Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!
The insistent buzzing of her phone roused Max from her deep slumber. She groaned and opened her eyes, letting the light in. It took a few seconds, but her memories came flooding back and her mind fixate on one thing.
Chloe!
Her phone had been buzzing; was Chloe trying to get in touch? She sat bolt upright in bed, throwing the covers off and reaching for her phone. With a fumbling hand, she unlocked it, her heart sinking as she saw it was just the regular alarm. There was just one text from, of all people, Victoria.
[VICTORIA]: Thank you for trusting me last night, Max. It actually means more to me than you know. I won't betray that trust. Keep the faith. She will apologise.
Yeah right. You were wrong, Victoria.
She sat, looking at her phone for a few minutes, her thoughts wandering.
Should I contact her? Victoria said she'd apologise to me, but should I apologise to her first? I mean, is she right to hate me? I only wanted to make sure things went the same way as last week. Is that actually manipulating her? I suppose it is, really. Maybe she feels like all this was fake. But it wasn't! I mean, I'm only trying to ensure we get to where we were last week. Is that so wrong? I'm not fake, I just love her. I love her. I. Love. Chloe. Is that so hard to get around?
It should be simple. It all seemed so simple.
But it's not, is it? This is a different Chloe than the one I loved last week. Last week, she went through a series of events. Well, she and I did, but in trying to ensure she went through the same series of events, I've changed everything irrevocably. In fact, I changed everything before she met me. By being alone in the parking lot, things started off differently. Man, this is complicated. She looks the same, but she's not the same. She's different. But how different? I need to be really careful what I do this week, don't I? I can't afford to totally fuck up the timeline. Although changing things with Victoria seems to have gone well. So far, at least. Perhaps I should apologise to Chloe, try and see if she can forgive me this as well?
But apology or no apology, Max needed a shower. She slowly collected her shower things and headed off to the shower. As she opened the door, a familiar sight beheld her. There were a few people milling around in the corridor; the sort of thing she saw every morning. Music was blaring from further down the corridor, and she could see Juliet and Brooke giggling over something. Opposite, Courtney was knocking at Victoria's door. It opened a crack and Victoria peered out.
"Courtney, you have the papers?"
"Uh, not yet Victoria. I just came to see…"
"Seriously? You know I need them before tonight. They need to be handed in tomorrow morning, and I can't hand them in like that. I need to put my own personal touch on it. I need them now! Ok sweetie?"
"Yes, of course, Victoria. I'll get the tests and papers to you as soon as I can."
"Then what are you still doing here?"
She shut the door and Courtney ran down the corridor and into her room. As she passed Dana's room, Max saw someone poke his head out of the room and look the corridor up and down.
Trevor. Trying not to be seen. Epic fail.
A little further down the corridor, Alyssa was leaning up against the wall, texting on her phone, something she spent a lot of time doing. In fact, she spent far more time on her phone talking to people than she did talking to people face-to-face.
"Alyssa, hi!" said Max, approaching her.
"Oh, morning Max," replied the purple-haired girl.
"Alyssa, would you mind for a second, I just want to read that poster."
"Uh, ok, Max, if it makes you happy."
As Alyssa moved, a toilet roll flew out of the toilet opposite and hit the poster board, exactly where Alyssa's head was before she'd moved. Alyssa turned and looked at Max thoughtfully. "Thanks Max. That was quick thinking. I'll catch you later, ok?"
"Sure thing, Alyssa. Take care," said Max, heading off into the shower. A little further down the corridor stood Brooke and Juliet, giggling and watching Kate's video on Juliet's phone, but Max didn't have the energy to confront them. She just headed sadly into the shower. She pushed the door open and the sound of running water could be heard from behind one of the shower cubicles. And, standing by one of the sinks, just where she was yesterday, was…
"Kate." At the sound of Max's voice, Kate turned, and Max was saddened further to see her friend, not the happy vibrant friend she'd seen in the hospital, but the friends back down in the depths of despair. Kate looked, in a word, awful. Puffy bags under her eyes, lips cracked and dry, shoulders haunched over, her general demeanour was more slouch than sprightly. But more worryingly, there was no life in her eyes. Nothing. They may as well have been made of glass.
Don't worry, Kate, I'm here for you this time.
"Hi Max," she said, her voice wooden and lifeless. Max joined her at the sink, brushing her teeth.
"Morning Kate," said Max. They continued to brush their teeth in silence, before Kate turned to Max.
"Max, thank you for standing up for me yesterday with Mr Madsen."
"It's okay, Kate. I kinda know him. He's got a good heart, but sometimes he gets the wrong idea and follows it blindly. I don't think he'll bother you again."
"That's kind of you to say that, Max. I don't know him like you do, though, and he scares me sometimes."
"I know, he can be very intense, but his bark is far worse than his bite."
"Max, are you okay?"
