Life of Ives ✔️

Seventeen

MAX

"I'm doing great, mom, it's already better than last year, and I'm definitely not partying as much, and I'm not getting noise complaints from the neighboring rooms," I say as I roll my eyes. It wasn't technically a lie.

I hold my phone up to my ear as I look into the mirror to make sure my hair looks good enough for the party tonight. It's not long enough to be styled too complicatedly, but I enjoy running some gel or wax through it to make it look like I care about my appearance. Unlike some people...

Ew, I don't want to think about Andrews. What a dumbass..

"That's good, Maxwell, but I'm sure you understand our concern. You weren't the best student last year, and we just want to know you're doing good, okay?" my mom says, and I sigh.

"Yeah, I know. It's fine. I'm doing great, as I said," I say, rolling my eyes once again.

"I'm happy to hear that. Your dad and I..."

"He's not my dad," I bark at her, cutting her off from whatever it was she was going to say. "I've got to go, mom, I'm going out with some friends."

I hang up the phone before she can answer me, and I push it down into my pocket. I ball my hands into fists, my knuckles turning white, before I stop myself from punching the wall. Mom's new husband is not my dad. My dad is in Europe, banging supermodels, swimming in cash. I look up to him more than that asshat my mom thought she could bring into our family without consequences. He makes her happy, so I don't hate him that much, but he's not my dad.

Right now, I'd rather think about other stuff than my parents. I'm going to get one step closer to Ives tonight. Especially after Grayson told me she was pining for that stupid, long-haired doofus the other day. He said he promised not to tell, but since I asked, it was okay. I didn't ask, but I got the message. If she found out, he wanted me to tell her I asked.

I'm still unsure why I'm so hung up on her, but I'm learning to embrace it. It makes me stop drinking too much, and I'm one step further away from STD's, even though I always use condoms, but one never know what those sluts I used to run after did before me..

Chasing Ives has been good for my schoolwork too, these first three weeks after summer break. I've actually gone to class, thinking she'd be disappointed if I didn't, although I don't know her yet. Emphasis on yet.

I'm starting to know her, though. I think she's trying to come out of her shell, to try to change whatever reputation she had in high school, and even though I don't know what that was, I think she was a quiet, shy girl that all the boys wanted to tap, but since they were afraid of their own reputations, they never did. Lucky me. I'll be able to be her first and only.

Whoa, wait? Only? Where did that come from?

I really need to get some alcohol into my body.

Tonight's party isn't at the Beta house, so maybe I'll get my hands on some MJ, too. That'll make me relax whenever I find Ives. I better find her before she makes herself black out again, though. I can't let her keep doing that. It'll ruin her.

I make my way through campus and get myself seated in the blue Volkswagen that my best friend, Brad, owns. He volunteered to drive us there tonight, and, depending on how good the party is, back. If the party is good, he'll just tell the host to hide his keys and we'll get ourselves home some other way.

The car is cramped by almost our whole gang. There's two in the trunk, luckily it's a station wagon, so they're not dying back there. There's four in the back seat, and Brad and myself up front. We would be able to fit Grayson in here, too, the last member of our group, but he's promised to take his girlfriend and her roommate to the party.