“It was interesting.” Kyle said shortly.
“I have the same schedule as Liz.” Max said looking down at his little
sister that seemed to be in deep thought.
“Cool.” She said weakly.
“How was it for you?” Max asked becoming concerned.
“Well let’s see. First hour was OK. I spent it with Tess and Isabel. Second
hour was horrible because I was with none other than the porcupine himself.
I spent most of third hour and the beginning of fourth in the office. When I
arrived to fourth hour which is Biology everyone had been paired up so I am
stuck with no partner on that project we have to do.” And while I was in the
office I started to make out with some guy I don’t even know and I got this
massive amount of energy from him, which I can’t even explain! Maria
finished the last part in her head, of course.
“Your day is just getting better and better.” Kyle said sarcastically.
“Isn’t it though?” Maria asked in the same manner.
“What do you have next?” Max asked.
“Gym. What about you two?” Maria said feeling even worse. If there was one
subject she despised it was Biology, but in a very close second was Gym.
“I have to finish English. I have Mrs. Sharp.” Kyle said eyeing his sister
over. He wasn’t in tune with reading people, but he could feel her confusion
and stress loud and clear.
“I have English, too. Mrs. Smith though.” Max said he too eyeing his sister
over carefully. They’d have to have a talk when he got home. That reminded
him.
“I have to stop by the Crashdown after school.” Max said without an
explanation.
“I want to come. I need a job and I figured if they were hiring I could
become a waitress or something.” Maria said searching through her bag for
another piece of gum. She quickly unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth.
It instantly reminded her of Michael and the way he tasted. She broke out of
her trance when she heard Kyle mutter something under his breath. “Poor
customers.”
Maria threw her wrapper at him and he just smirked at her.
The lunch bell rang and they all headed off into different directions.
Maria starred open mouthed as Michael came out of the boys’ locker room.
What did she do to deserve this kind of punishment? He was inescapable.
All the boys filed into the weight room, as did the girls. She knew she
wouldn’t survive this day.
Max looked over at Liz and smiled he loved being in class with her, he loved
being around her, he loved her.
She couldn’t shake the feeling of him watching her and she really didn’t
want to. She didn’t know what it was about him, but she wanted to know.
She looked over at him and he started to blush. She smiled and mouthed ‘HI’
he did the same. They couldn’t look away. It wasn’t possible their eyes were
melded together, and neither one was anywhere near complaining.
Tess reread over her material for the fifth time trying desperately to take
her mind off of the boy sitting next to her. She knew for a fact he felt the
same way. He definitely liked her shirt. She smirked to herself. She knew it
wasn’t fair that she could feel peoples emotions, but use what your given
was her motto, and she would definitely use all she was given.
Kyle glanced quickly over at her and returned his vision to his book. She
was hot, and she looked nice, in a way. All the other girls he had dated
were nothing compared to her. He doubted that if he added them all up that
they would equal her, they probably wouldn’t even come close.
She had survived. She couldn’t believe it. It had taken all her will power
but it was finally study hall and Maria DeLuca had survived almost the
entire day with minor injuries. No thanks to that no good porcupine wannabe!
She thought bitterly, she didn’t even want to be in the same room with him
anymore! She Quickly searched out her brothers. They were sitting in the
back with Liz, Tess, Isabel, and Alex. The teacher had three rolls of eight
so there was enough room for her to scoot in next to Max.
Michael walked into his last, and favorite, class. He couldn’t believe his
eyes. He saw his sisters and best friend laughing quietly with the new kids.
Not that he minded them. He liked them, well all except for that Maria girl.
He didn’t know whether to bash her head in or drag her into the Eraser Room.
Of course she was on his mind all through Gym and biology, he had even been
able to tune out his partner, Pam Troy. Now here she was right in front of
him. He couldn’t escape her and he wanted to, he did. At least that was what
he kept telling himself.
