October 10th, 2013
Victoria's hands shake as she lights another cigarette – her seventh in half as many hours, and the last in her pack.
She isn't a heavy smoker, by any means. She'd have one occasionally in social situations, at a party or out drinking with the girls. Or when she needed an excuse to get away from people for a minute, to step outside and just think. Sometimes even to just look cool or alluring, if the situation called for it.
She also smokes when she's stressed out, and hoo boy is that ever the case today.
Memories of the previous night are a swirling mass of emotions. Anger. Humiliation. Worry. The exultation she'd felt at putting Creepy Kate in her place had been a welcome distraction, but one that ultimately proved to be short-lived after she found herself alone in her room, waiting for a call, or a text, or the sound of Max's door, or a fucking Instagram update or anything.
An attempted visit by Courtney and Taylor had been sternly rebuffed, and they both knew better than to press the issue. She did chat with them here and there via SMS or IM. It was easier to appear nonchalant that way, and they didn't need to know that she was mostly driven by paranoia to verify that her phone was, indeed, still working.
Sleep had been a long time coming, only to be fitful and restless once it finally did. She must have woken up half a dozen times to check her notifications. She even crept out once or twice into the desolate hallway in the middle of the night to try Max's door - still locked, with no light or sound emanating from the other side. She idly wondered, as she snuck back to her room, if Kate ever listened at her door in the middle of the night. Though the thought of it made her ears burn from embarrassment, she assured herself that she was not, in fact, a raging hypocrite. Extenuating circumstances and all that.
Morning saw no improvement to her mood, as she'd still heard fuck all from Max and had to deal with the added stresses of sleep deprivation and forced social interaction on top of that. Even Warren Graham, of all people, chose the few minutes before the start of Mrs. Grant's Chemistry class to bumble up to her with his grating 'Joss Whedon writes my dialogue' schtick, as if he had any excuse to exist in Victoria's presence. Thankfully an icy glare over the top of her Prada sunglasses sent him hastily back from whence he came, as she was not in the mood for a shitty Dr. Who reference or whatever the fuck he'd intended to ramble on about.
She heard not a single word of Mrs. Grant's lecture for the day, opting instead to unlock her phone for what must have been the hundredth time since yesterday, to stare at the same stupid words:
Vic - Max, are we cool?
Just wanted to make sure since you walked away so fast.
Nathan was worried too.
If you want to talk, hit me up, k?
Love U! – 10/09 8:14 pm
Vic - Max, if you're mad, just tell me, k? – 10/09 8:16 pm
Vic - Silence. So if you want to talk, my door is open.
Love U! – 10/09 8:18pm
What her useless piece of shit phone didn't show were the dozen or so messages she'd typed out, but never sent, such as:
LOL you know I was kidding right?
Way to take a joke and RUN with it! XD
Or
GIRL U will never guess who had my stolen selfie, call me ASAP!
Or better yet
WTF?
U TRYNTA PULL A RACHEL AMBER ON ME?
FUCK U CAULFIELD LIKE I'D DATE UR SKANK ASS ANYWAY
U BOTH CAN FINGERBANG EACH OTHER IN HELL!
All pathetically obvious pleas for attention, all deleted almost instantly.
Halfway through the class, her eyes were still locked on the latest message she'd drafted more than an hour ago, as she tried desperately to blink away the stinging behind her eyelids.
Please just be ok
Victoria was no closer to a decision on whether to hit Send or Delete when her phone began to ring. At first she was going to ignore it, because Not Max Don't Care… but then she remembered what the four letter contact name stood for.
ABPD
As in… Arcadia Bay Police Department.
Victoria's hand shook as she raised the phone to her ear and eked out a timid "Hello?". The teacher staring right at her from the front of the classroom could have spontaneously combusted for all she'd noticed.
She didn't need to be able to understand the sobbing, nearly incoherent voice on the other end of the line to know that whatever this was, it was bad. She didn't even hear Mrs. Grant's spluttering protest as she bolted from the classroom, what Taylor referred to as her 'Rich Bitch Training' (drilled into her by her parents' legal team and put into practice cleaning up more than one of Nate's messes over the years) kicking in almost instantly.
Shut the fuck up. Do you have a lawyer? I'll make some phone calls. No, don't worry about that, I'll call your parents too. Look I'll be there soon, ok, but seriously, shut the fuck up!
A Bluetooth call to one of the three law firms she had on speed dial. Even if she couldn't talk mommy and daddy dearest into covering the cost, she could at least find someone who'd be both worth a damn and willing to work with the Caulfield's pending an initial consultation. Whatever, what was important was getting Max the fuck out of there right now, and that Victoria could cover with her weekly allowance. She'd figure the rest out later.
Then Max's parents. Her father, Ryan he insisted she call him, was understandably upset but… took the news more in stride than she'd expected. Apparently, he practiced in Seattle, though not in criminal defense. He did seem a bit off-put at hearing she'd already contacted a law firm on Max's behalf, until Victoria dropped the name. Helena Ortiz was well known throughout the Pacific Northwest as not only a mother-fucking bulldog, but one that was willing to do some pro-bono work should the right case present itself. He assured Victoria that he and his wife, who she was pretty sure she could hear screaming at some poor ABPD phone clerk in the background by then, would be there as soon as they could manage.
It stung that he didn't seem to have ever even heard Victoria's name before today, but she tried her best to push that aside.
She also tried to push aside the surging feeling within her chest at the thought that of all the people in her life, Max had called her. That one was a bit tougher to ignore.
All this of course was happening while she violated pretty much every traffic law in the books, which, given her destination was a police station did seem like a spectacularly bad idea… but whatever. She'd cross that bridge when she came to it.
