Hard Reset

Miss Magillicuddy

AN: mentions of rape and more people encouraging rape culture. Also underage drinking and recreational drug use.

The petite blond was already sitting on the Blackwell steps when the truck pulled to a stop, a hood of her sweater pulled up over her head and an overnight bag sitting on the step at her feet. Kate was on her feet heading towards the truck before Chloe had even put it in park. Max jumped out of the car and headed for her, wrapping her in a one armed hug.

"Are you okay," Max asked pulling back and looking at her face, taking in the split lip. "Looks like she landed a couple of good hits."

Kate winced a little, "You should see the other guy."

Max laughed and walked with her to the truck, setting her bag in the back and climbing in next to her. Chloe and Rachel greeted her as she got in. Kate gave a shy smile and a wave in return. They decided to drop off Kate's bag at Chloe's house before heading to a salon.

"I already told my mom about your home situation. She said you could stay with us this week if you wanted," Chloe told Kate with a gentle smile as she opened the door and led her up to her bedroom. Max and Rachel were going to wait in the car. "Fair warning, it's a bit messy."

"It's fine," Kate told her as she looked around before setting her bag on the bed. The two of them hurried back down the stairs and back into the car before heading off to a salon Rachel had heard of called Scissors of Oz. When they pulled up, they saw the sign in the window claiming that "walk-ins are welcome". Chloe felt right at home when they all walked in and saw bright, colorful hair all around them. A girl with multicolored dreadlocks and several facial piercings was taking a payment at the reception desk. On one of the walls was a mural of a steampunk themed Wizard of Oz.

"Hey ladies! I'm Jackie, but everyone just calls me Peaches. Can I help you," The lady at the desk asked, as her previous client made her way past them. Her eyes landed on Chloe's arm. "That's a sweet tat, girl."

"Thanks," Chloe responded "I, uh, actually designed it myself. We were hoping you had opening's for a couple of haircuts. My friends here wanted change."

"I actually started the process of cutting my hair," Kate told her, lowering her hood for the first time since they picked her up. "Unfortunately, it didn't go well."

"Oh my," Peaches said as she looked at her hair critically, "It looks like you went Edward Scissorhands on it. I'll see what we can do. If I could just get you to sign in while I clean up my station. Hey Pipes, how much longer do you have on your client?"

"Maybe 10… 15 minutes top," came the response from the other side of the salon. Pipes was a petite girl with blond hair so light it looked white down to her waist. However, when she moved her head, the hair would flow around revealing hidden layers of multiple colors.

"I wanted to get a cut and color," Max said as she walked up and signed in after Kate. Peaches nodded at her and walked over to her own station and started cleaning up. She returned a few minutes later, and led Kate over to her seat, draping her with a cape that had the body of Steampunk Dorothy on it. She sat in the chair at the station next to her and started doing her consultation. In another 10 minutes Pipes was finishing up with her client. After cleaning up her station, she led Max back. Max noticed that Peaches had already started on Kate's hair, and that she must have decided to do some color because she was flipping through color swatches.

Max was sat at Pipes station and immediately draped in a cape with the body of the Wicked Witch on it. During her consultation 2 other stylists had taken off for the day. Chloe and Rachel were given the option to hang out at their stations so they could be in the same area as their friends. After having her hair cut, Pipes started applying bleach to her hair so the color would go on better. As she was applying the last of the bleach, Kate's phone started ringing on the opposite side of Max. She grabbed her phone with a muttered sorry and answered it, putting it on speaker so it wouldn't get in the way.

"Hi mom," She said nervously. She hoped her mom was calling to apologize, but she doubted it. Her mother was stubborn, and holier than thou. She couldn't remember a time she had ever apologized for anything.

"Kate Beverly Marsh," the snooty sounding voice came from the other line. "I just got a call from Blackwell. As if your behavior lately wasn't bad enough, now you're suspended for FIGHTING? I raised you better than that. When you come home this week, I think we're going to have to discuss pulling you from Blackwell."

"What do you mean bad behavior? I didn't do anything wrong," Kate told her firmly. "I got in a fight with that girl because she was insinuating that I was lying about the rape and then called me a whore… and after the way you treated me earlier, you're out of your mind if you think I'm going home this week."

"If you had been on better behavior, they wouldn't have touched you," her mother responded back to her. "You must have been advertising to them that you wanted it."

"Are you fuckin serious right now, lady," Peaches asked with disgust as she brushed the color into Kate's hair. "As long as there is no consent, it is rape. What time period are you from, the 1900's? This is 2013. Leave that women should be seen not heard bullshit in the past."

