Yo, my peeps! What's up? Well, I just wanted to inform you that I will be updating a lot more on all my stories during this 2 week span of Winter Break! Everyone cheer! I would've told you sooner, but back then I was still unsure if the world was ending, so…

Ch. 14:

Max POV

Grunt. Concentrate. Swing. Grin. Repeat.

And such is the cycle of baseball. Or at least my cycle of baseball anyway. I've never had a team, or anyone to play with, so I had to stick with only batting while a machine spits out balls in my direction. Iggy refused to do anything but feed the balls into the machine because he, and I quote, thinks, "Sports are barbaric." Maybe that's why he hates all the jocks at our school. Either because he hates sports or because they've repeatedly thrown him, the so called 'Drama Dweeb', into the trashcan.

"Come on, Max. Just tell him." Iggy whined as he fed another ball into the machine. Grunt. Concentrate. Swing. Grin.

"No, Iggy, no. I just explained to you that Lost is gone forever and that there isn't a chance I'm ever going to Stanford with Fang. What about that don't you get?" I asked, groaning.

Iggy just rolled his eyes. "I've seen enough plays to know that somehow you're going to have a happy ending, Max. If you want to skip all the turmoil in between, just tell him now."

"Life isn't a theater, and my story isn't some dramatic, angst-ridden play, Ig." Grunt. Concentrate. Swing. Grin.

He raised an eyebrow. "Says Maxerella herself." I snorted in response.

Time for a different tactic. "Like you're one to talk." I challenged. "When you tell little Miss Perfect Ella that you saved her from Dyl-Dork, I'll tell Fang that I'm his 'girl'. How's that?"

"Don't flip this on me."

"Then don't be a hypocrite." He scowled at my comment and fed another ball into the machine. Grunt. Concentrate. Swing. Grin.

"Fine."

His comment caught me off guard. "Wha… ?"

"I said fine." Iggy held his head up high. "She came onto me during the dance, why would it be any different now?" I dropped my bat.

"You're kidding." He shook his head. "She's probably at the popular people pool party right now. Go have fun barging in." I smirked at him.

"I will-"

He was cut off by an annoying ringing that filled my ears. I huffed and pulled out my cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Max! I'm so glad you actually picked up this time!" Anne's nasally voice filled my ears. Damn it. Why didn't I check caller ID?

"Yes, Anne?" I asked, pleasantly as possible.

"I need you down at the ice cream shop, hun."

"It's my day off!"

"You're not going to get days off once you start working full time, Max. You should really start early. I mean, now that Stanford's out of the picture, you can focus on staying here and helping out at the shop and-" I hung up. My smirk was no longer in place.

"Let's head over to that pool party." I growled, knowing that going a place where people would notice me would be sure to upset Anne.

"Really?" Iggy asked, sounding surprised.

"Really. But one last hit first." I said, picking up the bat off the ground.

Grunt. Full of frustration, first step complete. Concentrate. Thoughts of Anne and anger swirled in my mind, all my heat was aimed toward the ball that would fly out of that machine, second step complete. Swing. The ball swirled at me, fast, then even faster, and as it neared my bat, suddenly Anne's face was plastered on the front of it, third step complete. Grin. The ball went over the fence of the batting grounds and into the football field and I grinned at the distance it had travelled, fourth step complete.

That is, until I saw who the ball had traveled closest to. Fang and Dylan both reached for the ball at the same time, but Dylan picked it up first. He looked to me and then his eyes widened. He turned to Fang and exclaimed, "Holy crap! A girl hit that, bro." The unnecessary addition of 'bro' made me narrow my eyes. Fang's scrutinizing gaze seemed to penetrate through me, so I didn't wait for him to throw the ball back. I simply turned around and left.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked as both Iggy and I peered around the fence into some random popular person's backyard. Ella and company lay there, all clad in bikinis and spread out on white lawn chairs. They seemed to have no interest in the actual pool, instead opting to sun tan for an unnaturally long time. I still had no idea why, seeing as Ella was Hispanic and didn't need any more than her natural tan.

"Yeah. You may be a chicken, but I'm not." Iggy said confidently and I scowled at him. Despite my scowl, I knew this idea would be nothing but disaster for Iggy. Ella was all about image; she would never willingly tie herself to the school 'Drama Dweeb.'

"Good luck." I told him half-heartedly. Who knows? Maybe Ella will suddenly expose the fact her heart was only iced over and has finally been melted by Iggy. I concealed a snort. More likely that I'd sprout wings and fly off into the sunset with Fang.

He walked up. He said something I couldn't make out. Ella's friends snickered. Ella sneered at him with a face that could make babies cry. Iggy's face dropped. Ella and company burst out into hysterical laughter. It was exactly what I had known would happen.

Iggy sullenly walked away from them and back to me.

"Iggy, I-" He held up a hand, signaling for me to be quiet.

"Save it, Max. I'm not in the mood for an 'I told you so' right now. But you can't forget the fact, Max. Now it's your turn."

I knew exactly what he meant. According to our deal, now I had to tell Fang. I watched him retreat, leaving me alone to my worries.

Poor Iggy! I'll give you detail on what happened with him and Ella next chapter. I know I was veering away from the actual plot of the movie, so I'm back on track now. Sort of. Well, I put in one of my favorite scenes from the movie. Anyone else remember the baseball scene with Sam and Carter? :D

~Cake.