“Okay, I think that’s all for today,” Andie smiled once she stopped playing the piano. “You’re just getting better and better, Maxynn! You truly are a very talented singer!”
I couldn’t help but smile back at her. “Thanks, Andie.”
I was just glad that I was able to start singing again. After my mom died, I didn’t think that I’d ever be able to ever again. She had always been the one that wanted me to be a singer, and right after she died, she was all I could ever think about whenever I sang. But now, I felt better about things, and it was easier for me to sing.
After I got out of her small classroom, my eyes locked with someone in the lobby. My eyebrows immediately furrowed, and I made a beeline right toward him.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, knowing that it was not a good idea that he was there with me right then.
“I’m here to pick you up,” Zach informed me with a smirk, but all I could do was make a face at him. “Is that really a problem?”
“It is, considering the fact that Johnny is picking me up,” I snapped at him, not wanting him to ruin anything for me.
“Oh, great,” Zach grinned in teasing excitement, moving by me to look out the window for his best friend. “We can have a domain fight!”
“Excuse me?” I couldn’t help but growl.
Zach barely glanced back at me as he shrugged. “Eh, you get it.”
I did, which was the reason why I was angry. It wasn’t like I was a piece of land or something that they were fighting over. They weren’t even fighting over me in the first place, since Johnny had no idea that there was even anything going on between Zach and me…
“Maxynn, you left your--” a new voice suddenly cut in, and I turned to see Andie making her way out of her room but stopping when she saw the boy standing beside me. “Oh. Hello.”
“Hey,” Zach greeted with his usual flirty smirk.
“Um, Andie,” I started awkwardly, not knowing what I was supposed to say. “This is Zach.”
“This is Zach?” Andie asked me, sounding impressed, and it made me feel sick to my stomach. “This was definitely not the kind of guy I was picturing when you complained about him, Maxynn.”
“You talk about me, Maxxy?” Zach asked me with a grin now, and I knew his ego was growing. “I’m flattered!”
I scowled. “Go to hell.”
When I heard the front door open, I smiled when I saw that it was Johnny, the one person I actually wanted to see. He looked confused to see his best friend there with me, but I quickly made my way to his side so I wouldn’t have to be anywhere near Zach any longer.
Andie laughed. “I’m guessing that’s your boyfriend that you talk about all the time.”
Much to my surprise, there was a look in Zach’s eyes that almost made it look like he was… jealous, as if he didn’t like that I talked about Johnny more than I talked about him. But I brushed this off as I wrapped my arms around Johnny’s, happy that he was there with me.
“Oh, yeah,” Andie started now, finally tearing her gaze away from Zach and back at me. “Maxynn, you left your binder in my room. I was hoping that you hadn’t left without it.”
I nodded at her, leading Johnny into the other room because I didn’t want to leave him in a room alone with Zach, even if it would only be a couple seconds. Even though I was sure they’d be alone with each other a lot no matter how much I tried to keep them apart…
“Seems like Zach got chummy with your singing teacher,” Johnny informed me once we were in the other room, and I made a face as I picked up my binder full of music. Much to my surprise, what seemed like hundreds of pages of loose sheet music came pouring out of it. I couldn’t help but let out a groan. “And you seem to be in a great mood.”
“Sorry,” I sighed, getting down on my hands and knees to pick up all the scattered papers, Johnny doing the same. “I just wasn’t expecting Zach to be here. I’m never in a good mood when Zach’s around.”
Johnny laughed, handing me a stack of papers. “I noticed.”
We spent the next five minutes picking up the papers in silence. I felt awkward, but every time I looked up at Johnny, he didn’t look awkward in the slightest. It made me feel a little better about everything that was happening.
Just as I looked up to put the last few papers back into my binder, I was stopped by Johnny’s lips meeting mine. I smiled into the kiss, letting go of the papers and letting them flutter to the ground as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
His kisses were different from Zach’s. Johnny’s were sweet and loving while Zach’s were rough and forceful. I liked Johnny’s kisses so much more than Zach’s.
“Come on,” Johnny smiled when we finally pulled away, getting up to his feet and helping me up as well. I made sure not to drop any of the papers again. “Let’s go.”
