"Hey, I'm Max Caulfield."
Those were the first words she'd ever spoken to Kate Marsh. It had been a Tuesday, the second day of school in Blackwell. Max wasn't a social butterfly in any way, identifying more as a loner. She didn't find it easy to talk to people.
Kate had looked up at her, a smile on her lips. When Kate Marsh smiled, she'd light up your whole world. There was something about her that you loved. Just something so beautiful. Something so pure and innocent that made your heart flutter.
Sadly, that smiling didn't last.
Mr Jefferson had asked them to pair and photograph one another at different angles. He'd wanted them to explore the human body and all its glory. All the emotion you could express and how you could capture it in a picture.
Max had immediately hated the idea. She didn't really have any friends yet and did not want to be left out. Everyone else seemed to immediately have someone to be with them. Except her.
But Kate Marsh, the quiet girl who sat to her right by herself, seemed to also be left out.
It was as good an opportunity as anything.
After introducing herself to Kate, a ball of paper hit Max between the shoulder blades. She didn't have to look around to know it was Victoria who'd thrown it.
She'd despised that girl from the moment she'd lain eyes on her. Victoria Chase. Victoria was undeniably attractive but the way she moved, sat, looked, just set Max on edge. She just had a mean streak to her.
Max bit her lip, trying to ignore it. Behind her, she could hear sniggering and Victoria's voice being insufferably loud and prominent. Her blood coursed through her veins, filling herself with anger.
Kate touched her hand, dragging Max away from her angry thoughts. She looked down at her. Kate's eyes were soft, gentle. It was like looking into a clear pool of clarity. Slowly, her annoyance ebbed away and she smiled.
"Ignore her," Kate had murmured, gesturing for Max to sit down.
That was her first encounter with Kate Marsh.
Max had grown closer to Kate over the next few weeks, close enough to say they were good friends. Over the term, Mr Jefferson seemed to be all into group projects and partnering. Like seriously. Everything they did was a group project now.
But Max didn't mind. If it meant being with Kate.
Kate was too precious for the world, she had quickly realised. The girl was sweet and innocent, never straying from the path and will of her God. Max herself didn't believe in any of that stuff but it was fascinating to listen Kate talk about.
She was passionate, but quietly so. It was obvious she believe in it with every corner of her soul. Once, she'd walked in on Kate standing by the window, a bible in hand as she whispered words under her breath.
For a few minutes, all Max did was stand and watch her. It was so memorising. Kate was a vision of an angel, eyes gazing off into a world unseen by any outsiders. One hand pressed against her chest and the other holding the bible like it was something sacred (which it was).
Max had reached into her bag for her camera and snapped a shot of her. Kate had heard the shutter capture her image and jumped. She dropped her bible, turning to look at Max.
"Max! You scared me!"
Max stepped deeper into the room, leaning down to pick up the bible. She offered it to the flustered girl, a grin on her face.
"Sorry," she apologised. "I couldn't resist. As Jefferson always says "Always take the shot"."
Kate took it from her, her cheeks still stained scarlet. Truthfully, Max had probably been intruding on something private. She'd never seen someone pray before. Not like that anyway.
"It's okay, Max," Kate said, placing her bible on the desk. "Let me see it."
Max held out the photo, blushing when Kate's fingers skimmed her skin of her hand. It made her skin tingle, sending electricity up and down her spine. The girl didn't seem to notice.
Kate held it up to the light, tilting her head back to get a proper look at the image. Max's heart started beating faster in her throat. She broke out into a smile.
"Wow Max," she smiled. "That's a really good shot. You make me look so artsy." She looked up. "You're a really good photographer."
Max had blushed freely, touching the back of her neck sheepishly. A compliment from Kate had always made her blush. She hadn't really known why. But she did now. Oh how she did. "Thanks."
Kate had placed the photo on her desk, stepping towards her.
They'd started to talk about their project, discussing ideas and ways to capture a model. It took a while but Max persuaded her to let them model Kate in their project.
When Max's time travelling powers emerged, she hadn't really payed attention to Kate. She'd been too busy, too busy with Chloe and Rachel Amber to notice what Kate was going through. That was a mistake. A dreadful mistake.
