Chapter 13 Sun 13th2ish
As Max and Victoria made the return trip back to Blackwell Academy, it was decided the two would await the announcement of Nathan's death in Victoria's room. Having settled on a plan for the night, the car fell silent as an element of awkwardness resurfaced between the two former adversaries. The encounter with Joyce had been a catalyst in regards to each girl becoming preoccupied on thoughts of the other. Victoria had become fixated on the nature of the relationship between the brunette and Chloe Price, while Max was absorbed by the guilt that she was taking advantage of the blonde. Rendered uncomfortable by the silence, Victoria hesitantly inquired on the outcome of the conversation with Joyce, after finding nothing of interest on the radio. Preferring to not give a particularly detailed account of the encounter, Max kept the response brief and was thankful when Victoria didn't press the issue. However, the shortness of the answer was misinterpreted by the blonde, as it had been mistaken as reflection of irritability on the part of the brunette rather than the anxiousness that it actually was. As a result, the remainder of the trip was spent in relative silence as Max gazed out the window, while Victoria exchanged glances between the road and the music library on her phone.
Eventually parking and proceeding to the dormitories, Victoria broke the silence by broaching a subject that Max had been curious about for some time.
"So Taylor and Courtney have been giving me a lot of shit," the blonde paused while considering the choice of words carefully, "for… for hanging out with you."
"Yeah, I can't say I'm surprised," Max replied before turning to face Victoria, "They are bitches after all."
Victoria burst out laughing at the frankness of Max's reply before affirming, "That they are Max… that they are."
Half expecting Victoria to change topics after entering the room, Max was a little surprised when Victoria continued to press the issue.
"They just don't get what we've gone through this past week since the shooting." Victoria resumed before shaking her head, "All they can think about is… is how much shit I talked about you all semester."
"True, but I get it… you saw the reaction from Dana and Juliet the other day," Max offered, "I mean… we were at each other's throats all semester before this started."
"I know," the blonde replied after diverting her eyes, "it just all seems so petty when I look back on it now…"
"Hey," the brunette interjected before reaching out to Victoria's elbow, "What's going on? Why are you telling me all of this?"
"I just wanted…" Victoria answered before letting her words trail off. Pausing to gather her courage, the blonde took Max's hands in her own before locking eyes with the brunette. "I just wanted you to know I don't care about what people think."
Max couldn't help but start to tear up at the blonde's words as she knew how hard it was for Victoria to put herself out in the open like this. Frantic, the brunette racked her brain in search of a sentiment equally as thoughtful before settling on;
"V… I don't… I don't care either."
By this point, the air had become so palpable that the tension in the room had reached the breaking point. Regardless of the outcome, there would likely be a shift in the dynamic of the relationship. Overwhelmed by apprehension at the moment, the two of them stood together in silence, holding each other's hands. Terrified at the prospect of their feelings not being reciprocated, each girl attempted to telepathically will the person across from them to make a move. The thing about attraction is, from the outside it is obvious when two people are drawn to each other. But in that bubble, for the people involved, the uncertainty can prove to be debilitating. Convinced that neither of them was going to make a move, Victoria desperately searched for a way out of this situation. Finding no other preferable option, the blonde settled on suggesting;
"Let see if there is anything on TV about Nathan yet."
"Yeah… Yeah okay," Max eventually managed to stutter out in response.
With that, Max sat on the couch while Victoria went to pick up the remote. Simultaneously, the two of them were each berating themselves over how their previous exchange had just ended.
Come on V! You know Max is way too shy to make the first move! That was on you!
Dog dang it, I'm so stupid. Vic was just standing there wait for me to kiss her! But of course I pussed out again, I'm such a loser. Hell, I probably never would've kissed Chloe if she hadn't straight up dared me to do it.
After pinpointing the location of the remote, Victoria turned and proceeded to join the brunette on the couch. In the midst of doing so, the blonde flashed a smile at the awaiting girl, much to the relief of the latter. Now fully convinced a perfect opportunity to kiss Victoria had been squandered, Max contemplated employing the use of a rewind. However, before arriving at a decision, a hand grazed across her leg before clasping her hand. Rendered positively euphoric by the gesture, the brunette could only offer a smile wide enough to cause physical discomfort in her cheeks in response.
Instantly pleased upon noticing Max's reaction, Victoria giggled before saying, "you're such a dork, but at least you're a cute dork."
In the original timeline, Max had come to rely on the rewind, even in situations where employing its use was unwarranted. Although, after Victoria's words, the brunette decided to let the situation play out naturally, realizing that utilizing the rewind would rob her of the excitement that came with a relationship developing slowly over time. Settling into the other's embrace, the two of them sat together, still holding hands as Victoria flipped through the channels in search of the news. Sure enough, channel 11 had a reporter on standby outside of the ABPD building with the tagline, "Police Chief calls 3:00 pm press conference." Noticing that the press conference was about to start, Max and Victoria exchanged glances as the blonde turned up the volume on the TV.
"Yes, we're standing outside the ABPD waiting the police chief to address the media." Maggie Maggenhall said, still in her best reporter voice Max noticed. "It's believed the announcement will be related to the ongoing investigation of the shooting of a former student at Blackwell Academy. He is expected to take the podium at any moment."
Victoria glanced at Max once again before tightening her grip on the other's hand as the police chief began approaching the podium.
"You ready for this?" Victoria asked.
"No," Max replied bluntly.
Victoria sighed before admitting, "Yeah, me neither."
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen," the police chief began, clearly reading a prepared statement. "We called to press conference to announce that at approximately 5:27 am Nathan Prescott was found dead in his holding cell."
