I was shocked when I woke up. I found myself no longer lying on that bed in Simon's cabin but outside it and outside in Spoonerville Forest and lying on a dirty mattress. I started to wonder how that could have happened to me when heat and crackling made me turn around to see the cabin itself completely on fire. As if seeing that beautiful cabin on fire wasn't shocking enough, I was even more shocked to see someone still in the burning cabin. He looked very similar to someone I knew very well.

"Max?"

The more that guy stayed in the burning window flame, the more I could see that it was Max! I was terrified that he was still in the burning cabin. What was he still doing in there? Why hadn't he got out yet? Then I noticed the mattress I was on. It made me think that he threw the mattress I was on from that window to the ground and then he threw me on it so he could get me out of the cabin while I was still sleeping very deeply. And he seemed to be the only one left in the cabin. I couldn't see anyone else from our school in or around it.

Then I saw the cabin started to shake and began to crumble. I looked at the window that I could see Max in and I saw that he was there. Then he vanished from the window. I couldn't see him anymore.

"Max!"

Then the cabin fell to the ground. I couldn't look at it. Then I forced myself to look ahead. I was absolutely horrified to see the entire cabin completely fallen to the ground.

"MAX!"

Nothing came out of the burning cabin except large flames and heavy smoke.

I started to cry my eyes out, knowing I would never ever see the most amazing guy in the whole world ever again. I couldn't stop crying for a very long time. I was just so upset that this was all my fault. If only I stood up to Simon earlier, none of this would have happened. Max would still be alive and more importantly we would still have our most wonderful relationship.

"Are you okay, Roxanne?"

"Not now, Max. I'm too upset for –" Then I realized what I was saying and stopped myself talking. I turned to see who was speaking to me and I couldn't believe who it was when I looked at him. "Max? Is it really you?"

"Yeah, Roxanne, it's really me."

Though I was glad to see Max standing next to me, I thought for a while I was just dreaming about him or I was seeing a something like a mirage of him.

"I'm not dead, Roxanne, and I'm not hurt. I'm just a little smoky, that's all."

I got up and felt Max's face to check that I wasn't dreaming. When it felt real and I knew that Max was still alive, I quickly hugged him and cried my eyes out again, but this time they were tears of happiness. "Oh, Max! I'm so happy that you're alive and okay!"

"And I'm so happy that you're alive and okay, too, Roxanne," Max said.

I kissed his smoky face more times than I could count. I didn't care how smoky and dirty he was, I was just so delighted to know that he was alive, safe and unharmed.

"Max, how did you escape that fire?" I asked.

Then Max explained the whole story to me. After he rescued me from the fire by throwing the mattress and me out of the burning cabin when I was asleep, which I thought he did, he got stuck in the room. But then he saw a metal cabinet and walked to it. It was full of stuff, so he had to take it all out and, once he did, he managed to squeeze himself in and get the door shut in front of him. Even though it was very hot as he stayed in the cabinet, he knew it was the only thing that would protect him from the flames as everything else in the room was nothing but wood. Then he felt a few rumbles and turns for a few seconds. Then the cabinet hit something and he was thrown out of it by force. He picked himself up and found himself outside in the forest and away from the burning cabin. He thought the cabinet must have slid away from the fire down the hill the cabin was on. Then he ran back to check on me and if I was still away from the cabin and he was delighted to see that I was.

"Thank you very much for saving my life, Max," I said, giving him yet another hug.

He returned the hug. "You're very welcome, Roxanne."

Then we heard sirens arrive. We saw the fire trucks and police cars and ambulances arriving. While the fire departments quickly got to work to put out the fire on the burning cabin, the police gathered around me and Max.

"You!" the police chief snapped at Max. "You're under arrest!"

"What for?" I asked.

"For causing this very expensive cabin to burn down, of course," the police chief said. "And for nearly causing a forest fire."

"Who told you that, Chief?" I demanded.

I should have guessed that it would be Simon when I saw him coming behind the police chief. And he was smirking as well.

"No, no, Chief," I said. "Max didn't cause this fire. He got everyone out including me."

"Maybe he got everyone out after he started the fire so he could look like a hero," Simon said.

