Chapter 21-Max
"No, I'm not letting you wear sneakers!" Nudge all but shrieks. I cringe and look down at my shoes, vans, and they were clean.
"But these are the nicest shoes I have." I grumble. Nudge and Angel have managed to make me pretty, as long as it took. My makeup is done, hair is curled and I have my dress on. I even shaved my legs for this. I crossed my arms in front of my body, despite having fingerless gloves on, with sleeves that covered above my elbow, I wanted a sweater on.
"I probably have shoes that will fit you." Angel says, picking herself off her bed, and going to her closet. Nudge joins her, and they dig through the mess. Despite Angels room being clean and tidy, her closet looked like a bomb went off.
"Nothing that will kill me, please." I ask, and Nudge tosses an empty shoe box over her shoulder and snickers.
"Or anyone else. You're the only person I can imagine stabbing someone with heels." She says, and I crack a smile. Angel stands up, handing me a pair of black sandals with gold metal.
"Here. Can't stab anyone with a sandal." She says, and gives me a smile, before turning away.
I pull them on, and Iggy bursts into the room, donning a tie and bright blue dress shirt.
"Are you guys almost done? We're supposed to all meet for pictures." He says, and Angel tries to herd him out.
"What if one of us was naked!" She squeals, but is unable to move Iggy.
"Well considering you're all fully clothed, your concerns are invalid." He says, scooting past his smaller sister and coming to stand by me, his hands in his pockets.
"You look nice, ready to go?" He asks, giving me a cross eyed smile.
"Yeah. Let's go before Nudge explodes." I whisper, and we sneak out past angel and Nudge, who are back to digging around in the closet. I follow him down the hall, grab my coat and climb into the passenger side of the truck, peeling out of the driveway before nudge can nab me and change my outfit again.
"Girls take forever! What did you even change? You all still look the same." He mutters, drumming his hands on the steering wheel.
"Don't ask me, I just sat there and endured it." I tell him, and turn the dial to change the radio channel. We continued small talk all the way to where the pictures were, at some persons house, and it was huge. Students in dresses and ties are scattered all over the lawn, and my stomach dropped.
"I'm regretting being bullied into going to this social event." I grumble, and spot Dylan moving across the lawn towards the truck.
"No, you're going to have fun and eat good food and dance and maybe even make friends!" he shouts, slamming the truck door, a stupid, excited smile plastered on his face. I slither out of the truck, frowning and dragging my feet.
"Ooh, someone looks excited." Dylan mocks, and I move away from the truck and towards him.
"She's pissed. Don't prod at her too much." Iggy warns playfully, and I glare at him.
"I'll try not too." Dylan says with a smile, and wraps and arm around my shoulders, hugging me. I watch Iggy laugh and wave goodbye, disappearing into the open front door of the house.
"Are you hungry?" Dylan asks, tugging me in the direction of the house. I nod, and take a fistful of his jacket sleeve.
"Me too, they have shish-kabobs." He says, and I bounce on my feet a little, meat sounds good.
"I love meat." I tell him, and we weave through the people in the house, gathering in clumps around couches and a table of food. Across the room, Iggy wiggles his eyebrows at me, and I see his date glare at me past his shoulder, but she drops it when Iggy looks back at her.
"That's Ella, Max." Dylan says from behind me, and I jump at the closeness of his voice.
"Does she hate me?" I ask, my voice coming out much more quivering than I would have liked. Dylan shook his head solemnly.
"I don't think so. She's friends with your sister though, so she might be sore over you totally whooping her." He tells me, and I can't help but crack a small smile. Now that I think of it, I haven't seen Maya around at all lately.
"Oh." Is all I can seem to manage, eating the grilled chicken off the stick of my shishkabob. Dylan motions me to follow him as we weave through the people in the house. He talks to all of them, some of them lean around him to smile or wave at me, and I wave or smile back. I don't like this whole being crammed in a house with people I either don't know or mostly hate. I spot Fang enter the house with Lisa, and quickly scoot so I'm on the other side of Dylan and hopefully out of Fangs sight.
