Hard Reset
Miss Magillicuddy
AN: Bullying, underage drinking, drug use
The rest of the week went by pretty quickly for the new couple and their friends. They spent a lot of time with Kate, Rachel joining them after she got out of classes. On Wednesday the group of friends went to a tattoo parlor. Max got the daith and lip piercings she had been considering, while Kate got her earlobes double pierced. Max also set a time to come back later that day so she could get a tattoo of the blue butterfly on her wrist, after a brief inspiration she had asked the artist to have it landing on a pocket watch done in blacks and grays. When they went back later, Chloe clutched her left hand the hold time to help calm her. In the end she loved the result of it, and even though it had been painful, she was already wanting another one. Seeing the finished product had caused all of the other girls to long for another one, or in Kate's case, one at all.
Thursday after Rachel got out of school, the four girls went to an arcade that had recently set up in the town. The lights inside automatically reminded Max of when they first walked into the casino earlier that week. They all crammed into a photobooth that was near the entrance, making silly poses and laughing. They found out that somehow Rachel was a pro at skee ball, as she seemed to get the ball directly in the 100 points 75% of the time. They spotted a motorcycle racing game where you actually had to lean to the right and left to help the motorcycle handle the curves. Kate and Rachel wound up competing in a dancing game, while Chloe and Max walked over to some claw machines and Max started trying to win some Final Fantasy 7 figurines, while Chloe hugged her from behind giving her pointers. Max started bouncing and squealing after getting the figurine after 5 tries. Chloe was gigging at her cuteness, until Max craned her head around to press their lips together. That set off a group of tween boys who started wolf whistling at the two of them. The friends left after another couple of hours, after stopping in the gift shop and trading in their tickets
Thursday night Max and Chloe went on another date. There was a carnival a few towns over, so the two of them decided to check it out. The two of them smoked some pot in Chloe's truck before heading towards the rides. Max could already smell all of the fair food and felt her mouth salivating. She couldn't wait to get a corndog and made Chloe stop there first. They scoped out the rides while they ate their delicious grub. They stopped in line to buy some tickets for the rides, and waited in line with Chloe's arms draped around her shoulders. As they reached the front of the line, they saw that for $20 dollars each, they could get a wristband to ride the rides as many times as they wanted. The woman at the kiosk wrapped the paper bracelets around the girl's wrists.
The two of them first got on the giant boat that would swing back and forth, every time it went down, Max could feel a tickle in her stomach and giggled. Chloe would giggle every time she would, as Max's soft giggle caused her to feel a rush of affection for her. After that, the two of them went on the Ferris wheel, and spent the whole time snuggling together and stealing kisses. While they were up there, they were shocked by fireworks starting.
"I didn't know there were supposed to be fireworks. Sweet," Chloe mentioned excitedly, as she snuggled her into her side, running her hand up and down her arm.
"They're beautiful," Max agreed, watching as the colorful flames popped in the sky. Max could see out of the corner of her eyes that Chloe was watching her, as the sky lit up in a variety of colors.
"Not as beautiful as you are. You look even more beautiful in the glow of the fireworks," Chloe stated sincerely, eyes lowered slightly in desire. Max turned her head to look into her eyes, and the two leaned in to kiss, as the fireworks continued to boom around them. They were unaware of anything else besides the two of them. They didn't even realize they had come to a stop until they heard a cough and a throat clearing next to them. The two of the jumped apart and looked to the sign, where the carney was leering at them with a huge grin on his face.
"Hey, how 'bout you two hotties join me later for some fun," he said in a husky tone as he continued to grin at them lasciviously.
"Um, how about no," Max said, and grabbed Chloe's hand to pull her away before she attacked the guy. The woman had had a glare on her face as she shouldered up as if to fight with guy looked like a real creeper, and she didn't want to let anything happen to her blue haired beauty. Plus, she didn't want to get kicked out of the carnival for fighting. She dragged her off towards the bumper cars, Chloe whining behind her about not letting her teach that guy a lesson.
