Chapter 1

The Concert

“Mom, I can’t find my Converse!” “Susan, you always wear those

dumb Converses. Wear something nice for a change! You’re singing in choir
for the whole school. Everyone is going to be wearing fancy-schmancy
accessories except for you and those Converse and black jeans.” I rolled my
eyes and turned to my room, surrendering. “Fine, but if I collapse and make
everyone fall with me, it’s your entire fault because you made me wear high
heels.” She called out, laughing, “I’m sure you’ll be fine. Plus, there’s always
a first. Maybe after this you’ll love heels and won’t leave them ever.” I
snorted, closing my door to fall on my bed.
Susan Wayne. Typical name, really. But I’m everything but ordinary. I
go to Medford High School, MHS, in Oregon. I have four best friends, and
we’re all really smart. Most of the kids who go there smoke, ditch, all the
crap, but we’re the “nerds” of the school. Except for some popular kids, like
Jeffrey Sandoval, the most popular kid in school, and his girlfriend, Sandy
Cortez, also the most popular girl in school; they’re smart, beautiful, and
popular. How did they do it? I have no idea. My two best girl friends are
Courtney and Mila. I had known Mila since we were seven and Courtney since
I was nine. Max and Kyle, both geniuses, I had known them for a long time
too. Max, I had known since I was eight, and Kyle since I was nine. Courtney
was probably the best singer in the whole school, Kyle was a math freak, Mila
was a good musician, and Max was an overall smart brain. I was just the one
who could pass with straight A’s without really being an overachiever. But
besides that, I was an ordinary klutz, and my issues with balance were not a
problem as long as I wore flat shoes, although I always found a way to fall on
a flat surface. But besides that, I was just a person. All five of us were in choir
just because we wanted a class all together, but the only one who seriously
enjoyed it was Courtney. The rest of us thought Mr. Wing was wacko, boring,
and annoying.
 “I hate this so much” I grumbled as I sat next to Courtney, who was all
smiles. “I can’t wait! See the frowning guy in the front row?” I nodded. “Well,
he’s the agent for Portland Records!” I gave her a smile, and looked away. I
was so bored. I knew that this was a good chance for Courtney to get a
record deal and become famous, but I was bored out of my brains.
“Hey.” A husky voice said from behind me. I turned around to see Max
sitting down, and Kyle and Mila right behind him, waving. I waved at them
and turned back to Max. “Hey, ready for this disaster?” He grinned. “Nope,
but here we go.” I snickered and turned back; squeezed Courtney’s hand that
squeezed back, and we looked at Mr. Wing, our music director, waiting for our
cue.
Mr. Wing looked directly at my side of the bleachers, and we started. I
looked straight ahead of me, and saw my two twin brothers Joshua and
Carlos, pointing and laughing at me. I narrowed my eyes, still singing, but
when they saw my face, they stopped, and looked away, still giggling.
Courtney tapped my hand, and I looked at her, confused. She widened
her eyes and looked to the door. I looked, and it was Jeff. The most popular
guy in school, and he was looking at my side of the bleachers with a smile.
Had he broken up with Sandy? “...and when I walk towards you...” I cracked a
note and I swallowed, hoping no one had heard, but I heard Max chuckling
behind me. I lifted my left foot, balancing on my right, and kicked him; glad I
wore my heels for this. He shouted, “Ow!’ Mr. Wing narrowed his eyes
towards my smug face, and I composed myself, making my face look
concentrated on the music. He nodded at me, approving, as he wiped the
sweat off of his forehead. The towel looked bad, brown with dirt. Courtney
gulped. I knew that she hated it when he did that, and I grinned.
Just then, I felt a little unbalanced. “Uh-oh.” Austin, the most annoying
kid in the whole school, loudly shushed me. “Susan, shut up!” Mr. Wing
looked at me again, his face red. I gave him an apologetic look, and he
looked away, his face turning back to a chalky pale. Then, I felt it coming.
“Oh no.” Austin looked at me again, about to yell at me, when he saw my
face. “Um, Susan, you don’t look to good.” I hissed back, “Mind your own
business Austin.” Courtney grabbed my shoulder, and asked, “Ann?” I gulped
air, and grabbed my stomach. “I’m going to fall. I feel it.”
Every time I wore heels, I would always start to feel a little queasy and
I’d fall. It was a reaction I always had with heels. That’s why I stuck with
Converse and skater shoes. They were flat. Then I would have a better
chance of not falling. With my balancing issues, I never had luck with heels.
Max tapped my shoulders. He’d known me the longest besides Mila,
and since he was right behind me, he held on to my shoulders, and
whispered, “It’s all right, you’re not going to fall Susan. Just breathe.”
Courtney sighed. “Why’d you have to wear heels today?” I managed to choke
out, “Mom.” Max cursed under his breathe. “Of course your mother would
make you wear heels.”
We finished the last song, and Mr. Wing turned to bow down, still
wiping sweat off his face. Courtney winced as the agent from the record
company raised his hand. Mr. Wing politely asked, “Yes, Mr. Fuller?” The
frowning man pointed in my direction and asked, loud enough for everyone to
hear; “Yes. I have a question. Why is the young man holding the lady’s
shoulders in front of him?” I felt my face turn red. Everyone in the audience

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and Mr. Wing turned to Max and me and his face was turning red again. “I
have the same question Mr. Fuller. Why? Would you care to explain, Mr.
Mitchell?” Max gripped my shoulders tighter. I winced as he said, “Er, Miss
Wayne was feeling faint, and she didn’t look too good, so I held on to her so
she wouldn’t collapse.”
Mr. Fuller sat down without another word and Mr. Wing said, “I’m sure
she feels fine now, Max Mitchell. Let her go.” Max let his hands drop from my
shoulders, and I felt lightheaded again, my toes pushing too forward. I was
about to fall in five, four, three, two,
I said to Courtney, “Court, you have to move.” She looked at me, but I
fell, bringing her down with me. She squealed and held on to Max’s hand,
who was holding it out, but as soon as she did, he fell, Kyle caught him for a
second, but slipped. Mila shrieked and tried to hold on to Kyle, but she was so
light, She grabbed on to Sandy, but Sandy barked, “Freak, get your dirty
hand off of my white dress! It cost me eight hundred dollars you idiot! What
the heck do you think...?” And she fell on top of Mila, who slapped Sandy, and
grabbed Austin’s shoe, making him slip and right on top of a quiet girl named
Kristen. She pushed Austin off of her feet and she pushed another boy named
Peter, who fell on top of Sandy and Mila, who were still fighting. And it
continued like a domino effect until every person in the choir class was on the
floor, and it was my fault.
I scrambled to my feet, my shoes in my fist. Max was up and helping
the twenty people in my class off the floor. He looked at me and turned away.
Mr. Wing’s sweaty hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder and pulled me
to the gym’s corner. He made me turn, and he gruffly scowled, “I don’t know
what the meaning of this is, but if you don’t like to sing in front of public, get
the hell out of my class.” I stuttered, “Uh, M-Mister Wing, b-but I really like
your class. I love it, in fact, but I don’t do well in heels.” Mr. Wing harrumphed
and then said, “Well, I’m glad you like Choir Class, but I expect that next time
we have a concert you don’t bring the whole class down with you and you
won’t be wearing heels, am I clear?” I nodded, sighing. “Yes Mr. Wing.” He
turned and muttered, “Tell you, can’t find a person without issues in a public
school. Even the smart ones, I tell you.” I turned, blushing, and headed for
the door
“Well I think you did fantastic, honey.” My mother cooed on and on in
the car. I rolled my eyes. My dad, focused on the road driving, simply said,
“Next time don’t wear heels Susan. I don’t want to pay medical bills for all
those people.” I muttered, “You can count on that. Plus, it was mom’s fault.”
Joshua snickered, “Yeah. Susan.” Carlos pushed me and laughed with Josh.
“Don’t fall Susan!” I pushed him back, annoyed. “I’m sitting down, you dork.”
“Exactly! I bet you could fall now even if you didn’t try, you know how blind
you are.” I felt my face go red as I turned to the window, but I reached in
front and smacked both of my brother’s heads. “Ow!” I snickered and looked
down at my glossy purple-cased phone. Max had texted me, Call me. I
sighed as I dialed his number
“Hello?” “Yeah, you told me to call you, remember?” He sighed and
asked, “What? Oh, yeah. Oh yeah...so what’s up?” I scoffed. “Well you were
the one who wanted me to call you! What do you need?” “I’m not doing
much, how about you?” I groaned. “You’re so annoying sometimes.” He