"Hey, I'm gonna get more food." I whisper, and Dylan nods, turning his head back to talk to one of his friends as I hurry towards the table, making as wide a gap between me and Fang as possible. I grab a brownie and stuff it into my mouth, grabbing another and stepping away from the table, and backing into someone.
"Oh, sorry." I say with my mouthful, but almost spit my food out.
"It's fine Max." Fang looks down at me with a smile, and I take a step away from him. He looks nice, I'll admit, but he's still Fang.
"On second thought, I'm not sorry." I say, swallowing my brownie and turning to leave, but he grabs my forearm before I can scurry away from him.
"Let go, Nickolas! Where's Lisa, isn't she your date?" I hiss, and a few people look over to see what's going on, but mostly look unconcerned. Fang drops my arm.
"Can't we just talk like normal people?" He asks, looking a little like a lost puppy. If he thinks looking cute is going to fix our 'friendship' then he's probably delusional.
"We could, if you were a normal person and not a misogynistic asswipe." I say, smiling and enjoying the look of shock registering on his face.
"Max, you ready to go to the dance?" Dylan comes up behind me and puts an arm around my shoulders. Fangs eyes narrow, and I catch the glares they exchange. I lean into Dylan a little bit more.
"Yeah, let's go." Fang stays in place as I follow Dylan out to his car, and get in on the passenger side.
"What did Nick want?" He asks, and I toy with a loose string on one of the fingers of my gloves.
"He wanted to talk." I reply, not liking this. Dylan sounded angry, and I didn't want him to be angry.
"Well, talk to him if you need too, but tell me if he's being mean to you, okay?" He asks, and I nod, looking down at my hands in my lap as we ride in silence to the school. It's weird having Dylan be nice to me, but it's nice too. He seems to genuinely like me, now that I'm pretty and gaining confidence, thanks to Nudge.
"We're here, hey! Looks like Ella beat us here." He gets out of the car gast and I follow him, holding my hand as we run towards the girl standing next to Iggy in a line going out the gym doors.
"Ella! Hey, this is Max." He introduces me to her, and she turns, and Iggy grins at me and stuffs his hands in his pockets. She grimaces for a second, but sticks her hand out to me and smiles.c
"Hi, you're Maya's sister, right?" She asks, feigning to not know me, and I shake her hand and smile nervously.
"Yeah, nice to meet you." I say, my voice shaking, and Dylans grip on my hand tightens ever so slightly. Iggy and Dylan keep talking, but I take the time to look over the growing line and all the people gathered there. Nudge, Angel and Gazzy are ahead of me in line, and Nudge squeals and waves when she see's me. Fang is towards the end, sandwiched amongst his friends, looking bored.
"Max, how'd you get brownie in your hair?" Ella asks, and I jump when she combs a hand through my hair, sure enough full of brownie crumbs.
"Oh, I don't know." I mumble, raking my fingers through the curls to get the brownie out, embarrassed, and Iggy laughs.
"There's few things in the world Maxine loves more than food." I glare at him as the line moves, the people around me laughing and talking. Once we get entrance to the gym, the heat of people moving around and the flashing purple and blue lights create a really cool effect in the gym. The floor is covered in taped together cardboard boxes, and disney character cutouts are taped to the wall.
"This is pretty cool." I yell over the music to Dylan, taking my hand away from his to push my hair back away from my face. He smiles and nods, walking towards the dance floor, all the people gathered together in a big glob. Where the heck were the teachers, weren't there supposed to be chaperones at these things?
"Max!" Nudge darts out from thin air and hugs me hard.
"Oh my gosh I haven't seen you in forever! You look really great you know? I'm so happy you decided to come, I know you'll have a really great time." She screams, her voice loud and clear over the music. Angel comes up from behind her, looking much more mellow.
"Hi, glad to see your hair's still okay." She says, smiling and dancing a little. Good thing Ella got the brownie out.