It had quickly been forgotten as the two of them looped the straps of the bumper cars around their waists. The two of them faced kept bumping into each other and giggling. It was almost like they were flirting by using the cars. They were only aiming for each other. They shared another kiss as they stood up to leave the ride. As they were heading towards the next ride, Max got a whiff of something fried and sweet smelling. Looking around she saw a place advertising funnel cakes. She dragged Chloe over and stood in line, bouncing in place as she waited for her turn. They sat down at a picnic table after getting their treat and snuggled together while feeding each other bits of the powdered sugar dusted treat. The rest of the night went by quickly. They were having a great time together, and even played a few of the carnival games. Chloe won her a giant teddy bear that the had to haul to the truck. They stopped on the way back to the truck to pick up some cotton candy to share with Kate and Rachel.
The next day Rachel had gotten a text from Dana inviting her to a house party someone was throwing while their parents were out of town. After confirming with Dana that it would be okay to bring Chloe, Max and Kate the girls got ready for the party. They stopped by Frank's again on the way to the party, as Rachel had asked for him to pick up some alcohol for them. Chloe bought a bunch of weed while they were there, too. Chloe pulled to a stop in front of the house and they made their way into the house. Dana squealed loudly as she saw Max walk in the front door.
"Max," She yelled out, as she came running up to her and gave her a hug. "It's good to see you out of the hospital! You look so cool! You changed your hair, and I love your lip piercing! Does it hurt mu- KATE?"
Kate smiled at her and gave her a hug, as well. "Hi Dana, thank you so much for looking after Alice this week."
"Of course, she's a little angel," The cheerleaeder responded to her, as Trevor came up next to her and threw an arm over her shoulder. "Kate, you changed your style, too! You both look awesome!"
"Hi Dana," Rachel shouted out over the music, and lifted the box full of booze, "Where can I put this?"
"Oh," Dana said in surprise at the amount of alcohol they had brought, "We have it all set on the kitchen table."
The group headed off to the kitchen, being led there by Dana. They each mixed themselves up a drink, and headed to the basement, where Dana told them most of the 'cool people' were hanging out. They got to the bottom of the stairs, and saw Justin and his friends, as well as Juliet sitting around in a circle laughing and talking. The rest of them joined them, with cheers of hellos.
"Chloe… Rachel, what it is," Justin asked as the group sat down together. "Who are your friends?"
"Uhhh, Justin," Max said with a laugh. "We go to school with you. That's Kate, I'm Max?"
"I must be more drunk than I thought," the teen boy said slowly. "I didn't even recognize you. I heard you beat the shit out of Victoria, Kate. Good job!"
"Thanks," Kate muttered blushing, while hiding a smile behind her cup. The other people sitting in the group cheered for her. "I just snapped. She was saying all these awful things."
"Yeah, she is such a fucking bitch," Juliet agreed, taking a long gulp from her drink. "I walked in on her with my boyfriend, Zach. Well, ex-boyfriend."
"Sounds like we could all relax," Chloe said, as she pulled out the bag of weed she bought from Frank. "Anyone in?"
Everyone cheered as Chloe pulled out a bowl, and started packing it with the drug. Chloe lit it up, and took a long drag, holding her breath before passing it off to Max. The group sat there in a circle passing it all around. Their volume was rising as they started having more fun. Dana ran up the stairs to grab a couple bottles of alcohol after someone mentioned playing a drinking game. She returned back fairly quickly and handed out some shot glasses to the group. She also dropped down a pack of cards.
"I figured we'll start with Never have I ever, and maybe play some kings cup afterwards," Dana said, as she sat back down, choosing to sit in Trevor's lap. "I'll start. Never have I ever… kissed a girl."
Max and Chloe clinked their shots together before shooting them back, watching as the other people in the circle either drank or didn't. Max looked to her right and saw Kate bringing her shot glass down from her mouth. She could see other people looking at Kate in surprise, and the pink haired girl giggled.
"It was on a dare, but a kiss is a kiss," Kate reasoned out with them with a tipsy giggle. They passed the bottle of vodka back around, and everyone who had taken a shot refilled their glass.
"Never have I ever walked in my parents having sex," Juliet said, laughing as Dana glared at her before lifting her shot to her mouth.
"Thanks for that reminder," the cheerleader said as she gagged. She had been the only one that had to drink to that one.
"Never have I ever had a period," Trevor yelled out, laughing as all the girls groaned simultaneously and took drinks.
