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"I'm not enjoying this."

Max groaned again, spinning on my chair. "We haven't even got to the second verse. We only need two of them. Just, a few more minutes."

I shook my head, dropping my face into my bedsheets.

We were at my house, in my room. Surprise, surprise. 

It's Friday, the day after I fell asleep at the cafe, again. The cafe was packed, filled with people so we couldn't stay. Max'd mentioned that his place was not allowed so we were stuck with mine. Parks were a no because I know I'd get distracted by the swing.

Can't blame a guy for liking the swings. Those things were insane.

"A few more lines and then we could get to the last verse and call it a day."

I had practice after school, and I'd rather spend the rest of the day sleeping in my room, without a Max Winters. It didn't help that his voice made it more difficult to stay up. "No!"

I heard a sigh from his end and then it was quiet. After a few seconds, I looked up from my depressing position and messy bed to find Max packing up. Putting everything away, he hung his bag on a shoulder and the guitar case on the other.

"Where are you going?"

"Home. If we're not going to move after thirty minutes of doing nothing, then I'd rather spend it somewhere else."

I got onto my knees, pushing the papers away. "We wrote almost half of the song in an hour."

"Yeah, but we're still not finished. You look tired, we'll find another day or something."

I was up and sputtering words before I knew it. "No, we'll finish it today. I don't want to hold another free day of mine to this shit. I just need some inspiration or something. Maybe we made to have a break."

I saw him roll his eyes but didn't comment. "We've been doing nothing for the last thirty minutes."

"I know, maybe we need to... go out or something." He raised a brow at the suggestion. "I know a great place for inspiration, let's go."

I picked my soccer jacket and my phone and led the way out. He followed me, surprisingly. We made it out, ignoring the looks Katie was giving ever since I brought Max home for the project.

I'd explained the situation, since mum was there too, gushing at the guy but she looked like she'd rather believe Tracy when the girl was drunk.

No one could ever understand females. Too complicated.

I pulled lot of the driveway once Max was buckled up. Driving through the town, watching the houses, I would've almost got sent to jail if I didn't notice the pedestrian sooner than later.

I pressed on the brake as fast as I can making the both of us flying to the front. Max hit the front board.

"Oh shit, are you okay?!" I was touching his forehead -before I realized what I was doing- and rubbed at the part that got hit. "Does it hurt? Shit, I think it might swell."

"It's fine, Alan. Just tell me why you even stopped like that!"

I turned back to the front, grabbing the steering tightly. "There's a dog crossing the road."

He followed my gaze and we watched as the little, brown furred poodle cross the road on the white crossing line. It made it across, turning back around to yip at us.

"What, the, heck?"

I slowly pressed on the accelerator, passing the road, confused at what we'd just experienced. "Did that dog just, communicate with us?"

Max slowly nodded, a smile forming on his lips. "That was so cool man. I've never seen something like that in real life."

"Dude, we should've video'd that!"

He chuckled along, rubbing his forehead. "Yeah, well, we weren't prepared. Maybe next time."

Maybe next time.

My stomach flipped at the idea but I pushed the heavy feeling back down.

"Where are we going?" Max asked once he realized that we were leaving the town and more towards the west.

"I'm finding someplace to burry you after I get my hands dirty."

He rolled my eyes. "You wouldn't dare. Plus, isn't the west side of Stratford more crowded?"

Just then, my phone pinged. Taking it out, I clicked on the message from Drake.

From Drake (5:48pm) :- where are you? I'm at your house and no one's answering.

I snickered, knowing well that Katie was probably playing with him. She was the only one home. Max looked my way and I told him about Drake.

To Drake (5:50pm) :- well I'm not home but katie was home when I left just go through the back door

It took time to type while driving. Once I was done, another ping came.

From Drake (5:50pm) :- what time are you coming?

I looked up at the road and then at Max. He didn't look like he liked me texting and driving.

To Drake (5:51pm) :- late

I put my phone away, turning the car to the gravel road. Max seemed surprised for a second before he gulped it down. "I guess you are really looking for place to kill me. You hate me that much?"

