Dedicated to: SIERRA156, BECAUSE HER REVIEW WAS SO FREAKINGHILARIOUS! I almost choked on my laughter while reading it.
Also, whenever I get an awesome review, I forward it to my friends.Salute Horses told me to tell Sierra156 that she is, "her slaveforever, and she desperately wants to know how Sierra156 is sohilarious."
I think that dedications now on will be to the most consistent,helpful, and/or hilarious reviews.
P.S. Amazing Grace, do you follow only Barca, or all soccer? 'Cause there was an amazing Brazil/Mexico game last night. It was very dirty, foul-wise, but the goals were beautiful.
"Max, give me the clay."
"No! The clay WILL obey me!"
"Max, you suck at clay. Give it to me."
"Aww, I'm gonna cry Fang. Now wait a minute while I turn this freaking lump into a freaking apple!"
"Max…"
"Wait a seco- HEY! Give it back!"
I tossed the purloined tan clay lump up and down in my hand, smirking triumphantly at Max. She looked quite akin to a bird of prey, actually, as she glared at me, and I had no doubt in my mind that the resemblance went past the scowl on her face.
"Fang," Max whined, her brown eyes imploring. "Let me try one more time."
I shook my head forcefully. "You'll make us both fail this class with your putrid attempts at apple crafting, Max dearest," I informed her bluntly, causing her to scowl yet again. "Now watch and learn."
I plucked and pulled carefully at the clay for several minutes, while Max seethed and grumbled in the background. Within moments, I had a slightly lopsided but still perfectly presentable apple in my hand."See?" I told her, showcasing my clay fruit.
In response, Max snatched the apple out of my hand and smashed it against the desk.
Needless to say, fruit was instantly reduced to a pancake.
Now it was my turn to whine. "Max!" I scolded, prising the apple pancake off the surface of the desk. "You do not destroy perfectly good apples for no reason!"
Max smiled sweetly at me. "I had a good reason," she replied innocently. "It was bugging me."
"It was an inanimate, unsuspecting, totally inconspicuous clay fruit! And you demolished it!" I declared, shaking the sad little clay pancake in her face.
Max's smile grew into an impish grin. "Aww, Fang has emotional attachments to his art!" she crooned. "How sweet!"
As way of replying, I stuffed the clay pancake in her face.
While Max sputtered and yelped, I sat back in my chair, crossed my arms, and smirked to myself.
That was so satisfying.
When Max had finally gotten all of the clay out of her nostrils and eyelashes, she turned and sent a death glare that could and would be lethal to some people. "Fang darling," she spat, her poisonous tone completely clashing with her word choice, "I think that was a totally unwise decision."
"Probably," I agreed amiably.
Max leaned closer, the clay bits clenched in her fists. Outwardly, I was as calm as ever, but on the inside I was feeling strangely jittery at our close proximity. "And you're going to pay," Max murmured, her face inches away from mine.
"Yep," I acknowledged the truth of that statement very readily.
Max leaned in a little closer, and a very bizarre and horribly timed image of her kissing me in the middle of art class flashed through my hormone crazed, teenage, male brain.
Of course, Max being Max, instead of kissing me like I was fantasizing about at the very moment, she ground the clay into my scalp with the heel of her hand.
I stood up, shocked and horrified at this treatment of my hair. I wouldn't ever admit so, nor would I even fully acknowledge it to myself, but my one true vanity was my hair.
And Max had just crushed a handful of modeling clay into it.
Naturally, she was laughing her ass off at the no doubt priceless expression on my visage.
"What is the meaning of this?" Ms. Rykitel demanded, instantly appearing at my side. She was several inches shorter than me, even with her heels, but that didn't seem to bother her as she scrutinized my shocked face and Max's laughing one.
Max instantly smoothed out her expression into a very innocent mask. "Fang got all of our modeling clay in his hair, and I was helping him get it out," Max offered sweetly to Ms. Rykitel, her brown eyes wide and naive. "Here Fang, let me get that for you," Max continued, standing up on her tip toes and gently extracting a chunk of tan clay from my hair.
