A Council had been convened in order to determine how best to deal with 'The Max Problem'.
In many ways, the first part of the problem was that no one actually had any proof, or even examples. It was more like a collective conspiracy. Max Caulfield was obviously a weirdo freak and yet she was now friends with everyone. She had saved Kate. She had listened to Taylor's troubles about her mother. She had been somehow involved in the arrest of Jefferson.
Max managed to always be in the right place at the right time, and she knew just the right words to break past your defenses and make you love her. If you had met her back in September, you might have assumed she would be a lonely nothing, but here they were in early November and she was the darling of Blackwell, an unofficial role that Victoria had been vying to achieve for ages.
Only one person in the world seemed to be allowed in close enough to potentially know all of Max's secrets – Chloe Price. Somehow, the notorious slacker artist had once upon a time been an actual child and hadn't simply come into the world fully formed, tattoos and all. And as a youngling, befriended Max; now they were back together in action and utterly inseperable.
At Juliet's behest, Brooke laid out all this information and more for the gathered crowd composed of pretty much the entire girls' dormitory. Everyone was nodding seriously in agreement as Juliet took the helm once more. "We've worked out a plan that I think has some serious merit. From what we've seen, Max is seemingly able to read our minds, or she can at least turn conversations away from weird subjects. We have to hit her where it hurts most."
This lead-in was kind of bizarre and some people in the room who still actually considered Max a true friend were getting nervous. What kind of terrible idea had Juliet worked out?
"The honeypot," interjected Brooke with the kind of decorum she never even showed in class, "is a seductive technique by which truth and allyship can be obtained in those considered otherwise impregnable."
"Phrasing Brooke..."
"Right, sorry!" Brooke wasn't often one to show emotion or get flustered, but she blushed a little now as she continued to speak. "But we've only got one shot at this, and I think it's important that we make a concerted effort. So..." She was obviously hesitant about explaining further, and no one could blame her. Whoever she named next would have to seduce Max Caulfield. Not that anyone could really predict what kind of plan the schemers had concocted.
"So... Kate, you'll be..." The backlash was immediate and rowdy and it took some time to calm everyone down. Both Brooke and Juliet knew that the suggestion wouldn't be appreciated, though Kate was characteristically silent on the matter so far. Brooke did notice a bit of a blush on her cheeks, however. "Stop being so literal people! I just mean... that maybe... you might be able to pull a bit of a Lois Lane. Take Max out for tea, express your gratitude, see if you can disarm her enough that she feels comfortable talking to you."
Poor Kate was understandably still nervous about all this. Unfortunately, the plan wasn't over yet.
"But like I said, we can really only try this once. And I think it could be good to have someone else attempting to get Chloe to spill the beans too. We were thinking, uh... Victoria?" This suggestion actually caused far less outrage, and even Taylor and Courtney were giving small little nods of approval. Only the blonde herself still seemed upset by the idea that she might be interested or capable of seducing Chloe Price. Surely they knew that the thought disgusted her!
Of course, the truth was that everyone knew that the thought of it was supposed to disgust her. But if given the chance, they would undoubtedly jump one another's bones in a heartbeat. Juliet took over since she was the one in possession of pretty much all the tact. "Vicky, please, I know you're just as curious as the rest of us. I'm not asking you to enjoy it. I'm asking you to be a super cool secret agent and get us some answers. Please don't make me go all reverse-psychology on you by telling you that I don't believe you can do it, okay? I don't want to sink that low..."
Kate was kidding herself if she thought she didn't kind of want to do this. Brooke and Juliet were smart, they knew exactly what they were doing when they picked Kate to be the one to press Max for information. With those curious eyes and her innate photographer's eye and the genuine concern she showed for everyone – Kate included – it was hard not to be drawn to Max Caulfield.
While their tea dates were normally informal, casual affairs, and no doubt her friend would assume that something was wrong when she showed up wearing one of her favorite baby blue dresses with a fluffy sweater. But Max just smiled, almost knowingly. As they stepped together through the main door of the Blackwell dormitory, she held her breath and practically threw herself forward down the stairs. If she was going to trip, it would have to be to the degree that it would ruin their afternoon. Sure enough, as soon as her feet left the ground, she was swept up in Max's arms, safe and sound.
