The ambiance of Max's room was filled from the gradient of the new day and showed a sleeping brunette lying calmly in her bed, tightly hugging her stuffed animal. The sound of the growing traffic in the girl's dorm's corridor did its best to disturb the silent peace, which was originally present in the brunettes little area.
A few quiet knocks on the door weren't enough to draw Max out of her slumber. Just as the next turn of raps appeared louder, the sleeping girl slowly opened her eyes and gazed at the ceiling above her.
She let go of Captain that was tucked her fangs to stretch her arms and feet away from her body along with a long yawn escaping from her mouth.
Ugh.. Is it morning already?
Not fully awake yet, the freckled girl shut her eyes close and tried to rub the sleepiness away.
How long did it take for me to fall asleep? Shit, I don't know. I could easily nap another 2 hours, as tired as I feel.
She opened her eyes again at the same time as another louder wall of knocks hit against her door, this time followed with a voice.
"Max? Hello? You in there?"
Oh man seriously? Who wants something from me this early? I'm still in zombie mode.
"Yeah. One moment," Max answered and slowly crawled to the edge of her bed, sitting there for a moment longer.
Fuck, I don't feel like dealing with anyone today. Can't I just stay here, pretending to be sick or something?
After finalizing her thought, the brunette stood up to walk to her door and slowly opened it. "Oh. Morning Dana."
"Good morning, sleepyhead," greeted the other brunette with a warm smirk on her lips, her hair hanging down to her shoulders.
Uhm.. what?
"Sleepy.. head?" asked Max quietly.
This allowed the taller girl to escape a chuckle. "Yes, sleepyhead! It's past nine-thirty and in fact, you are still in your jammies."
Uhh..?
"..okay?" Max looked down on herself and raised her head again with a confused expression.
The other brunette sighed with amusement, "I see you're not quite awake yet," she planted both her hands on the sleepy girl's shoulders and explained warmly. "Max, the classes start in about 20 minutes. Do you want to come late on your second day here?"
Ohh?
Ohhh, school! Fuck, I totally forgot for a moment. After the shit that happened yesterday with Chl..
Her shoulders sunk down a bit while she closed her eyes for a few seconds.
..Chloe.
Fuck!
The hands on the freckled girl's shoulders tightened.
Anyway, Dana is right. I shouldn't be late on my second day here. Even if I don't feel like going to bullcrap classes today. I don't need more drama with the teachers on top of this.
"Hey, are you alright, Max?" asked Dana worryingly and took a closer look at the smaller girl, "Do you feel okay?"
Shit. Am I that obvious? I should get my act together or else everyone will asked me what's wrong. I so don't need that.. And I don't want them to be worried about me and my fuck ups.
Alright, Max. Knock your shit off and smile!
The freckled girl exhaled the remaining air in her lungs and raised her head to face Dana with a tiny smile, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't have the best slumber this night, I guess."
Dana slightly tilted her head as she meets the shorter girl's eyes.
"Are you sure?" she asked with a hint of worry, squeezing her shoulders.
Ugh.. No Dana, I'm not.
Max nodded slightly. "Yeah. All I need is a moment to splash some water in my face. That's all."
Dana observed the shy brunette a moment longer before she released the smaller girl from her grip, "Alright. I'll wait in my room until you're ready, so we can go together. Kay?"
I rather want to go alone to be honest..
"Okay," Replied Max and took a step back to close the door. "See you in a bit."
She turned around, let her back fall at the door she just shut and pressed both hands at her face.
Oh man, how can I survive this whole day? Such a bullshit. I don't feel like dealing with school crap or talking to anyone at all.
..Damnit.
Her index fingers gently massaged against both sides of her temple.
But there's no helping. Like Dana said, I'm still new here. I can't afford to risk my scholarship by pretending to be sick. Also I don't want people to be concerned and constantly asking if I'm alright.