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laughed. “Hon, who are you talking to?” I answered my mom, “Max. Why?”
She half smiled at my dad who smiled back. “Oh.” I rolled my eyes.
Ever since a year ago, my parents and Max’s parents had thought that
we were “meant to be,” but Max and I had disagreed and we never let it get
to us in our friendship. It was kind of annoying because whenever I would talk
on the phone, my parents would ask who I was talking to and when I
answered ‘Max’ they’d smile, in on something I wasn’t. It sometimes scared
me a little, and sometimes it worried me. Didn’t they have anything else to
do than to interfere in they’re daughter’s life and who she chose for a
boyfriend or just a friend? I guess they didn’t.
“So what did you want?” I asked again, trying to get a good answer
from him, which he usually had. “Nothing much really, I just wanted to warn
you about something.” “Tell me” I demanded, but it sounded a little whiney.
“Your family’s coming over for dinner.” “Oh.” Well that wasn’t really news.
We always had dinner with my friends parents, but most occasionally was
Max’s family because of their stupid theory, but why today after my
humongous accident?
“Um, why is this news? We always go to your house. And you know
why.” He replied, “I found that they were making a seating chart. And they’d
make it so that the little peoples as in my brother Steen and your brothers
have to eat somewhere else, and then they’re going to talk to us about their
stupid theory.” I groaned. “Mom, why do you have to do this to me?” She
looked at me from the mirror with a “behave yourself because you’re on the
phone” look. I rolled my eyes and told Max, “I gotta go.” He chuckled, “Did
you get the ‘Behave yourself” look?” Was it possible he knew me better than
Mila? Nah. “Yea, see you later.” He sighed. “Yup, and don’t forget to wear
your flat shoes. Remember, flat.” “Ugh. I know, bye.” “See ya.” And I quickly
hung up so I could call Mila.
“Mila, you’ve got to help me.” “Perdoname?” I felt my face turn red as I
hear Mila’s mom answer in Spanish. “Oh, esta Mila?” ‘Is Osmaida there?’ was
probably the only thing I could say in spanish. She didn’t answer but I hear
her yell, “Mila! Te llama Susanna!” I felt the heat in my face get worse, and I
knew that my face was a deep red. “Hello?” I hear Mila’s voice. “Oh my god,
help me. I have to have the theory talk with Max’s family and mine!!! I told
you it was going to happen soon!!!” She laughed. “Ha-ha! I laugh at you.” I
shrieked and my dad yelled, “Whoa! Stop shouting Susan! We can hear you
from here.” I sarcastically talked back, “Well it’s a small van, and of course
you can hear me!” My mom shushed my dad before he could start yelling at
me.
“What am I going to do?” I whispered into my tiny phone as I talked to
Mila again in my room. “I don’t know! But I do have a question?” I hoarsely
asked, “What?” “Why are you whispering?” I groaned again. “Mila, you have
to focus!!!” “Okay, okay. Jeesh, I was just asking.” I felt tired as I sighed.
“Well, when are you going?” I checked my watch, and I felt my eyes pop out.
“I’m going in an hour! I just took a shower, now I have no idea what to do!”
She giggled. “What’s so funny?” “Um, random thought, but you do have
clothes on, right?” “Ugh!!! You are not helping at all!” “Well...You could dress
up all fancy...” “NO way, I’m going to see one of my best friends. I’m not
going out on a date.” “Well...” I knew what she was going to say. That we
acted like boyfriend girlfriend, and that we were pretty much on the verge of

4
being a couple. “Don’t say it!” “Ok I won’t, but you know it’s true.” I sighed.
“You’re not helping. I’ll see you tomorrow.” “Wait! I have an idea! How about
you act totally obnoxious in your date and maybe the parents won’t like you
after all.” I growled, “First of all, it’s not a date okay? And second of all, they
already know who I am. I’ve known them for almost seven years!” “Hmm.
Yeah you’re right. Well I have nothing else to give you. Good luck!” and with
that, Mila hung up. I groaned. “Bye.” And I shut my phone off
Looking at my closet, I realized, what did I have that was all right
looking and that went with Converse? Nothing besides jeans would match any
of my five pairs of Converse. And I wasn’t allowed to wear that or else my
mother would start a huge lecture on wearing jeans to dinner at another’s
place, although I always did when I went over but not today. I had a feeling
today was going to be a totally different roller coaster than I was used to.
I stood up and grabbed a nice black pair of pants that matched with
my pretty purple turtleneck. I looked in the mirror as I put on my black Uggs.
It was winter after all, and in Oregon, it was usually pretty cold in fall, winter,
and spring.
While straightening my bangs, I hear a knock on the door. “Yeah?” My
mom came in with a small bag. “Wow! You look really nice in that.” I rolled
my eyes. “Seriously? I feel overdressed. But I guess I’m wrong.” I saw that
my mom was wearing a black vest over a light blue shirt and a really frilly
brown skirt with black heels. She lightly laughed and gave me the small white
bag that with the white words Bath and Body Works. I nervously asked, “Uh,
what is this?” She encouraged me with a hand, to open it.
I slowly opened the tiny bag and saw at least 50 lip glosses. I groaned.
“Mom, I’m not going out on a date! I’m going to see my best friend Max and
we’re going to have dinner with them, like we do what, once a month? It’s not
that big of a deal!” My mom sighed, “Hon, you’re making this complicated.
It’s not that hard. Really Susan, if you think about it, you and Max have
something that just...click. Connection, you know? It’s almost like....ok, here’s
an example; two hands, the exact personality, humor, acts, different people.
They fit perfectly into each other’s lives forever.” I looked up at the ceiling.
“Mom, he is part of my life.” Her pretty blue eyes lit up. “Really?” I nodded,
“But not in that way. I need a best friend; Max is always there for me.” She
immediately protested, “No, that’s why you have Mila as your best friend.
You can’t have two best friends, dear. No matter how hard you try, you’ll
always have to choose one before the other. So that’s why you chose Max as
you know what, and Mila as a best friend.”
“Nu-uh! I can too have two best friends. And don’t argue with me
about this again because I love Mila and Max the same exact way. And I will
not choose one before the other, no matter what. They’re my friends. Cue;
friend.” My mom sighed and turned to leave. “Sure, why not. But please put
something to make your face light up Anne. I think you’d look really pretty
with some makeup and gloss.” I scoffed. “Are you my mother? You always tell
me I can’t wear makeup, and now you want me to wear makeup? You’ll do
anything to get me to be with Max as his girlfriend, huh?” She turned and
with hope in her eyes she added, “Please? I think it’d be good for both you
and Max.”
I groaned as my mom left, plunging onto my bed with extra force so I
could feel something else besides frustration. Why couldn’t they get that he

