As the week progressed I found myself becoming closer with Max. Even just in those few days I had become more comfortable around him. 

Sure he still annoyed the living daylights out of me but every time I called him on it. I wasn't going to let him get away with it. 

It was strange though, the more time I spent talking to him, the more confident I was speaking to the whole group. 

"Hey do you want to stay at mine tonight?" Leah asked on Thursday as I was walking to history. 

I frowned. It was a school night. But then again, I had one of the least strict dads and it's not like I had been getting any sleep anyway. 

"Sure," I smiled as I turned into my history classroom where Olly was already seated towards the back. 

"Hey," I greeted Olly and when he saw me a bright smile lit his face, reaching his green eyes behind his glasses. 

He wrote something down on his notepad and passed it to me. 

Hey! How are you chicky? =)

I smiled, happy he was in a good mood. 

"I'm good. You seem pretty good too!" I told him, handing his notepad back. 

It landed on my desk seconds later. 

I am!!! 

"Isaac?" I asked and Olly blushed and nodded. 

"What happened?" I asked.

Olly got the notepad back and started to write as fast as he could. 

Which was really fast. 

Oh my God it ws so cute I got to my locker this morning and he left me a note and stuff and it was vry cute!!

I smiled at him but before I could say anything he was writing more down. 

But to be honest I would rather talk about your love life right now!!

I frowned but didn't respond right away as the teacher had walked in. 

This teacher was pretty laid back and we didn't have any assignments so she just put on a movie for us to relax.

I took out a loose sheet of paper and wrote on it, passing it to Olly. 

Sorry but I have no love life =)

Olly made a sound that slightly resembled a scoff as he scribbled something down on the same piece of paper and passed it back.

Need I remind you of Max?

I groaned quietly. 

Nothing is going on with him, Olly.

He obviously didn't believe me in the slightest. 

Please Ry. You've spent every waking minute with this guy for the past week. If you don't have any feelings towards him then he certainly does. Has he said anything to you? Complimented you or anything like that?

It landed on my desk and I frowned, my brain involuntarily flashing back to camping when I said that I wouldn't be the best friend. 

They were all compliments, but I don't think he meant them. 

I decided to explain this Olly, leaving out the actual compliments - which I hate to admit but - that I had commited to memory. 

Of course Olly wanted to know. 

Omg what did he say??

I rolled my eyes as the film about WWII continued to roll in the background. 

He said I am witty, caring, imaginitive, fierce and funny. But he was just joking around. He didn't mean it.

I reluctanly passed the note back to Olly and I saw a wide smile spread across his face. 

Bullshit he was just joking. He so likes you Ry.

I scrunched up the piece of paper and put it in the pocket of my coat. 

Max didn't like me and I knew it. He was just mucking around. 

I actually watched the rest of the movie and was surprised to find it actually interesting. 

Lunch went by quickly, with Max teasing me as usual and Leah informing me that Tessa was going to stay as well. 

English went by in a blur as we were discussing To Kill A Mockingbird. I was surprised to find that I had actually liked that book and I even participated in the class discussion, which was completely out of character for me.

I walked to Japanese alone and was pleased to find I was the first one there. 

I sat at the paired desk at the back and looked out the window, waiting for someone to get here that I could talk to. 

I was in an incredibly good mood and I couldn't wait to go home, get some clothes and go to Leah's for the night. 

I had texted my dad at lunch time and he didn't have a problem with it. I was actually just about to jump up and down in my seat when Tessa came in. 

"Oh my God I'm so excited!!" She exclaimed, coming to sit beside me. 

"Oh my God I know!!!" I said back, matching her enthusiasm. 

We discussed what movies we should watch and what we should do, and we decided on the following. 

We were going to watch 51st Dates, Miss Congeniality, Transformers 2 and Fast and Furious 5. 

We were also going to eat food and talk as well, and stay up late. 

I felt like such a child getting excited over something as small and normal as this but I didn't care. 

The boys walked in all at once, followed by Mr Cole who was holding our corrected orals that we had handed in on Tuesday. 

"So class, you all did really well on writing your orals, and because you did so well and didn't complain when I asked you to read them out loud on Tuesday, you can have spare time if you want." Mr Cole said, which ended up in the boys errupting in cheers and me and Tess just thanking Mr Cole. 

