A/N: I'd like to say thank you to all my reviewers for your support. Every author loves feedback, so keep it coming. :D

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Maximum Ride

Chapter Seven – Waging War

Recap:

He couldn't help himself: he leaned towards her and breathed in her scent. He smirked when he heard her breathing hitch and gently touched her leg under the table. She jumped. He was impressed when she didn't glare at him. Instead, she smiled and laughed flirtatiously. He blinked.

She leaned toward him until her mouth was against his ear. "Wish me luck," she whispered as she stood up and made her way over to the middle table. He watched her hopelessly, wondering when she'd decided to play the same game as him.

Max's POV

That bastard was trying to play her! Well, two could play that game. It worked to her advantage, anyway. If Lissa thought that there was something going on between Fang and her, then she might just win this war. After all, it was no secret that Lissa was after Fang. It was no secret that the entire school was after Fang!

"Max," Lissa greeted with forced cheer as she approached the table. "I had no idea you were friends with Fang."

"Really? Well, we were best friends before I moved. We just got reacquainted properly the other day," she said, intentionally being vague.

Julia grinned and Max couldn't help but wonder if Julia knew exactly what she was up to.

"Max, this is Angel," Julia said, introducing the young girl at the table. Max smiled at her, wondering who she was.

She took a seat and eyed Angel carefully, wondering if she was another player to be factored into their little game. The girl was pretty - in a young sense. She had blonde curls and a bright smile. But there was also something unsettling about her.

"I found Angel showing some of her…friends...who was in charge. So I decided that I would take her under my wing," Lissa said, as if this was a great honour. Max resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"How nice. Angel, you must feel so privileged," Max said, not trying to hide the sarcastic nature of her words.

"I do, actually," Angel said with an –dare she say it? – angelic smile.

Max's mouth set into a hard line. So, Angel was one of those.

"Maybe you two deserve to be together," she mumbled, aware that they could both hear her clearly.

"So, Max, the party was pretty good, right?" Sam said, picking up on the tension between them and offering a subtle distraction.

"I had lots of fun," Julia offered with a glint in her eye.

"Kurt, huh?" Max asked, amused.

Julia winked.

"Why wasn't Fang there?" Lissa asked, tapping her acrylic nails on the tabletop. "I mean, you guys used to be friends, right?" She smiled, her eyes holding malicious intent.

"He was busy," Max said, giving her a 'so-what' look.

"Well, maybe you should invite him to eat lunch with us tomorrow," Lissa said, her acrylic nails clicking. Max gritted her teeth at the sound.

"I don't think he likes you very much," Max said with a shrug.

Lissa's glossy mouth popped open in a small 'o' shape. Max suppressed a grin at the uncharacteristic show of surprise.

"What?" Her nails stopped clicking, much to Max's relief.

"He doesn't like you. I don't think he would like to sit near you for very long," Max explained.

"What's gotten into you?" Lissa asked, her perfectly plucked eyebrows meeting.

"I don't like being controlled," she offered.

Lissa's eyes lightened in understanding. Her mouth smoothed out and her posture relaxed. It seemed that Lissa was very familiar with this kind of combative behaviour. It always turned out to be an act in the end. Lissa always won the game. Little did she know, Max wasn't an actress.

"What makes you think Fang doesn't like me? We used to be very close. If you know what I mean," Lissa said, biting her bottom lip suggestively.

Max paused; caught off guard.

"He makes the best sound when I suck on his neck. He especially likes it when I run my nails down his back."

Max felt sick. She imagined Lissa's long acrylic nails digging into Fang's flesh and winced. Ouch.

"He told me about you once: about how you wouldn't put out for him. I thought you must have been crazy. He said he only wanted you for one thing."

Silence reigned for a solid minute as the two stared each other down. How would she know that? Had the story bout why she moved gotten out? Max shuffled through her memories of Fang, searching for a grain of truth. But she couldn't find anything that backed up Lissa's story. All she could think about were Fang's eyes as they peered into her soul. He wouldn't do that to her…right?

For now, she concluded that the whole thing was just a story. It didn't matter anyway, because she was only playing a game with Fang. They would never actually be together.

"If you're such good friends with him, why don't you invite him to eat lunch with us yourself?" Max asked, expression stoic.

Lissa's mouth opened, and then closed.

Max raised her eyebrows in victory.

Lissa's nails started clicking again, this time in irritation.

"I want you to get Fang to eat lunch with us. If you refuse, you'll suffer the consequences," Lissa gritted out through her teeth.

"Bring it, bitch," Max said as she stood from her seat.

Lissa rose as well, seething. "What did you just say?" she shrieked.

"I called you a bitch," Max said.

"You've just made your bed. Don't come crying to me when you can't handle what I dish out."

"Ooh, I'm scared," Max mocked.

"You should be," Lissa hissed.

Max grinned. I'm a born leader, she thought to herself. She could do this. She would take down the bitch and prove that she could handle anything the business world threw at her. She hadn't planned on out-right fighting with Lissa, but after she'd said those things about Fang, she couldn't just stand by and do things quietly. She wasn't that type of person. No, she preferred up-front confrontations. She smiled to herself when she realised that she'd found part of herself when she'd engaged in this thing with Lissa. She still had more of herself to discover, however.

"This is war, you brat!" Lissa screeched.

