Max slowly opened her eyes and stretched her limbs while a quiet yawn escaped her lips. Still lying in the unfamiliar bed, she looked around, only to find herself in a strange yet well-known ambience. As the sleepy girl moved her gaze to the right, she found the blue haired girl peacefully sleeping next to her.
Letting her hands rest on her stomach, she observed the bluenette for a few moments, then turned her head into a comfortable position and looked at the ceiling above her.
It still feels like a dream. All the time I spent thinking about how to approach Chloe. How I possibly could make it up.
Heh, to see now how it eventually turned out. Just one word: Crazy.
Who would have thought that Chloe and Rachel know each other? The first person I met here also knows my best friend from five years ago.
Like I said: Crazy.
She bent her right leg and shut her eys close.
Would I have had the courage to talk to Chloe without Rachel? All on my own?
I think.. No probably not. I'm not as bold as her. Most likely I would have found more and more excuses until it would have been too late. Exactly like I did before.
A sigh escaped from the brunette as she opened her eyes again, looking aimlessly around the ceiling.
Rachel makes it look so easy. She doesn't hesitate. She just do things straight on.
Heck, according to Chloe, she even confronted her head on, despite Chloe giving her a final boss beat down the day before.
All I did was crying and feeling sorry for my own ass.
And again, Rachel was there for me without hesitation or any questions asked. I don't know if a simple "Thank you" will ever be enough for what she did for me. For both me and Chloe.
I know I repeat myself: Crazy!
..Heh, that seems to be the word of the day.
She moved her head to her right again to face the still sleeping blue haired girl.
For cereal, I'm glad Chloe found such a good friend when I wasn't there for her. I admit, I'm a bit jealous. I maybe can't reach Rachel's level, but from now on I will do my best to not to fuck up again. Pirate's promise!
As Max stretched her arms and legs a second time, she couldn't hold back another yawn at the same time.
Okay, time to get up. I still need to get ready for school. What time is it anyway?
She carefully slid to the edge of the bed, placed both her feet on the ground and took a look around the room.
Where did I throw my bag? This is kind of like those picture puzzles. Hehe, it's still as messy as ever here. Plus, Chloe gave it a new touch with all the graffiti and posters. It feels so nostalgic seeing how much yet so little has changed.
The desk is still next to the window and at the opposite side is the blue shelf. Obviously, the wardrobe didn't move either. Would be kind of hard to move that huge hole in the wall. Some of the posters are like the ones in Rachel's dorm. Figures that they have similar tastes, if they hang out together so much.
..No, stop it, Max. Don't even go down the jealous route. Focus on your mission instead. Rider of the lost booty-bag, so to say.
Can't be that hard to find..
She continued to scan around the room with her eyes
..Hah, got you!
Why are you so far away? Mean bag! Now a whip would really be handy.
Her eyes moved back and forth between the bag next to the chair on the desk and her feet in front of the bed.
Maybe I can reach with my foot, if I stretch myself a little?
..God no, Max! You can't be that lazy! And you have to get out of the bed sooner or later anyway. You already had that plan just a minute ago!
Putting her hands on each side of the bed next to her, the freckled girl gently pushed herself up and tip toed the few steps over to her photography-bag.
Only to cut my lazy side some slack, school is never a good motivator for getting out of the sleeping zone. Booya.
The bag now placed on the desk, she opened it to search for her phone.
Where are you my sweet sweet phone? You don't need to hide. I even have candy. I only want to check the time.. aaand maybe check some messages. It won't hurt!
..Shit, I can't find it. Did I lose it? I haven't used it all day yesterday, so I couldn't forget it at the 5-star chips stand or the beach. The last time I can remember seeing it..
..Oh crap, right! I threw it away at my dorm after the call with mom. Even worse, I was supposed to call her back yesterday. Fuck, how could I forget that?
This is bad, Max. How can you play with your life so easily? I hope she hasn't mobilized the National Guard by now.
Okay, I need to do damage control on that later. Now I still need to figure out how late it is. This can't be an impossible mission. Maybe Chloe has a clock hidden somewhere?
Not like I need an excuse to snoop around a bit. Hehe.
So let's see. Where would she hide a clock from me?
Nope, no chance on the laptop here. It isn't running and it maybe would wake her up if I switch it on.
