Chapter 2 - My Name is Max

"GOOD morning!"

Kath greeted her classmates loudly that everyone turned their heads to her. They all smiled when they saw her and greeted her as well, as she walked up to her seat. She noticed one person who did not even care to lift her head - her best friend, Ashley. She smiled and walked towards her.

Just as she was about to give her a hug from the back and a kiss, Ashley stood up from her seat and walked away from her.

She laughed while she followed her.

Ashley normally got annoyed with her being clingy and could never get used to it. While she, on the other hand, was used to her bestfriend's cold attitude and always found it cute.

"Stay away from me!" Ashley growled, shrugging her off from her.

She was shocked. Her classmates didn't react and just lowered their heads, which she found strange. They were usually going to laugh and found the scene cute and romantic. But their reactions were different and were telling her something was wrong.

"Do we have a problem?" she asked hesitantly in a soft voice, trying her best not to provoke her bestfriend's already hot temper.

Ashley turned to her only to give her a hard slap on the face. She was unable to react again and was totally lost. She looked at her bestfriend confusedly, her eyes asking what she did wrong.

And Ashley did not let her wait that long before she reproached her. "How dare you!" she said in a deep tone. "You always mock my hobby of reading gangster pocketbooks and all, then I will discover that it is you who's been actually hanging out with the likes of them? How shameful of you! You involved yourself in a bloody gang fight that killed an innocent student."

"Ashley, I can explain. I have nothing to do ..."

"Why are you at the crime scene? Why are you with those criminals?"

**

"WHAT a lucky day!"

Max was snapped back to present when she noticed a group of male students approaching her. She was standing outside the gate of Casa de Oro University and was actually hesitant to go in.

"Are you new here, Miss?" one of them asked.

She did not answer. She just glanced at them before finally going in.

"Hey, wait!" the guy said as he promptly restrained her in the arm. "I don't think you know who we are."

She paused her step and glared at him. "Get your filthy hand off of mine."

"Oh?" He said in a sarcastic voice as he let go of her arm.

She got irritated that she gave him a powerful kick in between his legs to silence him.

The guy didn't see that coming. He groaned in pain as he was rolling on the ground, holding that part of him.

His colleagues got furious and were about to rush at her, but she quickly threatened. "Are you sure you want your balls to get crushed like his?"

They suddenly hesitated.

"What's going on here?"

They all turned their heads to the man who was approaching who was no other than her Uncle Rico, the current Chairman of the Department of Student Affairs and whom she was temporarily staying with him. The guys hurriedly fled from the scene. Of course, who would not be afraid being seen by a DSA Chairman? One letter from him and they could get suspended or, worst, expelled.

"Kath?" Rico's shocked reaction was tainted with disdain as he stared at her from head to toe.

"It's Max," she said firmly, trying to emphasize that she's not using that name anymore.

"Did you just...?"

"It's not what you think," she quickly defended before he could finish his question. It's not a secret to him that she beat anyone who messed with her, but she's not a bully.

"Follow me to my office. We need to talk," he said authoritatively before he walked ahead of her.

She hesitantly followed him to the second floor of the Administration Building. He locked the door behind her and offered her a seat before sitting on his desk.

"Let me just remind you, Kathrina Maxine Mejares, that starting today you will be studying here in this school. I am responsible for you while you are here at Casa de Oro, so everything you do will affect my name, my reputation. You understand?"

She did not answer.

He continued, "Your parents entrusted you to me after you left them in America. So you do as I say if you do not want me to send you back there," he threatened her.

She remained silent, although a lot of things had been swirling in her mind for a while now. She was thinking if she would argue with him, she would not be able to leave that room sooner.

"Look at you. What happened to you? I can no longer see my adorable niece, Kath."

"Your adorable niece's been long dead, Uncle," she said bitterly, trying her best not to crack her voice as she felt a lump in her throat and burning pain in her chest as she said that. The moment she discovered how she was betrayed by the people she cherished, whom she thought would have never done that to her, she instantly buried her old self.

