I uploaded a chapter and it doesn't label it correctly in the notifications. Does it normally do that sometimes? I also didn't get a notification for my other followers and favorites. Did I accidentally turn it off?
Max felt anxious yet excited about flying back to Arcadia Bay. On one hand, she'd get to catch up with old classmates, see her favorite childhood hangouts, and see her best friend again. Then again, knowing her luck, a pissed off Chloe would refuse to speak to her. Could she blame her? She had gone four long years without communicating with her best friend. It wasn't even like she had a proper excuse with her cell phone bill being paid by her parents and access to a computer wasn't rare. Chloe probably thought her childhood best friend had abandoned her or found new friends to replace her with. She couldn't blame her for having that mindset. After her father died and Max moved soon after, the younger teen kept contact with her for a year or so before slowly slacking off on sending any messages, part of which was due to school. Regardless, she could have tried harder to keep up communication even with so much going on. It wouldn't have killed her to send a message every once in a while no matter how short it was. She had only one job which was to be a good friend even with her being miles away. Hopefully she could make it up once she arrived back in town. It would great to see her again after five years of being away for so long.
She wondered how much she had changed over the years. Obviously the teenager's appearance would change considering she was now 19 years old. Max had changed a fair amount over the years herself. She had grown another foot, her hair color had transformer into a lighter shade of brown, and her facial features had matured a considerable amount. She was no longer the short, baby faced Maxine Caulfield any longer. Chloe would be impressed considering she was always teasing her about her chubby cheeks and playfully calling her a midget due to her height.
"I wonder if she's still taller than me," she thought as she placed her earbuds into her ears and went through her playlist. She remembered always being jealous about the fact that Chloe was much taller than her. Thank god for that growth spurt, even if it took a year to finally happen. Hopefully that would be enough to finally surpass her.
Max peered out of the window, admiring the passing clouds below them. She mentally cursed, remembering that she had forgotten to charge her camera before take off. It was probably for the best. There were already millions of pictures of the scenery above the clouds on the internet and her's wouldn't stand a chance of standing out next to any of them. She liked her for photos to be unique in their own ways. Still, it was a breathtaking sight all things considered. She couldn't wait to get back on the ground again to explore her hometown. She doubted much had changed at all. Hopefully one thing that hadn't changed was the great food at Two Whales. She could practically smell the sizzling bacon, the appetizing scent of eggs frying, and the smell of Joyce's famous pancakes right now. If she wasn't planning on visiting Chloe, that would be the first place she'd drop in. She couldn't help but to lick her lips at the thought of food as her stomach growled loudly. If only her stupid alarm had gone off on time then she could have had breakfast.
"Maybe Chloe can go without seeing me for a while longer," Max murmured to herself as she rubbed her stomach. She wasn't sure which item on the menu she wanted first. By the time they arrived, the breakfast items would no longer be on the menu. Too bad. Even then, perhaps her positive relationship with Joyce could score her a omelet so late in the day. That is if she still worked there.
"Something wrong, Max?" Mark asked as he flipped through a Photo-magazine.
"Just a little hungry," she shrugged. "I can't wait to get in back in Arcadia."
"You know you don't have to wait five hours for food, right?"
"I know, but ever since I got sick off of airplane food when I was pregnant with Matt, I get nauseous from the thought of it. Besides, I'm saving my appetite for something else."
"Oh really?" She could feel her cheeks grow warm hearing his voice drop down in that low, husky tone she loved hearing so much.
"Oh god no!" Max slapped the hand he pressed onto her lap. She knew he was joking, though that didn't stop her from being embarrassed about the thought of it. Even if he wasn't joking, there was no way she was willing to have sex with him so soon. She was still sore after 2 weeks after having their son. Besides the doctor had told them it wasn't safe for Max to have sex with her husband until her body had healed completely which could take up to 4 weeks. Even if he had given her the okay, the pair rarely, if ever, used condoms and Max never needed to bother with birth control since she was a virgin until she got married. "I was talking about Two Whales. It has the best food ever. We should totally try it when we get there."
