Chapter 03: Two Truths and a Lie

"Welcome to American Rust: our home away from hell!" I said as I turned off the engine and rounded the hood to where Rachel was getting out. She handed me the backpack and I slung it over my shoulder.

"It suits you," Max said, grabbing her own bag and scooting out after Rachel.

Rachel got into the glove box, pulling out the bigger bag of weed. "Let's get this party started," she said, a contagious smile on her lips as she held up the bag and gave it a little shake.

"Hell yeah," I agreed. "Come on, Max." Turning to lead the way, I waved over my shoulder at Max. "We need to introduce you to our thieves' lair. You'll fit in just fine." For the moment, my rage and concern took a backseat to the buzzing anticipation of hanging out Max and Rachel. It was a fucking dream come true.

As soon as we got to the hideout, I slung off the backpack. Damned if that fucking thing wasn't heavy as shit. It still blew me away that Max got that thing fully loaded and didn't get caught. I set it down next to Rachel's seat before taking my seat at the back. As soon as Max walked in, I held out my arms to welcome her to our special little lair. Just like our clubhouse as kids, only about a hundred times more awesome. "Whaddaya think?"

Max gave a smile. A genuine smile that showed in her eyes. "It's cozy," she said.

Rachel took her seat, putting the pot on the spool table in front of her. Right to work, she started breaking it up so we could get a joint going. I went for the pack. "What do you want Max?" I asked as I dug through the snacks to get to the beers. I couldn't believe it. She didn't just get beers. She got my fucking brand. And the forties were some of Rachel's favorites, too. I grabbed two bottles, holding one out to Max.

That gorgeous smile fell away. Max held up a hand and shook her head. "Yuck. I'll take a water."

"Seriously?"

"And there should be some cheese puffs in there," Max added.

I put one of the beers back, grabbing a big bottle of water and passing it to Max. Then I found the big bag of cheese puffs and handed that over, too. Finally, I grabbed a forty and set it by Rachel, making sure it didn't get in her workspace. Then, I zipped the bag closed, half-hoping that it might serve as something of a cooler to keep the beers cold.

As I got up, I noticed that Max had made her way around the table to sit on the bench by the elephant carpet, her bag of puffs open next to her as she noshed away. As I walked toward Max, I cracked my beer on the edge of the table. The whole thing shook, causing Rachel to glower at me. I just gave her a sweet smile as I finished sauntering over to Max. The possibility of sitting right next to Max was there. Certainly more than enough room on either side of her with her nestled in the middle of the bench. Instead, I chose the more chaste option, letting the bag of cheesy goodness separate us.

I took a long swallow. "Hey, I, uh… Sorry about this morning. For laying into you like that." Her body twisted to look at me, but I shook my head when she tried to speak. "I had… have no idea what happened, but obviously it was some heavy fucking shit. If you don't wanna talk about it, fine. Don't. But me and Rach here—" I motioned between Rachel and me for emphasis "—we got your back. You ever want to share or need a shoulder to cry on, we're here. And hey, if you wanna wreck shit, we got a bat and we just so happen to be in the middle of a junkyard."

"That's our third bat, by the way," Rachel said. I looked over to find her licking the paper as she finished up the joint. She gave me a sly, sexy wink as her tongue danced back into her mouth. "Try not to break it like Chloe does."

"Fuck you," I spat.

Rachel just smirked. "Maybe later."

I almost dropped my beer. It took everything in me not to yell at her for pulling that shit. We had an unspoken agreement not to flaunt our relationship until I had a chance to explain to Max that I was gay. Was this her way of trying to tell me to hurry the fuck up? No. She was looking at Max when she said that. This was just another one of her fucked up mind games that only she understood. Glaring at her, I held out my beer to point a finger, letting her know that I wasn't gonna put up with that shit.

Of course, Rachel just tucked the joint behind her ear before she swept up the rest of the pot back into the bag. She cracked her beer and leaned back, fixing me with a cool stare. The mischief dancing behind her eyes wasn't lost on me. For good measure, I flipped her off.

I turned back to Max, wondering just how much of our nonverbal communication she got. Sure, people skills weren't her forte, but she was always able to read me like a book. Leaning over, I bumped her shoulder with mine. "Hey, I mean it. You wanna bury whatever shit you got going on, great. I'm perfectly fine with spending the whole day just fucking around. The whole goddamn week."

"Oh, and here I thought you were opposed to the idea of fucking around," Rachel quipped, smirking at me before taking a long drink of her beer.

"Cut the fucking shit, Rachel," I growled at her.

She held up her hands. "What? You keep giving me such low-hanging fruit. Like I can resist." The last of her words were punctuated with another wink that said "you."

"Um, do you two… need some time alone?" Max asked, looking between the two of us.

Fuck!