"Yeah, do you guys want to dance?" I ask, drawn by the music and excitement in the room. Nudge nods and drags me towards the dancers by my hands, chattering away the whole time, but her words were lost in the noise of the music. I've never been to a dance before, but I figure it out pretty quickly. The middle of the 'mosh pit' is for the people having sex with their clothes on, grinding, if you will, and the outside is for the people who actually want to dance. There are circles with people dancing and friends spinning and laughing. Outside of that at the corners of the gym are just people taking, or making shady exchanges, who knows.
I dance with Nudge and Angel, and a bunch of people who I don't know, but I don't care about who they are. I exchange names with a few people, laugh and hug girls I've never met before, I even get in a dance-off with a girl named Star, even though my only 'move' is the moonwalk. I lose, horribly, but she laughs and hugs me anyway. I peer around and look for Dylan, but he's probably somewhere in the center of the circle. I don't really care that much anyway. I hold Angels hands as we spin in dizzying circles, the purple and blue lights spinning above my head.
"Hi, Nick." A girl I don't know looks up at me through her eyelashes, and I give her a half smile back down at her.
"Hey." Is all I reply, but that's all you really need to say at these kinds of dances. I peered across the room, searching for that flash of blonde, before turning back. The middle of the pit was pretty much a big grind-party, and I didn't mind, as long as none of them breathed on me.
"Nick!" Someone shouts over the music in my ear, and I turn, Iggy tugs at my shirtsleeve to get my attention, Ella's fingers wrapped around his wrist.
"We're going back, afterparty baby!" He shouts, and I notice several people slowly making their way off the dance floor, including Max, who's holding onto Dylans arm. My blood boils, but I force myself to remain calm, and meander my way out of the center of the dance floor, peering around quickly for Lissa, but she's too busy 'getting it on' with some guy, and I'm really not into breaking that kind of stuff up. Ugh.
"Nick, mind giving me a ride?" I jump, and Maya appears at my side, smiling at my reaction.
"Where's your date?" I ask her, knowing well that she came with her next alleged boyfriend. She tosses her hair to get it out from under the collar of her coat as we step outside and walk out to the parking lot.
"I got tired of him. Jocks, idiots." She says airily, rolling her eyes. I unlock my car from across the lot and the flashing orange lights give it away. I cast a glance back at Max and Dylan, who's leaning in close to whisper something in her ear, her hand on his chest, a sly smile on her lips. Keep calm, Bud.
"Well, maybe not all of us." I say, a little rigidly, and she snaps her head over to me with slightly wider eyes.
"Well, you can hardly be counted as one of them, can you, Nick?" She asks, climbing in the passenger side of my car, and I get in on the other side, turning the key in the ignition.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask. could this kid be any more confusing? I'm trying to be nice to her, after blatantly rejecting her at my house, but I don't want to be mean. Even if she's mean...
"Just that you've defined yourself from the crowd." She says, fixing her makeup absentmindedly in the mirror. I want to gape at her, she sure loves dropping bombs.
"Would you quit, Maya? I don't know what you want me to say, so just quit it with all the cryptic shit!" I spit out, and she looks startled at my outburst. I press on the brake and we roll to a stop at a red light.
"No, I won't Nick. You're ruining everything, dragging Max up!" She retaliated, voice rising an octave, eves livid. I frown at her, how could someone be so cruel to their own family?
"You're crazy. She's your sister, she deserves someone to give a shit about her occasionally." Maya's hand tighten into fists and she grinds her teeth.
"Then let someone be anyone but you!" She practically screams, stomping her foot down.
"Calm down Maya." I tell her, sighing, but it just seems to make her more angry.
"No! You're mine! Not hers and not Lissas! It's you and me Nick!" She shouts, advancing on me, eyes wild, and I park, finally outside of the house. I need to get away from her before she causes some damage to either herself or my car.
"I don't belong to anyone, Maya." I tell her, and slide out of the car and walk quickly towards the front of the house, the mound of music faint and upbeat. I run a hand through my hair, and smile at a few of the guys on the front porch. People greet me, and I make my way down to the basement, where all the people are. The lights are dark, and all you can hear is the sounds of people yelling and the loud, almost deafening music. people are just bodies in the dark, moving around and dancing in the dark. At the back of the basement, Brigid is standing behind a built in mini bar, pulling bottles out of a backpack that she must have brought, and stacking them next to all the other ones already here.
