Max drove to Blackwell in her new and yet old truck. The sensation was odd and she couldn't help but feel that it should have been Chloe in her position, not her. The least she could do was to make sure that this metal monster would go on driving for as long as possible, as she was certain that Chloe would want her to do so.

Rachel had wished her luck for the contest this morning over breakfast. Max was never the competitive type that lived only for winning, but she had to admit that the prospect of coming out of this victorious was exciting. But competition was steep, no doubt everyone at school who could did participate and there were some strong talents to contend with.

After parking, she could see Warren standing by a green hatchback. Did he finally get his own car? She approached him to find out.

"Good morning, Warren.", she said.

"Hey, Max, check out my new wheels.", he said, gesturing at this newest acquisition. "It's at least two decades behind the times, but it will do. I'm not too picky given my financial situation."

"It's... neat.", Max stated, looking at the dinged up chassis of the car.

"Ugh... I know, it's got nothing on your badass truck but hey, its got four wheels and it drives. That's all that matters right?"

"I guess, I'm not big on cars. I'm just grateful I got this one."

"Rachel is a great partner fixing that up for you all by herself, you better make sure to show your gratitude towards her."

"I try, she deserves that much."

"So, what do you think who's going to win today?"

"The contest? I have no clue, but I'm not expecting to be it if that's what you are asking."

"Come on, I know for a fact that you take great shots. Rachel showed us that one picture you took of her that one time yesterday remember?"

Warren was referring to the photograph that Max took during that sundown, the day Rachel had first put red dye into her hair.

"I admit I love that one."

"You got talent, Max, don't let haters tell you otherwise."

Suddenly, an announcement could be heard from the speakers.

"Attention all Blackwell students, please gather in the gym for the official announcement of the winner of the Everyday Heroes contest.", Principal Well's voice could be heard saying.

With everyone gathered at the gym, Max could see Mr. West up on the stage in the back with an envelope in hand. Everyone eagerly stood in anticipation of the announcement.

"Morning, Max.", she could hear Skip say as she passed him as a throng students tried to make its way into the hall.

Max tried to stick with Warren for the moment, trying not to lose him in the chaos. After several minutes it seemed everyone was assembled and Mr. West was given a microphone.

"Check, Check, one two three.", he tested it. "Alright, good morning Blackwell! I know you'd probably rather be in class right now, but we gotta get this announcement done first. There have been many great entries from a large number of students and I think I speak for the entire jury if I say, you all have reasons to be proud of yourself. In this envelope is the answer, so I'm gonna go ahead and open it."

After breaking the seal off the envelope, he pulled out a piece of paper from it.

"Today marks a historic moment for this contest. For the first time ever, the jury was not able to agree on a winner."

The crowd reacted in surprise and people started whispering to each other, confused what this meant. Max didn't know what to think about this yet either.

"Instead... we had two entries of such amazing artistry and beauty that the jury had remained deadlocked without an agreement. What does this mean? That means that instead of just one of you, two winners will be flying to San Francisco with me tomorrow. That's right, we have two winning entries!"

The crowd grew more excited.

"You might wonder how this is possible, and truth be told was entirely up to circumstance. One school was forced to withdraw from the contest, leaving us with an empty slot and the gallery generously offered Blackwell this vacant slot to solve this problem. That being said, I'm going to announce the first winner now."

Max's heart started speeding up and she started feeling anxious.

"The first winner of the Everyday Heroes contest 2014 is..."

Everyone's eyes went wide in anticipation.

"...Ms. Victoria Chase!"

The reaction from the crowd was mostly positive as they clapped in applause as Victoria made her way up to the stage. It seems her reputation in this timeline was better, as Max imagined the other Victoria to be booed off the stage real fast.

"You rule Victoria!", Max could hear a girl in the crowd yelling.

Mr. West handed her the microphone now.

"Thank you all so much! I would like to say how much I appreciate this opportunity and I promise to be the best representative that Blackwell could possibly ask for. I decided to dedicate this victory... to Rachel Amber. I know we had our differences, but that doesn't change the fact that she had always been an inspiration for me. We miss you, Rachel. Best of luck to the second winner!", she said cheerily, addressing everyone.

"Thank you, Ms. Chase, please stand over there, you will be joined by the second winner in just a moment.", Mr. West told her, directing her to stand by the big contest poster that was put up on the stage.

"The second winner is..."

Knowing Max's luck, it was probably going to be Luke or even Nathan.

"... Mrs. Maxine Amber!", Mr. West exclaimed.

