***PRESENT DAY***

*age 16*

My alarm went off for the fourth time and I hit snooze again. It was Thursday morning – of the first week of the new semester – in sophomore year. Ella ran into my room and jumped on my bed, ripping the covers off of me. I had been cursed since the day she could walk.

"Max, wake uuuup!" Ella moaned. I threw the pillow over my head.

"Five more minutes." I muttered.

"Max! You've 'five more minutes' four times already! Now, let's go!" She pulled my pillow off my head and shook me.

"All right, all right, I'm up." I grumbled.

"Yay!" She yelled rather loudly. Then she leaped off my bed and bounded downstairs for breakfast. I got out of bed quickly and started running down the stairs at the smell of bacon. I had gotten up too quickly and was light-headed. So now I was going down the stairs at full speed . . . blindly. I tripped and tumbled down the rest of the way.

"What am I going to do with you?" My mom asked jokingly and I gave her a sheepish smile.

"There's my little girl." I heard my dad say, and then I was lifted up and into my dad's firm hug.

"Hi daddy." I said. I gave him one more squeeze and took my place at the table, where my mom had already set my plate down.

"You're gonna have to hurry Max, you slept in twenty minutes. And if you're gonna have to skip a shower, so be it." My mom said, sitting down to eat her own food. No way was I going to skip my shower, my glorious shower. If time didn't exist, I'd never get out of a shower. So that was when I started inhaling my food. Not literally but, you've got the idea. My mom rolled her eyes and my dad sighed. Ella giggled.

I ran upstairs and took a short shower, though I wanted to stay in longer. I threw a T-shirt and jeans on, and then threw my hair up into a messy bun. Then I slung my bag over my shoulder, brushing my teeth. Saying bye to my family took no time at all, and then I was on my way to school.

Today was like every other day; a fight in the morning, then going into homeroom. For this school, homeroom was like the morning announcements/news. Teachers would quickly inform us about things that would be going on. It took about five minutes, really.

"Okay," said Mr. Hunburr, "there's not really much news, so I'll tell you what's going on and then you can talk the rest of the time." The class erupted into cheers. He really was my favorite teacher, and I was glad I had him for English. "Alright! Calm down, calm down. Now, there is a new student arriving today so don't give him a hard time." Some of the jocks snorted and I sighed, typical. "His name is Nick Sanders. He's in gifted, so he might be in a few of your classes. Try to be nice to him on his first day. Alright, that's it."

I lounged back in my chair and flipped open my latest book, Anne Frank's Diary. Soon, my boyfriend snatched it from me and took a long look at it.

"Seriously?" He asked. "How could you be reading something so upsetting?"

"Good morning to you too, Sam." I said. Then I grabbed it back from him. "And it's not boring; it's actually quite interesting to see how they managed to hide from the Nazi."

"Did you remember to print out our History report? We get extra credit if we turn it in a day early."

"Damn it. I forgot. I'm sorry. I won't forget to print it out tonight though." I apologized. His face turned red.

"What do you mean, you forgot?" He was really mad.

"I don't know, I just –"

"Never mind. I can't depend on you for anything. We're through." Then he mumbled something like, "If you want something done right, do it yourself," as he walked away. I just rolled my eyes. Whatever, he wasn't that much of a boyfriend anyway. The bell rang, allowing us five minutes to get to our lockers and to out first class. First was a bore, as was second, and third . . . and forth. Finally it was time for lunch.

I saw the new kid walk by my table at lunch, with a long sleeved black shirt on. He kind of reminded me of Fang, my best friend back in Arizona, the one that knew what I was going to say before I said it. I sighed, remembering the day that I had left, when Sam plopped into the chair in front of mine.

"I'm sorry about earlier." He began but I held up my hand to stop him.

"Look Sam," I told him, "we've been friends since I moved here and when you asked me out, I didn't think that your fun-loving attitude was going to change. But you became more controlling and I'm tired of breaking up every other day. I think we should just stay friends because in the long-run, neither of us would be happy from going out."

"You're right." He agreed after a few moments. "I think we get along better when we're not together."

"Definitely."

After lunch, it was free period. Turns out Nick Sanders, or whatever, was in my free period. I had met his eyes for a split second, and I swear I was getting déjà vu. He wasn't in my fifth period, but he was in my sixth and seventh.

In sixth, he looked at me for a little bit longer and I managed a small smile. He turned back around without even blinking in response to my smile. What was I supposed to do, go charging up to him and ask "who are you and what the hell do you want"? I don't think so. His eyes especially reminded me of Fang when we were little. But it couldn't be him, there was no chance that he could have moved – to the same state, to the same county, to the same town, and apply to the same school – I was sure of it.

He was a little late to seventh and when he got there, the teacher just pointed at my seat. As he was walking toward me, he stopped and looked at my necklace. I subconsciously brought my hand up to it, feeling the shark tooth that had gone dull since I rubbed it when I got nervous. He shook his head and sat down next to me, staring at the desk in a very bored-like manner.

"Hey," I whispered and he half-nodded. "I'm Max." He glanced at me with an expressionless face and raised an eyebrow. "I know, I know. It's a guy's name." He just shrugged. Whatever. I realized that this, indeed, was not Fang. The Fang that I had known actually talked and used facial expressions. This guy just seemed . . . blank.

I stayed silent for the rest of class, feeling socially awkward. Once the bell rang, I pulled my car keys out of my bag and started walking toward my car. The new kid, Nick, was right in front of me. Either he could drive, or his parents were picking him up. He spotted his mom – I guess he couldn't drive yet – and rolled up his sleeves as he strolled toward her. My eyes shot to his wrist, since it was the only thing on him that wasn't black.

"Fang!" I screamed and he stopped walking. I called him again. "Fang!" he turned around, looking for the source of his old nickname. His brow furrowed together as he searched the crowd. I shot toward him like an arrow – practically attacking him – and he saw me a split second before I embraced him in a hug. He stood still and got a good look of my face before hugging me back.

"You never took the necklace off." He said in surprise.

"And you never took the bracelet off." I replied. I felt a tear drip down my face. Cut me a break, I hadn't seen my best friend for ten years.

"I promised you I wouldn't." He told me. "I have to go though. I'll see you tomorrow." He started walking back to the car.

"You have to sit with us at lunch!" I yelled and he smiled.

"I will. I promise."