Maya: She's hyped up with all those pineapple tarts and chocolate and whatnot. Help. Me.

Me: *giggle* I've to go back to school tomorrow, Maya! There's science! I suddenly like science a whole lot! They have tons of experiments!

Maya: You know very well not to mention that word.

Me: Meh. I wanna change my penname!

Maya: *sighs* Then do so.

Me: *peers at readers* Should I change?

Maya: Okay, disclaimer before you spout some more nonsense. SHE DOESN'T OWN THE INFERNAL DEVICES, THE HUNGER GAMES, HARRY POTTER AND MAXIMUM RIDE. Oh, and apparently, there're some spoilers for Clockwork Angel. Arigato Gozaimas.

Me: Oooh, Japanese! *laughs*

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"Max! Max!" Gazzy shouted as he ran into my room, shaking my arm. Thank God it's Saturday. "Mom made pancakes for us!"

Hearing this, I sat bolt upright. Why? Because Mom made the best pancakes ever. Yes, she makes the best cookies and pancakes. Also, she rarely makes them because she has to go to work in the mornings on Saturday.

I jumped out of my (somewhat) warm bed, brushed my teeth like a madman and dashed down to the kitchen.

I inhaled the smell of the pancakes and plopped down on a chair. Gazzy already had a pile of pancakes on his plate, topped with whipped cream.

Piling my plate equally high, I drizzled maple syrup on them and scarfed them down.

"Bye Mom," I managed to mumble as she stepped out the door, waving to us.

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Gazzy put his pen down and looked at me.

"I'm bored. Are you done with your work?"

"Yup. Wouldn't want to let that horrible teacher scold me again. What do you want to do, then?"

"Go to the café."

I mentally groaned. Nick probably would be there again, and I do not want to see him again after our…awkward incident. If you can call it that. Knowing Gazzy, he'll probably keep on whining until I agree. Curse his addiction to the café's awesome hot chocolate.

"Fine," I agreed reluctantly. "But only for a while."

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Please don't let him be here. Please don't let him be here. I chanted in my mind as Gazzy made me sit down so he could buy the hot chocolate for himself and cappuccino for me by himself.

I looked down at the book that I'd brought; Clockwork Angel. Ella had bugged me to read it, and I guess it isn't that bad. Except for the makeout session between Will and Tessa. That was just too intense.

Oh, and may I add that James is the perfect guy. He's nice, really. Pity that Tessa liked Will. Yes, I'm Team Jem Carstairs. Oh, scratch that. This makes it sound like Twilight, which is a horrible book, by the way. I can't believe that I read the whole series without my brain melting. I don't get why Nudge is forever obsessing over Edward Cullen, really. He's just a sparkly stalker.

Gazzy set the hot chocolate and cappuccino on the table, and I looked up from my book. Guess who I saw?

That's right. Nick. Who else?

Narrowing my eyes at him as he sat down on a chair, I said coldly, "I don't remember inviting you here."

He shrugged and pointed at Gazzy.

Gazzy grinned. "You remember him, right? He's Maria's son! Y'know, Maria? Mom's friend? He's fifteen too, like you! So you can talk to him." He nodded, like this made perfect sense. Which it didn't. At all.

I glared at Nick, and drank the cappuccino, which luckily wasn't too bitter. "I know him."

"I know her too, Gaz. I took her order last time." So, now they were on nickname terms, huh?

He peered at the book, and I automatically snapped it shut.

"Clockwork Angel?"

I shot him a look. "What's wrong with that." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Just that it's a romance book. My girlfriend's in love with Will."

He has a girlfriend? I frowned a little, but dismissed it. Why would I care if he had a girlfriend or fiancée or wife (okay, scratch that)? Anyway. "I'm just trying it out. James is better than Will, anyway."

"She claims that Jem is pathetic."

"What? James pathetic? Puh-lease, have she read the part where he fought those mechanical robots or whatever even when he was sick? You call that pathetic?"

"Woah. Chill."

Okay, I admit that I do get emotionally attached to certain fictional characters sometimes, especially Prim.

"You hate me, right?" I raised an eyebrow, giving him a 'duh' look.

"Why would she?" Gazzy asked curiously. "It's not like you offended Max, right?" Oh, Gazzy, how wrong you are.

"I think she does."

"I do, stupid. It's hard not to hate you when you got me scolded in class."

He smirked. "Teacher's pet, eh?"

So, he was intent on making me angry? Fine. "Yeah, and what are you? Going to be Lord Voldermort in a remake of the Harry Potter movies, huh? Well, good for you. You won't need makeup."

He blinked, astonished, like he didn't expect me to snap back. Gazzy was staring at me. What? When someone insults me, I insult them right back.

His lips twitched upward, and he just nodded at me. What the hell does that mean?

Just then, I remembered something. "Where's Maria?"

Nick looked at me with his midnight eyes. "She's having a fever right now. I'll be helping out here."

I didn't even bother suppressing a groan. Him? Why couldn't it be someone else?

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"Why do you hate him?" Gazzy asked innocently as we walked home. "He just got you scolded. It's not like you care, right?"

"He gets on my nerves."

"I like him. He's nice."

I rolled my eyes. Obviously, he didn't know the difference between nice and really-annoying.

"You only see his bad side," he insisted.

"Because that's the only side he has," I sighed.

"No, it isn't." Gazzy said stubbornly.

Great. Gazzy's now on Nick's side.

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Me: Uhhh... Looks at above A/N. Sorry. Anyway, I'd like to say something that is totally unrelated: I wanted to punch Vanessa Hudgens in the face when she kissed Josh Hutcherson.

Maya: No, she doesn't hate Vanessa. She just automatically thinks Josh Hutcherson=Peeta Mellark.

Me: NOT MY FAULT. And sorry there're no letters in here:( I WILL add them soon. Oh and another unrelated thing: Puckabrina is awesome. Thank you.

Maya: Review, yes?

Me: Yes, review. Please?

Please?

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