1 The hush before the storm

"Hey! Max!" A voice hollered behind Max, a cry of excitement in the sea of boring 9th graders. "MAAAAX!!! COME HEEERE!!!" A few heads turned to the shrill, hyper voice that belonged to his best friend. Max looked over his shoulder, rolling his eyes. "What the hell is it now, Addy?!" His voice held tiredness in it, most definitely from the lack of sleep he got last night, playing music with the band his friends had made till one in the morning.

"MEET ME AFTER SCHOOL! I HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU!" Adam replied, jumping up and down behind the crowded hallway filled to the brim with students. Max sighed. "Fine. Courtyard, after school!" He yelled back, feeling exhausted. The second marking period of his first year in high school had started recently, and the homework load had been insane, compared to junior high. And music practice on top of all that was absolutely crazy.

Max stepped into his sixth period class, History, with quite possibly, he thought, the worlds most boring teacher ever. 55 minutes of sitting around doing nothing. Yay. Education.

The hour went by mostly in a blur of thoughts of the new song the band was making, and of the thing that Adam wanted to show him after school. When the bell rang, he jumped out of his seat, and ran down the six flights of gloomy, abandoned faculty stairs that the students weren't supposed to use. He didn't care though. It wasn't as crowded, and the teachers never used it anyway, which was why he got away with it.

Skirting another hallway corner after the fast descent, Max came upon the courtyard doors. He pushed one open, stumbling into the brown dead grass that the school never bothered to take care of. He braced himself.

"MAX!" Adam yelled as loud as a banshee, practically shattering his eardrums. "Come over to the table!" He hollered. Max walked over, dropping his backpack, looking at the weird box on the table. It had stickers all over it, most of which were just a bunch of looney tunes characters. "What's inside it? And why does it look so weird?" Max questioned, further examining it. Adam cleared his throat. "Well, I found it buried under a thin layer of dirt in the woods at the park, and it had a note with it, but it was practically illegible." Max nodded. "Was it just messy cursive?" He said, still eyeing some of the stickers. Adam grew a little red. "You know I can't read that stuff. It's like trying to read scribbles. Impossible." Max sighed. "Hand it to me." Adam rolled his eyes, reaching, annoyed, into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled up old piece of paper. "Here princess know-it-all." He said, handing it to Max.

Max took it, studying the writing. It was messy, but he could make it out. Clearing his throat, he held the paper in the sunlight.

"Dear AJ, when you take this out again, remember what you put on hold, and try to be happier, ok? Stop getting depressed over the stupidest things. After all, mom said that by the time you get this thing out again, you'll be better. So just, stick through it, ok? Be happier. And try to stop worrying for once!

With love and hope, yours truly."

"Hmmm..." Adam went as he glanced with squinted eyes at a stain on the table. "I wonder what that means." He said, questioningly. "It means we should put it back. This is obviously meant to be found by someone else, who looks like they really need whatever's in it." Max said, looking at his watch. "But how could they?" Adam said, looking worried. "It's nothing that important, and it's a neat find! Can't we keep it? You haven't even seen what's in it yet!" Max sighed. "Well, if you said it was nothing important, you should have no problem giving it up. Besides, this means more to someone else." Adam grunted in annoyance. "Fine. Do whatever you like. But look in the box first." Max looked at the box, checking the time again. "Ok, but I have to go home for supper in ten minutes."

Max lifted the lid off and set it onto the old table. Only three things were inside, and none procured any particular attention to him. A pocketknife, a deck of cards, and a picture of a girl. Max picked the picture up, wondering who it was. She was cute though, whoever she was. But that didn't matter. He would never meet her, and if she knew they were messing through her stuff, she would probably hate them.

Max put the lid back on and handed it over to Adam again. "Put it back. It belongs to someone else, and it doesn't matter to us." Adam sighed. "Yeah yeah, I know. I'll put it back tonight, okay?" He said sadly. Max smiled a little, trying to get his friend a little happier. "Ok. Thanks for understanding. I just don't want to make someone else unhappy."

Checking his watch again, Max stifled a gasp. "I only have two minutes left to get to my house!" He jumped up from the table, running to the doors hollering a 'see ya' to Adam. He ran out into the hallway and out the main entrance, grabbing his bike. Jumping on, he pedaled as hard as he could out of the school parking lot, and down the main road. He gulped air as he climbed the hill before his neighborhood, going as fast as he could. Making a left, he switched gears and took a break from pedaling for a minute. Curbing the corner leading to his house, he looked at the time again. One minute and thirty four seconds! A new record! And still time to spare. He threw his bike on the lawn, running up to the door, pulling out his key, and unlocking it. Stumbling into the house, he yanked the key out and slammed the door again. "Hey mom!" He hollered happily, gasping for air.

He swallowed the build up of spit he always got on bike rides like these, heading over to a table chair to rest.

"Max! How was your day?" Max's mother asked from the stairs. Max held a finger up, still panting. He swallowed, and looked over at his mother. "It was good." He said, out of breath. "I think I'll practice with the band some more tonight."

"Mmm-hmm, after dinner and your homework. How fast were you riding? You seem tired." She said, shuffling over to the oven that had just started to beep. "Fast." Max said, walking over to the cabinet next to the sink for a glass. He picked out a tall one, and held it under the faucet, letting the cool water build up. He lifted the glass to his lips, the cold water flowing in. He gulped down the cup, setting it back on the counter and turning the sink off.

"Jeez, you were riding fast, huh?" His mother said as he made his way back to the table. "Yeah. A new record. One minute, thirty four seconds." Max said proudly, calming down. "That's good. You should be on a biking team." His mother responded, matter-of-factly.

Max smiled. "Nah, I prefer my band nerds." He laughed, and climbed the stairs to his room.