5
and I were just friends? I sighed and looked at my watch; 6:30. I grabbed my
phone from my blue counter and dialed Courtney’s phone number.
“Yellow?” I yelped. “Court, you gotta help me!!!” She chuckled and
said, “Is it Max?” And I groaned. “Did Mila already tell you?”
“Yup, Kyle too.”
“She already told Kyle too? Oh man, I’m screwed. I don’t know what to do!”
“Well, she did say about dressing up really nice and acting totally obnoxious,
but I pointed out that you two know each other too well.
I groaned. “What am I going to do? Ah, I gotta go. I’ll text you later.”
She giggled. “Tell me later how your date went!” “It’s not a date!”
“Whatevers, I’ll talk to you later. Bye!” And she hung up.
I closed my phone and pulled myself up. I was glad that I had my own
bathroom because I heard my brother yell at my mom, “MOM HURRY UP! I
HAVE TO PEE!!!” I chortled and went into mine.
“Hmm.” I stared at my counter, the only make up I had was really light
sparkly blush and the bunch of lip glosses my mom had just gotten me. I
sighed and leaned close to the mirror. I turned, pressed the play button on
my Ihome, and turned again.
There was a knock on the door and I answered, “Come in.” my mom
came in and into the bathroom. “Honey, you don’t play music when you put
on music. It can smear.” I looked at her. “Please mom. All I have is blush and
lip gloss. Tons and tons of lip gloss.” She rolled her eyes. “Oh come on Susan.
It’s not that much. Here, I’ll show you how to put it on.” I sighed but said,
“Okay.” “And maybe we can straighten and then curl your hair a little, to get
a professional curly look. Not your natural frizz curls.” I stuck my tongue at
her and whined “But I straightened it! Oh wait, I didn’t. I only straightened
the bangs... fine.” And I got ready for the torture.
“Okay, look now.” I looked up at my mom and sighed. “So dramatic,” I
muttered as I turned. My mom had put blush on me, put on mascara on my
eyelashes and she even brought out a box of makeup that was for my
birthday, but she took it out and put a purple shade of eye shadow on my
eyelids. She straightened my really curly hair and then curled it with a thick
curling iron that made the curls look bouncy and as the ringlets formed, my
normally dark brown hair turned darker and glossier.
I looked up in the mirror and I saw my mouth open wide with shock.
The girl that was facing me was utterly weird looking. “Uh, mom? Is that me?
I look weird with a capitol W.” My mom was behind me, looking normal, “Oh
Susan, you’re being silly.” “Uh, I don’t think I am. Look at me!” My mom
rolled her eyes and I turned again to the mirror. The girl’s dark almost black
brown hair was perfectly parted and had ringlets instead of my regular bushy
hair. Her brown eyes were luminous, the purple bringing out the green rings
that went around eyes. The blush on her cheeks was very sparkly, and the
pink lip gloss was just an addition to the girl’s perfectly full lips. Was that
really me?
“Mom, I look...whoa.” She smiled and gave my hand a squeeze and
said, “You look beautiful, sweetheart.” Just then a huge crash was heard in
my room. I turned and ran into my room, finding my brothers on my bed with
their sparring gear from karate on, and my purple lamp was on the floor, my
picture frame of my friends was shattered. “Oh, my god, mom, look what
they did!” My mom was biting her lip, and she commanded, “Joshua, Carlos,

6
go to your dad and tell him to come in.” Joshua, the quietest of both, kept his
head down as he got off my bed, but Carlos nodded. “Okay, but can I tell dad
that he has to be ready to be scared by Susan’s face? It’s pretty weird.” He
left the door running as I took a heel from the floor and threw it at him as
Joshua snickered. My mom turned to the broken frame and dropped lamp.
I picked up the lamp and set it back up to the desk, plugging it in. I
then kneeled to see the picture that had fallen out of the anvil, and looked at
our faces. We were ten years old, four years ago, and on the playground, all
lined up at the slide, sitting like a roller coaster. Mila, since she was the
smallest, was in the front, smiling from cheek to cheek. Courtney was behind
Osmaida, hands up like on a ride at the fair, her mouth open, and as I recall,
she was screaming at the top of her lungs. Right behind Courtney was Kyle,
his legs hanging out from one side, his head on the other side. He was
smiling so much it looked like it hurt. Right after was Max and me. We were
sitting on top of the slides entrance, the huge pole that hung right over the
slide so people could let go as they sat. He had an arm around me, and I was
hugging him, both of us smiling.
It used to be so simple. It didn’t matter if a kid was a boy or a girl, as
long as they didn’t cry and fight over stuff, they’d be best friends. Now if a
person hung out with another, they knew that a lot of people would think
things that weren’t true.
I smiled as I remembered that day, it was Courtney’s birthday. I looked
up at my mom and asked, “Can we buy a new frame after dinner? This
picture’s really important to me.” She smiled and nodded as she was putting
the glass in my garbage bin. I sighed as I put the picture on my desk. I
checked my watch; 7:00. I grabbed my bag and went out the door, down to
the living room to get ready to leave.
My mom was already shrugging on her white coat, but my brothers
were running around, playing warriors with plastic knives which were coated
on with peanut butter. Their faces were smeared with the butter, but they
didn’t care. She turned to see Joshua ‘stabbing’ Carlos in the back. My mom
groaned and she stomped over, taking the knives and she pointed to their
rooms, “GO change into what I told you to wear! And wash your faces!” They
groaned and staggered to their rooms. My mom sighed and turned to look at
me. She slowly smiled as she saw me. “You look pretty Susan.” I rolled my
eyes. “Can I please take my backpack? I have Max’s English binder in it. I got
it from Justin. He was about to shred it to pieces.” I shuddered as I
remembered the school bully Justin, as he threatened to jump me if I told
anyone he let me go without a scar or broken bone.
She made a face and nodded. “How about you just bring the binder?
You don’t really need it.” I nodded and she continued, “But please leave your
backpack. Just take the binder, please.” I nodded again and stalked off to my
room.
When I got into my room, I quickly left my bag on the bed and took out
my cell phone and dialed my three friends.
“Hello?”
“Yellow?”
“Whatdyawant?” I swiftly started talking. “You guys! I’m off to dinner, and
you should flippin’ see me! I look weird!” Courtney’s voice came out slurred,
“Uh, what are yoouu tawking about? I don’ get it.” Mila responded, “Well then

7
send us a picture! I wanna see!” I sighed. “I already did.” Kyle yelped. “Oh
my gosh, that is you! What the heck! What happened to you!?” I sighed “My
mom did it.” Courtney cooed, her voice a little cleared, “Aw, you don’ look so
ba’.” I made a face and asked Courtney, “Are you okay?” She sighed and
said, “Yeah, it’s just I’m in my massage chair, and my mom gave me this
whole awesome spa treatment.” Mila piped up, “Why? Your mom never lets
you do anything. Oh Sues, you look really pretty!” Kyle grunted, “I beg to
differ. No offense or anything Anne, but you look ...different, that’s all.” I
sighed and said, “I don’t need compliments. I need you to help me get
through the whole thing without freaking out.” Mila squealed, “Oh I gotta go.
Good luck, Susan. Have a nice....treatment Court. See ya Kyle.” We all said,
“Bye.” And she was out. Courtney said, “I’m tired. I’m going to sleep. Bye
peoples.” And she hung up. Kyle laughed. “Ha! You have nothing now!” I
narrowed my eyes and shouted into the phone, “You’re going to help me so
shut up!” He groaned. I smugly smiled; glad to know that he always glued the
phone to his ear so close that if there was a loud noise, he’d go temporarily
deaf. “No! Now go away! Have fun, sorry! I gotta go.
I groaned and shut my phone off. I sat up and grabbed Max’s binder,
and left, hearing my dad yell, “Let’s GO!”