Also nothing under that totally uninteresting pile of paper, which only are either paper with scribbles or just boring papers because yawn. Good thing I checked that!
Max turned around carefully and walked silently to the blue shelf on the other side of the room.
One.. two.. three.. and the winner is..
Opening the left drawer, she picked up some papers which are lying on top of everything.
Oh man. I remember these drawings. We always imagined us as some kind of super-heroes or detectives or whatever. Always having big time adventures. I can't believe she kept them all this years.
"Nosy as ever," said a sleepy voice behind her.
"Have to keep my reputation," replied the brunette, putting the drawings back into the drawer and turned around.
Holy shit! That's some serious big tattoo. How could I not notice that by now?
"Smart ass," shot Chloe back as she yawned and stretched herself. "I can't believe you knocked out so fast."
"Told you," Max said, shifting her weight to the other leg. "I was so close from turning into a zombie."
"No joke. I didn't wanted to break it to you, but you looked awful yesterday," replied the tattooed girl. She smiled. "Not so much anymore."
"Yeah, no Walking Dead special episode for you," joked the freckled girl.
"Good. That means I can put away my emergency anti-zombie bat," Chloe replied amusedly. "Soo, did you find what you were searching for? Or did you just snoop around because you're Max?"
"I wish," sighed the short girl, "I forgot my phone at my dorm. Do you know what time it is?"
"Sure. We don't want the schoolgirl to run late, do we?" said Chloe and leaned to the side.
"Not if I want to live a little longer," the brunette sighed. "Mom would set hell on fire because I didn't call her yesterday."
"She's still protective as ever," grinned the blue haired girl while grabbing her phone from the pile of clothes next to the bed. "It's a miracle that she let her little girl out, all alone into the whole wide world."
Okay, I thought about my own phone, the laptop and basically every angle of this room to find a clock. I think it's safe to say that her phone was way too obvious to think of, or even to find.
"On point. That's why I need to call her. Asap!" Max replied, rubbing over her face with her right hand. "If it's cool that I use your phone downstairs."
"Make yourself feel at home," Chloe slid her thumb along the screen before she looked at it. "Drumroll! The magical number of the hour is 8:48."
Nice, still time.
"Good," grinned the freckled girl and walked over to her clothes to pick them up, "Then I will take a shower now, at my residence."
"Gives me time for my own morning ritual," said Chloe before she let herself fall back onto the bed and added in a sarcastic voice, "Only if your highness gives me permission, of course."
Max raised her head, not looking towards the other girl and only waved approvingly with her hand. She walked out of Chloe's room and walked the short distance to the bathroom. She closed the door and locked it with an audible click.
Thank dog, finally shower time. This, plus the nice slumber I got will make me a whole new Max! Heh, a new max life bar, so to say.
I think Chloe wouldn't mind if I use her cleaning stuff and towel. Not like she has much of a say anyway.
Letting the clothes in her arms fall to the ground, she stepped in front of the shower and got rid of the remaining fabric she was wearing.
I wonder.. If this was a movie, would there be a cut now?
Clean, fresh and well rested. That's what I call a good start in the day.
Armored with her gray hoodie and blue jeans again, Max walked back to Chloe's room, only to find it empty with no sight of the taller girl.
Hm, she must already be downstairs, if she hasn't escaped because she feared zombie Max after all. Or she was afraid of an alien attack. You never know when they will come to conquer our world. Another situation where a whip would be handy.
Well, I better look for her. She has to give me a ride after all.
The brunette grabbed her bag from the desk after she closed it, walked out the room and went down the stairs. As she turned around the corner, a pin board hanging at the wall coughed her attention.
Even the small photo wall is still there. Maybe there are some new photos.
Yep, there are many from Chloe. Heh she still has her long blonde hair in them.
If I wouldn't had left, would she still have blue hair? Or would she have kept it longer? Has Rachel suggested to try some new things? Would she have even met Rachel?
Man, this all kinda sucks in a way.
"What'cha looking at, dude?" appeared Chloe's voice next to the photographer. "You stand there like you're frozen in time."
"Nothing," Max replied, still looking at the pictures. "Just taking a Chloe history lesson."
"Uhh," the bluenette crossed her arms. "Learning something interesting?"
"Nah. Just boring lecture, as always," said Max, turning her attention to the other girl. "Thought I noticed you look a little bit different now."