I couldn’t help but smile as he led me out of the room. We were actually going to hang out for the rest of the day, on an actual date. It made me feel so excited that I could barely even explain it.
“You’re so funny!” I heard Andie giggle, and I couldn’t help but stare at them in disgust and confusion as I turned around the corner. “I don’t understand why Maxynn complains about you all the time! You’re really the charmer!”
That was one of the reasons why I complained about him! Because he could pretty much charm any girl without even trying. I really hated Zach sometimes, and right then was definitely one of those times.
“Nothing better happen between them,” I seethed, my grip on Johnny’s arm tightening. “I will literally strangle Zach to death if he does anything with her at all.”
Johnny looked amused. “Jealous, Maxynn?”
“Definitely not,” I snapped, just the thought of Zach and Andie together making me want to throw up. “It’s just that it pisses me off that he has to hit on every single attractive girl he comes across. And he always has to flirt with my friends just to piss me off even more.”
Johnny chuckled. “That’s just how Zach is. He’s an asshole.”
“Tell me about it,” I grumbled.
When we moved around the counter, I felt my face fall even more when I saw the younger Deveraux brother standing next to the older one as he continued to flirt with my singing teacher. I wanted to scream; Ethan was one of the last people I wanted to see.
“The ogre’s back,” Ethan informed his brother with a tug on his pants. “Can we go now?”
Andie giggled at what Ethan had called me, and I couldn’t help but make a face. “He calls you ogre? That’s so cute!”
I didn’t exactly agree with her.
“What are you even doing here?” I scowled down at the little boy, whose face didn’t even have any emotion as he looked up at me.
“It was too hot in the car,” he shrugged simply after a few moment of silence.
“Whatever,” I sighed, knowing that I didn’t have to deal with either of them anyway since I was leaving with Johnny. “I’ll see you two later at home.”
“Nuh-uh,” Zach called out before I could get out the door with Johnny, and I turned to glare at him in confusion. “You’re coming home with us, Maxxy.”
“Excuse me?” I couldn’t help but snap.
“My mom needs help with dinner.”
My eyes narrowed at him. “And you can’t help her?”
“No, not really.”
“You are seriously the laziest, most selfish person I have ever met in my entire life!” I nearly shouted, not even caring if we were in the middle of a music store.
Zach tipped his imaginary hat at me. “At your service.”
“And I’m guessing the ten-year-old boy can’t help her with dinner either,” I almost growled, sliding my gaze over to the obnoxious brat to my right. “Even though he’s probably smarter than all of us here.”
He stuck my tongue out at me. “You’re the girl, so you help with dinner.”
My jaw dropped. This seriously made me want to wring his little neck!
“I’m sorry,” I apologized now, turning toward Johnny and smiling at him sheepishly. “Obviously I can’t rely on these two for anything, so I have to go back home and help Brianna with dinner. We can hang out tomorrow, if that’s okay.”
“I have to take Riley to hockey practice right after school tomorrow,” Johnny frowned, and I was trying to scramble through my brain for ideas. “My mom likes it when I stay there with him too, so…”
“I could just take Ethan to hockey practice,” I offered now, that being the only thing that came to my mind. “We could just hang out at the ice rink while they practice. I’m sure Brianna will be fine if I drive Ethan.”
I heard Ethan cough under his breath, “Blunder!”
“Shut up, you little termite!”
“Termite,” he nodded, mockingly looking impressed. “That’s a new one.”
“Maxynn,” Andie suddenly butted in, reminding me that she was actually still there, way too close to Zach for her own good. She then leaned forward and tugged on my sleeve, the part covering my gauze and burns. “Your shirt’s been bugging me all day.”
I made a face at her. “Sorry,” I apologized, even though I really wasn’t.
“Why are you always wearing long sleeved shirts?” she asked me now, and I wondered how we got from talking about hockey to my fashion sense. “It’s hot outside nearly all the time! How are you not dead yet?”
“She did already pass out from heat stroke once,” Zach muttered, but he made sure to be loud enough for Andie to hear. “It’s like she’s trying to die or something.”
