"Freak Like Me" by Halestorm
"So what'cha want?" Max asked as she opened the door leading outside and watched Chloe head toward the breezeway leading out to the campus quad, "Chloe? Hey, Chloe!"
"Shh!" Chloe said, turning around to give Max a cut-throat gesture for silence, "Dude, get over here!"
Rolling her eyes, Max walked over hurriedly and tried to be as quiet as she could. The campus was empty this late at night, the security guards being on watch as the student body slept. Well, as most students slept. This all feels very familiar, Max thought as she headed over to join Chloe in the shadowed area just out of the breezeway and in the quad.
"Chloe, what are we doing?" Max hissed, her voice a whisper as she tugged on her friend's leather jacket, "Chloe!"
"Dude, check it," Chloe jerked her chin in the direction of the gym and Max joined her in watching Dana, Courtney, Juliet, and Brooke leave the gymnasium, "Bet they're up to something…"
"Chloe," Max said, her monotone voice getting Chloe's attention, "The Halloween party is tomorrow. They're setting shit up, dumbass."
"Hey!" Chloe pinched Max's arm and Max winced before smacking Chloe on the shoulder, their amateur detective work turning into Chloe and Max bent over with both girls in a headlock. Neither girl willing to let up, Max kicked the back of Chloe's knees and they fell down onto the grass in a pile.
"You fucking brat!" Chloe said with a smirk as she shoved Max off her, Max covering her mouth to hide the round of giggling that threatened to give them away.
"Shut it, Chlo!" Max whispered, her tone biting as the girls they had been monitoring chatted while heading into the breezeway. Waiting until the noise of Dana and the other girls talking faded into the distance, Max slugged Chloe on the shoulder and got to her feet. Offering Chloe a hand up, Max flashed her friend a sardonic grin, "You ass. You bring me out here to what, watch my classmates leave a building? Oooh, Chloe, how ominous!"
When Chloe smiled and pulled out a set of keys, the déjà vu Max felt nearly made her dizzy. I present to you the spare keys to Blackwell, thank you step-prick. The look on Max's face grew distant for a moment as she recalled making a pipe bomb to break into Principal Wells' office. That seems like so long ago, even though it really wasn't, Max thought to herself as a hand on her side brought her back to her senses.
"Chloe…?" Max asked, mildly disoriented as her current timeline and the memories from her old one overlaid in her head for a moment.
"Welcome back to Earth, Max," Chloe said, a relieved smile on her face, "You okay?"
"Uh, yeah," Max said, smiling at her friend in embarrassment, "Keys?"
"Hella yes, keys! Keys to the entire effing school, Max! Let's crank that juvenile delinquency up to eleven, sista!" Chloe said excitedly as she began to pull Max along, stopping when Max started to drag her toward the gym, "Dude, we have the whole school at our fingertips and you want to shoot hoops? Da fuq?"
"Splish splash," Max said, jerking her head in the direction of the Blackwell gym, yanking her hand free to make doggy paddle gestures, "C'mon, Chlo! Splish splash?"
"You want to go swimming?" Chloe asked, stroking her chin as her eyes darted between the school and the gym, "Why the fuck not? Hella splish splash."
Wowser, Max thought to herself as Chloe led them to the gym and unlocked the door, Again with the déjà vu. A little different this time, though. Never thought I would be the one suggesting we commit breaking-and-entering. You're a bad influence, Chloe, but in the coolest way possible. Sliding her hand into Chloe's, Max intertwined their fingers and smiled when Chloe looked at her with an excitable gleefulness on her face, eyes shining in the dim light.
"You're loving this, aren't you?" Max asked, hugging Chloe's arm as they walked through the halls of Blackwell's gymnasium, "The things you get me into, I swear to Dog…"
"Yeah, you can go swear to a poodle for all I care," Chloe said with a crooked grin, "This was your idea, Max."
"But you wanted to commit breaking-and-entering in the first place, Chlo."
"It's just…'entering' – after all, I do have the keys. How can I break when I can hella unlock dis bish? Eh? Eh?" Max laughed when Chloe poked her in the side with each question until she nearly fell over from giggling, "Oh-ho, 'Mad Max' Caulfield is still ticklish, huh? I'll have to remember that for future reference."