She flushed and looked at Max, who was naturally concerned but grateful. "N-Nice catch..."
"Here..." The sandy-haired beauty gripped her hand tightly and continued walking much closer to her now. It was tough to tell if this was going perfectly according to plan or if she was already crashing and burning. This was the only major flaw in Brooke's idea – Kate was no spy. All she had was a genuine dedication to her friend. That would have to be enough. "Are you sure you're okay, Kate? It's not like we have to go get tea."
On the one hand, it would have been much more famililar territory for Kate to just go get tea with Max and then see where things went from there. But there was also a mission to complete and Max was giving her a pretty decent opportunity to push things in the right direction. "I am feeling a little bit out of it. You don't mind calling it off?"
"Of course not! Not if you're not doing well..." As quickly as they had left they were walking back down the hall. The thought of what she was about to do was utterly terrifying. As they approached her bedroom door, Kate feigned a fainting spell. Once again, instead of hitting the floor, she was instead wrapped in Max's arms and carried into her room as if she was lighter than air.
Kate hadn't planned on taking this whole silly 'seduction' thing so literally. She had wanted to be more subtle than that. So it came as quite a surprise that she was actually in Max's bed with her head in the other girl's lap. Max was lightly playing with her hair and watching her curiously. "You're not sick... So what's the deal, Ms. Marsh?"
Kate's mind was racing as she tried to figure out how she could possibly work all this to her advantage. But she also knew herself to be an honest person. She still wasn't sure about this whole thing. But even she was curious about a few things. "No, it's... It's a mental thing I guess? I... Even after a month, I keep thinking about that week in October. About that night up on the roof." Max looked even more concerned now and she couldn't really blame her. "Not like that! It's... I still don't understand..."
"You don't get how I could have made it to you in time." Max looked away from her, finally showing that more scared and shy side she'd been working so hard to get rid of.
Not to mention your uncanny ability to read minds... "I just keep playing it over in my mind. I went when I did because... most people would have been in class... So I could see when everyone showed up. And I saw you in the crowd and... and then..."
Max's hand slid into her own and gripped tightly, and Kate stared at the joined limbs in awe. Had she actually managed to do this despite all her fumbling?
Victoria stared at her phone and the message conversation she'd found herself in the midst of. She'd invited Chloe over to talk and she had actually agreed rather heartily. Chloe was on her way over to Blackwell to meet in Victoria's room so they could... talk. This was happening.
In almost no time there was a raucous knock at her door at which point Chloe barged in without any warning. "This ought to be good Chase."
For effect, Victoria was reclining on her bed wearing something she wouldn't normally have been caught dead in. It was the closest she would ever get to looking 'punk' and had taken her longer to pick out than any outfit she'd ever worn. "Would you mind closing the door, dear?" The sly smile on Chloe's face said it all as she shut the door, gently locking it, before sauntering over to the bed. She showed a shocking amount of grace as she perched on the edge of it, propping herself up on her hand that she strategically placed on the other side of Victoria's knee. Wait, who's seducing who here?
"So what's the story, morning glory? To what do I owe the gracious invitation?"
Victoria leaned up to a seated position so that their bodies were slightly closer, and with Chloe's hand placed the way it was, it was almost as if the blue-haired beauty was cuddling her. It was not an unpleasant thought. "I'm a bitch..."
"It is known, khaleesi."
"Shut up. What I mean is I'm coming to terms with the fact that I have been much more of a bitch than I ever meant to be. So I've been working on making amends. I... always thought that Rachel had just skipped town, and I thought it was... pathetic the way you were still pining for her. I fucked up a bunch of those missing posters. If I had known, I mean..."
Chloe's face had softened significantly as Victoria spoke, and now her hand was resting gently against Victoria's knee instead of the bed. "Thank you for telling me. I'm glad you're calming down. I know Max has actually had good things to say about you over the last month or so."