Chapter 2
The Hell of Spaghetti

We were just arriving when I turned my ipod off. I took a deep breathe
and looked out the window. I saw Lucy, a girl whose baby sister I babysat
during the summer, wave at me. I smiled and waved back. I turned away and
looked at the back of my ipod. It was reflective metal, and I saw myself again.
I shook my head as I began to believe, “I look...pretty.” I always knew I
wasn’t pretty, but I didn’t dwell on it. I was just...ordinary, I guess. I didn’t
care much if I was pretty or not, like a lot of girls did. I didn’t wish for any
changes, nothing. I was fine and I had a lot of other worries than to look
pretty.
I got out of the van after the rest of my family and took another deep
breathe. I felt my stomach knot, which was the weirdest thing, because it
never did except when I talked in front of everyone in the class in school. My
mom looked at me. “Are you okay? You’ve been really quiet.” I nodded,
flashing a smile as I looked around. I had seen this neighborhood a billion
times and I looked down at my shoes, bored at the ordinariness of the place.
“Hiya!” Max’s dad opened the door and stepped out, giving everyone
hugs and the kids a high five. He looked at me and smiled, “Hi, Susan!” I
smiled, “Hey, Chuck.” He laughed and went inside, rushing everyone in.
Max’s mom, Jenny, rushed out, “Oh my goodness! Hi! Come in, come in,
everyone!” My mom rushed to her and they hugged and then they went to
the kitchen, already talking. My dad started walking out with Chuck, and they
were talking about their hunting trip a few weeks ago. I sighed and the twins
looked up at me. “We’re going to see Steen!” I rolled my eyes as they ran up
to Steen’s room, already in play mode.

8
 “Hey.” I turned and saw Max looking down, with Tracy, his dog, right
next to him. “Hi. Where’d you come from?” He smiled and looked up. “I was
walking Tracy, and then I saw...your car...” He stopped. I looked at him
curiously. “You feel okay?” I asked, but he exclaimed, “What happened to
you?!” I bit my lip, getting the disgusting taste of artificial berries on my
tongue. I made a face, “My mom. She decided to add a little ‘light’ to my
face.” He laughed and said, “Well I gotta say, you look like clown.” I smacked
his arm. “I know. You should have heard Kyle. He was like, ‘oh my god you
look weird.’” I rolled my eyes. Max smiled, “Well, can’t say that I don’t agree.
I should take a picture of you to post it on my blog, your title; ‘The Clown Who
Was At My House.’ It’d be a great hit.” He chuckled. I stuck my tongue out at
him and then said, “Oh, I have your binder. Justin...” “Yeah, I heard. I’ll get it
later.” And he took out his camera from a coat that was hung and turned it
on. “Smile!” I made my eyes cross eyed and made my mouth fill up with air.
Courtney had once said I looked like a blowfish when I did that. Max sighed.
“Seriously, I need a picture. A good one. I’m making a website for the
school.” “Oh? And what are you going to do with my picture?” He started
walking. “Come here. I’ll show you.” And he was going up the stairs into his
room.
I was right in Max’s room, when I fell flat on my face. Max burst out
laughing and the twins with Steen came out of the play room, and started
laughing too. I growled but I did a push up and pulled my self all the way up
with just my upper arms. Max looked at me, amused, and said, “Have muscle
there, don’t you?” I shrugged. “Tennis, Golf, Track, Had to build something,
doesn’t it?” He smiled and turned to his computer. He pointed to a screen
filled with pictures and words. “Whoa. So what’s the website about?” “Our
school.” “Oh.” He clicked on something and the pictures changed, and then
cleared up, revealing the words; Medford High School; Where We Teach the
Kids to lead a Life. I smiled. That motto was everywhere at our school, and all
everyone did was graffiti them.
“Cool, huh?” He turned to me. I nodded. “So why do you want my
picture?” He shrugged. “Because only our group is the exceptional good
students for this school, we need pictures of us.” I grinned and sat down on
his bed. “So you have to explain what the school does that’s better than
others?” He nodded. “Ha! Good luck with that.” He rolled his eyes and got up.
“You want to go play foosball in the garage?” I nodded, “Yeah! I’m going to
beat you this time.” He scoffed but took out his camera again. “Okay, now
good picture for me.” I sighed. I looked up at the ceiling that was filled with
Max’s favorite bands, movies. I looked back at him and he took it. The flash
blinded me. “Ow.” “What’s wrong?” “The flash is really bright.” “Hmm. Race
you down to the garage!” “Fine! Just hope I don’t fall down the stairs and end
up in the ER.” He laughed and ran to the garage.
When we were just about finished playing, I was winning by two.
“Come on! You’re usually so much better at this!” He took a sharp breath as
he shot another goal. “Dang it.” He started head banging, what he always did
in front of pictures, and when he felt victorious. I laughed and sat on the sofa
that was in the corner. He looked at me. “I wouldn’t sit there.” “Why?” I stood
up, ran back to Max, still looking at it. “Because I’m going to sit there.” I ran
back, trying to beat him to it, but he was already was there, so I just sat on
him. “Well, hello there Susan.” I giggled and then asked, “Hey, did you get

9
the songs I told you to get on your ipod?” He nodded. I got up and grabbed
his hand, pulling him up to stand. “Well show me!” He smiled and ran up the
stairs. I groaned and said, “You’re making me hungry with all this running!”
He laughed and yelled back, “Good, because we’re going to eat a lot
tonight!” I also laughed and followed him up to his room.
When we arrived, he jumped on his bed with his ipod. He patted the
bed, and I sat next to him. “How many songs do you have now?” “Uh,
seventy-nine.” I felt my mouth drop. “You only have Seventy-nine songs?!
That’s all you have?” He nodded, curiously looking at me. I moved my head
back to look at him. “What are you looking at?” He shook his head with a
small smile and looked down at his ipod. I leaned again his shoulder and saw
the song I loved. I grabbed his ipod and pressed play, pressing my ear
against Max’s to hear the song. I started humming to the song and Max
looked at me, amused. “What? I like this song!” He smiled and shook his
head once again. “I do too.” I looked down again, still humming
After a few songs we had heard, I began wondering what the talk with
my parents and Max’s parents was going to bring. “Hey, do you think they’re
actually...” He answered curtly, “No. I just think they’re going to put it on the
plate, you know, just bring the bomb down with no warning.” “So they are
going to tell us what they think without caring what we think.” “Yup...but it
won’t be so bad. Plus, since they put us together, we can play rock paper
scissors.” I grinned. “You’re on.” He scoffed, “Please, I could beat you so
easily. You couldn’t beat a goose.” “A goose?” “Yeah.” Then, my mom called
out, “Kids, time to eat!” I groaned. “Here comes our personal hell.” Max
chuckled and paused the song that was playing on the ipod. “Max? Susan?”
Jenny and my mom were then in the room, taking pictures. I sat up from my
comfortable position of my head on Max’s shoulder and yelled, “Mom, Jenny!
Why are you doing this? Jeesh, it’s like you have nothing to do except spy on
your kids!” Jenny laughed, a beautiful one, like bells on a church day. “Susan,
just do what you were doing. It was so cute!” I groaned and stood up, just to
trip onto the floor. My mom sighed as Max held his hand to help me up. “Hon,
you’ve got to stop being so clumsy.” I stood up, straightened my shirt, and
said, “Well I can’t help it. I didn’t get my clumsiness from my father, you
know.” My mom rolled her eyes and stalked out the room, Jenny followed. I
looked at Max with a pleading look, and he shrugged. “Here we go.” I nodded
and followed him out the door, my stomach filled with butterflies, and I had
no idea why.
When we arrived at the table, my dad was serving the kids their plates,
Chuck said, “Hey you three kids, how about you go and watch TV in the living
room and then go play outside?” Steen and the twins shouted, “Yea!” And
they ran out of the dining room. Jenny turned to both Max and I, eyeing every
single uncomfortable twitch we made. I brightly asked, “So, what’s for
dinner?” She smiled and said, “Hon, you’re going to have a talk for dinner.” I
licked my lips, “Oh, sounds delicious.” Jenny and my mom chuckled but then
Max’s dad came in, and slammed the dinner room door. “Kids, it’s time we
have a small talk with you.” Max groaned, “Which one, Puberty or sex?” I
laughed but our parents made a face and my mom scolded, “Max, you know
that wasn’t very appropriate.” I called out, “I think it was!” My mom silenced
me with her behave yourself look, and I looked down, still smiling as I bit my
lip.