"Don't you dare," Max said, scrunching her lips to one side as she looked at Chloe with veiled eyes, "I slapped Victoria Chase. I drove away the town's drug dealer. You would be too-fucking-easy."
"Hey, I am hardcore, Caulfield. That Irish luck-"
"Fighting Irish."
"…Yeah, okay Notre Lame. You're rep won't get you anywhere with me," Chloe said as she leaned close to Max with a conspiratorial look on her face, "I still remember you running around in Wonder Woman underoos and matching tank-top at my house."
"I was a kid, Chloe!" Max said, eyes wide at the shock of Chloe's words, "Besides, Wonder Woman is hot."
"…First, you were 12. And secondly… Did you just call Wonder Woman hot?"
"I mean, um, she's pretty…?"
Chloe stopped them just at the entrance to the pool locker rooms, blocking the door to look at Max with her lips thinned and contemplative eyes.
"You called Wonder Woman hot."
"Chloe, can we just go swim? Please?"
"You. Called. Wonder Woman. Hot," Chloe said, each word emphasized as though she were measuring the significance of the full statement, "Explain, please."
"…I think Wonder Woman is hot," Max groaned, rolling her eyes as she shrugged, "What do you want me to say? She's strong, tall, independent, and is a total badass."
"Hmm…," Chloe scratched at her hair, having taken her snapback off, "But what about her looks? She's fucking hawt, right?"
"Oh God," Max shoved Chloe's shoulder, a scowl on her face as Chloe laughed, "You're fucking with me, aren't you?"
"Duh, Max. Dude, how can you not think Wonder Woman is hot? Um, hello?" Chloe remarked as she held the door open for Max, "Lil Amazonians first, nerd."
"I should knock you on your ass," Max said flippantly, poking Chloe in the chest with an index finger before a grin reluctantly came across her face, "Jerk."
"Yeah, yeah," Chloe said, opening her arms wide to gesture at both the girls and boys locker rooms, "Answer me these questions three, 'ere the other side ye see."
"'What is the air-speed velocity of a coconut-laden swallow?'" Max asked in her impression of the man from Scene 24 in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "My favorite color is pink, b-t-w."
"But which path will you take, Serrah Max? Boys…or girls?"
I can play too, Chloe. "Neither."
"Uh…How are you going to-?"
Swiping the keys from Chloe's hands, Max unlocked the door to the office and flipped on the pool lights before spinning on her heel to stick her tongue out at Chloe, the other girl seeming a little deflated to Max for ruining the game. You can mess with me all you want, Price, but I can totally mess right back. Max stripped down to her underwear, a tank-top and boy shorts, and took a seat at the pool's edge to soak her legs in the pool's heated water. Leaning back, held up by her hands on the concrete floor, she watched as Chloe stripped down to a pair of boxers and bra before diving into the water. Watching her friend dive, Max tilted her head and wondered if Chloe had been in the swim club when she'd been a student at Blackwell. I never really did get to know much about her life between leaving and coming back, save that she's a fucking troublemaking pothead punk grrrl who was crushing hard on Rachel.
"Max, are you gonna stare at me all night or join me in our private pool time?" Chloe asked, the splash that followed bringing Max back to her senses.
"Jesus fuck!" Max cried out, alarmed by the unexpected water splashing her in the face, "You…ooh, that is it! That is it, Price!"
Max slid into the water and began to swim after Chloe, a serious expression on her face as Chloe paddled away with intermittent glances over her shoulder. Max knew she couldn't outrace Chloe but she had a suspicious that she could outpace the punk; while Max might smoke weed now as well, Chloe had been smoking and drinking for at least a year or maybe more. I'll wait you out, you blue butt-headed brat-face, Max thought as she smiled at Chloe when the punk looked over her shoulder only to give Max a nervous look, That's right, Chloe. I am up to something. Something good.