Andie looked terrified. “You need to stop wearing long sleeved shirts, Maxynn! You’re going to make yourself sick!”
“I’m fine,” I excused, turning away from them all and toward the door. I could see Andie’s next poor student who had been waiting for her to stop talking to Zach for fifteen minutes. “Hurry up, you guys. Brianna is going to be upset if I don’t help her.”
I hurried on out of the store, not wanting to talk about my long sleeves at all. I hadn’t even seen my burns at all, even though I was sure that enough time had went by that it would probably be fine if I went around with no gauze. But I wouldn’t even look at it every day when I rewrapped it, so I had no idea what it even looked like. But I knew that there were scars. The skin just didn’t feel right.
The second I stepped into the road to cross the street, I heard screeching of tires and the two teenage boys behind me shout, “Maxynn!”
Before I could even react, arms were being wrapped around my waist as I was being tackled to the hard pavement. I let out a hiss of pain, knowing exactly who was on top of me.
“Damn you and your football skills,” I hissed, rubbing my side in pain.
“Yeah, damn the guy and the skills that just saved your life,” Zach told me flatly, rolling his eyes at me without even trying to get off of me.
“Why are you always saving me?” I asked, a scowl on my face.
Zach looked bewildered that I had actually asked that question. “Why do you always need saving?”
I pushed him away from him, hopping up onto my feet and brushing myself off. Johnny was immediately at my side, asking if I was okay. I told him that I was fine, even though I was a little sore from Zach landing on me.
“I just didn’t look both ways when I crossed the street. That’s all,” I shrugged, as if it was no big deal at all.
“Please,” Ethan scoffed, and I knew I didn’t want to hear his comment. “I’m ten years old and I don’t even look both ways. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone tried to run you over on purpose. I wouldn’t blame them either.”
I scowled at the little brat I was forced to live with. “You cannot be ten years old!”
“What, do I need to show you my birth certificate?” Ethan asked me, and I still wanted to wring his neck. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to read it or will it be too hard for you?”
Zach snickered, giving his younger brother a high five. I wanted to push them both into the street and hope that a car would come before they could move, but I knew I could do no such thing. So I said nothing in my defense as we continued on our way to our cars, Johnny not saying anything because no one wanted to get in a fight with a ten-year-old. Especially this ten-year-old.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Maxynn,” Johnny smiled at me as Zach got into the driver’s seat while Ethan climbed into the back. “I guess we’ll just go on a date at the ice rink, hah.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s another rink there,” I grinned now, just imagining ice skating with Johnny making my cheeks turn red. “We could probably ice skate while they practice. It’ll make the time go by faster.”
When a car horn suddenly beeped beside us, I jumped in surprise. I looked into the car to see Zach smirking at me, so I knew that he had done it to tell me to hurry up and get in the car.
“Ice skating sounds fun,” Johnny nodded now, completely ignoring that Zach had just honked at us. “Just make sure you don’t fall or anything. Not that I’d mind teaching you how to skate…”
I hit him in the chest playfully, causing him to laugh with me. “I know how to ice skate!”
The car horn beeped again, but this time it was even louder and longer than the first time, nearly blowing my eardrums out. I turned toward the car to shout at Zach to shut the hell up, but only saw him smirking at me while Ethan hung over the front seat, his hand on the steering wheel honking the horn.
“That demon boy is going to be the death of me,” I growled when he finally stopped beeping. “He’s nearly as bad as his brother.”
“No, I think he’s worse. He can actually outsmart you, unlike Zach.”
I didn’t know if I was supposed to laugh or agree with him, so I only leaned forward and pecked his lips. We quickly said goodbye to each other to save our ears from another honk, but I really didn’t want to separate from him and get in a car with the two Deveraux brothers.
“Well, finally,” Ethan muttered once I finally got into the passenger’s seat. “I thought we’d never get to leave. You’re way too clingy to your boyfriend.”
I made a face at him. “I am not.”
He made a face back at me. “You are too.”
I just didn’t understand this kid. Not only was he way too smart for his age, but he hated me for absolutely no reason. What did I even do to make him hate me so much? I hadn’t even talked to him before he started making fun of me.
