BellyAche (Elmax)

2

Two:

The next morning Max rode her skateboard to school with excitement. She wanted to see Jane again, even if she was rude yesterday. Maybe she's just shy, or antisocial. Will was like that sometimes with people he didn't really know. But Max was going to pry until Jane talked to her. She would not give up. The school day went slow as possible, until lunch, her entire friend group had that 'class' together. and everyone was there, even mike.
"where have you been? why have you not answered my calls?" asked anne to mike.
"i'm sorry, okay! i've been...busy." mike whined.
"with what?" anne's eyebrows shot up.
"my...grandma. she's sick." mike said, max could tell he was lying.
"oh that's terrible! is she in the hospital?" asked anne. anne was obviously the empath of the group. will also looked a bit concerned while lucas and dustin eyed eachother with a 'here we go again' look.
"yeah. it's her last days..." mike said.
"oh my god! she's gonna die?" anne shouted.
"no!! it's her last days in the hospital." mike said, putting his face in him palms, "can we please talk about something else."
everyone sat in silence for a bit thinking of what topic mike would be interested in. honestly, anything other than anne and Atari would be boring to him. even d&d.
"ooh!" max shot up, "we got a new volleyball member."
"oh right...um what's her name..." anne recalled, "jane!"
mike looked uninterested and dustin spoke, "well, that's cool. do she go to our school?"
"i don't think so. i've never seen her around before," anne said. everyone turned their heads around the cafeteria, but couldn't find anyone they didn't know the name of. max and anne looked for the brunette. she wasn't there.
"she probably doesn't go here. she's probably homeschooled, she's kind of shy and antisocial," max told them.
"sometimes i wish you guys were that way," mike mumbled and lucas shot him a death stare.
"i think her and me would be good friends," will smiled and anne nodded, "oh definitely."
"did you guys hear there's a football game tonight?" asked mike after lucas whispered to him. max shrugged.
"yeah. i might go."
"well um you want to go with me max?" lucas asked the redhead.
"i mean if anyone goes, we're all going together, right?"
lucas glared at mike and mike coughed, "no! my grandma...is sick."
"you said she's getting out of the hospital." anne protested.
"yeah well, we need to check up on her." mike said, "nancy and i."
"what about-" max started to ask but dustin shook his head, "football bores me and i wouldn't go if it was anyone here's biggest game. except maybe will's."
"i'm not going to play football," will said, but smiled at the compliment.
"well Anne, you're going to the game." max said.
mike whispered into Anne's ear, interrupting what she was going to say. she shot him a confused look and then rolled her eyes, looking to max.
"i can't. i have homework."
"my god when did you guys get so busy?" max said, forking at her food, "i'll see if i can go, Lucas."
"great!" Lucas said, it hurt him a little bit knowing that max didn't want to hang out with him alone, but she might've just not had those type of feelings for him. he knows that she would've acted the same if mike or dustin asked her to go with them alone, so she didn't totally dislike Lucas. they were on good friend terms, and probably the best out of the group besides will and mike.
after lunch, the kids parted their ways, Anne, max, and will leaving to geometry they all had together. dustin was ahead of their math class and Lucas and mike were below, surprisingly. they just weren't smart in the maths. will, Anne, and max took their seats which were remotely close to each other, and they used that advantage to pass notes to each other. will was the first.
'i think Lucas really wants to be alone with you.' he passed it to max. she took it shyly and unwrapped it, scowling and scribbling. she tossed it at will's foot.
'yeah, i know. i don't feel that way about him. or anyone in this group. he's been trying at me ever since we got here.'
wills lifted him pencil and wrote, 'give him a chance.' he threw it to max as something tapped his foot. a note, he looked up, from Anne.
'what's up?'
'Lucas is trying to get alone time with max. she's closing him out.'
Anne sighed.
'give him a chance.' she threw it under max's desk.
max read and threw both papers in the trash can and payed attention to what mr. guller was teaching. it's not like she didn't want to like Lucas. he was an amazing person, super funny and careful. he respected max a lot and cared for her feelings. he was her only friend who knew how hard it was away from California, and how much she missed it. but being romantic with Lucas wasn't imaginable. honestly, max couldn't imagine being romantic with any boy. she'd never really had a 'crush' unless it was a boy out of a magazine. maybe she was still too young.

after school anne and max raced to practice. they were very excited to interact with jane again. the girls got on their shorts and max: a long tee shirt and anne: a tank top with long armholes and a sports bra underneath. the two walked out of the locker room after a few other girls, they took their time. anne spotted jane seated on the floor and scribbling into a book. she pointed her out to max and they skipped over to jane.
"hey jane," max said, leaning her hands on her knees. janes head snapped up in shock and her face calmed.
"sorry! i didn't mean to scare you." max said.
"it's okay." jane said, putting her book and pen aside and standing up. she was wearing a long blue shirt with short sleeves and basketball shorts.
"want to warm up with us?" asked anne and jane nodded, a small smile appearing on her face. the girls grabbed a ball and threw it around. max noticed to jane only bumping the ball again and wanted to help her. if she only ever bumped in a game she wouldn't do as well. max saw her potential with better skills. she walked over to jane with the ball as anne raced off to use the bathroom.
"I noticed you only bump, and when you do you grab your hands instead of lay them. I could help you if you let me." Max told the girl.
"Thanks. That would help." Jane answered Max, grabbing the ball. "Show me how to set. I used to know, but I can't remember." Max nodded and put her hands up, leaning them inwards. Jane copied hardly, eyeing max's hands to see if hers were correct. Max looked at Jane's placement and cringed.
"May I?" She asked, motioning towards her hands. Jane nodded and Max lifted Jane's hands higher, pressing them inwards.
"Now stand still, and I'll throw the ball up. You simply bend your knees and tip your fingers lightly." Max told.
Jane nodded and Max placed herself a few feet ahead of Jane, tossing the ball to her. Jane did as instructed, bending her knees. She hit the ball too hard and it bounced towards the coach.
"Good try." Max complimented, running for the ball then trying again. This time Jane bent her knees and fell to the ground.
"This shouldn't be so hard. I'm just bad." Jane scolded herself.
"It's okay Jane. It takes time to get, I practiced all summer with Anne. One more time."
Max threw the ball up and Jane bent her knees. She lifted herself, lightly pressing the ball with her fingers. The ball flew nicely to Max, who set it the same as Jane did. Jane then bumped it back to Max, max catching the ball and smiling.
"Great job. You have good potential Jane." She said, patting her shoulder as Anne came back and coach called the girls for formation.