Max was dumbfounded as the school went wild and Mr. West motioned her to come up to the stage to say something. She had not anticipated this and most certainly did not prepare for it. She tried to make her way up to the stage, passing by Daniel as she did.

"I knew you would win, great work, Max!", he said as she passed him.

Once on the stage with the microphone in hand, the gym suddenly seemed to be a lot bigger to Max and the crowd even more numerous. With all eyes on her, she wasn't sure how to act. Her instinct told her to try and do what Rachel would in her place, which was easier said than done, considering she felt a lot more comfortable on a stage than Max by comparison. She did her best to block out the fact that hundreds of eyes were watching her every move.

"Thank you. I am incredibly honored and grateful for this. I hope that my work can inspire as many as possible, for if even only one person approves of it, that alone would make me proud of what I do. I also will do my best to showcase Blackwell's values and discipline. As for my dedication, I dedicate this win to Kate Morrison, who I dearly miss around here. I wish she'd understand just how much. Once again, I'd like to thank Mr. West as well the rest of Blackwell for this honor.", she said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Amber, please take your spot over by Ms. Chase.", Mr. West directed her, taking back the microphone.

"Classes will begin shortly, please make your way to your classrooms now, that is everyone except for the winners!", Mr. West announced.

It was only now that Max had calmed somewhat that she realized something.

She would have to sit on a plane for hours next to Victoria. She was less than thrilled about this prospect.

"Max, congratulations, you must be so proud!", she said in her typically over the top cheery way.

"Thanks, Victoria, same to you."

Mr. West walked over to them now.

"We will be taking pictures of you with your winning entries now. I want you to know that we are writing history here.", he said.

"I'm still kinda blown away, to be honest.", Max admitted.

"Oh, in that case, you better hold on to something when I'm about to tell you this."

"What is it?", Victoria asked.

"The Prescott Foundation has offered the winner of the contest an additional prize."

"An additional prize?", Max asked in confusion.

"Yes, and it's a big one. A fully sponsored scholarship for photography at the University of Oregon!"

Max felt overwhelmed upon hearing this.

"This is a big deal ladies, that is the best institution for photography in the entire state of Oregon. If you wish to pursue this seriously, this is hands down one of the best opportunities one could ask for, I should know, I used to go there myself a long time ago. And I know for a fact that you have the skills and talent they are looking for. What do you think?"

"That sounds... amazing!", Victoria cheered, clapping her hands in excitement.

Max, on the other hand, felt beside herself. That university was half-way across the state. She could no longer live in Arcadia Bay once she graduated. It's also not LA, which is where Rachel wanted to go.

"I... I'm kinda overwhelmed right now. I don't mean that in a bad way.", she said.

"That's understandable, give it some time to think over, the prize will be handed to you upon your return from San Francisco. You know my recommendation on what to do. Now, let's head out to get your pictures taken."

Following their teacher through the halls the whole thing took a while to sink in. Max had not only won the contest but also a fully sponsored scholarship? This should have been the best moment of her educational history and yet, she felt anxious instead.

At the classroom, she was instructed to hold up an enlarged version of her picture for a photo shoot to display it for the cameras. For the first time in her life, Max felt almost like a celebrity and she hadn't even flown to San Francisco yet.

For the entirety of the day, this had occupied her mind and it proved distracting during class. Her brain already dreaded sitting next to Victoria for several hours. Although, she had to remind herself that her dislike towards Victoria was grounded in her experience with the one from her original timeline. This Victoria had always treated her respectfully, even after she had cut ties with the Vortex Club, which greatly surprised her, but being friends seemed impossible still. The memory of Kate simply hurt too much still and Victoria was one of the major offenders when it came to who put Kate on that roof that day. It was hard to forgive that and impossible to forget. But was there a point in holding a grudge when it seemed unwarranted?

She did text Rachel at some point that she had won, but hadn't gotten a response yet. Odds were she had her hands full at work though. She did not mention the scholarship yet, however. That was something she wanted to discuss in person with her.

While on break, Brooke suddenly joined her, as Max was sitting on a bench trying to get her thoughts in order.

"Hey, Max.", she greeted.

"This is surprising, hey Brooke.", Max responded.

"Not as surprising as you winning that contest. Congratulations."

"Thank you."

"I never properly thanked you for sending Warren my way. So thanks, Max. I feel like we are hitting it off pretty well."

"I'm happy for you, I had a feeling you would."

"How did you know? It almost seemed like you knew that he and I would work out."

"It's a long story and you wouldn't believe me."

"Really? Try me."

