I'm going to be honest and say I didn't read through this chapter for mistakes, but I've gone so long without updating and I'm going away again, it just wouldn't be fair to leave you hanging. hope you enjoy it ^.^
*Nudge's POV*
"Mum, can we go see Fang please?" I beg, I haven't seen him in hospital. He's okay, but I want to go make him feel better. I can draw a picture for him.
"Sorry, but visiting hours are over, he'll be coming home soon"
"But he doesn't like hospitals"
"I know honey, but he'll be home soon anyway" she smiles uncertainly and goes into the sitting room. I stay sat at the kitchen table with my colouring pencils. I draw some faint lines in purple then swoop blue to join all the lines together. I shade it in to create a spiral stair case. I get a black crayon and use that for darker shading. It's pretty good. Well it's okay. I run up to Fangs room and put it on his pillow.
"NUDGE PHONE" mum yells, I rush downstairs and take the phone from her.
"Fang?" I ask
"um no" Ella replies.
"oh, hi" I pause "how are you" I say to be polite. Ella is 13 and the year above me at school whilst I'm 11 and almost 12, I like her, but we don't really have anything in common. We used to get along really badly, but we're kind of cool.
"I'm good Nudge. You okay?"
"yeah, I'm fine" I can always talk for ages with everyone, but I just feel Ella always judges me, so I stay quiet.
"soooo..." she starts "I was wondering if I could come rounds tomorrow, because Max is at a gig, and it's mums and dads date night and I can't be home alone"
"um, yeah, that's fine. I'll just check with mum" I press the phone to my chest "mum is it alright if Ella comes round tomorrow?"
"Ella?" she says, confused
"Yeah Ella, she can't be home alone"
"sure" I take the phone back up to my ear
"yep that's fine" I say to Ella. I hope she brings something so I don't have to talk to her too much.
"cool, bye Nudge" and she quickly hangs up. I sigh and sit down with mum to watch tv with her.
*Max's POV*
"So it's quite simply once you follow the steps" Sam says, as I finish the graph.
"yeah, it's cool" He's really nice, a little bit awkward, but nice. He's two years older than me and in one of the top sets, he wants to be a teacher when he's older so he thought doing some tutoring would be good experience, and he is good at it. Sam is patient and doesn't laugh at me when I'm my stupid self.
"well I think that's enough for today, it's already five" he packs up his pencil case "You can have my notes, and do you want to meet up the same time next week" he passes me the sheets of paper we were working on.
"yeah that's great, thank you so much" I say smiling, he nods back at me and flicks his hair.
"And, um I'll give you my number if you need any more help, but on Tuesdays I'm at swim practice and I work at the weekends" he says scribbling numbers on the notes and underlining it.
"okay thank you very much" then he laughs
"You don't have to say thank you so much. When can you do?"
"I can usually do most days, but my mum works later on Mondays and Tuesdays, so she can't pick me up"
"ah okay, what does your mum do?"
"she's a Vet"
"cool. So I'll see you next week unless you need to see me sooner. Bye Max" he says picking up his rucksack and walking out of the room. I pack up my stuff, and go see Miss Barn who's marking homework in the office.
"I'm off now" I say, she lifts he head up
"okay, bye Max, oh how did it go by the way?"
"It went well"
"Ah good, I'm glad he asked to tutor, I have too much marking to get through to do it myself. He's a lovely boy isn't he?"
"um, yeah he's nice" I says
"Okay, well I'll see you tomorrow Max" she smiles and I walk out of the maths office to the entrance of the school and spot my car, I jump in to see mum.
"heya mum" I say smiling
"why are you so happy?" she asks
"good lesson, the tutor is well nice"
"I'm glad. Oh Max, could you help with tea, I need to go pick your dad up from the train station"
"Okay" dad works in the city and commutes to work. He's not at home much, so if I'm honest we're not all that close.
Mum drops me off and I go into the kitchen and look at the note she left me. Lasagne- mince, and cheese sauce is already made, just put sheets of pasta on top of the mince in three layers then put cheese sauce on top. Cook for 30 mins in oven which is already preheated. Okay, okay this should be okay. I can do this.
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OH MY FUCKING GOD
"Ella!" I yell "oh my god Ella I need you help" I yell trying to open the oven door, put it's all stuck together. I switch off the oven, or something. I look down at the switches and notice I turned the hob on, my hair falls down onto my face, and- Oh holy shit it's on fire. I start screaming and run to put my head under the tap. I turn it on quickly and let the water rush over my head and the flame hisses out.
