The Conversion

Chapter Six: Get Ready To Party! For Real This Time

Jake and I had placed Luna in the car, waiting for her to come to. Well, really it was Jake who had picked her up and carried her, but that was beside the point. After a few minutes, we managed to pull her out of unconsciousness and she was wide awake. I handed her some water that she gulped down quickly.

"Are you okay?" I asked earnestly. My annoyance had quickly disappeared when she fainted. She nodded and sat up.

"Do you still want to go to the party?" Jake asked, concern clouding his eyes. Aw, he had always been sweet to my friends and I.

"Yeah, I'll be all right. Just give me a minute," Luna said. I nodded and went to check my hair and make-up in the side mirror.

"Hey Bella, Jake!" I heard a voice call out. Jake and I turned around and spotted Max.

"Hey Max!" I said excitedly, flipping my hair. He smiled, but it faded when he looked at Jake.

"How do you know Jake?" Max asked and I saw a confused look on his face before he quickly replaced it with his I'm-a-cool-jock face. I let out an unladylike snort and Max eyed me with a weird look.

"She's my little sister," Jake said affectionately, rubbing my head again for emphasis. I snarled unconsciously. Max chuckled and gave me the same incomprehensible look.

"Are y'all coming in?" he asked. That reminded me, Luna had fainted. It was a good thing she had the sense not to pop out of the car in the middle of our conversation.

"Yeah, but we have a friend with us -- Luna, why are you still in the car?" Jake said coolly. I disappeared into the back of the car. Luna was sitting there, very pale.

"What's the matter with you?" I hissed.

"It's much more scary now that it's actually about to happen," she whispered. I sighed, but smiled sympathetically nonetheless.

"OK, take a deep breath," I said. Luna obeyed. "Now smile." She gave me an ugly grimace. I face-palmed. "No, like we practiced." She smiled, her eyes lighting up. I nodded in approval. It was pretty bad, but at least she didn't look like she was sitting on shards of glass.

"All right, better. Now, I want you to raise your head, straighten your back, and put your hands at your sides," I commanded. She did so, and I nodded, happy with my work. "Now, confidently get out of the car and say, 'Hey!', but pretend you don't know who he is. Do that with everyone you meet," I ordered. I slid out of the car, watching Luna take a deep breath as she slid out after me.

"Hey," Luna said flawlessly. I let out a breath in relief. Max looked her over.

"Hi, I don't think I know you," he said, a grin on his face. Good, good, this was going well.

"I'm Luna, I'm new here," she said.

"I'm Max. Are you friends with Bella?" Max said, the smile never leaving his face. Apparently, he had already forgotten the incident at lunch. That's a relief.

"Yeah, we knew each other in middle school," I said.

"Come on, let's go party. I want to dance!" Jake complained. I giggled.

"OK, but remember - no drinking. You're DD," I said sternly. He nodded fervently and I turned away, walking towards the house. I heard giggles behind me. "No mocking me behind my back or else I'll tell them your secret," I called out, turning around to waggle my fingers immaturely. Jake shut up at that.

It was weird, I had always acted more like myself when Max was around without all our popular friends. He didn't judge me, mainly because he didn't fit people into categories like everyone else did.

They soon followed and I slowed down to walk next to Max. "We should dance together," he suggested coolly. "I mean, since I broke up with Sienna, girls will be all over me. Who wouldn't want a piece of this?" Max said cockily. I giggled. That was definitely true, but I wasn't about to let him know it.

"I'd love to dance with you," I said, smiling radiantly. He grinned and put his hand on the small of my back.

We walked inside and people stared at us. For one, I was with Max. Two, Luna (a.k.a. The New Kid) was with me. Although Max may have forgotten about the incident, I doubted that anyone here had. Third, Jake was with us and no one knew he was my brother. That would lead people to believe he was here with Luna. Ugh, I hadn't really thought about the amount of gossip that would be a result of this.

Shaking this off, I followed Max to the dance floor. He ignored all the people who were staring. It was either purposeful or he just didn't realize it. Probably the latter. I smiled inwardly. That was one of the many things I liked about him.

We danced, and I soon forgot about the watching eyes. I laughed and was silly. We both had a good time. Finally, we stumbled off the dance floor and grabbed drinks. Max wrapped his arm around me and we walked outside. There were many people dancing and talking out here, but we walked past them, winding our way down to the lake.

"Bella, there's something I've been wanting to ask you for a while now," Max started. My heart lifted and I smiled encouragingly. "Will you go out with me?" he asked. Finally, after days of waiting, he had said the words I wanted to hear.

"Of course!" I exclaimed, leaning into him. We sat down on the grass and I looked up at him. He was leaning in, leaning, leaning, and after what seemed like an eternity, he gently pressed his lips to mine. Unbelievably, this was my first kiss.

Unfortunately, it was interrupted. "I can't believe you, Max! Three days after we break up, you're kissing on another girl!" a girl with long, curly red hair screamed. Sienna. What a brat.

"Sienna, we are-," Max began, but Sienna launched herself at me before he could finish.

Hey guys!

I'm starting to do cliffhanger endings. They're so much more fun. Tell me if there's anything else I could work on. I really want to improve my writing!

Please vote, comment... you know the drill!

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Thanks,
B