She curled her thumb and hid it securely inside the palm of her hand, looking at the frame of the window in front of her. She wanted to get out, away from this room. This new room with walls painted gray and a select number of old posters hanging on those walls, the ceramic vase missing a piece, but not yet broken. This should not be the place, sucking in these impending frantic memories. More than anything, she wanted Chloe gone. Away from the chaos that always sought out Max, dragging in her friend, just because they were a separate dream, clashing in the middle.

Chloe ran her hand down her thigh and up again. She looked to her left, the opposite direction of Max and took a thin breath. Her hand curled into a claw as she began scratching her leg. She did it faster. Tapped her boot against the wooden floor. She was craving an out. Craving the drugs that would destroy her and lead her away.

"We need to stop," Chloe's voice shook and her bottom lip was vibrating.
"Not because…" she looked inside herself, touched her temple and looked at her fingers.
"Just fucking pick one" she pushed her feet against the floor, moving her chair backward and stood up.
"I feel awful" stepping to the left, she pulled her hair and kept walking closer to her bed.

Max closed her eyes and placed two fingers at the tip of her nose. Her body stood up as well, running past the light coming through the window, wrapping her arms around her loved one from behind, pressing her lips against Chloe's neck. She hugged tighter, kissed her neck once more and whispered "I love everything that you are and hate everything that I am" then opened her eyes. She was standing at the same spot, having not moved an inch, still looking at Chloe's back and not having uttered a word. She couldn't do that. She wanted to run over to her friend and do exactly what she had imagined in her head, but she couldn't do that.
She adverted her eyes from Chloe and looked back at the screen, but found both too painful to be staring at. The humming the PC made lifted Max's brain and pressed it against her skull, giving her a headache. She looked back at Chloe who was no longer wearing her silk jacket, revealing the black shirt with cut-off sleeves. Her arms were crossed and held close to her body, her head falling slightly down and her breath intentionally muted.
A high-pitched beeping instantly caught the attention of Max, making her look at the screen once more. The computer beeped again, signaling the 10 minutes remaining.

Dammit! I need to answer this shit!

Max read the question again, but the words failed to stick with her.
Her mind kept drifting away to her frustrated friend.

Or should I just fucking… give up?

She read the question again, feeling small poking sensations on the back of her head. Knowing that Ethan must have been present when they were at the diner, but Max failing to notice, frightened her. She felt unobservant and inadequate of protecting her beloved friend.

Chloe doesn't deserve this. She deserves a life of peace and happiness. Not the misery I have brought upon her.

While thinking, she had read the question and the answers trough.

Question 4: You are sitting at a diner with your friend when a robust man throws hot coffee on an elderly waitress. Your friend takes action and stands up. She goes over to throw a punch at the man, but unfortunately, she ends up being knocked down onto the floor. The waitress is weeping, your friend is in pain and you're still sitting in the booth, wondering how you can help her. What do you do?

Answer 1: I rewind time and stop the man from throwing the coffee.

Answer 2: I immediately go help my friend.

Answer 3: I get out of the booth and comfort the waitress.

Answer 4: I let my fear win, let the anxiety strap me down and wait until I can safely avoid confrontation.

Her finger reluctantly moved over to the mouse pad and she placed it upon answer 2, knowing it was a lie. She had failed to protect her friend. With still movements, Max moved the cursor down to answer 4. She saw Chloe's scared face in her head, her trembling lips and shaking eyes. She clicked once and locked the answer on number 4.

Wait for the result…

Her hand stayed still as she bit hard down on her bottom lip, causing a wave of pain through her. Every miserable feeling she had felt, surfaced for a single second, making her body numb. Her mind could no longer handle memories or predictions, leaving her with a blank mind for several seconds.

I can't give up until Chloe is happy again. I will finish all of this and even if it kills me… I will protect Chloe.

X: 2
✓: 2
Test completed.

Her eyes were focused on the screen, feeling her body getting lighter when seeing that not only was the answer correct for some reason, but the test was done. She couldn't get herself to smile, but she felt relieved. Max looked to her left and was just about to inform Chloe about her success, but then recalled what this meant. Granted, she got the last answer right, but there would still be a consequence. She had to force her neck to turn her head once more, back at the screen. A little piece of text was written at the very bottom. She felt nothing when she started reading it.

To prevent the information going public:
/X: 2 ✓: 2/
Max Caulfield must cause a distal radius fracture in her dominant hand. Meaning that Max Caulfield must break the wrist in her right hand. This can be achieved by falling onto a hard surface with an outstretched arm. The activity including the result must be videotaped and then sent to this number:
208-263-7569
This video has to be received before 5 minutes after the countdown has reached zero. A text will be sent to Max's phone if the task is successful. Failure will result in the information going public after the time limit. Regardless of succession or failure, it will not be over. Blame providence.

It felt unreal, almost as a joke that nobody understood. She instinctively looked at the timer and saw the 6 minutes remaining. There had been too much worry over the amount of time, but even an hour wasn't enough to accept the sickness she got in her stomach when reading the consequence. What's even worse, was that she was imagining breaking her wrist in her head. Ethan's face suddenly popped up. His crooked mouth and the disgusting way he would look at her and his confidence, always knowing what would happen. She remembered him pulling a gun at Chloe and yelling at him. She remembered something Chloe couldn't and never would… that he made her a monster.

"Chloe, please go downstairs," Max said carefully, keeping down her anger the best she could.

Chloe had been facing her back to Max for a while, probably suppressing another attack.
"Is it done?" she asked with a gentle grieving tone.