"what do you- oh god. Max what the hell have you done?" I turn to Ella's shocked face
"The oven won't open and it's burning" I scream
"have you pressed the release door button?" she replies, calmly
"a button!?" I jump up and rush to the oven "Which button!?" I look to Ella, she rolls her eyes and pushes a button on the stove door, then pulls the handle down. A cloud of smoke flies out the oven and into our faces, then the smoke alarm goes off.
"oh my god, get that thing out of here" Ella yells, waving her arms around as an attempt to get the smoke out of her face.
"OKAY, OKAY, I'M DOING IT" I scream, I put on the oven gloves and carry it out into the garden, smoke fills the house and we start to cough. Ella opens the door and I put the lasagne down on the grass only for it to catch fire. I sigh and turn to Ella "Turn on the sprinkles".
We couldn't go back in the house from all the smoke. I accidentally turned the heat up too much and put it in for an hour and a half instead of half an hour. Wait it's been in for an hour and a half? Where's mum and dad? Ella and I sit on the wet grass outside the house next the the dish of charcoal that should have been a lovely tea. "Why aren't they back yet, do you think the train's delayed?"
"Well the station is only 20 minutes away, so 40 minutes for there and back. It's possible it could be delayed and hour" I say. We stay sat in silence, waiting for the car to pull into the drive, but it doesn't arrive- where are they?
The smoke clears from the house so Ella and I go to back inside and make ourselves some cereal and watch some classic episodes of doctor who. I think they're okay, but Ella us absolutely crazy about them. We're watching the doctor who has blonde curly hair and a colourful jacket on.
"Why do we have to watch the old ones?" I ask Ella.
"Well, firstly I think they're better written and also they only release like 6 new episodes a year which is ridiculous. So this is where I get my doctor who fix" She replies not taking her eyes off the screen. Her ears perk up. "Did you hear that?"
"what? No. Hear what?"
"A door slam" she turns to me. "a car door" I didn't even hear a car park in the garage and here's Ella hearing someone shut a door.
"I don't care" my mum yells, bursting through the door. My head darts in the direction on the sound of the doors hinges creaking against the force. She takes two steps up the stairs, I hear them loud and harsh, then my dad walks in.
"Val, I"
"You didn't even discuss this with me, what do you expect us to do, uproot our whole lives. You can't make these decisions without me, this family does not revolve around you" She runs up the stairs and I hear her slam the door. Dad looks through the doorway at Ella and I.
"Well what are you looking at?" he shouts and walks into the kitchen. I look to Ella, she hates shouting, she's frozen where she was sitting, then delicately stands up and walks up the stairs. I stay watching the TV, knowing Ella probably wants to be left alone. What the hell just happened?
*Fangs POV*
I wake up in the morning and feel a cold rush in my hand, I turn to my side to see the nurse fiddling with my IV on my wrist. She sees me looking at her.
"please, I don't want it" I say, she looks down at me
"sorry, but it's good for you" she smiles. Where's my other nurse?
"I can't deal with it" I say, "please, please take it off"
"look honey, it's for your own good-"
"no" I snatch my hand away from her, I pull the tape off my hand and pinch the top of the needle, I yank it out and feel the sharp sting of pain as a little dripple of blood comes out. The nurse rolls her eyes.
"you do what you want, but you ain't gonna be going home soon without eating or being on the drip, come on it's Saturday tomorrow, don't ya wanna be home for the weekend?" I sigh and pull Iggy's sunglasses from my bed side table and put them on.
"Fine" I say and lay back I wince as the needle is put back into my flesh and feel the cool tingle as gravity allows the medicine into my blood. I can't see what's happening, but I can sure as hell feel it.
I switch on the music channel on the tv and stay still for the rest of the day. I try to ignore my surroundings for the rest of the day and eat as much as I can for lunch, then around four I get a knock on the door.
"um, hello" I take off the sunglasses and look up.
"Oh hi Lissa" I can hear my own voice and it sounds a lot better
"You look better" She said. Lissa was my first visitor and saw me at my worst, she lives near the park and heard what happened. "um I was just coming to say, um I think we should call our date off, not because I don't like you- because I do. But it's like I don't want you to come out when you're ill" Date? She never said us meeting up was a date thing. I look at Lissa, she's wearing a green dress that matches her eyes with sleeves that go to her elbows. she smiles at me "I got you these" she hands me some flowers "I know flowers are kinda a girly thing, but they're nice" I look at Lissa and force a smile. She puts the flowers of the bed side table and carefully avoiding the tubes feeding into my hand she sits down on the edge of my bed. She looks at my hand. "Oh dear your hand looks pretty bruised" she carefully slips her hand under mine so our palms are touching, with her other hand she carefully traces around my fingers. "sorry does this hurt?" she looks to me and I shake my head and sit up. "good" she says and kind of leans forward and touches the back of my head and before I know it she leans closer and kisses me. My eyes widen, and hers close. It's a little bit awkward as I'm kind of half lying down, but it's... nice. I place my hand gently on her back and then she pulls away and smiles at me. "um so ring me, we should go out another time" she says
"ur yeah sure" she kind of skips out of the room and I stay sat up in my bed, I kinda feel a lot better now.
