Max stared longingly through the window, her cheeks puffed out in absentmindedness. From the second story, she looked down on the few people mingling outside. She could see Alyssa and Stella talking by the fountain. Justin, Trevor and the rest of the skater boys (whom she was slowly getting to know – Sam, Aaron and Ben among others) stood in a circle further off near the gym, clutching their skateboards despite the brand new layer of snow. A few other students trotted back and forth across the campus, but she didn't recognize any of them by name. She exhaled through her nose slowly.
Man, freedom looks so cold and fun...
She sat in her last class before the winter break and, as ridiculous as it sounded to her, time was moving far too slow. She had gone from being apathetic toward school, feeling like it didn't matter in the wake of all she had experienced, back to feeling the banal distaste most people had for it. In a way, she liked it much better, but that didn't stop every word her teacher was saying from sounding like an adult from Peanuts.
Wah wah, wah, waaaah. Translation: This is your prison for all of eternity and you will never be able to escape. Say goodbye to Chloe kisses. Say goodbye to food. Au revoir to all joy and light in the world, for you shall forever be stuck trying to figure out why Pythagoras wanted all future generations of teenagers to suffer endlessly. Say goodbye to-
The bell rang, striking through her listless thoughts as she jolted in her seat. Sucking in a huge gulp of excited breath, she quickly smacked her palms against the table several times before putting her books into her bag. She sprung up from her seat and joined the small stampede funneling out of the classroom.
Break! A whole month of no school! Oh my gosh, now Chloe has no excuse to leave me at night! I don't think I've ever been more excited!
She bounded down the flight of steps, her head swimming with all the lazy possibilities of waking up next to Chloe. As she burst through the double doors to the main hallway, she caught sight of Warren fiddling with his phone by his locker. Filled with glee, she took off toward him with her arms out, set on celebrating the start of her vacation. When she was just close enough to hug, the tip of her shoe skipped on the tile, sending her careening into him. The collision put the unaware boy face first into the locker, shooting a loud bang through the hallway. Max managed to keep upright only by bouncing off of him.
"Fuck! Oh my god!" She grabbed his jaw and forcefully yanked it toward her, bringing the rest of the boy with it. "I'm sorry! I tripped! Are you okay!?"
"Do I still have a face?" He asked through his wincing expression.
"I'm sorry," she repeated. "I was excited because of classes being over and I tried to run but I'm bad at running!" He snickered and brought a hand to his nose.
"It's alright," he assured. He stared at her, his eyes falling half-lidded until he covered his face as he sneezed. "Ugh, does that happen to you? When you hit your nose really hard?" Max nodded sheepishly. "Max, it's okay!" He laughed and put a hand on her shoulder. "It was impressive if anything. You should try out for the Bigfoots! I'm surprised I don't have a nosebleed."
"Staaaahp," she groaned, covering her face with her forearms in embarrassment. Warren chuckled as he shook his head.
"Max Caulfield, All-State linebacker," he teased. She whined again as he pulled her arms down. "Oh, relax. I'm fine. Seriously. No nosebleed, see?" He pointed to his nose, then made a 'hm' noise. "Speaking of, uh, how are...you doing in that department?"
Oh. How to explain this...
"Um..." Max settled next to him against the locker. "Had a few developments. Things are looking up. I don't feel bad anymore. I really think it might have been like, purely psychological. As far as that makes sense, anyway."
"That's awesome!" He shot a big smile at her. "What happened? What developments?"
"Chloe..." she narrowed her eyes as she searched for words, "helped."
"Well I mean, yeah, I figured as much. You two are basically each others' medicine. But what happened? Did you have any other..." His face contorted in uneasiness. "Nightmares?"
"No...I didn't," she said, staring at the floor with a brilliant smile. She turned back to him, showing it off. "We just worked it out," she added with a shrug. He looked at her confusedly before his eyes momentarily bulged.
"Oh! Oh. You think you were cured by, uh...that?" He asked, growing a touch pink in the cheeks. She shrugged again, this time more exaggeratedly as she raised her arms higher. "Damn, that's...impressive? Is that the right word?"
"It's certainly an accurate one," she replied with a wink, nudging him in his ribs. He shook his head as he pulled on his jacket. "Oh! Are you done too?"
"You know it. I totally made those tests my bitch!" He grinned at her, looping his arm through the strap of his backpack. She perked an eyebrow in amusement. "What? Is that...is that not a cool thing to say?"
"It's more the idea of you making anything your bitch," Max quipped back, taking a few steps down the hall. Warren's shoulders deflated as he sighed.
"But I did really well..." He grumbled as he followed her.
"So I still need three photos," Max said, catching Warren up on her Christmas plans. "I know I could just pick some I already have, but I want them to be like I took them for her, you know?"
