A/N: Some important stuff at the end if you wanna read some notes.
Chapter 25: A Nightmare in Arcadia Bay, Part 1
Lines, comedic phrases, and doodles. It was just another day in Max's notebook as she waited for Mr. Jefferson to arrive and her photography class to get underway. Students filed in one by one and many outside either scrambled to their next classes or lounged around the halls with their friends, not caring less about being late to class.
Max, on the other hand, arrived fairly early even compared to the time she normally arrived at her photography class, giving her more time to daydream and sketch.
Minutes later, Mr. Jefferson arrived and shut the door behind him, placing his bag on the desk and pulling out some notes.
"Alright let's settle down." His charming voice calmed the room and the classroom settled into silence, the students stumbling to their seats. "Okay, good. Now yesterday we were getting started on studying Richard Avedon's work and how-" Jefferson's lecture was cut off by a sudden knock on the door. The dozens of heads belonging to the class darted into the direction of the noise, rather curious to see who had abruptly interrupted the lesson.
Annoyed, Jefferson paused himself and made his way to the door, opening it to reveal an unexpected and unknown tall, slim female figure wearing a black leather jacket over a white punk rock crop top, finished with tattered black jeans. The girl's hair was stylishly cut asymmetrically, with the left side of her bright blonde hair shaven with the other side at a length enough to cover her right eye. Her left arm was decorated with an elegant, yet bold full sleeve tribal tattoo. She was definitely around Max's age, and was beyond attractive; in an aggressive, punk rock kind of way.
She oddly reminded Max of Chloe. Perhaps it was her aesthetic.
"Hey! Shit, sorry about being late, you wouldn't believe the traffic." Her voice was slightly out of breath but also rather alluring; a voice that could easily seduce anyone.
"Right, first of all, language." Jefferson started, prompting the girl to mouth a 'sorry'. "Secondly, can I help you?"
"Yeah, you're Jefferson, right? I'm in this class, I just transferred here." She explained.
"I see. Just give me a sec, I should have you in my attendance then." Jefferson left the girl at the doorway and headed back to his desk, rummaging through his notes in search of any reference to the mysterious girl. Max found herself somewhat captivated by her, her eyes magnetized to her whole image. She certainly didn't feel attracted to her as she didn't face a similar feeling to how she felt when she first saw Chloe, but instead a fascination towards her; a motivation to get to know her.
For a split second, her eyes met Max's, and the brunette quickly looked back at her notebook, breaking the eye contact.
"Oh, are you Alexis Haines?" Jefferson finally asked after finding the right note.
"I prefer Alex, and yeah." She replied.
"Alex, okay. Right, you can sit over there, behind Max and Kate. Can you girls raise your hands?" Jefferson requested, causing Kate to oblige to inform the new girl where they were. Max on the other hand found herself frozen, unable to move as she felt a slight feeling of shock.
What was it about this girl that caused her to act this way? Perhaps she just missed Chloe and Alex just reminded her of the bluenette. Regardless, she shook her head to release herself from the hypnosis and focused on something else.
"Right, now where were we…" Jefferson continued, and with that, the rest of the class simply flew by.
The remaining time passed by as it usually did; Jefferson lectured on, occasionally making a clever or hip remark and throwing the odd question to throw off the class every few minutes.
As for Alex, the blonde remained quiet for the whole class, acting practically invisible to Mr. Jefferson who seemed too occupied by his lesson to pick on her with cheap questions. When the bell rang, the blonde simply hopped up from her chair and left the room as quickly as she entered.
Max found herself all the more curious. Alex was quite the extraordinary individual; a far cry from the typical jock, nerd, or hipster seen typically at Blackwell.
The remainder of her school day passed along as it normally did; jot a few notes occasionally, and spend most of the time doodling, all while pretending to listen to the lesson in front of her. Max didn't see Alex again after photography class, and nearly forgot about her entirely until she saw the girl sitting down at the large fountain on the main campus after school smoking.
Max stared for a brief moment, but carried on her way to her dorm but out of the corner of her eye she noticed Alex look in her direction and smirk. There was more to this girl than her rebellious haircut and leather jacket, and Max had a feeling that she would be seeing more of her very soon.
Max laid back in her bed staring blankly at the ceiling, lost deep in thoughts that branched off into new thoughts, keeping her head constantly occupied by waves of meaningless daydreams.
It was just herself in her dorm room, a rather unfamiliar feeling of loneliness as Chloe had gone out to spend some time with Rachel. Max obviously couldn't object. After all, Rachel was Chloe's best friend. She would have been lying to herself if she said that she enjoyed the isolation. She had gotten so used to having Chloe next to her so often that it felt strange when she was by herself.
Her mind eventually drifted to the slowly approaching Halloween party that she had been looking forward to all month. Only a day separated her and another tremendous memory, and she couldn't wait to show off her bold costume choice. She wondered how wild Victoria's afterparty would be. Max had never been to a proper high school party, so the thought of the scene was exciting, but at the same time, frightening.
