Chapter One

I am going to tell you the story of my life. Not because it was glamorous or inspirational, or even because it must be told; but because it was real.

I grew up like any other kid, in a town not important to anyone but the people in it. It was located half an hour out of a big City in Australia. I lived in a comfortable violet coloured weather board house on a windy dirt road, overlooking a view of the mountain valleys.

I didn't have a life full of travel and culture, I've never been out side of Australia. In fact there are many places in Australia I've never visited. My parents weren't rich and either were they poor. It wasn't all smooth sailing, but whose life really is? I experienced great loss and in turn felt pain; the type that doesn't feel real at first but later takes your breath away. And I've laughed so hard it takes your breath away, and cried, loved, lost, played, explored, discovered and grew.

My story starts at that violet house in that nowhere town. In the backyard on the border of the property where the forest started. The forest where we kids were not allowed to venture. Five best friends played on a particularly windy autumn day. They played with childish innocence and imagination.

A wedding is where this story really begins. One in which these five children couldn't have possibly known the lasting effect of.

My name is Maxine Valencia Ride, and this is my story.

Age Six

"MAX. MAXINE. MAX-EEEE." I hear Nudges' voice from my hiding spot behind the wood shed at the very back of my yard. Nudge is standing not far away from me, her hands on her hips, a frown on her smooth tanned face. Her pink skirt is blowing in the wind, she's been wearing that skirt every day for the last eight days. I've been counting.

I scan the backyard. I can see Fang and Iggy over by the cubby house my dad made last summer. They are standing facing each other. Iggy is moving his arms around wildly. I wonder what he is telling Fang, who nods every now and then, his dark hair blowing across his face.

I duct my head down when I see Nudge walking over to where I'm hiding. She's seen me. I smile at her. She smirks back, an evil Nudge smirk, her two front teeth missing. Nudge was the first in our class to lose a tooth. I haven't lost a tooth yet. Mummy says it won't be long now. I am six after all. Fang did say he'd help me if I wanted. His was only a little wobbly and he pulled it right out. But none of my teeth are even just a little wobbly.

"Max. Do you have the flowers?" Nudge asks. I hold up the bunch of yellow Daffodils she had told me to pick, from the flowers that lined the fence that grow in our garden from the forest behind us. Nudge walks over to me quickly and grabs hold of my arm pulling me up from my crouching position. I push my blonde hair out of my face, which has fallen loose from the braid my Mummy had done in my hair this morning. Mummy says my hair might go brown when I grow up. My daddy's was blonde when he was a kid and now it's brown.

"Nudge. I don't want to get married. I've got too much to live for." I tell her pulling away. Nudge says I'm bossy, but I think she's the bossy one.

"Max." She says rolling her eyes. "I know what I'm doing. I went to my cousin's wedding. I was a flower girl, remember. She said I was the best flower girl in the world! The world Max! You just gotta trust me. You and Fang are perrr-fect for each other. Anyway, who else is gonna get married? Fang and I are family…so that's illegal. And you and Iggy… well we all know that would never work. You'd kill him or worse-"

"What's worser than killing me?" Iggy interrupts Nudge, his pale blue eyes wide and frightened.

"Well I don't know!" Nudge sighs. "This is Max we're talking about. Didn't she punch you last week?" She adds with a giggle.

"I don't hit girls." Iggy says embarrassed.

"Yeah. Because I'm too fast and strong for you." I say laughing. Iggy crosses his arms over his chest and opens his mouth to say something but changes his mind. I smile at him and he sticks his tongue out at me.

"What about you and Iggy get married?" Fang says as he makes his way over to us.

Nudge scrunches up her nose. "What? Eew…Gross!" She squeals.

"Hey!" Iggy exclaims. "You would be so lucky to be my wife."

Nudge ignores him. "Come on guys, into the cubby house." She says pulling my arm as she walks over to the cubby and pushes me through the doorway. Iggy and Fang follow us in. Nudge pushes me forward again then steps back and looks me over.

Gazzy and Angel come in as Nudge says. "Can you wear a dress? Overalls are what my Daddy wears when he's working outside… Ooh. Hi-ya guys. You're just in time for the wedding. You're late."

Angel smiles. "Mummy said we couldn't come over until we cleaned up the mess in the lounge room." She tells Nudge, who nods her head, her curls bouncing up and down.

Nudge tells the twins to sit down on the floor in front of us to watch the wedding. She gives Angel the position of flower girl and Gazzy ring boy. The twins are just little kids, they are happy to be part of the wedding; both grinning happily. Traitors. Gazzy and Angel are in the grade under Nudge, Iggy, Fang and I. They're five.

'No." I say flatly. Nudge puts a small piece of white lace on my head and pins it there by taking the two pink butterfly clips she had in her hair and putting them in mine, she pushes them in hard and they stick into my head, I pull my best angry face at her. Nudge's brown hair falls over her face in wild curls. She pushed it back with one hand and grins at me, which makes me nervous.

"Okay Iggy you're the Bestest Man so you stand there next to Fang… good." Nudge moves us around until she has us where she wants us to stand.

"And I'm the Maid of Great Honor. Because me and Max are bestest friends in the world and I'm the ceb-celebrant as well because I know what to say." Nudge continues.