So much had been going on. Nathan showing his sociopathic side, Chloe dying multiple times only for Max to save her (no seriously that happened way too much), David Madison being a fucking over-obsessive creep.
Max tried to balance everything which had turned out to be too much for her. Of course, she'd noticed that Kate wasn't happy. She tried to talk to her, gotten a little bit out of her. But she hadn't known.
The video was the tipping point for the precious cinnamon bun. Max hadn't been there for her even though she tried to be. She'd wiped the link from the mirror, got Juliet to stopping watching and sharing the video. She'd talked to Kate about it and advised her on what to do.
But it wasn't enough.
It wasn't fucking enough.
She remembered the feeling of horror as she watched Kate plummet from the roof. She reversed time again and again, fighting her way through the crowd. Her head spun but she wouldn't stop trying.
Kate. Kate was the only thing she could think about.
She'd stood in the roof next to her, begging her to step away. Just begging her to come back to her. It broke her heart. It shouldn't have happened to Kate. Kate didn't deserve it. Anyone but her.
Kate had shook her head, saying that no one would ever look at her the same way. That that was how she'd be remembered, as a viral slut. Now they could take pictures of her body.
Max tried everything she could to rewind, to pull Kate into a hug before she even gotten near the edge. But she couldn't. She just couldn't.
Kate turned away from her and jumped. Time seemed to slow down but it wasn't Max's power. It was her horror, playing the terror slowly so she could watch as Kate left her life. Max lunged forward, hand grabbing for Kate.
But she missed. Her hand closed on nothing.
After the police had moved the body, Max had gone to Victoria. She'd never felt so angry, so helpless, in her whole life.
She'd found the blonde girl in their dorm and she'd never yelled so much. The fury that roared through her was something she'd never felt before. Victoria's eyes were red with tears but now she was breaking down again.
"It was you! It was your fault! You could resist sharing that video with everyone! You knew she was upset and you still did!"
Victoria's eyes were red as well and she shook as Max yelled at her.
"I didn't mean-.. I just.. Kate wasn't-... I don't know!" Victoria sobbed, shaking her head. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this! I... I forced her off that roof, Max! I was the reason she jumped! I hate myself..."
Max's anger had boiled away as she gazed at the taller girl. She didn't know what to say. Victoria was indirectly responsible, they both knew it. But every emotion on Victoria's broke her heart even more.
Victoria hadn't wanted it to happen. She hadn't meant it had that. Sure, she was a bitch but even the bitch had a soft side.
Tears rolled down Max's face, results of hot fury coming out soft and wet. She hit the wall, fist clenched tightly.
"Kate... Jesus fucking Christ," she sobbed. "Why? Why her?"
Victoria shook her head, repeatedly. "She didn't deserve this. She didn't. She was too pure, too fucking sweet. She didn't deserve..."
That night Max ended up staying in Victoria's room. Nothing happened between them, they just cried their hearts out together. It was them that Max realised that she didn't hate Victoria, or blame her. No. She blamed herself more.
There, Victoria was so different from what she usually was. There was no hardness or cruelty to her stare. No. Her outer layers were shed and she showed Max who she really was.
A scared young girl terrified of not being enough.
Victoria wasn't the worst person in the world. She most certainly wasn't the best. But she wasn't all that bad once you got through to her.
Chloe had been upset too. She'd known Kate, not as well as Max, but she still knew her. Chloe had talked to her a few times before she'd left Blackwell. It was enough to hurt her.
The next day two of them had sat on Chloe's roof, staring at the stars and drinking their sorrows away.
Max wasn't a drinker. Never. She'd barely tasted alcohol at all in her life. It just wasn't something she liked. The taste only made her cough and splutter and besides, she liked having a clear mind.
But that night, alcohol had been the only thing to ease her pain.
Chloe smoked next to her, blowing tendrils of clouds through her lips. That was her way of coping with everything. She'd smoked when her dad had died, when Max had left, when Rachel had left. It had become her way out, her way of dealing with her problems.
The taste of the alcohol burned Max's throat but she downed gulp after gulp of it. She hated it, she really did. But the way it clogged her mind, letting her feelings get caught in a web and unable to escape. It just felt so much better.
"Kate was so much better than this," Chloe spat, lighting another smoke. "It's this fucking town. This fucking town with its fucked up people." She looked at Max, eyes shining with a determination. "When we find Rachel, we're hitting the road and getting as far away from this shithole as possible."