And the worst apocalyptic thing would be mum. If she finds out, she would set hell on fire and bombard me with "motherly love" to no end. Sooner or later her mom sensors most likely spot my being sick act anyway. And then I'm dead as fuck.
An audible sigh escaped the freckled girl as she pushed herself away from the door.
Face it, Max. You have no other choice but to go out there and play it all cool.
Sigh.. okay, i should hurry my ass already, otherwise Dana will also be too late because of me.
As Max used the momentum she got to move to the closet at her left, she almost stumbled over her clothes from yesterday, which were lying as a messy pile on the floor.
Argh.. shit. Damn you stupid clothes.
Well, my own fault for throwing them lazily there. Not like I cared very much yesterday..
Anyway, I think I only need my tooth cleaning stuff, since there's no time to shower. Good thing that I don't have the drive to make myself all clean and shiny in the first place.
Grabbing her tooth cleaning items, she exited her dorm room and walked over to the showers. She stopped right before the entrance, enclosed the door handle with her hand, but hesitated to open.
So far so good. I didn't bump into anyone. I hope there's nobody in there too.
With that final thought the freckled girl pushed down the handle and gently pressed the door to the showers open and stepped in.
Aaand of course there's someone in there. Insert big groan.
With her gaze directed at the ground, she made her way to one of the free sinks, ignoring the darker toned girl with glasses and long black hair.
At least she's cleaning her teeth too, so she can't talk to me.
"G'dmomng," mumbled the girl with the brush between her lips.
..except that I guess.
"Hey." Replied Max simply and dropped some of the crème on her own brush, wetting it with some water right after.
She closed her eyes, propping herself with one arm on the sink and began the cleaning job on her teeth.
Fuck, I'm so tired. I feel like I slept only 2 hours top. I can't even remember that I changed into my sleeping gear. It's all such a blur.
Mom must be worried too. There's no way she bought my excuses yesterday. At least she got the signs and didn't question it any further.
A hint of a smile formed on the brunette's lips, still moving the brush against her teeth.
Thank you Mom. I'm sorry for lying to you. Please don't be mad. I know I'm not a good daughter. It's just.. I can't talk to you about that.
Heh, like, "Hey Mom, remember when we left Arcadia Bay? You remember Chloe right? Well I didn't stay in contact with her, because I'm a fucking coward. And now she.."
She spat out the remaining foam with the help of some water and stayed aimlessly with her eyes on the white ceramic below.
Now she..
"You are Max, right?" asked a voice to her left.
"Huh?" the freckled girl blinked a few times.
Argh, crap. Why do you have to speak as soon as you are able to?
She turned her head towards the voice. "Uhm yes, sorry. I'm Max."
Mh, I think I've seen her before. Don't we share a class? What was her name again?
"And you are.. uhh.." continued Max to stutter.
Shit I can't remember.
"Stella," answered the black haired girl with a giggle. "You must have had a wild night, didn't you?"
Fuck. Does she have to do small talk now?
"Something like that," Max simply replied, not meeting her eyes.
"I bet," another giggle escaped Stella. "Must be pretty nice to have the most popular girl at school all for yourself."
All for.. what? Most popular girl?
The shy brunette threw a puzzled look at her. "W..what do you mean?"
"Oh c'mon. Don't play dumb," She adjusted her glasses before she crossed her arms, shifting her weight to the other leg, "Everyone saw Rachel and you together yesterday morning. And if that's not enough, you both came back here arm-in-arm in the evening," a mischievous grin started to form on Stella's lips. "It's pretty obvious if you ask me."
Fuck me! Are you cereal? I don't need any fucking bullcrap rumors right now.
Max grabbed her right elbow with her left hand. "It's not like that.." she tried to defend herself.
Is Rachel really that popular? It would make sense, thinking about her fan club groupies yesterday. She also seems to know almost everyone here.
"It's not?" questioned the dark haired girl. "How else do I have to take it then?"
