Chapter 40

It was now week seven of term two and Fang was starting to get on my nerves. I couldn't really explain why, it just seemed like something was going on. Our teacher decided that we should start working on the school concert because she wanted to do something big. The theme this year was Hollywood. It was decided that we would be doing Grease. Not just one song but a kind of summary type thing.

When we figured out what we were doing we had to figure out who was going to play who. I kind of wanted to be Sandy but so did Nudge and I figured since I had the lead last year I would let her go for it because I'm just so nice like that. Lissa wasn't sure who she wanted to be and neither were the boys. Finally Gazzy was selected for Danny and Nudge was selected for Sandy. I thought it was so cute but almost felt sorry for Nudge. While she said that she was over Gazzy, I wasn't entirely sure that that was the case. Iggy got chosen for Kenickie which I thought suited him really well and for some strange reason I got chosen for Rizzo which meant that I was Iggy's love interest!

Fang was one of the T-birds but I didn't know who. Lissa got chosen for Frenchy which made her Fang's partner. She looked over the moon about this but for some reason I wasn't too thrilled about it. Seeing them together made me sick for some reason. I liked Lissa and all, I just didn't like the way she flirted with Fang because it was definitely flirting!

Iggy came up to me after school when I was walking with Fang and placed his arm around me.

"So, I guess you're my girl now!" He said cheekily. Fang's face turned dark and he grunted something weird.

"Ig, don't be an idiot," I scoffed and shoved his arm off. Fang refused to look at me or Iggy.

"Fang, what's your problem?" Iggy asked him.

"I'm fine," Fang growled quietly.

"Are you sure?" I asked him.

"Gees, Max, not everything has to be wrong all the time!" Fang snapped.

"Hey!" I exclaimed in horror.

"Fang, calm down, she's just concerned about you," Iggy told him.

"Sorry," Fang grumbled.

"It's ok," I assured him.

"Oh my god, Max, help me!" I heard Nudge yell from behind me.

"Whoa, Nudge, what's going on?" Iggy asked her.

"I need to talk to Max, you two shoo!" Nudge demanded.

"I'll see you in a minute, Max," Fang said as he and Iggy walked away.

"Yeah, ok," I agreed. "Nudge, what's wrong?"

"Max, what am I going to do?" Nudge asked.

"With what?" I asked her.

"I'm partnered with Gazzy," Nudge reminded me.

"I thought you were over him," I thought aloud.

"I thought so too and then I got paired as his love interest and while I'm over him I have to act like I'm not over him, which means that I have to remember when I wasn't over him and use that for when I'm acting but I'm scared he'll figure it out and then I'll have to convince both him and me that I'm just acting because I'm just that good so please help me!" Nudge raved on.

"Whoa, whoa slow down and relax. Do you want me to come over so we can talk?" I asked her.

"Yes please!" Nudge accepted gratefully.

"Alright, just let me tell the boys and Ella," I told her.

"I don't see why you have to run everything by the boys," Nudge grumbled.

"Because they're waiting for me," I reminded her.

"Oh, right," She remembered.

At Nudge's house that afternoon she had two mental breakdowns before I gave her cheese.

"Alright, now relax. It's really not that big a deal," I assured her.

"But, I kind of still like him a little bit," Nudge admitted.

"Huh?" I asked her.

"I don't know, I don't think I like him but I'm not sure, maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing. He's like my guy best friend," Nudge said to me.

"Nudge, it's just acting, just relax and you'll be fine, be grateful you aren't with Iggy," I laughed.

"Yeah, how unfortunate for you," Nudge smirked.

"Are you going to be ok?" I asked her.

"Yeah I'll be ok, I just needed to get all of that crap out of my system," Nudge smiled. I gaped at her. "I know, I've been hanging around Fang and Iggy way too long, although Fang seems to have curbed his swearing lately," Nudge pointed out.

"So?" I asked her.

"I think that may have something to do with you," Nudge suggested.

"Maybe," I shrugged.

"What's going on with you and Fang anyways?" Nudge asked me.

"Nothing, well he's driving me nuts," I groaned and flopped onto Nudges bed. She pushed away my homework books and sat next to me.

"What's up?" She asked me. I sat up and looked at her.

