Ch. 13: Life in a Northern Town

MAX CAULFIELD'S POV:

"He was going to call me beautiful," I thought to myself as I roamed the halls of Blackhell… as Chloe so lovingly called it. I smiled at that. "She's such a good bad influence on me."

The rest of the day passed by quickly, completely average – the usual high school drama, whispered gossip and a less than perfect science grade. Poor Ms. Grant. She tried, but I never had and never would understand it all.

When the school bell sounded, announcing my freedom, I returned to my dorm room. After trying and failing to focus on homework, I entered hardcore procrastination mode. Big mistake.

Many cat vids and much drooling over expensive cameras later, I heard a sharp rap on my window. It startled me, almost knocking my laptop onto the floor. I laid still, listening. There it was again, the pitter-patter of… gravel against my window? Only one person in the whole of Arcadia would announce themselves that way.

Sliding off the bed, I approached the window just in time to see a handful of stones bounce off the glass. When I was sure I wouldn't get a gravel facial, I opened my window.

"Hark," a familiar voice called out from the darkness, more hushed than usual, "what light through yonder window breaks, for it is the east, and Maxine is the sun."

I rolled my eyes and played along, "Chloe, Chloe, where for art thou Chloe?"

She leapt out from behind a tree. "Here I art."

After she said her piece, Aaron stepped out from behind the same tree. "For the record this was her idea, I wanted to sleep."

Scoffing, she put Aaron in a headlock, "I told this guy about our first date, and I, in my infinite wisdom, decided this would be the perfect opportunity to give him the tour of 'the spot'".

"Now. Now of all times. Freaking midnight?"

"Uh, yeah," she replied, as if it was the most obvious answer. "When else are we gonna practice some casual breaking and entering?"

Not wanting us to get caught – Chloe wasn't being quiet, not that she ever was – I gave up. "Fine, I'm coming down. Just… don't get caught."

"I'd like to see someone try."

Reluctantly, I got dressed and went down to greet the pair.

"So, Max-a-million, I relinquish ownership of Aaron to you." She wrapped her arms around me. "Go get 'em, tiger."

"You are so lame," I said.

It took a while to sneak through the locker room and make it to our destination: the pool.

"Now, I know Chloe said this was a date, I consider it the…" I noticed he wasn't paying too much attention to what I was saying; he was shaking and spinning his ring on his index finger. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said trembling, "I just… don't like water. My mom…"

I gasped, my heart dropping. "I'm so sorry."

He waved off my apology. "It's okay. So long as I don't fall in, I won't lose my shit."

He walked over to the edge of the pool and looked in, followed swiftly by me. "So…" he paused, struggling to start a conversation. "How was school?"

I could see him visibly wince at the lame small talk attempt. Something I could definitely relate to. At times like this, I realized just how much I socially relied on Chloe.

"It was okay, I guess. Just another average day in the life of Max Caulfield: avoiding bullies, flunking science class, getting pulled into crazy schemes by Chloe."

"Sounds like a pretty intense average day."

"I've had worse." I honestly wished that high school bullshit was the most intense my life ever got. "You have, too."

He got quiet for a time and I wondered if I'd crossed some invisible line. Just when I was about to backtrack, he spoke again, "I think all our lives could do with less intensity."

I shrugged, taking off my shoes and sitting down by the side of the pool, letting my feet dangle in the water. Aaron hesitated, then hesitantly sat down close to me. He kept his feet firmly on the pool side holding his knees close to his chest, which left enough room between him and the water for him to be comfortable. We sat in surprisingly comfortable silence for a while.

"Huh, you know… this is the closest I've voluntarily been to water in a long time," he said after a few moments, watching the water make small ripples as I moved my feet. "Y'know, except for showers… and rain."

"We can move away if you want."

He shook his head. "It's alright. I feel… safer than I was expecting. Don't think I'll be going in any time soon, but… being here with you is nice."

Suddenly, the door swung open behind us. Startled, we got to our feet, ready to face whoever had interrupted our chat. I was expecting Chloe, eager to liven up the party, or maybe David…

Not Victoria Chase.

"Well, well, well," she said condescendingly, hand on hip. "What do we have here?"

I stood protectively in front of Aaron. "What are you doing here, Victoria?"

"Well, it's a funny story." An evil smile formed on her face, "I couldn't sleep so I decided to walk around, when lo and behold I found Max fucking a random stranger. What will everyone think when I tell them?"

My eyes widened, voice reduced to an embarrassed stutter. "You… you wouldn't."

"Are you fucking kidding me, Caulfield? Did you forget who I am? I would tell everyone, then they'll know you for the whore I know you are. Whatever would that punk slut girlfriend of yours think?"

