When Ropes Are Wrapped Around Your Limbs

Max's POV

“Honey came in and she caught me red handed, creeping with the girl next door,” I sang, dragging the hairbrush through my short blonde hair once more.

“God Maxwell, you have a shit taste in shit music!” my brother Jason snorted, walking into my room and throwing himself onto my bed. “Mom says can you pick Todd up on your way home from school? I got work later.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” I dropped the brush and turned to grab my schoolbag, giving Jase a friendly punch on the shoulder. “Fuck you anyway, Shaggy's good.”

“Shaggy's fuckin terrible,” he groaned. “You want a lift today? First day back, traffic's gonna be a bitch. Plus, mom and dad already left for work.”

“Well then, I don't really have a choice, do I,” I muttered. “We're picking Frank up on the way though.”

It was the first day of term, and I was back at Mojave High School for another year. I always hated the first few weeks back after summer holidays; nothing but new kids to make friends with – or ignore, depending on their looks and personalities. Not that I had anything (much) against the new kids, that would have been hypocritical as shit, but I was happy with my group of friends, my girlfriend Anna, and my best friend Frank Iero. True, Frank had only started at Mojave in March, and he did tend to dress like a bit of an emo sometimes, but he was still a really cool kid. He also loved soccer almost as much as I did. Actually, come to think of it, to an outsider, me and Frank didn't seem the slightest bit alike. To start with, I was blonde, I was in the in crowd and dating a cheerleader, I was in some of the school's sports teams – not loads, I wasn't a freakin jock – and pretty much anyone who mattered liked me, or at least got on with me. Frank, however...Frank was the kinda kid who dyed his hair so much that even I wasn't sure of it's original color, he hung around with me and a group of my friends most of the time, he was pretty short – which was a downside when he wanted to play basketball with the rest of us, but he made up for his height with his semi-hyper personality. You get the picture. Frank also had his lip and his nose pierced, and both ears stretched. I had no idea why anyone would want to walk around with bits of metal stuck through random parts of their body – but it was Frank's decision, not mine.

By the time we got to school, Frank had obviously pretty much exhausted Jason, and he seemed quite glad to get rid of us. As he drove away, I glanced at Frank. “Time?”

“Eight fifty-three,” he told me, fumbling his schedule out of his pocket. “I got math first, you?”

“Same here, man,” I shrugged as we headed towards the main school building. “Miss Philips, room 1.021.”

We stepped into the classroom a few minutes later, to find most of the class already seated, and Miss Philips – a cute brunette with a short pixie cut – exasperatedly sifting through a pile of papers on her desk.

“Morning Green, Iero,” she said, with barely a glance in our direction. “Class, it seems the registers have been misplaced. I'll have to go and find them. Please – no trouble.” And with that, she hurried out of the room.

I glanced at Frank, rolling my eyes. “Typical, huh?”

“First day, man, what can ya do?” he replied. “If I was president I'd abolish the whole education system in general. Seriously, it's so fucking crap when you get to sixteen. Anyway....” he wandered off to his old seat. I sighed and turned to find my own desk. I didn't have to look hard. The boy sitting at the desk next to mine was perched on the back of his chair, feet on the actual seat. He was pretty noticeable, to say the least. He had dark brown hair and a rind through each corner of his bottom lip, as well as what appeared to be a couple of tattoos barely visible under his huge baggy monster t-shirt.

“Y'awright mate?” he said, in a British accent. I sighed, not wanting to be rude.

“Yeah man, I'm good,” I muttered, and turned to my desk – only to find another new kid, perched on my desk. Yeah, on my actual desk.

“ 'sup dude?” the other kid grinned. American accent – we were safe from English invasion, for now anyway.

“Nothing...only that's my seat,” I replied, sizing him up. “But it's cool, carry on talking, or whatever.” I didn't want to get into a fight on my first day back – especially not with a new kid. The guy was tall, even sitting down, and had a stud through the middle of his lip, as well as a nose piercing and a tattoo on each arm. His hair seemed to be naturally black, cut short, except for his fringe – which was easily almost chin-length. I would have said it looked stupid, but Frank's was exactly the same, save for the color contrast.

I stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, but then, thankfully, Miss Philips hurried back into the room.

“Alright class, take your seats,” she called, placing a pile of folders on her own desk. “Obviously it's the start of a new school year, we have new students joining us, and I hope our own students here will make them feel welcome. When I say your name, just say yes Miss Philips, or something along those lines. Let's start with...Jon Burner.”