R&R BECAUSE I ABSOLUTELY LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, HEARING FROM YOU GUYS. I hope you guys have an awesome, spectacular, amazing day, and remember:
Watch the skies,
Doctor Bessy