Life is Gone: Eyes of the Storm

Chapter Four: A Date with the Past

"Hello?"

"Oh, hi Kate."

"No, it's okay. Really."

Chloe held the bag of frozen vegetables to her face as she and Max laid back down on her bed. Their pirate play had been fun, but they decided to lay back down again when they realised just how tired they were. It had been a stressful and emotional day, and it had taken a toll on both of them.

So now they laid back on Chloe's bed, Chloe trying to avoid listening to too much of Max's phone call. Normally she wouldn't bother, but something told her that Max would really disapprove of her privacy being breached, more than she would of in the past at least. Chloe wanted Max to tell her what happened, and she figured the only way that was going to happen was if Max trusted her.

Instead of thinking about Max's call, Chloe tried to focus on something else. She stared at the ceiling, trying to all the little marks and scrapes that had been there as long as she could remember.

That got old very quickly.

Next, she tried to focus on the bag of vegetables. Cold was supposed to help take your mind of distractions, right? Focusing on the cold didn't really work as intended. It turned out that when you focused on feeling cold, all that happened was you felt cold.

Shivering a little, Chloe looked over to see Max put away her phone.

Oh, thank god.

"Hey Chloe, I've got to head back over to Blackwell. I may have forgotten that I promised Kate a tea date this afternoon…"

"Kate? Like Kate Marsh?" Chloe shouldn't have been so surprised. Now that she thought about it, Kate was exactly Max's type of friend. They would suit each other well, especially if how quiet Max had been recently was any indication of how she was now.

"That's her. Why, do you know her?"

Wait wait wait. Did Max say tea date? Like a date? This would be good.

"Did you say date? Are you and Kate one of those cutesy tea couples? I didn't think she'd be the type."

"What? No, we're just friends, you giant goofball."

Chloe sighed a little, that would have gotten a rise out of Max five years ago. Clearly, she'd need to try harder in the future.

"So, who is the lucky person then? I can only assume someone at Blackwell would have snatched you up by now." Chloe winced at the brief look of something – fear maybe – that flashed through Max's eyes at her sentence. Had she said something wrong?

Max recovered though, powering through to answer Chloe's question.

"No one anymore. Not since I got back." Chloe thought her voice sounded a little bitter, like she was spitting out the taste of something foul.

"Bad break up?"

"You could say that." Max's voice was getting cold and defensive, she had clearly had enough of this topic. Chloe, for once in her life, made the wise decision and changed the subject.

"So, you needed to get to Blackwell? I'm taking it you want a ride."

The look of relief that washed over Max's face with Chloe's rather sharp change of subject made it all worth it, despite Chloe's now peaked curiosity.

"Yeah, that would be nice. I even asked her if I could bring you along."

Chloe looked at her, a little bit shocked.

"What, I'm not going to make you give me a lift then leave you on your own."

Chloe wasn't used to people thinking of her like that. Rachel, even though she harboured no ill-intent, had loved taking advantage of free rides, and no other relationship – bar Max five years ago – had ever surpassed Rachel in quality.

"Well in that case, I'd be happy to take you – even if you are only paying me in tea."

Max just rolled her eyes.