I was so glad that the project I had to work on with Aveline was almost over with. After it was finished, I'd never have to come into contact with her ever again. Of course, I was sure that she'd still harass me every chance she got, but it didn't mean that I had to listen to her.
"So, Maxynn," Aveline sneered at me during the last period of the day. "I heard you were taken to the police station the other day."
I scowled at her. "And where would you have heard that from?"
She smiled back at me wickedly. "My uncle is a cop. He told me that a girl named Maxynn Chase was brought in because they believed she killed her mother. Now, I may be wrong, but that sure sounds a hell of a lot like you."
I was never going to understand why this girl hated me so much. Sure, I had broken her nose, but this had been going on a long time before that. Was it because I was close to Zach, or because my name was even more unique than hers? I didn't think I'd ever know, but I honestly
didn't want to.
"Think what you want," I sighed now, not about to let her get the best of me. "You honestly don't even bother me anymore, Aveline."
She was the one to scowl now. "Well, we'll just see about that. I'll definitely do something that will make you never forget how much I hate you."
I shrugged, relieved when I heard the bell ring to let us free. "Hit me with your best shot. I dare you."
And I got up and walked right out of the classroom, not in the mood to deal with her any longer. She really was the definition of petty and pathetic.
"Are you walking home or do you need a ride?" Zach asked me as he walked by my locker like he almost always did, and I really wasn't in the mood to deal with him right then. I wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone. "I have practice, so you're going to have to stick around if you want a ride."
I sighed, shutting my locker door shut before turning away. "I'll just walk home. I'll see you later."
He seemed to notice that something was off about me, but he said nothing and let me go like I wanted him to. There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to come into my room and talk to me about it later, but that was later. Right then I just wanted to be left alone.
I started on my way home just like I always did, but this time something just didn't feel right. I continued walking like always, but would look over my shoulder every now and then. Something really wasn't right, and it was making my stomach churn at the thought of it...
"Hey, girly, why don't you come with us?" a voice suddenly said, and I turned to see two burly men suddenly standing before me.
"Um, no thank you," I declined politely, picking up my pace so I wouldn't have to deal with them any longer. But when one of them grabbed onto my arm, I knew that it wasn't going to be that easy.
"Well, you see," the other one said now. "It wasn't a suggestion."
I turned to dart away, but was too slow. The other man wrapped his arms around my waist, nearly crushing me to him so I wouldn't get away.
I screamed, flailing and kicking as much as I could to try and get this guy off me. But when his buddy grabbed onto my as well, I knew that there was nothing I could do to fight them off. I was too weak against these two burly guys.
So I used another approach.
"Help!" I shrieked, knowing there was nothing else I could do. "Somebody, please! Someone, help me!"
After a few more moments of struggling, I was almost sure no one was going to show up to save me. I was getting kidnapped, and I wasn't strong enough to fight against my attackers. I had always thought that I was so strong, but I was wrong. I was weak.
But when both of them let go of me and I fell to the pavement below, I was surprised. At first, I was in too much of a daze to realize what was going on, but after a few moments I looked up to see Zach, Johnny, and Logan all fighting against the two men that had been trying to abduct me.
The fight didn't last long, and it ended with the two guys running away without causing any serious damage. I only continued to sit on the sidewalk, in too much of a shock to really do anything but just sit there.
"Are you okay?" Zach asked as he squatted down beside me. "Are you hurt in any way?"
I gulped, shaking my head. "No, I'm fine."
But I wasn't so sure about that. Sure, I was fine physically, but I had no idea how I was mentally or emotionally. Those two had been sort of rocky for a while now.
"Come on," Zach now sighed, helping me up off the ground and away from there. "Let's get you home before anything else can happen to you."
And they placed me in the back of his car with Logan while Zach drove and Johnny was in the passenger's seat. None of us said anything on the drive back to our house, but I was happy for that. I didn't really feel like talking to anyone at that moment.
Zach nearly carried me into the house, even though it wasn't needed. I was glad that he was worried about me, but I had to remind him that I wasn't some kind of helpless little baby. I could take care of myself when I needed to.
"You're not walking home by yourself anymore," Zach informed me, and I was going to tell him that that was unfair until I realized that I kind of agreed with him. "I really don't want you walking home at all, since you can drive, but I guess it's fine if you walk with someone else."
I shrugged, still a little shocked from what had happened. "Thanks, you guys... for saving me."