10
 We sat down, the spaghetti split into two big bowls. One for Max and I,
one for the parents and of course the parents’ dish was bigger than ours. I
sighed with relief as I chewed and swallowed; glad my stomach had
something in it. Chuck cleared his throat and Jenny said, “Kids, well, Max and
Susan, it’s time you grow up and see yourselves and how you act around
each other.” I looked at Max, “huh?” He shrugged and asked, “Uh, what do
you mean?” My parents looked at him with astonishment and then my mom
turned to Jenny and asked, “You haven’t talked to him about what we think?”
Jenny nodded, “yes, we have. He’s just being a brat right now.” Max grunted.
I saw that he had his hands clamped to his chair, as if he was afraid he was
going to fall. I gave him a questioning look, but he turned away.
My mom said, “You know how you are, right?” I suddenly felt shy and
said, “Well, I know that you think wrong about our...actions.” Max snickered
and I stepped on his toe. “Ow!” I looked at him, wide eyed.
As soon as I had done that, I knew it was a mistake. he narrowed his
eyes but nodded and shoved me. I fell on the floor. “Holy cow, you jerk!” I
grabbed a handful of spaghetti and threw it right at his face. He spluttered
and wiped his now red face, grabbing the remains of the spaghetti, and threw
it at my shirt. I gasped and I yelled at him, “You know this is my best shirt!!!”
He made a face and said, “I DON’T CARE!” I then slumped down where I was
on the floor. My mom looked at me, worried. Chuck and Jenny were in the
kitchen getting towels, and my dad was sitting down, eating. “Good food,” he
commented. I glared at him and looked back at Max, infuriated he had done
such a thing just because I lightly stepped on his toe. He looked at my mom,
who had a frown and then at me. I was about to look away from his eyes but
then he winked. I nodded back, knowing I wasn’t supposed to take any
offence to what we did. It was only to get our parents to back off.
I stood up, shrieking, “I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DID THIS!” He yelled
back, “WELL, BELIEVE IT!” I felt the spaghetti sliding down my arm, and I
grabbed it and flung it to his face. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
“DON’T do that AGAIN.” I pushed him to the wall, making the windows
tremble. I looked at my mom as she said, worried, “Susan!” I heard my dad
comment, “Again, good spaghetti. I think it’s the sauce that makes it so
delic...” My mom shushed him. “What happened?” I heard Jenny scrape the
chair as she stood up. “ENOUGH! You two,” She pointed at Max and me, “I
know what you are trying to do and it’s not going to work. So sit down and
let’s talk about this seriously, no jokes, pranks or comments. Now listen to
what we as parents have to say.” Max opened his mouth to protest but Chuck
silenced him, “Max, listen to your mother. I don’t want to be in trouble for
what you cause.” He looked at me. “That goes for you too.” I rolled my eyes. I
knew Chuck wasn’t my dad but we were all used to being together that we
didn’t care anymore. He had a small smile and turned to look up at his still
standing wife. “Hon, are you going to talk to them, or not?” She blinked and
sat down, a little confused.
“All right, I know we have been a little strong on this theme of you two,
but we have to say two things about them.” I raised my hand. Max poked my
knee with his finger and had a questioning look on his face, wondering why
the heck I had my hand up when we weren’t in school. My mom looked at
me, “Susan, you don’t have to raise your hand.” I opened my eyes wider,
trying to look innocent, “But you said we weren’t to interrupt, so I decided to

11
be polite about it.” Max tried to stifle a scoff but choked on his lemonade. I
ignored it. My mom held her hand out, “Continue then.” I began.
“I know you two say that we have things that make us...what do you
call it? Er...” Max volunteered, playing along with the innocence, as he asked,
“I believe it’s called...soul mates?” I smiled at Max, “Thank you, Max. I
appreciate the help,” he snickered, but as he caught the look on his mom’s
face, he held a straight face as I continued, “and yes, soul mates it is. Soul
mates are two people who are perfect for each other, as my mother once put
it, two hands, different people, fitting into each other’s lives perfectly...or
something like that, I think she said...er...” I sat down as my dad said, “Yeah,
enough with the lawyer impersonation. Now hear our side of this scene.” My
mom stood up, nodded at Jenny, who also got up, and they both left the
dining room. I squinted at Chuck and my father, who were both looking a
little confused themselves.
Max got up, “Well, it’s been a pleasure, but I believe I have an account
of beating a friend of mine in foosball, so, if we may?” He held an arm at me,
as if to be escorted, but I rolled my eyes and kept looking at the small nails
that held pictures up on the orange wall in front of me. Max groaned, “Don’t
torture me, Susan. Please, let’s get out of here!” I rolled my eyes, “Let’s just
hear what they have to say. Maybe they’ll leave us alone.” He huffed as he
sat down and put his elbows on the table, propping his chin on his fists. I did
the same thing.
Jenny came in and my mom followed, both carrying a small box. My
mom handed me one and Jenny handed the one she was holding to Max.
“Now,” said Jenny, “We are going to leave.” Max and I looked at each other
and then at our parents. “WHAT?” Chuck got up. “You both heard her, now
we’re leaving to take the kids to the Family Fun Center. Maybe they’ll get
exhausted there.” My dad also got up, putting a napkin on the table, “And,
you two are going to look at these albums that are in the box, and then clean
up around here.” My mom piped up, “We’ll be back in an hour or two.” I
opened my mouth to object, but Max jumped up, “You guys can’t do that!!
It’ll be like....ten o’ clock when you guys get back and-and...we’re gonna be
here...alone! and...it’s gonna be late...and...” Our parents smiled and grabbed
their coats from their chairs. “Bye kids!” Jenny called out, and she closed the
dining room door, leaving Max and I in a room that only led to the kitchen.
Max groaned, “Oh man! Now I know why they put a different handle on that
door! So they could lock us in!” I sighed and opened the box. “Might as well.”
Max groaned, grabbed his box and went to the other side of the table.
“Ouch!” He jumped up from the chair and
looked at the chair, “Ugh! They put a shock thing on this chair!” He grabbed
his box and was about to sit to the one next to it, but I said, “I wouldn’t do
that. They probably put those on each chair except for the one next to me.”
Max cursed and sat next to me, grumbling nonsense like “parents being
stupid’ or ‘can’t believe this is happening’.
I opened the blue and indigo colored album, and the first picture was
two little kids throwing sand at each other at the beach. On the side, it was
written, Max and Susan at the beach, three years old. I gasped. Max grunted,
“What?” I turned his chair to face me and pointed at the picture then at the
writing. He squinted, and muttered, “Impossible.” He turned his back on me
again. I sighed, “Max, what’s wrong?” “Nothing.” I shrugged and turned the