After the third lap around the pool, both girls were beginning to tire but Max's level of fatigue was not as high as Chloe's. Speeding along in short intervals, Chloe was otherwise floating in place while Max kept up her pace from the start of their little game of "Catch Me If You Can". Deciding it was time for the endgame, Max lowered her head underwater and began to swim faster until she was underneath Chloe. Seeing the girl's body thrash around as Max suspected Chloe was looking for her, Max swam up and grabbed Chloe's ankle before yanking her friend down. A wide smile playing on her face under a floating mess of hair, Max saw the look of alarm on Chloe's face quickly turn into a begrudged sneer as Chloe wrestled herself free of Max's grip and swam down to meet her.
Their movements slowed by the water, Chloe's shove still came off as lacking in any type of joking by the look on her face; pissed off, Chloe shoved at Max again only to let out a gargled scream of bubbles when Max dodged the shove. You might have size but I'm lighter than you, Chlo. So… No, Chlo. Chlo-No. Chlo-Be-No. Feeling a slight pain in her chest, Max figured she'd been down long enough and made to swim back up to the water's surface when she felt Chloe grab her ankle and yank her down hard. Letting out almost the rest of her air in a gurgled scream, Max looked at Chloe with her brow furrowed.
What? Max mouthed. It was a joke, Chloe!
That was fucking not cool! Chloe mouthed back with a shove. You hella scared the fuck outta me!
Chloe, I need air! Let me back up! Max mouthed as she tried to pry Chloe's hand off her arm. Chlo-
The kiss came as a complete shock to Max, but her body acted instinctively and she tried to bring a hand to Chloe's hip only to have it swatted away. Pouting, in spite of being in the middle of a kiss, Max pulled away and flipped Chloe off before swimming up to the surface. When she reached the surface, Max didn't say a word to Chloe when her friend joined her and they dressed in continued silence until Chloe, sitting poolside, looked over at a sullen Max.
"I'm sorry," Chloe said, averting her eyes to not get caught in Max's look of angry frustration, "I… I know you think I'm teasing you-"
"You so fucking are, Chloe, and it's not fair," Max said, the words practically spat out like venom.
"…I just… Max, you don't really know me like you used to. I'm… I'm messed up, dude, broken in some places. I… I kiss you and it feels nice but I just don't know what I want, aside from my best friend back."
"…Ugh, this fucking sucks," Max said, her knees to her chest as she covered her face with her chlorinated hair, "This sucks, you suck, everything sucks!"
"Um, that's fucking life, man," Chloe tried to sound optimistic, "But it doesn't always have to suck. You can just, I dunno, 'go with the flow'?"
"…Th' hell is that supposed to mean?" Max asked with a snort and shake of roll of her eyes.
"Don't be an asshole, Max," Chloe retorted, the seriousness in her voice catching Max off-guard as she quickly mumbled an apology, "I… We, the 2013 versions of you and me, are just getting to know each other again. You need to chill and not expect me to just fucking rip my clothes off and demand girl-on-girl action, okay?"
"Chloe…," Max said, sliding over to sit next to her friend, "You don't understand."
"Then help me understand, Max," Chloe said as she smiled and put a hand on Max's shoulder, "Dude, I am here for you always."
"I'm… Chloe, I'm asexual," Max said, the words coming out slowly as she watched Chloe's face for a reaction. Seeing confusion more than anything, Max sighed. "I'm not into sex, Chloe. I like hand-holding and kissing, romantic stuff. So, when you kiss me-"
"Oh, man. Max, why the hell didn't you tell me?" Chloe asked as she caught the pained look on Max's face, a frown and watery eyes among the mess of freckles and damp hair, "God, you had to have been jonesing hard after I kissed you that first time. Max, I-I didn't know. So, um, can I ask?"
"…Sure," Max said, tilting over so that her head was lying against Chloe's shoulder, "Just don't leave me, okay?"
"I'd never fucking do that, dude. You saved me, and you totally give me a reason for still being in this shit-pit of a town," Chloe said, not noticing the slight twitch as Max recalled the similar words last time she was at Blackwell's pool, "So, um, you don't like sex? Are you willing to try it? Is it just an 'ew, gross' kind of thing?"