*Max's POV*
It's after school now, I'm on a bus to the hospital, it's around 4.10, I have no idea what's going on with mum and dad. I went to check on Ella before I went to bed, she had a pair of scissors and was trimming the tips of her hair. I asked her if she was alright and she just looked up at me and nodded. I made her get into bed and then went to sleep myself. I'm feeling really stressed out, I just want to see my bud.
I look to the front of the bus and see a sign, only a mile until I'm at the hospital. The windows rattle and the seats squeak. I haven't looked round it much, and to be honest, I don't want to, I just stay focused on the window and try not to breathe in.
I step off the bus and go into the hospital, sneaking through and off to Fangs room. I just really need to talk to him- y'know. My heals turn a corner and I peek at the glass panels on the doors to check which one's Fangs. Most of the people in the private rooms are old people, like they're the only ones who can afford to go privates, Fang's mum's boyfriend works here so he managed to get him a private room. I look through the last window and stop dead in my tracks. I see Fang kissing her, Lissa. I feel my cheeks burn and turn around. She was holding his hand and with the other hand pushing his head to her, he had his hand on her back. I don't like it, why does he have to kiss her?
I need some fresh air. I leave the hospital and lean against the wall outside, it's painted yellow but a greyish yellow. I look to my side and there is a collection of people smoking, one of them is in a hospital gown, I look at him and he glares at me. I look away quickly and the image of Fang kissing Lissa flashes up in my mind. I feel pin pricks in the back of my eyes, and I clench my fists. I feel angry and sad at the same time, but I don't know why. I sigh and look at the guy smoking in the hospital gown, he glares at me again so I look down at the floor. I don't know why I'm getting like this, why do I care so much about who Fang's kissing? I don't care, yeah I don't care. I walk back to the bus stop. You know what, screw Fang, if he wants to make out with the red-haired wonder then let him- see if I care.
I get back home "Hello" I shout into the house.
"We're in the kitchen" my dad says. We? What's happening? Everyone's sitting at the table. "sit down Max" dad says and I sit down next to Ella.
"So you're dad's been offered a job all the way across the country. And he took it without discussing with us" she looks to my dad angrily
"The position is only for a year" my dad exclaims
"we're moving?" Ella asks, shock on her face
"no no, of course not" my mum says assuringly, she calms herself down, not wanting to appear angry at dad "It's just this will open up a few more opportunities for you dad, and it pays very well"
"um, okay" Ella said "So just dad is moving?"
"yes" mum replies "I can't move, I just can't" she looks to my dad "we've just decided, because it's just for a year, that we can live apart for that small amount of time"
"So you're not breaking up?" Ella looks to dad and he shakes his head.
I don't know how to feel about the whole thing. I won't see my dad for a year, and I barely see him anyway. I am not close to my dad like other kids are, we have a distant closeness, like we understand each other but aren't all hug-y and joke-y round each other, there's more of a aura of mutual respect. He's reliable and structured, he's the kind of closed off. My dad is very protective of the family and for that reason always takes an interest in what I do, as it's his way of checking up on what I do. I love my dad, but it would be awkward to say that to him, I prefer him to any other dad and I don't want him to leave.
"You don't have to go though? You can stay here, please" I look at him, and he closes his eyes and shakes his head. My dad has thinning brown hair, which I'm pretty sure he dyes; he's tall, around 6 foot 3, the kind of height where he will often hit his head on things; I see him in mainly suits, but the rare time he gets a day off he'll wear a plain t-shirt with dark jeans; his face is always tired, he rarely smiles but you can tell when he's happy as the corners of his eyes wrinkle up; he's neither fat nor thin, he's about average built with wide shoulders.
"The thing is Max, if I said I wanted to think about the position, then they would of just asked someone else so I just took the position. You'll still see me, I promise" he looks to me and smiles, it doesn't seem right. His eyes aren't creased, he isn't showing any teeth- just stretching his mouth. The smile is forced.
"um. Okay. I've got to get ready for tonight" my dad turns his head in my direction
"tonight?" he asks
"yeah, I'm going to a gig with Rochelle, I told you this"
"oh. Oh yeah. I'll drive you there" he smiles, this smile is slightly more genuine. I nod with approval. I run upstairs.