"Excuse me? I don't know who you are but you stay out of this," she responded, sounding exasperated that anyone would argue with her. "I can't say I disagree with the other girl. Sleeping with 2 boys in one night! I'm so ashamed you're my daughter. I can't describe how disgusted I am with you… knowing that you're going to burn in hell"

"I didn't choose to sleep with ANYONE that night," Kate screamed at her. "I'm ashamed to be your daughter. I don't think I even believe in heaven or hell right now, but if it is real, can you save me a seat? You're definitely going to burn in the deepest pits if it exists."

"How dare you ta-"

"Shut the fuck up, and don't ever talk to me again," Kate shouted at her and clicked to hang up the call. She growled as it immediately started ringing again and hit ignore. Peaches showed her how to block certain numbers while Kate's shoulders were shaking with suppressed sobs. "I hate her so much. I can't believe I ever thought I deserved to be treated the way she treated me."

"She sounded really awful. I'm sorry you had to deal with that growing up," Chloe said, looking at her sadly.

"It's not your fault," Kate told her frowning. "I was so sheltered my whole life. I wasn't allowed to cut my hair shorter than my midback. I couldn't watch anything on TV except for Veggie tales or things like The 700 club. I've never been allowed to wear jeans because good Christian girls were skirts or dresses. I'm 18, and I plan to experience it all."

The next hour passed quickly. Pipes and Peaches were finishing up the styling of the girl's new hairstyles. Chloe and Rachel were having a spin off to see who could spin in the chairs for the longest before getting too dizzy. Max was watching them in amusement, as Pipe's used a blow dryer and brush to style her hair up into the fauxhawk. Max heard a gasp come from the other side of the room and glanced to see Kate looking in the mirror, gawking at her reflection.

"Is that really me," she asked as she ran her fingers through the short hair. It went from short on her left side, to a bit longer on the right, It had a lot of layers and 3 different shades of pink giving it a lot of definition. She smiled as she continued looking at it.

"That looks really sweet," Rachel told her, coming up next to her and running her own fingers through it.

"I'm glad you like it," Peaches said, and started going through after care instructions. "So you are going to want to wash it as little as you can get away with. You're also going to want to buy some shampoo for colored hair, as it doesn't have sulfate's in it. Also, you're going to want to wash it in cold water. If you use hot water the color will fade more quickly. Behind Kate, Max was being turned back towards her mirror. She gasped when she looked at it. She had gone for a fauxhawk, and had colored it violet at the roots and magenta on the ends.

"I can't believe I'm able to pull this off," She exclaimed in excitement. Turning her head from side to side to look at her reflection.

"You look hardcore, Max," Chloe told her with a sincere smile. Max smiled back at her as they all made their way up to the counter to pay. They scheduled appointments for 6 weeks out, and headed out the door, waving goodbye to Peaches and Pipes over their shoulders. Chloe kept stealing glances at Max on the way to her truck, blushing when she realized that Rachel was smirking at her from her other side. After spending almost an hour and a half at a thrift store, the girls headed back to Chloe's, the back of the truck filled with the bags of their shopping. They made a quick pit stop at Frank's trailer to pick up some goodies for the night. Which ended up taking longer than anticipated because Rachel insisted on giving Frank a long goodbye kiss for getting them booze and weed, while Max and Kate wouldn't stop giving Pompidou belly rubs.

When they got to Chloe's house, she made a stop in the garage to throw all of the clothing from the thrift shop into the washer, while Rachel ran up the stairs to stash the other items in Chloe's room until her mom and David went to sleep. David was in the garage while she was throwing the clothes in the washer.

"Hey, do you think you guys would care if we made a camp fire in the back yard tonight," Chloe asked, as she turned to face David. She somehow didn't feel the animosity towards him that she always had before. Maybe because he helped her catch the assholes that had hurt one best friend, and would have killed the other.

"You're actually asking for permission to do something," He said with sarcasm dripping from his voice, "who are you, and what did you do with Chloe?"

"Harhar. You guys are letting Max and Kate stay here for the week while they're off school. I really appreciate that," Chloe muttered quietly. "They have had a pretty difficult week."

"If you want to have a campfire, that's fine.," He told her. "Just… please don't burn down the house?"