Max's mouth twitched into a smile. She was aware of the staring peers around them. She was aware of the silent presence at the other table, watching her intensely. She felt a weird sense of happiness when she realised that Fang was ready to step in if things got out of her control. He was looking out for her, just like he used to when they were best friends.

Max leaned across the table so that she was in Lissa's personal space.

"Fang doesn't make a noise when you suck on his neck," she said softly. "It's the lack of sound that is so sensual."

Lissa's face paled.

Max stood up straight and gave one last smile of victory before she turned around and walked away. She didn't want to be friends with people like Lissa. She wanted to be friends with people like Fang, Iggy and Nudge.

Fang met her eyes with a silent query. She nodded her head slightly and he was standing up immediately, leaving Nudge in the middle of a sentence. He was by her side right away. She felt comforted by his presence.

When they were out of the cafeteria; Max let out her breath. Fang studied her silently, then took her hand and started leading her through the school. As they walked, she could see less and less people. Finally, he pulled her around a corner into a totally secluded area between two buildings. Cigarette butts littered the floor and an ugly red crate was turned upside down to act as a seat. She slumped down onto the crate as Fang leant against the wall.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"I like to come here to think," he replied. "No one else comes here."

There was silence for a few moments.

"You smoke, right?"

"I'm quitting," he replied sheepishly. "I have one left. I'm saving it."

"For what?" she asked.

He shrugged.

She picked up a blade of grass and twirled it in her fingers. Overhead, the bell for class rang. They ignored it.

"So, what happened in there?" Fang asked.

"She asked me to invite you to eat with us tomorrow. I said no. Then she went on about how you know each other really well. Really Fang: her?"Max sneered.

"She kissed me once in tenth grade, if that's what you're talking about," he replied with an amused smirk.

Max snorted. She knew that bitch was full of shit. But then she felt a sick feeling in her stomach when she thought of Fang and Lissa kissing. Did he like kissing the Rich Bitch? Well, obviously something hadn't gone right between them, otherwise he wouldn't hate her and she wouldn't be so desperate to date him.

"So, what did you say about that?" Fang questioned.

"I said that if she knew you so well, then she should ask you to eat with us herself."

Fang laughed.

"So, naturally, she ordered me to do as she asked or I'd pay. So I told her to 'bring it, bitch'. That's when she declared war," Max said, quite amused with the whole ordeal. It was so clichéd and predictable that she couldn't even believe she was participating in something so trivial.

But then she thought of Lissa and Fang together and she knew that she wouldn't let that happen.

"Am I missing something?" he asked, studying her expression closely.

"She just said some things about you," Max said with a shrug. It wasn't any of her business if they actually had slept together. It wasn't like he had cheated on anyone. In fact, his personal life wasn't really any of her business.

"Like what?"

Max smiled slightly. "She said you make the best sound when she sucked on your neck," Max mocked.

Fang raised his eyebrows.

"I told her you don't make a noise when someone sucks on your neck. I mentioned something about how the lack of sound is more sensual." Max's cheeks turned pink and she avoided meeting Fang's gaze.

He burst out laughing, making her relax instantly. Really, the whole thing had been stupid. She could barely believe that she was fighting over him with some crazy bitch. She joined in with him, revelling how light-hearted his laughter made her.

"You should have seen the look on her face," Max gasped out.

"I think I did. Is that when she went really pale?"

Max nodded. They started laughing all over again.

Max sighed and leant against the brick wall behind her. She wasn't used to a laughing Fang. She wished she was. His relaxed nature was making her feel very relaxed.

He told me about you once: about how you wouldn't put out for him. I thought you must have been crazy. He said he only wanted you for one thing. The words floated into her head quite unexpectedly, causing her to tense.

"Is there something else she said?" Fang asked softly, reading her mood like an open book.

"Nah," she said, biting her lip.

"Max," Fang said sternly, not believing her for a second.

"It doesn't matter anyway."

Fang silently watched her, waiting for her to give in.

She blew out her breath, causing her bangs to flutter about her face.

"She said that you only wanted one thing from me. Apparently I wouldn't put out for you and you told her."

Fang tensed and his eye turned incredibly dark. "She said what?" His voice was a deadly growl and if she hadn't known him so well, it would have scared her.

"It's stupid, right," she offered, trying to quench the nervous feeling she had in her gut. How else would Lissa have known about what happened in the cave unless he'd told her?

"Max, you know that's a lie, right? I would never think that about you, nor would I tell her anything about our relationship as friends…or more. She's just jealous because I care for you and I hate her."

"You care about me?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Of course. You're one of my best friends. I've known you my whole life. Of course I care about you," he said quickly.

She smiled. "Thanks Fang. I know you don't usually talk about your feelings or whatever."

"If it will make you feel better, of course I'll talk about my feelings."

"I appreciate it," she said, forcing a cheerful smile.

He ruffled her hair, causing her to scrunch her face up in dislike. "I don't, however, appreciate that," she admonished with a small grin.

His lips twitched as he held back a smile. "C'mon, I'll walk you to class and make up some excuse as to why you're late," he said, taking her hand and leading her away from his little haven.

She grinned. "Imagine the look on Lissa's face," she said evilly.

He chuckled.

A/N: Who's the 'Queen Bee' at your school/ in your friendship group?