"Looks like everybody pulled through."I shout over the music to her, and she smiles at me, just enough light for me to make out the expression on her face.
"Wouldn't be fun if we didn't." She shouts back, and I fill a styrofoam cup half with vodka and half orange juice and take a sip of it. Brigid disappears into the crowd of people, and Lisa appears out of the crowd and approaches me, standing close as she pours herself a drink. I down the rest of my own, the vodka sitting warm in my stomach. Around five minutes later, my head is swimming and the sounds of the room are pleasant. I'm laughing, dancing with girls, and spinning Ella in circles.
"Oh my god, My legs are going to fall off!" She screams, and I just barely catch her words over the music as she staggers and collides with my chest. I hug her, and we rock back and forth. I love Ella, she's like my little sister. I catch her face in my hands and she's still laughing.
"You're like, my favorite sister." I tell her, and she gapes, brushing her hair away from her face sloppily.
"You're my favorite sister!" She shouts back, and we both laugh, and Maya comes and holds onto my arm, Ella giggling and moving away in the crowd of bodies to find Iggy. I'm totally wasted, but Maya's fine. She pushes me back against a wall, and I try to push her away, but my hands are like wet noodles.
"No. I thought I told you..." I try to tell her, but my words are lost on her as she pressed her body against mine, her face too close for comfort. I try to wriggle sideways, but she pushes against my shoulders and moves with me. She pushes her lips against mine, and I turn my head, her lips just brushing my cheek.
"Isn't this like, rape?" I ask, but I'm just talkin, I can't make my voice any louder. She kisses me again, and I don't have enough time to move my head again. Her tongue traces my lower lip, and I cringe and let my knees buckle out from under me. I slide to the floor, and wriggle around.
"RAAAAAAPE!" I scream, and the people around me let out laughter. I grin and wiggle my arms, the floor is so much more fun than standing. Two figures stand over me, and pull me up, leading me over to the stairs out of the basement.
"He needs air." One of them says, and I turn my head to identify them. Iggy holds my right arm, and Max is propping up my other one.
"Max!" I cry and fall on her, wrapping my arms around her and nuzzling her cheek.
"Umm, I got it Iggy." She says, her voice strained, and I try and put more of my own weight back on my feet. I don't want to hurt Max, she's like, so fun.
"Are you sure?" Iggy asks, and I wave my hand at him dismissively.
"Away with you, peasant. the lady can handle me." I tell Iggy, and laugh at my own words, leaning my head down on Max's shoulder and closing my eyes.
"Okay, Fang. Don't be mean to Max." Iggy tells me, and I gasp dramatically.
"I would never!" I shout, and Max pushes on my arm to keep me from falling on her.
"Okay, Nick. Lets go outside." She tells me, and I lift my head up from her shoulder, following after her outside, her fingers still wrapped around my elbow.
"Call me Fang." I tell her, and she doesn't say anything, just opens the back door to the house and sits me down on the stairs to the patio. She's gone, and I lay down on my back, looking up at the sky. It's pretty quiet out here, but you can still hear a little bit of the music. I move my shoulders to try and dance, and the door behind me opens and closes.
"Here, I got you some water." She says, handing my a glass, and I take it and stare at it.
"Did you drug it?" I ask, and she sputters a laugh.
"No." She says, and I shake the glass violently, splashing water on myself.
"Oh! God it just moved on it's own!" I try to convince her, but she just pushed the now half empty glass against my lips and I'm forced to drain the glass.
"Are you, okay Nick?" She asks, and I lie back down, but keep my eyes on her. Her hair looks so pretty in the nighttime. I reach out and try and put my fingers in it, but she pushes my hand away gently.