"That was low, Trevor, but paybacks a bitch" Kate told him with a laugh, as she refilled her drink. "Never have I ever had a boner! "
The girls all started giggling as the guys all took their shots. The game continued on for a while before they switched to playing kings cup. By the time that game had ended they were all thoroughly drunk. They ended up getting up and dancing around to the music that was playing in the house. Max and Chloe were standing there passing a bottle of fireball between them. They were pressed closely together, as they moved their bodies from side to side.
Kate and Rachel were dancing together next to them, giggling drunkenly. Rachel was trying to talk Kate into asking Justin to dance. Kate blushed, and shook her head at the blond. They eventually started doing the titanic Jack and Rose spin. Chloe could see the scheming look on Rachel's face. She opened her mouth to ask what she was planning, when Rachel let go of Kate's hands, sending her careening back into Justin who fell onto the couch with Kate on his lap. Kate turned bright pink and looked to Justin in horror. Rachel immediately started giggling, as Kate tried to struggle to her feet.
"I'm so sorry, Justin," Kate told him with her face still pink.
"Hey, its okay," He told her with a smile. "It's not every day a beautiful girl falls into my lap."
Kate blushed as she finally made it to her feet. She stumbled slightly as she made her way to her feet and decided to sit back on the couch. The two of them sat there and started talking. Rachel shared a conspiratorial wink with Max and Chloe before wandering off to hang out with Dana and Trevor. The rest of the night went by in a blur of shots, dancing, and laughter. They all decided to stay the night in the basement, as none of them were willing to drink and drive. Chloe and Max were snuggled up together on one of the couches, Max's back pressed against Chloe's front. They had a couple of the decorative pillows they were using to rest their heads upon, and a throw blanket thrown over them to keep them warm.
Max woke up the next morning, much like the first time she had been drunk. She sat up slowly as her temples pounded, feeling the bile rise in her throat. The room was spinning around her she put her head into her hands and groaned, trying to keep control and stop herself from vomiting. She felt Chloe sit up behind her and rub her back.
"You okay, babe," She asked her lowly as she continued to sooth her by rubbing her back. The purple haired girl opened her mouth to respond, but immediately closed it and rushed off toward the bathroom, bursting in and emptying her stomach contents into the toilet. Chloe walked up behind her and started trying to sooth her again. Max heard the girl start opening drawers and cabinets, then heard the sink turn on. She felt the a wet washcloth settle on the back of her neck.
"I'm never drinking again," Max said before she started heaving again.
"Isn't that what you said last time," Chloe asked her teasingly. After Max stopped heaving again she continued on. "I found some Excedrin in the cupboard. Do you think you'd be able to keep it down?"
Max nodded as she slowly made her way to her feet, making her way slowly to the sink. She tipped out 2 pills while Chloe came back with a plastic cup and filled it with water. She grabbed some of the medication for herself, too. Max hugged Chloe in thanks for her help that morning. The two of them slowly made their way back to the couch and laid down together.
"How do you never wind up vomiting," Max whined at her quietly. "You drank just as much as me."
"I'm more used to it than you," She responded, placing a soft kiss at the center of her forehead, "Plus, I probably have a higher tolerance than you."
The two of them continued to cuddle together, eventually falling back into a restless sleep. They were woken an hour later, by Dana lightly shaking them and informing them she had made pancakes if they wanted to come up to eat. They made their way up to the kitchen, surveying the damage from the party. Kate was sitting at the table, holding her head up with her hands, face looking a bit green around the gills. Justin was sitting in the seat next to her looking a bit worse for wear himself, as he slowly brought a bite of pancake up to his mouth.
Max and Chloe sat down across from them, grabbing some of the pancakes from the serving plate and plopping them on their own plates, covering them with butter and syrup. The friends sat there eating their pancakes and making small talk. After eating, the people who weren't too terribly hung over started to help clean up the house. They left the house after helping with the cleanup and headed towards Chloe's place. They walked in and saw that Joyce and David were cuddling on the couch, Joyce reading what looked like a romance novel, while David watched some war documentary on the history channel.
They took the stairs to Chloe's room, and turned on the tv to relax for a little while. Rachel was sat at Chloe's desk, playing some sort of game on her computer. Kate had laid down on Chloe's bed, and instantly fallen asleep. Chloe sat next to her against the wall, and Max sat between the v of her knees with Chloe's arms wrapped around her. Max pulled out her camera, and the two posed for a selfie while kissing softly. The rest of their weekend after that passed by calmly. Rachel had left early in the afternoon on Saturday to spend the night with Frank.