Of course, she was catching on. Rachel just wouldn't fucking stop. "No way, Max," I said, keeping a hard glare on Rachel. "If you want some space, you take it. But no way in hell am I gonna kick you out."

Rachel frowned a bit, picking out the joint from behind her ear. "Yeah, Max," she joined in as she put the joint in her lips and fished out her lighter. "You stick with us, okay?"

A deep inhale, and Rachel extended the joint toward Max. I'd have bet a thousand bucks Max wouldn't take it. I'd have lost a thousand bucks. Max took the joint from Rachel, but she made no effort to bring it to her lips. Instead, Max swung her arm over to me, holding the joint for me to take. Fuck. She may not have had any interest in getting high, but damn if she wasn't hella cool about it. I took the joint and took my own hit. As I held the smoke in my lungs, I got up and switched over to Max's other side so she wouldn't have to keep passing it between Rach and me.

I exhaled as I passed the joint back to Rachel. "This week is gonna be hella awesome," I said, letting my head lean back against the ratty tapestry. Me, Max and Rachel all hanging out together. I literally fantasized about this shit. And here it was, happening in real life. I just couldn't relax though. Another swig from my bottle and I held out my hand, all but demanding the joint back for another hit. Life never let me have any good shit. Any moment, the rug was gonna get yanked out from under me. I could feel it.

As soon as I got the joint back, I took another hit, but I didn't pass it back. After my exhale, I took another hit before giving it back. Maybe I could drown out that feeling of impending doom if I got wrecked enough.

"This is my weed, you know," Rachel grumped at me as she took another hit. She smirked, turning her eyes from me to Max. "Sure you don't want a hit?" Leaning way out, her arm extended, holding out the now half-finished joint toward her. "It could help chill you out."

Max shook her head, and for some reason, I couldn't really place, I felt relieved. "I'm fine."

"You aren't fine," Rachel said before taking another hit. Instead of passing it back to me, she snuffed it out before sticking the half a joint again behind her ear. "But suit yourself." That smirk of hers came back with a vengeance. "So, while we're here getting to know each other, Mysterious Max from Seattle, why don't we play a little game?"

"A game?" Max asked.

"Oh God," I hung my head, slumping down to rest my elbows on my knees.

Rachel's smile widened. "Two truths and a lie."

"Dude, Max cannot do this," I said. I turned up my drink, only to find the bottle woefully empty. "Fuck," I muttered as I set it aside.

"She'll do fine," Rachel insisted. "So, the game is super-easy. One person tells the other two things about them that are true, and one that is a lie. It's up to the other person to figure out which is which." Her arm reached over, patting my knee. "Chloe here will go first, to show you how. You just have to figure out what she says is true and isn't."

A nod and a smile and Max said, "Okay."

At least she seemed like she was on board. She was totally gonna suck at it, though. No way was she gonna get a lie by me. Though, I probably had the same disadvantage. She could read me like a book, after all. I limply clapped my hands together as I changed my sitting position so that I was facing Max. "Okay, you ready?"

"Don't go easy on me," Max said, a confident smile gracing her lips. She was totally sure she'd be able to read me. Probably because she could.

I tossed a few ideas around in my head. Playing this shit for three years taught me a little about what this little game was about. Or at least what Rachel made it do. This was about us learning, or rather re-learning about each other. No bullshit. Major shit only. Shit that needed to be said.

"Okay, first off. I'm gay. A lesbian." The words felt funny on my tongue, and I realized at that point that I'd never actually said them out loud. Sure, it was what I was, but I never actually said it out loud. Everyone just kind of… knew.

Max's head tilted a bit as she glanced away. "Okay," she said. "That—"

"Wait, wait!" I held up my hands. "I have to give you all three, then you guess. Okay?"

"Oh, okay."

Okay, next, a lie. And if Rachel had taught me anything, the best way to lie was to keep it super close to the truth. "I chose to drop out of high school," I said. Technically, I was expelled. Though, after saying it, I couldn't help but wonder which actually sounded worse. "And lastly, as soon as Rach graduates and we get the dough, we're leaving this shithole of a town behind and heading out for L.A."

That last one made Max raise an eyebrow, but not in a quizzical way. More like an "Are you fucking serious?" way. She pointed over at the nearest poster. "Posters and flyers all over your lair about L.A. Gee, I wonder where you two want to head off to?"

I hung my head a bit. My pride stung as I realized how easy that particular one was. "Yeah, that one was a truth," I admitted, scratching at my beanie. My arms crossed over my chest as I challenged her, "What about the other two?"

Her face scrunched up, and I felt victory. That look on her face just screamed, "I'm not sure." Her eyes darted to Rachel, then back to me. "Well, I know you said that Rachel was on Spring Break, not 'we're on Spring Break,' so you're not in school anymore." Then, her face fell away, and her freckles diminished under the red of her face. "And… you have condoms in your wallet. So, you did drop out, and you're bi."

