Chapter 6

Uh-oh! Busted!

Instead of being with his other friends, Max was sitting by his locker and playing a game on his phone in boredom. The hallway was empty save for him and I. When I approached him, he glanced up and then frowned. "Oh, it's you." he muttered and then went back to his phone. I glared at him a moment, but decided against insulting him and instead sat down next to him.

"I tried throwing the rest of your milk at him." I said, shrugging my shoulders. Max peered at me again with a raised eyebrow. Then I added, "But he caught the carton before it tipped."

Max sighed and shut off his phone before letting his head fall back against his locker with a clang.

"And then I threw the pizza." I told him quickly. Max looked at me with wide eyes.

"And?"

"It smeared down the front of his shirt, of course." I grinned, and Max let out a laugh.

"It's okay. I'm not so much mad at him as I am Ellyria." he said suddenly, his laughter abruptly stopping as another frown marred his cute face. I nodded in understanding.

"Maybe her attitude has changed since getting her first boyfriend who isn't afraid of me."

Max agreed and then it was quiet between us for a couple moments. Then, out of the blue, he asked curiously, "Is it really because I'm younger than you that you won't allow me to go riding?"

"From the cops?" I inquired, surprised. He nodded in response. I smiled. "Nah. Besides, you're a few months younger, so it doesn't make a difference. I just never wanted you to get into trouble with your family."

Max narrowed his eyes. "But you let Ellyria go."

I sighed heavily. "Okay, maybe it was because of your age-" I saw his face fall in disappointment, and I felt guilt. So I quickly said instead, "But how about tonight, we go together? We can sneak out, I can borrow one of the Darquecaster's cars, and then I'll come get you."

Max sat upright and turned to me completely with a newfound look on his face. "Really?!" He demanded in disbelief. I smiled and nodded, holding up my pinky.

"Promise."

He stared at my pink and then smiled instead, and grabbed me into a hug. It was then I noticed that even though he was only sixteen years old and a few months younger, he seemed well-built and warm. I was comfortable in his arms. Blushing, I pulled away and cleared my throat. Well, that was weird.

"So, what time?" Max asked me as we stood up together.

"How about….ten?" I suggested, just as the bell rang. Max grinned and nodded.

"Thanks… You have no clue how much I've wanted to do it! Even if it's just one night." Max wrapped me once more into a hug, before bidding goodbye and rushing to his next class. I stared after him.

"Do what, exactly, at ten tonight?" Alec asked right next to my ear. I squealed in shock and spun around, connecting my backpack with his chest as hard as I could. He didn't even budge or wince! I glared at him. He smirked back.

"None of your business!" I hissed.

"Really, it isn't, but it is my business to know whether or not you're sneaking out. Remember, we own you. This is punishment." he retorted. I looked down at his shirt for a moment and realized he had changed it with a plain, black sweater.

"It's exile." I snapped, turning on my heel to head to our next class. Elly was probably already there. Why she wasn't with Alec, who cared. Alec kept a smooth pace beside me.

"I didn't hear you deny the fact we own you." he said, a defiance in his voice. I snorted.

"Nobody owns me. I'm a free person. I can sneak out, do drugs, do arson, beat up people and run from the cops all I want and more."

"I guess that makes sense for a person who is about to give up her body to her best friends brother." Alec replied. I stopped walking and he continued on without even looking back at me.

"I-I wasn't!" I spluttered anxiously. Alec waved a hand to dismiss me in the air and I growled in annoyance. Oh man! Was it just me or did he just assume something so vulgar like that?! I clenched my teeth and chased after him as he walked into our next class. Elly was already sitting and Alec quickly joined her before I could slam his face into a wall. Elly glared past Alec at me and I faltered.

Wow, really?

I grunted and sat on her other side. "I'm sorry for that accident, Alec." I spoke past Elly to Alec. He looked at me in slight confusion. I put on a fake smile and batted my eyelashes. "The pizza must have slipped off the tray."

Elly shot me a curious look as to why I was apologizing, but I smiled brilliantly at her. Alec merely raised an eyebrow, but ignored my fake apology. Class started. I noticed Elly pull out a piece of paper and write something on it. Then she passed it to me.

I quickly opened it and read,

Did you seriously mean that apology? - Elly

I nearly snorted at her question. I quickly wrote back,

Of course not. But I don't want you angry at me.

I tossed it back to her when the teacher wasn't looking. She read it and I watched as she rolled her eyes. She stuffed the note back into her binder and we paid attention to the teacher's lecture.

After that class, Elly and I went together to last period. We wrote notes back and forth the whole time, and she mainly asked me why I was sent to live with the Darquecaster's. I told her it was punishment and I was supposed to be a live-in maid. So far the only reasonable ones were Brent and Claude.

After school, I ran to the office to say bye to Becca and then quickly climbed into Lukas's car. Once more, I was in the back with Brent and Alec, and Rylan in the passenger's seat. Nobody spoke at all. The only noises were the low rumbling of the speakers playing death metal, and Brent texting rapidly on his phone.

I sniffled subconsciously and peeked over Lukas's shoulder at the speedometer. Then I smirked triumphantly when I saw his baby sport's car could go up to exactly 200 M.P.H.

"What are you smiling about?" Lukas suddenly asked. I glanced up at his reflection in the rear-view mirror and grinned sheepishly.

"Oh nothing." I leaned back and smiled inwardly to myself. Max was going to love tonight. I think I'll steal Lukas's car tonight.

"I really don't like that look on your face." Lukas muttered, looking back to the road. I only laughed.

"Don't think much of it." I assured him.

"Exactly, it's on her face all the time." Alec added. I could only ignore him. I was happy about tonight. Max and I could bond while having fun at the same time! I winced suddenly. That did sound wrong. I smiled to myself despite it.