Max's comfort zone had always been on her own, away from large crowds with only the company of her imaginative mind, so jumping straight into a party filled with strangers made her anxious.
Then she reminded herself that she would have Chloe by her side; someone who probably had been to countless, much wilder parties.
With that thought in mind, Max didn't feel so worried anymore. She felt the exact same way at the Firewalk concert and she was more than happy with how that experience had turned out.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on her door. Max's head shot up, rather excited that someone needed to see her.
Max excitedly swung the door open to see none other than the glowing golden hair of Kate, standing with a gentle smile on her face and waving upon seeing her friend.
"Kate, hey!" Max cheerfully greeted. "What's up?"
"Not much." Kate scratched her head, looking somewhat nervous. "Kinda bored, I guess?" She awkwardly chuckled.
"Well, so am I, so maybe we can bitch about it together." Max joked, inviting Kate in with the gesture of her hand. Without another word, the blonde skipped into Max's room and softly took a seat on her bed, quickly being joined by Max herself.
"So, you excited for the Halloween party tomorrow?" Kate asked.
"Soooo excited. You have no idea." Max replied. "Really looking forward to wearing my costume too, I think it looks great."
"Ooh! What is it?" Kate asked giddily.
"Oh come on, I wanna see the look on your face when you get to see it for the first time! Let me have a little fun?" Max teased with a sly wink.
"Ahh, Max being a little mischievous, I see. You make a good point though, I kinda want it to be a surprise too."
"Yep, and that way, it's only fair that you don't tell me your costume so you get to see my reaction." Kate's eyes widened at Max's words.
"Ooh, I like that! Can't wait to see what this amazing costume of yours is."
"Ditto."
"How's it been going with you and Chloe?" Kate asked, swerving the conversation to a different topic.
"Couldn't be any better. I just love spending time with her. It's like all my life I've felt like I've been missing this big part of me and now with Chloe, I finally have it. Probably sounds kinda dorky, huh?" Max awkwardly chuckled.
"Not at all. Max, I am unbelievably happy for you." Kate's eyes moved to her feet as she twiddled her thumbs with an awkward laugh.
"Kate, you alright?" Max asked, worryingly.
"Yeah, of course. I uhh…I'm fine." Kate stuttered, displaying her clear discomfort about something.
"Kate, you sound far from fine. What's going on?" Max asked, pushing slightly forward to her friend for answers.
"It's just…" She stuttered, catching her breath before continuing. "Okay, here's the thing…I uhh…The thing is…" Kate stammered, not being able to form coherent sentences.
"Kate. Just take a deep breath and tell me. Come on, you can talk to me." Max reassured, placing her hand on Kate's shoulder and smiling."
"Yeah, you're right. This shouldn't be a big deal. It's about Victoria."
"What about her?"
"She and I are in the same culinary arts class and we sit together, and her and I have gotten along really well these past few weeks. I didn't think we'd have so much in common, but we do. Recently though, I uhh…" Kate began to blush and anxiously twitch.
"Kate, do you have feelings for Victoria?" Max asked, putting the pieces together and assuming that was what Kate had been leading up to.
"No! Or…yes! I…I don't know!" Kate's head fell into her hands. Max could hear her muffled sobs. She brought her head back up just enough to continue her story. "It's just…at first, when we were in class, I thought it was just some weird feeling that would pass, but then one evening she came over to my room to help me with some chemistry homework and she just seemed so…Ugh!" The blonde's face sunk straight back into her palms as she started to cry once again.
"Kate, this is completely okay. In fact, this is a good thing, why are you so upset?" Max asked.
"Because! Max, do you have any idea how my parents would react if they found out I liked another girl? They'd practically disown me!" Max fell quiet after remembering the Marsh family's religious background.
Kate had spoken about how deeply religious her parents and relatives were, and while Kate did find faith and hope through religion, she considered herself nowhere near as devoted as her parents were. She had mentioned that she felt slightly guilty for having a minor desire to escape her parents' incessant practices and constant disapproval of homosexuality.
"What do I do, Max?" Kate desperately asked. Max fell silent for a moment as she carefully placed herself in Kate's shoes. It wasn't rocket science to establish that her situation was very difficult. She had feelings for a girl she didn't know how to admit to and parents who would disapprove of the entire ordeal. Momentarily, Max felt grateful that she had parents who accepted her for who she was and wished for a moment that she could trade places with her friend, to ease off some pressure.
Unfortunately, the world didn't work in that way so Max searched for other options.
"I think the first thing you should do is tell Victoria how you feel." Max suggested.
"You think so? What if she reacts terribly or something?"
"Hey, that's how I felt about telling Chloe about how I felt and look at where I am now. You'll never know if you never try, so I think the least you could do is tell her. That way you can either figure out how to deal with it all if she doesn't feel the same way, or if she does feel the same way, then everything works out." Kate's tears seemed to have ceased and Max noticed a tiny smile peek its way onto her mouth.