She took a deep breath to calm herself as waves of various emotions were drowning her heart due to that painful memory. She pulled herself together before she spoke again to her uncle, this time in a cold tone. "Why don't we just pretend we don't know each other? After all, no one knows who I am. That way, you won't worry about my staining your reputation," she suggested.

"You know it's not just about that, Kath!"

"No, Uncle! I get it."

She stood up and headed for the door.

"Kath, we're not done yet!"

"It's Max," she corrected him again. "And I'm done!" she declared before closing the door behind her.

As she was about to leave that place, a young man stood shocked in front of her and was blocking her way.

She scowled at him. "What?"

He blinked and snapped back to his senses. "Oh, nothing. Sorry," he said before stepping aside so she could pass.

"Tsk." She shook her head before leaving him alone.

She was nearing the stairs when she made a stop upon recalling the young man's face. Suddenly, her heart throbbed when she remembered who he was. She couldn't be wrong. He just replaced the red dye on his hair but she knew it was really him.

She turned around to take another look at him but he was already walking away. She surreptitiously followed him and she was surprised to see that they shared the same classroom.

"They are here, our two transferees," the teacher excitedly announced to the class when she saw them by the door.

The young man looked over his shoulder and was shocked to see her. She darted him a sharp look to hide her agitation. She was now 100% sure it was him.

"Let's hear them introduce themselves to us." The teacher gestured for them to come in.

The guy immediately looked away in fear and went in first. He stood in front of the class to introduce himself. "Hi! My name is Hercules Ronald Gaston," he said. "Just call me Hero. Nice to meet you, all!"

"You're Aunt Belen's nephew, aren't you? The eatery in the next block, right?" asked a man in the back.

"Yes, I am," Hero replied.

"I'm Darwin! You can sit here." He offered the empty seat on his right in the next column near the window.

"All right, Hero. You can sit down," said their teacher.

Before he could reach the chair, one guy blocked his foot which made Hero stumbled face down on the floor. The whole class laughed except Max. She remained silent and emotionless.

"Hero, are you okay?" the teacher asked.

Hero quickly stood up. "Yes, Sir! I'm sorry. I just misstepped," he replied before sitting in his seat.

Max just remained silent and waited for Hero to snap. Disappointingly, he just sat there quietly, as if nothing happened. She sensed something wrong. It was not like him to forgive such humiliation.

"And you, Miss?" The teacher turned to her. "Come. Please introduce yourself."

She stepped forward and stood in front of the class. "My name is Max," she said simply.

Her classmates waited for her to continue, but she never spoke again.

"Okay, let's all get along with Hero and Max," the teacher said before facing her. "There is a vacant seat next to Hero." He then ordered the class to settle down before he turned around and finished what he's writing on the board.

As Max walked towards her seat, she was aware of another foot blocking her way. She kicked it hard without even looking down, pretending nothing happened and simply sat down in her chair.

"Bit**!" The owner of the hurt foot cursed underneath his breath as he looked at her.

She shot him a deadly look, warning him not to mess with her. The guy was silenced and behaved himself.

"I heard she got sick so she had to stop studying," she heard a classmate in front of her whisper to her seatmate.

"I hope her illness is not contagious," replied the other one.

She knew they were talking about her and did not like it. To stop their gossip, she simply kicked the butt of the chair in front of her. It created a loud thud that scared the crap out of them and disturbed the whole class.

"Lisa, what's happening there?" the teacher asked when he noticed it came from there.

"I'm sorry, Sir. Nothing," Lisa replied before turning to her angrily.

She answered with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?"

Lisa got annoyed and just looked away.

She was not satisfied yet. She brought her mouth closer between their ears and whispered, "Do you want to know what my illness is? I do cut tongues of people gossiping about me."

The two suddenly stiffened in fear. They fell silent and did not dare open their mouths until the class was over.