"Yeah but she has good things to say about everyone! I'm not sure if your gal pal is really a good barometer of my behavior." This conversation wasn't exactly going the way she'd wanted and at the moment she also wasn't sure how to steer it back on course. Why the hell did she ever thinks he could be a secret agent? "A-Anyway, I thought... I'm trying out this whole 'being less terrible' thing and I thought maybe the two of us could hang out for once."
Chloe maintained that same insufferable smile, though it didn't piss Victoria off as much as it usually did. "Vicky, baby, I know what you're doing. You don't have to dance around the subject. It's alright." That hand against her knee began to rub slightly and Victoria only felt all the more confused. "You're hot, I'm hot. You're struggling to figure yourself out, and... so am I. You want someone you can unwind with! I'm down..."
Before this moment could become any more unbelievable, Victoria finally just said fuck it and went for the kiss as Chloe clambered on top of her.
Somewhere in all their conversation, Max and Kate had shifted and were now laying together, their hands still laced together. Max looked so worried and afraid and Kate very tentatively kissed one of her knuckles with a little smile. "Max. It's okay. I believe you. You're talking to the girl who believes a middle eastern carpenter died to save the souls of everyone ever. You said... that night... that you believe in miracles. Now I know why." This seemed to help and Max gently kissed her in return on the lips – an act that was welcome but still shocked her quite a lot. Was this why she had been tasked with talking to her, because everyone already knew what she'd never seen?
Speaking of which, now that she'd been told Max's secret, she couldn't imagine actually telling everyone else. It was so personal, so immense, so ridiculous, it wasn't like they would believe her anyway. Telling the others felt wrong. She could only hope that Victoria either didn't get what she needed or would reach the same conclusion.
Covered with kisses and sweat, Victoria collapsed in a heap on top of Chloe who seemed to be equally sated. Anyone would have been, after one round of vigorous activity, a heart-to-heart wherein she learned the truth about the events in October, or at least all the truth she was going to get, and then another round of sexy times. "Holy shit, Blue. You're a goddamn monster. Guess I should have known." She gave a slightly breathy laugh and nuzzled into her. Victoria Chase was nuzzling Chloe Price. What a time to be alive!
"You kept up like a champ, though, Princess. I hope this isn't just some kind of one-and-done. This was too much fun to keep singular."
Victoria was beaming with pride and nodded her head slowly. "Are we talking booty call or...?"
"Eh, we can iron out all the thorny details later. I should probably get my ass back home before step... David catches me lurking around, stealing maidens' virtues." Chloe snickered as she slipped from the bed and began gathering her things from the messy pile on the floor.
Victoria gave a little fake pout. "Maidens? I thought it was just me! Is there something you're not telling me, Price?"
"Nah, you're the only princess I intend on ravaging, Princess." Chloe stole one last fleeting kiss before slipping on her shirt and disappearing into the late afternoon for new shenanigans.
"We're out."
"Yeah, w-we're done."
Victoria was quite adamant. Kate was... well, she was taking her cues from Victoria. "You guys can look for some other way to explain the weird shit around here. If you wanna know so bad, you can ask Max yourself. But I don't expect you'll have a very easy time of it." The blonde crossed her arms and walked out. Kate at least offered the room a weary smile before following after her, closing the door.
"I'm not saying I thought my plan was 100% fool-proof, but this is a seriously unexpected development!" Brooke flopped back against the bed and groaned. "What are we gonna do now? Inquiring minds want to know!"
"Yah. Well, unless you want to make the brilliant suggestion of sending two other unwitting students to seduce Kate and Victoria, I think we're back to the drawing board." Even Alyssa, who had seen Max's weird precognitive powers first-hand, was starting to lose her desire to solve this. It was proving to be too much trouble.
Dana gently settled her hand on Juliet's shoulder and offered her an encouraging smile. "I think it's time to find a new hot scoop to dig in to. You could always go on a quest to find out what the hell 'Tobanga' is."