What was Max supposed to do? She barely knew Brooke but at the same time, her showing an interest meant that they could become friends, unless of course already considered her one, she was nice enough to show up for her birthday party after all. She thought about it. The worst that could happen is that Brooke would think of her as a weirdo, which she kind of always did, so not much would change. Besides, Max started feeling tired of carrying around her secret around after all this time and always having to lie about it. Maybe it was time to open up about it, no matter how crazy it would sound?

In resignation, she told Brooke everything about the time traveling she had done, about the alternate timeline thing and that Rachel's fate was far less kind to her originally.

In the end, Brooke was left blinking her eyes in disbelief.

"Uh, ok, Max... you really mean what you said? You aren't high on something right?"

"I'm not, I detest drugs."

"You don't seem to be the type anyway. Wow... ok."

Awkward silence commenced for a moment until Max broke the ice.

"How else do you think I knew about you two? You used to be jealous as hell at me for just talking to Warren."

"How many people have you told this?"

"Just you, Rachel and... Chloe."

"Are you talking about Chloe Price? She used to go here a long time ago but not for very long. I remember her though."

"You do?"

"Yeah, she disappeared out of the sudden, haven't seen her since."

"Brooke, Chloe is... dead."

Brooke was taken aback and seemed to have quickly realized that Max did more than just know Chloe.

"I'm sorry to hear that, she had a talent for the sciences, I could appreciate that. Did she mean much to you?"

"More than you can imagine. Remember that close friend of mine that I tried to help by changing history? The one I ended up putting into a wheelchair in this timeline?"

"Yes."

"That was her, or rather, another version of her."

"My god..."

"It's alright Brooke, but I warned you on my birthday that hanging around me has consequences."

"No kidding. I feel sorry for bringing this up."

"You couldn't have known, it's ok."

"Do you want me to tell Warren about your story?"

"I will tell him myself, I meant to for a while anyway."

"Hey, gives us science experts something to discuss. If what you say is true, then you just blew my worldview to pieces."

"Welcome to my life, Brooke."

"Glad to be a part of it, Max. I gotta run and catch Warren. See you around."

"Later, Brooke."

Did Brooke really believe what Max just told her? She hoped so.

Eventually, after several agonizing hours of classes, she was finally allowed to go home. She wanted nothing more than to finally tell Rachel the news. Once she had told the Amber's about her prize, they were very happy for her.

"That is outstanding, Max. Are going to take this opportunity?", James asked her.

"I don't know yet, but I would love to. I need to talk this over with Rachel first before I can make any calls, I do not wish to exclude her on this.", Max said.

"I'm sure she will agree with your plans once she realized the wisdom behind the correct choice."

"One way to find out."

Upstairs, now by herself, Max anxiously awaited Rachel's return home. She wrote in her diary as usual to pass the time. Being alone felt so strange out of the sudden, after all those cameras and faces of envy that she saw. Her phone inbox exploded with messages, so much so, that she was forced to mute it for the moment. As she kept writing, her vision went blurry and it became harder to focus and eventually, out of exhaustion, she fell asleep.

It wasn't until later that she woke up again.

"Hey, Maxter, wake up!", she could hear a voice say.

Max could feel a hand gently pushing her back, trying to get her attention. She came to and turned her head to behold Rachel, who had come home from work.

"Hey Rachel, did you get my text?", she asked, still somewhat dazed.

"I sure did, I did respond but I see you fell asleep.", Rachel said.

"My bad."

"So, since you were victorious today, why don't you go ahead and claim your prize?"

"What is the "prize"?"

"One free kiss.", Rachel said playfully.

"Just the one?"

"Well, with the right argument you might be able to convince me to grant you mo..."

Rachel's speech got interrupted when Max went for it and kissed her partner.

"How's that?", Max asked after the fact.

"You make an... interesting argument. I will keep that in mind.", Rachel said as she now kissed Max in return.

As much as Max was enjoying the intimacy, there was something that needed to be addressed.

"Rachel, I got more news and it's a big deal."

"That's funny, so have I.", she responded.

"Ok, you first.", Max said.

"Joyce is pregnant."

Max shot up in bed in surprise.

"Joyce is WHAT?!"

"She is pregnant. She told me this morning, more to it, you are the only one allowed to know for the moment. So don't spread this around, I'd like to keep my good reputation at work. I vouched for your reliability."

Max's mind was racing, trying to fully understand the implications here. From what she could remember of William and Joyce, they had never planned on having more children after they have had Chloe. However, Chloe died almost a year ago, leaving them with no offspring.

"Oh my god, Rachel..."

"You look like you saw a ghost, Max. You alright?"

"Rachel... that child... wow..."

"Get a hold of yourself, Max, people have kids you know?"

