so hello, I'm back from my holiday sorry to leave you waiting. Hope this chapter lives up to your expectations ^.^
Earlier that day
*Max's POV*
"So Max, any suggestions?"
I turn my head to the front of the classroom, my maths teaching Miss Barn looks at me whilst smiling. I don't even know why she bothers to try with me- I'm useless at maths.
"Um" I think for a bit looking at the equation on the board. '2x+ 8 =14x+2' "could you divide the whole thing by two" Miss Barn smiles
"Yes, brilliant Max. Now what" I sit up straighter in my chair looking at the new equation 'x+4=7x+1'
"take away one of each side?"
"fabulous! So what do we have now?"
"ummm..." I look at it "X plus three equals um seven x? "
"you're doing marvellous. So how do we finish this off?"
I focus on the equation, I know I'm the worst kid in the class, everybody puts their faces in their hands waiting for me to finish.
"I don't know" I say
"yes you do. Think. You need to take something off both sides"
"You could um. I look at it. Take an X off each side" I pause and look at Miss Barn- she's nodding her head. "So um. You have three equals seven X. Then you divide each side by seven, so um the answers is X equals 3 divided by seven" I look up to Miss Barn, she's smiling.
"brilliant" She says, "absolutely perfect" she turns to face the class. "Right. I think you've all done so well today I'm going to let you off homework" everyone cheers "but we still have ten minutes left so please quickly finish these equations" She writes the equations on the board.
"Do you want to work together?" I turn to my left and see a girl with sleek white hair tied back into a high pony tail really tightly with no loose hairs. "Hi, I'm Rochelle. Not Rachael, Rochelle"
"I'm Max. Not Maxine, Max" I look to her and she smirks then shakes her head.
"Max, could you come here for a minute" Miss Barn says from the front of class.
"Hey Max, sit with me at lunch, yeah?" Rochelle asks, I don't want to sit next to Fang, so I nod. I walk to the front of class. I don't know why she's talking to me all of a sudden, but I'm crap at making new friends so if someone wants to talk to me then that's cool with me.
"Hi Max, sit down" Says Miss Barn "I think we have a little problem here. You see you're not quite as fast at problems as the other pupils and I think it might be good for you to have a tutor" she says "what do you think?"
"I don't think there's any point. I'm not really worth having a tutor waste time on me"
"Oh no Max, don't say that. Everybody in this class is going to flourish including you, you just need an extra bit of help. So what I'm going to do is have an older pupil help you, how does that sound to you"
" I don't think it will help, I just-"
"Max, you're a very smart young lady, I'm sure you know that to get better at something you need to practice"
"Okay, but-".
"No buts, this is for you own good, you are going to have a tutor or face the consequences" I nodded defeated, then went back down to speak to Rochelle
"What was that about Max?" Rochelle asks, her brown eyes fixed on her page and not on me, she doesn't really care.
"oh I need a tutor" I say. Rochelle nods.
Soon the bell rings and I go for lunch, sitting with Rochelle. A tawny looking girl with messy curly brown hair sits down next to us, she's really tall.
"Hi Ro" she says and sits by us
"This is Tess" She says, she sits next to Rochelle. They talk a bit and I say the occasional think making them laugh. I have no idea if they're laughing with me or at me.
I turn my head to the rest of the dinner hall for a second an meet Fangs eyes. I glare at him then look back to Rochelle and Tess. God he's annoying, I hate that he makes a hug weird one day then calls me jealous the next. Oh God. Now he's talking to the clingy girl, she looks at him really weird, like she wants to eat him alive. Her eyes widen when he talks to her, like a tiger when it spots its' prey.
*Iggy's POV*
Because I'm blind I have first priority on the bus, I live in the same town as school I could easily bike or walk home and I know where all the paths are and I could cycle home with Max and Fang because there's a cycle route that doesn't even go on main roads.
I step up into the bus and put my hands on the top of the seats pulling myself further to the back of the bus I sit at the back, but not the very back. I hear everyone else get onto the bus.
"Can I sit here?" I hear a small voice say, a girls voice.
"of course" I smile and move up so she can sit with me.
"You're Jeff, right?" she asks. She smells really nice.
"Yeah"
"I'm Tess" I can hear her let out small breaths. I have super good senses because I can't see, I can hear people talking from farther away and can sense vibrations really well with enhanced sense of touch. In the week I've been riding the bus I've memorised the different turns the bus takes to know when to get off, but the bus driver always reminds me anyway.
"Hi Tess" I don't really know why she was talking to me, most people just come up to me and are like 'so you can't see at all? How many fingers am I holding up? Woah you really can't see at all' it gets annoying- so this was kind of refreshing. "Are you in year 10" I ask, the school has year 10, 11, 12 and 13- I'm in year 10.