"Uhm.." stammered Max, trying to avoid the other girls eyes.
Good question.. shit. What do I say now? For sure I can't tell the truth about the junkyard.
Aaargh, FUCK! I don't want to deal with this right now!
"..we are just friends," the freckled girl tried to explain, not meeting Stella's eyes. "She only showed me the school yesterday. And.."
Stella waited a while after Max stopped to speak mid-sentence, "And?"
And nothing! Ugh.. can't you leave me alone, please?
Again, the darker toned girl broke the silence as she grabbed her bathroom supplies, "Alright, I get it. It's not my business."
Oh man.. is she mad now? One more fuck up on your long list, Max.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.." Max wanted to apologize as she got interrupted by Stella.
"It's cool." She threw a grin at the brunette as she continued to speak, "My lips are sealed! See you later in class, Max," and she exited the shower room.
Sealed? What the eff does she mean with that now?
When did this all got so complicated? Last week I was all hyped and couldn't wait to go to Blackwell. And now I wish I never would have come back to Arcadia Bay. This all sucks major ass.
She pulled the faucet, splashed some water into her face and leaned at the sink with her hands while looking at her image in the mirror.
Heh. Puffy eyes, shitty eye bags, messed up hair.. At least I do look how I feel. Can't expect anything else after crying all night and lack of sleep..
Not like I don't deserve it. As Chloe said, I'm a fucking traitor.
God she was so mad. Even exploded on Rachel, who has no fault at all for this shit. She got her rage on as soon as she saw me..
I wish I could change all of that. If I only had said one fucking word in all the years! Nothing of this would have had happened.
..Is this true? Maybe she hated me as soon as I left. Maybe I didn't had a chance to fix this in the first place.
..However, now it is too late for that for sure. I don't know how I possibly could make this right again.
I.. I don't know what to do at all anymore. Going to class feels so pointless now..
The lonely girl stood there for some moments, filled her lungs with fresh air only to let it out again audibly, as she still looked at herself in the mirror.
Fuck, crying also doesn't bring me any further.
I should get ready for shitty classes.
She switched off the faucet, grabbed her tooth brushing items and made her way to the exit.
..But first I have to emergency pee.
Max let the door fall closed with a click behind her, as she returned back to her room.
Phew. That was dangerously close.
She put back the cleaning items to its previous place and turned her head slightly to the right to look at the clothes in her wardrobe.
Mmh.. I'm not in the mood to wear a fancy outfit today. I think my stuff from yesterday will do just fine. Simple, inconspicuous and not drawing much attention. Yep sounds perfect.
She walked to the pile of greys she stumbled over earlier and began to change.
I hope the teachers will leave me alone today. I don't need to embarrass myself in front of everyone with stuttering or giving the wrong answers. Would suck ass.. well, more than usual.
Mhh, which classes do I have today anyway?
With her pajama perfectly thrown on the bed, the brunette finished changing, grabbed her messenger bag from the ground, where she left it yesterday and looked at the class schedule which is taped on the side of the closet next to the door.
Oh yay, first is World History, then Algebra. How exciting.. perfect opportunity to catch some more sleep there! ..If I am lucky.
And after that I have Photo Lab and Life Drawing. At least half of the schedule doesn't suck.
Okay, with that out of the way I should get going already. So no more stalling, Max. Go out there and try to survive the day somehow.
Done as she thought, the brunette left her room, walked down the empty hall in a hurry and knocked on Dana's door a few times.
"It's open. Come in!" said the voice inside.
The freckled girl pulled the handle down and stepped inside of the cheerleader's domain. Scanning the room, Max spotted her sitting on the couch, legs crossed and tapping things into her smartphone.
Going with open hair today? Suits you.
"Hey Dana. Sorry for the wait," apologized the shy brunette.
"It's cool," the other girl looked up with a sympathetic smile and put her phone away. "We still have some time. Shouldn't be a problem if we hurry a bit."