"You're asking me that, Kate?"
"Well, you do look a little down, Max." Kate turned to Max and cupped her cheek with her hand. "I heard you last night."
"Ah. Yeah. I… I was a little upset last night."
"You want to talk about it?"
Bless you Kate. Even in amongst all your troubles, you still try and help your friends.
Max smiled wanly. "I will if you will."
"What do you mean?"
"Come on, Kate," said Max. "Look at you. Please, you're my dear friend and I'm officially worried about you. I've hardly seen you since the weekend. You can be there for me if you let me be there for you, too."
Kate looked at Max, as if checking for sincerity, then eventually nodded.
"Good," said Max. "I'll be around once I'm done here, okay?"
"Sure," said Kate, then suddenly remember, "oh, and could you bring me back my copy of 'The October Country' please? I need to take some notes from it."
"Sure. I'll bring it along in a bit." Max took her leave and entered one of the two free shower cubicles, pulling the curtain closed behind her and taking a moment to arrange it so that it covered the whole cubicle. There was definitely a trick to making sure nobody had a free peek through the gaps. Once she was satisfied, she undressed, turned on the shower and stood underneath, letting the hot water cascade down her face and body. Usually, she thoroughly enjoyed the sensation, but this morning everything was dulled by the memory of Chloe.
Fuck you, Max! You're nothing but a manipulative cow!
She held her face up high, trying to wash her troubles away. It wasn't working.
How much of this is real? You fake fuck, Max! Look at you, just manipulating the fuck outta me and my emotions! Fuck you!
Washing her body down felt like a chore. She scrubbed hard with the sponge, trying to rid herself of her emotions. Tears began to fall and mingle with the soap, which irritated her eyes and made her cry even more.
Chloe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I just want you to love me the way you did at the end of last week. Is that so much to ask?
She totally missed the door opening, coming back to reality and rubbing the soap out of her eyes as she heard Taylor's voice.
"Well, hello there, Katie-pie!" When there was no answer, Taylor continued. "How are you today, Kate? We've not seen that much of you recently. We thought you'd be out celebrating your new celebrity status!" She giggled.
Is Victoria with her?
"Hi Kate."
Ah, there she is. But Taylor's taking the lead, isn't she? That's different.
Max peeked through one of the gaps in the curtains. Victoria was there, wearing her signature floral blouse and deep red cashmere top and a smart skirt, but unlike last week, she was hanging back, looking decidedly uneasy. In front of her was Taylor, wearing her usual cut-off short shorts. She was right in Kate's face.
"You see, we thought perhaps you've been concentrating on your homework," she said, circling around Kate and ending up on her other side. "But then, that video of you at the party, we don't remember that being homework. I mean, like, unless you're taking private lessons, eh, Victoria?"
"Yeah, private," said Victoria. There was something about her voice, she almost sounded like she wasn't enjoying this conversation at all.
Victoria?
"That wasn't me, Taylor," said Kate, "and you know it."
"Funny. It sure looked like you. Unless you have an evil twin." Taylor laughed, but Max noted that Victoria didn't join in. "Victoria?"
"Yeah," said Victoria, her voice equally lifeless, but Taylor seemed totally oblivious, and turned back to Kate.
"Oh my god, Kate," said Taylor, "you can't be all shy on us now that you're a celebrity. Sorry, a minor celebrity, I should say," she continued, with a sideways glance at Victoria. "I mean, like, you're an internet sensation now! We think it's totally awesome you set a new tongue record on video. My follower count has almost doubled overnight! I mean, like, people are watching it, Kate." Max's heart sank at hearing these words. Even if Victoria's heart wasn't in it, it seemed that Taylor was more than eager to pick up the baton.
"You're going to be sorry someday," said Kate, her voice cracking. She quickly gathered up her things and ran out of the bathroom, leaving Taylor and Victoria alone. Taylor looked after Kate and giggled.
"Sorry? Well, I'm, like, totally scared now!" she said. "I'm sure she had fun, didn't she?"
"Yeah," said Victoria. "Looked like it." She was looking really uneasy now. "Perhaps we should just go."
"Yeah, you're right. Wait," said Taylor, "can I borrow your lipstick for a moment?" Victoria nodded and reached into her bag. Taylor quickly uncapped it and wrote on the mirror. "May as well up my follower count more." She looked at Victoria as she handed back the lipstick. "I really don't get why you pulled the video down." Victoria shrugged.
"It served its purpose," she said. "No need for it to be up any more."
"Nah," said Taylor. "It's a good thing I made a copy. Since you deleted it, my follower count has rocketed. Come on," she said, and left the bathroom. Victoria looked dubiously at the mirror for a few seconds, then shook her head and left the bathroom as well.
So, Victoria did delete Kate's video, but it didn't solve anything. Oh well, thanks for trying, at least, Victoria. There's hope for you yet.