"No shit? Must be your nerd photographer eyes, which spot the little details," Chloe let out a chuckle. "Now c'mon, Mom and step dick are gone already. You can call your mom and I'll make breakfast for us while you get a serious grounding session."
"Groan. Don't joke about that. The apocalypse is real and very near," frowned Max as she walked to the phone while Chloe vanished into the kitchen.
Okay Max, this is it. The fate of your future lies in this one phone call.
She picked up the receiver and dialed the numbers into the phone.
With some luck you're only dead for half of your life.
The expected toots were to hear for a few times before a deep voice answered on the other line. "This is the Caulfields. Hello?"
Yes, Score! It's Dad! No offense Mom, but he's definitely easier to deal with.
"Hey Dad, it's me, Max," said the brunette with a slight relieve in her voice.
"Hey kid," he answered. "Good you're giving us a call. Your mother is very worried about you. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah I am," she rounded some of the telephone cable around her index finger. "How deep into trouble am I?"
A chuckle was heard on the other line. "Not more than usual. Lucky for you that I could prevent your mother from calling your principal."
Moooom..
"I see. Thank you, Dad," said the relieved freckled girl. "Sorry for calling so late. I'm actually calling from Chloe's home right now. You still know her, don't you?"
"The little troublemaker? Of course I remember her," Max's father said amusingly. "She always got my little girl into shenanigans."
"Daaaad!" she frowned and let go of the cable to touch her forehead.
"Say how is she and Joyce doing?" he asked after he let out a few loud laughs.
"Chloe is alright. I haven't met Joyce yet. Apparently she is married again," Max answered while she peeked around the corner to look at the clock.
"Good for her," he simply answered with joy in his voice.
'Chloe horror stories' tells another thing.
"Yeah," Max said barely audible, "Sorry Dad, I have to end the call now. I don't want to be late at school. Please tell Mom I'll text her later."
"Will do. Stay safe, kiddo." He replied, "And say hi to the little troublemaker and Joyce for us."
"Bye, Dad," the brunette rolled with her eyes and hung up the phone.
Well, that went better than expected. Good thing he took the week off because I moved to Arcadia. Seems like you'll live a little bit longer, Max. Mental note to myself, text Mom later.
"Greetings from my folks," the smaller girl walked to the table and placed her bag on a chair.
"Say hi back," replied Chloe, who already sat at the table and played with her phone.
"Alright. I'll just use my secret telepathy powers I developed over the years," she answered sarcastically and sat down.
"Hah! I knew the hipster appearance is just a façade," grinned the blue haired girl while she chose a song from her library, adjusted the volume and placed her phone on the table. "What other superpower do you have in store?"
"Hmm," pondered Max as she grabbed the milk and mixed them with the cornflakes, which are already in the bowl. "I can make food vanish. You know, like poof! Gone!"
"Boring," the tattooed girl clicked with her tongue, "You always had that power. Nothing new."
"Like your cooking skills," shot the brunette back amusingly. "Cornflakes with milk are not exactly my understanding of 'making breakfast'."
"Don't confuse laziness with skills, girl," she placed one foot at the chair and slung one arm around the backrest. "The big city must have spoiled you pretty hard."
"Not really," the freckled girl replied and poked with the spoon into the mixture of milk and cornflakes. "It was cool, but I had a hard time to Seattle in."
Hehe.
"Tsk." Chloe huffed, a weak smile formed on her lips. "Hella change for little Max?"
"You know me. Shy and quiet are not the best traits for moving to a new location," she explained before she ate a big load of cereal.
Or finding new friends.
"Being back here...," Max continued as she looked around with her lips forming to a grin, "...is actually a cereal nostalgic trip," and she took another bite of her breakfast.
"My god," the other girl rolled with her eyes. "Someone has to stop you before this is getting out of control."
"Alwady doo lwate," smirked Max with a full mouth.
It's nice to just lay back and fool around a bit. Maybe some of the things I missed most all that time.
"So, what's the school girl's plan for today?" Chloe asked, leaning forward and putting her arms on the table. "Want to hang out later, too?"
"I don't know," letting the spoon fall into the empty bowl, the freckled girl leaned back. "I have a shitload of homework to do, since someone kidnapped me away."
"Laaame," frowned the bluenette.
