Young Writers Society

Amber was fire-engine red, and she knew it. She turned away and muttered, "I guess I'll go home."

The situation was resolved as Miles strolled up. He looked from Max to Amber, then back. "Hi, hope I didn't interrupt. I'm Miles Keyston."

"A pleasrue," said Siren. "Are you new here?"

"Yeah, I moved in yesterday. Anywho, it's nice to meet you all." He waved and went his way.

"Nice to meet you, he says," Amber grumbled. "He didn't even wait to hear our names. What's up with that?"

"Cool it, Pip. I think you should go home. Come on, crew." Siren waved his bother over to join him. "I'll catch you later."

"Thanks," muttered Amber. "Oh well, I'll go look Miles up." She went to a pay phone, thumbed it until she reached "Residential," and looked up "Keyston." It was listed under the name Robert.

"Is that his name, or his dad's?" She shrugged and dialed the number.

"You've reached Miles. Please call back later, or leave a message." She hung up, thinking, "The name fits him to a T."

Siren and her brother had already took off to their sixth period class, and the Miles person was far gone.


"Umm....Anyways..." She turned back to Max. "You ready to go? I'm just gonna go sit on the back of my truck until seventh, I might just go to seventh today."


"I thought you said you raced?" Max was confused.


"Yeah,I do, I just drive this to school so people won't trash my car. And so the cops won't recognize me.Oh, I got two drinks in my bag if you want one when we get out there, I haven't opened them yet." They took off down the hall, cutting corners and avoiding other students. They went out the last door and crossed the recess area to the student's parking lot.


Amber slung her book bag over the back of her truck, jumping into the bed. She sat with her back leaned against the cab, and invited Max up.


"Come on," she said, pulling out the two drinks and a bag of chips, "I won't bite...hard."
She stuck her tongue out playfully at him.

Max smiled and hopped up on the hood beside her. She offered a drink, but Max shook his head. "Thanks, but I don't drink."

"Why not? Are you scared to drink?" she asked, her voice teasing.

Max looked at her for a second before saying. "Yeah, I am."

She hadn't been expecting an answer like that. If he admitted to being afraid to drink, there was no point in teasing him about it.

Amber shrugged. "Suit yourself." She opened a can and began to drink.

"I thought it was against the rules to drink on school property." Max said.

"What, you going to tell me to stop?"

"No, but it'd be a shame to be suspended from school for drinking on your first day back. So, tell me more about these races."

She chuckled and took a swig of her drink.


"Actually, it's just Nestea." She tucked her hair behind her ear and sat the other can next to her, in case he got thirsty. She wasn't surprised he wanted to hear about the races.


"The racing? Well...You gotta know people." She smiled at him, deviously, "But then again, you know me." She nudged him with her elbow.



"Underground?" He asked, wondering if it was one of those secretive racing groups or something.


"Kind of... It's only to keep the cops out of our hair, though. Anyone can join, pretty much." She smoothed her hair out and layed back on the truck, pulling her feet up to rest on the old paint.


"So, you race?" He seemed a little impressed, but more like he wanted to get into the racing himself. She would love to have another racer on the street team.


"Yeah, but mostly drift. Of course not in this old thing." She stomped her foot lightly, banging it against the hood. This was her back up.


"Then what do you race?" He asked.


"I have a, I think it's 1974, Datsun 280Z. Like I said, I'm not sure if it's 73 or 74. When I first saw that car, I instantly fell in love with it. It barely even drove and I wouldn't pass it up for the world..." Her voice trailed off, and so did her mind.

"What about you?" she asked. "You got anything to race?"

Max shrugged. "Maybe, but I doubt my dad would let me race."

She looked at him. "What, you afraid your dad's going to ground you if he finds out you've been racing?" She made sure the tease was thick in her voice.

Max shrugged again. "Racing does sound interesting, don't get me wrong, but it's not like that. My father is someone I respect and look up to. Most fathers in this day and age try to be friends with their kids, but mine has been nothing but a father to me. He's always been there for me, offering me advice, helping me when I'm in trouble." He shook his head. "I'm not sure if you'd understand. It's not that I don't race out of fear of him, but out of respect."

Amber just looked at him. None of the people she knew had fathers like that, then again, many of the people she knew raced.

Amber was about to say something when she saw three guys walking toward her truck. One of them was the guy Max had hit in the cafeteria earlier. "Sh*t," she thought.

Siren

Siren sat in her 6th period class and couldn't help but doodle on paper she was so bored. She traced an old 54 Chevy pick up on her notebook as the teacher talked about a bunch of english stuff. She was good at english and she had always been able to ignore the teacher and still pass with flying colors.

"This isn't art class." The teacher said above her and Siren quickly snapped her book shut. "This is your first day and you are already not paying attention. Please step out to the hall until the end of class. I want to talk to you then." Siren picked up her stuff and walked out the door. SHe looked around then walked out to the parking lot. THere were three guys ahead of her so she walked slower looking for Amber.

Roxy

"Mr. C?" I asked, before I entered the band room. "Mr. Watford asked me to help him look as an engine with a messed up camshaft. Obviously a bunch of new students were trying to rebuild it and-"

"Go ahead, Roxy." Mr. C said. I smiled and hurried down the hall. I turned down the hall that led to the Auto garage, but instead of heading to the garage, I went straight out the double doors. I walked around the school to the student parking lot and blessed my brilliance when I saw the Jock Squad and Siren, a few meters behind, heading toward Pip's truck. I was wondering how all these students had managed to skip. I quickened my pace, hoping to meet the Squad as they got to Amber's ride.