"Yeah, you're right. But what do I tell my parents? They'll hate me forever."
"Who cares what your parents think? Kate, you're an adult, you can make your own decisions and if your parents don't approve, fuck them." Max felt as if her wording was a bit too harsh, but she tried to hide it to better prove her point. The blonde took a moment to think and after a short bit of silence, a look of determination and fire appeared on her face.
"Yeah! I shouldn't care what they think! I don't care!" Kate exclaimed.
"That's the spirit! Fuck them!" Max burst out again, cursing almost instinctively.
"Yeah!" Kate looked rather hesitant for a moment before she clenched her fists. "F…Fuck them!" Max's jaw slightly dropped in shock at Kate's foul mouth. She had never heard her friend utter even the kindest of curse words before. It was as if swear words were unknown to her pure and innocent mind. "I don't care what my parents think! I'm gonna tell Victoria at the party tomorrow, then…then we'll see…"
"I'm proud of you. You should be free to do what you want, with or without your parents."
"Yeah. Fuck. Them." Kate lightly cackled at her newly found vocabulary, looking as if a beast had been let loose within her head that had kept itself hidden for too long.
"Wowsers, Kate. I've uhh…I've never seen you like this. Your face is red." Max nervously chuckled.
"That's because all my life I've done what my parents told me to do. 'Kate, you can't do this, Kate, don't buy that.' I'm sick of it! I'm tired of having to follow their every word over and over! It's my life!" Kate had almost gotten herself out of control. She was on her feet with her fists were clenched tightly. Her eyes were tinted red from her tears before but her face was filled with adrenaline and a hint of fury as she paced back and forth in front of Max.
"Okay, let's uhh…let's calm down a little, Kate." Max asked nervously.
"I am calm! I've never been more calm in my life! I've never felt more alive! Max, thank you. Thank you so much!" Kate burst forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Max, squeezing her in her embrace.
"Uhh…no problem…"
"This is it. No more caring about anything my parents say, no more being a kid. Fuck my parents! Fuck. Them!" Kate exclaimed loudly, jumping in place. She panted as beads of sweat now began to trickle down her forehead. "I feel kinda dizzy…"
"Okay, how about you sit down for a bit. Let me get you some water." Max sat Kate down back onto her bed and got a bottle of water from her desk, twisting the cap open and holding it up to Kate's mouth.
"Yeah, I think I got a little carried away…" Kate admitted as she gulped down some water.
"A little bit, yeah." Max giggled.
"Sorry, it's just…I feel like I can finally be myself, you know? I've never realized that I should be the one in control of my life, not my parents. I need to start doing what I want."
"Which is…?"
"I wanna be a children's author." Kate proudly stated.
"I think you would make an amazing children's author. I've seen your art and it'd look perfect in a kid's book."
"Thank you, Max."
"It's my pleasure, Kate." Max smiled, happy to know that she had helped yet another person in a desperate time.
"No, really. Thank you. If it weren't for you, who knows how much longer I would have spent just obeying everything my parents say?"
"It's nothing. I'm just trying to help. Just do me a favour?"
"Of course."
"Try not to be too free. I feel like you nearly passed out back there." The two laughed and shared more jokes and stories, Kate returning to her usual, more calm self. A while later, the girls began hearing some commotion in the halls, and eager to see what the reason for the noise was, they left Max's room and heard what seemed to be loud rock music coming from the extended section of the dormitories, which lead to the rooms that were vacant.
Directly through the door leading to the branching hall was the wide open door of room 225, and the music seemed to be originating from there.
The girls slowly peeked in to see none other than Alex, dancing around in the center of a rather messy dorm room in a tank top and short-shorts, surrounded by boxes and disorganized furniture.
"And I realize you're miiiine…" She sang along with the loud guitars and drums blaring from her stereo. In the midst of her antics, she noticed the peeking girls from her peripherals and stopped, giving off a rather impish smirk. "Liking what you see, girls?" She teased as she turned off the stereo.
"Oh, sorry…" Kate apologized. "We heard noise so we wanted to know what was going on."
"Jesus fuck, you guys heard that? How thin are these walls?" Alex exclaimed. "Okay, don't just stand there like a bunch of zombies, come in here!" She gestured the girls in, and seeing no reason to not enter, Max and Kate stepped inside.
The room seemed to be in the earliest phases of an epic transformation: A few rock band posters were stuck on the walls; with Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age being the two that decorated Alex's new home. It seemed her music was more important than her actual furniture as her bed and dressers were lazily placed in the room, with a drawer almost getting in the way of the door. A vibrant, crimson red electric guitar with a black skull subtly painted on the body laid against the wall next to a modestly sized amplifier, and inside a small box was a container full of guitar picks and other musical tools.