"Definitely makes sense to me," Warren said. He had his foot up on the rim of the fountain as he tied his shoe. He seemed to be struggling with the laces because of his gloves, which forced Max to hide a giggle. She looked around them, seeing only a few students willing to be out in the cold. The skater boys made up most of that demographic, though they still seemed to be figuring out the skating in snow thing. "You want them to be as special as possible," Warren said as he stood up straight.
"Right, exactly." The two began to walk toward the dorm. "Plus, I don't know. I want to get her some other stuff but all of my money was given to me by my parents. That seems lame, right?"
"Max, you're in high school and don't have a job. I think most people here are probably in the same situation," he said. "We're all attached to our parents' bank account. Besides, I doubt Chloe would care so long as her precious little baby picked it out for her." He braced his shoulder against the whack from Max's hand. "Do you know anything that she wants?"
"Ugh, no. She told me 'nothing, I'm fine' forever until she finally came up with the photo thing." Max waved her hands around in frustration. "Why am I drawing a total blank on this?"
"Oh come on," Warren said. "It can't be..." He was interrupted by a quiet jingle drifting up from his pocket. "It can't be that hard, right?" He asked, fishing out his 3DS. He chuckled and switched to the other side of his pants. "Wrong pocket. I do that way more than I'm comfortable admitting." He read the new text on his phone and snickered before turning his attention back to the brunette. "I'm sure there's something she wants and she's just playing coy." She stared at him with wide eyes.
"Dude..." She slowly lifted her hand with an index finger pointed at the device in his other hand. "How pricey are those things?" Somewhat surprised, he held it up and looked it over.
"Ah, I don't know. Like a couple hundred? Plus, you have games and all that..." Max just smiled and nodded.
"That's perfect!" She squealed. "She's always messing with yours! If I got one used, I could get her a ton of stuff. She'll absolutely shit herself, oh man! Can you take me into town tomorrow to get one?" She began to hop in place excitedly.
Hahaha YES. In your face, Chloe Price. I will Christmas the hell out of you.
"Eh, sure, why not," he laughed. "I guess I can spare some taxi time." They reached the dorms and ducked inside, cherishing the wave of warmth. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"
"Way harder than it needed to be," she snirked. "Thanks for the 'eureka!' moment." She leaned against the wall and sighed. "Well, it's something at least. What are you up to? Want to hang out and watch a movie?"
"Yeah, I've got some time before Brooke wants to chill," he said. Max grinned and wiggled her eyebrows. "Not like that, you perv. Some of us," he turned his nose up at her dramatically as he held a hand over his heart, "aren't deviants."
Deviants!?
"Uh huh, sure," she shot back condescendingly as she began climbing the steps. "You guys going to be at the," she threw a hand in the air and wiggled her fingers, "illustrious Victoria Chase sleepover tonight?" She could hear Warren grunt behind her.
"I think Brooke is still a little sketched out about the whole Victoria being nice thing," he said.
"It is a little weird still," she admitted. "So she's out, but you'll be there, right!?" She spun around as she reached the door to her hallway. He furrowed his brow and held his hands out as if she should know the answer already.
"Yes. I'll be the only guy at the sleepover my girlfriend doesn't want to attend."
"Huh...I forget that you're the only guy in our weird little group," she responded with a playful elbow, pulling the door open.
"Brooke doesn't," he added as he slid past her.
That sounded a little bitter. Ouch.
"It's a little cute how protective she is of you though, like..." Max's words were trampled over by an ecstasy filled laugh coming from Dana's room, followed by a lustful pronunciation of Trevor's name. She turned to Warren with a big smile and pointed over her shoulder at the door with her thumb. "Heh, check it."
"Whaaat the fuck," Warren groaned in a hushed tone. "Do I go to school with rabbits? Are you all rabbits?" He grew dark red in his cheeks as he grabbed Max's wrist and hurried her down the hall.
"Chloe would look really cute with those fake rabbit ears," she cackled as they entered her room.
Warren hadn't been gone for more than five minutes before there was knock on Max's door. Anticipating who would be on the other side, she grinned and opened it.
It's officially Chloe time!
"Babe, I'm finally d-" She released an 'oof' as Chloe swept her up in a tight hug and began spinning around.
"You're mine, you're mine, you're mine, you're mine!" She repeated, laughing as they spun. Her momentum took them into the side of the bed, causing them to spill onto the mattress.
"I'm going to throw up," Max said quietly, clasping both hands over her stomach as she readjusted to a still room.
"No time for that," Chloe purred, removing one boot and sloughing off her jacket in one smooth motion. She tossed it behind her at the door, forcing it closed. "I get one month of all the Max I can possibly handle, starting now."