Suddenly, and I did not expect this at all, Aaron stepped in front of me. He stood about a foot away from Victoria and demanded, "Leave her alone."

"Do not tell me what to do. Nobody tells me what to do. Definitely not you. I do whatever the fuck I want."

To demonstrate her point, Victoria pushed him. He stumbled back, falling into the pool with a massive splash. Even with the distorted view, I could tell he was panicking. Out of instinct I jumped in after him, but as soon as I got close to him he disappeared. He stopped time and went away.

I surfaced for air, and of course Victoria was nowhere to me seen. I held out my hand and concentrated. The events of the past few seconds unfolded in reverse. It was kinda cool to see the water physics in reverse, but I had to concentrate. After a few more seconds of rewinding, I stopped and resumed time.

Victoria pushed him, and he fell into the pool with a massive splash. Even with the distorted view I could tell he was panicking.

"What the hell, Victoria? He can't swim!"

"That's not my fucking fault, Caulfield," she growled defensively. "You losers aren't worth my time."

She turned around and ran back to where she came from If she was smart, she would not tell anyone she was at the pool; her blackmail was still on the table, but I could just as easily tell people she tried to drown Aaron. I looked back at the pool and, as expected, he was gone. I looked at the pool's ladder and saw a fresh trail of water.

It took time to follow his water trail, but eventually I found where it ended: room 219, my room. I opened the door and found Aaron soaking wet and lying on the floor in the fetal position on one of my old towels.

I closed the door behind me and knelt in front of him. When I was close, I noticed that his nose was bleeding, he over exerted himself keeping time stopped. "What happened back there, Aaron?"

"Mom wanted me to go on the fishing trip with her," he said out of the blue as he sat up. "I refused because I had classes to go to in the morning, so I stayed to study. It should've been me."

"Don't say that," I said grabbing his shoulders.

Tears began filling his eyes, and I could feel myself tear up too. "Dad was right it should've been me!"

"Don't you dare think that!"

"God dammit, why wasn't it me?" he sobbed, clinging onto me tight.

I held him just as tight, rocking him lightly. There was no point trying to talk to him in this state. I had to wait until he calmed down. When I felt him shaking less against me, I sighed and spoke gently.

"Listen. Screw all the people who doubt you, who ignore you, the abusers and haters. You can never let those dill-holes win. Ever. You've had the bad luck of dealing with a whole bunch of shitstains. There are too many out there. Scared, stupid, insecure little people. Their opinions mean nothing to us. They shouldn't mean anything. Life's about the beautiful few and the time you spend with them. Whether it's talking or jamming out music together. Loving the people you care about, that's what life is about."

His moist clothes began to soak into mine, making me tremble from the cold. He backed away and looked deeply into my eyes. His eyes were beautiful, blue, sad, and full of love. He leaned in and kissed me, and I kissed him back.

"You think I can stay the night?" He asked breaking the kiss.

"Of course you can," I said standing up and helping Aaron to his feet, "but you need to get dry first."

He lifted his arms, "I didn't bring anything with me."

"Don't worry," she said, "I've got a big shirt and some sweatpants you can use, but I can't say anything about your shoes, socks, and… underwear."

"I could… do without," he said blushing, "and let them dry overnight with my other clothes."

I hesitated, "Okay."

He quickly grabbed my duvet and threw it over my head, "Please don't look."

I saluted, "On my word as a ghost I shall not look."

He chuckled and then started undressing, I could tell he was doing better, and he suddenly stopped, "Really?"

I knew exactly what he was referring to, "Do not question the logic of Ghost Max."

He shuffled into the dry clothes and took the duvet off of my head. He looked good in the 'Nothing Otter Than Blackwell' swim team shirt and sweatpants that I got at a pep rally.

"You look good," I said, "You can keep them if you want."

"Thank you," he stated looking at his bare feet, "could we turn on some music or something? It would help me sleep."

"Of course Aaron," I said. I picked out the perfect soft song to drift off to and pressed *play*.

"A Salvation Army band played, and the children drank lemonade, and the morning lasted all day, all day."

I turned around and he had already crawled into my bed. "Just, make yourself comfortable," I said. I walked over and joined him under the duvet.

"And through an open window came, like Sinatra in a younger day, pushing the town away, away."

He wrapped his arms around me and said, "Chloe would wig out if she heard about this."

I smiled, "Don't worry, I'll tell her gently." He kissed me on the back of the head and we both drifted off.

"Heya ma ma ma, into the night. Hey ma ma ma, hey, ah. Life in a northern town. Ah hey ma ma ma ma."

This chapter was difficult to write and I'd like to thank my friends for helping me out. Thank you for your continued support.