"So, what do ya think of 'Casa de Alex'? I'm really feeling the vibes so far." She commented, stretching her arms out to present the room.
"Looks good so far." Kate agreed.
"So," Alex placed two fingers on her chin in thought. "you're Max," the blonde pointed to the brunette. "and you're Kate. Am I right on that one?" The two nodded. "Fuck yes." Alex turned around to face some of her unpacked boxes before turning back to the girls. "Now, this is probably the worst thing to ask you two when this is pretty much our first real meeting face-to-face, but your girl needs to unpack, and I could use a couple of extra arms. You see where I'm going with this?"
"We can help." Max looked over to Kate to see if she was okay with giving a helping hand as well, and with a smile and a nod, Kate was in.
"Sweet. Let's see…Kate, if you could dump open that box over there," Alex pointed to a rather messily taped cardboard box in the corner. "See if you could organize it or something, I kinda just threw in any miscellaneous crap I had in there." Kate nodded and went to work. "Oh! Max, can you help me look for something, I kinda lost it in one of these boxes."
"Uhh, sure. What is it?"
"It's a CD. You'll know it when you see it."
"Alright, I'll see what I can do." Max began searching through one of the many boxes, sifting through all sorts of different items but with no disc in sight.
"So, what kinda things you do for fun around here? Any clubs or anything?" Alex asked, sparking some conversation.
"Well, we have a couple of different after-school clubs like-" Max was cut off by some laughter from Alex.
"No, I mean like, nightclubs." She corrected.
"Oh. In Arcadia Bay, unfortunately not." Alex made a face showing some visible disappointment.
"Damn. Was kinda hoping for some secret underground nightclub or something you guys keep hidden from the cops. That woulda been fuckin' sick."
"Sorry, Arcadia Bay isn't that interesting. We're kinda boring actually." Max shrugged. She then remembered the upcoming Halloween party. "Actually, the school's having a big Halloween party tomorrow night at the gym, you should come."
"Halloween party, huh? Wait, do I need to wear a costume?"
"Not mandatory, but most people are."
"If that's the case, not so keen on being the odd one out, especially when I'm the new girl. I'll see if I can think of something. Actually, it isn't gonna be one of those fuckin' moochy lovey-dovey type prom parties, right? 'Cause if that's the case, I'll just order pizza and stay here." Max chuckled and shook her head.
"Don't worry, it won't be like that."
"Ah, good. I ever spend another minute at one of those, I'm actually gonna pull my fucking hair out."
"Hey, Alex?" Kate called from her box. "I found a bunch of photos here, don't really know where you want these." She said as she held up a small handful of different pictures.
"Oh, shit. Yeah, pass those over. I was looking for those." Alex immediately began perusing the images as soon as Kate handed them over, lightly chuckling as she looked through each of them. "Oh shit! It's Bobby!" Alex exclaimed, widening her eyes as she held up one of the photos.
Max looked over to see a picture of a younger Alex, one sporting a longer head of her bright blonde hair at what seemed to be a nightclub or concert, her right arm high in the air with a face of raw excitement and adrenaline. Her other arm was placed around the shoulder of a stout man with a thick, brown beard and long, frizzy hair. He seemed to be rather middle-aged, resembling the appearance of a biker, but his wide smile and energetic look made him seem a lot more youthful.
"Who's that?" Max asked.
"That's Bobby Hooper, the cool uncle I never had." Alex replied, still keeping eye contact with the photo. "We liked to call him Crazy Bobby. In fact, we had a lot of fuckin' nicknames for that chubby son of a bitch." She chuckled, presenting a look of reminiscence. "I had a lot of great times with him. Always looked out for me, that guy." The tone and look on Alex's face mad Max fear the worst.
"Where is he now?" She asked nervously, hoping to not spark any negative memories.
"He's in a better place. Died of cancer about a year ago." Alex solemnly admitted.
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Let me tell you, Bobby never went down without a fight. He fought off that cancer for a long time. Thought he fought it off for good at one point, but it came back a bit too strong for him." Alex sighed, but she didn't show any sign of shedding any tears. "I'm glad I got to say goodbye though. Also got to thank him for everything he did for me. Fucking nearly killed a man just to save my skin." The room fell rather silent, Max not knowing what to say in a situation like this. She was never an expert at consoling others. "Jesus guys, it's not like it's the end of the world. Stop giving him a moment of silence, jeez." Alex laughed, acting as if nothing had happened at all.
"Oh, sorry…" Max awkwardly chuckled.
"Relax, I'm not gonna start fucking sobbing on you girls. Especially when it's my first day here. I ain't about that." Alex took the photo of Bobby and her and placed it on her bed before standing up and walking over to the stereo. "You know what we need? Music." She pressed a few buttons, causing an instant wave of booming guitars and drums to blare over the speakers. "That's more fucking like it!"
Max looked to Kate with visible confusion, not sure what to do in a situation like this.
