A/N: I concieved of this idea one day while working on another fic, and I thought I'd give it a go. Suggestions are welcome, comments encouraged!
The summer had seemed too short for Maxine Caulfield and anxiety filled her as she loaded her school bag and readied for her first day back to class.
It wasn't just any 'back to school' day, either; it was her first day of junior high. Max stared at herself in the bathroom mirror as she brushed the tangles out of her brown hair. She bit her bottom lip, turned her head this way and that, and huffed in frustration. Two weeks earlier, her parents took her shopping for new clothes and her mother suggested that she should cut her hair. At that time, Max was debating whether to grow it long; the decision was made for her that day when a full three inches got cut.
There's barely enough hair for a ponytail now.
She stared with apprehension in the mirror and crossed her arms over her chest nervously. "I look like a boy," she muttered.
"No, you don't, dear." came her mother's voice from the doorway, "Although, I wish you'd have at least considered that dress which I showed you."
Max rolled her eyes as she left the washroom, grabbing her backpack on the way down the hall. "I love you too, mom."
"Dad is waiting in the car for you. Have a great first day, Maxine." Vanessa Caulfield said, smiling as she handed Max her bagged lunch.
Max hugged her mother, "Thanks. You too."
On the way out of the house, she grabbed her coat from the closet. Despite her mother's pleas to replace it with something new, she had decided to stick with an old denim jacket that had belonged to her father. It was several sizes too big and made Max's skinny frame seem thicker and more substantial; mostly, though, Max wore it because it was comfortable.
Max spent the drive fidgeting her hands through her pockets and playing with the disposable camera that sat in her lap. She had decided that it might be a welcome distraction from starting a new school to go out during any breaks and take some random pictures. She was saving up from chores and odd jobs to buy one of those old Polaroid cameras that were popular decades ago.
As her father pulled the car around in front of Arcadia Bay Junior High, Max crouched down low in her seat. There were many older kids walking around out front, talking…laughing…some were even arguing with each other. The sight of the large crowd made Max feel as though she had a knot in her chest; She quickly looked around outside, not recognizing anybody. Seeming to read her mind, her father turned to her and smiled comfortingly, "You ready to go for the gold, Maxi?" Ryan Caulfield asked in his deep voice, "I'm sure your friends just got here early and are waiting for you inside!"
Max nodded with a forced smile, not wanting to worry him, and slowly opened the car door. She slung her school bag over her shoulder and, squaring herself like her father told her to do in an effort to improve her posture, she tried walking as confidently as possible up the walk toward the front door to the school. She could almost feel the eyes of the older kids scanning her.
They're probably thinking, 'Who's the weird-looking boy holding the camera against his chest?"
If she'd have turned around, she probably would have noticed that they hadn't been paying her any mind whatsoever.
She'd already been to the school a few weeks earlier to take a tour of the place, so she knew that she needed to take the small flight of stairs up and head into the library next to the main office. As Max entered, she noticed several people there that she recognized, as her father had said she would.
"Max! How ya doin'?" Matt Silver exclaimed, punching Max playfully on the shoulder. He had been in her class for nearly every grade of primary school; they shared an interest in science fiction and fantasy books but weren't really what Max would consider friends. Still, she felt some small relief to see someone who she knew.
Max smiled and shrugged, "I'm good! This new school…Wowsers! So big and smells weird."
Matt smiled, "Isn't the library amazing? I wonder if we'll be able to take books out today?" he practically squealed, pushing his glasses up his nose and taking a random book from the Sci-Fi section.
Max tried to smile and turned to idly scan the novels on a stand by the library wall while pulling her oversized coat tighter around her body. She had just found a book that she actually found interesting when a hand on her shoulder startled her. She spun around and smiled to see Michelle Dascal standing there.
"How are you doing, girl? I'm totally freaking! How about you?" Michelle said, hugging her in greeting. Michelle was a few inches shorter than Max, with long, black, curly hair and big glasses. She talked quickly, with a nasally kind of voice; Max sometimes felt like she was more interested in hearing herself speak than in anything Max had to say.
"I dunno. I'm kinda nervous, I guess. What if I can't find my classes?" Max replied, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.
Michael shrugged and replied, "I guess you'll get expelled? They'll drag you out in chains? Tie you to a post and throw rotten tomatoes at you? Nah, really I guess they kind of expect people to be all weird and stuff the first few days."
Max nodded, "I…guess. Sure...yeah."
"Hey! You brought a camera!" Michelle exclaimed, looking down and noticing the Kodak disposable camera in Max's hand, "Take my picture?"
Max's face lit up with a smile; she had been so nervous about starting at the new school that she had forgotten she even brought it. Handling a camera, and taking pictures always made her relax and relieve any feelings of anxiety. "Sure! What…I mean, where would you like to take it?"
Michelle laughed, "I dunno! It's your camera, right? Just make sure to catch my good side!" She backed up to one of the tables and sat down on it.
"Pretty sure you're not supposed to sit on the tables."
Max looked past Michelle and saw a girl sitting at the table, a Teen Vogue magazine flipped over in front of her. They had clearly interrupted her reading, and she looked irritated.
"We're just going to be a second so Max could take my picture," Michelle said coolly to the girl behind her, "Unless you were going to tattle..."
The girl rolled her eyes, puffed out her cheeks and turned her magazine back over, "Whatever. I'm just warning you. If you want to get in trouble, don't let me stop you."
Michelle huffed, "Fine! Just hurry up then, Max."