"Okay," replied Max, turned around and was about to leave the room again.
"Stop. Wait a second, Max," ordered Dana suddenly. "Can you come here for a moment?"
Uhh, why? I thought we should hurry.. Not that I really want to.
The freckled girl did another turn and walked towards the other brunette, who was now standing next to her bed, waving at the smaller girl with something in her hand.
A comb? Because of my messy hair?
..Sigh.
"Uhm.. it's okay, you don't have to.." said Max unsure, now standing in front of the other girl.
"I say this only once, Max," began Dana with a determined tone, looking sternly at the smaller girl. "You will not leave this room with that chaos on top of your head."
Shit! I seriously must have alarmed Dana's fashion senses. Guess there's no backing out here, Max.
"Alright, fine," exhaled Max audibly, turned around and closed her eyes.
"Smart girl," chuckled the cheerleader and began to brush through Max's hair, "Have you ever thought about letting it grow longer?"
Yay! More small talk!
"Uhm, no. Not really," answered the shy girl, opening her eyes again.
"I think it would look cute on you," explained Dana cheerfully, "You wouldn't be able to get rid of all the boys out there."
Yeah sure. As if. It's still me we are talking about.
"Yeah, no thanks," replied Max, "I like the status quo of my hair."
"Of course you do," The taller brunette finished brushing the hair and threw the comb at her bed, "Now that I had my hands on it!"
"That's not.." Started the smaller girl.
Relax, Max. She was joking.
"Thanks," she finished with a tiny smile.
"You're welcome," Dana grabbed her bag from the chair, "Let's go. We should be fine if we speed up a bit."
The silence between both girls only got interrupted by the chirping of the birds and the few cars driving by, as they walked in a fast pace to Blackwell's main building. Dana was the first who arrived at the door and hold it open for the smaller brunette.
As both girls barely entered the empty main hall with just a few steps, the school bell begun to rang.
Ahh fuck, stupid bell. So close!
"I'm sorry Dana. I didn't want you to get in trouble because of me," apologized Max as they hurried to the middle of the hall.
"Don't be ridiculous Max. No one gets in trouble for being late a few minutes." reassured the cheerleader. "At least for the first few time," she added quickly.
"Okay," Max replied simply while looking around.
I hope you're right. If it stays by a few minutes for me. Which way was the class again? Fuck, Kate showed me everything during the break yesterday. If I only weren't so tired.
"Do you know where you have to go?" asked Dana as she saw the smaller girl searching around.
I think it was this way upstairs.
"Uhm.. yes, I'm good. Thank you, Dana," answered Max with a smile, turning her gaze towards her.
"Alright, I'll catch you later then." The taller brunette waved, turned around and walked away with big steps.
Max supported her messenger bag with one hand as she rushed through the corridor towards the stairs.
Man, I hope I remember that right. Maybe it would have been better if I would have asked Dana.
Arriving upstairs, the brunette looked to her left and right as she searched for the right room.
It should be somewhere here. I think it was more in the middle of.. yeah there! Where the door is open?
Yep the board says History room and according to the noise the teacher still isn't here yet.. At least you have some luck today, Max. The only thing you have to do now is going in, find a seat and ignore everything around you.
She carefully entered the room and immediately searched for a free place to sit down.
Damn is it crowded in here. What do I expect tho? I'm not the only student and everyone else probably prefer to arrive on time. Ugh and now I draw all the attention because I am late. Fuck! Can you all look away please?
"Over here, Max!" She heard a voice between all chattering and saw a waving blonde as she looked at the direction of the source.
Kate? Oh right, we share this class. Aww and it's seems like she defended a place next to her for me. And also it's in the last corner. Sweet Kate, you're the best, you know that?
As the freckled girl walked to Kate with a sunken head, she couldn't help but to notice the whispers and stares directed at her.