"Fuck yeah, that's so much better." Alex returned to her spot next to Max and began digging through her box once more, often mumbling the song's lyrics as she searched. "Wasting another night on planning my revenge…"
Max couldn't help but bob her head gently to the sound, it was a very upbeat and heavy song, something easily playable at a party.
As soon as the chorus kicked in, Alex jumped into a more intense gear, taking her attention off of her box and instead looking straight at Max while pointing at her with a mischievous look, all while audibly singing the song.
"Don't wanna be your monkey wrench…" She sang.
"One more indecent accident…" A voice continued, but not one from the room. Alex popped with a look of confusion, but Max knew the voice all too well. "I'd rather leave than suffer this…" A head of blue hair appeared at the door, and Max smiled before waving at her girlfriend. "What's going on here?" She asked with a grin.
"Oh, Chloe, this is Alex, she's new at Blackwell," Max pointed Chloe to the slim blonde sitting down next to her. "Alex, this is Chloe, my girlfriend." It was always slightly exciting to introduce Chloe as her girlfriend, despite having done it numerous times now. It was the prospect of having such an amazing partner that gave her a micro rush of happiness whenever Max did it.
"I already like you." Alex joked before leaping up to her feet and sharing a quick fist bump with the bluenette.
"Nice to meet you. So this your room here?" Chloe asked.
"Yup. These two cinnamon buns have been helping me unpack and shit."
"That's my Max, always one to help." Chloe looked past Alex for a moment to send a quick wink to Max. "So where you from?"
"Well, I travelled a lot. Spent a lot of time on the road with my brother. Finally just came down here to settle a bit."
"That's hella cool. Guessing you've seen some pretty cool shit."
"Really fucking cool shit. Honestly, I could go on for hours just talking about what I've seen on the road but I got about sixteen tons of all my shit to unpack so maybe I can tell my tales some other day."
"Well I got nothing better to do right now and since Max is here, I'll help out." Chloe offered.
"Sweet, come in." Chloe entered the room, examining her surroundings with a light smile, her eyes catching the posters that were spread upon the walls. Just as Max turned to sit back down Chloe grabbed her wrist and spun her right around, pulling her close.
"Hey." She whispered with a grin before pecking Max on the lips.
"Hey." Max greeted back, blushing.
"Well aren't you two just the most adorable thing." Alex called from the other end of the room. "It's like watching two puppies lick each other."
"Well Max is my little puppy." Chloe ruffled Max's hair. "So how you liking Blackwell so far?" Chloe asked, sitting down next to Max.
"So far so good, haven't met any fucksticks yet so I'll take that as a good sign. In fact, the people here are pretty cool. Not used to this type of crowd but I can see myself getting with it."
"I'd call that a good start. Just try and stay away from the jocks, they can never seem to keep their dicks in their pants." Chloe warned.
"Don't need to worry, probably don't have much to keep in their pants in the first place." The room filled with laughter.
"So, what are you planning on getting into?" Chloe asked.
"Cinematography. I like movies and shit." Alex smiled.
"Favourite movie?" Max chimed in, looking to piece together Alex a little more as a person, even if it was with a mundane question."
"Pulp Fiction, mothafucka." Alex replied with a subtle impression of Samuel L. Jackson.
"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men." Chloe began, quoting the famous line from the cult classic.
"Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will shepherd the weak through the valley of darkness for he is truly his brother's keeper, and the finder of lost children." Alex continued, adding a hint of exaggerated pizazz to further sell their now brewing little scene. Max decided to pitch in, recalling the next section of the monologue by heart.
"And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger, those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers." Max added, keeping the scene alive.
"And you will know my name is the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon thee!" For the last line, the whole group, surprisingly including Kate, finished the quote with loud and joyful voices, letting it echo through the room and possibly into the halls. Loud enough to wake the dormitory.
The group laughed hysterically and Max mentally applauded herself for her performance. She then realized a peculiar elephant in the room.
Did Kate say the last line too?
"Kate, you watched Pulp Fiction?" Max asked, turning to a blushing Kate who seemingly had instinctively blurted the line.
"Yeah, well…I kinda wanted to see it for the bible verse and then got really into it…" She answered, nervously scratching the back of her head. The other girls laughed, and Max felt as if anything but smiles were impossible in the moment.
She had a very strong feeling that she would become very good friends with Alex.
"Ready?" Asked the muffled voice of Chloe from beyond Max's door.
"Ready like spaghetti." Max blurted, too excited to make sense.
"My god, did you actually just say that?" Chloe called with laughter.
"Shut up, just lemme see!"
"Fine, fine." With that, the door swung open to reveal Chloe proudly wearing a long brown trench coat with gold buttons over a vintage black vest. She had stylish buckles and bandoliers around her body with four leather holsters around her chest. To top it all off she had a dashing pirate captain's hat atop her head with a menacing looking skull in its center.
