I Hate You Is Our I Love You

Summer School and Driving Fast

I tapped my pencil on my desk, staring at the clock and wishing I could go home already. The teacher was droning on about some book we had to read over the course of the two weeks we were stuck in this hell hole. I leaned back and adjusted my hood to make sure it was covering my headphones, which I was not supposed to have. Oops. I didn't actually care. It's summer school. Who gives a shit! Max was the whole reason I was stuck in this place anyways.

He and I had English together freshman year and we were paired up on our final project which was half our grade, so for the people with F's (a.k.a. me) it was potentially our saving grace. We did a really good job on making the project so I thought I was gonna pass English, until Max got food poisoning the night before it was due and didn't tell me until five minutes before we were supposed to present. The project was at his house. So, we both failed freshman english. Which is why we are both currently sitting in summer school three days after we finished our junior year.

Max and I have lived next door to each other since middle school and have bounced from best friends to mortal enemies ever since. Max is this tall, scrawny, blonde rich kid who can be a real arrogant ass sometimes but also knows just how to cheer me up when I need it. Once, when my mom and stepdad got in a real bad fight, Max texted me at 2 a.m. because he could hear them and asked me if I was okay. I said no and next thing I knew he was tapping our secret code on my window and when I opened the blinds he was standing there with rocky road ice cream in one hand and his noise canceling head phones in the other. The rest of the night we ate ice cream and listened to Slipknot with our noise canceling headphones. We ended up falling asleep and cuddling.

After that night, I developed crazy feelings for him. But, in 7th grade I cut off my hair (it went down to my waist) and donated it for cancer research. Max and several other kids made fun of me saying I looked like a boy. I didn't talk to Max for almost a year after that. Halfway through 8th grade he apologized for what he did and I forgave him.

The bell rang ripping me from my thoughts. I jumped up and bolted out the door and I was ready to find my car and go home but I remembered that Max had driven us and turned around to wait for him. When I turned around I was meet with those piercing blue eyes and messy mop of blonde hair.

"Damn Jay, you tore outta there like the building was on fire." He said with a smirk.

"Yeah well I want to go home," I said with a sigh. I shoved my hands into my sweatshirt pockets and looked to the ground, playing with a rock with the toe of my beat up converse.

"And would you like to know how I know that's bullshit?" Max said nudging my foot with his, "You may hate school but, you hate being home even more."

It was true, I hated being home. My mom and stepdad were constantly fighting, about what? Money, my moms drinking, my sister, you name it they fought about it.

"Why don't you just leave? You know you're welcome at my place, my mom adores you. I'm pretty sure she'd adopt you if she could." Max said as we began walking to the car. I didn't doubt what he said, his mom was more of a mom to me than my own mom. I thought of when I ran away from home the first time, I had no where to go, so I went to Max's house...

"Hi Mrs. Sharp, is Max here?" I said breathing heavy, on the verge of tears.

"Of course sweetie come in, come in," She ushered me inside, "he's in his room, Jaden."

I practically ran to Max's room and when I walked in he was on his bed playing PlayStation. He jumped at first and he looked like he was ready to yell at me for not knocking but stopped when he looked at me a little more carefully. I had a swollen, bleeding lip and my right eye was beginning to bruise, my shirt was torn in a few places and I looked like hell. He hadn't even seen the collage of bruises on my stomach and ribs yet.

"Jay," he started, walking towards me, "what the hell happened? !"

"Steve came home from work and I was yelling at mom because she was drinking and he got mad and grabbed me by the back of my shirt...after that it's a blur...when he was done I climbed out of my window and ran over here.." I said and broke down in the tears I was trying so desperately to hold back. Max wrapped his arms around me and just let me cry. His mom brought me a pair of Max's old sweatpants and an old t-shirt. I guess I cried myself to sleep because next thing I knew I woke up to my stepdads voice screaming that he knew I was here and they couldn't hide me forever.

"Max! Jaden! What the hell took you guys so long!" I looked up to see where the voice came from. It was our friends Eddie and John, who alsohappened to be my ex who I had just broken up with that day, they were standing next to Max's truck obviously wanting a ride home.

"I was busy making your mom's day," Max said with a smirk, "get in the truck dumbasses."

"Shotgun!" I yell, running around to the passenger side and jumping in. We tore out of the parking lot and stopped at the light. I had Max's football in my lap but set it on the center console when my phone began to ring. It was my mom, I sent it to voicemail seeing as she was probably calling me because she was too drunk to drive home and needed me to pick her up at some bar. When I looked up at the road I just barely saw a speed limit sign fly past us. Speed Limit 45 I looked at Max's speedometer, 65.

"Holy shit Max!" I yelled, "Slow down! Speed limit is 45!"

"We're fine! Cops aren't out right now!" Just as he said that the car in front of us stopped. Max slammed on the brakes, my hand flew to the center console and grabbed the football. Max instinctively threw an arm across my chest. When the car stopped he spuntowards me putting his hands on the sides of my face, my shoulders, my arms, and bringing them to rest on my hands.

"Are you okay?!" His eyes frantically searched my face, they were full of fear.

"Y-yeah I'm fine," I said, looking to the backseat, "you guys okay?" I got a chorus of yeah we're fines from the guys. What had just happened?? My mind had fully processed that we almost had a major accident but, I couldn't seem to process Max's reaction. The amount of fear in his eyes, like he had come inches away from losing his entire world. Whatever, he probably was more scared for his own life than anything.