Chloe snorted, and rolled her eyes, "We won't." she said, as she turned and walked into the living room. She saw that the other 3 were already in there. Max and Rachel were sitting on the couch at opposite ends, each leaning against the arm rests, and Kate was sitting in on the floor using the coffee table to paint her nails. Chloe smiled and climbed over the back of the couch, sitting in between her two best friends. Max glanced up at her from her phone and smiled.

"I'm ordering some pizza, is your favorite still pepperoni and mushroom?"

"It'll always be my first choice in pizza, but if no one else wants it I can have something else."

"It's still my favorite, too," Max told her pressing the button to add that to her cart. "What kind of pizza do you girls like?"

"I like sausage and pepperoni," Kate responded while focusing on trying to get the nail polish even while using her non-dominant hand.

"That sounds good, but can we add bacon to half of it," Rachel asked as she flipped through the channels on TV.

"oooh, go back," Chloe yelled out, "I think that was Blade Runner!"

Max laughed as she stood up and walked towards the kitchen where she heard Joyce doing the dishes. Same old Chloe. Gods, I missed her so much! She stood by the Island watching Joyce as she worked at the sink. She had a smile on her face and looked very relaxed.

"Hey Joyce," Max said as she finally walked over to her. Joyce continued scrubbing at a pain, focusing in on a spot that didn't want to clean up. "I'm ordering some pizza. Do you and David want some? My treat as a thank you for taking me in this week."

"Oh Max, you are such a sweetie," Joyce said as she finally glanced over to her. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Max Caulfield, you changed your hair! You look stunning with the short hair!"

"Thanks, Joyce. I needed a change," she responded with a slight blush in her cheeks, "so, did you want some pizza?"

"Sure, but I can chip in. It's not nec-"

"No, I insist. Just let me know what kind," Max interrupted her. I'm gonna out stubborn you today, Joyce. She giggled as Joyce let out a put upon sigh and released a smile to her.

"We like supreme," the older woman told her with a grin, "but if you insist on buyin dinner, I'm gonna make you gals something good for dinner tomorrow."

"Whatever you say, Joyce." Max headed back into the living room to finish the order. She added a couple of 2 liter's of soda and a giant brownie for them all to share for desert and submitted the order. While the movie was in a commercial break, she was scrolling through her facebook feed. She came across a post that was made by Juliet of the Victoria after she had been in the fight. The caption said "this is what happens when you're an awful person who makes fun of rape victims. She let out a giggle.

"Damn, Kate. It looks like you whooped her ass," she said, as she turned the phone to face the other girls. Rachel and Chloe leaned in close to get a good look, with an exclaimed "booyah bitch" coming from Chloe. Kate blushed a bit and wouldn't look at the 3 of them, embarrassed at receiving praise. Rachel giggled and ruffled her hair in affection. Max glanced out the window and saw that the sun was starting to go down. "Do you think we should set up the fire while it's still a bit light out, so we can see what we're doing?"

"That's probably a smart idea," Chloe answered, glancing outside herself. "Wanna help me set it up? We can each grab 2 camp chairs from the garage, and head out there. I think David has some lighter fluid in the garage as well."

Max nodded, and the 2 girl's grabbed the chairs and lighter fluid as they headed out to the backyard. They went to the middle area of the yard, away from anything else, and started arranging the chairs and the pieces of wood that Chloe found in the corner of the yard. After they had set everything up, Chloe pulled out her cigarettes and lit one up. The end lighting bright orange in the dusk. Max eyed her for a moment before reaching out her hand toward Chloe.

"Can I try it?" Chloe's eyes widened in surprise before she handed it over to Max. She took an inhale on it and immediately started coughing. "sm- cough- smooth." She tried another drag on it before handing it back to Chloe. They took turns passing it between them. Max only taking one drag at a time. The sliding door behind them opened, and Rachel peeked her head out.

"Max, I think the pizza guy just pulled in. Do you want me to grab the cash from your bag," she yelled out across the yard.

"Nah, I'll come in and get it. I'm keeping track of it on the envelope," she told her in response and headed back towards the house. She grabbed the money out of her bag on her way to the door, and opened the door. "Oh, hey Luke"

"Hi Max," he told her, staring at her in confusion. "I didn't know your family lived in town, too. Glad to see you're out of the hospital. I was really sorry to hear what happened to you."

"This is actually Chloe's, my best friend since childhood, house," She told him as she handed him the total plus a 20 percent tip. "I don't need any change. Thanks for your well wishes."

"Thanks, not everyone tips the delivery driver. Oh, by the way, I like your haircut."

"I've always been taught that you should tip for delivery. Thanks. I just got it done today. Well, have a good night… and drive safe!"