He walked quietly to the back row and took the last available seat. Tess
quickly wrote down a note and passed it to Isabel and she passed it to Alex
and Alex passed it to Liz and Liz passed it to Max and Max passed it to
Maria and Maria finally passed it to Michael.
Michael unfolded the note and read it. He looked over at his sister and they
both had a look of confusion written all over their faces. He knew he was
probably sending out all different emotions right now and he couldn’t help
it.
He didn’t know how to explain it, but there were no secrets between his
sisters and himself so all he could do was write the truth.
‘I had a ‘problem’ with a girl and I’ll explain the rest later.’
He folded it back up and started passing back across the room. Liz read it
and then passed it on. Once Tess read it she looked over at Liz and, mouthed
the question, ‘Who?’
Liz shook her head that she didn’t know and looked back down at her brother,
who was rummaging through his backpack for his portable CD player.
Liz whispered something in Max’s ear and Max whispered something into his
sister’s ear and she looked over at Michael.
She smacked him across the back of the head lightly. He turned and glared at
her. She titled her head towards Liz and he refocused his attention on his
sister.
‘Who?’ She asked Tess’ question. He shook his head quickly; there was no way
they were going to find out. They’d have to go into his mind and take it out
if they wanted it, but the bad thing was that they could, and he couldn’t do
a thing to stop them.
Liz looked back over at her sister and found her looking to her left, which
was where Kyle DeLuca was sitting. She had to smile. They did make a cute
couple, and he did look pretty interested, as did her sister.
Someone nudged her with their shoulder she turned and found Max looking at
her intently.
“So what is our project going to be about?” He asked quietly so no one could
hear them.
“I don’t know for sure. We could probably get more ideas about what to do
from my father’s college biology book. He let me have it because I am the
only one who really enjoys it in our family. Even he doesn’t like it.” Liz
said with a small laugh.
“I can understand that.” He said laughing slightly.
Maria looked over at Michael as he took out his CD player and inserted his
tiny headphones into his ear cavity. She quickly did the same. She hid her
CD player back in her messenger bag. She discreetly pulled out two pieces of
gum.
Michael looked over at Maria she quickly unwrapped the gum and put it in her
mouth.
Michael nudged her shoulder with his arm. She glared at him.
“Please?” He asked in a very low tone.
“Are there any jobs at the Crashdown?” She asked holding the gum just out of
reach. She knew his sister’s worked there so he should know.
“A couple, but as waitresses.” He said grabbing for it.
She gave in and gave it to him. He tossed the wrapping in his bag after he
had popped it into his mouth. He had the softest lips she had ever kissed;
well they were the only lips she had ever kissed, but they were mad soft.
She flipped on her CD player letting the sounds of Unforgiven 2 fill her
ears as she started to write. She could still feel his presence and she felt
like she had always been able to feel it, she just didn’t know why.
Michael glanced over at her and back at his drawing. It looked remarkably
like her, and he had drawn it during biology, strictly from his memory. He
flipped over to a clean page and started again, trying to catch her staring
at her notebook while chewing on her pencil in concentration. Just like she
was doing now.
Maria could feel him looking at her and she knew he was feeling the exact
thing she was, because she could feel his emotions even stronger than she
could sense her own. He had driven her to write he had inspired her out of
pure anger. She had written almost entire song during math. Her math
teacher, Mr. Harralson, was pretty cool he wasn’t quite as up tight as most
teachers.
Maria looked up and couldn’t find a teacher anywhere. She turned down her
music and looked over at Max tapping him on his shoulder.
He looked over at her a little agitated he had been talking with Liz.
“Where’s the teacher?” She asked before he could say anything.
Max examined the entire room and found no sign of a teacher, and class had
started at least ten minutes ago.
“Liz where’s the teacher?” Max asked looking back at Liz.
“She’s usually late. She tends to skip her lunch hour and she goes to get
her lunch out of the teachers lounge, which is all the way across the
school, then she comes all the way back.” Liz said. Ms. Harrington was like
her math teacher, relaxed.