Before Max and Kate knew it, it was time to return to school. Max felt a pit of dread growing in her stomach as she made her way into the dorm rooms, Kate following closely behind her. She and Kate went separate ways at Kate's door. As she got closer to her door, she saw that there was writing all over it. Everyone was wishing her well and wrote that they hoped she recovered quickly. She walked in to her room and unpacked her bag full of her new clothes and got ready for the school day. She thankfully didn't have to shower, since both her and Kate had done so at Chloe's. She heard a knock at her door and walked over to crack it open, surprised to see Taylor and Courtney standing on the other side awkwardly.
"Er, hi Max," Taylor told her shifting from side to side. "I wanted to apologize for the way I was with you at the beginning of the year. I was following other people's opinions instead of making my own."
"Yeah," Courtney said with a sad look on her face. "We realized when we saw Victoria making fun of Kate after her ordeal just how awful we had been. We feel terrible."
"It's okay," Max said quietly, "I forgive you. It's not often that people actually apologize for things they regret."
"Thank you," Taylor responded with a light smile, "I shouldn't have been a follower. I'm not about cutting people down to make myself feel better. We already apologized to Kate, but we felt we owed you one, too."
"I love your new style," Courtney told her, eying her up and down. "it really suits you. It's crazy that you and Kate came back after a week looking completely different."
"Thanks," Max said, smiling as Rachel walked up to join them, Kate trailing behind who shared a brief wave with the other two girls.
"Heya lady," Rachel said as she walked up and pulled her into a brief hug. "You ready to head to class?"
Max nodded, and they headed for the exit, Dana joining up with them along the way. She explained how the photography class was self-study that was being monitored by Principal Wells until he found a replacement professor. Courtney separated from the rest of the group, heading upstairs for English while the rest of them walked into the photography classroom. Max and Kate joined the table Rachel had always sat at, surprised when they looked up and saw Taylor standing there awkwardly.
"Do you ladies mind if I join you today? I'm not speaking terms right now with Victoria," Taylor explained, before getting nods from the other three. "I won't speak to her until she pulls her head out of her ass and realizes what a complete bitch she's being about the whole… er, situation."
Max glanced towards the back of the room and saw that Victoria was seated all alone. I guess that's what happen when you treat everyone like they're lower than dirt. Hopefully this will teach her that it's not okay to be horrible to everyone. Maybe she'll grow as a person. By the time Max had finished unpacking her bag, Well's was standing behind the desk at the front of the room.
"Good afternoon, Class," he said as he grabbed a stool from the door behind the desk and sat down. "By now, you know the drill. I've started interviewing for the position, so hopefully we'll find someone soon."
They all pulled out their books, but they mostly just sat there chitchatting as the class period went on around them. As they walked out of class an hour later, Max was complaining about the uselessness of even going to the class. Taylor had gone up the stairs to meet up with Courtney, while Max, Kate, and Rachel headed out to the courtyard. Max felt her stomach drop, as a voice spoke up behind them.
"Well, well, well," Victoria's voice snarled from behind them, "The skank hoe's of Blackwell have returned."
"Shut the fuck up, bitch," Rachel growled at her as she advanced upon the girl.
"Was I talking to you," Victoria sneered, before turning her venomous gaze to Kate and Max. "I can't believe you came back. First you sent two great people away to jail based on lies, then you caused all my friends to stop talking to me."
"You only have yourself to blame for that, Victoria," Max said as she glared at the taller girl. "and those 'two great people' that you're so fond of bringing up took turns raping me and beat me up so bad I had to be taken to the hospital."
"You're lying," Victoria shouted at her, "They wouldn't do that to anyone. I've known Nathan my whole life. He's like a brother to me."
"Yeah," Kate asked her with challenge roughening up her voice. "Well, if your 'brother' didn't rape me, how come the cops found pictures of him doing so in his hidden bunker?"
"Interesting fact," Max added, "the cops didn't realize I heard them talking. They found some empty folders there that were being readied for their future victims. Might interest you to know that 'your brother' and his mentor had an empty file with your name on it. They planned to drug and rape you, too."