Damn, this girl was a good actress. Ms Rykitel was lapping her act up like a kitten drinking milk. "How kind of you, Max," Ms. Rykitel praised my devious bestie. "Carry on then." And with that, the art teacher bustled quickly away.
"Yes Max, very kind," I stated dryly, pulling some more crumbling clay out of my hair. "How could you possibly be a nicer bestie?"
Max shrugged, flashing me a dazzling smile. "You're lucky to have me, Fangles," she concluded, grinning at me and leaning her head teasingly on my chest.
My brain halted communications for a moment, causing me to sit rigidly as Max reclined against me. I held my breath so I wouldn't inhale the scent of her hair, trying to start up my motor functions again. I patted her shoulder faintly with one hand, and Max sat up straight again, smiling once more.
"So what should we do now?" Max asked. "We don't have any clay anymore."
"I beg to differ," I murmured. Abruptly, I began to whip my head around like a dog, shaking the bits of clay out of my hair.
The crumbled pieces launched off my head, several pegging Max on their journey off my scalp.. I smirked at her, raking a hand roughly through my hair to dislodge any more clay that was being stubborn and clinging to my head. "There's your clay," I announced, pointing at the clay pieces spread willy nilly across our desk.
Scowling, Max smacked my arm and started piling up the bits of clay. "Okay, smarty pants," she practically snarled, "now you can build another fruit." Max shoved the fistful of clay bits at me and sank back into her seat, arms crossed.
Shaking my head, I smiled slightly and began molding the clay again. Glancing across the room, I caught the eye of the new kid, Dylan. He looked evenly at me for a moment before his gaze flickered to Max, whom he had apparently been watching for quite awhile. His partner was making several beautiful bananas, and Dylan seemed to have fashioned an acceptable fruit himself, but now he was content with simply staring at Max.
That was MY job, buddy.
I glared at him, but Dylan didn't seem to notice the death beam of ultimate hostility I was sending his way. His eyes were locked on Max, who was growling to herself slouched in her chair, obviously oblivious to her admirer. Dylan didn't seem to mind, though. His eyes were glued to Max, and he didn't pay any attention to his partner, who was trying to ask him a question.
I could totally understand why Max didn't like him.
"Fang?" Max asked suddenly.
I looked back at her, surprised to see that she wasn't grumbling about clay anymore. "Yes?" I replied, cocking my head at her.
Max grinned, pointing at my hand. "You mutilated our apple," she remarked. I looked down, realizing that as I had watched Dylan watching Max, I had started strangling the clay. It now resembled a lumpy, disheveled snake.
"Whoops?" I offered weakly.
"Yeah, oopsie daisy, Fangles," Max said sarcastically, swiping the clay from my grasp. "Let me try."
"But you hate clay," I pointed out, slightly afraid of what Max might do with the poor defensless clay at her disposal.
"And thank you Captain Obvious," she retorted, keeping her eyes on the clay. "Just gimme a sec."
Max focused on the clay, her fingers roughly stroking it into a new shape. I let my eyes travel from her hands to her face. Her tongue was poking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration, and her face was set in a firm scowl. I had to stifle a laugh more than once as Max unceremoniously pounded the clay into shape, her displeased expression never faltering once.
"There," she announced roughly, holding up the product of her toils. "Apple. Voilà."
A misshapen lump of the tan clay sat in the palm of Max's hand, looking very sorrowfully bedraggled.
"So?" Max demanded fiercely, searching my face.
"It's beautiful," I managed to say with a straight face.
Then I promptly burst out laughing, falling forward onto the desk and burying my head in my arms. Max shrieked in indignation, roughly slapping the back of my head. "Jerk," she grumbled, but I could hear the smile in her voice.
"Fang? Max?" Ms. Rykitel sounded confused again. "Are you two having problems working together?"
"No, Ms. Rykitel, it's okay," Max assured her, instantly angelically sweet as she spoke to the teacher. "Fang here had a back spasm, and he needed to crack it out."
Back spasm? I glared at Max, who simply smiled back at me.
"Oh. Okay then," Ms. Rykitel said slowly, looking bemusedly between the two of us. "Are you okay, Fang?"
Max stifled a laugh, and I nodded stiffly to Ms. Rykitel. "Yes ma'm," I replied, my tone emotionless.
