Chapter Three:

My last class of the day happened to be with five people. A girl with a neck brace who wouldn't look up from her desk. A guy who looked stoned, and twins, whom always finished each other's sentences. Then there was that guy from lunch, who sat by himself. I debated sitting next to the girl with the neck brace (she should really look up, it's probably making whatever happened to her neck even worse.) but decided against it and walked towards the back, where the guy from lunch was sitting. Again, by himself.

Like I said before, I didn't really need the attention of becoming friends with people, who didn't even awknowledge another human's exsitence, but what the hell, right? I plopped down next to him and slipped my shoes off to where my heels could breathe. Their were two seats at one black rectangular table. The guy looked at me and I smiled slightly at him.

"Hi, do you mind? That I sit here?" I asked him.

He shook his head and then pulled something out of his school bag. An iPod. The teacher just walked in and told us that it was a study hall period. He had both ear buds in and I could just barely hear the song. It was by Green Day. I tapped my fingers along with the beat and even after the song ended kept tapping. Sudennly my fingers were slammed down by a hand.

"Stop." The guys deep voice took me by surprise. I raised my eyebrows and pulled my hand away.

"Why? I thought you had your iPod on." I tapped my fingers on my knee and continued drawing randomly on a peice of paper that I had.

"I'm Max." I told him, looking up. He nodded to me, "Fang."

I rolled my eyes. Seriously? I'm gonna have to meet these kids parents and set them straight. I hoped that these weren't their real names.

When I got home my mom was sitting at the kitchen table with my dad and they seemed to be having an animated discussion.

"Max, sweetie? We need your opinion." I sighed at the irratated tone of her voice. Why did she always have to pull me into her fights with my dad?

"Hmm?"

"What color do you think would look better in the kitchen: A light yellow, or a deep purple?" I could tell that the deep purple was her idea, and the yellow was my dads.

Well, the yellow would look better with the light blue we were painting the in living room, right next to the kitchen, but the dark purple is, well, dark purple. "Yellow." I said, then escaped upstairs to my new room.

I picked up a box that I hadn't unpacked yet and pulled out a picture frame. I smiled at the memory. It was me and Ella at my sixteenth birthday party, just a few months ago. I set up the numerous pictures and picture frames around my room and decided that I was going to paint my room this weekend. A few hours later my mom bursts into my room with a smile on her face. She was wearing a dark blue dress that reached just below her knees and a pair of heels. Her make-up was done and I saw my dad behind her in a nice shirt a pair of jeans.

"What's going on?" I asked and saw Ella wearing her newest skirt.

"Were going to a get together, so go get ready." My mom cheered. She was always ready to go to a party, or to hang out with people.

I sighed and brushed my hair and reapplied what little make-up I had on.

The house was filled with people milling about, mingling. The house was huge. A few kids that looked my age or a little older.

"I'm so glad you made it!" A woman with a pitchy voice said, running over to greet us. She had a glass of wine in her hand and there was music playing lightly, I didn't recognize the song.

"Your girls are beautiful. Max right?" I nodded and smiled polietly at the woman. "It's very nice to meet you. Oh, you have to meet my son, he's your age." The woman pulled me away from my family and into a beautifully furnished dining room. I gaped at the expensive looking china and smiled as the woman pulled her son over.

I reconized him as the guy from the store where we bought the paint. "Hello again." Dylan said. His mom smiled and ran to greet more guests that just walked through the door.

"Hi. Your house is beautiful." I told him, looking around again. He laughed, "Thanks. This place is my mom's heart and soul." I laughed lightly. "Dylan! You know Fang right?" Dylan's mom was pulling an agitated Fang along behind her and toward us.

"Um, yeah?" Dylan looked confused. "Good, make him feel welcome." Dylan was thoughtful for a second and I smiled at Fang as a hello. "You're in my science class!" Dylan said, snapping his fingers.

Fang nodded, "Yeah." He said, pushing his black hair out of his eyes. His eyes were an odd greenish color, mixed with brown.

"This is-" Dylan started but was cut off by Fang.

"Max. Yeah, I know." He said.

An awkward silence set over us and we all just stood there, looking at different directions before Ella came over to me. "It took forever to find you. This place is huge." She said, a starry look in her eyes.

I nodded, "This is my sister Ella. Ella this is Dylan and Fang." Ella smiled sweetly at them. "Okay everyone! Dinner is outback!" Dylan's mom yelled. I followed the crowd outside and Ella went to my mom and dad who were trying to be civil tonight.

I ended up sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall. Then something that surpised me happened, Fang came over to me and sat down. "Do you mind that I sit here?" He asked me, repeating my words from eariler in the day.

I shook my head, "Be my guest." I sipped the coke in my hand. "Can I ask you something?" I said without looking at Fang. I felt like being nosy. He shrugged in response, I took that as a yes. "Why did you sit alone at lunch today?"

I saw out of the cornor of my eye as he stood up, and I instantly felt bad. "I don't like a lot of people. I'm picky about who I hang around with." Then he walked away.

I watched him, utterly confused. If it was that much of a personal quesiton he could have just refused to answer it. I looked through the people looking for Ella, or my mom and dad. I felt incredibly bad, even though I didn't really do anything. "There you are!" My mom said, smiling from ear to ear.

"Hey." I replied.

"Oh c'mon, smile. Aren't you having fun?" I realized that I wasn't. "Dylan's nice isn't he? And incredibly cute." I rolled my eyes.

"Don't even think about it mom. I can control my own love life." She pouted and I sood up stretching. My mom seemed unusally bubbly right now. Maybe she was just happy to have met a friend, or she's drunk.

"When are we leaving?" I asked her, running a hand through my hair. She rolled her eyes, "Soon." Then she walked off, leaving me there

"At least I'm not drunk out of my mind!" My dad screamed before slamming the front door. I ran to my window and saw his trunk drive away.

I rubbed my temples. It's three in the morning and Ella and I have school tomorrow. Can't they give it a rest for a night? I sighed and flipped my light switch back off, when I heard something shatter downstairs. I walked downstairs and found my mom sitting on the kitchen floor, a shattered glass in the dining room and she was holding her and my dad's wedding photo.

"Do you want me to clean that up?" I asked her, pointing into the dining room. She looked up and I saw her make-up was running down her face. I looked away awkwarrdly, I was never good at comforting people, especially when they cry. She shook her head no.

"Just go to bed." Her speech was slightly slurred, which proved that she was at least slightly drunk.

I bit my lip, "Are you-"

"Just go to bed!" She yelled at me. I backed away and went upstairs into my room. I looked at one of the picture frames I set up eariler. I was about four, Ella two, and we were at the beach. My mom and dad were kissing and Ella and I were playing in the sand, oblivous of the picture being taken. My mom was pregnant at the time but she had a miscarriage. Which is when our family took a nosedive off a cliff.