The writer of First Down For The Girls is baaaaaaaaack! Yay! And because of that, I dedicate this chapter to her! Obviously, I'm a BIG fan of hers. Also, be sure to check out her current work, "Strictly Business". It will surely be an awesome story! I can't wait to read more! :D

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It was Wednesday! When Todd and Maxine arrived at school, they noticed that it was unusually quiet. Maxine remembered the challenge of Todd about making her talk. But it seemed that he wasn't doing anything. That didn't mean she could relax.

In the hall, Maxine saw Peter flirting with some girls. Actually, there were two girls. As Maxine passed, she overheard their conversation.

Peter smiled charmingly at the girls that they almost melted.

“Will you go out with me?” asked Peter at the brown-haired girl on the right.

The girl answered by nodding.

“I want to hear it from your voice,” pleaded Peter, giving out his puppy-dog-look. “Please.”

Maxine wondered how amazing his plead was. Any girl would fall for the face he was making right now. Even if she didn't want to admit it, she felt really bad that she wanted to go over to Peter and comfort him.

She mentally slapped herself. What in the world were she just thinking?! This was Peter she was thinking about!

Wow. Just wow. That was how strong Peter's charms could be when he wanted.

“I'll totally go out with you!” piped out the tanned girl on the left.

“What?! No way! He asked me! ” shouted the brown-haired girl.

Peter grinned, the puppy-dog-look now gone. There was only amusement and smugness left on his face. “Girls, girls.” They willingly turned their heads toward him. “May I have your ribbons?”

The girls sighed and handed it to him with sad expressions. He winked and thanked the girls. After that, he walked away. Just like that.

Amazing, Maxine thought in disbelief.

☺ ♪ ☺ ♫ ☺ ♪ ☺

In class 3-B, the chairs and desks had been changed from single chair to double. The old chairs were individually separated. Now though, the new chairs were by pairs.

Everyone was making a fuss over it as they stood by the door, unsure of what to do. Finally, Ms. Avery came through the crowd and walked to her table. She turned and smiled at her puzzled students.

“What happened, Miss Avery?” asked Gerald Conner, the stereo-typical class geek.

Ms. Avery leaned on her table and crossed her arms. “Headmaster Sky thinks this is a great idea for students to be closer to each other, Gerald.”

There was a mutter of complains.

“Now, now,” she said over the noise, “you can seat wherever you like, by pair,” she added with her smile growing wider.

Students decided to sit down. Todd chose his usual seat, at the corner of the room next to the window. Some girls attempted to sit beside Todd. But Michelle Jones glared at them. Michelle had a huge crush on Todd, see.

“Hi, Todd! Can I sit beside you?” asked Michelle bravely.

“No,” said Todd coolly, not bothering to look at her.

Michelle looked unfazed. “Oh! You made me speak. Here's my ribbon.” She gave Todd her ribbon and left him alone.

That's okay, though Michelle. At least he answered me. Unlike last year, he didn't even say anything.

Michelle hated girls near Todd. She knew who to hate. She also knew if she was going to hate you the first time she sees you. Apparently, she didn't like Maxine. But later on, she realized that Maxine wasn't that bad. Michelle noticed the development of Todd since Maxine came, even if she hated to think that Maxine was the actual reason.

When they were all settled in and was about to start homeroom, Maxine arrived. It was a first for her to be late.

Why could she be late? thought Todd.

She then gave a letter to Ms. Avery.

Ms. Avery took the letter and read it aloud,

Miss Avery,

I'm sorry I'm late. A group of boys attacked me and they kept talking and talking. I think they were aiming for my ribbon. Somehow, I got away. Please let me be excused.

Maxine

Ms. Avery delicately laughed.

“You're excused. Choose your seat,” she told Maxine.

There were two seats left: The one beside Todd and the one beside Allan, the round-faced overweight guy who was known to be mean while at the same time very sensitive when teased. Well, she would rather sit quietly with Allan than sit with Todd; they were just going to bicker at each other all day.

When she was walking toward Allan, Ms. Avery stared at her.

“Why don't you go sit with Todd, Maxine?” suggested Ms. Avery.

Maxine panicked. She sharply shook her head, wide-eyed.

Ms. Avery looked surprised. “No?” she asked.

“Why not?” suddenly asked by Todd to Maxine.

He was smirking.

Oh, great.

Maxine ended up sitting beside Todd.