"It's alright, because the period is over in a few minutes. Clean up your clay, class, and you are dismissed!" Ms. Rykitel waved her hands about before disappearing into the art closet. There was an instant flutter of talking and clay-gathering around the room.
As soon as Ms. Rykitel was gone, Max perked up, grinning mischievously at me. "I hope you get over those back spasms, Fang," Max offered sweetly, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I rolled my eyes, although inside I was hyperaware of her touch. "Thanks for your concern, Ride," I replied dully, cleaning up Max's deformed apple. "I'll get rid of this horror," I continued, gesturing at the unfortunate lump in my hand.
Max's smile was suddenly transformed into a scowl. "It is not a horror," she growled at me. "It is a work of art!"
"It's an ugly," I shot back, standing up and preparing to go put the clay in the bucket up front.
"It's special!" Max insisted.
"Especially deformed," I murmured, letting a grin tug at my mouth as I walked up the aisle.
Just as I plopped the poor hideous apple into the bin, the bell rang. I was nearly stampeded by the students racing to leave the class room.
In the wake of the stampede, Max walked casually up the aisle carrying both mine and her stuff. She grinned as she dumped my things into my arms, jerking her head towards the door. "Well, Fang, we've got a game to play," Max stated, her eyes sparking with anticipation.
I accepted my things, smiling back at her. "I believe we do," I replied quietly. "Let's kick some ass."
O.o.O.o:O:o.O.o.O
"LYNXES!" Nudge screamed, looking dangerously fierce as we huddled around Anne.
"LYNXES!" we roared back at her, then split to the field. Max jogged casually up to her spot in center midfield, her ponytail flashing and black eye standing out threateningly on her tanned face.
Gazzy popped up next to me where I stood at the edge of the circle. He looked pumped, his blue eyes wide and his hair standing on end as if it was electrified. "Let's do this, Fang. We're the best forwards in the league," Gaszy murmured, bouncing up and down on his toes.
I nodded briefly, my eyes focused on the white soccer ball sitting on the center line. The Forester Pythons' forwards, clad in green jerseys, stepped idly up to the ball. One of the forwards was a small Asian girl with long French braids, and the other was a taller boy with spiked blond hair tipped with dark green.
Interesting.
The whistle blew, and I instantly forgot about the forward's hair as he tapped the ball forward to the Asian girl.
It was game time.
Gazzy launched himself at the forwards, and I followed behind more subtly to cover the girl trying to sneak around and provide a pass opening.
Just as the Asian girl tried to pass off around Gazzy to one of the Python midfielders, Danny swooped in and intercepted the ball. He sprinted up the line, juking another midfielder before passing off to Juliann.
Back at sweeper, Ella screamed, "Everybody UP!" We all instantly obeyed, partially because Ella was right and we needed to move farther up the field after the ball, and partially because Ella can be terrifying when she plays soccer.
Juliann was dribbling just ahead of me, and from the angle I had I could tell that the big, burly Python stopper was about to crash into her. I opened my mouth to yell a warning, when Max came out of nowhere and took the ball smoothly from Juliann before sprinting in the opposite direction. The Python stopper was caught on the wrong foot, and Max was speeding towards the goal.
"Beautiful take over!" Anne yelled from the side line. I didn't need to look over in her direction to know that she was crazily whipping her clipboard about. Anne really got into our games.
I ran towards the corner, trying to catch Max's eye while simultaneously slipping under the Python defense's radar. Max glanced my way, but then turned forward again and gestured at the goal with a free hand while in the middle of juking a defender.
Max is good at multi-tasking.
But I understood her point. After she had juked that last defender, she had an open shot on goal. Max drew back her foot to shoot, when suddenly a boy came out of nowhere and crashed into her. Max was knocked off the ball and sent flying to the side.
The whistle blew, and Max rolled over on the grass, sitting up with an angry scowl on her face. The boy who knocked her over offered a hand, and she grudgingly took it and stood up. "Foul for Cromwell, on number thirteen by number seven," the ref announced, jogging over quickly to where Juliann was setting up the ball for the kick.