Max watched as Victoria paled before turning her back and walking away from her. Kate's hands were shaking as she stopped herself from turning around and jumping the blond again. How dare that bitch bring up her rape again. How dare she claim yet again that her and Max were lying. The three of them sat under a tree to talk.
"I don't think I can keep putting up with her," Kate said as tears of anger gathered in her eyes. "I'm kinda worried she'll do something while I'm asleep."
"That thought didn't even occur to me," Max said as she remembered that the doors of their dorm rooms didn't lock. "I doubt she'd try anything. She's all talk, but it is going to be a nightmare living with her."
"Too bad we don't have a place of our own," Rachel inserted, "She may be too afraid to bully me, but I really hate living in the dorms. Though, I guess it's better than living at home with my father."
"That's a great idea," Max said, head popping up in excitement. "We have all that money in the bank. We could rent a place until after I graduate, then we could move wherever!"
"Seriously," Rachel asked as she stared at Max with wide eyes. Kate's mouth was opened in surprise as Max pulled out her phone and pulled up her craigslist and started looking at the available rental properties.
"Absolutely," Max told her, "Me, you two and Chloe! It'll be awesome, living with my besties instead of across the hall from Bitchtoria, the wicked witch of the west."
The three friends huddled together over Max's phone, looking at the different options available. They had a few different options they were interested in. Max contacted each of them asking for more information. Max closed out of the app as the bell for free period rang. Max groaned as she stood up, and headed for the building, heading up the stairs for her math class. When she took her seat, she pulled out her phone, and sent a quick update of her plans to Chloe. Max put her phone back in her bag as class started. The class seemed to drag on, as Max struggled to understand the subject matter. She missed a large portion of the class, both from her week off, and her time jump. It didn't help that before she traveled back, she had been in zombie mode, skipping classes, and spacing out when she actually did go.
Max practically ran out of class as the bell rung. Immediately pulling her phone from the bag and checking the messages. She had a bunch of texts from Chloe, exclaiming her excitement over the idea of all of them living together. She was responding to her, as she felt a presence come stand up beside her.
"Max," Warren enthused, as he saw her. "I'm glad to see you back in school. I was really worried when I heard what happened to you. I wish I could have beat the crap out of Warren."
"Hey Warren," Max responded, "It's good to see you, too. How have you been?"
"I'm doing okay. You look… different," he said with a questioning tone in his voice. "How do you feel to be back at school?"
"It's kinda weird to be back," Max told him, and looked off to the side. "It doesn't help that I had to be accosted by Victoria after class earlier. She claims I'm lying about… well, you know."
"That sucks. I don't understand some people," Warren considered. "It sounds like you could use a distraction. Do you maybe wanna go to the drive in with me? They're playing Back to the Future this weekend."
"Oh, I'm sorry Warren," Max replied awkwardly. "I actually have plans over the weekend with my girlfriend."
"Girlfriend," Warren asked. "I… didn't realize you were a lesbian."
"Er, yeah. More or less. I like guys, too, but have always leaned more strongly towards girls," Max said, trying to let him down gently. She was suddenly hit with inspiration as she remembered a conversation she'd had in the alternate timeline. "You know what, though? I remember Alyssa saying that she really loved Back to the Future, maybe you could ask her?"
"Oh, that's a pretty good idea," Warren stated, "she's really nice. We've talked about sci-fi a few times in the past."
Max was going to reply, but her phone started ringing. She held up a finger to Warren, signaling for him to give her a moment. As she answered the phone, she realized it was one of the people she had sent a message to on craigslist. She was actually a landlord at a few of the locations and was asking her if she wanted to tour any of the locations. Max had responded in the affirmative before calling all of the girls and asking if they wanted to go view the places with her. Once they had all agreed, Max turned back to Warren.
"Sorry to cut this conversation short, but I've got to go look at a couple of rental houses," She explained, getting a hurried goodbye in response before going to meet Kate and Rachel in the courtyard. The 3 of them headed out to the parking lot to wait for Chloe to pull up in her truck. The four of them drove off toward the first of the rentals and greeted the landlady. After seeing the 3 houses, they wound up choosing a large house that had 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The woman had told them that since none of them had anything on their credit report, they would need to have someone cosign their lease. Chloe had contacted her mother, who had agreed to come over and help them out. The woman handed over the keys to the house and congratulated them on their home.