Chloe stood with her back straight and an arrogant grin with a hand on her hip and Max couldn't help but drop her jaw in disbelief. Her reaction must have been amusing as Chloe immediately broke her act and fell into laughter which quickly spread to Max.
"You look amazing!" Max exclaimed before tightly squeezing Chloe close.
"I know!" After enough praising of Chloe's costume, the two swashbucklers ventured off hand in hand downstairs and to the gym which boomed with loud music and excited teens.
The energy was detectable from a mile away with Blackwell students lounging around the campus chatting under the dim evening light.
Max and Chloe wasted no time heading in and as soon as they opened the door, a wave of techno music filled their ears, blasting with enough bass to cause tremors in the ground.
It was a peculiar sight, seeing so many different outfits. Max caught glimpse of an array of costumes, from the typical mummy to the more specific pop culture references such as Shaggy or Kim Possible. Max rolled her eyes when she saw the inevitable sight of a few girls wearing rather revealing bunny costumes, with one wearing a nurse's outfit that seemed two sizes too small; more than likely to accent her cleavage.
"Hey, Max! You made it!" A voice called from behind. Max turned around but had to do a double take when she saw Victoria wearing a red turtleneck and a blue skirt, topped with a smooth wig of long black hair.
"Hey, Vic!" Max greeted before giving the girl a quick hug. "Lemme guess…" Max placed a finger to her chin in thought.
Hmm…rich clothes…black hair…an overwhelming level of arrogance…
"Oh, you're Veronica Lodge!" Max exclaimed after finally piecing the puzzles together.
"Yep!" Victoria nodded gleefully. "Love your costumes, you too. They really fit you guys." Chloe tipped her hat forward slightly in thanks. "Oh, follow me, I have a special lounge set up for the Vortex Club, everyone's hanging out there already." Victoria gestured the two to follow and so they did, weaving through the raving crowd, bumping into arms and shoulders as they made their way through the gymnasium.
Eventually they reached a large purple curtain, separating the lounge and the main floor, covering off a generous portion of the gym's corner. They passed through and immediately they were greeted by the sight of three couches all around a table where familiar faces all laughed, including Kate.
"Hey peeps, look who I found." Victoria announced, pointing to Max and Chloe. A wave of greetings came at once.
"Max! You look so cool!" Kate exclaimed in a giddy and squeaky voice. The blonde had dressed herself in a unicorn onesie, wearing a hood with bright rainbow furs and a cute horn over her head.
"Aww, Kate, you look adorable!" Max hugged her friend, letting some of the coloured furs to touch her face. They were oddly smooth to the touch.
"Alright, girls, come sit." The group scooched over to make room for Max and Chloe and the former found herself cramped between her girlfriend and Kate, not that it bothered her. Around her were some familiar faces; Courtney dressed up as a witch, Taylor was next to her almost unrecognizable as a hardcore punk rocker; studded leather jacket, midnight black hair, and all. Hayden had put on a fairly impressive Joker makeup, with Dana next to him as a zombie cheerleader; an outfit Max assumed was fairly easy given Dana's spot on the Blackwell cheerleading team. There were also some other faces that Max had seen briefly before in the halls but didn't have names to, but it was still good to see at least a few friendly faces.
"So, you two have been dating, how's that been?" Taylor asked eagerly, immediately questioning the couple.
"I can show you better than I can tell you." Chloe remarked before grabbing Max by the cheeks and giving her a long and hard smooch. The rest of the group laughed and cheered while Max blushed in embarrassment.
"Chloe! Use your words!" Chloe simply cackled at Max's flustered words.
"Does that answer your question?" the bluenette cheekily asked.
"Very much."
"Oh, can you answer me this?" Courtney started. "Rachel and Steph, is that a thing or nah, 'cause I've heard through the grapevine…"
"Yes, they are a thing." Chloe answered. "Unfortunately for this question I can't really show you guys." The others laughed.
"Didn't know Rachel swung that way." Hayden said.
"She told me she was straight. Kinda…" Said Dana.
"Rachel can be full of shit. She's all over the place; one second she's feeling up some damn fine chick booty and the next she's sucking cock." Max instinctively punched Chloe's shoulder with a look of disapproval which masked a fit of laughter that she could simply not hold. "What? I am correct."
"You did not have to use the examples. We got the picture."
"Speaking of Rachel, where is she?" Victoria asked.
"Don't know. I'll call her." With that, Chloe pulled out her phone from one of the many pockets in her pirate trench coat. She dialed a number and held the phone up to her ear.
"Ooh! Put it on speaker!" Taylor suggested eagerly.
"Why?"
"I don't know, I like listening in on phone calls." The group turned their heads to the girl as she realized just how creepy her remark had been. "Not like that…I mean…goddammit."
Regardless, Chloe placed her phone on the table with speaker on and the sound of dialing switched on. The group all leaned in slightly to hear better as they waited in anticipation for Rachel to pick up.
