As quickly as possible, I made my way back to my house.

I was almost at the front door when it opened. Not wanting to get caught, I ran to the side of the house and hid. When I peeked my head around the corner, I saw my dad walking to the street with a folder in his hand. He kept looking up and down the street as if he was looking if someone was watching him

I couldn't read what it was labeled because his hand was covering it.

I watched as he walked across the street and knocked on the door of the house opposite from our's.

Only a few seconds later, a man opened the door and let my dad in. He checked the surroundings before closing the door quickly.

What was my dad doing over there? And why did they both look so secretive?

I'd have to find out what was going on later. Right now, I needed to get ready for my.....date?

I ran up to my room and flung open my closet door.

I had exactly 11 minutes to get dressed, do my hair and do my make up. If I felt like doing it.

What was I going to wear?

I stood in front of my closet and studied my clothes.

No way was I going to wear a skirt or a dress.

In the end, I had picked out some white jeans, a soft pink top and a light washed jean jacket.

It was hard always having to coordinate your outfit with whatever group you were hanging out. And it was starting to get exhausting, always having to change.

I put my dark hair into a ponytail and kept my make up like it was, not feeling like putting any effort into it.

It's not like I was trying to impress Max or something....

As I was putting my converse back on, I heard the doorbell ring. I looked to my alarm clock on my dresser and saw that it was exactly 7:30pm.

I wrote my dad a quick note, saying that I was going out and left it on the kitchen table for him to find.

I then made my way to the front door.

"Hey," Max said when I opened it.

He handed me a bundle of baby pink peonies.

"Oh. Thank you," I said and took them from his hand. "Let me put these in a vase real quick. Come on in."

I walked into the kitchen and got out a vase, filling it with water and then placing the flowers in it.

"They're lovely," I said and smiled at Max who was standing in the doorway and watching me.

"I thought you'd like them," he replied. "Shall we get going?"

"Of course," I said to him and nodded. "Where are we going?" I asked him as we walked down to his car.

"It's an old time diner just a couple miles from here," he answered and held open the passenger door for me.

He quickly walked around the car and got into the driver's seat, starting the ignition.

"It sounds cool," I replied. "Do you go there a lot?"

"Yeah. It's a popular hang out for everyone."

"For everyone as in Elites and Bandits?"

"Yep," he said and started to drive down the street. "It's one of the few places where we sort of get along, you could say. There's a strict 'no fighting' policy and I guess everyone just loves the place so much they respect it."

"What's it called?"

"Charly's. It's been there before either of us were born."

"Okay. Then let's see what the place is all about."

_____________________________

A while later, we arrived at the diner Max was talking about.

It was lit up with neon signs that gave off a vintage vibe into the darkening night.

It was surrounded by cars and motorcycles from other people. Some were sitting inside and others were standing in the cool air out here.

What surprised me, even though Max already mentioned it, was that both Bandits and Elites were here. It was as if there was never a hatred towards the other group. Even though none of the groups mixed, they didn't seem bothered that the others were here.

"This place looks amazing," I commented as we got out of the car.

"I know, right?" Max replied.

As we got out, a couple of people looked towards us.

The Bandits turned away after not finding anything interesting. Several Elites however were very interested in us. Probably because they wanted to know who their 'golden boy' was taking out.

"Isn't that the new girl?" I heard a girl whisper to her friend as we walked past them.

"She's cute," another one commented.

"Go ahead and choose a seat. It's seat yourself," Max told me as he held open the door for me.

"Alright," I replied and slid into an empty booth, Max sliding into the bench across from me.

I studied the surroundings and saw the same thing as I did outside. The two groups weren't mixing but didn't look bothered.

There was an old jukebox standing in one corner and in another corner was a pool table.

I'm guessing the owner wanted to make it retro but keep in some new stuff to attract customers.

"Do you know what you want?" he asked me.

"Uh no, I don't," I told him and took one of the menus on the table. "What do you usually get?"

"Well, I get their specialty. A chocolate shake and fries."

"That's like the most cliche thing that you can get in a diner like this," I laughed.

Max also laughed. "But it's good."

"Alright," I said and put away the menu. "Then I'll get a shake and fries too. But a strawberry shake."

"Sure thing," he chuckled and motioned for a waiter to come take our order.

"Hello," a girl about 18 with bouncy blond curls greeted us. "What can I get you two?"

"Could we please have a strawberry shake and a chocolate shake with two servings of fries," Max ordered.

"Sure thing," she said and winked at us before walking off.

"So, tell me something about yourself," Max said.

"Uh, well I live alone with my dad, don't know where my mom is and am an only child."

"That's just boring facts," he teased. "Tell me things like what you're interested in or your hobbies or something."

"Alright Mr. Get-to-the-interesting-stuff-before-I-get-bored," I joked.

Max chuckled and waited for me to answer.

It felt like this was going to be an alright night.

______________________________

"No, I'm serious," he laughed and took a sip of his shake.

"Wow. You guys were idiots," I replied and ate a fry.

"I know," he chuckled.