12
picture. There was a small girl on a bench with a green dress on, smiling with
two front teeth missing, and a small boy who was next to me also wearing a
toothless grin and he had a sailor suit on. I looked at the writing, Susan and
Max, four years old, Easter. I laughed, “Cute suit, Max.” He turned again and
saw the picture. He chuckled and turned his whole body towards me, also
pointing at a picture in an album. It was, of course, Max and I at seven years
old at camp sitting on a picnic table with our arms crossed , both of us
seemed a little hostile towards each other, and I remembered that day.
It was the first day of camp, and I was stuck with Max as a partner. I
had accidentally thrown a worm at him when we were supposed to be
studying them under the magnifying glasses, but I freaked out so much I
grabbed it and flung it as far as possible, which apparently was Max’s face.
“Wow.” I had finished my album and I was looking at Max’s with him,
my chin on his shoulder, looking at the picture when we were only two years
old, and Max was giving my a stick with a leaf on it, and had a triumphant
look on his face as I looked at him, weirded out. I giggled when I saw the next
picture. I looked the the writing first, and it said, Max and Susan’s first kiss
“Whoa, what?” I asked and I looked at the pictured, a little boy with a blue
shirt on that said Captain Awesome and khaki shorts on, and a little girl was
pressed to the boy’s lips, both a little in shock, wearing a black shirt that had
pink ruffles on the sleeves, and jeans. My hair was auburn, and it wasn’t
super curly, but it had ringlets. Max’s dark black hair was actually brown in
the picture, and my green eyes were blue. Max
whispered, “They set us up.” I looked at him, “What?” He looked at me with a
furious glint in his eyes, “They got pictures of other people, don’t you get it?
We didn’t meet until we were seven or eight.” I corrected him, “We turned
eight years old right before camp, so eight.” He rolled his eyes and
continued, “But in these albums, it says we ‘knew’ each other since we were
two years old.” I looked at him, still confused, “So...you’re saying our moms
just cut these pictures out of magazines or whatever, and pretended it was us
so we’d think we’d had a connection since like ever?” He winced, “Eh, sorta
like that.” “Oh. Then I get what you’re saying.” He grabbed my hand and
pulled me up, “So now we just have to find the proof.” I shrugged, “Okay.” I
grabbed my album and opened to the first picture that had the girl with the
green dress and the boy with the sailor suit. I squinted to try to get a better
look at their faces, but I got nothing. I was about to turn the page, when I
caught the sailor boy’s hair. It was blonde. “Aha!” I poked Max on the back,
“Hey, your pretend you has blonde hair here.” Max turned and looked at the
picture. “Can you picture me with blonde hair?” I laughed at the thought, but
I couldn’t really picture it.
I got up and yawned. It was nine ‘o clock, and we hadn’t cleaned up at
all. There were splatters of tomato sauce and bits of noodles all over the
dining room. I jabbed Max on the back and said, “We should clean up. I’ll
wash the dishes and clean the table, you can mop the floor.” Max got up too,
stretching, “Sounds good to me.”
I was scrubbing the table where some sauce had spilled and where the
lemonade had accidentally dropped after I had knocked the glass over. I
sighed, my arm getting tired. “Do you think they’re going to get mad at us for
finding out that they faked it?” Max shook his head, “Nope. We’re the ones

13
who’re supposed to be mad at them.” “Oh.” I turned and kept scrubbing the
table.
After forty five minutes of non-stop cleaning, Max and I slumped down
on our chairs and sighed. “Thank goodness that’s over.” Max groaned. I
agreed, grinning, “Yeah, now we just wait to bombard our parents.” He
chuckled and turned to look at me, “Hey, your make up is all gone!” I sighed,
“Thank goodness!” He grinned, and I dozed off on his shoulder.
I woke up, but I couldn’t open my eyes. I felt an arm around my
shoulders and I was bent, leaning on someone’s lap. And there was more
weight on my head than usual. “I don’t get why they don’t give in...” “Maybe
they just want to...” I opened my eyes into slits and saw my parents and
Max’s parents looking at us. I then noticed my waist up to my head was on
Max’s lap, and his head was on mine, with his arm around my shoulder. I
closed my eyes again as Jenny crouched to pick up the box of albums Max
and I had found fraud in. She stood up again and I tried not to move, my back
aching, I yearned to stretch. Max took a deep breathe and his arm dropped
from my shoulders to my waist. Jenny and my mother squealed, “They look
so cute!” I tried not to grimace and felt awkward as no guy had put their arm
on my waist and I never expected Max to do it, but then I felt at ease when I
remembered that he was still asleep as I felt his even breathing on my hair,
and I dozed off again for a few minutes.
“Well, I can’t say they don’t look cute like that.” “Yeah,” my mom
agreed with Jenny’s comment. My dad asked, “Should we wake them up?”
Chuck said, “Yeah, it’s almost 10:30, and they have to help at the school
auction tomorrow...” I had been woken up again, and Max started shaking, or
Jenny was shaking him awake, “Max? Honey, we’re home. You want to wake
up now?” Max jumped and the comfortable weight of his head wasn’t on mine
anymore, I felt bald. He groaned, “Ugh, why’d you wake me up? What time is
it, anyways?” My mom replied, “10:15. We better get going.” My mom
reached down and started patting my shoulder, “Susan? Sue, we have to
leave.” I faked a groan and squinted into the all too bright light, “Mom, it’s
Saturday!” I didn’t bother to get up, and Max looked down and took in a very
surprised face, “What the....how the heck did you fall asleep on me?” I
shrugged and we both noticed he still had his hand on my waist; he looked at
his hand, and then quickly put it on his head, rubbing his eyes intentionally,
avoiding my eyes as he turned a shade of peachy pink.
I was shrugging on my coat and saying bye to Jenny and Chuck when
Max grabbed my hand and pulled me to the corner of his living room, “Hey,
um...” I felt confused, “What?” He shook his head, “I forgot what I was going
to say,” “Oh.” I was about to turn again when he said, “Uh, I’ll see you
tomorrow I guess...” I looked back at him, weirded out, “Uh...yeah. Are you all
right? You seem a little dazed.” He shrugged and continued to look at me
with doubt, and I raised my eyebrows, “Do I still have spaghetti on my face?”
He chuckled and shook his head again, “Same old Susan.” I then put my hand
on my hip and asked, “What? Is there something wrong with me or what?
What’s wrong?” He crinkled his nose and squinted, “I don’t know. I just feel
all of the sudden really confused. “Oh.” I turned my back again, “Well you
better be okay at the auction tomorrow.” He muttered, “Probably won’t be.” I
turned again towards him, “Seriously, what’s bothering you?” It was my turn
to face his back and he groaned, “I don’t know, I just...my stomach hurts. I’ll

14
see you tomorrow though.” I warned him, “You better be there.” He nodded
and without looking at me, waved, “See ya,” he ran up to his room.
I sighed and turned back to follow my parents out the door and into the
cool night. I looked up and saw a star wink and I smiled. Today’s dinner
wasn’t as bad as I thought it could have been. “Come on Susan,” called my
mom. I walked quickly to the van, jumped in the back, and closed my eyes,
imagining about tomorrow’s auction and seeing all my friends.

