Those Three Little Words

Chapter 5: Princess

Nothing ever feels better than hearing the school bell ring. All my worries and doubts, they could be thrown back once I reach home. I propped up my bag on my shoulders and made my way out of the classroom, half expecting Zander to be already outside. I was correct. He stood there, against the wall, looking at me. I swallowed and averted my gaze somewhere else. As though on cue, Max grabbed my hand from behind and pulled me away from where I stood.

 

“Dude, I’ll borrow this girl for a bit, see ya!”

 

With that, Max walked away briskly with me trailing behind him, leaving Zander standing there, shocked. I stumbled on my foot while trying to match my pace with Max but thank god he noticed and slowed down. He looked at me with a foolish grin on his face and patted my head lightly.

 

“So, where are you bringing me to?” I said, trying to contain my excitement.

 

Max simply winked at me and sped up. After a few minutes of walking, Max stopped in front of a flight of stairs. I guessed that’s our destination. I slowly looked upwards and gasped at how many steps there were.

 

“You don’t expect me to climb the stairs, do you?” I asked, looking around, hoping there was a lift somewhere. But no.

 

Max crouched low, asking me to get on his back. I looked at his broad back hesitantly, some part of me just wanted to hop on but I just couldn't bring myself to. Max beckoned me to get on again, a wide grin flitting across his face. I looked at my ankle and sighed. I shuffled my way over to him and slowly, just slowly got onto his back. He propped me up and made his way up the flight of stairs.

 

“Do you eat 50 pancakes every morning? God, you’re heavy,”

 

“You can let me down, if you’re that weak,”

 

Max turned his head around and laughed.

 

I let my head rest on Max’s shoulder while I tried to get my mind off Zander. Nothing could describe the pain I felt when I saw Zander’s pitiful eyes. I was starting to close my eyes when I felt a jerk. Max propped me up and caught me skillfully, making a laugh escape from my lips. When I looked around, I realised that we had reached the top of a building. I got off Max ungracefully and stumbled backwards. I grabbed onto a nearby pole and somehow found myself twirling around it ( I was suppose to regain my balance, but yeah).I looked at Max sheepishly and cleared my throat.

 

“W-What?”

 

“I’m amazed, that you could pole dance,” Max said, his lips tucked into a broad smile.

 

My face immediately flushed. Noticing my embarrassment, Max eyed me playfully and ruffled my hair. I averted my gaze from him and looked into the horizon. Since we were on high ground, we could see almost the entire city. I was pretty sure it would have looked better in the night, but now, it was just as breathtaking. I limped towards the railings and raised my head high up in the air, enjoying the cool breeze. The breeze ruffled my already-bird-nested hair as I felt Max coming closer to me.