“OK, thanks.” Max said turning back to his sister. He relayed Liz’s
explanation quickly.
She nodded her head and returned to her writing crank her music back up. She
started to chew on her eraser again. She knew it wasn’t a good habit but she
didn’t really care. She couldn’t think of anything more to write. She had
had so much anger that the words had poured from her pencil like a flood let
loose, but now she was calm and she couldn’t think of anything else. She
needed to fight she needed to get riled up again. All she had to do is
figure out how. Her CD changed tracks and ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ came
on she glanced over at Michael who was in deep concentration doing…whatever
he was doing. She could start cracking on him, but they had done enough
damage to each other today. The only other people who she really liked
fighting with were Max and Kyle, and since Kyle was all the way across the
room…
“Max…” Maria called to her brother after poking him in the side for what
felt like the hundredth time.
“What do you want now?” Max sneered turning around. He knew why she was
tapping on him like that. She wanted to fight, and right that moment he
didn’t. He’d rather continue to talk with Liz, but no his annoying little
sister had to have inspiration.
“You know what I want.” She said feeling his understanding towards her.
“Maria, please. When we get home we can fight all you want, but right now I
really have bigger fish to fry.” He said turning back around in his seat.
She frowned slightly. He always liked fighting with her to get her angry; he
liked fighting with her even when she didn’t want to be angry. This girl was
certainly doing a number on her brother, and she wasn’t sure whether she
liked it or not. Liz seemed like a total doll, but she didn’t like her
brother getting too close. Neither of them, she thought looking over at Tess
and her other brother deep in conversation. She’d have to get to know them
before making any permanent assumptions.
She turned over at found Michael looking at her in disbelief.
“What?” She asked not very amused but exited none the less.
“You are aware that your brother was not put on this earth to just help you,
right?” He asked. He was in the middle of his drawing when he was working on
the eyes, and he had been quite disappointed that they weren’t holding that
certain spark like when she was angry. So he had to find a solution. Make
her angry, it would be very easy.
“For your information. It’s none of your business.” She said getting a
little upset at him. Who did he think he was to put his nose in her
business?
“Just thought I’d let you know seeing as you had no consideration for your
brother who was trying to have a conversation of his own.” He knew what he
was saying wasn’t true but that didn’t matter the only thing that did matter
to him right now was that she was getting angry. He could tell that by the
way her eyes were beginning to spark.
“No consideration? Well obviously you have no consideration for others’
privacy.” She said getting a little angrier. She didn’t like what he was
saying. He didn’t even know her yet, how could he possibly make any
accusations about her?
“No it shows that I have consideration for your brother. Poor guy.” Michael
added just to get her mad faster, it worked too.
“Well I’ll have you know, you walking hedgehog, that my brother…” Maria was
cut off by the door opening and the teacher walking in.
Everyone went into innocent mode, fast.
“Good afternoon class! Sorry I’m late. They should just let me have my own
refrigerator in here.” She said walking to her desk and dropping her things
on it.
She had long hair. It went to the small of her back when she turned to write
something on her chalkboard. It was all different colors, from black to
blond, and from red to brown. She had on casual clothes. She had on faded
jeans and a blue top, which brought out her gray eyes. She wore a simple
smile on her faces as she turned to face the class again. She only looked to
be around 26.
“I hear we have new students. Would they mind making themselves known?” She
asked sitting on her desk, searching the rows for new faces. “Come on raise
your hands, I don’t bite. No matter what these demons have told you.” She
said pretending to accuse her class, who laughed in return.
She spotted Kyle first, when she had finally reached the last row. “You at
the very top all the way to the left, who are you?” She asked watching him
look around like a deer in the headlights of a semi.
“Kyle.” He said finally looking back at her.
“Do you have a last name, or are you like those air-heads? With names like
Cookie, and Cocoa.” She asked.