He's planning something, Maxine thought for the ninth time.

Todd wasn't doing anything, though; he wasn't even smiling.

For a moment, Maxine's eyes wandered to Todd, examining him.

Why's he even popular? thought Maxine. He's not cool, calm, and collected as everybody says he is. He’s more like moody, mean, and cold. But I think I'm the only one who can see that because he never talks to girls that much — except for Kim and me. He's very popular with girls, though. I wonder why?

Suddenly, Todd slowly turned to Maxine. For what felt like a century, they stared at each other. Then, he stuck out his tongue like a five-year-old kid.

Maxine's mouth dropped open. She was beginning to be annoyed. But she couldn't do anything but to close her eyes and ignore Todd.

In Art class, Ms. Avery assigned the students to draw the symbol that represented them. As the class started to work, Maxine struggled to find her pencil. To no avail. There was a mark on that pencil that says it belonged to her.

She faintly noticed Todd raise his hand slightly. Then, he tapped their wooden table using some sort of pen. She grew distracted by the continuous tapping so she looked up to glare at Todd, only to see him holding a pencil. Her pencil.

Though he wasn't looking at her, he was obviously letting her know that he had her pencil. She pointed at it, her mouth opened in shock.

Todd slowly looked at her and stuck out his tongue again. He was trying to irritate her to death. He was making her speak. But she wouldn't let him win that easily. No, she wouldn't let him win at all.

Maxine reached her hand to get the pencil but Todd dodged it.

“What?” he asked innocently.

Maxine pouted. She pointed again at the pencil.

Give it back! she thought as she made a sign language.

“I can't understand you. Speak up,” said Todd, with no such reaction. But he was really enjoying this.

Maxine grabbed her pen and wrote:

Give me back my pencil!

NOW, SAMUELS!

She showed it to Todd. He looked at it for a second, then looked again at Maxine.

“Your handwriting is horrible,” said Todd, the corner of his lips twitching, trying very hard not to grin.

Now, Maxine was extremely annoyed. That pencil was her favorite. She wouldn't up and lose to this handsome devil. No freaking way.

With that, she reached forward to get the pencil from Todd. But he kept pushing her hands away. At some point, he couldn't help but chuckle at her failed attempts.

A few minutes later, half of the class were watching them.

“What's going on?” asked Ms. Avery curiously, noticing her distracted students. She saw Maxine's written message and read it aloud, “'Give me back my pencil.'”

Maxine pointed at the pencil that Todd was holding. Todd's expression was unreadable. He looked indifferently at Ms. Avery waiting for her to say something.

Ms. Avery was surprised and smiled at the same time.

“Todd Samuels, are you,” Ms. Avery paused in disbelief, “are you trying to make Maxine talk?”

There was a sudden whispering and muttering in the room. Everyone was looking at Todd and Maxine. Some couldn't believe that Todd was really making Maxine talk.

“That can't be possible, Miss Avery,” muttered Michelle, shaking her head.

“Well, Todd?” said Ms. Avery, ignoring Michelle and waiting for Todd's answer.

Todd sighed. “Miss Ave, don't jump to conclusions that I'm trying to make Maxine talk just because I have her pencil. And can you please stop asking me those kinds of questions? It's really annoying,” he added in a bored voice. He gave the pencil back to Maxine. “What a big problem for just a pencil.”

Maxine stared at the pencil for a moment. Then, she looked at Todd. He started to draw. Eventually, the class returned to what they were supposed to do.

Did he just say, 'please'? thought Maxine. How come he's so polite — well, somehow — to others? But with me, he's a total knucklehead and always calling me names. I still can't understand him.

Someone snapped their fingers in front of her face, making her jump back on her seat. She looked up, annoyed.

“It's lunch time already, idiot,” informed Todd, standing up. “What an airhead,” he muttered under his breath. With that, he left the classroom.

She watched him leave the room with a scowl. She was so much in deep thoughts that she didn't realize it was already break time. She sighed and followed him out. She went straight to her locker to put her books back.

When she opened her locker though, there was a bouquet of roses with a letter attached. Her eyes widened and she gasped. She quickly took the letter, opened it, and read it,

Miss Maxine Ferguson of class 3-B,

I don't have the courage to come up to you and ask you to be my friend. That is why I made this letter. I know that you are kind and popular. There are rumors that you are dating your fellow band-mate, Todd Samuels. But I do not believe it. I am a senior High School student. So... Will you be my friend?