"I'm not complaining, Chloe. Just stating facts," the smaller girl defended herself. "It was so cool to spend time with you again."
"Exactly why I need to keep you away from all this artsy fartsy geeks from Blackwell." Chloe claimed excitingly. "Common, dude!"
Man, she's so hyped about that, I don't think she takes 'no' as an answer. I know it sucks and I don't want to disappoint her. So much to not fuck this up again.
Max didn't respond. Instead she took Chloe's phone, which is still playing music and unlocked the screen.
..She has a pic of Rachel and herself as background? She really must have had a huge impact on Chloe.
Is it normal that I'm glad and jealous at the same time?
The freckled girl swung with her fingers through Chloe's phone, typed some things into it. With a smile she stretched her hand out and showed the other girl the screen.
"Okay?" Max simply asked.
The bluenette grabbed her phone from Max and needed a moment to read it.
"First, I must give you the 'Chloe no-go sign of approval for emojis'. That abuse has to stop!" she responded with a smile with her attention still on the phone. "Second, peace offer accepted, nerd."
Aaaand situation defused. Look at her, doing all disappointed and pouty but still smiles big time.
I just have to..
The brunette reached over to her bag, put out her old Polaroid and pointed the lens towards Chloe. She waited a moment to find the best possible moment, until finally a flash appeared out of the camera.
"Dude!" Chloe turned her attention back to the other girl with a relaxed expression, "At least give me a heads-up warning."
"Duh! That would ruin the moment!" explained Max, while she shook the photo a few times and put it with her camera on the table.
"Didn't change at all," snickered the taller girl, playing with her spoon in the empty bowl. "I remember you telling the same thing as a tween."
"The truth hasn't changed since then," the brunette put her elbows on the table and laid her head onto her hands.
"You were in love with that thing from moment zero," a grin appeared on the bluenettes lips.
"My dad had to put away the camera so I wouldn't use up all the film in one go," Max snickered.
"Not just once," pointed Chloe out while she adjusted her beanie. "I always had to cheer you up afterwards."
"Yeah." She looked at the other pair of blue eyes and began to chuckle. "You made up so many crazy stuff. Most of them got us into trouble, tho."
Haha. Like Dad said, little troublemaker.
"Do I hear some complaining here?" the tattooed girl protested, crossing her arms. "As far as I know, it worked every time."
"Just getting nostalgic. I wouldn't dare to complain about Wonder-Chloe," answered the freckled girl as she closed her eyes for some moments. "It was a fun time back then."
"You make it sound like the fun is already over," claimed Chloe, putting her hands on the table. "We're just getting started, now that you are back! 'Rachel, Max and Chloe vs the world' is a thing, you know?"
Heh, it's cute how she is so hyped about us three rocking shit together. Like she was yesterday.
"Before we make world domination plans, I should take care of school duty first," Max stated as she checked the time on the clock hanging on the wall. "I think it's time to roll out, Chloe."
"Aww man, really? That's sucks," sighed the tattooed girl as grabbed her phone and paused the music after a brief moment. "Alright. If you're so eager to get your ass to Blackwell."
"More like I have to," corrected the shorter girl.
She grabbed the photo she took earlier to put it into her bag, but hesitated. Her lips formed a smile as she stared at the picture for a moment.
Always remember the smiling moments.
A/N
I know I said next chapter will take a while. Fortunately I had the time to write a small thingy \o/ But next chapter will really take a while now :D haha
This chapter was hell of difficult to write. It has gone smooth until the shower cut. The part to Max showing Chloe what she typed into the display was always okay, but man the last part took me forever to come up with something.
After rereading it, it feels not as sucky as it was before haha :D
Nothing much else to say to this chapter, except that it was nice to write something harmless again. It was a nice change after that more heavy stuff (for my circumstances) lately.
Somehow it's difficult for me to write Max and Chloe together, because I want their dynamic being similar to the game. I think that somewhat blocks me from being all free and fluid as I write the conversation between them. So I feel like this chapter is maybe a bit more boring than my other ones. But that's for you all to decide, not me :D
In that regard, please leave a comment if you want to x3
Seeing how much difficulty I had to write this time, it's a good thing if I take little break from writing now :)
Thanks again to Stevo who helped me with proof reading again, and listened to my rambling about the chapter not turning out good :D and giving me some advice :D
Until next time folks :D
NO EMOJI