"Yes" she replies "so are you, you're in my science classes" I hadn't heard her voice before, I would of remembered it- it's really sweet, but not high pitched kind of like a folk singers.
I chatted to her for a bit then got off the bus and didn't pay attention to the bumps on the road, but the driver reminds me to get off anyway. I walked slowly to the front of the bus and took two steps down then jumped off the bus. I walked on the path to my house, the path ended then I took two steps on the grass then took a step up to the door and opened it.
"hello I'm home" I yelled as I walked in. I don't think anyone's home. I heard some creaking, then felt a small movement from the floor. Somebody was here, I turned my head around pointing my ear into all different directions.
"BOO"
"nice try Gaz, but it's pretty hard to sneak up on me, I have super sonic hearing" I said stepping forward slowly and then it got me. I slipped on something on the floor and fell onto my back. Ouch. "Ah okay you got me good. But what about the rule where you can't take advantage of the blind?"
"ah that's the thing, I tricked you into thinking shouting boo was the trick which caught you off guard then released the real trick" he explained
"well I guess it was my own fault for doubting your capabilities"
I heard him chuckle and slide his feet along the floor, must of darted off somewhere.
"Gaz!" I yell
"What!?" I heard from the games room
"you could of told me you left"
"oh. Sorry" I sighed and took four steps to the landing, mum had a bar put on the wall so I can guide myself across. I took the bar and led myself to the stairs and took the thirteen steps to the first floor. I then walk into my room and pull my laptop from my bag to get started on some homework.
*Fangs POV*
I lay down on my bed and thought about the day. It was kind of nice speaking to Lissa and cool that I can go see her this weekend. Then I get a pang in my stomach, I really upset Max by calling her jealous, she won't do anything except silent treatment me to the dirt, but I should really apologise to her, maybe later.
I go downstairs, I have no idea what to do for my art project, but I've got a few pictures of a cheetah running so I thought I'd draw all the positions of it, then write about the way it moves whilst running. Not exactly a good idea, but it's a start. I sat myself at the kitchen table and started to faintly draw with a pencil.
"Heya Fang" I look up it's nudge "what are you drawing?" she bounces over to my side and sits down next to me. "ohhhh a leopard, I love leopards. My favourite type of leopard is a snow leopard can you draw one of them next. Pleeeeaaaseee."
"it's actually a cheetah" I say, looking back to my paper
"oh cool, can I draw with you?" I pass her a piece of paper and a pencil and we draw for a bit.
The phone rings and Nudge runs to go pick it up. She loves to answer the phone- more chance to speak.
"Hello" she says. She pauses for a bit "Oh he's right here" she turns to me "It's Max". What? Oh shit. I grab the phone off Nudge.
"Yello- listen I'm really sorry-" I start, and I am. Well kind of I know I should apologise to make things right, but she does overreact a bit.
"Why aren't you here?" she asks, cutting me off. Um what? Does she want me to come to her house or something
"um sorry"
"You texted me to meet you in the park" she says. Nope still not getting it.
"What!? No I didn't" Wait? Andy and co have my phone, oh my god they texted her. "Max get out of there, run home" I'm almost shouting down the phone, Nudge is a couple of meters behind me and I hear her coming closer and poke my back, I push her away.
"Why? What's going on?"
"I got my phone nicked, I don't have it. Get out of there"
"What?"
"I got beaten up by the people who took my phone, just leave" oh my god what are they going to do, why did they want Max, a million terrible thoughts rush through my head, she needs to get out of there. "are you leaving?" I ask
"Yes" I can hear her breathing fasten, phew she's getting out of there. I hear her fast breathing stop, is she still getting out of there?
"MAX" I yell, Nudge pulls on my shirt
"What's going on?" Nudge asks, I push Nudge away.
"um, I think they're here" Max says from the phone. I feel my heart skip a beat then plummet to the bottom of my stomach, I feel sick.
"LET ME GO" Max shouts. Oh god, oh god.
"Hello again" I hear from the phone. It's Andy. I feel myself gag. I feel a lump at my side. I feel my hands shake.
"leave her alone" I snarl into the phone. I hear him let out a quick breath as if he smiled.
"so as you can probably hear, we've got your girl" He pauses and he lets out another quick breath "what are you going to do about it?" then he hangs up the phone.
Oh my god I feel sick, I run to the sink and throw up, I feel my breathing get rapid, I can't control it. Nudge runs to my side. "Fang, please tell me what's wrong" she looks up at me with her big brown eyes.
"Max...is...in...trouble" I swallow a few times trying to breathe normally. I sit on the floor and put my head in my hands. I take in one slow deep breath and try to calm down.
Okay I need to go help her.
