The Smell of Chlorine and Incense
Instinct was usually what Chloe thought with first. Whether it was rage or frustration, joy or appreciation, horniness or fun; she really didn't think twice about jumping in feet first. Max didn't even get a chance to think before Chloe was beside her and stripping off her clothes.
"Oh gawd, Maxie! YES!" Chloe yelled and jumped into the pool. She'd jumped in enthusiastically, and instantly regretted it when pain shot up her ankles. Whoops, a little too hard. Shoulda gone to the deep end. Chloe forgot about the pain when she jumped in and did a flip under water. She burst out of the water gasping from the cold and laughing, "Come on Max, don't be a spoil sport! Get in! I'm not here for you to enjoy the strip tease and show!"
That got a little giggle out of Max, and she quickly started to undress. Chloe snickered at her. Max kept awkwardly trying to half cover herself as she walked to the edge.
"Come on, virgin! Jump in!" Chloe grinned and splashed her good. Max made a little peep before jumping in close to Chloe.
"Cannonball!" She yelled and splashed her back. They girls both started to swim around, occasionally splashing each other. Chloe averted her eyes from Max's body for the most part. She had to admit though, when Chloe said they should go home, she couldn't resist watching her climb out of the pool. She kinda liked watch her skinny ass climb out with the ladder with those cute white panties. Of coursed she'd have white. Her set didn't even match, either.
Chloe climbed out after her, sighing in contentedness. She loved the fucking pool. She quit checking out Max while they got dressed in their squishy clothes, wondering if it would freak Max out of she knew she was bi. Meh, she'd find out one way or another.
The two went to Chloe's home, thinking that they'd have to sneak in. Well, they didn't have to. Step douche wasn't home, apparently staying up late at work again. Mom was upstairs in her bedroom, and she really wouldn't care if Max came home with her anyways. Joyce had always liked Max.
Night went by pretty fast. They were both pretty tired, and ended up sleeping early. Since the step douche wasn't home, Chloe took the time to smoke a joint. Max wrinkled her nose and pushed Chloe with her feet, wrapping herself in a blanket. Chloe chuckled at her and let her have her way, standing up and leaning against the desk near the open window. They talked about what had happened over the years, getting reacquainted with one another.
Chloe had lied when she said she wouldn't looked, and had secretly watched as Max got undressed and into a set of Chloe's old pajamas. It wasn't long before she was in pajamas too and flopped down beside Max. Chloe wiggled close and started spooning her, shoving her nose in her hair. Max still smell a little like the chlorine that they had jumped into. Max had giggled and tried to playfully tell her to quit touching her, that it was weird, but not too much. They stayed snuggled up for most of the night, just enjoying each others company. They'd been doing this since they were in kindergarten, and they both liked it.
Chloe secretly kinda liked the smell of chlorine on her. It kinda gave her hope that Max was gonna stick around for the fun stuff. Max had always been fun to hang out with before she had left. And now that she was back, no matter how mad she was at her, she hoped that she would stick around.
The next morning, Max managed to beat her up. She wasn't really surprised. Chloe usually wasn't up before 10 AM. Chloe yawned and stretched, growling. Damn, a big body long stretch really did good for the soul. This had definitely been one of her better nights.
Chloe started down the stairs slowly, still waking up. She heard the familiar sound of a spatula scraping against a skillet, and grinned for two reasons. One, there was going to be breakfast. Two, either mom or Max was making breakfast, therefore distracted, and therefore a good setup for a scare. Chloe snuck down the stairs and slowly crossed in front of the front door. She hopped forward and was about to scream when her voice died in her throat.
Max was at the stove, and she had on Rachel's long plaid shirt and jeans.
"Rachel..." She whispered under her breath. She slowly walked forward, and that's when Max spotted her.
"Oh hey, Chloe! Joyce left early for work. She said some ladies were coming in for like, a group meeting or something. Blue Star, I think it was. Can you set the table, yano, since I made everything?" Chloe nodded mutely, and set about putting everything in place. She couldn't quit staring at Max's back. The clothes fit her so well. Her hair was even brown. It was choppier than Rachel's, and not as long. The biggest thing of all was that Max was much more still than Rachel. Rachel was really jittery, always moving and fiddling with items.
Chloe moved closer, pouring herself some orange juice.
"You want some, Maxie?"
"Yeah, sure!" Max said. Chloe poured her some as well. She set it on the table and moved forward, unable to help herself. She couldn't smell the bacon anymore, or the eggs that were sizzling. Chloe stepped forward and slowly wrapped her arms around Max's middle.
"Chloe?" Max said. Chloe didn't really register her calling her name. Her nose nuzzled into Max's hair, still smelling the whiff of chlorine. Apparently Max hadn't taken a shower yet. She laughed dryly. Maybe Max would let them take a shower together, now that Joyce was gone. Chloe breathed deeply, and then her head sunk to Max's shoulder. Tears warmed her eyes and she tried to fight back.