"I can have sex," Max elaborated, "I just don't feel any type of sexual attraction. It's why I think Wonder Woman is hot because of who she is and not how she looks. I'm into a person's personality, their humor and all the sappy stuff you'd probably make fun of me for…"
"I wouldn't joke about this, Max," Chloe said, pulling out two joints from her jacket. Taking the proffered dope, Max let Chloe light her up and watched Chloe puff away in thought for a bit, "…So, can we just keep on going as we have been?"
"Chloe, if you get all awkward over the slightest fucking thing I will knock you upside your-!"
"Okay, okay!" Chloe raised her hands in surrender, smiling from underneath the bill of her snapback, "We just go on and see where that leads, yeah?"
"...Yeah."
"…And if I feel like kissing you…?"
"Do. Not. Tease. Me."
"Duly noted…but I'll still totally tease you."
"Chloe…"
The girls were playfully shoving each other, Chloe trying to pull a fully-clothed Max into the pool, when the sound of a door opening had them both freeze in-place. Shit! It's David! Max thought to herself as she recalled their stealthy avoidance of the guards. Grabbing Chloe by the wrist, Max put a finger to her lips and made for the girls' locker room. Hiding out in a toilet stall, Chloe peeking out to check for signs of her stepfather, Max ran a hand through her chlorine-saturated hair. Ugh, if we just hide we can escape easily!
I don't want Chloe to get in trouble, though. Especially since David will call the cops.
Shit! What do I… Oh, oh that could work…!
Pulling her cellphone out, Max dimmed the screen down to avoid giving away their location; seeing the curious look Chloe shot at her, Max bit her lip as she began to type.
MAX: Hey Dana, you awake?
MAX: Dana? Help, plz
DANA: How can I be of assistance to the Hero of Blackwell? LoL, s'up Max?
MAX: I need you to tell Mr. Madsen that I'm one of the people helping you with tomorrow's party.
MAX: I'm kinda in a bind, meaning I snuck into the gym with a friend and we went for a swim. He's searching for us now, and I have no desire to go Metal Gear Max. Stealth, I only have so much of.
DANA: God, you're a total nerd. That's what I like about you, though. You should come to the party with Warren, boy practically follows you like a puppy
MAX: Ehhhh, no thanks. Also, assistance first and I'll give you fresh deets on my swim adventure…? Plz. Halp.
DANA: I dunno…;)
MAX: Dana, plz.
MAX: I went swimming with a girl and we kissed!
DANA: O_o
DANA: I got your back, but you got my room number. Don't think I won't go hunting your ass down for details, Max Playing-the-Field ;p
Switching her phone off, Max gently leaned her head into the stall wall and groaned. This was not how she wanted her romantic life divulged, as an offering to save hers and Chloe's skin from David Madsen. Woman up, Max. Dana's got your back and she can keep a secret better than Juliet, thank God. Just get out there and deal with the pornstache. Putting a hand carefully on Chloe's shoulder as to not alarm her friend, Max motioned for them to go. Hand in hand, Max felt Chloe pull at her a bit when they headed straight for where David was searching.
"Max!" Chloe whispered, "The fuck we doing?!"
"I got this, Chloe," Max said as she looked over her shoulder at the anxious expression on Chloe's face, "No worries, Chlo."
"…Hey!" David shouted across the pool as Max and Chloe advanced on his position, "You two, stop right there! You… Oh, uh, Chloe? Max, right? The girl who saved my…who saved Chloe?"
"Um, hey Mr. Madsen," Max said, feigning awkwardness as she playacted her shy behavior from before her life had taken its own "official shit", "Um, you can call off the search party. We were just leaving. Dana let me stick around after we'd finished decorating for tomorrow's Halloween party-"
"Hellaween," Chloe corrected, squeezing Max's hand in support.
"-and I called up Chloe for a late-night swim. No harm, right? I mean, we didn't do anything but swim…"
"…You still shouldn't be here, Max," David said, his gruff posture softening as he looked over Max's shoulder at Chloe, "Chloe, you know better than to pull shit like this. This type of behavior is what got you kicked out of this school. I can only protect you from the police so much-"
"Didn't ask for… Wait, protect? Dude, you've called the cops on me!" Chloe said, moving to stand in front of Max, "Make up your mind on how you treat me, man!"