“Let her be clingy, Ethan,” Zach laughed as he took a left turn. “It’s her first boyfriend, and probably the only one she’ll ever get.”
“Not counting you.”
I nearly choked on nothing after Ethan had said this, but Zach almost looked impressed by his younger brother. It made me want to slap them both across the face. Zach was not, hadn’t ever been, and never would be my boyfriend.
“Will you both just keep your mouths shut?” I nearly shouted, not wanting to be teased anymore by the two brothers, especially when one of them was so much younger than me. “Just shut up or I’ll jump right out of the car without a second thought.”
I heard Ethan snort. “That’ll be a sight to see.”
That boy…
I stayed silent, knowing that if I just pretended that they weren’t even there, they would shut the hell up and I wouldn’t have to deal with them for the rest of the ride home. And I was right, since neither of them said anything else once I stopped responding.
“Oh, Maxynn, you’re home!” Brianna cried, sounding very surprised to see me as I stepped through the front door. “If I knew you were coming home, I would have asked you for your help with dinner! I made Elizabeth late for her classes because I needed help.”
I looked over at Zach, a scowl on my face. So if Brianna didn’t even know that I was coming home… Why did Zach lie and make me come back with him?
“Well, dinner’s going to be ready in about fifteen minutes,” Brianna informed the three of us when she saw the tension between her son and me. “I’ll call you all down when it’s ready!”
Ethan was the first one up the stairs, and I was sure that it was because he wanted to be as far away from me as possible. I thought nothing of it, because I knew what I was going to do the second Zach and I got up the stairs and away from his mother.
“Is there a reason why you’re angrily following me up the stairs?” Zach asked nonchalantly as we both made our way up the stairs. “Or do you just want to get in my room as badly as I do?”
“Stay away from Andie,” I threatened before we could even get into his room, my hands balling into fists at my sides as I glared up at Zach like I usually did. “She’s older than us, Zach.”
“That’s never stopped me before.”
“Zach!”
He snickered. “Calm down, Maxi Pad. She’s barely even five years older than us, so it’s not that big of a deal.”
I ignored the nickname, knowing he was only saying it to get me even more riled up, which was definitely working. I sure hoped this guy got an STD or got a girl pregnant to teach him a lesson about everything that he was doing now.
“I don’t want you to do anything with her,” I ordered now, but I already knew he wasn’t going to listen to anything I had to say. “Just leave her alone, Zach. Leave all my friends alone. You have plenty of other girls willing to throw themselves all over you. So just leave my friends alone.”
He seemed to be thinking about it for a moment, but I knew he was only doing that to tease me. “Nah, I’m good.”
“Zachary Deveraux!” I shouted, wanting to punch him in the face so badly that my hand hurt.
“There you go, saying my full name again,” he chuckled, and for some reason it made my cheeks burn. “You have no idea what that does to me, Maxxy.”
“Your mom calls you by your full name when she’s mad at you all the time,” I informed him, swallowing when I heard how unsure my voice had grown. “I don’t see you getting all hot and bothered when she says it.”
He took a step closer to me, closing me right into a wall as he pressed his body against mine. “Well, you’re different.”
When his lips touched mine, I was surprised when it wasn’t forceful or rough like it usually was. It was almost like Johnny’s, just as kind of loving, but it was weird to receive this kind of kiss from Zach. I mean… he was Zach, the guy that had pretty much been forcing himself on me.
When he pulled away, neither of us said a word to each other. We just stared right into each other’s eyes, and I had nothing to say to him.
He let out a breath. “You’re different in a lot of ways.”
“Get a room!” we heard the familiar voice of Ethan call out, and we turned to see him peeking out from his room before slamming the door shut, leaving Zach and I alone again.
Before he could kiss me again, I slipped from his grasp and turned toward my room, knowing that dinner would be ready soon.
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Originally, I wasn't going to have Ethan be such a big character in the book, but I've kind of fallen in love with his character. xD I just find him hilarious, so he'll probably be in it a lot more often now. And that's a picture of him on the side. :3
This took way too long. Sorry, guys. :(
This is for the 2012 Watty Awards! Please vote, share, and comment! :D