Why do they talk about me? Has this something to do with what Stella said? The Rachel is popular blabla? Fuck and I thought Victoria would be the problem for rumors, but I managed this all by myself, somehow..
"Hey Kate," greeted Max as she stood next to the blonde girl.
Ehh fuck it! Let them talk, I have bigger problems right now. Ignore mode on.
"Good morning," replied Kate with her usual warm smile on her lips, her expression softened as she took a closer look at the brunette. "Are you okay?"
Sigh.
Max slung off her bag, placed it next to the table and sat down on the free chair. She closed her eyes and rubbed them a few times.
I know you're probably worried because I look fuckin awful, but this is nothing I can talk about even with you. I only want to be left alone. I'm sorry Kate.
"I'm fine. Just had a shitty night of sleep." She opened her eyes again and threw a smile at the bun girl.
"I see," Kate replied, still having her soft expression.
Max leaned towards her bag on the ground. She opened it, grabbed her notepad and pencil case to place it on the table.
"You're lucky the teacher is also late," stated Kate as the mentoined person entered the room.
I so fuckin am, yep.
"Guess even I have luck sometimes," the freckled girl dryly said.
Man he looks grumpy.. Must be one of the dragon type teachers. Gnaah, that probably means no time to sleep.
I'm so dead.
After the last class was finally over, the brunette packed her stuff together, exited the classroom and was on the move out of Blackwell.
Thank god that it's over. Now I can lock myself into my room for the rest of the day. Guess I was lucky that all teacher ignored me as much as I ignored them. Didn't give me time to doze tho. Well I have enough time for that now. I only have to get back to my dorm. Fast!
Max made her way towards the entrance of the building, along with many other students.
Heh, wouldn't surprise me if Rachel jumps into my back all of the sudden, as soon as I step outside.
Hm.. now that I mention her, I haven't seen her today at all. Is she maybe.. avoiding me? Was I rude to her yesterday?
She grabbed the handle of the door, pushed it open and left the building. She was greeted by a blue sky with a few clouds, the noise of the leaving crowd and warm sunlight on her skin.
Ignoring all that, the freckled girl focused her gaze to the ground and directly walked in the direction of the dormitories.
Fuck, I bet I offended her! No wonder, thinking of how much I ignored her yesterday. If that's not enough I told her to leave me alone. That WAS fucking rude of you, Max! Yet she was nothing but sweet and caring, despite getting her own beat down.
FUCK!
I should..
"Hey Max," greeted a female voice hesitantly from the side.
"Hey," replied Max, still absent, before she looked up and her eyes grew wide.
Holy.. Chloe?
"S'up?" asked the blue haired girl with her hands in the pockets and an unsure expression on her face.
Uhm.. okay.. WHAT?
A/N
Greetings people!
Yep I'm still alive and though I maybe should give you something to read again :D how nice of me, right?
Truth is, I had half of it written already, then my 3 weeks vacation got in the way, where I did literally everything except to write haha :D sorry for that x3
The hiatus got me a bit out of things of the fanfic, but I will get back to it eventually :D I must say, I am surprised that the chapter got the length it has tbh haha
I know this chapter and the last weren't funny. That was on purpose because I wanted to achieve something specific with them. Imo I did it with the last chapter, but I am not sure with this one. However, I'm glad I have finished them both now, they weren't easy to get down as I thought they would. :D
The part with dana usually was planned longer, I wanted to fill the walk to Blackwell with a bit of conversation, but I couldn't think of something good, so I made it that they just walk in silence :D I hope I don't degrade her to some fashion maniac for Max, that's not my intention.
The part with Kate is also a bit short, for the same reason basically. I find hat it fits the chapter in a way, so sorry but not sorry :P
Anyway, I hope you liked it nevertheless :D
A thanks to Stevo, who read through my many mistakes again x3
I plan to get one more chapter out this year, but I won't promise anything. Sorry x3
See you next time :D
NO EMOJI