Nudge had decorated the cubby with glitter, confetti and pink paper cut-out butterflies. She had Fang cut them out, because he's best at that type of thing. She had also made me go into my house and find as many candles as I could and bring them out. I had found the emergency kit my parents keep for blackouts, which we get a lot of in autumn and winter.

Iggy pulls out a lighter much to the horror of Nudge and goes around lighting the candles.

"Where'd you get that?" Gazzy asks.

"My Dad uses it to light the barbecue." Iggy says.

"Wont he need it then?" Angel asks, moving her foot away from the candle Iggy's lighting next to her.

"He's got heaps of them." Iggy says with a shrug.

Nudge puts a basket in front of Angel and starts pulling the petals off the flowers I picked. She then tells Gazzy to hold out his hand and drops a pink ring with a love heart on it into it. She won it at the school fete, she tells us.

Nudge moves back over to me, Fang and Iggy and takes hold of one of my hands and one of Fang's, smiling widely at us both. Fang pulls a face when Nudge turns her head which makes me laugh. Nudge whips her head around to face me and narrows her eyes.

"When do I throw the flowers?" Angel asks.

"After it's finished Ang." Nudge answers. Nudge clears her throat.

"Dearly be-lover-ed we are gathered here today to join Maxine Valencia Martinez and F-Nick Avery Ride in Marriage." Fang and I both pull faces at the use of our full names. I like to be called Max, and Fang hates to be called Nick, although his Mummy only calls him Nick, she says 'Nick is the name on your birth certificate and that is the name I will call you.' I know why Fang's called Fang. It's from his favourite book, White Fang, his Daddy reads it to him all the time.

"Do you Max take Fang to be your awfully wedded husband?" Nudge asks. I shake my head, she frowns at me and continues.

"Do you Fang take Max to be your awfully wedded wife?"

"I guess." He says looking uncomfortable. Nudge is beaming.

"You may now kiss the bride." She says in a sing song voice. I give Nudge my best 'you've got to be kidding me' face.

Iggy laughs from next to Fang.

"NO." Fang and I yell at the same time.

Nudge scowls. "Fine. Gazzy? The rings please?"

"Oh, right." Gazzy stands up brushing the dust off his jeans. He passes the ring to Nudge who rolls her eyes and gives it to Fang. Fang takes it reluctantly. Nudge grabs my hand, and gives Fang an expecting look. He pushes the ring onto my finger.

"Now if you don't want to kiss we need something to, you know, seal the deal." Nudge begins. She looks around. She focuses her brown eyes on the wooden box on a shelf that my mum had made me and painted purple with fairies on it. Nudge walks over to it taking the box down placing it on the floor, and rummages through it until she pulls out a photo that she rips in half. She paces one half to me and the other to Fang. I look down at my half. It is a photo of Fang from when we went to the park. Mummy had taken a photo of Fang and me sitting on the slide together.

"Never ever, ever loose these pictures." Nudge tells us.

"Now can I throw the flowers?" Angel asks standing up. Nudge nods. Angel takes a big hand full of petals and throws them over me and Fang, laughing. Iggy moves closer to Fang so he can be under them as well.

Nudge puts her arms around me, hugging me tightly. I put my arms around her and bury my face in her fuzzy curly hair, laughing when her hair tickles my face. Angel wraps her arms around me as well.

"GROUP HUG!" Iggy cries excitedly. Throwing his arm around Fang and pushing them into us girls. Gazzy jumps onto Iggy's back, sending him flying and knocking the rest of us over with him. We all laugh as we fall to the ground.

I pull my arm out from under Nudge. And push Fangs legs off mine.

"What are you doing?" I hear my four year old little sister ask from the door way. I look over my shoulder at Ella who has a confused expression on her face.

"Mummy says it's time to come in." She says crossing her arms, "What's that smell?" She adds, looking around the cubby, her eyes widening on a spot behind us, she turns and runs out of the cubby.

"What's her problem? Wait! I can smell it to." Iggy says. We all stop moving and go silent.

We had all seen it at the same time. The orange and yellow flames. Firstly only on one of the pink butterfly cut-out's next to the candle which was lying on its side. Next on the end of the curtains hanging from the window by the door, the flames moving fast up the material. We had all screamed, moving backwards towards the door. Pushing ourselves off the ground and running out of the cubby. My Mum had come running down the backyard followed by Lana Ride, Fangs Mum, carrying Ella. Ella had run inside in hysterics. Lana Ride had been having a coffee with Mum, like she did every time she came to pick Fang up.

It all happened so fast. Lana was pushing us kids further back away from the flames. Mum pulled out the hose from beside the wood shed, frantically fiddling with the end to connect it to the tap.

I heard it before I saw it, an all-mightily explosion. Then the angry red flames had filled my eyes. There was a container of gasoline behind the cubby. That is what the fire fighters believed had set off the explosion. We were all thrown back, landing harshly on the grass covered ground. We were all too shocked to make a noise, except for Iggy, who had been standing the closest to the burning cubby house. He let out a piercing cry, throwing his hands over his face.

I can hear that noise now. I heard it in my haunted dreams when I was six years old after that day, and I hear it any time I think of it now. I remember the day like it was yesterday. We never talked of the wedding Nudge had forced Fang and I into for years after that day. It was over shadowed by the tragic effects of the fire.

Iggy lost his eye sight that day. At the age of six. In a way he lost his freedom. He was the only one to be hurt. The rest of us had cuts and bruises, but they healed in time.

Iggy's eyes never did.