- 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝗈𝗈𝗇 -

-14-

"So Maxine, how was the party you went to yesterday? Was it fun? Did you meet some new friends?" Susan Hargrove asked, her green-blue eyes looking imploringly up at Max. Begging her to share something just to break up the tense silence at the table.

Max swallowed. "Well, it was pretty good. We watched some Halloween movies, played some board games, and then ate some snacks that Mike's mom bought." She fiddled with her grey and green striped flannel jacket, her favourite white t-shirt tucked into her shorts underneath.

"That's nice! Isn't that nice, honey?" Neil looked up from his morning newspaper, taking a sip of coffee. "Good to know you weren't drunk, young lady." He said pointedly, before going back to his paper as if it were the most interesting thing in his life. Max clenched her jaw and tried her best not to seethe in anger. She still hadn't forgotten Billy's words.

She just hadn't done anything remotely vengeful yet. But she would soon. She would find a way to get back at him. Max just needed to figure out how to make it look like an accident he himself had done and not her, the actual culprit.

The silence stretched on. Susan was nervously smiling, offering Billy more greasy bacon and Max more hash browns. Above her head, Max watched the hands of the clock move slowly.

7.10 AM.

She had a few more minutes to spare, but she felt so suffocated with her nervous mom, and her psychotic step-dad and brother that she needed to get out. "Hey mom, it's 7.10. School starts soon. I gotta go." Neil peeked over the top of the newspaper, his steel grey eyes staring into Max's blues. "William, be a man and drive your sister to school. I'm sure she'll need a lift since she doesn't have her skateboard anymore." A flicker of satisfaction glimmered in Neil's eyes. He didn't say that he broke it. He didn't hint it. But his eyes gave him away. They made her burn, Challenging her, just daring her, to make a ridiculous accusation and pin her missing skateboard on him. Max met his stare evenly, trying her best to contain her bile. She was disgusted with this. With her whole fucking situation, and if god were to take a peek, he'd be vomiting all over their perfect tiled floor in disgust too.

"Come on Max, lets go." Billy nudged her, before slipping out of his seat and disappearing behind the doorway. "Coming." she said before taking hers and Billy's plates and placing them in the sink.

"Max."

"I'm coming!" she spat, before quickly slipping on her high top buttercup yellow sneakers and grabbing her blue and grey backpack. The redhead raced out the door before inserting herself beside Billy.

The world, as she knew it, faded into the roaring of engines and the screams of men and music.

________

"Max, you're late." Max cursed silently in her mind before casually turning around to meet the amused eyes of Mr Clarke. "Sorry, i had to pick up something on the way." she answered vaguely, one hand tucked away into her pocket. She didn't, Billy just stopped by the gas station to get a new pack of cigarettes.

"That's alright, Max. Just make sure you're early next time because next time, i won't let it slide." He chuckled before going back to the lesson.

Scanning the rows of seats, Max tried to move towards the back, but was stopped by a gentle hand holding her wrist. "Max." the person, Lucas, whispered. His brown eyes smiled up at her and she felt her face go hot. "You can sit beside Mike, that way we can all talk." He suggested. Max glanced behind him and in front and realised that the group were all seated together circle-like minus Elle.

"Okay." The redhead moved quickly towards the seat next to Mike, just a few footsteps away. As quietly as possible, she propped her bag against the leg of the joined table and pulled out a notebook and her stationary. Avoiding any contact with Mike was very important, she couldn't let Elle catch any sign of something happening between them. She didn't hate Mike for the almost kiss, she just hated that she forgot how he has a girlfriend and that she was ruining their relationship.

She hated how good it felt to hold his hand. How comforting it was to feel someone against you and feel so safe.

Erase him from your mind, Max. Just drop it and he won't ask you about it. Simple and easy, she recited to herself as the Mr Clarke droned on and on about the depths of electricity and chemistry. In some twisted way, it was almost like he was talking about love, how the sparks between two objects could just as easily happen between two people.

"Max. Max..." She ignored Mike.

"Max! Max!" The whisper-shouting was louder now. A few people turned around to give her a nasty glare before turning back to the front. Max blushed, she hated attention and the only way to stop the glares was to stop Mike Wheeler from whisper-shouting her name like the end of the world.

"Max, i'm sorry. I'm really sorry about Halloween. Can we just move on, please? You're a good friend and nice to hang out with." A twinge in Max's heart stopped her from replying. It hurt that he only thought of her as "a nice friend" after the electrifying moment they had shared. Did he not want to discuss what happened? Even though she didn't want to talk about it, hearing the disregard in his voice made her clench up like a fist.

"Yeah okay." she mumbled, glancing at Mike before melting into a puddle. He was giving her puppy dog eyes, his big brown eyes looking directly into hers and, for half a heart-stopping moment, butterflies fluttered around her stomach. "Really?" He whispered, his lips slowly stretching into a smile.

"Yes, Mike. God, wipe that crappy smile off your face. It's making me want to smack it off." She snapped playfully (half-playfully) back.

The bell rang then, students quickly dispersing and gathering their bags to get to their next class. All except for two people, both still staring at each other.

"Thanks." Mike said at his normal volume, reaching out one hand to pat her on the shoulder.

Max shrugged him off before moving around him to get to English.

Tears pooled in her eyes.

________