"Almost," something lifted rapidly inside Max's body.
"I know this is hard on you, so please, I need you to go downstairs. Just for 10 minutes" it took all of her willpower to not tense every fiber in her being.

Her blue hair swayed when she finally turned around, taking a quick glance out the window, but quickly looking at Max. "I want help you" she spoke out, uncrossing her arms, looking so desperately miserable.

"Trust me" Seeing her indistinct face, made Max determined of the choice she had been considering. The choice she had rejected at first, but eventually accepted.

Chloe took a step closer, shortening the terrifying distance, both of them having a layer of fear sticking to their skin and a weight of anger pressing down onto them. Their minds had the same exact thought.

What the fuck has happened to us?

She could hear Chloe's voice in her head.

What happened to the smiling duo, that fist-bumped each other every time we did something stupid and dangerous? The friends that used to find secret hangouts and eat like animals, while playing childish games and just talking about the most pointless shit we could imagine? Even though we're together– maybe because we're together- we're standing on burning ground, devoured in flames of tragedy and pain.

Chloe walked next to Max, placed a hand on her shoulder for a fleeting second and continued to walk past her.

What happened to us?

She stepped out of the door and closed it behind her, leaving Max alone in this cramped room.
Even though she felt strangled, she needed Chloe to be gone, ignorant of what Max felt forced to do. Or at least, try to do. She pulled out her phone from her right-front pocket, saw the unread text messages she had ignored when she had felt her phone vibrating some minutes ago. Focusing on a single task helped her to tap on the camera app, seeing the screen showing the floor underneath her.

Fall on the ground with an outstretched arm.

The idea seemed downright psychotic, but Max knew it was because Ethan wanted Max to be unable to rewind time until her wrist had healed. She had attempted to rewind time with her left hand before, and while she had felt a strange sensation while attempting to do so, she had never succeeded. How Ethan knew that, was a helpless question.
Breathing through her teeth, Max walked over to the table, flipped her phone sideways, hit record and placed it against the wall below the window. She glanced at the timer on the PC and saw the 4 minutes remaining. Taking a few steps back to get into shot, she tightened her fist, feeling dirty, disgusted by filming herself doing something so sick.

A moment of pain to ease Chloe's… I have to try.

She kept her blue-haired friend in her mind when she lifted her right arm and stretched it out. Her heart was racing and the headache had gotten worse. There was a moment of complete silence when she slowly let herself fall to the side. Her arm was shaking, her hair slightly getting pushed to the side.

"Fuck," she let out, stretching her right arm as much as she could while getting closer to the floor. She noticed the dimmed light from her phone, just as she felt the side of her arm hitting the floor hard, followed by the weight of her entire body with a thick thump. She exhaled deeply, knowing she had instinctively bent her arm just before the impact, cushioned her fall and failing to land on her hand. A wide pain appeared from her ribs, where her body had landed the hardest as she remained still for a while.

"Fuck," she said again, but in a different, more self-loathing tone. The image of her friend hadn't escaped her mind, rather, the pain had intensified the feeling she got when picturing that recognizable face. The thought of trying again passed her and knowing she couldn't do it, annoyed her. Her thoughts were screaming 'COWARD' and her body responded. She stood up, her lips silently mouthing swear words, aimed at herself. She glanced at her phone still recording, seeing the small flash from the camera as she walked towards it with heavy steps before grabbing the phone firmly with her right hand. She knew she wanted to throw it, but in a few crucial seconds with restraint, she looked around the room to find the safest spot to hurl it towards. When her eyes passed the bed, she quickly pulled her arm back, before throwing her phone furiously onto the bed, making it bounce off the mattress and into the supporting wall behind, but remained intact. It only increased her anger and every vision of traumatizing events flashed behind her eyes and she could do nothing but blame herself. A sharp beeping noise from the PC filled the room, signaling time was up. In Max's current state, her sense of restraint and foresight was completely gone and only rage remained. She clashed her teeth together to keep from yelling as she swiftly turned her body and grabbed the PC with both her arms, seeing the black text on the screen for a second before she smashed it on the ground, scattering a number of keys and shattering the screen. It caused a loud bang, instantly making Max nervous and to let go of her clouded anger. Her fingers were still shaking, but a different concern was quick to occupy her mind. She looked at the damage she had made and stayed completely silent to hear the rushing steps coming from the stairs outside the door.

"Shit"

She hurriedly pushed the broken PC and some of the keys under the table with her foot before she rushed over to the door just as the handle was being pulled down.

"Max, what's happening? Are you okay?" A concerned voice came through the open crack of the door.

"I'm alright Chloe," Max let out with heavy breaths as she opened the door herself to see a confused expression on her worried friend.
She placed herself in front of her, in an attempt to cover up the smashed pieces of Chloe's PC and dulled the pain in her ribs with occupying thoughts.
"Chloe, can we talk somewhere that is not this room?" It was partly an attempt to hide the consequences of her actions, but a concern had been filling her head.
"I just feel like we're being spied on or something"

Chloe took a second to consider that fact but came to the conclusion that Max was probably just freaked out, thus making her paranoid. "Sure Max" A confound smile appeared on her lips as she took a step back.
"We can talk in the bathroom. No windows" she stated as she turned around and taking small steps towards a brown door at the other end of the hallway.
"I need a shower anyway"

Max felt her body loosen up as she watched her friend sliding her fingers underneath her shirt. It stupefied her when she saw Chloe pulling the black shirt up over her head and carelessly throwing it on the floor. Turning her head over to her right shoulder, Chloe sent a gaze towards her red-faced friend.
"You coming?" Her blue eyes glimmered in correlation with her lascivious voice and her mysterious expression.