"Hey we should really watch some Friends," I turned to Tessa as the boys formed a circle (including us) with their chairs, moving some desks out of the way. 

"Hell yes!! But the first season or the fifth?" Tess asked, flipping her hair over her shoulder. 

I groaned. "Ugh, but I love both seasons!! I really like season five because of Monica and Chandler, but I love the first season because of Ross and Rachel!!" I exclaimed, frowning. 

"Well do you want to be quoting it?" Tess asked, knowing me all too well. 

I nodded and she smiled. "It's settled. Season 5."

Yeah... I could kind of quote every episode from season 5 of Friends.

"Can I be the first to ask what the hell you two are talking about?" August asked from Tessa's left. 

Max raised his eyebrow at me questioningly, with the smirk resting on his face. He was casually leaning back on his chair and looking very relaxed. 

I shrugged as an answer, well, more of a dismissal. I knew he was asking about the whole Friends thing but I didn't care. 

"We're staying at Leah's tonight and were just deciding which season of Friends to watch!" Tessa exclaimed, still excited. 

"What was the whole thing about quoting or something?" Nate asked, confused. 

Tessa and I laughed and just as I was about to explain, Max answered. "I'm assuming Rylie can quote one of the seasons?" 

I nodded and Seth asked, "Dude, how do you know that?"

Max smirked at me and responded. "She has a fucking awesome memory for quotes."

"Language," Mr Cole said from the front of the room. He wasn't angry, it was more of a gentle reminder to watch it. 

"Gomennasai," Max apologized and I rolled my eyes. 

Show off...

"Where was our invite anyway?" Nate asked, pretending to be hurt by putting his hand over his heart. "It hurt's girls. It hurts."

"Maybe you should ask your girlfriend," Tessa teased, smirking at him. 

Nate's cheeks flushed and we all started laughing. "Awh it's okay Nate," Max said condescendingly comforting, patting his head lightly.

"Seriously dude, are you ever going to ask her out?" Seth asked, looking at Nate. 

"Like you can talk!" Max and I said simultaneously, making us laugh. 

"Guys, I'm the only one who can actually say that here." August said, looking at the other three boys with a winning grin. 

"Hey! I can!" Max defended himself and literally everyone except for me scoffed. 

"Wait, what?" I askd, confused again. 

Tessa bit her lip and the guys just shook their heads, obviously not going to tell me. 

"Oh come on!!! Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?" I whined, pouting. 

"Because you're too unobservant to believe it," August said and I groaned, putting my head down on the table, making everyone laugh. 

"You can all go screw yourselves," I muttered, not that anyone heard me.

Mr Cole let us out of class five minutes early, and because Kye was going to a friends house straight from school I could go straight home. 

Tessa and I agreed to just take one of our cars to Leah's so I volunteered we take mine. 

We only lived a few blocks away from each other anyway, so the plan was for Tess to go home, get her stuff then walk over to mine. 

When I got home I knew no one would be home, so I unlocked the door and closed it behind me. Tessa would just walk in when she got here without knocking. 

I went to my room and put my phone on my iPod doc/CD player and started playing my favourite playlist, starting with Sex on the Radio by Good Charlotte. 

Once the song was finished and I had thrown a few things into a bag, I had a quick shower and got dressed into my favourite black jeans and a cream, semi longsleeve, flowy top. It kind of reminded me of something boho or indie but I absolutely loved it. 

I was putting a few movies into my bag as I was singing the lyrics to Like It's Her Birthday when Tessa arrived. 

I heard her footsteps down the hallway but I kept singing and zipped up my bag. 

"I love this song!!" Tessa exclaimed, putting her bag down and sitting on my bed. 

"How good is it?" I asked, then took my phone off the doc and slid it into the back pocket of my jeans. 

We talked about Good Charlotte and the Madden brothers on the short drive to Leah's. We had grown up listening to Good Charlotte and we loved the Madden brothers. 

I got Joel and Tessa got Benji. 

Leah ran out to greet us and we literally started jumping up and down in excitement. 

We hadn't done this in so long. 

