Even before I had stepped into Max's tiny Dodge Neon, I could feel the booming bass beneath my feet. I rolled my eyes, but smiled because she was so goofy like that that I had to smile at her.
Upon seeing me approaching, she got out of the car, turned down the radio, and greeted me. "'Lanza!" she cried and grinned widely.
"Hey, Max," I answered, although not nearly as exuberantly. I swear, she had to drink pure caffeinated coffee every morning-or something with caffeine-because she was always so dang hyper.
"Here," she offered, grabbing my sleeping bag out of my hands before I could protest. "Justa throw it in the trunk here."
The trunk itself was already crammed full with food, blankets, bags and other miscellaneous things. Max laid the sleeping bag down on top and pushed on it with her knee so that it would fit. I, though, was having my doubts. Matter takes up space, and there was way so much matter would fit in such a little space.
"Uh…Max? Are you sure everything can fit in there? Maybe we should just put it in the car."
"In the car?" she echoed. "My car's so little, you ain't gonna fit a whole helluva lot in it."
"Well, this trunk…"
"Trunk, shmunk. We're gonna make it all fit. Now git your knee and push."
Eventually after pushing and cramming until my fingers were feeling the onset of blisters, we were able to close the lid with a satisfactory "click". Max grinned widely and rested her hands on her hips. "See, what'd I tell ya?"
Inside the car, I was forced to agree with Max on its size. I had to slide my passenger seat back as far as it would go due to my long legs. Even then, I knew that I was going to be getting vicious cramps.
The radio, fortunately, was turned down as we pulled away from the curb, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't going to stay that way for long. Probably Max just thought she was being polite by not blowing my eardrums out for the first few seconds of our drive-and I certainly appreciated it.
"Wave g'bye," Max told me as we entered onto the road.
"There's no one home."
"No one?"
"No one that will be watching me," I answered.
"Sorry," she apologized.
"Why?"
"I just feel bad that you got stuck all alone in your 'partment this mornin'."
"Here," I laughed. "I'll wave for you anyhow." So, I turned around and waved goodbye to whoever was up there. I expected to see just the blank apartment building staring back. But, instead, I saw Dad's shadowy figure up in the window, looking down at me. I said nothing to Max and just pretended that the apartment and I were the only ones who shared a fond farewell.
"Can I turn the radio up? That is, if you don't mind," Max asked me.
I shrugged. "Sure, what are you listening to?"
"Act'ly, it's a CD…old, pre-pulse rock."
"Pre-pulse?" I echoed. Most of the pre-pulse stuff I had listened to was…well, interesting music.
"Yep. The best kind of music."
"What's wrong with modern music?" I asked her.
"Nuthin'. But, it's just that…how do I say it?"
"You have a deeper, more spiritual connection to past rock n' roll music?" I offered along with some sarcastic wit.
"Exactly!" she laughed. "So, can I turn it up?"
"Go ahead."
She leaned forward, taking her eyes off the road for only a second before flicking them back to their original position. With careful precision, she turned the volume up so that we could both hear it clearly and talk over it without having our ears blown up.
"Who is this?" I asked, pointing to the CD player.
"Three Doors Down."
"Huh? See Whole Clowns?" I couldn't understand her because she was singing along and the wind was blowing in through the open window, garbling her voice even more. Besides, pre-pulse singers had weird enough names as it was. I only figured that See Whole Clowns had to be one of the more original groups.
Max laughed again and rolled up the window. "No, Three Doors Down," she told me, carefully annunciating the words. "Here, listen," she offered as she cranked the volume up some more.
The words were almost depressing in a way, but the upbeat music caused you to forget what the singer was trying to say. "If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman/If I'm alive and well, will you be there holding my hand/I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might/Kryptonite" I didn't understand any of it, which bothered me greatly. I liked understanding things and when I was unable to do so, it irritated me.
"I don't get it," I admitted to Max.
She sighed and ran a hand through her braids. "Do you know who Superman is?"
"No."
"Well, there's your problem right there."
"How so?"
"Kryptonite and Superman. They're…good god, I can't believe I'm explainin' about a pre-pulse ac'tin figure."