"Stop fighting!" Max shouted, sliding past Chloe to brace herself between Chloe and her stepfather. "Mr. Madsen, can we go? Please?"
"Just…Just don't pull something like this again, okay?" David asked, sounding more tired than irritated, "Chloe… Never mind. I'll need to speak with Ms. Ward about this for verification, Max, but you can go. Just head to your dorm. Please?"
A quick nod and Max was pulling Chloe along through the corridors of Blackwell's gym until they were outside. Breathing the free air, thankful that Chloe would not be looking at a future email informing her about needing to speak to the police, Max put her hands on her hips and sighed in relief when Chloe slipped her arms around Max from behind and kissed her on the cheek.
"Chloe, I said no teasing-"
"That wasn't a tease, Max," Chloe said, her voice soft as she hugged Max from behind, "That… That was a thank-you. You're hella blushing by the way."
"Oh for fuck's sake lemme go you teasing brat-fuck I'll go back and tell David you were…ugh…," Max grumbled, squirming in Chloe's grip until she gave in and leaned back against her friend. Looking up to the sky, Max stared at the twinkling stars and thought about how differently things were going. It wasn't just the lack of crises to Max, a storm and a missing Rachel, which made this timeline different. Max herself, changed from her experiences and actions, had altered the events in this timeline. Without powers, Max added, I have an entirely different set of memories how things go. This isn't even that week anymore. It's like… It's like certain events were destined to play out, no matter what.
Destiny. Pff, yeah okay. Not.
Tilting her head back to look up at Chloe, Max hesitantly stood on her tip-toes and kissed Chloe on the lips. It was faint, more of a brushing of their lips, but Max felt her ears burn at the contact and she hastily pulled back out of fear over Chloe's reaction. Seeing an amused smirk on her friend's face, Max scowled and rolled her eyes as she walked in the direction of her dorm when Chloe took her hand.
"What, Chloe?" Max asked, her voice giving away how emotionally drained she was, "I'm… I'm too tired for your joking and smartass crap."
"Well then, we should hella go and load up on appropriate sleepover junk food goodness. Also, pizza. Because I'm starving, and I bet you haven't eaten since Two Whales," Chloe said with an apologetic look on her face, "Gimme a chance, Maxi-Pad?"
"…That nickname is almost as bad as my actual name," Max said in a tired voice as she turned around to head toward the parking lot with Chloe, "You haven't called me that since I turned 12."
"Well, it was a memorable occasion."
"Chloe, it was my first period and I freaked out. We had watched Carrie only the… Wait, do you still get anxious from watching scary movies?" When Chloe didn't respond, Max's eyes widened as an impish grin took shape, "Oh, we are so breaking into my movie collection."
"…No Ringu or Ju-On allowed," Chloe said, Max snickering, "You don't still have your PS2, do you?"
"Nah, it's in Seattle," Max said, figuring that it was likely still there in her new timeline, "Why?"
"Good," Chloe said as she looked over her shoulder at Max while opening the driver's side door to her truck, "No Fatal Frame, either."
"Red Bull or Monster?"
"Um, do they have NOS?"
"Ooh, aren't you all street. And yes, they have NOS."
With a thud, the six-pack of NOS was dropped into the small shopping cart at the 24/7 grocery store in downtown Arcadia Bay. Getting tired, Max looked at the single cans of energy drinks for sale and grabbed a 16oz can of NOS; cracking the can open, Max took a sip as they walked to Chloe's amusement.
"What?" Max asked, looking at Chloe innocently, "I'm tired and I like the taste. It's like… It's citrusy but with grapefruit or passionfruit. Whatever, it's good."
"Well, evidently so since there's a six-pack of it next to my simple-ass Cherry Pepsi," Chloe said, pointing at the two-liter bottle of soda, "Shows what I know about Max Caulfield. Gettin' into fights, breaking into pools… Who are you and what have you done with my little nerdy hipster?"