Logan grinned at me like he always did. "No problem, Maxynn! It was my pleasure!"
"Anytime," Johnny shrugged while Zach said nothing as he continued to glare at Johnny like he had been doing for a long time now.
"Well, look what I found after those two goons ran away," Logan said as he pulled something out of his pocket. "I saw one of them drop it. It looks like a note, but I haven't read it yet. Should we read it?"
"Obviously," Zach snapped, about to pluck the folded piece of paper from Logan's hand before he dodged the attack. "If you read it, maybe we'll find out who's behind all of this."
Logan looked at me, and I nodded in agreement. If the note gave something away, I definitely wanted to know what it said.
Once he saw that I was okay with it, Logan unfolded the letter and looked down at it. My breath caught in my throat, and he stared at it for a couple of moments without saying anything. This didn't make me feel any better.
"Well?" Johnny asked, his arms crossed over his chest as he waited. "What is it? What does it say, Logan?"
"It looks like... a to-do list," he frowned, still looking through it. The first couple things written down are about renting a van and buying duct tape a rope. Then it says..."
He hesitated, which only scared me even more. What did it say that he wasn't saying?
"Well?" Johnny repeated, losing his patience. "Just spit it out, Logan, or give it to Zach or me."
Logan glanced at me before looking at his two best friends. "It says to kidnap the Maxine girl."
I blanked for a few moments before coming to my senses. "They could have at least gotten my name right."
"That's the only thing you take from that?" Zach snapped at me, grabbing the list out of Logan's hands and scanning through it. Once he was finished, his entire face turned white and his grasp on the paper tightened so much that I thought he was going to rip it.
"What?" I asked, my eyes going wide in fear. "What is it?"
Zach handed the list back to Logan, pointing something out to him. This caused Logan's eyes to go wide before he pushed the paper toward Johnny and pointed it out as well. All I did was continue to sit in the chair before them, having absolutely no idea what was going on.
"Hello?" I nearly shouted at them after about a minute of silence. "I would highly appreciate it if you would show me what the three of you are looking at so I'm not completely clueless about everything!"
But none of them even acknowledged that I was there, and it was really pissing me off. I jumped up from my seat, making my way closer to them and snatching the list out of Johnny's hands before any of them could stop me.
"No!" Logan called out, about to tackle me onto the ground until I easily dodged him. He might have been on the football team, but I knew better. Besides, it was already too late. I had read what they were freaking out about.
"Maxynn..." Zach whispered when I had dropped the list to the floor, my entire body shaking at what I had just read. He reached up and placed his hand on my shoulder, but I cowered away from his touched. The last thing I wanted right then was to be touched by anyone.
All I could think about were the last two bullet points on that list as my eyes began to water as I continued to shake. It made me sick to my stomach just imagining it. I really thought I was going to throw up.
"They were going to do what they wanted with me," I started, knowing exactly what that meant as I said the first of the last two bullet points out loud before the second one, "and then they were going to kill me."
"Maxynn," Zach breathed, suddenly wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling me into his chest. I then started sobbing, not able to hide how scared I was anymore. I was absolutely terrified over the fact that someone had actually planned on kidnapping me and killing me. "Maxynn, shh... Everything's going to be okay. I won't let anything happen to you."
"And neither will I!" Logan agreed, suddenly popping up right beside us with his usual bright grin. "I'll protect you with my life, Maxynn! You're my girlfriend's best friend, and a great friend of mine as well! We'll definitely protect you! Right, Johnny?"
Johnny smiled at me sadly. "Of course I will."
Zach let go of me once Johnny had spoken, and the two of them glared at each other for a moment. It made me want to hit both of them, since right then was not the right time to fight with each other over me.
"Well, since there're seven days in a week and three of us," Logan began calculating now, "two of us can get two days to watch you and one of us can get three."
"Or," Zach interfered, a hard look on his face, "Logan can get three, I can get four, and Johnny doesn't need to be a part of this at all."
Johnny glared at his best friend. "Dude."
"What?" Zach simply asked. "Dude."
This was getting out of hand. Johnny had every right to be mad at Zach, but Zach had no reason to be mad at Johnny. I just didn't understand how he could act so bipolar sometimes. He was nice one moment, and then a complete ass the next. I just didn't get it.
"Zach," I started warningly now, grabbing onto his arm and yanking him toward the door. "Can I talk to you for a second outside?"
He said nothing as I led him out of the house and into the driveway, where I knew Johnny and Logan couldn't hear us while we spoke.