"Shit, Chloe, what do you want?" Rachel's flustered voice came on.
"Where the fuck are you?" Chloe asked.
"Oh shit, what's the time?"
"It's nearly seven, everyone's already here."
"Are you serious? Oh fuck!" A few members of the group stifled in laughter at Rachel's utter disbelief and obliviousness to the time and Chloe held a finger to her lips to shush them.
"Hurry your ass up, we're at the Vortex Club lounge."
"Vortex Club…okay, whatever. Gimme a few." It seemed that Rachel had assumed that Chloe had hung up as she herself didn't end it herself, leaving her post-call conversation with an all too recognizable voice free to listen in on. "Babe, it's nearly seven, we're late for the party."
"I know." Said the mystery voice, but to Max, it was obvious that it was Steph.
"What?! Then why didn't you say anything?"
"I mean, we were having a pretty good time."
"Yeah, but…dammit. Come on, let's go." Steph groaned as Rachel demanded her to get ready.
"One more round? I got pretty close." The whole group this time nearly broke into uncontrollable hysterics, with Taylor's face flushing bright red as she had to turn her face into the couch to muffle any laughter that dared to escape her mouth. Chloe quickly tapped the button to mute her phone to avoid breaking their cover.
"Noooo…Steph, come on. They're all waiting for us." Rachel argued, her voice rather distant from the phone, presumably due to her putting on her costume.
"Fine. But you owe me when we get back." Steph finally caved.
"Whatever, just clean yourself up." The other line then went rather quiet, with only the sound of some inaudible conversation coming through Chloe's phone. The girl quickly ended the call before they were discovered, and the whole group erupted into hysterics that echoed almost as loud as the bass-heavy tracks blaring on in the background.
"Oh my god, I was so scared that they would start doing it on the phone!" Taylor exclaimed through tears of laughter.
"That was too good. Too fucking good." Victoria remarked, regaining herself as she recovered from the overwhelming amusement of the situation.
"Yo, what's up, fuckers?" Came a familiar voice. Max and the gang turned to see Alex, dressed in a suit and tie while wearing a bushy black afro wig on her head.
"Alex, how'd you find us?" Chloe asked.
"I have my ways." The girl winked impishly. "Right, how's my costume?" She presented herself.
No one said a word and instead looked at each other cluelessly.
"Goddammit. Hint: 'mothafucka!'" Her vague Samuel L. Jackson impression emerged once again, and a single exaggerated curse was enough to allow Max to see the full picture.
"You're Jules! From Pulp Fiction!" Max exclaimed excitedly.
"That's right, mothafucka!" Alex gave Max an energetic high-five.
"Excuse me, can anyone explain to me who this is?" Victoria questioned, bewildered.
"Vic, this is Alex. The new girl in our photography class?" Max explained, trying to get Victoria to recollect her memory.
"Oh right, shit. Sorry, it was the afro."
"Nice afro though, eh? Gotta tell you though, looks sick but it's fucking itchier than Satan's asscrack. I know that makes no sense." With that, Alex snatched the wig off her head and tossed it carelessly behind her before fixing up her natural hair to regain its edgy and stylish shape.
"Now you're just a girl in a suit."
"Ah, fuck it. I like the suit."
"Hey, come sit." Victoria beckoned. Once again, everyone shifted over slightly to allow Alex to join them. "Right, given that you're the new blood here at Blackwell, it's time for your interrogation. We need some hardcore info on you."
"Jesus fuck, feel like I'm back in the station again." The group looked at Alex with confusion. "By station, I totally mean bus station, not police."
"Right…anyways, birthday?" Victoria started, beginning the verbal questionnaire on Alex.
"June 7th."
"Favourite animal?"
"Probably a hummingbird. I don't know why, saw one a couple years back and fucking loved it."
"Neat. Favourite band?"
"Foo fucking Fighters. Can never change my mind."
"Favourite food?"
"Fucking love pizza. But enough of the mundane shit, gimme some cooler questions." Alex impatiently demanded, leaning forward into the table.
"Alright. Where'd you live before Arcadia Bay?"
"Well, my brother and I travelled a lot. We were in Seattle for a while but after that we moved back and forth a lot. Saw some really cool shit though."
"I like cool shit. Give us some deets."