After that, they piled into Chloe's truck and started heading towards a furniture store. They stopped, though, when Max asked them to pull into a used car lot. Explaining to the four girls that they should have more than one vehicle at their place. That way Chloe wouldn't always have to get up to drive them to and from school. Max ended up picking out a 2009 Toyota Rav 4. After she called to set up insurance, and the dealership put plates on the SUV they finally ended up at a furniture store. They started by picking the living room furniture, deciding on a light brown, soft, microfiber couch that had recliners on either end of it. They chose a matching love seat and recliner, as well. They picked out a contemporary coffee table, and a blue rug to go under the table. They picked out a TV stand that they thought would look awesome in their living room. They picked a really nice kitchen table that had 6 matching chairs. They each picked out the bedding that they wanted for their rooms, Chloe and Max deciding that they would share a bed. They decided to get a 4th bedroom set, so they could have a guest room if they ever had anyone that wanted to stay over. The house thankfully had a washer and drier, as well as a refrigerator and stove, so they didn't need to make those purchases. However, there was a lot of empty space in the finished basement, so they were trying to decide what they wanted to do with it. There was already a bar down there, so someone had the idea to get a pool table to put down there. They had also picked out some bar stools. She knew that they had made the salespersons day, as they knew They paid to get everything delivered and were told it was in the warehouse and could be dropped off there the next day. After that, the four of them headed to target to pick up some more decorations for the house, picking out plates and silverware buying appliances like coffee pots and a microwave. They got a large TV for the living room. They each picked out their bedding, and art for the walls. They spent hours shopping for their place, and dropped it off before heading back to Blackwell, in Rachel, Kate and Max's cases, and back to her mom's house in Chloe's.
The next day before school Max, Rachel, and Kate walked in to talk with the principal. They had told him that they had decided they wanted to live off campus, as there was too much trauma there for Max and Kate, and that they needed Rachel there for support. The principal acted like he understood, but Max thought he was probably just trying to save face from another scandal. Principal forces students that were attacked to continue living on campus if they want to attend school. Chloe met them after classes let out and started helping them move their stuff from their dorm rooms and into the backs of Max's and her cars. It took a couple of hours to get everything important into the cars. They planned on grabbing things gradually over the rest of the week. They were excited as they pulled up to the house, Chloe having Max park her car in the garage, as it was a bit nicer than hers. They unloaded the cars and took everything inside. The 3 who had been at school all day growing excited as they saw the furniture dropped off and set up for them. After unloading everything from the cars and putting them in their rooms, the 3 girls sat down in the living room to relax in front of the tv, choosing a movie to put in the dvd player. They placed an order for Chinese delivery and spent the next couple of hours enjoying their time together.
When it was time to go to bed, she was glad that Chloe had been there earlier to make up their bed. They changed into the pajama's brushed their teeth and laid down together in the bed. They talked quietly for a while, sharing sleepy kisses in between longer lulls in conversation until they were both almost falling asleep. Max looked up at Chloe from her position of resting her head on the blue haired girl's chest and lightly bit her lip.
"Chloe," Max whispered, "Are you still awake?"
"Yeah, babe. Whats up," the girl answered sleepily.
"Is it too soon for us to get a kitty together?"
"Really" Chloe asked, sounding more excited. "I would love to be able to have another one. David was allergic, so I couldn't. Maybe we could go look this weekend?"
"Sure," Max said around a yawn before leaning in to kiss Chloe goodnight again. "mmm' love you."
Max closed her eyes. Then suddenly opened them again, as what she said registered in her mind. She sat up in bed and looked at Chloe with wide eyes, as her face turned red. She was about to lift her hand to rewind, when Chloe grasped it and pulled it down.
"Don't you dare rewind that," She told her firmly, sitting up to pull her into a hug. "I know we've only just gotten together, but you can love me if you want to. We've known each other forever. I don't find it weird, and if it makes you feel better, I love you too."
Max felt her insides melt before Chloe grabbed her cheek and pulled her in for another lingering kiss, before pulling away slowly, and tugging Max back down to snuggle with her. They each fell asleep that night with smiles on their faces, Max drifting off hearing the thump of Chloe's heart beneath her head.