"So, do you want to explain to me why you're being such an ass about Johnny protecting me?" I asked him, my arms crossed over my chest as I stared up at him calmly.
Zach merely shrugged. "I don't want him protecting you."
"What does it matter if Johnny is guarding me?" I questioned, not understanding why he was acting this way. "I'll be safe! Isn't that what matters?"
Zach bit the inside of his lip before saying, "You two used to date. It's not a good idea if you two are together."
I rolled my eyes at him. "We broke up, Zach, and I don't want to get back together with him."
"You say that now," he muttered, and suddenly something clicked in my head. I knew exactly why Zach was acting this way, and it made me grin.
"Are you jealous?"
Zach's eyes went wide. "What? No!"
I couldn't stop smiling. "You are! You're totally jealous! I can't believe it! Zachary Deveraux is actually jealous! Oh, Blanche, good for you! Now we know you're actually a human being!"
For the first time ever, Zach's face was actually red. It almost took me so off guard that I almost stopped laughing. I couldn't ever remember a time where Zachary Deveraux ever blushed, especially over something I had said.
"Hah, look at you," I chuckled quietly now, a little embarrassed myself for some reason as I reached up and brushed his cheek. "Your face is all red. You're blushing, Zach."
He turned away from me quickly. "No, I'm not. Shut up."
This really was unbelievable. I never would have thought that Zach could actually blush. I thought that it was physically impossible for him or something.
"Is your ego really too big for you to admit that you're jealous and embarrassed?" I asked him now, wishing that he would just admit it so we wouldn't fight about it. "It's not that big of a deal, Zach. Everyone gets jealous sometimes, and everyone definitely gets embarrassed."
"I don't get embarrassed," he snapped at me, even though his red face said differently. "And I definitely don't get jealous."
I let out a sigh, knowing that there was no way I was going to win this argument with him. He had way too much pride to admit how he was truly feeling, but he didn't need to tell me. His face told me everything I needed to k now.
"What's going on?" a new voice now said, and I let out a shout and nearly jumped out of my skin before glaring down at the little boy that was now beside us. He ignored me as he continued. "Why is Zach's face red? The last time I saw him like this, he was sick."
Zach rubbed the back of his hand against his forehead. "I must be getting sick."
I made a face at him. "Uh-huh, that's it."
Ethan rolled his eyes at both of us, walking right by us and into the house. I guessed that he walked home, since none of the adults that lived in the house were here with him, and it made me feel a little bit worried. Though my kidnap had been planned, that didn't mean someone wouldn't hurt Ethan. Even though we couldn't stand each other, he was still someone close to me...
"Well, since I'm obviously getting a fever," Zach started, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him, "I think I'll just be going to bed early. Send Logan and Johnny home, will you?"
"Whatever you say," I called out as he started into the house, "Jealous Boy."
This caused Zach to run into the door frame, causing me to burst out into laughter right in the driveway. It made me really happy, knowing that he was jealous over something as stupid as being protected by my ex-boyfriend. It just proved to me that Zach really did care about me a lot more than I thought he did. Maybe he even had feelings for me.
"Ogre!" Ethan now called out from the front door, snapping me out of my good mood. "I'm going to lock you out of the house if you don't hurry up and get inside!"
I glared at him, making my way toward the front door as both Logan and Johnny were leaving. I smiled at them, but said nothing, because I didn't want Ethan knowing what we had just found out. He might have been smarter than all of us, but he was still just a little kid. I highly doubted he really knew what was going on. Heck, I barely even knew.
"So, what did you say to Zach that made him blush?" Ethan asked once I had gotten inside and he had shut the door. "I don't think I've ever seen his face that red before, even when he was sick."
I shrugged now, trying to act like this fact didn't make me happy. "I was just teasing him, that's all."
Ethan snorted. "Uh-huh. Sure."
I rolled my eyes at him, passing by him and making my way up the stairs and to my room. As I went by Zach's room, I was almost tempted to open the door and go inside to talk to him. He almost never had his door closed, so I could tell that he was really bothered by this. And in all honesty, it made me feel really great.
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Fifteen more chapters until this story is over. xD I really can't wait, haha. I love this story, but I've been so stressed out lately, that I'm glad that it's almost over with. x)
This is for the 2012 Watty Awards! Please COMMENT, VOTE, and SHARE! And VOTE/NOMINATE Ethan in the Funniest Character award! <3 Thanks, guys!