That was it. I had put up with Simon's difficult and awful behavior for more than two months and right now I just couldn't take any more of it. I didn't care if my dad would get fired and he would never work another day or earn any more money in his life. I just couldn't stand there, put up with Simon for one more second and let Max take the blame for something that wasn't even his fault, even if my life depended on it.

"This was your party, Simon!" I snapped. "You invited the entire school to come here! You were meant to be the host! And where were you when your father's cabin was burning? Where were you while Max bravely risked his life to get everyone out?"

"Ma'am, I really need you to calm down," the police chief said to me.

"Chief, Max isn't a villain. He's a hero. I know because I'm a witness."

"I'll need more proof than your word as a witness to –"

"Will this be enough proof for you, Chief?"

We all turned to see PJ and another lady, holding a video camera, arrive.

"Who are you, ma'am?" the police chief asked.

"Officer Debbie Dune," the lady said, getting out her police badge. "I'm also Max's cousin. Will this footage of my video camera help you?"

Debbie gave the police chief her video camera. We all gathered around and we were very shocked at what we saw. The footage showed PJ running to the nearest phone booth to call Nine-One-One. Then the camera turned after hearing some weird noises. It showed Simon and with some people that were not from Spoonerville High School at all. It looked like he was having another party with these guys instead of the people from our school.

"Man, have I missed you guys so much," Simon said to the people. "You guys still rock. Everyone at Spoonerville High School is nothing but just a bunch of losers. Even the coolest kids there aren't cool at all and the most beautiful people there are very ugly. Unlike you cool and beautiful people."

These people made me think that they were Simon's friends from his previous school before he moved to Spoonerville.

Then the rest of the footage continued to show the burning cabin and Max going into it, followed by Debbie and PJ and then all the people coming out expect Max who went to rescue me by opening the window and throwing a mattress out and then throwing me onto it and then the cabin collapsing to the ground and a metal cabinet, the very one Max used to protect himself from the flames, sliding away from it.

"I shall have to take this video camera with me back to the station, Officer Dune," the police chief said to Debbie.

"Please do, Chief," Debbie said. "That's why I recorded it."

Then the fire chief approached us and he told us that, according to what he and his firemen had found out, the fire started because there was something faulty with the cabin's power generator. It was the first thing that was on fire and that was how it spread across the cabin. Luckily, it didn't spread across the whole forest as well.

Then the police chief turned to Simon, who had been trying to run but two policemen stopped him by grabbing him. "You! You're under arrest!"

"What for?" Simon demanded, as he got cuffed.

"For letting your cabin get burnt, for leaving all the people in it to get burned to death, for nearly causing a forest fire and for framing someone else to take the blame for your crimes!" the police chief snapped. "Take him away, officers."

"No!" Simon protested. "You can't do this to me! Do you know who I am?"

"I know that you have the right to remain silent," the police chief said, as he followed Simon and the policemen who were escorting him to their police car. "You don't have to say anything, but anything you say can and will be used against –"

My friends and I all felt very good as we watched Simon get arrested and the police read him his rights.

"I can see why you were top of your police academy, cuz," Max said to his cousin.

Debbie chuckled. "Thanks, Max."

Then the rest of our high school friends came back and cheered Max for saving them. Max was humble about it because he told them how much PJ and Debbie helped as well and they got big cheers too. A lot of guys, including Chad, even flirted with Debbie as they praised her.

"Sorry to interrupt this celebration, Max," PJ said, "but the barbecues will be ready soon, so we need to head back to your dad's birthday party."

"Okay," Max said.

"Well, have a good time, Max." Then I turned and walked away.

"Roxanne, wait. Where are you going?"

I stopped and faced him again. "I have to go home… early. Simon's party is over."

"Simon's party may be over," Max said, "but my dad's birthday party is just ten minutes away. And you're invited." Then he turned to everyone. "You're all invited. The night is still young and we can still plenty of time to party. What do you say?"

We all cheered.

"That's the spirit," Max said. "Follow me, Peej and Debbie for the best fun of the whole evening."

We all cheered again as we followed the three heroes of the day.