Twelve-thirty finally came, which meant one thing: lunch time. I escaped my English class and looked for Fang where he said he would meet me for lunch. I found him right where he had specified in first period, right under the spiral staircase by the cafeteria.

"Hey, Fang," I said casually.

"Hey," he said. I looked around and saw Iggy and Ella approaching from a nearby hallway.

"Damn, this place is so confusing," Iggy muttered. Then he looked at Fang. "And who's this? Does Max already have a guy?"

"I'm Fang," he said plainly.

"Great to meetcha, bro," Iggy said, sticking out his hand. Fang took it and quickly released it. "You don't know how tiring it is to hang out with these two all the time, even though they are my sisters."

"I know the feeling," Fang said.

"You've got a sister?" Ella asked. "I'm Ella, by the way.

"I've got a younger brother and sister," Fang plainly stated. He seemed pretty blunt about stuff. "Nice to meet you, Ella." Ella blushed.

"Where the hell is Nudge?" I asked myself.

"I'm here!" I heard her say from a few feet away. "Sorry! I got lost! Oh, who's this?" she asked.

"Fang. You're…Nudge?" Fang said.

"Yup. So, what's for lunch? I hope it's something good, not like the stuff we had in high school. That stuff sucked!" Nudge babbled.

"Actually, the food here's halfway decent," Fang told her as we walked into the cafeteria.

We got into the shortest of four lunch lines and pretty much asked random questions to Fang to get to know him and vice versa. I found out that his brother, Gazzy, is four years younger than him and his sister, Angel, is six years younger. Fang isn't emo or goth, he just likes wearing black. His parents died in a car crash when he was twelve and he lives in his own apartment a few miles from the university. We got our lunch, pizza, and headed for a table in the corner Fang directed us to.

"So, how do you guys like ASU so far?" Fang asked once we sat down.

"Well, this place is alright, I guess," I told him, taking a bite out of my pizza. "Wow, this is actually—"

"Yo, Fang!" someone yelled, sitting next to Fang. Someone else sat next to me and said, "Whatcha up to, Fang?"

"Hey, Sam. Ari," Fang said, sounding a little embarrassed. "Max, Iggy, Ella, Nudge, these are my pains in the ass, Sam and Ari. Sam, Ari, this is Fly By."

"Well, well, well, Fly By. Who would've thought Fang could have a chance to fuck a singer?" Ari said.

"Excuse me?!" I said, almost choking on my pizza.

"I said who would've thought—" he began, but I cut him off.

"I heard what you said, nimrod," I told him, slapping him across the face.

"Max!" Nudge exclaimed.

"Eh, it's okay. Ari's a fucking pervert," Fang said. Sam just sat there, saying nothing.

Ari recovered and said, "Well, if Fang can't fuck you, may I?"

I smacked him again. "No."

"Ari lay off," Fang said, obviously embarrassed that his so-called friend was saying this stuff.

"What? Come on, Fang," Ari said. I was gonna smack this boy again. "I bet she's great in bed."

I smacked him. Again.

"Ari shut your trap. She's beating the shit out of you," Fang said. "You're already getting a bruise." I looked and there was indeed a spot of purple rising where I've been slapping him.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you that hard," I apologized.

"It's okay…" Ari said and leaned in close. "…if you'll kiss me." Smack.

"Not sorry anymore," I said. Fang chuckled.

"Woah, Fang, did you just chuckle?" Sam asked, shocked.

"Well, Ari just got bitch-slapped," Fang stated. "It was amusing." I rolled my eyes.

"Anyway," Fang continued, "I was wondering if you guys wanted to come to this club with me and the guys Friday. It's the best in the city."

"Sure!" Nudge blurted out.

"I guess," Iggy said.

"I haven't been to one since Australia," Ella said. "I'm in."

"Well, Max? How 'bout it?" Fang asked me.

"Well…" I hesitated with my answer.

"Come on, Max!" Nudge begged. "You don't have to drink or anything! It'll be fun!"

"Ugh, okay, I'll go," I said. Sam and Ari slapped high fives.

"Great. The club is called Scarlett Fever," Fang told us. "It's downtown. Be ready at ten?"

"I guess," I confirmed.

"Cool. Ah, shit, time for class," Fang said, looking at the clock. It read one-oh-five. "Later, guys. If I'm late for gym again Coach'll kill me."

"Hey, I have gym next, too," I said.

"'Kay. Just follow me," Fang said.

"Okay. Bye, guys," I said to them.

"Max! Remember, the record producer wants a new song by next Saturday!" Nudge called after me as I walked to the trash can to dump my tray.

"I'll have it done," I told her.

I dumped my tray and followed Fang to where he said the gym was.

"Sorry about Ari," Fang said.

"It's okay," I replied.

There was a mildly awkward silence between us for about a minute, then Fang turned to me and said, "So…a new song?"

"Yeah," I replied. "The record company wants Fly By to put out a new album."

Fang was quiet until we got about ten paces away from the gyms.