"I have no idea. He's been acting weird since I yelled at Sam. He's acting like he's hiding something and he's just acting different and I've got this really weird feeling about it but I can't make heads or tails out of it," I sighed.

"Oh, well he's a boy for one and maybe it's just a phase. Have you tried talking to him about it?" Nudge asked me.

"All the time, you know how I am but he acts like I have no idea what I'm talking about then he changes the subject." I explained.

"Oh, well I don't know," Nudge sighed.

It went on like that for the rest of the week. Gazzy made jokes about being with Nudge and about me being with Iggy and Fang was more dark and brooding than usual. It was Friday when I thought that I might finally crack. I was already in a bad mood when I woke up and I really didn't want to deal with Fang and his moodiness.

"Hey, Max," Fang said when he saw me.

"Hi," I grumbled.

"Are you ok?" He asked me.

"Just peachy," I growled.

"What did I do?" He asked, he sounded slightly hurt but I was too fed up to feel guilty about it.

"Fang, seriously what's going on?" I demanded.

"Max, it's nothing," He sighed.

"Fine," I scoffed and walked into class where I didn't talk to him until recess. I sat between Iggy and Gazzy and did my best to avoid Fang.

"Max, is everything alright?" Gazzy asked me.

"Fine," I muttered. At that response he turned to Nudge.

"Fang's getting on her nerves," Nudge whispered to Gazzy.

"Ah," He responded and got on with his work. He'd been my friend long enough to know that if I was mad at Fang to mainly just stay out of it or risk getting his head chopped off.

At recess I tried to quickly get away but Fang found me.

"Max, please talk to me," He begged me.

"Fine," I sighed and turned around.

"What's going on?" He asked me.

"That's what I'd like to know!" I demanded.

"What are you talking about?" Fang asked me.

"What are you hiding from me?" I asked him desperately.

"What makes you think I'm hiding anything from you?" Fang asked me. Before I could stop myself I answered him. "The look in your eyes,"

"Max," Fang sighed.

"I just feel like there's something going on with you that I should know but don't." I sighed.

"It's nothing," Fang said to me.

"Stop lying to me! I know you and I can't shake this feeling!" I snapped and turned away.

Ella came up to me at lunch to ask what was going on.

"I honestly don't know. I'm just a tad pissed at Fang who's being a total pain the arse," I growled.

"You do realise that you're sounding like him," Ella pointed out.

"Don't. I'm not in the mood, El," I requested.

"He's really bugged ya," Ella guessed.

"I'll figure it out," I assured her. I avoided Fang in class but whenever I snuck a look I could tell that he was trying to figure something out and whatever it was seemed to be tearing him up.

After school he walked up to me.

"Max," He began.

"Leave me alone!" I snapped and stormed off to the car. I waited against it. Mum wasn't in there since she was paying for one of Ella's upcoming excursions. I saw Fang slowly walking towards me when Ella walked up. He took one look at Ella and went the other way.

"Still not talking to him?" Ella asked.

"I just need my space before I tell him to shove it," I told her.

I couldn't focus on my homework that night. In fact whenever Fang and I were disagreeing I couldn't concentrate. I heard my phone ringing from my room and ran to get it but by the time I got there I was too late. I checked it and saw that the missed call was from Fang. I so desperately wanted to talk to him to straighten this whole thing out. I took a deep breath and opened up a text message.

MAX: IM SORRY!

I sent it to him without a second thought and it wasn't long before my phone began to ring again.

"Fang, I'm so sorry," I apologised.

"No, Max, I deserved it," Fang said to me.

"I'm really sorry but I can't shake the feeling that you aren't telling me something important," I sighed. I sat down on my bed and lied back slowly.

"Well I do have one secret but if I tell you then you can't tell anyone else," Fang admitted.

"I promise… cross my heart and hope to die," I promised him.

"Alright, here goes," I heard Fang take a deep breath. "I… I… I… I… I… I can't figure out how to say it," Fang sighed. I was beside myself with anticipation but this obviously bugged him.

"If you don't want to tell me then you don't have to," I assured him.

"No, I want you to know," Fang insisted.

"Alright," I said to him and waited for him to continue.

"I… I… I… I… have…. a… crush… on… you,"

Whooooooo alright let me know what ya'll think (I'm not American I just like saying that)