I hope you will accept,

Christopher Smith

Maxine stared at it for a few moments, not knowing how to react. She was happy about the flowers and the fact that he wanted to be friends with her. Not to mention, he was really sweet by going to all the trouble of writing her a letter.

“Boo!” exclaimed Kim.

Maxine jumped out of shock, her hand flying to her chest.

Kim laughed and saw the bouquet of roses. She looked curiously at Maxine. “What's that you got there? Ooh, flowers? How nice! Who's it from?” she asked, looking up expectantly at Maxine.

Maxine ignored everything that Kim said. All she noticed was that Kim was already talking. Who made her talk and who got her ribbon?

Why are you talking? asked Maxine in a sign language.

Kim understood it. “Gerald Conner pulled a trick on me,” she said. “Smart geek,” she muttered, shaking her head.

Maxine laughed, but gave the letter to Kim. Kim scanned it and grinned. She teased Maxine all the way to the Sky Cafeteria, with Maxine just ignoring her. They sat with Todd, Brian, and Karl. Peter was missing, as usual.

“I saw Peter with a lot of ribbons. How about you, you guys?” asked Kim.

“Mine's twenty eight,” replied Brian.

“I have thirty nine. Without effort,” said Karl grinning.

Kim laughed. She turned to Todd and asked, “Todd?”

“I don't know nor care,” said Todd expressionless.

“He puts his ribbons in his locker,” shrugged Brian. “Maybe it's about . . . fifty or more.”

Todd smirked. “I'm gonna win the challenge,” he told Maxine.

Maxine smiled, too.

Brian suddenly noticed the letter Kim was holding.

“What's with the letter, Kim?” he asked.

Kim giggled. “It's a love letter Maxine received —” she paused and glanced at Maxine.

Maxine shook her head and mouthed, “No.”

“— from Christopher Smith,” finished Kim, ignoring Maxine.

“Christopher Smith?” repeated Karl, thinking he might have heard wrong.

“Yeah,” said Kim.

Brian grinned at Maxine. “Do you like him?” he asked.

Maxine incredulously shook her head.

“She also received a beautiful bouquet of roses. Isn't that wonderful?” added Kim dreamily.

“What a simpleton. Just receiving a few flowers and you're supposed to be happy about it?” said Todd in a don't-make-me-laugh voice.

“What if they ended up being a couple? What do you think, Todd?” Brian asked Todd, grinning.

To everyone's surprise, Todd laughed. It was the first time for them to see Todd laugh like that. He was laughing heartily as though he really found the idea amusing.

“What an absurd couple! With a simpleton like her and a coward like him! Hahaha!” Todd clutched his stomach in laughter. “Don't make a joke, Brie.”

Maxine was beginning to lose her temper.

“Todd's right about that,” Karl piped in seriously. “That Christopher Smith is a total coward. I'm telling you. Peter and I call him ‘CowardChris.' He's living up to it, anyway.”

Todd still chuckled beside Maxine. She was angry now.

First of all, she was called a 'simpleton' by him. Second, the gang was talking about Maxine ending up with CowardChris when she hadn't even met him yet. And third, Todd was still laughing about it. She seriously couldn't take it anymore. She clenched her fist, gritting her teeth. And then . . .

Maxine punched Todd on the cheek. The gang froze.

“Ooh, that must hurt,” muttered Brian quietly, making a face.

“Even though she can't speak, she can punch,” Karl pointed out.

Brian and Kim nodded.

“What the hell did you do that for?” demanded Todd, scowling at Maxine.

Todd caressed his cheek as he pouted. Maxine didn't care that there was now a pink blotch on Todd's right cheek. She was too busy glaring at him.

Brian, Karl, and Kim burst out laughing at the turn of events.

A little while later, when they were all finished with their lunch, there was no more glaring and pouting. Peter then joined them, standing behind Karl.

“Wazzup homies?” said Peter in very different accent than his normal one.

Everyone stared at Peter.

“’Homies’?” asked Kim, with a raised eyebrow.

“What happened to your vocabulary?” asked Brian, frowning.

“Dude, it doesn't look good on you,” said Karl, wincing.

“I'm just trippin',” shrugged Peter, nodding.