An audible gasp could be heard as everyone in attendance reacted to the news.
"We are still in the process of investigating how this was able to occur and as a result we will not be disclosing the specifics regarding his death until that investigation has been completed," the police chief continued on in a flat, mono tone voice.
The audible gasp from before was replaced by an even louder, "Ahh," groan from those in attendance.
The press conference provided little else worthy of note, other than the fact that the police chief didn't take any questions at the end. After its conclusion, Max and Victoria sat in silence, unable to process what they had just witnessed. That silence proved to be only a brief reprieve from the chaos surrounding them as not long after the press conference had ended; each girl's phone began to be bombarded with calls and text messages regarding the news conference. Overwhelmed by the quantity of calls and texts, they both decided to ignore their phones for time being and just be in the moment together. Max was feeling exhausted, not just from the events of the day, but from the weight she had been carrying since altering the timeline in the girl's bathroom in Blackwell Academy. Eyelids suddenly feeling heavy, the brunette relented as she closed her eyes before resting her head on Victoria's shoulder in an effort to forget about the task that lay before her.
"It's my fault Max…it's my fault they're gone," the blonde muttered while suddenly losing the ability to make eye contact.
"What are you talking about V? It's my fault…I was there," Max replied, puzzled over the direction of the conversation.
"No… you don't…Nathan never should've been there alone."
"Why not… what do you mean?"
"Nathan…he wanted to meet up after class," the blonde replied, now on the verge of tears, "but I blew him off to prance around in front of Jefferson."
Unbeknownst to Max, on the day of the shooting, Nathan asked Victoria to meet him after class with the intention of her acting as a mediator to the meeting with Chloe. The Prescott son had thought that her presence as back up would aid in convincing the bluenette to walk away, since actually shooting her was never his intention. In his mind, the gun was only intended to serve as a last resort in the event that Chloe could not be dissuaded from attempted blackmail and required a scare tactic. Although he needed a friend, Nathan chose to not inform the blonde as to the reason for meeting, given his reluctance to share the particulars if that later proved unnecessary. Seeing no reason for urgency, Victoria dismissed his request by suggesting that the two of them get together later.
Given the available information, the blonde was much more interested in using her assets in an attempt to tilt the results of the Everyday Hero's Contest in her favor. Confident in her photographic abilities, not to mention her long legs, the blonde was convinced that Jefferson would eventually pick her photo, but that didn't mean she wasn't willing to hold her thumb on the scale if necessary. Feeling dejected over the dismissal, the young Prescott decided to not press the matter further after considering the potential risks associated with the blo4nde's attendance. Grudgingly, Nathan accepted the notion that he would have to resolve the situation on his own. A fateful decision that would change the lives of all parties involved in the incident in the bathroom that day.
"So there I was, bent over with my ass sticking out, eye banging Jefferson, when we heard the shot."
"Wowser…what did you do?"
"We both…just froze. Next thing we know, there's a lot of yelling, and someone calling for an ambulance." The blonde paused before continuing somberly, "Then we heard Mr. Madsen say over the radio that he…that he had the shooter in custody."
"Did you think it was Nathan?"
"I did…I hoped it wasn't," Victoria paused before looking away. "But in the back of my mind…I think I already knew it was him."
With the situation apparently in hand, Jefferson, accompanied by Victoria despite his insistence otherwise, proceeded to the entryway of the main building. While some were fleeing in the opposite direction in terror, by the time they had made it to the area outside the bathroom, a small crowd had already started to form. As the pair approached, the frantic conversations taking place were brought to an abrupt halt by the sound of Chloe's screams bleeding through the walls. For a few minutes, the crowd fell silent waiting for some kind of update. No one had dared to speak in those moments, instead preferring to watch the scene play out in front of them in horror, much in the same way those aboard the lifeboats had watched the Titanic sink into the sea. Just as abruptly as time seemed too stopped, it suddenly started again with the arrival of the ambulance and Nathan being handed over to the police. As the young man emerged from the bathroom in handcuffs, an audible gasp could be heard from the crowd while Victoria simultaneously made eye contact with the assailant.
"When I saw him taken out in handcuffs…my heart just sank," the blonde stated, closing her eyes in an effort to erase the memory from her mind. "I looked him in the eyes... I could tell he was broken. It's my fault…If I hadn't been so obsessed over winning the contest; I would've been there…"
"V…it's not your fault…I'm the reason Chloe was there in the first place."
All too familiar with the pain Victoria was enduring, Max decided to share the history behind her and Chloe's relationship. Telling the story of how they had been inseparable as kids, until she had been forced to move to Seattle just after Chloe's father, William Price had died, brought the burden she carried over the bluenette's decent crashing down on her. Just as the blond did, Max blamed herself for her friend ending up in the bathroom. For the brunette, it had been her guilt over the abandonment of her childhood friend, believing that to be the cause of her life going off track. While for Victoria, her inability to fully recognize the extent of Nathan's issues and subsequent failure to get him the help he desperately needed, in her mind, put her at fault for his fate. Having learned the other side of the prelude to that fateful moment, the sequence of events that day became clear to each of them as the story had come full circle. Realizing that they shared the same grief, the two girl's eyes met as neither of them could quantify the connection they shared as a result. Instead, they were content to merely embrace and wipe away the others tears.
Authors notes: This chapter saw a fairly extensive rewrite after my initial draft. Initially the section on Victoria's POV of the shooting wasn't included. It wasn't added until the second draft when I was trying to justify Chasefield by making the shift in their relationship believable. Hopefully I succeeded in doing so haha. Again thanks to everyone who is reading this. I'm always looking for feedback, so by all means, if you have any, send it my way.