𝐄𝐗

𝐈𝐈𝐈

Advancing in the corridors, the one that everyone had recognized as Maxine Miller, was walking around, one hand in the pocket of her wide gray cargo pants and the other holding a cherry lollipop. Every once in a while, she blew out a flyaway strand of her jet black hair that was tied in two braids. Her light green eyes, almost translucent, scanned the corridors for a face she liked, which was quite difficult to find since she liked very few people. These could be counted on the fingers of one hand. When her orbs landed on Holly Martinez, the teenage girl smirked and walked towards her. "Howdy, princess," she said, startling the brunette and slamming her locker shut while babbling random words and nervously giggling. "I wasn't hiding anything weird in my locker, it's just books and pictures-..." Maxine cut her off in her strange sentence. "Holly, I don't care if there are books or even a snake in your locker" This sentence had the effect of calming the Martinez twin, who then opened her eyes and mouth wide like a fish. "Max? You're back?"

"I missed my big ol' Texas," she said, smirking and taking her lollipop out of her mouth, slightly distracting the brunette. "O-Oh, ... I thought you were never coming back, I even thought Zach was going to die of despair and I was ready for the funeral. I even bought the perfect outfit for the occasion, but he seems to be a lot better. Especially since he got together with Alina. I mean, she's kinda cute so I get why-..." She got cut off by Maxine again. "Alina, huh? Tell me more about her," she said, still smiling mischievously. She didn't know who this new character was but she seemed quite amusing. "She's my brother's new girlfriend. They got together a few months ago, when he has finally finished crying day and night for your absence. She's pretty nice and cute, but I have to tell you that even though I'm reluctant to say it, I preferred when he was with you. He was... disgustingly happy, but that was less... disgusting..." Maxine quickly thought about it then replied to Holly, looking down the hall, where she thought she saw someone familiar. "So he isn't happy with Alina, huh?" Holly frowned and started talking again, not seeing that her interlocutor was distracted. "I didn't say that, I just said that his happiness bothered me less when he was with you. But now that I think about it, he's not unhappy but just less happy than before. But, I think you leaving really destroyed him-..."

"Speaking of the wolf..." In the distance, Max could see her ex-boyfriend, arm around his new girlfriend and next to Oliver White, his best friend. The three were walking towards her but they seemed to be too focused on their conversation to notice her. Zach had that smile she loved so much and he seemed amused at what his best friend was saying. Best friend who was even more hot than in the black haired's memories. Oliver was visibly taller and had gained more muscle in two years and his smile still looked like it was straight out of a toothpaste commercial. He now had blond locks, a thin mustache and many more tattoos, which made him divinely more attractive. The famous Alina was pretty cute, Max had to admit, but that didn't change her plans. Smirking, Maxine stood in the middle of the hallway, lollipop in mouth and hand in pocket, meeting her ex-boyfriend's gaze. At first he felt disturbed and then understood the enthusiasm that Lucas had when he spoke of the news to Oliver, he was happy to see Maxine again. Obviously, he thought, annoyed. "Howdy!" Oliver and Alina then saw Maxine standing in front of them and the light-skinned's eyes widened as the petite brunette watched the exchange of gazes between Zach and this... new student? "It's been a while, right?"

"So you're back, huh?" Maxine could see the curly's clenched jaw, shifty gaze and tense muscles and it greatly amused her, Zach was adorable when he was irritated. "Yep, like I said to your sister, I missed my big ol' Texas," she said without looking away, under Alina's confused gaze. Oliver didn't know where to go, he didn't know if he should go away and take Alina to let them explain themselves, or if he should stay with his buddy in this situation. He knew that deep down Zach had the same conflict, he knew that part of him was still waiting for an explanation from Max. But was that part of him capable of risking his relationship with Alina? If he left him alone with Maxine, it was bound to make the little brunette curious and jealous and that was the last thing Zach needed right now.

"Oh, you must be Alina, right? I'm Maxine. Holly was right, you're pretty cute," she said holding out her hand, making Alina somewhat flustered. She didn't know where to put herself in front of this girl who seemed so confident and at the same time intimidating. "I'm shaking hands or hugging, but since we're not that close..." These words woke up the brunette, who gently shook the black haired girl's hand. "O-Oh, sure... I get it..." Zach's twin appeared right next to Maxine, a bottle of water in hand and waved to the group before heading off to her class, after the bell rang in the establishment. This filled the silence that had settled and Oliver then spoke. "Max, it was um... cool to see you again, but I have class. Guess we'll see each other... somewhere... in the hallways..." The black haired smirked at the light skinned, making him stutter slightly, then waved at him before he walked away, and left the three together. "Um, Zach... are you okay?" The curly  turned to his girlfriend and smiled delicately at her. "Yep, I'm fine, you can go to class," he said before placing a kiss on her forehead, still in front of an amused Maxine.

"She's cute," were the first words spoken after Alina left, breaking the silence that had settled. Zach didn't answer, staring his ex-girlfriend in the eye, hands in his pockets. Maxine took her lollipop out of her mouth and spoke again. "Don't you have practice? Let's go," she said as she walked out of school. Being close to Lucas was a good thing, she knew exactly when the Sharks, and so Zachariah had practice. "Don't you have class?" The curly had no choice but to follow, he had practice to join after all. "Nope, free period. The perfect opportunity to discuss the two of us" The brunette rolled his eyes and replied. "It's gotta be good having Lucas, right?" A new mischievous smile grew at the corners of the black haired's lips. "Awn, still milking that? Don't worry, I still prefer you to him"

"But you still cheated, huh" Maxine's smile only grew on her face. "You still believe that?" Stopping abruptly, the curly man fixed his gaze on the black haired's. "How can I not believe it? You were locked in the bathroom with Lucas at that party, and he's had a hard on for you since like, forever. In addition, throughout our entire relationship, you were flirting with half my friends" Falsely huffing with boredom , Maxine began to walk backwards to look at her ex-boyfriend. "But at the end of the day, it was you and only you. We were dating and you've never trusted me, was I really the problem, baby?" Zach rolled his eyes and huffed before approaching the field. "Max, I don't care about that. You cheated and you ran away like a thief without even saying goodbye. What did you want me to think after that?" Approaching the locker room, he saw that the black haired girl was still following him. "I don't think you should go in there," he added, rolling his eyes. "I don't think it'll bother anyone"

"Oh, ... sweat... but the view's gotten better, ay," she said, staring shamelessly at the other team members. Zach turned his head towards her and rolled his eyes at the sight of her, she was incorrigible. "Hi, Warren" The curly tried to ignore her and opened his locker to then remove his t-shirt. He had to stay focused on his team and not his ex-girlfriend who had apparently returned to mess with his head. "Oh..." Without being able to control his head, Zachariah's gaze fell on Maxine again and he held back a sigh for the umpteenth time as he watched her observe his body. "Alina is a lucky girl, damn," she said, frowning at the curly and looking around, there was hardly anyone in the locker room now. "It's so unfair, not too long ago, I was the only one who could touch and-..." Zach cut her off in her tracks, putting his hand over her mouth and slamming her gently against the locker near from her. "Max..."

The latter looked him in the eye for several seconds without a word, with the last member of the team leaving the locker room as the only background noise. As he slowly withdrawing his hand, the black haired spoke again. "I loved it, feeling you so close has brought back so many memories" Zach immediately pulled away from her and put on his gear. "I'm glad you didn't quit football, you're really good at it," these were her last words before she walked out of the locker room. The brunette exhaled loudly then prepared himself mentally before going to the field. As he warmed up, Zachariah couldn't help looking up at the bleachers and was surprised to see that Maxine was actually gone, again.