"That's not it, you don't understand! That child, whoever it's going to be... they wouldn't have existed if I hadn't changed history... he or she will only be allowed to live because of my actions."

Rachel seemed to think for a moment and she too had then done the math. William couldn't have had another child in Max's old universe, seeing how he died long ago. And Max was fairly certain that Joyce didn't seem to plan to have any children with David Madsen either.

"Holy shit, Max. That kid really is your doing in a way.", she said, still feeling dumbfounded.

"This should have been Chloe's little brother... or sister, depending. Did they say what it is?", Max asked.

"No, they don't know yet, they will soon from what I heard."

"This is giving me chills, Rachel, like seriously. I mean, I knew things would be different, but it never really occurred to me that entirely new lives would be the result of what I've done.""

"That kid owes you his or her life, they can get in line with me now. Think they will be a rebel like Chloe?"

"I wouldn't be surprised, but its weird that I'm gonna be so much older than them."

"Doesn't mean you can't be friends one day, right?"

"That's true."

Then Max remembered what she's been meaning to say all day.

"Rachel, I have something to say too."

"I'm all ears, but I doubt you can top my story."

"You tell me. I was awarded more than just the title of a winner today. In addition to going to San Francisco tomorrow, I also received a prize."

"I know, I gave you a kiss."

"Not that one you silly goose."

"I know, I'm just playing."

"For reals, I was awarded a fully sponsored scholarship for a university in Eugene, Oregon. If I take it, I get to study photography at the best institution in the state. I could become a bonafide photographer, Rachel. All I need to say is yes. I still have time to decide, however."

She studied Rachel's face, gauging her reaction, but it remained unreadable for the moment. Rachel paced around, clearly trying to process the news.

"You are saying you haven't accepted it yet?", she ended up asking.

"I haven't, I wanted to include you first, it was the right thing to do.", Max said.

"Thank you for being considerate of me, Max, but there is only one answer."

Knowing how badly Rachel wanted to go to LA, Max honestly didn't know what to expect now.

"Max..."

Rachel turned around and faced her partner.

"...take it."

"Are you sure?"

"Max, no offense, but saying no to that would literally the stupidest thing you could do. Why wouldn't you?"

"Because it's not what you wanted. You told me LA is where you wish to go."

"Max, I want out of here, that I will attest. But where we go doesn't matter to me as much as you think. LA was a plan, yes and I would love to go there, seeing how California is my home state. But you know what? This? This is too great to pass up. Eugene isn't as far, we can get there easily and find a place to stay. Maybe even with my mom."

"So you are ok with it?"

"Of course I am. I don't want to be in the way of your success. If becoming a photographer is what you want... then I'm not going to stop you. I love you, Max. I love you very much. I would be very, very happy if you get to do this, really, I mean it. I'd be so proud of you."

"And what about you?"

"Max, I'll be fine. I will find something to do. If it means having to give up on my stage dreams... then so be it."

Max had never, ever imagined hearing Rachel say those words. She was willing to let go of her dreams in favor of Max fulfilling her own. For Rachel, this seemed downright altruistic.

"Rachel, I don't think I know the words to properly thank you for saying that."

"Max, you and I don't need words anymore."

Rachel embraced Max warm and gently and Max reciprocated accordingly.

"I was apprehensive about telling you this, I wasn't sure what to expect.", Max admitted, resting her head on Rachel's shoulder.

"Max, your happiness matters more to me than the world. As long as you think you make the right decision in the end, I will back you up no matter what. Scholarship or no scholarship, you have my support."

"What have I done to deserve you?", Max said near tears now.

"You moved through time and space, altered the course of this river we call history, accepted me for who I am, despite me chewing you out more than once for no damn good reason, put up with all my bullshit drama and still somehow managed to remain the greatest person I have ever known? If anything, I should ask myself that question, as I have before, if you remember."

"I know you have."

"You never give yourself the credit you deserve, Max, why is that?"

"I don't know, confidence has never been my strong suit, no matter how much I wish it was different."

"Those times you are confident I really like though, you showed me a lot of that on our cruise.", Rachel stated.

"I didn't have so much to worry about that time I guess."

"I hope I get to see that side yours again. You are stronger than you know, Max. You will see."

Max felt good about hearing this.

"Now, if you excuse me, the shower is calling my name and I intend to heed it."

Rachel grabbed her towel and new clothes and was about to walk out.

"Rachel?"

"Yes, Max?"

"Would you mind... if I join you?"

Rachel's face was marked with a big smile now.

"I thought you'd never ask, by all means. But beware, Max, it can get pretty rough in there."

"Challenge accepted."