Chapter One

Today was one of those perfect days; cloudy, but the sun was peeking out from the crevices within the clouds. And when its setting, the orange is transformed to amber and gold through the smoky grey sky. This just made it better with Jefferson allowing us to spend class expanding our portfolio. I took a picture of this squirrel that was perfectly still and stared at me. Snap! As it rushed off, I could almost hear Mr. Jefferson critiquing my photos. "Excellent timing there, Max," he'd say. "It's like you froze time before the rodent even had a chance to scurry away."

After shaking the picture, I slipped it into my binder and looked at my phone to check the time. 3:59. Close enough, I thought. Seemed like a perfect time to end. As I was walking by the parking lot, I saw Warren hanging by his car. He waved as I started to walk towards him. "Max, what's up?" he asked.

"Not much," I answered. "Mr. Jefferson had us go out and take pictures. Said that we should take the opportunity to observe our surroundings."

"So basically, you had a free period?"

"Yeah."

"Nice. You'll never guess what I have!"

"You hacked Blackwell to pass Chemistry?" I snickered.

"Even better." He pulled out a flier for a screening at the drive-in. I took it and read it. "Plan Nine at Nine."

"Yeah. They're showing nine of the best from Ed Wood. Me and Brooke are gonna go see it this weekend, in costume."

I snickered while handing the flier back to him. "Glen or Glenda?"

"Both." I went back on my way to the dorms. Victoria and her posse were sitting at a picnic table. I could hear them gossiping with Victoria taking photos every now and then. She gave me a cold look as I slowed down. Please don't say anything, I begged in my head. She took her camera and got another picture of her, Courtney, and Dana posing together - Charlie's Angels style.

I walked by Kate's room and saw that it was open a crack, and decided to knock. "Yes?" I could hear her say softly.

Then I snuck my head in. "Can I come in?"

"Sure thing, Max." I opened the door and walked in. Kate was putting some notes away and walked towards me. "So what's up?"

"Just saw your door was open and wanted to see what you were doing."

"Oh, it was? I thought I closed it." She sat back at her desk and turned around at me. "How was class?"

"We got to take photos around campus." It was only then I realized that she wasn't in class. "Are you okay? I didn't see you in class and was wondering-"

"Oh, that. I took a nap and kinda overslept." She picked up her phone and checked the alarm. "Yeah; it was supposed to go off at 2:15, but must've set it for three." She snickered and I felt my phone vibrate. It was a text from Chloe.

Chloe: Yo Max! You free?

Max: Yeah. You still want to meet for dinner?

Chloe: Hell yeah. Two Whales for two? My treat. It seems like Joyce was paying for it, I thought.

Max: Always. Meet you at 6?

Chloe: 6:30. I have to take care of something. XOXO

Max: Xoxoxo 3

I slipped my phone and looked back at Kate. She was writing in a journal and looked at me. "Got any plans for tonight?" she asked.

"I'm meeting someone for dinner."

"By any chance are you meeting...Chloe?" The way she asked made me worry. It reminded me of the biggest concern with Kate came when me and Chloe started dating. As a Catholic, we weren't too sure if Kate would be okay with it. I nodded. "Oh. How is she?"

"She's doing well. Our three-month anniversary is coming up."

She grinned. "Lovely. What do you plan on getting her?"

"I'm working on it, but I'll show you when I'm done."

"Oh. Okay." For the rest of the time, Kate and I listened to music and did some homework. And I couldn't help but think about how she spoke when I mentioned Chloe; there was almost no emotion. She seemed interested, but her voice made it hard to know how she felt about it. I kept an eye on the clock and saw that it was 6:03; I got up and slung my bag over my shoulder started to head out. "Are you going to meet her?" I nodded. "Okay. Can...can I ask you something?"

I leaned on the door. "What is it?"

"Would it be okay if I joined you? I want to meet her." I remembered then that Chloe never really met Kate. "I won't even sit with you two if you want."

"I don't have a problem with it," I answered. I don't know how Chloe would be with it, but we'd just have to see.