The....date? Hanging out thing? Whatever it was, was going great. I was having a good time.

"Hey, how come you wanted to go to such a public place?" I asked him. "Most people I know usually go to a more uncommon hang out when they meet up for the first time."

"I guess I just wanted to show everyone that I got the prettiest girl to go out with me," Max said and grabbed my hand that was laying on the table with his.

I chuckled awkwardly and took a sip of my shake.

"That's really sweet," I told him.

He smiled at me and just looked into my eyes.

Behind him, the door to the diner opened. My eyes snapped up to it, wanting to get out of this uncomfortable moment.

However, the moment got even worse, when I saw who was walking through the door.

My eyes widened as I saw Hayden walking through the door with two other guys.

His eyes scanned the diner.

I was praying to God that he wouldn't see me, but as luck would have it, he did.

His gaze caught mine. He seemed surprised at first to see me but then a smirk took over his face.

Oh no, I whined in my head.

His gaze didn't leave mine as he walked over to the corner with the pool table where a few other Bandits were playing. He barely broke eye contact when he went to greet the other guys.

"Everything okay?" Max's voice snapped me back to reality.

"Huh? Yeah. It's all good," I replied and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Okay. Good. If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Be right back," he said before letting go of my hand and leaving.

I sighed and ran my hands over my face.

When I looked back up I saw Hayden walking towards me with a confident smirk on his face.

I groaned in annoyance as he slid into the seat where Max had just been sitting seconds ago.

"What do you want?" I asked him.

"You're on a date with Max?" He asked me and laughed as if it was the funniest joke he had ever heard.

I rolled my eyes. "You sure you should be sitting here right now? What if people get suspicious?" I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back, watching him with a glare.

"Oh, princess," he mused. "If they see us they wouldn't care. All their gonna care about tomorrow is who the girl is that went out with their most popular boy."

I sighed in exhaustion. "I'm never gonna be on the down low, am I?"

"No, I don't think so," he chuckled.

"I bet this is all very amusing for you."

"Oh, it is," he said and ate a few fries from Max's serving. "I think it's hilarious that you'd go out with a guy like him."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not my place to tell," he fake sighed and got up. "I do hope that you have fun with all your hand holding and sweet talk and whatnot," he smirked.

I glared at him, silently telling him to leave before Max got back.

"Oh, and tell me if he kisses your hand goodbye at the end of the night," he said to me before turning around and walking back to the pool table.

"Sorry I took so long," Max said when he came back. "There were a couple guys at the table back there that I said hi to. Was that Hayden Warren just talking to you?" he asked and looked back to where Hayden was currently flirting with the waitress with the bouncy along curls.

"No. You must have mistaken him," I replied and finished my shake. "You wanna go?" I asked him.

"Sure," he replied and finished his food before paying.

As we got up and walked to the door, I saw Hayden watching us from the corner of my eye.

I smirked to myself and linked my arm with Max's. I don't know why I did it but it felt good to see Hayden glaring at our retreating figures.

________________________

Once we were back at my house, we walked up the steps and stood in front of the door.

"I had fun today," I told him.

"Me too," he replied and smiled. "I hope we can to this again sometime."

I just smiled in return, not knowing what I should say. As much fun as I had, I don't know if I'd wanna date this guy.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow," he said and grabbed my hand. He brought it up to his lips and kissed it lightly. "Good night."

He walked back down to his car and waved before driving off.

I stared at my hand as if I had just grown an extra finger.

How the hell did Hayden know that Max would kiss my hand?

Shaking my head, I walked inside.

"Dad?" I called out to check if he was home.

Nobody replied so I'm guessing he was still at the other guy's house across the street. Just to make sure he wasn't home, I walked through the house, coming up empty.

Then, I walked down the hall and to his study.

"Dad?" I asked as I knocked on the door.

No reply come once again so he must still be out. I reached to the knob of the door and turned it slowly. Surprisingly, it opened. Usually his office was always locked.

"Dad?" I spoke and poked my head into the room.

The room was empty. I went inside, leaving the door open so that I would hear if my dad came back home. I know that I was not allowed to go in here but the curiosity was eating away at me. I had to know why he was being so secretive.

I looked through the drawers of his desk but found nothing. I was about to look through his cabinets when I heard the front door opening. Quickly, I ran out of his office and quietly shut the door. I then ran into the bathroom opposite of his office.

As I heard him in the hall I came out of the bathroom, pretending like I had been in there the whole time.

"Hi, dad," I said as I saw him.

"Hello, K.C."

He was carrying the folder I had seen him carry when I came back home from Hayden's.

"It's getting late. You should get to bed soon," he told me as he walked to his office.

"Alright," I said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he replied and walked into his office. I heard the familiar click, telling me that he had locked the door.

As I walked up the stairs to my room, I had one thought.

I had to find out what was going on.

_____________________________

Hey guys! What do you think about K.C. and Max going out on a date? And what about Hayden not liking it?

I hope you liked the chapter! Remember to comment and vote!

Love you tons!

Emili