"Nudge, is your dad in?" I ask. She shakes her head. Fuck. Oh god what am I going to do? First I need to save Max and I can't do it alone, but also I can't leave Nudge alone and there's no way I'm bringing Nudge with me. I press my hands on my temples. Think. I have to leave Nudge here, she's eleven that's an okay age to be alone. Isn't it? "I have to leave you alone" I said to Nudge "to go save Max. I'll take you to next door, you be good okay?" she nods, I kiss her on the forehead and take her to next door. I knock on the door and our neighbour Brigid, I quickly explain I need to go to help a friend, she understands and takes Nudge in.
I run to the park, I can't stop terrible thoughts rushing through my head. I turn into the park. Where are they? I run around looking everywhere. Oh no. I brush my fingers through my hair and look down on the grass to see my phone. I pick it up and I unlock it and throw up again. The screen is one of the guys holding Max's arms back while she glares down the camera lens. These guys are sick, what the fuck is wrong with them. Do they have Max's phone? I select her name on my contacts and ring her. Someone answers it.
"oh hello Fang" I hear the spite in Andy's words "So as you can probably tell we're not there, don't worry we're taking care of your girl.
"Andy" I hear another voice "she keeps on kicking us, we can't even tie her down"
"I don't care, get it sorted" he says to them "now you better come and face us before something bad goes down, so hurry up little boy"
"You better not hurt her" I say feeling queasy
"ha, that's funny kid, like to see you be as tough as you talk" and with that he hangs up. Shit shit shit. Okay think where are they, what did I hear on the phone. Max was kicking them and they were trying to tie her up. So they're somewhere with rope with something to tie her to. They weren't anywhere nearby or I would probably be able to hear them, the floor was dry so it wouldn't show footprints. I don't know what to do. I switch on blue-tooth, to see if Max's phone is in range, it isn't. Lets think, Andy isn't the brightest of kids, he won't of taken her to a good location. I think hard, they'll probably be somewhere in the park- just not this part. I cross the road over to the tennis courts- nothing here. I run around and open a gate to the lake. The dark sky leaves the lake black and there isn't any lights except for a few spot lights shine onto the path around it, there were rowing boats in the corner of the lake that you can rent for an hour and aha a boat house. I walked round to it then quickly ducked behind a bush- one of the guys was outside on look-out. I sat down and thought for a little bit, okay okay what do I do? I can't see him too well, he's under a light. He's a little bit taller than me, but quite similar in other proportions I also have the element of surprise on my side and in my dark outfit he definitely won't see me.
I crawled closer to him and he was looking around, he didn't have a torch or anything, so I was still good, then suddenly my phone goes off. He looks at me and spots me, then starts charging towards me. Okay I try and remember some basic self defence tips I got off Max, she took this class back in middle school. He charges at me with his arms outstretched. Just before he gets to me I bob down, he leans down to get me and I stand up and hit his chin with the top of my head then kick him in the crotch, he bends over in agony then I hit his back with my elbow sharply causing him to fall over, then when he's on the floor I kick him in the guts then the knees and run off to the shed. I take the door and try to sneak in but it makes a creak so I am spotted.
"Ah look here he is" Andy says. I see Max in the corner they haven't managed to tie her up, but the tallest one is restraining her arms and she's stretching her legs out to kick the other one. Just then he grabbed both her legs and lifted her off the floor. Andy turned around and nodded at them and they both dropped her causing her to hit her head on the hard floor. I glare back at Andy and take my phone out of my pocket then chuck it square at his head, he grabs his head trying to steady himself and I run to him kicking him in the shins he is unbalanced and swings to hit me. He misses put follows through with the punch, he then falls over and I turn sharply to kick him in the head, but he sticks his leg out and I fall over. I look over to Andy and see he's not passed out, but not in any condition to stand. The other two guys run over to me and start to kick me, but I quickly stand up and punch one of them square in the jaw.
I jump over Andy and they try to follow me, but the tall one falls over him and I kick him on his way down. One more to go. The remaining guy punches me in the chin. Twice.
"you gonna give up yet?" He asks I roll my eyes and lift my leg to kick him in the stomach put he grabs it and pushes me to the floor. He's easily the biggest and I know I can't beat him with brawn- it has to be with brains, but I can't think. Oh god! what do I do?
He kicks me in the shoulder and I kick up and I aim for his groin but miss and hit the top of his thigh, sending him slightly off balance but he stays strong. What can I do? I look around and he jumps onto me and starts to punch my face, not too heavily, but repeatedly. Max is passed out, but I hope that's the worst thing that's happened to her- if it was anything worse I'd hate myself forever. I didn't see any bruises on her face, but she could be hurt another way. I kick with my legs trying to free myself, but no use. Then everything starts to go hazy.
Sorry if there are a few mistakes, I kind of rushed it so I wouldn't leave you waiting. Please review
-Jess x