I get into my room and take off my shirt, then look at myself in the mirror. I still have bruises on my stomach and chest, I touch them and feel nothing. I don't like wearing bras, so I wear bindings to flatten my chest. My bought me a bra recently, saying it's there if I ever want it. I go into the drawers and pick it up, it's just a simple black one with a teeny tiny bow where the cups join. I take the binding of my chest and put on the bra, well try to put it on- it was a struggle to put on the straps at the back. I look in the mirror. I look okay, I feel different, like more grown up. I pull on a black and white horizontal striped t-shirt and some black skinny jeans. I tie my hair back in a pony tail and but on my red converses. I look in the mirror once more. I look kind of more grown up without binding my chest, but I'm not sure if I'm completely comfortable with it. I shrug and take a dark blue zip up hoodie, my wallet and I broke my phone throwing it at-
I gasp remembering the night I was attacked, I drop my hoodie and sit down on the floor. I don't want to go outside at night time. I tell myself to calm down, Iggy will be there, Rochelle and Tess will be there. I will be fine. I pick myself off the floor and go downstairs.
My dad takes me to town, picking Iggy up on the way. We get out at the entrance where Rochelle and Tess are already waiting for us. I wave my dad bye and he drives off.
"looking hot" Rochelle says to me, I look away
"yeah you look nice too" I say. She's wearing a light blue shirt with metal cuffs at the collar tucked into some waist high jeans, her blonde hair flows down and reaches her waist. Tess has her hair tied into two buns on top of her head and is wearing a plain red dress with a denim jacket and cowboy boots. Iggy wears his usual style of jeans with holes in and a t-shirt.
Iggy steps close to me "it's dead, stick to me" I whisper, in a volume only he can hear. There's no one around, I link arms with Iggy and we walk in to the building and we're hit with the noise of a bar, Iggy looks confused, trying to take in all the sounds.
"Where is it?" I ask Rochelle, raising my voice
"Just through some doors at the back, the gig doesn't start for a bit, we're gonna say hi to Red" Rochelle replies and she leads us to the back. There's a bar in the corner and some tables at the side, the rest of the room is bare for space for dancing, and there's a raised stage where the band is getting ready. A guy with spikey blonde hair jumped of the stage and ran up to us.
"Hey" he said
"Hi Red" Rochelle replied "So Red this is Iggy and Max" She said pointing to us.
"Hey" he said again smiling at us with a slanted smile. "right I've got to get back to setting up see you around"
After about half an hour some more people come in, Rochelle and I volunteered to stand at the door and take in tickets. We went to sit back down with Iggy and Tess who were laughing together.
"What's so funny?" Rochelle asks with a raised eyebrow
"ah, haha, doesn't matter" Tess laughs. Iggy seems pretty relaxed with her, even though he's in a new environment.
"You good?" I whisper to him, he nods and I got sit next to Rochelle.
"they'll start soon" She says, smiling "you do look really nice. Can I get you a drink"
"oh I have my own money"
"don't be silly, I brought you here" I give her a confused look, but accept. I look over at Tess and Iggy, they're laughing together, it's kind of cute.
"I got you pepsi, like you can't go wrong with pepsi" I nod and she sits back down "so Max, how's the tutor thing coming along?"
"well this guy Sam helped me, I think I'm getting it now" I reply, sipping my pepsi
"ah cool. I could of helped you, you know. Like if this guy doesn't work out-"
"oh no it's fine, don't worry about it"
"ah cool" she nods then peers to the stage. "I'm not really that good anyway, like I'm getting slowly worse and worse at school" she looks at the stage again "I don't know, I'm kinda stupid really"
"you're not stupid" I say "don't ever say that" she looks back from the stage to me
"Awh thanks Max, you're alright" The I hear a microphone crackling.
"um hi" A girl with a black bob and red lipstick says "I'm Lucille, this is Red on drums, Jean who will play about 15 different insturments tonight" everyone laughs and a guy with long blonde hair tied into a pony tail nods "And this is Kim" she says pointing to a girl with a buzz cut and dangling earrings. "We're neo-lines, hope you enjoy our set" and with that she starts playing a bass line on her red bass, and everyone joins in.
"This are all our own songs, and cd's are for sale at the bar" Lucille adds and starts singing. Rochelle pulls me up from my seat before I can finish my pepsi and we start to dance at the front with like around 50 other people. I look over to Iggy, he looks fine, he's just at the side moving to the music with Tess. I look back at Rochelle. She starts dancing with me. It's really fun, I'm not really listening to the lyrics, but it's all fast paced and Lucille has a really wonderful voice.
After a couple of songs basically everyone is up and dancing. I look to the stage and see Rochelles friend Red going crazy on the drums, then I feel a hand go around my waist, and another. I look to Rochelle and she smiles at me, it's her hands on my waist. She pulls herself real close to me and before I realise what's happening she places her lips on mine.
Please let me know what you y'all think. bye till next time
-Jess x