"If we have time," he shrugged as he went back to reading his magazine. She yawned as she sat snuggled into her seat and placed her baby blue sleeping mask over her eyes. It was going to be a long flight, so she may as well get some sleep before they landed.
The rain was pouring down heavily in the small town of Arcadia Bay with the wind blowing harshly, daring to rip even the mightiest of trees out of the ground. Max wasn't sure how she was still standing. As a matter of fact, how did she even get here in the first place? The last thing she remembered was that family of three had decided to have a picnic in the camping area that was located farther down the path from the town's lighthouse. Max had departed from her family for a moment to use the bathroom. By the time she began washing her hands, the booming sound of the thunder caught her attention, telling her to hurry back to get their child out of the incoming weather. By the time she walked outside, the storm was already overhead. That was fast. The clouds overhead had darkened the sky, only lighting up the area when the lightening struck. She needed to get out of this weather and head back to the car where no doubt her husband and son were. She wasn't sure how it crept up on her like that. The sky was barren of any clouds in the sky before she left the picnic area and she didn't remember any weather reports about heavy rain. She didn't have the time to think about it at the moment. It was pouring down harder by the second and she needed to leave. As she shielded her eyes from the rain, she jogged towards the parking lot making sure to avoid tripping over the various rocks plus buildup of debris on the ground. To her confusion, their rental car was missing. The moment she pulled out her cellphone to text him about his location, a bot of lightening struck a large tree to the right of the path she was on. The 18 year old let out a terrified scream as she ran out of the way before it landed on her.
"D-damn that was c-close," she stammered aloud, shaking from almost being crushed by a tree. Her life had momentarily flashed before her eyes before her feet finally decided to move. "I'd better get out of this storm before it kills me."
The only sanctuary she could think of was the lighthouse on the cliff-side. It was a much better option than staying out in the open surrounded by trees that could fall on top of her at any moment. She just had to make it up there as quickly as possible while avoiding the numerous flying objects flying around her. Hopefully she'd be able to get Mark on the phone and figure out just where the hell her husband had gone off to. By the time she reached the lighthouse, she noticed an enormous tornado heading towards the town. She had never seen a storm this large before. Tornadoes were normally tall and slender windstorms, not wide like this one was. From the looks of it, this tornado was big enough to swallow the whole town within seconds. Wait a second. If her husband had gone back into town with the baby...
"MY BABY!" she screamed before she knew it. If they were already there, there was a chance her son would crushed by a tree or car thrown by those powerful winds or swept away by the wind. Ever since was born, she promised to protect him with all of her might. Yet here she was powerless to stop any harm from happening to her baby. "No! No!"
"Max! Max! Wake up!"
"Hu-huh?" The teenager woke up to the concerned face of her husband, staring intensely into his wife's ocean blue eyes. She was still on the plane, she slowly realized as she glanced around the plane. To her embarrassment, everyone was staring at the couple, probably wondering what the hell was going on. For a moment she felt a combination of confusion and relief as she examined her surroundings. That nightmare felt so real; the rain slicking her skin, the deafening booms of the lightening, and the windy whipping through her hair. Then again it did make sense it was a nightmare than being reality. She didn't really remember landing or getting settled in. Still, how did something like that feel so real?
"Max, are you alright?" he asked, continuing to shake his wife's arm. She appeared to be dazed and confused about where she was.
She nodded as she rubbed her forehead. "I just had a nightmare. There was this huge tornado coming towards the town and it destroyed the town with you both in it. It felt so...real."
"It was just a dream, Max," he reassured her as he squeezed her hand. Of course it was a dream no matter how real it felt. It still didn't help that as a result of having it, it left a bad taste in her mouth about returning back to Arcadia Bay. For all she knew, this could be an omen about returning. Maybe she was looking too deeply into it and it meant nothing. It could be from her being nervous about meeting up with Chloe again. Regardless, she shouldn't let a nightmare get the best of her.