"I've heard worse."
So, for a good half an hour, Max told me everything that she knew about Superman and this thing called Kryptonite. And when she was done, I didn't understand the song any better. In fact, I was more confused than I had been in a long time.
"Look," I told her. "How do you know all of this?"
"Pre-pulse is my specialty."
"You make it sound like a cooking dish."
Max grinned wryly and glanced over at me. "I understand that time better. Now…it's just confusin'."
"Well, if you explain pre-pulse to me, I'll explain post-pulse to you."
"Good deal."
By this time, the CD had moved forward and onward to another song. "Here, see if you can understand this one."
"And if I don't?"
"We already know that lyrics aren't your specialty, so it'll be forgotten."
"Thank you."
I listened to the song and the whirring guitar sounds and this time, I actually grasped the meaning of the words…more than I would've liked to. "This world can turn me down but I won't turn away/And I won't duck and run, cause I'm not built that way/When everything is gone there is nothing there to fear/This world cannot bring me down/No, 'cause I'm already here, oh no"
Max glanced over at me as we plodded through the forests outside of the city of Seattle. "You ok?" she asked, watching my placid face.
I pointed at the radio. "It's me."
"Huh?"
"Listen."
She did and nodded approvingly. "See, Alanza? These rock people…they did understand."
"But no, that's the thing. It's like they're talking right to me. Sure, the world, if it knew about me, would turn me away because I'm such a…a…" I stammered.
"Freak?" Max offered.
"Thanks," I replied sarcastically.
"That's what I've been called…" I looked over at Max to read her emotions, but she wouldn't look at me. "But, we'll get to that later…there's a long car ride ahead."
"Anyhow," I continued, "just because people may hate me because of who I am, I refuse to turn away from them. And when everything is gone, there is, indeed, nothing left to fear."
"You're taking the words too seriously."
"At least I understand," I laughed.
"Yes, 'Lanzie dear, at least you understand."
The drive to the campground was quiet except for the continued beat of the music. Finally, as it began to rain, Max spoke. "Remember what I said about being called a freak?"
"Uh-huh."
"It was a long time ago…but I still see 'em. I told one of my friends…well somebody that I thought was my friend…and I wasn't the human they remembad. Freak." She bit down on her lip and didn't continue. I wouldn't ask her to either. "That was when I was attendin' summa college…got in wit the wrong crowd." Glancing over at me, she asked, "Have you eva told anybody?"
"Besides my parents? Well, they already knew…obviously. So, no."
She nodded. "It's easier when you're wit people who understand…or are like you."
"That's why we get along-isn't it?"
"Alanza," she sighed. "I've been searchin' for somebody to talk wit about this. So far, I've only found one another person."
"But that's the thing. Nobody else is composed of two X5s. Everyone I know is either an X5 or only has one parent X5. I've got two."
"Your mom named you well. You'll put it to good use."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Call it a fortune cookie sayin' from Max."
Finally, the rain cleared and we arrived at the campsite. There were a few people setting up or taking down their tents. It seemed well enough.
Max drove slowly down a tiny dirt trail, which led farther back into the woods. I occasionally saw a person or two, but it was obvious that we were very much alone. Not that I minded it that way, though.
When we got to the place she deemed appropriate, she cut the engine and hopped out eagerly. I meanwhile, was struggling with rather severe cramps in my legs. Ouch. It took me awhile to get out and stretch to remove the knots.
Suddenly, out of nowhere a voice called, "Maxie babe!" She looked just as surprised as I did for a second before running off into the trees from where the voice came from. I was still confused and hurried off to follow her just in case she needed help.
I saw her chatting to a guy that must have been her boyfriend that probably would've met us up here. Apparently, he did manage to make it away from his parent. "Alanza," Max said to me, "I'd like you to meet-"
She stopped short as another person came through the trees, carrying a heavy hiking backpack. My eyes widened and nearly popped right out of my sockets. "James?!" I cried, ignoring the cramps in my legs.
"Alanza?"
"What are you doing here?" I asked him.
Max smacked herself in the forehead. "I should've seen this before. Alanza, meet James, who, you're dating, and his best friend-my boyfriend-Case."