I ignored the last question. "Relax, there's a place where my family go whenever we want to escape reality. It's not crowded like the rest of the place. It'd be great for inspiration. Get you guitar ready."

I parked the car under a tree even if there was no sun to hide from. It was almost sunset. The realization made me get out of the car fast, jogging through the bushes into the sandy part.

"Hurry up. You'd be lucky if you catch the sunset tonight."

I took off my shoes in a hurry and ran to the beach, loving how calm and collected the whole place was. The waves were normal, crashing to land in a rhythm. I was more focused on the orange light that illuminated the whole right side of the sky. Orange in the middle with red, orange again, followed by yellow and red mixed together and then pink.

"Looks like you're lucky," I said when I heard the shuffle of sand behind me.

"God, it's beautiful." I nodded happily. Watching it slowly turn into only a glimpse. "It moves so fast compared to day time."

I was nodding again, moving towards the sea. "It's magic. That's what mum says anyways."

"How did you even find this place?"

"Dad lost track when we went on a family trip when we first moved here. We had fun in the end anyways." I dipped my legs into the water as the waves crashed towards us.

That's when I realized that I was wearing a worn-out shorts and an old t-shirt.

"It's nice." Before I figure out what he was going to do, Max was already squatting down, taking a hand full of salt water and splashing it my way.

"The fuck man?!"

He laughed, standing back up, handing tucked into his front pocket. "Finally, some swear words."

I didn't understand what he meant but bent down again to get myself a load of water. Except, none stayed in my hand.

Max was bent down laughing at me. I sulked, cursing at nature for not letting me have my way.

"Oh no, careful with who you swear to. Don't swear to nature when you're so close to it. It'd get angry."

I gaped at him. "You believe that shit?"

He nodded, walking along the waves. I followed. "Heather believes them. I just listen to her talk so yeah."

"Oh." I remember Heather. His grandmother.

He chuckled, hitting the back of my head. I was going crazy. "Don't worry about it Baker. She's well passed that now. She actually wanted to meet you, you know, since you're very close to May and all."

"The fuck man? Don't touch me." I tidied my hair back down even though the wind messed it up again. "And you're supposed to say, grandma May. Have some respect."

"How would it be respect if you keep reminding them that they're old and worn out?"

I kept silent at that. I never thought of it like that.

"Now, talk. How did Katie get into your life?"

That was a random question and I knew he knew it too. But, I decided to be the nice guy and responded. "Katie's adopted. She's been with us ever since I could remember. I mean, she's there in all of the pictures in our childhood. It's always Katie, Drake and I. Mum and dad adopted her when she was three. 

"It was so sudden and I loved the idea of having someone to play ball with me so why not? Katie doesn't remember how she ended up parentless but she hated to think that people can be cruel like that. Katie, she's one of a kind. I'm so lucky to have her. Sometimes, I feel thankful to those who threw her away just because I'm selfish like that."

Then I stopped talking, turning to face Max with wide eyes. How did I not see it coming?!

"Dude, stop right there! You're not trying to get Katie to like you or something right?! The fuck man?! That's messed up! I thought Mason was your friend! You're one shitty person to think that you could get Katie! I mean, what the hell was I thinking?! Of course, you wanted to be civil with me because you wanted to be on the safe side when you make Katie break up with Mason and then be with her forever!"

It was messed up. And it hurt, like hell.

Here, I thought that he was being nice to me.

"Woah, calm down Baker. I'm not interested in your sister. Heck, she's like my sister!" I did calm down after that. I believed him. "Plus, I already have my eyes on someone else. Someone too stuck up to notice it anyways."

That was when I realized how my heart literally sunk into my stomach. It felt like it was hard to breath and suddenly, my heart was beating fast.

I was in deep shit, because no matter what route I take, I realized the truth of all the hate I've been feeling. It was there, the indications.

I hated it when he smiled at others, I didn't want him to leave after studying and heck, I even liked his voice; it soothed me wherever I was!

There's only one reason for that...

I liked Max Winters.

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