"I'm okay. Actually, not really." I mutter, trying to roll around on the forr, but she reaches out and grabs my sleeve to keep me from rolling.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asks, and I freeze. No, I don't want to talk about my problems to Max, she is my problem for christ sake! I want her, her time, but she's going to end up with Dylan, that is if she isn't already. And Maya wants me to be with her but I don't want to because she's a huge meanie and keeps trying to push herself on me and that's not cute. And I miss my mom and she's not coming home and now Max is holding onto my sleeve really hard and it hurts my arm.
"Oh, sorry." She says, and I look up at her, dumbstruck.
"I did not just say that outloud did I?" I ask, disbelieving, and she laughs nervously.
"You did. Sorry I hurt your arm." She says, scooting away from me a little bit, but I sit up and face her.
"No, you didn't hurt my arm. That happened like two days ago." I tell her nonchalantly, and she's suddenly tugging at my shirtsleeve, trying to roll it up. Alarmed, I jump away from her, trying to rip my sleeve away from her.
"No! Don't touch it!" I shriek, and she goes still, but keeps her iron grip on my sleeve. Her eyes are looking straight at mine, this is not comfortable, so so not comfortable.
"Fang, let me make sure it's not infected." She says, her voice calm, eyes soft. I just stare at her as she rolls up my sleeve, the greenish porch light casting an eerie light over my forarm, the three eye-like slits looking back up at her, one of them had cracked open and a little dried blood was starting to rub off.
"Am I going to need amputation, doctor?" My mouth asks, before I can stop it, and she cracks a smile, and my head spins. God, I'm so drunk.
"No you should be okay." She says, her voice barely above a whisper. She sounds like she's about to cry. I know what my arms look like, they look puckered and gross, purple and silver with scars.
"Don't cry, Max." I tell her, and reach out to cover her eyes with my hand so I don't have to see the tears, but she takes my hand and covers her mouth with it. She gathers a shuddering breath, and lets it out slowly, oh god, she's crying.
"No, no, i'm so sorry Fang. Are, are you okay?" She asks, before her voice breaks and she sobs for a few breath before struggling to keep herself under control. I don't want her to cry, she's to pretty to cry, too pretty. Max let's me wipe away her tears.
"I'm okay. Are you okay?" I ask, and she shakes her head violently, pulling on one of the fingers of her glove, which I just now notice effectively cover her arms.
"No, I'm not okay. I'm a big fucking smoothie of not okay." She chokes, and I feel like crying myself. I have no idea what a smoothie of not okay is like. I reach forward and tug of her gloves, and she lets me, she just cries and I wipe away her tears.
"Do you want to talk to me?" I ask, realizing it's the same question she asked me earlier. I turn over her arm, and she cries harder. She's covered in scars like mine, but her's are healed, some of them have faded nicely.
"No one should have to feel the way I did." She sobs, and I turn her arms over and over, and press my forearm into hers.
"What else is wrong?" I'm tripping over my own words, but I want her to get all the bad stuff out of her brain. Just like how puking is good if you eat too many crayons.
"Maya's a bitch to me, but I still love her, and my parents are divorced and I want a cat and I hate social events and I don't know why people are so mean to me." She sniffles, and I wipe under her eyes, I'm crying too.
"And I'm trying to have friends and I'm being punished for it, and Dylan brought me and he's dancing with other girls, and..." She keeps going, but I can't listen anymore. I lean forward and hug her, and she doesn't pull away, she just melts into me and keeps talking. She talks about the people who have hurt her, how alone she was for so long, and she starts asking questions.
"Is that how you feel? Lonely?" She asks, and I nod into her shoulder, inhaling her smell, Jasmine, like the flower and not the perfume.
"I'm sorry, I should have been nicer to you." She says, a smile in her voice, like she knows that she couldn't have been. I know she couldn't have been either.
"No, you should have told me how wrong I was." I say, and tighten my arms around her. She's beautiful, not perfect, but she sure is beautiful.
"I love you Max." I tell her, and I mean it. I love her, but she's just quiet. I know she won't say it back, I don't think I really want her too yet.
"I know you do, Fang."