Chapter 3
The Auction and Snow Storm

I woke up to the alarm clock and gasped. It was 11:00, and I was
supposed to be at the auction setting up at 12:30. I got up from my bed and
jumped into the bathroom to wash my face.
As soon as I got downstairs, raisins starting falling from the ceiling. I
looked up and saw Carlos and Joshua on their room’s ceiling, which was like
an inside balcony, pelting the raisins from straws, and giggling like crazy. I
growled and ran back up to the stairs to catch them, but I skidded to a halt.
They were just kids. I thought to myself, ‘I used to do that, so don’t freak.’ I
turned and ran back downstairs and saw Joshua and Carlos’s confused faces.
Carlos yelled, “You’re supposed to get mad and try to catch us and fall into
our booby trap!” I turned back and yelled, “Yeah, well I have other things to
do than fall into a pile of your dirty clothes!” And I walked out as I heard
Joshua whisper, “How did she know that?” Carlos answered, “She’s a
witch....like...all magical and creepy.” “Oh. Okay.” I grinned and headed
towards the kitchen.
I found my mom frantically flipping through her address book and I
asked her, “Morning. What’s for breakfast?” She slammed the book on the
table and glared at me. “Oh, so I’m here, hanging on an invisible string to my
job, and you ask me, ‘what’s for breakfast’?” She mimicked me in a high
whiny voice as she stood up and grabbed a cereal from the top shelf, “What’s
for breakfast, what’s for breakfast?” I backed up a few feet and said, “Well, I
just asked...I’ll get something myself, don’t worry...” She slammed the cereal
bowl and the milk on the table, making the Cheerios roll down the table and
onto the floor, “Yes! Please, help yourself! Make me get up, and then say you
can do it yourself.” She stomped on a few cheerios and said, “Clean this up.”
And she bolted out of the kitchen. I just stood there, “Well. That
was...friendly.” And I sat down to eat my cereal.
About ten minutes later, I was done with my bowl of cereal and
cleaning, so I headed up to my room and jumped onto my bed, looking for my
cell phone. I found it on the bed stand and I slid it open. There was a ding,
and I had a new message. It was an unknown number
555-691-2932; Hey, I am so sorry about yesterday. Ouch. I
replied, with a confused feeling in my stomach

15
Anne; Um...who r u? sorry but I kinda want to know who I’m
talking to. I clicked ‘send’, and waited for a respond as I went into the
bathroom to get ready for the auction. I placed my cell phone in my jeans
pocket, and picked out a pretty white blouse with purple sleeves and collar
that matched my cell phone case, and I went out of my bathroom to sit on
the small two person couch in the corner of my room.
555-693-2932; Oh, lol I forgot. It’s Jeff. What’s up? I took in a
sharp breath as I read the name. Jeff? Was I talking to the hot Jeff that dated
the gorgeous Sandy, who was amazingly cute? This couldn’t be happening. I
quickly answered back,
Anne; Oh. Lol sorry I didn’t have you in my contacts. That’s
why I was wondering. WATS up? I took a deep breathe and called Osmaida,
who answered the phone with a muffled, “’llo?” I yelled, “Jeff is texting me!” in the
background, I heard a plate shatter. Osmaida cursed under her breath and said, “Sorry,
plate broke.” “Oh. Well...” “Look Sues, I gotta go get ready for the auction. You’re going
to go, right?” I sighed, “Yeah, I’ll just tell you there.” “’Kay, see ya there.” And we hung
up.
I was sitting in the back of the van texting Jeff when I wondered if Max was
going to be okay. He had seemed a little not himself the day before. Maybe he was just
tired. I continued with my conversation.
Jeff; So are you going to the auction? I’m not.
Anne; Yeah, all my friends are going so why not.
Jeff; Oh. Well that’s cool. Maybe we could hang out tomorrow,
idk.
I gasped and re-read the message four times before I replied.
Anne; Yeah, that’d be cool.
Jeff; Cool. Well I gotta go...so I’ll talk to you at the auction.
Text me, bye
Anne; Okay, bye.
I slid my cell phone and stared at my Converse while I waited to arrive at the auction,
stunned the Jeff had asked me to hang out the next day.
“Susan, we’re here,” grunted my mom. I hugged her and said, “Thanks for
bringing me, mom. I’ll call you when it’s done.” She cleared her throat, “Uh, that won’t
be necessary, Max’s mom volunteered to bring you over to her house. I’ll pick you up
there in the afternoon.” I stood on the ground, stunned, “Mom!” She looked at me sternly
and said, “Max isn’t feeling well. He’s all dazed and Jenny thought it might be a good
idea if you and Kyle went over to cheer him up.” I sighed but protested, “But what about
Mila and Court? Are they not Max’s friends too?” She sighed, “Don’t overreact, hon.
Mila has to go to church after this, and Courtney’s mom won’t be available after the
auction. The whole family is going to California for five days.”
Still in shock, I said, “All right, I’ll see you later.” She nodded, “I’ll pick you up
at eight tonight.” I shrugged, “Whatever. Bye, mom.” And I closed the door as she
zoomed away from the Country Club
I was walking into the fancy hall where we always had our Auction, when I saw
Max sitting in a chair next to Mandy, a pretty and overly excited 24/7 girl who had a
crush on him since fifth grade. I felt my muscles tense, but I felt fine as I walked over.
Mandy was excitedly talking to Max as he seemed to be listening half way, the other half

16
was dazed. I sat down on a chair in front of them and waved, “Hey Mandy! Hey, Max!”
Mandy turned to me and smiled, “Hi, Susan! Oh my gosh, were you listening? Because if
you weren’t, it’s okay, Max won’t care if I start all over again! Max has been so kind to
be listening to me for like, I don’t know, half an hour? And he still isn’t tired! Can you
believe that? Well, anyways, I was, like telling Max, that when I was four, I like
totally...” I interrupted guiltily, “uh, Mandy, I’m really sorry, but I kind of just wanted to
talk to Max in private...” Mandy narrowed her eyes a little, but her smile didn’t fall from
her face, “Oh! Well in that case, go ahead; I actually wanted to talk to...” She got up and
skipped to a teacher nearby, animatedly talking to herself.
I sat in the chair in front of Max and stared at him, “So, what’s wrong?” Max
shrugged, “Mandy is a really sweet girl.” I sat back immediately, “What? I thought you
always said that she was obnoxious and annoying and wouldn’t leave you alone and it
freaked you out that she liked you!” He looked up at the ceiling and I saw that he had
dark shadows under his eyes. I opened my eyes widely, “Dang, Max. Did you sleep at all
last night after I left?” He shook his head, still avoiding my eyes. I commanded him,
“Look at me, and tell me the truth. What’s bothering you?” Max looked down and said
coldly, “Well, right now, you’re bugging me.” I slumped down; a little shocked at the
answer. He and I had never had a fight, and when we said mean things to each other, we
immediately said sorry. What was wrong with him? I looked down and with a small voice
said, “Oh, well I guess I’ll go...” I got up and slowly walked away, half expecting him to
call me back and say sorry, half expecting I would run back and punch him for being a
jerk. But it didn’t happen.
I sighed and was about to turn and ask what really was bugging him but I saw Jeff
and I hurried over. “Hey Jeff, what part of the auction are you working at?” He turned
and smiled as soon as he saw me. My heart jolted. “Hey Susan. Umm I think I’m working
in the Sports area. What about you?” I looked down, trying not to show I was blushing.
“Um, Arts and Crafts?” Shoot. Why did it come out as a question? He smiled and turned
to the door, “Uh, well I’ll see you around.” I nodded, “Okay, I’ll see you too.” He smiled
hesitantly and then walked away.
I tuned around, muttering to myself how stupid I was talking to Jeff. I turned and
looked up to see Max towering over me. I stepped back and glared at him for a second
and then coldly asked him, “Do you mind? I’m trying to get to my booth.” He icily
retorted, “No. Have a fun time.” I pursed my lips. “I will,” and stomped off.
As soon as I was away from Max, I felt my face crumple up in pain. Why were
we being so hostile to each other? I walked into the board room where the section of the
auction was art, and pushed the door open to see a my teacher freaking out about the fruit
basket pointing to the left instead of the right, when I saw Jeff sitting in the corner,
inspecting everything. I took a deep breathe and walked over to where he was.
“Hey, Jeff. I thought you said that you were going to be in the sports section.” He
looked up and smiled at me, “Oh hey, well no because now there’s a whole bunch of the
other football players in my team who hate me and they threatened me to beat me up if I
didn’t get out of their way.” I bit my lip, “Wow that’s harsh.” He shrugged and scooted
over on the sofa he sat in. He patted the empty seat next to him. I felt myself blushing as I
sat and he asked, “So where are the rest of your friends?” I sat up immediately and
wondered the same thing. “Er, I’m not really sure. They’re supposed to be here...” Jeff
turned to me, “So what about your boyfriend?” I snapped my head towards him, surprised