She was always trying to act tough, but she couldn't seem to stop it. She closed her eyes and the smell of chlorine changed to incense. She opened her eyes, and Rachel was looking back at her, a big smile on her face. Rachel usually had something burning. It was either a candle, oil or incense. The smell triggered a queasy long dead and gone happiness inside of her. That smell had always lingered in her hair, her clothes or hands like a perfume.
"What are you doing silly?" Rachel leaned forward and placed a kiss on her lips. Chloe didn't think, she reacted.
"Nothing, Rachel." Chloe said, and a soft smile replaced her normal smirk, "Nothing at all." She pulled Rachel flat against her stomach, feeling her jitter slightly. Rachel squirmed and managed to turn around so they were belly to belly. Rachel started to kiss her, and Chloe got really into it, starting to nip. That was before a stinging pain landed on her neck. She yelped and jerked away from Rachel. Rachel got a really surprised look on her face before giggling.
"I'm so sorry, Chloe! Uhm, the grease." Rachel said, and waved the spatula around, making a few more grease droplets splatter on the floor, "Opps!" Rachel turned and went back to flipping the eggs. The smell was pretty tantalizing, but she had to get her revenge.
"You bitch!" Chloe yelled and ran at her, grabbing her by her hips and jerking her back. Chloe swiped Rachel's long hair over her shoulder and started to nip at her neck. Rachel howled at her and threw the spatula down and started to swat at her.
"Stoppit you creep! The bacons gonna burn!" Rachel had yelled at her.
"Mom's got more!" Chloe yelled and started to bite hard, nosing down below her collar. When Rachel started to fight back, Chloe grabbed her shoulders and started to lick instead.
"Ooooo! Stoppit, that tickles!" Rachel giggled and swat at her, gently stomping on her foot. That actually kinda hurt a little, so Chloe bit into her back. Rachel's shoulders went up and she got goosebumps, "Chloe!" Now they started to play fight pretty earnestly. Rachel jerked away, and there was a resounding rip. They both paused, looking at the rip in Rachel's shirt, "Ooo! Now you're gonna get it!" Rachel slapped her across the face. Chloe grinned and leapt at her, shoving her against the counter and kissing her, her tongue fighting hers for dominance. Rachel was giggling crazily, and Chloe could feel her shaking against her.
She loved it when she did that. She was so full of happiness. She loved that she could feel her laughing against her. Chloe didn't pull away to get at her throat, she just trailed her wet mouth down to it and started nibbling and licking and leaving hickies. Rachel sighed in happiness, her fingers squeezing at her sides.
Women had really never been an option from her. Not because she found it icky, but because she'd really never thought about it. When she was young, and Max was still around, all she had really thought about were boys. Sure, she'd thought about Max once or twice, but she thought that was mainly because they were best friends. It would have been something safe to her ego to try. Even if she was rejected, Max really wouldn't tell anybody about it.
But then... Max had left to wherever the hell she'd been going. Chloe hadn't really even been eager to find out where she was going. She'd been madder than hell and unable to comprehend that Max was leaving her here in this shit ass hick town. Especially after what had happened with her dad. She didn't really know where she had gone. If she hadn't stayed so mad, she could have probably asked Joyce where Max had gone. If she hadn't know, she probably could've found out. But Chloe had stayed mad for so long, that she just felt like she couldn't ask about Max any longer.
Chloe had felt like Max had been the only one that had been keeping her afloat. Sure, she loved her mom, but Joyce was already struggling. Even though Chloe was mad, she could understand it. Joyce had also loved William with all her heard. Chloe knew, that just like herself, Joyce felt like the center of her universe had been ripped away, gravity had left, and she was just left to float in unfeeling, cold space.
She started wearing black things when William had died. She had cut her hair, unable to stand the resemblance to herself and pictures that had been taken with William. Max leaving had really started some bad shit. It hadn't even taken time for that week to be out before Chloe did her first batch of drugs. She had really liked the first sip of alcohol, but she started throwing it back anyways. She wanted to get drunk and see what it was all about. She wanted it too take away her feelings. If it couldn't do that, she wanted them muddled.
She kinda hoped that all this stuff would kinda kill her brain cells off so she wouldn't have to think about it so hard, or feel it so much. It was on the anniversary of her dad's death that she had gotten her first tattoo. It was nothing to the monster on her arm in the future. It was William's name in small cursive over her heart. Two little wings stuck out from either side. He was always her angel, and she hoped to meet him one day to make up for the time they had lost.
Chloe continued with her destructive behavior. She had always been into boys, and now she got into the mean. She slept with more than she probably should have. She experimented a whole lot. A fair share of them had been truckers that had blown in through town. Some had actually scared her pretty bad. Some hadn't wanted her to leave the room and had tried to make her stay. Some had gotten high with her. Actually, a lot had gotten high with her, and drunk. She didn't come home most nights, and left Joyce in worried tears.
