Years

*Maximus*

Five years ago...

I quickly sprinted into one of the few classes that I had with Amethyst Stone; the prettiest girl in the eighth grade. She was always there early and since all of my friends like to crowd my locker, I had to be as fast as I could so I could get to see her. She was always in the front but made sure to shrink into her seat so she could barely be seen.

"Maximus! No running in the halls!" A random teacher yelled.

I rolled my eyes and muttered a nice fuck you under my breath. I didn't really care for following the rules, since my dad never did and he turned out fine, but also because that would make me stand out. And yes, while being a six-foot and two inches thirteen year old will do that already, I wanted to be noticed by Amethyst. And since Amethyst isn't one to just like someone based off of their appearance, I tried to make myself look cool so she would like me.

I don't think it worked.

She never looked my way in the hallways, she never talked to me in class, she never even glanced at me when I made a slam dunk in gym class! I mean come on! No one else in the school can do a slam dunk, yet here I am being so amazing and she doesn't even look! She just keeps on stretching in her really hot gym shorts and t-shirt.

I don't remember her being that curvy in fourth grade.

Puberty did her justice man, let me tell you. It wasn't just me who thought that either, a lot of my other friends thought so too. But they also had girlfriends and didn't have any classes with her so they were at a disadvantage. Amethyst wasn't really one to spark up a conversation anyway, in fact, I don't even think I saw her speak that school year. I'm sure she had, but I hadn't seen it so it must've not been often.

Once I walked into my classroom, I smiled at the sight of Amethyst setting up her stuff. She was still the same height as she was last year, four-foot eleven, and it didn't seem like she was growing anymore. Her hair was in a cute messy bun with hair that framed her face. She was also wearing a large beige sweater that slid off one of her shoulders. With that she was wearing some black leggings with Timberlands.

I didn't know any other girl in that school who could pull that off.

Her glasses just made her look even cuter to me, though I think she didn't really like them. It's not like she told me, obviously, but when she came to school with them on for the first time, she kept hiding her face behind her books or taking them off altogether. I think she looked extra cute with them on, but I wouldn't tell her that. I was too scared.

I'd been too scared for four years.

~<~<~<

"Maxy!" Ainsley called as she scurried over to me. She was almost four and had an obsession with dressing herself.

That day she was wearing a Minnie Mouse onesie with a tutu and her purple Uggs. She was adorable, yes, but super hyper. She always seemed to know when I walked in the house and it was kind of annoying. I couldn't have three seconds of peace without her screaming my name and hurdling towards me.

I bent down and picked her up once she got to me. "Hey Ley, how are you?"

She made a pouting face as she thought before answering. "Lani took my dolly and didn't give it back so I-" she paused and thought for a moment, "I don't know what I did. What did I do?" She asked herself.

"I don't know, man. What did you do?" I asked playfully, trying my hardest not to laugh.

"Maxy!" Another high-pitched voice screamed. This time it was Noelani who came running towards me, dress in the same outfit as her older sister, except for the fact that she was wearing pink Uggs.

I bent down and picked her up as well. "Hey Lani."

"I got you something!" She cheered.

I gasped dramatically. "What is it?"

"Mommy has it. Her and Papa are talking in the kitchen."

I placed both of them on the ground and started to walk towards the kitchen. Once I got there, I saw my mother and father laughing in the kitchen with five boxes on the table. I raised an eyebrow and looked at all of the boxes. "What are these?" I questioned my parents.

My mom and dad turned to me and smiled. "They're your onesies. Little Noah wanted us to all get matching Mickey and Minnie Mouse onesies," my father explained.

I scoffed. "I'm not wearing that... ever."

Noelani sniffled and started to tear up. "But I got them for you!" She wailed before she started crying.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine! I'll wear the dang things! But only in the house and when everyone else is wearing there's too."

Noelani instantly stopped crying and smiled. "Yay!"

I rolled my eyes. Three year olds annoy me.

One year later...

So I was finally in high school. I was going to be a freshmen, a newbie, a "little kid". Well, metaphorically speaking. I was officially at my highest height of six-foot five. I was glad that I was that tall, so upperclassmen wouldn't treat me like a little kid, but I was more scared for two people in particular: Audrey and Amethyst. Amethyst was still under five feet, so she was probably going to get trampled, while Audrey was about five-foot five and relatively tall for a girl her age, but short compared to juniors and seniors. That's why I made it my mission for the first week of school to let everyone know that I wasn't one to be messed with, and if you messed with the people I cared for, you were in for it.

So I acted like a major asshole for my whole first week. When people bumped into me, I snarled and pushed them back. When people tried to flirt with Amethyst, I cornered them at the end of the day. I just acted like a total douchebag just so they wouldn't want to mess with me. I'd already been boxing for a whole year at that point and I thought that I was really tough. Turns out I was.

Who knew a six-foot five Italian kid who can box was intimidating?

Anyway, once that first week was over, no one messed with me or the people I loved. Well, that was until Jacob decided he would try and prank Amethyst again. He always loved messing with her, and truthfully, I was so close to smashing his head against a brick wall. The only reason I hung around the guy was because I needed to keep him in check; make sure he didn't bother Amethyst or Audrey. Granted, Audrey was scary enough on her own (once she started speaking Italian) but Amethyst was way less intimidating. I knew she could carry her own, but Jacob would prank her so bad that she would be too busy crying to scream and curse at him. The guy made me wish he was a punching bag at the gym.