17
how close his god shaped face was to mine. “Uh, I don’t have a boyfriend.” Jeff’s eyes
opened wider, “Oh, then what about that kid you’re always around with, Mac?” I
automatically corrected him, “Max. But, no, definitely not my boyfriend.” Jeff shrugged,
“Oh, so you like him?” I snorted, “No. He’s just been my best friend since we were like
eight years old.” “Oh. I didn’t know that.” “Yeah...” I looked down at my poor beat up
grey and purple Converse. I sighed and looked up and saw Mila waving at me, but her
eyes placed on Jeff. I waved and Jeff looked up, “Oh, do you want me to leave...” He
looked at me, ready to get up, but I could see he didn’t want to, and that made my heart
jump. “Oh no, just stay, it’s okay.” He smiled and sat down comfortably again.
Mila grabbed a chair and sat in front of Jeff and me. “Hey Sue. Um, hi Jeff.” Jeff
smiled, “What’s up, Mila.” I looked down and blushed as Mila gave me a look as if to
say ‘since when do you talk to cute and popular guys?’ and it was true. I rarely talked to
the ‘cool’ guys because they thought I was a freak, but if I’d known them for a long time,
it was fine.
Jeff looked at Mila with a smile, but he looked a little uncomfortable as she stared
at him. I blushed for my friend and stared at my shoes once again. Mila broke her gaze
with Jeff and asked me, “So Sues, um where’s Max? I thought he was gonna be here...” I
bit my lip and responded as little as I could, “Oh, um...he kinda just went off. I think he’s
gonna meet up later...” She met my eyes and somehow immediately caught on because
she said, “Oh!” she hit her forehead and rolled her eyes, “of course! He texted my like
half an hour ago! Gosh, how could I have forgotten...yeah...I think I’m gonna get a
refreshment...you wanna come Sues?” I looked at Jeff and saw he was staring at me with
a mystified look. I edged up and asked, “Is it okay if I go for a few minutes, Jeff? I am
kinda thirsty...” He shook his head as if shaking off a daydream and nodded, “Yeah,
yeah! Sure, go ahead, I’ll be here.” I nodded. “Thanks, and I headed off with Mila, as she
grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room.
She shoved me into the bathroom and shrieked, “OH EM JEE!!!!!!! How the heck
did you talk to Jeff Shcooler??????” I flinched at her shriek but I slowly said, “Uh, I don’t
really know...he texted me and I was like, who the hell are you but then we got talking
and then I came here...” And all of a sudden, I felt tears rimming at the edge of my eyes.
Mila had her mouth so wide a whole mob of flies could have gone through easily. She
closed it quickly and gasped, “Are you about to cry?” I shook my head, but walked a few
steps to the mirror, and sure enough, tears were making my eyes super shiny and already
reddening. Mila took a deep breathe and asked, “You wanna talk about it?” And I shook
my head, “I don’t know what happened, I mean yesterday we had this whole thing with
my parents, and then all of a sudden today he’s hanging out with Mandy and he was
saying how she’s really sweet and I asked him what was his issue and he said that I was.”
Mila’s eyes widen even more and hugged me unexpectedly. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Stupid
Max doesn’t know what he’s doing,” she let me go and eyed me, “we are talking about
Max, right?” I nodded and sighed, “I just don’t get why he’s acting all...weird.” She
humphed and then turned around to open the door. I grabbed her hand and yanked her
towards me, “What the heck are you gonna do?” I hissed. She shrugged, “I’m going to fix
this,” I gaped and said, “No, first, I’m not going to let you. Second, it’d between Max and
me, all right?” She closed her eyes for a moment and then nodded, “You’re right, um, do
you want to now?” I nodded, still a little shaken, my eyes burning. She gave me an
encouraging smile as we headed out to find Max, my stomach already giving me trouble

18
 Chapter 4
The Confrontation
I walked besides Mila to the common room and then I turned to her, “All right, I
think I need to do this myself.” Mila stopped and nodded, “All right, I’ll be in the art
room, still setting up. Don’t take too long, and don’t cry in front of him, and don’t argue
with him, and just listen, and...” I held my hand up, “Okay Mila, I got it.” She shrugged
and walked away. I took a deep breathe and walked to the sports section of the auction
where Max had last minute changed his place to.
I saw Max standing over Mandy, his hands over hers as he tried to teach her how
to swing a golf club “right” Mandy eyed me as soon as I took a few steps, and she
quickly got up and turned around, not giving Max a chance to move, so it looked like he
was giving her an awkward hug. I looked at the ceiling and sighed, saying out loud, “Oh
gosh, let me have patience for this girl.” I looked back down and Max was leaning on the
table and Mandy was hoping up to the table to sit on it, when the whole auction gift
basket fell. Mandy shrieked and fell on the floor as the table also collapsed. Max yelled,
“Whoa, what the heck did you do?” I laughed and came closer, “Can’t handle the sports
section, Max?” He glared at me and looked at Mandy, “No, it’s my fault for collapsing
the table. Are you all right Mandy?” He held his hand out and helped her up as she batted
her eyelashes a little too much. I was still laughing as Mandy said in a fake small voice,
“Yeah, thanks Max, you’re such a great guy.” Max smiled shyly and looked down. I
scoffed and rolled my eyes. Max harshly asked, “What do you want?” I shrugged,
“Honestly, I came here to apologize, but now I know I came here to watch a hilarious
scene and then walk off, since there’s nothing to discuss.” I turned and walked away, my
brave face already falling and being replaced by sadness and tears building up.
I was just about to enter the lobby of the main hall, when a hand reached my
shoulder and turned me around to face Max. He softly said, “I’m sorry, I was being a
jerk. I’m the one who should be apologizing.” I looked down and said, “It’s just…you
really hurt me. It was like a blow on the chest. I know I’m probably overreacting, but it
did.” He fingered through his wavy dark brown hair and said, “Well I didn’t mean any of
it. I’m sorry.” I shrugged, “its okay, I guess for now.” We smiled and he opened his arms
with a hopeful face. I ran into his arms and we hugged for a long time. I saw Mandy walk
through the doors and spot us with her narrowing eyes. She glared at me as she walked
away, still eyeing us. I had the strangest urgency to protect Max from her, so I just smiled
and kept hugging Max.
When we sat down, I asked him, “So what does this mean? I don’t get why I’m
having dinner with you guys again. No offense, but it’s getting to be too much.” Max ran
his fingers through his hair again and said, “Well, they think that we ‘really hit it off’ last
night, so yeah…” I snapped my fingers, “I just got an epiphany.” He sat up and asked,
“What is it?” I bit my lip, “I don’t know…it sounds a little too weird…” He scratched his
head and said, “Is it to fake going out? Like you and I?” I nodded sheepishly, “Don’t you
think it’s too weird?” He shook his head, “I think it’ll give them a piece of their own
mind.” I glanced up at him and shrugged. “I don’t know…” He stood up and

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