Juliann ran up to the ball and crossed it over the goal box, sending it sailing directly to me. I saw the Forester defender coming at me out of the corner of my eye, so instead of trapping the ball I headed it directly back across the box. Danny caught the ball on his chest before dropping it to his feet, where he back-passed to Max. Max ran directly at the ball and slammed her foot into it.
The ball raced through the air, barely spinning at all, straight for the top left corner. From my angle, I could see that the ball was going to just miss the corner, but from where I was standing I was helpless to stop and redirect it into the goal.
Then, just as the ball was about to go out, Gazzy popped out of nowhere and headed it straight back across the goal. The ball bounced right under the goalie's arm, and Juliann ran up and slammed it into the back of the net. Raising her arms triumphantly above her head, Juliann raced back to the half line. There was a huge grin spread across her face, and she was practically glowing with happiness.
"Damn. That felt good!" Juliann murmured, bouncing up and down on her toes. "Let's do that again!"
The Pythons set the ball back up in the center, and I tuned Juliann out to focus on the game.
The Python forwards were skilled with their footwork, and they managed to juke Gazzy and I, and pass around Max, Danny, and Juliann.
However, then they met a very ticked off Nudge.
Apparently, ten minutes before school ended, Iggy had somehow managed to melt the entire contents of Nudge's make up bag. When Nudge had opened it, she was met with a gooey, brownish and pinkish sparkly mess.
Needless to say, she was pissed. Nudge had been on the rampage ever since school let out, and it appeared that she would be venting her anger on these poor, innocent soccer players.
Oh dear.
The Asian girl tried to wall pass around Nudge to the boy forward, but was brutally and forcefully blocked by said pissed off stopper. Nudge stole the ball altogether viciously from the girl, dribbling up the middle for a moment before passing off to Danny at the sideline with a bit more force than truly necessary.
I felt kinda bad for anyone who got in her way today.
By half time, the score was still 1-0 us, and we were all tired and sweaty from chasing the speedy Python players. Anne stood over us with her clipboard as we sipped at our drinks, scribbling furiously with her red felt pen.
"Okay! Listen up now," Anne ordered, tapping the pen loudly against the edge of the clipboard. "The Python forwards are fast. Ella had some great runs back at sweeper, and Lauri, those were some great saves you had. I want my midfielders to work even harder now. I'll sub you guys in and out as much as your hearts desire, as long as you're running hard and giving me one hundred and fifty percent! Are we clear?"
"Yep," Gazzy chirped, somehow still peppy and energetic. "Let's kick some Python booty!" Gazzy struck a very strange and bold pose.
"I swear Gaz, sometimes I think you're about ten years old," Nudge grumbled, still in a bad mood.
"Who are we?" Anne yelled suddenly, brandishing her clipboard.
"LYNXES!" we screamed back.
"Ford in goal, Ella sweeping, Nudge stopping, Matt and Lucas defensive wings, midfield left to right Liz, Danny, Sadie, forward triangle Max, Fang, Gaz! Score me a goal each at least, will you?"
"Oh yeah! Rated R is on the loose!" Nudge cheered, looking considerably happier at the chance to use her nickname for us. "Ride, Rianild, Richards, go!"
"Let's go!" Anne yelled, shooing us out onto the field with her clipboard.
The second half was a whirlwind of running, dribbling, passing, and scoring. And fouls. Lots and lots of fouls.
Interestingly enough, Max, Gazzy and I all earned ourselves another yellow card apiece. We really were gifted when it came to getting carded.
Gazzy's card was for swearing loudly, colorfully, and continuously after the Python sweeper slammed the ball into his… well, balls, from two feet away.
I was carded because the boy who was guarding me was a wimp and couldn't take the pushes I was sending his way. He fell on his butt seven times before the ref carded me for pushing him. I guess it was the only explanation the poor ref could think of that would justify why that defender kept flying three feet every time he went near me.
Frankly, I'm not even sure what Max got carded for. Something nasty, knowing Max.
Luckily, after our escapades dealing with the refs, Gazzy managed to steal the ball from a Python and dribble halfway up the field. He passed it off to Max, who controlled the ball and sent it straight to my feet without a single glance in my direction. I took off towards the goal, somehow sensing where Gazzy and Max had fallen into place to receive the ball.
