Chapter Four
"I still think eggshell white is the best choice." Ryan taps his right index finger on the sample strip.
"It just seems so bland." Vanessa responds. "I'd like the room to have a little more color and life than that. The sky blue would be so soothing."
The couple has been planning to remodel the living room for well over a month, and while progress is slow they have never fought about it. Disagreements are discussed and calmly handled until they arrive somewhere together. Their relaxed and easy going nature definitely shows in their teenage daughter, as everyone who meets them all seems to bring that up. But, as Max marches down the stairs and into the living room with a stoic expression and tall posture, that easy going nature seems absent.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I need to ask you for something, and it's very important to me." Max begins, adopting a wider than average stance and chopping her right hand into the left palm.
Both Ryan and Vanessa stare at her with wider than normal eyes, unused to the introverted teen being so assertive about anything other than photography.
"I would like to travel to Arcadia Bay after school tomorrow and spend Spring Break with Chloe. I know this is super out of the blue, but I can't express enough how important this is to me!" Max places both her hands over her chest and taps a few times to emphasize her point, then begins pacing left and right as she continues. "I was wrong to break contact with Chloe at thirteen. It was just too hard for me to deal with being moved away from my best friend back then. But, I finally worked up the courage to reconnect and it went really well. I talked to Joyce a little, and then to Chloe, and both of them would be happy to have me tomorrow. I can give you a whole bunch of reasons why this trip would be really good for me!"
Ryan breathes out a quiet chuckle and smiles through his scruffy beard, giving his wife a few different looks, which she returns. The beautiful dynamic of a couple being married for over twenty years shines through as they express entire sentences without saying a word, coming to a complete understanding before Max can even continue.
"Sounds great, kiddo." Ryan gives his permission.
"Reason number…" Max stops her pacing with a sudden jerk, then slowly twists on her heels to offer a shocked expression toward her father. "Wait, did you just say yes?"
Both her parents softly laugh before Ryan continues. "We've been hoping for this for a while, Max. You and Chloe may have lost touch, but Vanessa still talks to Joyce every now and then. We all know how much Chloe misses you, and it was just a matter of time before you felt old enough and independent enough to fly down there and see her again."
Are you cereal? Max's arms fully relax and swing down by her sides as she looks off to the right to send a yuck face at the cat statue on the bookshelf, as if it's responsible. I spent half an hour coming up with reasons why they should let me go and I didn't even need one of them? What a waste of time!
Max shoots her gaze back to her mother and father to give them a confused look, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "What do you mean you all know how much Chloe misses me?" She folds her arms in front of her chest as she waits for the answer.
Vanessa steps around the living room sofa to approach her daughter. "Oh, Max, don't feel betrayed. Nobody was keeping any secrets from you. It's hard moving at the age of thirteen. We knew you were hurting about Chloe to the point that even thinking of her made you sad, which is why we stopped mentioning her around you." She wraps her arms around Max to hug her and soothingly rub her back, disarming the agitated teen. "I'm glad you're finally OK with living in a different city than Chloe and that you want to visit with her. Of course you have our permission."
"Are you sure you want to fly on Friday evening?" Ryan asks with a bit of concern in his tone. "It might be pretty exhausting for you to pack all evening, go to school tomorrow, and then travel all evening. Saturday would be easier on you."
Max slips out of her mother's hug to look up at her father, responding with a bit too much intensity. "No! It has to be Friday." She goes wide eyed for a moment as she realizes she's acting a bit suspicious in her efforts to follow future Max's instructions. "I mean… I'd rather have the extra day to spend with Chloe. I don't mind being exhausted on Friday evening."
Ryan gives his daughter a perplexed look, then shrugs it off and smiles. "Alright, go upstairs and pack your things. I'll book you a flight down on Friday, and your flight back on the following Sunday. Presuming you want to spend the entire break down there?" He asks as he makes his way to the computer desk in the corner of the room.
"Yes, the entire break!" Max shouts over her shoulder as she bolts out of the living room, light brown hair whipping all about. "Thanks mom! Thanks dad!" She grins ear to ear as she takes the stairs two at a time, rushing up to her bedroom to begin packing for a ten day trip.
Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Everything is working out! I had no idea it would be that easy to get permission to fly alone. Well, maybe only for Chloe's sake. I still feel weird about that conversation. Now I wish they would have tried to convince me to get back in touch with Chloe sooner. Oh well, at least I'm doing better than future Max did.
After neatly tucking six sets of clothing in her suitcase, hoping she'll be able to do laundry mid-break, Max sits at her desk to text Chloe that she'll be flying down on Friday evening, but her time of arrival is not yet known. Then she sighs as she thumbs through her contacts to make the hard calls. She taps Kristen's name and holds her phone up to her ear.
"Hey Max!" Kristen sounds so happy and excited on the other end. "Just one day left!"
"Yeah! So excited about Spring Break!" Max takes a breath and slumps as she knows there's no easy way to do this. "Listen, something has come up. I have to fly down to my old home town after school tomorrow. I'll be away for all of Spring Break."
"Oh no… did someone die?" Kristen sounds aghast.
"No! No, no, nothing like that. Well… it's complicated." Max stares down at the note from her future self describing the deaths of Rachel and Chloe. "Someone down there needs me right now. So, I'll have to pass on our plans to photograph all the Seattle sites. I'm really sorry."
"Aw, that sucks. But, it's OK, Max. Whatever is going on sounds really important. Fernando and I will be fine, and we'll show you all the pictures we took when you get back."
Max smiles. "I'll take pictures over Spring Break and share them with you as well. Thanks for being so cool about it. Could you please call Fernando and tell him? I'm swamped packing and preparing right now."
"Sure, Max. And, if you need to talk to someone about whatever is going on, you know I'm here for you, right?" Kristen expresses her obvious concern, given that Max is never so secretive and dodgy about what's going on with her.
"You're an awesome friend, Kristen. But, don't worry about me, I'm fine. I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Yeah, seeya tomorrow!"
Time seems to fly past in hyper speed over the next day, like all those little white lines zipping past in Star Trek to symbolize distant stars zooming through the field of view. Max has dinner with her parents who give her an orientation on how to travel safely a dozen times, and the teen goes over her suitcase contents just as many times to make sure she will have everything she needs. Sleep takes a while to find her, the nerves of her life-saving mission keeping Max awake for half the night, so she almost falls asleep in a few classes during school the next day. In fact, she hardly remembers much anything from the final day of school other than hugging Kristen and Fernando and wishing them luck on their photography adventure through Seattle.
Ryan is there to pick Max up after school and take her straight to the airport, and she takes a much needed nap on the plane. Then, with the help of an airport employee, she retrieves her suitcase and gets in a cab, reading the address Chloe texted her to the driver. A million thoughts go through her mind as she stares out the window on the way, and she doesn't realize she fell asleep again until the cab suddenly comes to a halt and the driver grunts to get her attention. Her head snaps up and she looks out at the night and street lights surrounding the cab, and then she sees it. It's the old, familiar home of Joyce and Chloe Price. Max pays the cab driver and gets out, hauling her suitcase to the front door and taking a few deep breaths to prepare herself before ringing the doorbell. The sound of footsteps on the other side of the door sends a fresh spike of nerves all up and down her core.