"Are you okay?" Brent asked me slowly, putting a hand to my forehead.

"Huh? Why do you ask?"

"Because you're facial expressions went from mischievous, to pain, and then to joy." he answered, bringing his hand back. I rolled my eyes as we drove into the driveway.

"You guys assume too much." I said, and as soon as Alec stepped out of the car, I rushed past him and to the house, all the while yelling, "Claude! I'm ready to cleeean!"

I collapsed against my bed in a heap and huffed a sigh. It had just turned eight-forty-one, leaving me an hour and twenty minutes until I had to sneak out and steal Lukas's car. I smirked to myself. I already knew how to hotwire a car -thanks to Joshua once grounding me from my keys. Ha. It didn't take long to learn how to do it thanks to Max. He was brilliant and knew cars like the back of his hand, it was just he hadn't been allowed to drive once since the…accident.

I suddenly frowned, remembering the day he had gotten into a wreck and nearly killed Elly. Ever since then, he had been too afraid to touch the wheel again. Elly still had the scar from the windshield gash in her lower abdomen. She was sterile now, and couldn't have kids. The glass had injured her horribly. That was before we met. But she told me the story and showed me the scar.

Don't get me wrong, Elly loves Max with every fiber of her heart. He blamed himself for the longest time, but she denied it. And I was sure it upset Max when Elly didn't stick up for him today. I clenched my fists. That was why I had been so angry with her.

Someone knocked on my door, and I muttered, "Come in."

It opened and Claude stepped in. "Did you finish the floors?" he asked. I glared at him.

"Yes, I did. Every single twenty-four of them, too!"

Claude smiled in response. "Are you going to eat dinner?" he leaned against my doorframe as I sat up. Silently, I shook my head. Claude frowned. "Not even after doing so much work? We need you around. Can't have ya wasting away!"

I smiled. "No thanks." Besides, I was going to eat out tonight.

Claude gave me one last look, shrugged, and left my room. I hurriedly stood and grabbed a new pair of clothes and then went to the bathroom to take a shower. I went quickly, because the ride to Max and Elly's house was a good twenty-five minutes, so I'd have to leave that many minutes early. After I finished, I climbed out of the shower and wrapped my towel around me.

I brushed through my hair quickly and then moved to take off the towel to change into my clothes. It was then I realized I hadn't locked the door. I moved forward, and then stopped, my mouth gaping like a fishes when I saw there was no lock! What the hell?!

And at that special, perfect moment, the door opened. Lukas stared back at me, wearing an opened, button-up shirt and a pair of low-ride jeans. This was going to become a pain in the ass. I was going to order Claude to put locks on these doors right away!

"Um. Well. This is an awkward moment." Lukas blinked and then looked down. My one hand was holding the towel just barely closed, and the towel slit at my upper thigh, showing the ivory skin there. Now on most cases, a woman with a body as mine would probably flaunt it off giddily, but in my case…

"Get the hell out!" I shouted, picking up someone's toothbrush. Lukas's eyes widened a little bit, and I chucked the toothbrush at him. He dodged it and tried to shush me by gasping,

"Shh! Be quiet!"

I moved toward him and went to punch him in the face -maybe it would teach him a lesson to knock first, but he had grabbed my wrist and shoved me back into the bathroom. And then I stumbled over the rug.

Didn't this kind of stuff only happen in the movies? Oh wait, ahem, the porn movies?! I fell backwards with a small cry, and Lukas moved his arm quickly behind me so that the back of my head collided with his arm instead of the welcoming wall. Due to this, I found myself in an utterly ridiculous position.

I was half on my lower back and half on my ass, and Lukas was hovering over me with one arm holding him up and the other against the back of my head. Our faces were a hands-width apart, and I could only look at him in astonishment.

It was silent for a long moment, before Lukas's eyes flickered downwards and a smirk adorned his face. "I didn't realize your breasts were so perfect."

I looked down in confusion and then screamed so loud, Lukas flinched back away from me a few feet and shot to his feet. I quickly covered my revealed body and gave him a death glare. Though my face felt bright red and warm. "Get. Out. Before. I. Castrate. You." I warned lowly between my gritted teeth. I breathed evenly through my nose to keep myself from exploding and beating the shit out of him right there.

Lukas put his hands up. "Sorry! I was just joking! Shit! Trust me, over my years, I've seen much better bodies." he stated, and then turned and sauntered out of the bathroom, slamming it shut behind him. I nearly twitched at his insult.

Oh yeah, and by the way Lukas, I'm stealing your car tonight. Don't get angry at me if it comes back with a few scratches or dents, I mocked in my mind as I speedily dressed before anybody else could barge in. After that, I brushed my teeth and left the bathroom. Lukas was waiting on the outside, and ignored me as I brushed past him. I went to my room and slipped on socks and shoes, and then went to my window. Only two stories. That wouldn't kill me, would it?

I shoved open the window and it moaned in protest. There was no screen, much to my joy, and I slipped one foot out carefully. I placed it on the ledge and crawled out completely. Keeping my fingers tightly gripped onto the windowsill, I lowered my other foot to the ledge as well. Then I peered down and sucked in a large breath. It was almost pitch black out there, save for the distant light of my room and the light coming from the den room to the other side. I couldn't see anything beneath me, but I knew from memory there was supposed to be grass there. It was the backyard after all.

I had jumped from roofs before. This wasn't any different. I turned slightly, and let go, jumping outwards away from the house. All I had to do was land just right on my feet. And then seconds before I hit the ground, strong arms caught me and swung me into a bridle-style hold. I gasped in shock from the sudden whiplash, and looked up into the face of Rylan.

Was this mere coincidence? Getting caught in not one, or two...but three awkward situations with three guys in one day?