Max slowly, hesitatingly lifted the camera closer to her face as Michelle posed; but rather than look through the viewfinder she found herself looking past the camera itself - at the girl with a mixture of curiously and something else. She had gone back to engrossing herself in the pages in front of her, brushing blonde strands of hair from her face that fell from beneath a bright blue headband, and occasionally biting her lower lip in concentration. Her turquoise eyes moved back and forth over the words in front of her, and Max noticed with amusement that she occasionally wrinkled her nose in disgust. She was wearing an unzipped dark pink hoodie with what looked like paint smudges on it, and when Max squinted her eyes slightly she saw what looked like a unicorn on a white background of…
"Hey, Max! Earth to Max!"
Max blinked and looked up, startled; for a brief moment, she forgot where she was.
"You taking the picture or what? Blondie was probably right about us getting in trouble if I'm caught sitting on the table." Michelle whispered loudly.
The blonde-haired girl looked up again too, first at Michelle with a scowl, "My name is not Blondie!" then turned to Max and raised an eyebrow slightly.
Was I staring? Why was I staring? Did she catch me staring?
Max felt her face grow hot as blood filled her freckled cheeks, and she looked down at the carpeted floor intently. Suddenly, she felt the same she did when her mother asked her if she'd completed her homework and she'd really spent the last hour watching television. She shoved the camera in her jacket pocket and said softly, "We…we better not. Maybe later. Maybe."
Michelle shrugged and, with a glare at the girl by the table, she walked over to join another crowd of kids. "K then. See ya around, Max." She said in passing.
Max's blue eyes followed her, and she thought about leaving the rear of the library to join her, but something made her hesitate and turn back to the table. And to the girl.
"Um…Sorry about that. About…I mean, your reading and..interrupting it or…whatever." She said, stumbling over her words in a way that made the fairly articulate Max feel strange.
The girl looked up with a peculiar kind of smirk and said, "Don't apologize. I'm just reading this silly thing because I'm bored and there's nothing else in this dumb place to do. But feel free to go with your friend if you want, Max."
Max's eyes opened wide, "How did you know my name?"
Her eyes narrowed to slits and she wiggled her fingers in front of her like she was casting a spell on Max, "Maybe I'm a witch! Better be careful or I'll cast a spell on you! Then you'll turn into a frog or a worm!"
Max put her hands in front of her mouth, unable to stifle a laugh, "Shut up! No, you're not! Stop that!"
The girl laughed laughed too, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in the chair. "Maybe I am! I never really tried casting any spells, now that I think about it. But I heard your friend say your name, so that's how I know. The blonde-haired girl casually walked over and stood beside Max, favoring her with a smirk that Max noted made the corners of her eyes crinkle. Her eyes shone a cocky gaze down at Max - she stood at least three inches taller than her - Max felt embarrassed and mumbled, "Oh…right…Duh!"
The two stood in silence then, and Max felt a sense of awkwardness grow as she watched the girl looking around the library, humming a song softly. Just as Max was about to excuse herself, suddenly the blonde girl's head snapped toward Max and she whispered, "Hey, I have an idea! Can I see your camera, Max?"
Max shrugged and, reaching into her pocket, she took out the camera and handed it to her. As the girl's fingers curled around it to lift it from her palm, Max felt the fingertips brush against her hand, making Max close her eyes and get a weird feeling in her stomach.
Oh god! Don't get sick and throw up!
"Why don't I take your picture, and then you can take mine?"
Max smiled shyly, her cheeks still feeling hot and her tongue seemed to be tangled in her mouth "Oh…yeah, sure. I mean, if you want...which you do, because I guess you asked?"
Before Max finished her sentence, she heard the click of the shutter and Chloe handed the camera back to Max, "I got a good picture, I think. I don't use a camera much at home, but I watched my dad so I figured it out."
Max instinctively wound the camera so it was ready to take the next picture, "It's okay. I'm sure it's…fine."
From the other side of the room, she heard Matt's voice calling her, "Max, they're gonna read out the homerooms in a second! I saved you a seat!"
She looked over at the crowd that was starting to sit by the library circulation desk, then looked over at the girl. "Hurry up, Maximus!" The girl said, posing with a huge, toothy grin and her arms outstretched like she was holding a large package.
...or giving someone a big hug.
Max looked through the viewfinder, lined up the shot and snapped the picture, then, giggling, she stuck the camera back in her pocket and inquired, "Maximus? Why Maximus?"
The girl responded with that familiar smirk, "Silly! It's because you're Maximus the ace photographer!"
"I am?" Max responded, smiling. She found the way the girl spoke to her disarming even though she was nearly certain she hadn't seen her around before.
"You definitely are!" The blonde girl said, putting her hand on Max's shoulder like she was reassuring a long-time friend, "And I'm Chloe the swarthy pirate, scourge of Arcadia Bay and hero to the innocent!" she said, adding "Arr, matey!"
Max laughed out loud, "You're a witch and a pirate, huh?"
Chloe went to respond when the school librarian came over and put a hand on their shoulders, "The orientation is starting, ladies. Cut the chatter and join the new students."
The two of them nodded at her and then looked each other, "I…guess I have a seat saved." Max said, suddenly starting to feel shy and nervous again.
"S'okay," Chloe replied, still grinning. "I'll see ya around the school, I guess. Talk to you later, Maximus. And I want to see that picture when it's developed!"
Max nodded, trying to think of a witty reply, but decided better of it, and just gave a quick wave as she went over to sit between Matt and Michelle.
Wowzers...what the heck is going on?