"Hey," Max said, hooking an arm around one of Chloe's as they walked the grocery store aisles, "I'm still nerdy…and a hipster… I've just, well, I've grown up is all."
"Yeah, into a badass," Chloe said, teasing Max by pulling the beanie down over her eyes, "Dude, I have missed this."
"What?"
"Us. Chilling like this," Chloe said as she grabbed a bag of corn chips, "Do you remember when we were eight, and how pissed our moms were when we used the discounted hair color spray from Halloween clearance? We came running with our candy bars and your mom did a spit-take at our matching green hair!"
"That was pretty funny," Max laughed, her crinkled nose making Chloe look away to Max's inattentiveness, "Is that particular memory sparking up an idea, I take it?"
"…We should totally dye your hair, Max," Chloe steered the cart into the beauty aisle, heading for the Manic Panic dye lining the top shelf before stopping the cart as she approached the hair dye with shaking hands.
"…Holy fuck…," Chloe whispered, the tone in her voice as though she were in a sacred place, "Max, they have High Voltage here. Ohmigod, Max, High-fucking-Voltage!"
"Uh, and that means what?" Max asked, standing next to Chloe with their arms still hooked together as she looked up at the brightly-colored jars, "Fancy hair dye?"
"The sickest, dude! Max, this shit is semi-permanent and vegan! It'll last hella longer than the tube shit I have right now," Chloe said as she hefted a jar of blue that matched her color before spotting another jar, "Ma-ax…"
"Uh… Chloe, hold up," Max said, hands raised up defensively as Chloe pulled down a bottle of Cotton Candy Pink, "C-Chloe, hang on…"
"You would look so fucking amazeballs…!" Chloe asked, setting the jars in their cart before, to Max's astonishment, getting on her knees to beg, "Pretty please?"
"…Ehh, how long is semi-permanent…?" Max asked nervously, though in truth she'd already conceded to Chloe's request. She's on her knees, and how can I say no to such a smile like that? I can't, and she hella knows it. Fucking Chloe Price… "Fine, Chloe. Fine. You can dye my hair."
"Yaaaaasss!" Chloe said on her knees with a fist pumping in the air before stopping to look at their small collection of junk food, "…Am I buying? Because, if so, it could be multiple five-finger specials…"
"We'll get some slices up front," Max said, hooking her arm around Chloe's again as she now pushed the cart, "and I guess I will by. By that, I mean I'll be paying with my credit card and my parents will call and ask what's going on."
"…You won't get in trouble will you?"
"I'll just play shy and bumbling," Max said with a smirk.
"'The Max Without Fear' is definitely a must-have at parties or any other fun times," Chloe said, kissing Max on the cheek.
"These kisses, Price…"
"Yeah?" Chloe asked, catching the chagrined look on Max's face, "Look. I don't know what this, what's going on between us is, but I'm more of a 'do first, ask later' kinda person. If you don't mind, I'd like to just-"
"Go with the flow, yeah. I get it," Max said. This is and isn't what I had in mind, but she's being super-sweet right now and more than a little cute. Biting her lip, Max tilted her head and leaned a cheek on Chloe's direction, "Can I haz moar?"
Getting another kiss from Chloe, this one more exaggerated and a little bit of a raspberry, Max wiped the faint amount of spit off her cheek and poked Chloe in the side to the delight of Chloe squealing from the extreme ticklishness. Making their way to the fast-food area of the front, Max took half a pizza from the "Ready-to-Eat" area as Chloe ran their items through a self-checkout. Swiping her card, gulping a little at the three-digit total, Max sighed when she pressed the button to process the transaction.
"Relax," Chloe said, holding their items in a few plastic bags, "Dude, your parents will forgive what is no doubt the one time you do not act like a shy little girl."
The middle finger Chloe got in return had them both laughing, even more so when they spotted the elderly register clerk watching them from nearby as though they were shoplifters.
To Be Continued…
Read, Review, and I'll see you all later!
I'd write more but between this story, Wyrd Ways, and the webcomic I am strung out.
Stay Hella, Cinnamon Rolls! :)