We worked like a well-greased machine, fluently and without any kinks. Gazzy scored a shot off facing the opposite direction from the goal. With his back to his defender, he flipped the ball up from his feet to his thighs, then lobbed it up and performed a sort of standing bicycle kick. The ball flew over his shoulder, past his guard, and straight into an empty stretch of net.
Gazzy has inborn instinct for things like that.
Unfortunately, soon after Gazzy's goal, the Pythons managed to score two more on us, evening out the game. The first should have been offside, but the blind referee manning the sideline didn't say a word in our defense as the tiny Asian forward sped past Ella to receive the ball and sink it in the far corner.
The second shot, I have to admit, was a beauty. One of the Python midfielders juked Liz with a perfect elastico, then sped off down the sideline. The midfielder was fast, and I could tell that Ella was struggling to keep up with her.
Then, she made the most beautiful cut in the world, completely throwing Ella off balance so that she actually toppled over backwards into the turf. The midfielder raced further to the goal, raised her foot as if to shoot, then passed low across the goal to the forward with the green tipped hair. He shot out his right foot and tapped the ball directly into the corner. Ford didn't stand a chance.
So now we were tied 2-2. On the sideline, an irate Anne was screaming at us all to hurry up and get moving to the ball.
"C'mon Rated R! Score us a goal!" Nudge bellowed from the defensive line as Ford threw the ball out of the net and up towards the center to restart.
I clenched my teeth, and to my right I could see Max tense up in frustration. "They think we're gods or something," she muttered, her eyes locked on the ball as Juliann brought it up to the center line.
"With great talent comes great responsibility," Gazzy said, quoting our coach from our other team, the Raine Valley Lightning Strike. "That's what Coach Jeff always says."
"Screw your coach," Max grumbled rebelliously.
"Sorry, I don't swing that way, Max," I interrupted seriously, my face completely void of emotion.
Max stared at me for a second, obviously floored by my statement. Gazzy, on the other hand, was practically hacking his lungs out with laughter.
"Pull yourself together, Richards!" Anne screamed. Gazzy promptly quieted, but was still grinning widely as he wiped the tears out of his eyes.
"Dear lord, Fang, you're so quiet that I always forget how funny you are," Gazzy wheezed, trying to collect his breath again.
Max rolled her eyes, but I could detect a hint of a smile playing around her lips. I smiled to myself: mission accomplished.
We played hard for the rest of the half, but neither team could score again. Ella, Nudge, Matt and Lucas were playing spectacular defense for our team, and Ford had pulled off a few beautiful saves already. Our midfield were doing respectably well, and as always, Gazzy, Max and I were completely in sync.
Unfortunately, the Pythons had an unusually powerful defense, and they were difficult for even the amazing 'Rated R' to beat. It took the best of my moves, the height of Max's power, and all of Gazzy's speed to outplay the defense.
"UP!" Ella screamed, pushing our defense up as Sadie got a breakaway and sped down the side line. Her voice cracked awfully, the product of her yelling directions to our defense the entire game. "Geez, there goes my career as a singer," Ella grumbled.
"ELLA! GET THEM UP!" Anne shrieked from the side line, her voice hoarse and crackly.
"Scratch that. There goes ANNE'S career as a singer," Ella amended.
I smirked to myself, then hurried up to support Sadie as she ran up the line.
Sadie was now trapped in the corner with the ball, and she was viciously elbowing her defender in an attempt to break free. I raced up behind her and yelled, "Sadie!"
Sadie glanced at me, then swiftly turned the ball and passed it to me. I promptly peeled off across the field, letting the defender just catch up to me before Croifing the ball and passing straight back to the now open Sadie.
Sadie took the ball back and ran back up the side without any hesitation at all. She had a clear path almost all the way up, since I had taken care of her defender. The only boy that got in Sadie's way was quickly dispatched by her with one startlingly convincing stepover.
Sadie turned at the corner and lobbed the ball to Liz, who was waiting to receive at the top of the box. Liz trapped the ball under her foot, then turned quickly and passed to Gazzy. Gazzy dribbled deeper in, swamped on three sides by defenders but still managing to battle his way through. Then, just as I thought he was going to shoot, Gazzy stepped over the ball and kicked it backwards with his heel, straight to Max's waiting foot.