"MARTINEZ!" I heard a male voice yell from the gyms general direction. "YOU'RE LATE, AGAIN!" The yeller came out of the gym and it was in fact the coach.

Fang facepalmed. "Sorry, Coach Jones," he apologized.

"I have half a mind to make you run fifty laps around—" Coach started, but I cut him off.

"It's my fault, Coach," I explained, putting on my innocent face. "I got lost, and Fang was helping me find my way here. I'm Max Ride."

Coach sighed in defeat. "You're lucky Ride backed you up, Martinez," he said. "But next time you're late, it's 100 laps around the football field. And I don't write tardy passes."

"Won't happen again, Coach," Fang said to Coach and walked into the boys' locker room.

"Now, you're the new girl, Max Ride?" Coach asked me.

"Yes, sir," I said, still keeping up the innocent façade. One thing I learned from middle school and high school: suck up to the coaches and they'll ask you to do favors for them and you get out of class (A/N: Very true).

"Well, did you bring a set of gym clothes?" he asked.

"Uh…no, sir. Sorry," I said, scratching the back of my head.

"Come with me," he said walking straight for…

…the guys' locker room.

I hesitated and he turned around. "Coming, Ride?" he asked and I walked after him into the guys' locker room.

The first thing I saw was Fang changing into his gym clothes in a corner. My face automatically reddened seeing him shirtless. I looked at the floor and Coach took me into his office.

"Here," he said, handing me some red shorts and a gray shirt that had "ASU" on it.

"Thanks, Coach," I said, heading out of the locker room.

As soon as I left Coach's office, I bumped into Fang and fell down.

"Oh! Sorry, Max," he said, helping me up. Then he raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing in the guys' locker room?" he questioned.

I blushed. "I needed some gym clothes and Coach gave them to me in here," I explained.

"Oh. Well, hurry up and change," he said. I nodded and ran into the girls' room and changed, putting my clothes in my backpack and leaving my backpack in a locked bathroom stall. I ran into the gym and went over to Fang, who was chatting with Ari.

"Oh, look! If it isn't little Miss Goodfuck," Ari said. Fang punched his arm. "Ow! Fang! What the hell?"

"Don't call her little Miss Goodfuck," Fang told him. Then, he looked at me and I swear I saw a small blush creep onto his cheeks. I had to take advantage of that.

"What's wrong, Fang?" I asked, stepping closer and squishing my boobs together with my arms. "You're face got all red." I got up onto my tip-toes and pressed my hand to his forehead. This was fun.

"Uh…I'm…uh…fine…Max," he stuttered. Ari was trying—and failing—to hide his laughter.

I looked Fang straight in the eye, our faces barely an inch apart. "You sure?" I asked. "You feel a little…" I put the back of my hand to his cheek for effect. "…hot."

This made Ari, not even joking here, ROFL. I followed suit, stepping back from Fang and bursting out laughing. I had to clutch my sides to keep from exploding.

"Oh, God, Fang! You should see your face!" I managed to say between giggles. Ari was practically howling.

Fang blushed more and looked away just as Coach Jones came into the gym. Ari stopped laughing and got off the floor, obviously dreading the activities to come.

That period was hell. Hell. Jumping jacks, pushups, sit ups, then running around the track twice and REPEAT. Coach Jones needs to go back to the Air Force; they need their T.I. back. I can see why Fang was always late to that class.

—Friday, 4:29pm, seventh period History—

"Mr. Smith is so boring," I whispered to Fang.

"Well, look at it like this," Fang whispered back, "class is out in one minute. Then, Scarlett Fever at ten."

"Damn, I thought you forgot about Scarlett Fever," I said.

He gave a quick, quiet chuckle. "Never," he whispered.

"Well," I paused, "what's the worst that could happen?" I asked rhetorically.

"Hm…you get drunk and do a random one-night stand with some weird thirty-year-old man with a foot fetish?" he joked.

I laughed. "Honestly, what are you smoking and where can I get some?"

"Wouldn't that ruin your rep?" I smacked his arm lightly. He knew not to bring up my Hollywood life.

"You sure we only met this year?" I asked for the nth time this week.

"You keep bringing that up," he sighed.

"Well, I think that we've known each other before this week," I pouted.

Bbrriinngg!

"Class, make sure you have your reports ready by Tuesday," Mr. Smith yelled at our class as we were leaving the room. "It counts for 60 percent of your grade!"

"So I guess I'll see you at ten," I said to Fang.

"Yup. I'll pick you and the rest of the gang up," he told me.

"You've actually got a car big enough for seven people?" I asked, not believing he did.

"If double-buckling and sitting on the floor means everyone fits, then yeah." He smirked.

"Ha, fine. I'll see you then."

We walked to our respective cars, well me to my mom's van and him to his car which was somewhere in the parking lot. As much as I hated to say it, I was kind of excited for Scarlett Fever.

--

A/N: Ok, well that's it for this chapter! Sorry for the hiatus!