Leah's parents had gone away for work and her older brother was staying at University so we had the house to ourselves. 

We had watched a lot of season 5 of friends and were halfway through our first movie - Transformers 2 - when it hit midnight. I was starting to get tired and so was Tessa and Leah, so we all retreated to Leah's room where we had set up our beds earlier. 

We got changed into our pyjamas and just as I was lying down, my phone rang. 

I searched for it in my jeans pocket then got back into bed while answering it, not bothering to check the caller ID. 

"Hello?" I answered, half expecting someone to laugh and hang up. 

"Hi!" A cheerful voice came through the phone. 

I scowled into the darkness. "Max. What the hell are you doing?" I asked him, frustrated. 

"Lying in bed. What about you?" He asked conversationally. 

I will kill him. Even if it's the last thing I do.

"Max. Why did you call?" I asked grumpily and all I heard was his laugh. 

"I don't know. I'm bored. What's up?" He asked again. 

Maybe if I actually answered him he would leave me alone. 

"Lying in bed," I responded, same as he had. 

I could almost picture the smirk on his face as he said the next line. "Wait, shouldn't you be lying in my bed?" 

Yes. 

"No. Goodnight," I said - laughing despite myself - and hung up, putting my phone on silent and throwing it across the room, hoping it landed near my bag somewhere. 

"Why did he call?" I heard Tessa's voice from the darkness. 

I took a deep breath in preparation for the conversation that was bound to happen. 

"Look if you guys want to pester me about Max, go ahead. Just at least come here so I don't feel like I'm talking to random voices," I told them, and in a minute we were sitting in a circle between the matresses Tessa and I were sleeping on, on the floor. 

Leah didn't waste any time. "Can't you see the affect he has on you?" She started, and when I shook my head she groaned, then continued. "You've opened up since the moment he got here. If it weren't for Max, you never would have stood up to Brooklyn and if it weren't for him, you'd still be the shy, quiet girl who people were surprised at when she spoke." 

Tessa was nodding along with everything she was saying. "Can't you see the difference?" Leah asked and I ran a hand through my hair. 

"You know that could be anything," I tried to defend myself but they both shook their heads simultaneously. 

"No, it's because of Max." Leah said, gritting her teeth. 

"Fine. It might be. But we're just friends and you know it. We understand each other and sure, he makes it easier for me to talk to other people but he's just a friend. Even if I did have a crush on him, he doesn't like me so the whole thing is redundant. I don't know why you guys are even trying."

People don't care about you as much as you think they do. 

And maybe that was a pessimistic way of looking at thing, but that way you didn't get your hopes up. That way you didn't get hurt.

I knew exactly where it came from too. 

I shook my head, trying to get the image of my mother out of head. 

"Okay, for starters that's bullshit. He so likes you," Tessa said, less gentle than she usally was. 

I groaned. "You're starting to sound like Olly."

"That reminds me actually. He told us to ask you what Max said to you when we were at Butterfly forest," Leah said, her curiousity getting the best of her.

That traitor.

"It's nothing," I told them, but I was lying of course. 

Honestly, I didn't want to tell them because I wouldn't be able to tell them without keeping the smile off my face. 

But I knew they would keep pestering if I didn't tell them so I did. 

"Fine. We were lying in bed talking and I told him that I probably wouldn't be a good friend because I'm moody and emotional and annoying or something like that. And he said he disagrees and said I'm witty, imaginitive, fierce, funny, caring,." I couldn't keep the smile from my mouth when I said that, but then I got pissed off as I realized something. 

"Awh that's adorable!" Leah shrieked, but Tessa just gave me a hard look.

"Rylie. The best relationship is where you act like lovers and best friends at the same time. That's what you and Max have. Don't throw that away because you're being stubborn and not admitting your feelings for him."

I sighed. 

Maybe she was right, maybe I had a tiny, little crush on Max. But so what?

It's not like I liked him. Or worse; loved him. 

And it wasn't going to get to that. 

We stayed pretty much silent after that, everyone going back to their beds and going to sleep. 

I fell asleep thinking why the hell Max had called me at midnight. 

It didn't make sense.

But then again, nothing about Max Harris ever made sense.