Unfortunately, leaving Joyce alone had left her open to receiving help from David Madsen. So, that douche bag had started creeping in on her mom. She really wasn't home a lot during this period, so it hadn't bothered her as much as it should have. She tried not to think about that idiot sleeping in her dad's bed. The destruction had really started to fly off the handle in her.
Then, Rachel had blow into town. She was like a little whirlwind of energy. She was so upbeat that no one could hate her. Some tried, for awhile, like the Vortex Club. But that didn't last long. Soon, Rachel was in partying and doing all kinds of stuff. She even got Chloe into the parties while she had actually managed to stay there. Chloe still drank and did drugs during this time, but it was really reeling in. It wasn't for self destruction any longer, it was for social shit. Rachel liked to party and dance and do all sorts of things. She didn't really make it seem bad though. She made it seem like something fun, something that should be desired. She didn't make it seem like something that preluded blowing your brains out.
Actually, Rachel had been the only reason she'd been trying to complete High School. She made her actually wake up and be excited to wake up. And best of all, Rachel was never afraid to hold her hand in front of everybody, no matter where they went. Whenever someone called her a dyke because of it, Rachel had snubbed that girl. No one had wanted to talk to that girl, because Rachel was awesome and loved. It had never happened it again. It was like, Rachel was this little happy, vibrating cloud that repelled all bad. Nothing shitty happened in her life while she was there. It was like a miraculous year. The best year of her life. For the first time since her dad had been alive, life was looking up.
Then she'd gone to. People had started snubbing her. The Vortex Club had kicked her away from their gathering. The nerds wouldn't have anything to do with her. They said she was acting out and too angry. A few of the artsy people wanted to take snapshots of her, when she started wearing black and dying her hair. They didn't care. They just wanted a cool shot. Teachers just got on her back, and Joyce was too wrapped up in this new guy that she really didn't notice.
Without Rachel's guidance and happiness to draw her to school, she pretty quickly got kicked out of Blackwell. She had been on a downward spiral every since William had died. Rachel had stopped her from falling for awhile, but now she wasn't here.
Worst of all, Rachel had left with something bad spoiling in Chloe's heart. She'd heard rumors about Frank. Something was up between Frank and her girl Rachel. She knew that she and Rachel hadn't really ever been, well, official. They'd never really said they were exclusive material. But she somehow figured that Rachel would wanna be.
Now, she'd really never figured it out, and Frank sure as hell wasn't going to tell her.
"Rachel..." She said softly.
"Chloe?" That voice wasn't Rachel's. It was Max's. Chloe slowly opened her eyes. Max had twisted her head and was looking at her with a somewhat worried expression, "Chloe, are you okay?" With a small nervous laugh, Chloe pulled away.
"Yeah. Yeah. I'm chill." Chloe forced herself to laugh it off and went to stand by her drink. She drank it, but didn't taste a drop of it. She had some goosebumps herself, "Glad you managed to find some clothes. They fit you well." Chloe had really never realized just how closely Max and Rachel were shaped. They were both skinny and shorter than she was. There was silence in the kitchen as they both tried to get over the awkwardness. Chloe closed her eyes sighing deeply. She wondered how long she had held Max as she remembered Rachel. She couldn't really remember. She'd been too wrapped up in Rachel. Damn. She could still smell the incense, "So, Maximilian. Where are we headed today?" Chloe asked as she breathed deeply, trying to get a bigger whiff of the phantom incense. But, it was gone, just like everything else.
"I have to go back to school today." Max said, pep trying to be forced into her voice.
"Ahhhh, the great Blackwell major got a test today, huh?" Chloe said, her voice a little cold. Someone else that always had better things to do. There was more awkward silence, and Chloe grit her teeth and closed her eyes, rubbing her hand over her face roughly. Why did she always have to open her goddamn fucking mouth.
"Yeah, well, your bacon and eggs are done!" Max cheerfully went over and slid the two eggs and bacon onto one plate, and went back to return the skillet to the sink. Once she realized what she was doing, Chloe tried to stop her.
"Aw naw, come on Maxie! Stay and eat with me, it's okay! I'm not mad or anything!" Chloe said and looked into her face. She realized from her bright, fake expression that she wasn't going to stay.
"It's okay. I was just happy and wanted to cook for you before I left. I don't really have time to make a second batch!" Max said and gave her a quick hug before running for the door, grabbing her bag from the stairway post, "I'll come back for my clothes though! Joyce threw them in the wash!" With a last goodbye, Max was gone.
Chloe stared at her orange juice in her cup, sloshing it back and forth. She felt sick to her stomach, and tossed it over the grease in the sink and went to go stand and stare at the eggs and bacon. She felt nauseous. Trying not to think too much about herself, she picked up the plate and scraped the food into the trash. Rachel's food was better anyway. Chloe went upstairs to smoke and try not to think about her life. She almost started to cry again when she saw Rachel's picture laying beside her bed from where Max had found it last night.