Chloe took a long drag from the smoke, exhaling with a sigh. "And Max.. You can come with us. You'd love Rachel. I just know you would. It would be the three of us. Three musketeers off to escape their responsibilities."
Max smiled, draining the bottle completely. She shook it, coaxing a few more drops. The bottle was empty and they had no more. Max might have wanted more but she just tossed it away.
"That would be great, Chlo'," she smiled, closing her eyes. She leaned back against the blue haired girl, letting her warmth wash over her. "That really would be great. Just to get away.. From all this crap that's been happening."
Chloe laughed, it's humour fake and sad. "Yeah, Mad Max. It'll be you and me. And Rachel. 'Til the end of time..."
It was the day of Kate's funeral and Max almost didn't have the strength to go. She knew that once she saw her friend's body, she'd start crying again. All her pain and guilt would return.
But she had to go. She had to. For Kate's sake. And her own. It was the last thing she could do for her friend. Ever.
Chloe stood by her truck waiting, eyes rimmed red but her expression attempting to be cheery. "Come on, Max!" she grinned, a fixed smile on her face. "We gotta go!"
Max climbed into the truck in the passenger's seat. "There's no need to sound so happy, Chloe," she said darkly. "We're going to a funeral. Kate Marsh's funeral..."
Chloe's face fell, a sympathetic look appearing in her eyes. "Oh yeah.. Right okay... Sorry, Max..." She didn't try to make Max feel better for the rest of the trip.
Max didn't know what to feel. She didn't know what she felt inside. Her mind was empty. So hollow and core less. Kate was really gone. The most precious gift the world had ever given to her.
Gone. Forever.
They made the drive in silence. Chloe pulled up beside the church, looking at Max worriedly. Max didn't say anything but climbed out, making her way inside. Chloe followed her, dogging her footsteps like a loyal dog.
Even though she didn't act like it, Max was glad to have Chloe with her. She didn't know how she'd cope if she hadn't had her.
The church was full, packed to the brim with people. Almost all, she didn't know. There were people from her school, Principal Wells, Ms Grant, Mr Jefferson. The students. Alyssa, Brooke, Evan to name a few.
Victoria had brought her posy along though none of them seemed in the mood to be bitchy. Hopefully this would be a good thing for them. They'd learn the error of their ways. No one in Blackwell would ever have to go through this again.
Unsurprisingly, Nathan wasn't here. That very fact only enforced the idea that Nathan had done something terrible to Kate. She was determined to find out what.
Warren called her and Chloe over. She sat down next to him, only giving him a fleeting smile in greeting. He touched her hand sympathetically.
The mass was long and terrible and almost made Max ball her eyes out again. Her mom, oh god her parents. Her siblings.. Max could barely look at them without wetness building up behind her eyes.
They had a silent procession out of the church and to the graveyard. Max held onto Chloe for the whole walk, sure that if she let go, the world world would go slipping away from her. Chloe didn't say anything, just letting her body comfort Max's.
The walk was long and depressing, no one, not even the kids, getting up the nerve to talk. Anyone they passed, paused in respect.
The priest blessed the coffin, saying a prayer to God. Everyone went up, touching the wood sorrowfully or setting a flower down to show their respects.
Max waited until the end, staring numbly at the ground. She couldn't speak, couldn't look or she'd only hurt herself more. Finally, Chloe's hand wrapped around hers, pulling her back to the world.
"It's time," Chloe whispered, voice choked.
Max looked up at her, tears once again welling in her eyes. She leaned up, kissing Chloe on the cheek. Then she let go, walking up to the coffin.
She stared down at it for a while, an emotion running unchecked in her mind. Guilt. Anger. Sadness. A mix of the three.
She set the rose down on the coffin lid, right where her heart would haven been. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she slowly started to shake.
"I'm sorry, Kate. I really am."
Max turned around and collapsed into Chloe's arms. The taller girl pulled her in, hugging her tightly to her body. Max sobbed, sobbing her heart out.
As they stood there, waiting for the coffin to finally be buried. Max realised there was one thing she wanted. Wanted more than anything in the whole world.
And that was to see Kate Marsh smile again.