Max finished up in the shower and dressed. On her way out, she noticed the writing on the mirror. She already knew what it said.
.com
Immediately, she rubbed it off, frowning as her hand became greasy with the red lipstick. Without thinking, she turned on the tap to wash her hand, only to elicit angry comments from the girl in the shower cubicle behind her.
"Water! Seriously!"
Shit, the water. I forgot, again? Come on, Max. Sort yourself out.
"Uh, sorry! Forgot!"
"Well don't 'forget' again. Thank you so much!"
Max chided herself as she left the shower room.
Come on, Max. Sort yourself out. Focus. You need to remember these sort of things. How the fuck are you and Chloe going to sort out Arcadia if you can't even remember the little things? That's if she ever wants to talk to you again. Note to self. Journal. Get it sorted.
Juliet had vanished, no doubt into Dana's room. The door was closed, and Max guessed that Dana was dishing the dirt on her night with Trevor. Brooke, however, was still standing outside her room, looking intently at her phone. Something about her stance began boiling Max's blood and, even in her emotional state, or perhaps because of her emotional state, she decided to tackle Brooke there and then. She approached the Asian girl, who looked up and quickly swiped something off her phone.
Kate's video, no doubt.
"Morning, Max," she said, smirking.
"Hi Brooke," said Max. "Were you just watching the video of Kate?"
"What's it to you?"
"Well, Kate's my friend. I thought she was your friend, too. You know, that's a video of Kate under the influence of something."
"Yeah, alcohol can do that to you."
Max sighed. "No, Brooke. You know Kate, do you really think she'd go to a Vortex Club Party and get wasted. On purpose?"
Brooke nodded to her phone. "Last week, I'd have said no, but the evidence is right there in front of you. She did. It is obviously her. And now she has to deal with the consequences. A bit like you, I guess." Brooke was definitely being smug about something. Had Warren already asked her to the drive-in?
"What's that supposed to mean?" Even though Max's brain was still shouting 'Chloe' at her constantly, she felt her heckles rise at Brooke's comment.
"Well, if you haven't realised, you've blown your one chance with Warren," she said, smirking again. "He asked me to the drive-in with him, and I said yes."
"That's great!" said Max. "I'm happy for the two of you."
"Oh yeah, of course you are," said Brooke, sarcastically. "After your little tête-à-tête yesterday in the parking lot, he came running to me." She smiled again at Max, a smug grin. "I'm so sorry, Max, but he's taken now. So you keep your grubby little paws off him. Am I clear?"
"Brooke? Seriously, what's got into you?" Max shook her head at the other girl's attitude. "I don't want to go out with Warren. I've never wanted to go out with him. All I told him yesterday was that he was a nice guy, and a good friend, but that I felt uncomfortable having to always turn him down."
"I'll be nobody's second choice," she said, completely ignoring the accuracy of her comment. "So you've lost him as a friend, too. Stay away from him, Maxine. I've told him to stay away from you, too."
"You've… what? Brooke, you can't do that!"
"Oh, but I can! And I have," she said, standing up from the wall and turning away from Max. "So just remember it, okay? I don't want him anywhere near you." She began to walk back to her room, but Max stopped her.
"Brooke, what's up with you? I don't want to go out with him. I've never wanted that. I don't even want a boyfriend! Why are you being like this to me? I'm no threat to you!"
"No, you're not," hissed Brooke, turning back to Max, "that much is obvious. Honestly I don't know what he sees in you, anyway. But he does. See something in you, I mean. Whenever he's around you, he gets… I just don't want his head turned. Whether you're interested or not, he is. Get it?"
Max had had enough. "Brooke," she said. "I don't have a problem with you, but you seem to have one with me. I don't accept you telling me who and who I can't be friends with. Now, if you're so jealous, possessive and untrusting that you won't allow your boyfriend to stay friends with a girl, and especially a girl who has absolutely no interest in him beyond friendship, then you have some serious issues that I can't help you with." She turned to go, but Brooke had one final comment.
"I don't care what you think, or what bullshit you spout, Max. Just stay away from my boyfriend. Or else." She stalked back into her room, slamming the door behind her. The surge of adrenaline faded, and the single word made its way unbidden to the forefront of her mind.
Chloe.
Her fury quickly subsided, replaced by the familiar feeling of despondence.
Kate needs her book, and she needs a friend. To be honest, I could do with one, too.
Dana's door was still closed, as was Kate's. She reached her door and made to open it, but paused with her hand on the doorknob. She could hear music coming from inside.
I didn't leave the stereo on, did I?
Careless, Max, careless. You really need to focus more.
Shaking her head at her own apparent forgetfulness, she turned the handle and entered her room. Two steps in, she stopped, dropping her shower things in shock.
She wasn't alone.
"Hi Max!"
