WHEW! This is my most-reviewed story, with 200 reviews for 13 chapters. That is amazing! I love you all!
-squeals like Nudge-
Nudge: -squeals like TMI-
lol. Anyway, keep up the good work, reviewers! I love you all!
Dedicated to: Jace'n'FangLover, PurpleTea88, and Lilac Rose6 with Iggy!
Gazzy: HI IGGY!
And I know people liked Iggy's POV, but it's more difficult to write, and something interesting is gonna happen that Igs doesn't know about...
Spacing fixed as of 11/21/12
MPOV
"Maximum Riesra Ride!" Mom up the stairs. I jumped off my bed and ran to the doorway in alarm.
"What, Mom?" I called back.
"Phone for you."
"Oh. Thanks." I trotted down the staircase, wondering who my caller was. Maybe it was Nudge, who loved to call me and babble over the phone. I winced at the thought; I had miles of English essay to write, and hadn't even started my algebra or history yet. Homework would take forever if Nudge wanted to chat. I took the phone from my mom, flashing her a smile before heading back up the stairs. "Hello?" I asked politely into the receiver.
An eager voice quickly replied. "Max I! What's up?"
"Max II?" I guessed tentatively. I couldn't really recognize his voice over the phone very well. His voice was neutral, the kind that blended in with hundreds of other voices.
"Ding ding ding! And the lucky winner is Maximum Ride!" Max II joked. I laughed awkwardly, not really sure why he was calling.
"Where did you get my number?" I asked, honestly wondering. I hadn't given him my home phone, and we obviously weren't in the school directory.
"Nudge gave it to me," he answered, sounding slightly nervous. "Was that okay with you?"
"Oh, sure, it's fine," I assured him quickly. "I was just confused."
"Oh. Okay."
We were silent for a moment, neither of us knowing quite what to say. Finally, I glanced back over at my half-written English paper. I really needed to get back to that soon. "So, why'd you call me?" I asked bluntly. "Did you need help on algebra homework or something?" Max II was in my algebra class, and we had had a tricky lesson today. "If you did," I continued. "You should call someone else. I barely understood the words coming out of Ms Aivels' mouth."
"No no, I didn't need math help," Max II assured me.
"History? Science? English?" I guessed.
"No, I didn't want to ask about any kind of homework," Max II replied, sounding more nervous than ever. I walked back into my room, wondering what Max II could possibly need that didn't concern homework.
"Well?" I prompted. Max II had been silent for awhile now, and I really needed to finish that English paper.
"Will you go to the dance with me next Friday?" he asked nervously, saying the words so quickly that I barely caught them. But I heard them well enough.
I flopped back onto my bed in shock. "Are you asking me out?" I clarified, too surprised to be anything but my normal, blunt self. Are you asking me out over the phone, I added mentally.
"Umm, yeah?" Max II said hopefully, sounding like he was asking a question. I stared at the ceiling for a moment. This had me completely astonished. No, astonished wasn't a strong enough word.
I was freaking flabbergasted.
"Max? You don't have to if you don't want to," he rushed to say. "I was just wondering-"
"No, that's okay," I interrupted. "I was just..."
"Surprised?" Max II supplied.
No, flabbergasted, I corrected mentally. Talk about dropping a bombshell.
"So what's your answer?" Max II asked tentatively.
"Sure," I replied. I paused, momentarily shocked by my own answer. Did I want to go to a dance with Max II? Why not? He was perfectly nice, and kind of cute. It wasn't like anyone else would ask me out. "Sure," I repeated. "That would be fun."
"Great!" Max II replied happily, sounding enthusiastic. "So, I'll get tickets for us next week!"
"Okay," I agreed, my stomach feeling weird. "See you tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you! Bye, Max I."
"Bye."
The phone clicked, and I dropped it onto the bed next to my head. My stomach felt odd, and not in a particularly nice way, either. It was more of a... flabbergasted way. Yeah, that's it. I was completely and utterly flabbergasted.
Suddenly, the phone rang again, this time trilling directly in my ear. I sat bolt upright on my bed, thoroughly alarmed by the abrupt ringing. Breathing a little harder than normally, I picked it up and
pressed the talk button. "Hello?" I managed to say, not liking the breathy, weak way my voice sounded.
"MAX!" Nudge shrieked back at me. "ZOMG DID MAX ASK YOU OUT?"
"Yes, he did," I muttered, rubbing my ear. I held the phone about an inch away from my head, but could still hear Nudge loud and clear. Which wasn't necessarily a good thing.
"DID YOU SAY YES?"
"Yeah," I murmured, falling back down on my bed. I buried my nose into my pillow as Nudge squealed into the phone.