"Okay, hmm…" Alex racked her brain for some tales of her past. "Ooh. Okay. When I was fourteen I met this super cool dude named Bobby. Pretty much the cool uncle I never had. Anyways, When I was about sixteen Bobby took me to this underground pub; super off-the-book. He's already in with all the guys there, and there were some shady fuckers, lemme tell you. I saw a dude who literally had vampire teeth, no joke. Anyways, he takes me to this pool table where a bunch of tough looking douchebags are gambling away some cash and so Bobby dives in with a pretty straightforward twenty dollar bet. He hands me the pool cue with this like, cheeky grin and I must've looked fucking dumb 'cause he laughed as soon as he saw my face. I'd never played pool before, I mean, I knew the rules but I had never held a cue in my life. He's like 'your first round is on me', and I'm all like 'no fucking way, dude. Might as well just hand over your twenty now'. But he insisted so I caved and went on in. Guy I'm facing is like, real tough biker shit. Swear to got he was like, 6'5 with this scary-ass looking beard and piercings everywhere. Had tattoos all over his body, it was fucking ridiculous. He's doing that shit with the cue where you rub that blue shit on the tip, all while just staring me down with this killer look in his eyes. I'm pissing my pants and shitting myself at the same time. He starts and doesn't pot any so it's my turn. I knock one in and I think 'okay, beginner's luck'. I go again. Bam, another ball potted. By the time I finally miss a shot, I'm down to my last ball and he still hasn't even touched one of his striped ones. At this point I must've looked like a cocky piece of shit 'cause dude looked like he wanted to impale me with his fucking cue. He pots in one before missing his next, and next thing I know, I've won the game and snatched fifty bucks." Max hadn't noticed that the whole group was enthralled by this story. Everyone's eyes had widened and their mouths were agape, so fixated on this one girl and her tale that it seemed that there wasn't even a party anymore.
"Did you keep the money?" Came a voice close by. Max darted her head to see none other than Rachel and Steph sitting down by the table, as if they had been there to begin with, listening intently on Alex's story.
"What the fuck, when did you two get here?" Chloe asked, shocked. The others seemed just as surprised as she was. Everyone had been so focused on Alex that they hadn't even noticed the couple arrive.
"I don't even remember anymore, I was so focused on the story." Rachel replied. Max finally gave herself a moment to inspect their costumes. Rachel had worn a black hood and cape over a strapped leather tunic with fake daggers holstered by her chest. She wore pointy ears, resembling that of an elf. Steph on the other hand wore a long, purple wizard's robe with golden embroidered patterns in the silk. Both of them looked as if they had been ripped straight out of a fantasy game.
"Are you Caelynn?" Max asked, referring to Rachel's D&D character.
"Hell yeah I am." Rachel grinned. "You can thank Hermione over here." The girl gestured to Steph. "Her idea."
"It was a good idea." Steph argued. "Okay, screw our costumes, back to the story."
"Oh, right. Anyways," Alex continued "I was super pumped at this point. Like, I had just kicked this guy's ass and smeared him across the pool table. He was my bitch. He's all like 'beginner's luck, I want a rematch'. I'm like, okay. Put down the fifty I just won from him and say 'could take some more time out of my schedule to snatch some more cash from your sorry ass', and he gets pissed. Starts rubbing that blue shit into the cue tip harder than he jerks himself off. He puts down another fifty and we play."
"Did you win?" Victoria asked excitedly.
"I fucked him lubeless. Either he couldn't play pool for shit, or I was being named Greek goddess of pool. Seriously, I won two-hundred more off this punk before he up and left. By the end of the day I had…get this…six-hundred dollars in my pocket. All from playing fucking pool."
"Holy fuck!" Rachel exclaimed.
"Yeah. Unfortunately, some of them weren't too happy that a sixteen-year-old was jacking all their cash so they chased Bobby and I out of there and we just bailed it. Couldn't care less I had six-hundred fucking dollars. Bought myself and Bobby some milkshakes."
The whole group laughed. Alex had managed to cement herself into the group with a single story and Max was beyond impressed at her social skills. Her way of telling a tale was mesmerizing, and true or not, the story was brilliant.
"What did your parents say to that? Were they mad?" Courtney asked.
"Not really. Can't see how they could have been when they're kinda dead." All of a sudden the mood had dropped.
"Oh god, I…I'm so sorry I didn't…" Courtney stammered, embarrassed.
"No, don't feel sorry. I'm totally over the whole crying rivers phase. Been four years I don't give a crap anymore. Hell, I'll even make jokes about me being an orphan sometimes." The whole group seemed uncomfortable with how casually Alex spoke of her deceased family. "Fucking hell, you guys are sensitive. Relax, I'm not gonna break down and start sobbing on the damn floor, you can all chill."
"Okay, I guess…" Victoria stuttered.
"Okay, new story to lighten the mood." Alex went into thought once more. "Oh! I need to tell you all about the time my brother and I ended up driving all the way up to Canada and getting in trouble with the cops as soon as we got there…"
A/N: Happy Hellaween!
Hope everyone is doing well and I missed you all! Wanted to put this one out much earlier but ended up delaying it and thought, what the hell? Might as well upload it on Halloween…kinda…
Anyways, I wanted to make this one chapter but it ended up being a bit too long so this is gonna be another two-parter like Hollowed, so hang tight and chapter 26 will be out soon.
Also, here's something I wanna try: Q&A!
If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask them in the comments and I will try my best to answer them as soon as possible! Will also be the first time for me as a fanfic author to be active in my comments. :P
Anyways, that's all! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Love you all!