And so that's how she ended up here, smoking her last cigarette down to the filter while leaning up against the driver's side of her black Audi drop-top in a police station parking lot with one eye on the entrance and the other on her phone, ready to field calls as needed. Fuck her nerves, fuck shaky hands, and, yeah, fuck tha po-lice. She is running on adrenaline, nicotine, and pure righteous indignation on Max's behalf. She is Victoria fucking Chase, and she is handling this shit.
She did however wish she had some food or even a bottle of water in her car as she'd skipped breakfast this morning and didn't dare leave for even a few minutes, and she also didn't dare going into the station to hit up the vending machine after nearly getting herself arrested earlier because of course those troglodytes wouldn't let her just waltz in and scoop Max up into her protective embrace and DEEP BREATH.
But again, whatever. No trouble staying under her calorie goal for the day at least.
Last cig laid to rest, Victoria finally bites the bullet and checks her notifications. She'd muted literally everyone but the Caulfields, lawyers, and her own mother, but not before sending a group text to the people that mattered that she was helping Max with something and wouldn't be in class today. She really didn't care to divulge anything more at this point as it wasn't her business to share, but at least their close friends would know they aren't dead in a ditch or being sex trafficked or something.
Sorting by her most active conversations because LMAO like I need to know how Samuel the Janitor's day is going or something, she only halfway pays attention as she scrolls.
Let's see… bullshit… bullshit… bullshit… more bullshit… nothing to see here f—
Wait what hold the fuck up…?
Sweet T – K. Thx for letting me know! – 10/10 11:45 AM
Sweet T – GAWD Nate is being sooooo dramatic today.
It's a party, chill! – 10/10 12:37 PM
Sweet T – Thinking of you both! Xoxo – 10/10 2:15 PM
Sweet T – Dude fyi your side-piece is freaking tf out in Jefferson's Class lol
She asked where you were
I said your mom sent you to gay conversion therapy
BUT she didn't seem to find that funny lol? – 10/10 3:16 PM
Sweet T – She's like hyper-ventilating and shit? Lol… - 10/10 3:19 PM
Sweet T – It's pretty funny… But IDK you want me to say sumthin? – 10/10 3:22 PM
… Huh?
Victoria hits the back button and scrolls, scrolls, scrolls trying to figure out who in God's na… OH.
Oh what fresh hell is this?
Her left eye involuntarily twitches as she selects a contact from waaaaay down the list.
Kate M. – Hello Victoria...
I'm really sorry to bother you but I see you're not in class
Alyssa said you weren't in Media Lab either
… is everything ok? Taylor won't tell me anything. – 10/10 2:55 PM
Kate M. – Please Victoria. I'm so sorry for everything.
Just tell me you're alright and I won't bother you anymore ok? – 10/10 3:01 PM
Almost as soon as she sees them, three bouncing dots appear below the last message. Seriously? Was she just staring at the screen this whole time waiting for my messages to go "read"? Who even does that?
Kate M. – Victoria? – 10/10 3:39 PM
Victoria's mind races through possible replies, ranging from "Jesus, chill out FREAK" to "FUCK OFF" to "New phone who dis?" But… something about Kate's words force her to hesitate.
Please just be ok
She swallows a lump in her throat as she scrolls up to view the previous message history.
Kate M. – Hi!:)
Thanks for the video, I really like that song!
I'm not sure I understand why the guys in foam skirts and pointy shoes are slapping each other though haha. – 8/30 9:20 AM
Vic - Your guess is as good as mine!
Was thinking of biting the blue guy's style for 1st day of class tho.
Wanna coordinate ;) – 8/30 10:23 AM
Kate M. – Oh nooo! I would die! You are too funny!:):) – 8/30 10:23 AM
Kate M. – Hi Victoria!:)
Feel free to stop by my room and pet my bunny sometime!:) – 8/31 12:01 PM
Vic - :O :O :O
oh là là! At least buy a girl dinner first! – 8/31 1:42 PM
Kate M. – OHMYGOSH! You are TOO MUCH hahaha!:)
I MEAN my pet rabbit ALICE would love to meet you! (_/=^.^=\_) – 8/31 1:43 PM
Vic - So I've been told…
Out today, but rain check? Xoxo – 8/31 1:44 PM
Kate M. – Sure any time! Have a blessed day!:)
XOXO :):) – 8/31 1:44 PM
Kate M. – Hi again Victoria!:)
Sorry I haven't texted in a while!
Stella Hill and I are planning a tea date tomorrow afternoon
You are invited of course! By the fountain 4:30 sharp! – 9/09 1:30 PM
Kate M. – Victoria… can we talk?
It's really important. – 09/24 4:10 PM
Vic - …my room 10 minutes – 09/24 4:12 PM
Unbidden tears well up in Victoria's eyes.
'...but I only want to see you smile again.'
Fuck…
The anger just... drains from her body like water through a sieve, but try as she might she can't bring herself to understand why.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I'm exhausted... that's what. Tired and nervous and FUCKING STARVING and...
She moves her thumbs to begin typing "Look I'm fine ok?" but before finishing her eyes are drawn to the heavy police station doors as they begin to KA-CHUNK open. Her heart begins to race in anticipation. She shakes her head as though to clear the bittersweet strands of the cobwebs that had attempted to take hold in her mind.
I... I just need to focus on Max. I need to get her to Blackwell and everything will be back to normal. Nothing else matters right now.
Victoria takes a moment to squeeze her eyes tightly shut, before selecting BLOCK NUMBER and putting her phone away.
A/N: So sorry for the delay everyone! I ran into some formatting issues with porting this over and didn't have the time to sort them out until recently. I should be back on track now so I will add two chapters this weekend, and hopefully be able to go back to a chapter a week after that. :3