Then, Peter noticed that Maxine's awfully quiet — which was really not like her. Beside her was Todd, in his normal self. Peter figured that no one has gotten Maxine's ribbon yet — even Todd! So Peter decided to use one of his tactics on Maxine. He smirked and squeezed himself between Todd and Maxine. He faced Maxine, his back at Todd.

“You know, baby,” said Peter in a low, seductive voice. “You must be the only girl left who's still not speaking.” He leaned closer to Maxine, their faces only inches apart.

“Gosh, I thought he wasn’t going to be himself for at least a week,” whispered Kim to Brian.

Maxine rolled her eyes and shoved Peter's face away.

They all knew that Peter was attempting to get Maxine's ribbon. They also knew about the challenge that Todd declared yesterday – well, except for Peter because he wasn't there when Todd made the challenge.

“I wouldn't even think about it, if I were you,” Karl advised Peter.

“He just did, Karl,” snorted Brian.

Kim suddenly pointed at Todd with a somewhat horrified expression. Brian and Karl turned their eyes to Todd. And they made the same expression that Kim wore.

Karl gestured Peter to look at Todd.

Peter tilted his head when he saw Karl with a weird expression. So he shrugged and turned around to see Todd with murderous eyes. Todd looked so angry. Peter widened his eyes with horror and quickly hid behind Karl.

“Okay, sorry,” said Peter quickly, still hiding.

“Scary,” murmured Kim.

Ten minutes before dismissal time, Ms. Avery left the class. Students started to leave the classroom too, eager to go home.

“Let's put it this way,” whispered Todd. “There's still ten minutes before school hours is over. That means the game is also over. If you don't speak, fine. I'm going to the Sky News paper editor-in-chief, and tell him that you wake up every morning without brushing your hair and teeth.” He smirked at Maxine's horrified expression. He stood up and said, “Of course, it's not true. But who knows who'll believe it.”

Maxine grabbed Todd's tie and pulled him down in level with hers.

You wouldn't dare, thought Maxine, her free hand turning into a fist.

Todd saw it. His smirk became even wider.

“You can punch me all you want. But that's not going to stop me,” said Todd, as he removed Maxine's grip on his tie.

After that, he quickly left. In panic, Maxine grabbed her things and followed Todd to the hallway. But she couldn't see him anymore. There were a lot of juniors around, blocking her view. She craned her neck, hoping desperately to get a sight of him.

Oh no! panicked Maxine. I'll be humiliated! I can't believe he would do such a thing. I have to stop him! I have no choice but to speak! Ugh! I really hate to do this . . .

“Samuels!” yelled Maxine. “Todd Samuels!”

She didn't care when students started looking at her as she rushed past them. She passed by an empty classroom when its door suddenly opened. She stopped.

Todd smirked when he caught Maxine's eye. He walked towards her and stopped right in front of her. She glowered at him the moment she saw him. He reached out his hand, waiting for her to give the ribbon. She angrily shoved it to him.

Todd burst out laughing. Maxine tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for him to finish. When at last he was done, he asked, “Did you seriously think that I would do such a childish thing?”

“You — You lied!” gasped Maxine, eyes wide.

Todd raised an eyebrow. “You just realized it? Geez — Were you born yesterday?” He chuckled again, before walking ahead of her. He lightly patted her head. “I'll meet you in the car, dummy.”

As Todd walked away, Maxine slightly left her mouth open. She was still in disbelief. “How can I be so stupid?” she wondered aloud.

“N — No one is stupid,” someone stammered from behind.

Maxine turned around to see who said it.

It was a male student. He was as tall as Maxine. His ash brown hair was formally combed. He was wearing glasses and had a lot of freckles.

“There are people who are slow, though,” he said, smiling shyly at her.

“Who . . . ?” Maxine trailed off with a confused look.

“Oh! I — I'm Christopher Smith. The one that g — gave you the —”

“Flowers and letter,” she finished for him. She was still in daze from what Todd did that what Christopher Smith was saying didn't entirely sink in. “Thank you.”

He was thin and small for a fourth year high school student.

“N — No problem. It's my pleasure.”

Before Maxine could reply, she felt her phone vibrate. She took it out from her jacket pocket, and looked at the Caller I.D. She sighed. It was Todd.

“What?”

“Yo, Ferguson. Where the hell are you?” asked Todd calmly mad. She didn't know how he could pull that off but he certainly could. “What, are you beginning to be a turtle now?”