Asha's last words to the squad as she was carted off to the ambulance was that next practice they would review basics.
"You didn't get captain?" Renfro demanded when Max told her the bad news during dinner that night.
"No, but Asha's in the hospital, so --"
"You'd better go grab your sleeping bag from the garage, Max," Renfro said calmly.
Max looked at Deck. "Dad!" she implored.
"Elizabeth, can't you reconsider?" Deck asked, looking at his wife.
"No," Renfro said sternly. She looked at Max. "You'd better hurry. Maybe you can set a tent up before ten. The news says it might rain." Even Sketchy had the sense not to speak during the long silence that came after that. Max finally stood up, knocking her chair down in the process, and smiled grimly.
"Fine. I'll see you in the morning." She strode defiantly out of the kitchen and into the garage where the camping gear was stored.
"Bitch!" she growled, dropping the camping gear and her pillow on the bright green grass in the backyard, already dressed in her pajamas. "Complete and utter sociopath -- hypocrite! I hate her!"
"Aw, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" a taunting voice asked. Max looked up to see someone peeking over the top of the fence dividing the backyards of the development she lived in. Definitely a guy, Max thought, or a girl with very short hair and a very deep voice.
"I don't have one," Max snarled, starting to set up the tent before the rain started. "A mother, I mean."
"Yeah, me neither." She could practically hear the person shrug amiably. The guy climbed over the fence easily and landed on her side. He was good-looking and around her age, with dark blonde hair and hazel-green eyes.
"Yo, buddy," Max pointed to the ground. "This land is my land, and that land is your land. So keep to your land."
"How'm I supposed to keep you company if I'm on..." he jerked his thumb at his backyard with a wry smile, "my land?" He reached for the tent she was putting up, but Max pulled it back, "What's a girl like you doing sleeping outside anyways?"
"Thought I'd get a breath of fresh air," Max said, continuing to fix the ridiculously primitive (like, from the eighties) tent.
"You know, it's about to rain."
"Which is why I have a tent and not just a sleeping bag." If Max's little mess up of not getting cheerleading captain had been worse, Renfro would have left out the tent. Max sighed, having finally gotten the tent in some sort of working shape. She looked up at him. "How come I don't know you?" By association, Max knew just about everyone in the city.
"We just moved in." He extended his hand. "My name's Alec."
"Alec?" Max asked. "Like smart-aleck?"
"I guess you could say that," Alec nodded. "What's yours?"
"Max." Alec smiled.
"What? Like, Maximum Girl?" he asked. He held up his hands at Max's glare. "Woman?"
"I've got to be in bed by ten," Max said, pointing to her sleeping bag.
"Like I said, I'll keep you company."
"I don't need company," Max said. "I'm big girl now." Alec looked Max up and down.
"I can see that," he said, smiling laciviously. Max stared blankly at him.
"I'm. Going. To. Sleep," she said slowly.
"But I get so lonely," Alec complained faux-innocently. "All alone in my big, five bedroom house with only my lesbian sister and her lover to keep me company." He frowned. "Wait a second..."
"You can sleep here as long as you shut up about it," Max grumbled, slipping into her sleeping bag and resting her head on her arms.
"I thought you'd never ask," Alec said happily, laying down next to her in the tent. "I hope you don't snore."
"Shut up." There was silence. The world took this moment to suck even more as the skies opened up over Seattle and rain started pouring over the city.
Writer's Note: Ooh la la, I got two chapters done in one day. I feel so accomplished.
Disclaimer: Dark Angel does not, has not, and probably will never belong to me. Man, disclaimers are depressing.