**I'll be gone for a bit can y'all keep me alive please**

Amber threw her can into the back of the truck and jumped off the front of it, barely taking two steps before she was face to face with the 'leader' of the jock squad. He was almost a foot and a half taller than her, so she tilted her head up and faced him.


"Can I help you?" She said in with a smart tone. The jocks didn't seem to like it.


"Yeah girly, move out of the way." He tried to push through her, but she steadied herself on her feet and held strong to the ground.


"Stay away from my truck...and Max!" She hissed, shoving her hands into the boys chest, barely pushing him back. He was heavy, but she was angry.


The others caught him by the arms, and frowned at her; they were p*ssed. The one that acted as the leader stood back up, and got right back in Amber's face.


"You better be glad you're a girl, or else...!" He balled his fist up and shook it angrily in front of her face.


"Oh, I'm really scared." She taunted, as she saw Siren approaching and took a step back towards the truck and Max.

Max sighed and hopped off the truck. He came up to Amber and put his hand on her shoulder. "I can handle this."

She would have liked to argue, but the look in his eyes was enough. It wasn't the look of pride that most men had when they stepped up to fight. His look was softer, he was probably more worried about her well-being than his pride. She nodded and stepped away.

Max looked at the leader. "I guess you're here to get even with me, right?"

He began to crack his knuckles. "You got that right. Nobody disrespects me or my guys. Now, put 'em up!"

"No."

After what she had seen in the cafeteria, Amber wasn't expecting him to say no to a fight.

The jocks began to laugh. "What's the matter? Afraid I'll hurt you, chicken sh*t?"

Max shook his head and looked at him with lazy eyes. "I don't fight for petty reasons like popularity or revenge. If I fight, it's only to keep the people I care about safe. I'm not a coward for refusing to fight, you're a coward for trying to pick a fight for such mundane reasons."

"Why you...!" The leader's fists tightened and he drew back to strike.

"Stop!" Siren ran up and grabbed his arm, keeping him from hitting Max.

The jock grabbed her arm and tore it away from his. She let out a painful yelp when he twisted her arm. "This doesn't concern you, get out of here before I lose my-"

In a blur of movement, Max stepped up, grabbed the leader's wrist and twisted it to the side. His wrist let out a bone chilling crack when Max jerked it away from Siren's arm. He let out a shout of pain and began to cringe.

Max held the guy's wrist tighter, making him squirm a little more under his grip. His voice had suddenly become cold. "You can insult me, treat me like sh*t, even spit in my face and I will not fight you. But, if you so much as lay another finger on one of my friends, I swear to God, I will hurt you."

"Siren!" Amber ran over to her, but flinched back as the big jock swung at Max. She heard bones snapping as she opened her eyes, and remembered Siren. Running over to her, she gently held her up.


"Did he hurt you?" Amber said frantically.


"Just a little..." Siren let out a small hiss of pain as Amber pulled her up. Amber cringed.


"Oh, I'm sorry!" She let go of Siren after she got her back up to her feet, and realized Max had the jock almost on the ground. Looking at Max, her blood ran cold for a moment, but then she heard what he said, and she flushed red for a moment.


"Max! Let him go! He's learned his lesson." Amber moved over to Max and gently put her hand on his shoulder. "Just let him go, he'll leave us alone now."

Max looked at Amber, then back at the jock. His eyes were wild, staring up at him. The other two jocks that accompanied him were too scared to jump in. During the fight he had broken the guy's arm.

That's when Max noticed a group of people running through the parking lot toward them. Some of the people were teachers. Max let out a weary sigh and released the leader's arm. He would take his punishment like a man.

"What the heck do you think you kids are doing out here?" One of the teachers demanded, Siren stepped forward keeping her wrist close to her side.

"Exactly what our teachers told us to." She said,

"Ha, like a teacher would have you out here fighting." another hissed,

"I didn't mean them to be included in the group. They came out here and picked a fight, he was just defending himself, and the teacher kicked me out." She replied, keeping the me quieter, the teachers didnt' seem to notice she didn't say us.

"Why?" the first teacher asked,

"Because we weren't payin attention. Said to leave and not come back until class is over." She replied, Max was about to do something but she quickly talked over. "So we are doing exactly what we were told." she replied. The teachers rolled their eyes and left taking the jocks with them.

"Why did you do that?" Max demanded.

"Cause you helped me, I help you." She replied, "Plus, it wasn't completely a lie, I mean, I was kicked out of class and told not to come back until after class." She smiled, "You have ways with fighting, I have ways with words."

"You ok?" Amber asked motioning to her wrist.

"I'll survive, its nothing new." She replied with a smile pushing away every thought of her father.

"Thanks," Max said.

Siren nodded and said, "You're welcome." The bell rang for school to end and the students began to flood out of the building. Siren looked back to Max and Amber and said, "I'll see you guys later." They waved as she ran off.

Amber sighed, "Well, I guess I'll be going, too. I'll see you later, Max." She began walking back to her truck.

"Hey, Amber."

She looked over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

"If you're not too busy tonight, you want to go out for dinner?" He smiled when he said it.

Her breath caught in her throat. She hadn't expected him to ask her that, especially at a time like this. Her face turned so red, you would have thought she was on fire.


"Umm....I, uh.. Yeah, that would be great!" She slurred her words slightly, but managed to clear her throat without choking. Oh boy...It had been a while since she had actually went out on a date.


She shuffled her feet nervously, eyes to the ground, trying to hide her red face. "So uh, I guess I'll catch ya later?"


"Yeah, 6:30 sound good?" Max asked politely, his smile even bigger.


"Uh huh, that's fine. I'll meet you at the...Chili's, ok? Later!" She jumped into her truck and waved back at Max, smiling. She started her truck and took off.