"ZOMG THAT'S SO CUTE IT'S LIKE MAX AND MAX! YAY!" While Nudge was making wedding plans, I was starting to rethink this. Max II was nice, sure, but did I really want to go on a date with him? To a school dance? In my experience, people didn't dance at school dances once they got past seventh grade. They did something else that wasn't appropriate for Maria to hear. And I liked Max II, but not that much. He was simply a friend. While I was having second thoughts on the whole shindig, Nudge was still babbling happily into the phone. "-and then we can paint our nails, maybe like pink or something? Pink is so your color, Max, you should wear it sometimes! And I have this adorable skirt that would be killer on you, 'cause you have such long legs, and-"
"Wait a sec," I cut in, alarmed at this turn of the conversation. "I never said you could do squat to me or my wardrobe, Nudge."
"But Maaaaax," she whined. "You look so good in my type of clothes! And knowing you, you'd probably come to the dance in soccer shorts and a t-shirt!"
"What's wrong with that?" I asked, just to annoy her. Even I knew more fashion than to show up like that, geez.
Nudge groaned in frustration. "See what I mean?"
"No, actually," I admitted. "But I do know that you're not touching me or my clothes. End of discussion."
"Maaaaaax..."
"No."
"But-"
"No, Nudge."
There was a slight pause in the conversation, followed by a sigh. "Fine," Nudge groaned finally. "I won't bother you about it."
"Thank you. And Nudge, I have a question," I replied slowly. I wasn't exactly sure how to phrase this without sounding like a hypocrite.
"Shoot," she answered cheerfully.
"Umm... Why are you so excited about Max II asking me to the dance? I thought you were convinced that Fang is my soulmate," I blurted out quickly. Even though Nudge was far away, and I was safe in my room, I felt another treacherous blush rear its ugly head on my cheeks. Ugh! I never blushed, ever, so why was I blushing so much now? Maybe it had something to do with the difference between Nevadan and Californian air? Yeah, that had to be it.
Nudge was silent for a moment, and I tried to wait patiently for her response. "Well," she began slowly, sounding slightly subdued. "I figure that you're never actually going to get together with Fang, and Max is a good guy, and I want you to be happy, and you'd be cute together, and-"
"Okay Nudge, that's enough of an explanation," I assured her quickly, cutting her off before she could continue her rant about me and Max II.
"Do you like Fang though? Is that why you asked?" Nudge still sounded hopeful.
"Nudge, if I liked Fang, why would I accept Max's offer to the dance?" I reasoned. Nudge was silent, and I knew she had noticed I hadn't blatantly said I didn't like Fang. I didn't know why I hadn't. I didn't like Fang, so why couldn't I say it?
"Okay, Max. I guess I'll see you tomorrow! I can't wait till the dance!" Nudge squealed, full of bounce again.
"Yeah, can't wait," I agreed softly, staring up at my ceiling. "Just can't wait."
=D =D =D =D =D =D =D =D =D
I successfully avoided Max II all morning before school on Monday, the day after he asked me to the dance. I evaded his attempts to talk to me with the skill of a moody Fang Rianild, which is very skillfully indeed. Finally, I made my way to homeroom and plopped in my chair with a sigh.
It was awkward, okay? I didn't really know how to act around Max II anymore. The last time I dated a guy was in Nevada, and the guy was Sam. Sam was easy to talk to, he made you feel special just by looking at you. I used to think that I might have loved him at one point. Then, Bridgit had come to our school.
She was the flashy kind of pretty, with big eyes and long hair. She always had fashionable clothing, expensive shoes, and loads of makeup, automatically pegging her as a popular girl that all the guys wanted to date. The real kicker was the powder blue, bejeweled cell phone glued to her fingers at all times. Bridgit really irked me from when she first arrived, especially with the way she looked at Sam. He was my boyfriend, right? That should have been enough for her to back off of him.
But no. I had had the misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, an empty classroom after school. All I had needed was my stupid English book, and I had left it in the classroom. When I came to get it, though, I was frozen in the doorway, confronted by the worst scene possible playing out in front of me. Bridgit was literally pressed against Sam from chest down, and it was obvious Sam wasn't protesting. I watched, paralyzed, as Bridgit leaned up and planted her glossy pink lips on Sam's own lips. Sam readily opened his mouth to her, and they went full-frontal, no holding back. Her hands went up his shirt and in his hair, and Sam's were literally down the back of her skirt.
I hadn't been able to move at all. Sam had never kissed me like the way he was kissing Bridgit. The first emotion I actually felt was jealousy, until I realized how stupid that was. This jerk was completely cheating on me, and I was standing here being jealous and pathetic? Nuh uh.
I strode into the room, anger fizzing through my veins. The two gits were too busy feeling each other up to notice my presence. When I realized that, I scowled and grabbed his shoulders, spinning him around to face me instead of Bridgit. "Sam Vincent Lane, how dare you!" I hissed, drawing my hand back off his shoulder and slapping him across the face. Sam recoiled, and Bridgit shrieked. "And you!" I whirled on Bridgit, who cowered back under my glare. Baby. "Don't play with other people's toys," I added, slapping her too for good measure. She raised her hand to her cheek, and I realized she had still been clutching her stupid cell phone while she made out with my boyfriend. That just infuriated me more. I stood there, glaring at them, unable to say a word through my anger.
