"Hey look everyone it''s Mighty Max!"


    ''Ah, there it is,'' Max thought.


    A tall muscular boy wrapped his arm around Max''s neck and pulled him in.


    "Dude, Richard you''re sweaty, get off," Max said.


    "Hey, come on man don''t be like that. We haven''t seen you all summer! Did you get any practice in?"


    Richard was one of the schools all stars. He played football, basketball, soccer - if it was a physical activity Richard probably participated in one way or another. Max ran track back in middle school, and as a freshman, but he gave all that up to focus on making money.


    A group of other jocks started to gather around Max.


    "I told you all at the end of last year I was done with that,"


    "Come on man we almost won state because of you!" One of the other kids pleaded.


    Before anything more could be said a girl stepped forward, and pulled Richard away.


    "Stop wasting your time with this idiot; it''s clear he wants to throw away his life working some dead-end job."


    Richard softened his attitude.


    "Hey Kacey, don''t be like that, I''m sure he has his reasons," Richard then looked back at Max, "hey man if you ever need a favor or anything I''m here."


    "Thanks," Max said squeezing his way out of the crowd.


    In a perfect world Max would''ve spent more time in sports, but it was a waste, even for Richard. No matter how good they were they weren''t likely to go pro, and they weren''t going to make any money, and that''s what Max was chasing.


    Because of the interruption Max figured he''d lost his window seat. It wasn''t the end of the world, but he liked the spot for a few reasons.


    The first being that it was usually the most overlooked by the teacher. If for whatever reason he needed to squeeze in a nap he''d be more than likely to get away with it.


    The second reason was the view; the classroom was on the south side of the building which meant it overlooked Eden beach, the small section that belonged to the school.


    And lastly because he got a good look at everyone. Max was always on the lookout for things he could use to his advantage, and his fellow classmates were no exception. The fact that Richard offered to help Max with anything was another chip at his disposal, and he would cash it in at some point.


    Before Max could look for an alternative seat Gabby called out to him.


    "What''s wrong Maxito?" She asked playfully.


    Max looked over, and saw Gabby''s backpack in the seat he wanted, and there she was in the seat right in front of it, looking back at him with a mischievous glint in her eye.


    Max started to smile, but he did his best to conceal it. He made his way over, and sat down in his desired seat, handing Gabby her backpack.


    "How did you know?"


    "Know what?" She asked, cocking her head back.


    "Never mind."


    Max had made himself comfortable, and started to get his supplies out of his backpack.


    "Looks like you''re still popular."


    "It''s expected," Max replied, "I don''t want the popularity, but I was a former track star. Former being the key word," Max continued, "After the first meet this year no one will remember me."Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "I don''t think that''s true Maxito."


    On the other side of the classroom the jocks were laughing, and throwing a ball around. Kacey had her arms wrapped around Richard, and was beaming up at him.


    "That''s a relationship I wasn''t expecting to see," Max said.


    "Oh?"


    That seemed to peak Gabby''s interest.


    "And why is that?"


    Max leaned back in his chair for a moment, appearing deep in thought.


    "I just never got the impression that Richard was interested in relationships."


    The last few years Max had been privy to locker room talk, and discussions about who the hottest girl was. Whenever these conversations came up Richard never had an answer, and he especially never mentioned Kacey; Max knew this because he was the same way.


    Max knew that for himself the answer was Gabby, but if he ever opened up about that then there''s a chance it''d get back to her, and that''d open up a new slew of problems. That being said, it wasn''t like there weren''t rumors about the two of them already.


    "Maybe they got to know each other over the summer or something," Gabby suggested.


    It wasn''t impossible, but Kacey was the richest girl in school. From Max''s understanding that meant she''d spend the summer abroad visiting other countries, eating wealthy food, meeting diplomats or whatever rich people did, but not staying in the city.


    "Well, whatever it is I hope they''re happy together," Gabby added.


    "Yeah."


    Max checked his phone and saw that class would start in another five minutes. He took a moment to look around the classroom; to his surprise he saw Ava on the opposite side of the room sitting at a desk in the corner, to Max she might as well be invisible. A seat like that had the same perks as Max''s seat minus the view.


    Before his mind could wonder about Draco a loud commotion could be heard coming from the hall, and it sounded like a group of troublemakers.


    A moment later Draco stepped inside the classroom.


    Max didn''t like this, but he knew it was a possibility. Oddly enough, it looked like Draco had already made some friends, and they were waving him off from the door. Max wasn''t familiar with the kids he was with, but he knew they were bullies. A couple of other students in the room seemed to put their heads down when they peaked inside.


    Draco approached one student, a small boy with a camera, and knocked all the items off of his desk, and kicked them across the room. Then, he approached a girl who was working on a drawing, he ripped it out of her hands, and tore it in half.


    Max watched in terror as he laid waste to the classroom; Richard and the other jocks started to take notice, and it looked like they were about to make a move.


    Max decided to feign ignorance, it was all he could do. When asked about his association with Draco he''ll tell everyone that he''s a new student, and that he helped him get to school, but that was it. He''d have to do the same with Ava, which is unfortunate because she was actually useful. Max snuck a glance at her, and the look on her face was just as horrified as the other students. In any case Max decided to keep his head down.


    "Hey Re- I mean, Max what''s up man??" He yelled across the room.


    Gabby immediately turned to look at Max, but he looked past her, and could feel all the eyes in the room on him.


    Draco marched to the other side of the room, and greeted the student who sat next to him by uncapping his water bottle, and attempting to dump it all over her head.


    Max was fast, he was out of his seat and next to the girl in less than a second. He tore the bottle away from Draco, and immediately threw it into the trash can across the room.


    The girl in her seat was looking up at them with quiet, annoyed eyes; she was different from everyone else. Max caught a glimpse of her student ID in one of the pockets of her backpack, her name was Vivi.


    "Good thinking Max!" Draco said, bending down in front of the desk.


    He was face to face with her now, but she didn''t even flinch. In fact, Max could feel the whole room standing still, even the noise from the hallway seemed to fade into nothingness.


    But then it happened, Draco bent forward over the desk even more, and spat straight into Vivi''s face. She must''ve anticipated it because she turned to her right, forcing most of it to get in her hair, and neck.


    "Man, you sure are smart Max! Spit water really hits the mark! Not sure why you had to throw my water bottle away though." Draco said.


    Max let out an exasperated sigh. Before Max could do much else Draco let out a scream, and yanked his hand away from the desk.


    "What the fuck was that?" H yelled, a few drops of blood fell to Vivi''s desk, and some even fell to the floor.


    "Is everything alright?" The noise from the hallway returned as the teacher had finally stepped inside, and the 8:00 AM bell rang indicating the official start of school.


    "I''m sorry." Vivi said standing up, "I was lending him a pencil and it pricked him pretty badly. May I escort him to the nurse? I just feel awful." Vivi explained looking over to Draco.


    "You mother-"


    Max grabbed Draco by the arm, and looked him dead in the eyes; somehow Draco got the message because he put on the bravest smile.


    "I''m okay, it''s just a scratch," He lied, and made his way over to an open seat next to Ava.


    Max took a deep breath, thankful that the altercation was over, and didn''t escalate. He''d have to explain himself to Richard and the guys later, but that shouldn''t be too difficult, it''s Gabby he had to worry about, and maybe Kacey too if she cared enough.


    That wasn''t everything though, if Max had Draco''s personality pegged then he''d likely seek some kind of retribution against Vivi, and he''d need to get ahead of that.