The feeling of victory dampened more than a little given the fact that Max knew what the fuck was in my wallet. I seriously underestimated the power of her snoopiness. "Wrong," I said, deciding to let it go—I knew she'd snoop around anyway. She was Max. I know I had to be grinning like an idiot. "I'm totally gay. And I got expelled, so I didn't 'choose' to drop out."

Max frowned, her flush fading away. "Isn't that cheating?" she asked. "It's practically the same thing."

"But not the same thing!" Rachel piped in. "So, Max, now it's your turn. Do you want to tell Chloe or me two truths and a lie?"

"Chloe," Max replied, not hesitating a single moment.

"All right!" I shouted. Holding a hand toward Rachel, I asked her to hook me up. I practically bounced in my seat as she handed me a beer. Max was totally on board and didn't even fucking blink at me being gay. I didn't even realize how much dread I was carrying about her reaction to that. Snapping off the cap on the bench, I eyed Max and did my best to put on my serious face, but I just knew I couldn't completely will my smile away. "Give me your worst, O, Hider of the Truth."

Max just gave me a lopsided grin. "You know I suck at that."

"You're the worst." I nodded before I took a long drink from my beer, its bitter sweetness going down easily. Holding out the beer toward her, I gave it a little shake for emphasis. "That's why you get a handicap."

This time, Max hung her head. A part of me wondered if she was pondering or if she hoped I might not be able to read her with her face hidden. Finally, she spoke, "Okay. I don't think I have myself figured out just yet, but there is someone I have feelings for. A girl."

"Ooh, la la," I remarked, doing everything to hide my real feelings, which were something more akin to "Oh my god that's the greatest thing I've ever fucking heard—tell me more!" A stray thought hit me, and I looked over to see Rachel studying me. She totally heard that second one.

Max looked up, letting me see that her cheeks still had a bit of color in them. That said, her eyes still dodged mine. "I, uh, hardly a day went by in Seattle when I didn't think about you. I was just… so afraid to call at first, then by the time that I could actually face that fear, I was sure you'd hate me for not saying anything for so long. That… that's why I didn't…"

I reached my free hand out, placing my fingers under her chin to force her to look at me. "Max. I meant it when I said you're forgiven. You don't have to explain."

This time, she gave me a real smile, and I swear my heart turned into a warm puddle of goo for a minute. "Thanks, Chloe. Really."

"Okay, and the third one?" I pushed her along, kind of eager to put that shit behind us once and for all.

She hesitated. Of course, she did. She just totally told two truths. Now it was her turn to tell a lie. She really, really was bad at this, but at least she got the underlying principle. Letting people know real, personal shit. Her eyes darted between me and Rachel, and finally, she blathered out her lie, "I'm a time traveler."

I laughed. I knew she'd fuck that up royally.

"Hey! You cheated!" Rachel said, frowning at Max.

"Give her a break, Rach," I said, slapping a hand on Max's shoulder. "Not her fault she totally sucks at lying. Oh, and for the record: truth, truth, and totally obvious lie."

"But it wasn't—"

Rachel started, but I cut her off with a wave of my hand. "Let it go, Rach. Come on, it's your turn, now." I felt righteous anger in the scowl Rachel gave me, but there wasn't a damn thing that could ruin my good mood right now. When it became apparent that dirty looks weren't about to phase me, Rachel set those soul-seeking eyes on Max and my mood did shift a little. A dread captured me as I realized she was going to take her frustration out on Max. "Go easy on her," I found myself saying.

Rachel's eyes stayed on Max as she leaned in. "Okay, Max." Her arm extended. She held up a pinky. "I set the biggest forest fire in Arcadia Bay's history." Her ring finger. "Chloe's mentioned you pretty much every day for three years." Her middle finger. "I'm Chloe's girlfriend." The whole time, Rachel's mask didn't slip a millimeter. But why would it? Those were all true. She fucking cheated and I just knew she was doing it to fuck with Max somehow.

I looked over to find Max looking… sad. Fuck, she looked devastated. She even held her arm with a hand in that way she did when she was uncomfortable. Her head lowered as she answered Rachel, "You set the fire, and you… you're Chloe's girlfriend. So… that means Chloe never…"

Max really thought that I forgot about her. A searing rage stormed through me. "What the fuck!" I interrupted, shooting to my feet. "You cheated Rachel!" Thrusting my beer in her direction, I looked Max square in the eye. "She didn't tell a lie. Those were all true."

Rachel's hand pushed me away, and I saw her leaning toward Max, her brow all scrunched up as she scrutinized Max. "They were."

"S-sorry!" Max shot to her feet, both hands swiping at her eyes to catch her tears before they stained her cheeks. "Just… give me a minute!" And just like that, she took off. Part of me wanted to chase after her, but I managed to stay put. She wanted to be alone.

Right?