Finally, Sam tried to pacify me. "Maxi, we were just-"
"Don't you 'Maxi' me!" I snapped at him. "And what were you doing? Hmm? Mapping out Bridgit's butt for future reference?"
Sam blushed at my accusation, but Bridgit smirked. I rounded on her again. "What?" Bridgit asked, putting her hands on her hips. "It's a free country. Sam isn't your property."
"Bridgit," Sam muttered warningly.
"No, Sam. I want to see what her problem is," Bridgit replied silkily, her eyes on me. I narrowed my eyes at her.
"My problem is you," I said coolly. "But you know what? Take him. I don't care." I glared at Sam. "You obviously like her more than you like me, so go ahead and kiss her again."
"Max-"
"We're done Sam," I cut in coldly. "Good bye." I whirled around, and spotted my English book lying on my desk. I stalked over, grabbed the book, and left the room without a backward glance at the two people who had ruined my life as I knew it. I broke into a run when I hit the hallway, gripping the book in my hands so hard that my knuckles turned white.
I ran out of the school like that, oblivious to everything but the anger and injustice I was feeling. My feet pounded the pavement as I ran on the streets, dodging blindly around the pedestrians passing by me. Bluntly disregarding the bus stop I usually took, I ran past it and turned left. My legs carried me on the path they remembered, the trail the cross country team ran. I gained speed as I passed through the park, flying past the trees on either side of me.
Suddenly, my foot caught on an exposed tree root winding across the trail, and I went flailing to the ground. My arms skidded out in front of me, and my knees were ground into the dirt. I lay on the trail, tired and scraped, for a long time. Finally, tears leaked from my eyes, trailblazing a path down my cheeks and dripping to the ground in salty droplets. My anger had dissipated, and now all I could do was clutch my English book and let the tears flow on my cheeks. Stupid Sam, stupid Bridgit... I wish I hadn't ever met either of them.
"Max?" Fang's worried voice broke me out of my bitter recollections. "Max, are you crying?"
"What?" I asked, looking at him in confusion. "Why would I be crying?"
"Oh, sorry, I must be mistaken," Fang replied, somewhat sarcastically. "These must be from your eyes sweating." Fang gently brushed his thumb against my cheek, wiping away a tear I hadn't realized had been winding its way down my face.
"Right, Fang, my eyes are sweating," I agreed, rubbing away another rogue tear. Stupid Sam was still hurting me now, making me cry in school. The jerk.
"Are you okay?" Fang set his binder down on the desk and sitting in his chair. I nodded, sniffing loudly to get rid of any more tears. Fang's expression went from worried to unemotional in a flash. "Is it about Max II?" he asked blankly. I sat up straighter in my chair, surprised by his question.
"What? No, it was- why would you think it'd be Max II?" I stuttered. There was no way I was telling Fang about Sam ditching me for Bridgit. Not yet, at least. But why would he think I was crying over Max II?
"Oh." Fang's expression relaxed slightly. "I just thought- nevermind."
"No, what is it?" I asked, confused by his behavior.
"I thought that maybe Max had done something, since, you know, he asked you out and all," Fang mumbled, turning his head away from me. I gaped at him.
"How did you hear that?" I asked, slightly dismayed. I wish that I could have told Fang, instead of having him hear about it through the gossip network.
"Nudge," he replied simply.
I should have known. Nudge had probably informed half the school about wedding plans for Max II and me by now. I loved the girl and all, but she was a right chatterbox. "Are you okay with that?" I asked quietly. "I know you don't really like Max II."
Fang looked surprised, which meant that his eyes were open a hair wider than usual, and his eyebrows were raised a fraction of a centimeter. "Are you really asking me for my approval?" he clarified slowly, ignoring the part about disliking Max II. I nodded, biting my lip in apprehension.
"Your opinion means a lot to me," I admitted. "I know we've only been friends for like, three weeks, but I feel like I've known you forever. I would hate it if you didn't like Max inviting me to that dance."
"Really?" Fang looked even more surprised. His dark eyes opened "Really," I confirmed, smiling slightly. "You could say we're besties!"
"I don't remember agreeing to be besties," Fang murmured. I elbowed him in the ribs.
"Too bad. We're officially besties," I ordered. Fang smirked at me.
"Okay then, bestie," he agreed. I smiled at him.
"So are you fine with Max II then?" I asked. Fang hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"If he makes you happy," he answered, looking resigned. I chose not to respond to that. After all, I wasn't sure if Max II made me happy. I wasn't even sure about going to the dance with him.
But I couldn't back out now. I didn't want to ditch on Max II. He was my friend, after all.
I would simply continue to avoid him until the dance.
Hey guys, I'm finally out of school! *crowd goes wild again* But the sad thing (for you) is that I'm going on a trip with a couple friends for a week, and most likely will not update for the week. However, for the rest of the summer I'm going to try to update one of my stories every week after this!
Love ya!
~TMI~