“DeLuca.” He said.
“We’re going to have to work on those one word answers. I like people who
speak their mind, in detail.” She said moving down the row.
“You, next to Liz, You are?” She asked waiting for him to fill in the
blanks.
“Max DeLuca.” He said quietly.
“OK, it must run in the family.” She said smiling receiving one from Max
too.
“Last but not least the young lady in the bright assemble.” She said looking
Maria over. She was already beginning to like her.
“Maria DeLuca, We moved here yesterday, and trust me shyness is not a family
trait for the women.” She said smirking. She really wanted to be left alone
but there was no use lying to the lady, even if she did put her in the
middle of the spotlight. She liked her openness.
Her brothers looked at her and let out a small laugh.
“Good to hear. Usually the only person who actually talks to me is Michael,
isn’t that right?” She asked looking over at one of her favorite students.
“Or at least he talks to me when he’s not listening to Metallica on the
portable CD player he doesn’t think I know about.” She said grabbing his
attention.
“I was listening to you too.” He said picking with her.
“Put it away, please.” She said in return and he did as asked.
“If you three don’t know who I am, I am Ms. Harrington. I’m a pretty laid
back person, and not much gets by me. I just let the class think it does
because I don’t like all these rules. When I went to school it didn’t really
matter what we wore, or said as long as we were there, but now they’re all
are in control freak out mode.” She said turning around on her desk so she
could get her lunch.
“Oh, and no cracking on my choice of food, or wardrobe.” She said before
digging into her lunch.
Maria smiled slightly she was beginning to really like this teacher even
more than Mr. Harralson.
Maria returned to her notebook. She was still a little upset from her and
Michael’s fight. She chanced a look in his direction he was still smirking
at her and that pissed her off even more, and for some reason he started
smiling a little more.
She turned her head back to her book and started writing what ever came into
her head. The words started flowing easily and she was quite satisfied. She
soon started on an entirely different one all together.
She had that look back in her eyes. He remembered it well, but he didn’t
even want to chance screwing it up even the littlest bit.
When he was done he looked at her then back at it. It looked OK, he
supposed. He bet she would have liked it, but she would never see it.
He closed his blue notebook and put it on the side of his desk. He flipped
open his English book and started reviewing the chapter since he had no idea
what they had covered during school; he did have a GPA to keep up. He
watched as Ms. Harrington started to play on her computer. He quickly put
his mini earphones back on and started his CD player up again.
Maria stopped in the middle of a poem. She couldn’t believe what she was
writing. She was rarely this…girlie. Even though her poem did have some
brutal points she was especially proud of, it lacked her usual hatred, or
perhaps it was dulled by the admiration in it, either way it was not her
usual material.
She spent a minute reviewing it before she just closed her blue notebook and
laid it down beside her desk.
Liz looked over at Tess only to find her laughing at Kyle while they studied
their English homework.
She didn’t know what it was about these DeLuca boys that made her and her
sister so…warm. She had always been cold to boys. She smiled at them and
sometimes she even laughed at their dumb, lame jokes; as did Tess, but she
could feel her sister’s enjoyment at talking to Kyle. She enjoyed doing the
same with Max. These boys just might break down their walls.
She looked over at Isabel and Alex. They were talking quietly and Alex
started to make these hand motions and Isabel began to roll her eyes
playfully, of course. She always knew Issy had a thing for Alex and that he
had always had a thing for her. They all knew, all except for Isabel and
Alex of course. What she wouldn’t give to be able to tell him the truth that
they were all these hideous freaks from beyond.
She shuttered at the thought. Max looked at her and he could feel her pain
and sadness, he even felt bitterness coming off of her. He couldn’t tell
what was causing it but all he could do was try his best and take it away by
distracting her.
“So… my sister wants to get a job at the Crashdown. You said your dad owned
it right? Are there any openings?” He asked looking deeply into her eyes
trying to find the source of the problem that was causing her so much hurt.