Sadly he wasn't.

"So, what's up Max?" Xander greeted.

He and I had become friends at the gym one day in the summer when we were both lifting weights. He was doing it a little wrong so I helped him with his form so he wouldn't get injured. He thanked me and we started to talk a bit after that. Our friendship kinda just happened and we kept seeing each other at the gym. Turns out we were going to go to the same high school so we got to hang out even more.

"Jacob's pissing me off again," I growled.

"Is it about that little girl with glasses over there?" He asked as he pointed to Amy getting her stuff out of her locker.

I shook my head frantically as my cheeks got warmer. "No!" I cleared my throat after my little outburst. "No," I said with a deeper voice.

He rolled his eyes. "Thank God you're not an actor, dude. I know you like Amethyst along with, like, ten other guys in the grade."

I snarled. "Don't remind me. They better not make a move on her or else they're all toast."

Xander chuckled. "You're cute buddy." He raised his arm up and pat my head. "Very cute."

I shoved him away from me before I fixed my hair. "I spent like twenty minute on this."

"You spend twenty minutes on bed hair? I spend no minutes unless you count me going to sleep."

I groaned in annoyance and started to walk to class with my books. Xander trailed behind me while he hummed a tune. I wasn't really a fan of the class that I was going to. The teacher was an asshole, he never let us do anything like projects or partner work. He only taught, made us do worksheets, and then take a test. He even gave stupid pop quizzes! No other teacher taught like him, he was old school yet one of the youngest teachers. It's like he forgot how we felt when we're in school, and he should relate to us the most!

"You ready for hell?" Xander asked once we were standing in front of the door.

I shrugged. "We could skip."

Xander shook his head. "Come on, let's get inside big fella." He pushed me in roughly.

"You're lucky we're friends or else you'd be dead," I threatened.

Present time...

Amy was acting weird. She kept asking me if I had a robe for when I walked to the ring like in those boxing movies (I did), what my favorite number was and if it was on the back of the robe, what color my robe was. All these things about my robe that seemed completely irrelevant to just coming to my match... until I saw her outfit. Amy was wearing some black leggings, black Timberlands, and a maroon crop top. The crop top was the same color as my robe and had my lucky number "07" and my last name on the back, just like my robe. She was trying to match with me and make it a surprise.

"You look absolutely amazing, shortie," I complimented as I lead her to her seat.

"Thanks," she mumbled with a slight blush. Even with her tan skin I could see her blush easily.

Once she was at the seat closest to the ring that was labeled "Future Mrs. Knight" she giggled. She looked over to me and smiled brightly before hugging me.

"It's so cute, I love it. You're gonna hear me cheer so loud for you!"

I picked her up and spun her around, causing her to giggle even louder. "And I'll get that kiss too."

She nodded. "Yes you will, and maybe one right before you go on for good luck."

I placed her down on the ground and bent down so I could kiss her. She wrapped her arms around my neck, while I wrapped mine around her waist, and kissed my lips gently. I sighed in content while she smiled softly into the kiss.

"Hey love birds!" A familiar, annoying voice called.

Amy broke the kiss but still had her arms wrapped around me and turned towards the voice. I groaned in annoyance since they caused our kiss to break before it could really get good. I stood at full height, causing Amy's arms to slip off my neck, and pulled her close into my side.

"Hello Oscar," I growled.

"Hi Oscar!" Amy chirped.

He waved to Amy with a camera in his hand. "Hey Little A, how are ya this fine late afternoon?"

She wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me. "Great! I made a special shirt for Max's match!" She let go of me and turned around to let Oscar see.

"Cute! Can you do the same for one of my games?" He wondered.

She turned around to him and nodded. "Of course! And maybe I could get Kyle to make one too."

Oliver's ears turned pink once she said that. "That would be great, thanks."

Just then Kace and Axel walked up in identical unicorn onesies while eating some popcorn from the concessions stand. Neither of them seemed embarrassed or mischievous, in fact, they acted like they were wearing regular clothes instead of the onesies.

"Hey guys!" Axel called as he rolled up his sleeves to show off his tattoo.

"Hi... Axel?" Amy greeted, though it seemed like she was trying to figure out if he was Axel or Kace.

"You got it right! Good job man!" He held up his hand and Amy high-fived him.

"Do you like our outfits, Max? We got them just for you man," Kace said as he posed.

I nodded and smirked. "Cute. Why unicorns?"

"Because you're like a unicorn when you're boxing; magical," Oscar said in a high-pitched voice.

Amy laughed and turned to look at me. "You have some great friends, knight."

I smirked and nodded. "Yep, but I have an even better girlfriend."

She rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Stop being cheesy and start warming up!"

I saluted her. "Yes ma'am!"

I know this chapter was all over the place and I'm sorry for that. I've just had a major case of writer's block and I didn't know how to continue the story. But I didn't want to let you guys down so I made this chapter. It shows a little bit of how Max was as a child and how weird his friends are now so you guys did get something. Okay well... peace! ✌🏾