Rachel came up behind her to help her grab the 2 liters of soda, giving a wave to Luke before he left. The two of them walked into the kitchen and set the food down on the counters. Chloe was already pulling out paper plates for them to use for the pizza, while Kate pulled out a stack of plastic cups. They all started piling their plates with pizza, and filled their cups with soda before heading to the table to eat. David even came in from the garage for a bit and listened to them laughing and giggling together. Chloe seemed so different than usual.

After they were all full, they cleared up the pizza and spent the next hour playing card games at the table while they waited for Joyce and David to head upstairs. Rachel was explaining poker to Kate while Chloe shuffled the deck of cards again. They had just finished playing spades and were going to start in on Texas holdem. Rachel wound up wiping the floor with the other 3 girls. Max briefly considered using her powers to win, but then decided that since this was just among friends, and there wasn't any prize it would be pointless. Though in the future I could make a killing at a casino.

After the elder adults had gone to bed, Rachel ran up the stairs to grab the goodies, while Chloe ran out to the garage to change the laundry over to the dryer. Max ran into the garage to look for a cooler for ice while Chloe was in there. She pointed off into the other section of the garage. Max found the cooler quickly and headed back to the kitchen, grabbing the bag of ice out of the freezer and closing it into the cooler so it would stay cool. She also through put the 2 liters in there and reached in the fridge to pull out some juice so they would have things to mix with the alcohol.

She met Rachel and Kate outside. Kate was watching Rachel dancing around the wood while randomly squirting lighter fluid onto it. She eyed them for a moment before asking them if she could show them a trick, as she trusted they would keep it between them. She faced towards the fire and held her hand towards it and felt something swoop through her stomach. The fire lit up instantly, with no matches or lighters.

"Did you just… light a fire with your mind," Kate asked, staring at her in awe with wide eyes. She looked at Max to share her shock.

"You have powers, too" Max asked her, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders to find out she wasn't the only person around. "I'm so glad I'm not alone with this."

"Wait, you're saying you have powers," Kate asked her in astonishment.

"Yeah, I can rewind time. Not super far back. I'm weary about doing it ever again because in an alternate timeline I caused a tornado that flattened Arcadia Bay to the ground."

Kate was staring at her with her mouth open wide. "wow… I wonder if Chloe or I will get powers."

"I think my power is being awesome," the blue haired girl joked as she joined them around the fire. "or bein' smokin' hot."

"yeah, that's your power," Rachel said sarcastically, while inside her mind Max was thinking that she could buy that. The girls settled down, discussing the powers between them for a few minutes before deciding to dig into the goodies. Chloe pulled out a joint that Frank had pre-rolled when Rachel asked him to. Rachel was putting ice into 4 plastic cups while eyeing the alcohol they had. She mixed them each up a fuzzy navel and passed them around. Chloe lit the joint and put it to her lips taking a drag and holding it in for several seconds before releasing the breath and passing it to Max. Max tried to copy her, but the taste and sensation of smoking pot were so knew for her that she immediately started coughing.

"How does your body get used to this?" she croaked, as she handed the joint off to Kate. She took several mouthfuls of her fuzzy navel to clear the taste from her mouth. "Now this is good. It doesn't even taste like alcohol."

She watched as Kate took a hit off of the joint and was able to actually hold it for a couple of seconds before coughing. The four of them continued passing the drug around the fire, telling stories and having a good time. After the fuzzy navels, Rachel mixed them all UV blue and Mountain Dew. Max really liked that as well. They also had Jack and Coke and a bottle of tequila. Around 12 in the morning they wound up playing truth, dare or drink. If you didn't want to tell the truth or do the dare, you could also take a shot.

"Kate, truth or dare," Chloe asked her while blowing out smoke from a cigarette she had lit, handing the lit cigarette to Max who wanted to try it again.

"Whys this better when m' tipsy," She asked Chloe as she took a couple of drags off of it before handing it back to her. Chloe just patted her head before looking back to Kate.

"mmm' Truth. Also… do you think I could try that?" Chloe's eyebrows rose as she handed the cigarette across to Kate. She took a drag off it, made a considering face. "That isn't bad." She took another drag before handing it back to Chloe.

"Okay. Let me think… who at Blackwell do you have a crush on," Chloe asked her, giving her a cheeky grin as she turned red. Kate mumbled under her breath so quietly that none of them could hear her. Kate sighed before looking back at Chloe.

"I said Justin Williams," Kate responded, quickly averting her gaze. Rachel wolf whistled and clapped.