Max slammed the ball out across the box in my direction. It sailed high over Danny, then started to descend in the middle of the box. Liz jumped to head it, but couldn't quite reach it.
Instantly, I realized that the ball was coming to me.
My mind went blank for a moment as the ball hurtled towards me. Its descent seemed to slow, and I could almost read the brand on the ball as it spun towards me.
Then automatically, without even the tiniest hint of a thought process leading the action, my right foot popped out and slammed perfectly into the ball. I could feel the quality in the kick the second my foot touched the ball.
Then, my mind blanked again, and I was lost in a sort of dreamlike state as I watched the ball spin away from my foot. The next thing I knew, the goalie was sprawled across the grass and the ball was in the back of the net.
"NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL RATED R!" Nudge screamed from the mid line as we all jogged back for the kick off. "GREAT WORK!"
"BEAUTIFUL! BEAUTIFUL!" Anne kept bellowing, shaking her clipboard violently around to emphasize her point.
Just then, the ref blew his whistle- once, twice, and three times. Game over.
I grinned as Gazzy slapped my hand in a high five and Max clapped me hard on the back, because scoring a winning goal is one of the best feelings this world has to offer. "Beautiful delivery, what a great way to end the match!" Nudge gushed, flinging her arms around my torso in a rib-crushing hug. "That was just an amazing play! It's like you three can read each other's minds!"
I glanced at Max, who was smiling brightly at me, wiping the sweaty hair that had escaped her ponytail out of her eyes.
I wish I could read her mind.
EPOV
I walked with Nudge and Gazzy a few yards behind Max and Fang on the way back to the locker rooms. Max and Fang were walking easily along, discussing the game and laughing every now and then. Nudge, I could tell, was trying to discreetly eavesdrop and analyze every word that Max said. The girl was desperate to find a sign coded into Max's behavior that meant she liked Fang. Nudge really wanted them to get together. And when I say really, I mean underlined, bolded, italicized REALLY! In fact, it was almost an obsession for her.
I knew better than to think that Max was simply playing hard to get. She was my sister, after all.
My hypothesis was that Max was physically attracted to Fang because of his obvious good looks, and attracted also because of his personality and the way he acted around his friends. The only glitch in Max's feelings towards him was that subconsciously, she was afraid of the possibility that she liked Fang as more than a friend.
And then there was the problem with Sam. Stupid, stupid Sam.
Max just wasn't good enough for the idiotic jerk. No, he couldn't only have my beautiful, athletic and amazing sister. He had to cheat on her and hook up with Brigid Sloane too. And he didn't even care that much when Max caught him, either. He didn't run after her, or even try very hard to apologize. He just moved on, leaving Max's heart torn and mistrustful.
There wasn't a word to describe the hatred I felt for Sam and Brigid.
And still, here in a different state, Sam was leaving his tainted mark on Max. She couldn't allow herself to even think about a relationship with Fang. She forced herself to be blind to the perfect way they fit together.
All because of Sam.
Max never spoke of him again after she had caught him with Brigid, but I knew that she was still emotionally recovering from the incident. And the one thing Max had come away from that situation with was the belief that no one should be trusted with her heart. Not even Fang, who I knew for a fact would be the best thing that ever happened to Max.
Now how could we make her see that?
Hiiiii guys! Sorry for the later update, but I warned you guys… =P Guess what? I had a soccer tournament in Reno last weekend, and my team won the whole thing! We were singing California Girls after the championship game to celebrate. XD
Hey you guys, guess what? I got an email for Fanfiction! So if you don't have an account and want to talk, my email is on my profile. I'll put it here too, if it will show up. Mypseudonymistmi gmail. Com
And someone asked about heights and ages? Max is 5'7", Ella 5'5", Nudge 5'5", Gazzy 5'10", Fang around 5'11", and Iggy 6'. And the thing about Ella being a year younger but still in the same grade? My plan is that Ells is a genius, and skipped a grade. That will be put into the text eventually too.
Review please? I love you all!
~TMI~