Inertia

Chapter 4

"Woo! Let's go!" Max swung his fist through the air and hopped down the steps of his front porch, claiming the front seat of my car. I smiled and greeted, "Good morning to you, too."

Geez, I forgot how much of a morning person he was.

I slipped my Gorillaz CD into the slot and blasted "Pirate Jet." Max wrinkled his nose.

"Em, why can't you listen to normal music?"

I shrugged. "This stuff is so much better."

He gave up and leaned back, enjoying the strange sounds blaring through Becky's crappy speakers.

We arrived at school and I parked Becky. I slung my bag over one shoulder, my coffee in the other hand. Max slung his arm around me, and we walked into the building. I looked down at my outfit self-consciously.

For a Monday morning, I'd a dark green knit shirt and a pair of white, high-waisted twill shorts. I paired it with beige Toms and a gold statement necklace, plus subtle gold studs in my ears. I was pretty confident with the outfit—not so much with how I looked in it.

Max looked at me. "Emmy. You look fine." I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, Dill. It's your job to say that."

He chuckled, and stopped for a moment, quieting down. He pulled me a bit closer and whispered, "Em, everyone is staring at me." I nodded, and replied, "Get used to it, Dill."

It was true. Everyone was staring at Max as we walked down the hall. Girls, boys, teachers... even Mr. Walker, the creepy TA. I knew they couldn't help it—Max looked good. With his tight t-shirt and low-slung jeans, the rubber and cloth bracelets stacked on his wrists, and the beat-up Adidas, Max looked... well, hot.

My confidence went up a whole lot when people seemed to realize that his arm was around me. A couple of friends from my lunch table shot me confused looks, but I just grinned at them.

We met Mark at the end of the hallway, whose eyes were staring hungrily at my friend. I cocked an eyebrow at him, and he sobered up.

"Hi, Max. Long time no see," Mark greeted. He shot me a look that clearly said, JUMPONTHAT.

Mark was the single horniest human being on the planet, I swear.

The day dragged on by, and was made worse knowing that I wouldn't see Mark or Max until lunch. When the clock hit 12:06 and the bell blared for lunch, I was the first one out of my seat and out the door, my lunch box swinging at my side.

I sat at my normal spot, saving a seat for Max. No doubt he would be the star of the table today, especially with all the excess estrogen in our lunch group.

My math buddy, Abby, sat across from me. "Hey, Maya!"

I smiled at her and replied, "Hey, Abs. How was English today?"

She answered by dropping her head right onto the table. I laughed, and felt a presence sit down next to me.

"Thanks for saving my seat, Daisy," Max said. He pulled a sandwich out of a brown paper bag and unwrapped it.

My other friends slowly arrived, and each of them was more smitten with him than the next—even Mark and Tommy. I looked up from my spinach and apricot (yum) salad to find another girl at the table, one who didn't usually sit with us.

Ew. Allie Miller.

She sat down directly next to Max, in was she must've thought was an emtpy chair, because my friend Kayla was forced onto half her butt. I'm sure each of us (even involuntarily) shot her a dirty look, even Max. She didn't seem to notice.