"I thought for sure you were gonna say Warren," Rachel told her giggling in drunken delight. "I think you and Justin would actually be kinda cute together. He's a sweet kid."

"Warren isn't my type at all, but Alyssa has a huge crush on him. She stays away from him, though, because Brooke hate's any other girls spending time with him." Kate said, before taking a deep gulp of from her drink. "Rachel, truth or dare?"

"Dare," she said, giving a challenging eyebrow raise.

"I dare you to… sneak into Mr. and Mrs. Madsen's bedroom and steal a pair of his boxer's and wear them on your head for the rest of the night," Kate told her, bursting into giggles at end of her sentence.

"I think I'll drink. They could be bangin in there right now," Rachel said, ignoring Chloe gagging next to her, and grabbing the bottle uv blue and taking a shot. Chloe grabbed the bottle from her and took a drink from it, mumbling about wiping the imagery from her mind.

"Max on, Max off… Truth or dare," The blond asked with an evil grin while Max looked at her in amusement.

"Definitely dare. I'm not afraid of you."

"I dare you to kiss Chloe full on the lips for 5 seconds!"

"What," Max sputtered, heart stopping for a second before heat bloomed in her cheeks. Mind flashing back to the other timeline, wondering at how two such similar situations could happen.

"I double dare you. Kiss her now," Rachel said giving her a wink, and holding out the bottle of Jack "Bet she'll drink, right?"

Max stood from her chair and stumbled having to catch herself over towards Rachel. She leaned over Chloe's chair, reaching for the bottle, but at the last second faked her out, put a hand on Chloe's cheek, and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"Damn, Max. You're hardcore," Chloe told her, with a faint blush on her cheeks.

"That wasn't 5 seconds," Kate shouted from the other side of the fire, grinning maniacally. Rachel nodding in agreement. Max heart was racing as she leaned back in and started moving her lips against Chloe's surprised when she started pressing back. Rachel cleared her throat, and the two girls jumped apart. That was more like 30 seconds, but whatever. Max was heading to her chair to sit down, when she realized she urgently had to pee, and started wiggling on the spot.

"Guysss. I have t' pee. I don't know if I can make it all the way up the stairs." She wiggled in place for a few more minutes, looking at her friends urgently.

"You could go squat in a corner. We probably don't want to all keep running in and out for bathroom breaks. We could wake up the 'rents," Rachel said. "Which would probably be bad."

As Max was running and stumbling across the yard she heard Kate snicker and say something about 'unless the rents are bangin', followed by Chloe gagging again. As she returned to them, she realized they were waiting for her to take her turn.

"Rachel, Truth or Dare," she asked the blond at Chloe's other side.

"Dare," the blond said smirking.

"I dare YOU to kiss KATE for 5 seconds," Max said triumphantly. Rachel looked at her with a smirk and shook her head in wonder.

"Booorrrring," She whined. "Not that Kate is boring, but have you no imagination?'

Kate giggled, and Rachel stood up. Held up five fingers, and pressed her lips to Kate's counting down, until the last finger up was the middle finger. She grinned over at Max, who rolled her eyes and shook her head. Chloe had just lit up and taken another drag, when Rachel looked at her.

"Chloe, truth or dare," she asked with a strange glint in her eye. Before answering, Chloe passed off the joint to Max, who instantly put it to her lips and pulled in a deep drag. She heard Chloe say truth as she took another drag and choked on it as the question came out of Rachel's mouth.

"What did you think of that kiss with Max and would you do it again" as she finished her sentence she burst into laughter as Max choked on the smoke. She watched as both Max and Chloe turned red, while Chloe shot her a quick glare. She turned to Max.

"Are you alright?" she waited for Max's nod, as she continued coughing for a moment, then cleared her throat with tears gathered in the corner of her eyes from the strain of choking. Chloe looked back at Rachel embarrassed. "I really liked that kiss with Max… and I definitely would do it again." Her response caused Kate and Rachel to let out little squeals, while she and Max each blushed more. They looked at each other furtively for a few seconds, then shared a smile. Chloe reached forward and squeezed her hand for a moment before leaning back and continuing the game.

The 4 of them eventually switched back to just laying around telling stories and jokes. By the end of the night, Max was rubbing her feet in the grass in astonishment. "Wowser. The grass feels so different on my feet right now. I think I can feel each individual blade on my feet."

The other 3 girls giggled at her in amusement, broken up by yawns. It was almost 3 in the morning before they decided to call it a night and go to bed.