"Right now?" Max giggled. "Don't you want to hear about my last day? I got my tests back and everything." Despite her words, she was already helping Chloe undress. "Besides, you need to pace yourself. Lest you overdose."
"Babe. Babe. Max. Look at me," Chloe commanded, towering over the smaller girl as she knelt on the bed. She was ravenously working at the button of her jeans. "Fuck all of that as hard as you possibly can. I can multitask! You can tell me all about how you rocked your tests while you rock me." The button finally came undone, revealing the top of Chloe's underwear.
"I cannot get over how big of a dork you are," Max laughed, rolling on to her side. She looped a finger into the punk's open jeans and tugged toward her, peeking down inside. "Ohhh, I like your red ones."
"I know you do!" Chloe flailed her hands. She began to laugh as she fell onto her butt. "Okay, libido aside, you have no idea how fucking excited I am to have you all the time. I'm taking you to work with me and everything."
"Do I get paid for that?" Max asked.
"You get paid in free food and longing glances from across the diner, yeah!" Chloe laughed. She reached forward and tugged her other boot off. "All the bacon and sappy blue eyes you want."
"That's a tempting offer. What's the exchange rate on those for real money?"
"Er, the economy hasn't really picked up on the idea just yet, but you wait and see!" Chloe's laugh mellowed into a thoughtful chuckle as she stared at the brunette. "Hey," she said quietly, "come here." Max climbed toward her, throwing all of her weight onto the girl as she snaked her arms around the punk's neck.
"Here," she said lightly, before bringing their lips together. The next several minutes blurred into combustion of sweet, sloppy kisses before Max finally pulled away.
"So..." Chloe began, smiling stupidly at the ceiling with throbbing lips, "how did those tests go?"
"All B's with one stupid C," Max replied, reaching behind her to turn the stereo on.
"That's awesome! I'm so proud of you!" Chloe swung her legs around the brunette and closed them in a vice. "My girl is so smart," she said in a singsong voice.
"Pfft, as if. I studied my ass off and couldn't get an A on even one. I'm cursed to mediocrity forever." She felt beside her for Chloe's feet and began to absentmindedly rub them. "I'm the Mendoza Line for academics."
"Stop being mean to my girlfriend!" The blue haired girl growled, twisting her hips so that Max was jostled left and right. "I think you're doing awesome, especially considering...yanno, fucking everything that happened this semester!"
"I guess that's a fair point," she conceded. "At least I'm done for the time being. Now it is chill time."
"Sleepover time, more like," Chloe added with an amused look. "I can't remember the last time someone conducted an organized 'sleepover.' Usually, it's 'whoops I accidentally crashed while on your property.'"
"Oh shut up, it's kind of cute!" Max giggled. "We have friends and stuff, it's crazy! Plus, I'm going to miss Vic while she's away." She recoiled and shook her head. "If you told me I'd say that when I started here..."
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna miss her too," Chloe said, releasing her grip on Max. She rolled to the side and got out of bed. "Though I'm a little jealous she's going to Seattle. I want to go!" She sighed thoughtfully. "What time are we supposed to all get together?" Just as she asked, her jeans slipped from around her waist and fell to the carpet. She looked down and huffed, placing her hands on her hips.
"I..." Max began, her eyes sweeping up and down Chloe's figure, "don't know, but it better not be for the next hour or so."
"Any second now, I just know it," Victoria said. She stood hunched over, hands planted on her desk as she stared a hole through her laptop. "Any fucking second."
"I thought they said sometime over the holiday?" Taylor asked. She scrolled through her phone, sprawled across both Max and Chloe's laps as they sat on the couch.
You comfy there, Taylor?
"That is what they said. She's just being impatient," Max giggled. Chloe took a sip from her water bottle and made eye contact with Max as she nodded at Taylor. When Max nodded back, the punk touched the ice cold bottle to the girl's exposed ankle in her lap, causing her to shriek.
"Oh my god, why!?" Taylor gasped as she joined in laughing with the two girls. Victoria whipped around from the laptop.
"It technically is the holiday now, thanks," she glared. Her snobby expression softened as she laughed at Taylor. "Why are you hanging all over them? Trying to get into a threesome?"
"Sure, I'm not busy," she responded, not looking up from her phone.
"Hate to break it to you, Tay, but Max and I are exclusive," Chloe teased. The girl faked a somber sigh in response. Max chuckled as she looked around the room, her eyes falling on the stuffed suitcase snuggled against the wall.
"What time is your flight, by the way?" Max asked Victoria. The girl huffed and glanced over her shoulder.
"Tomorrow at four," she said. "Right in the middle of the fucking day. But at least it means staying up too late tonight won't fuck me up." Just as she said that, the door flung open and Courtney entered carrying several black plastic bags. "That, on the other hand..." Victoria said, eying the bags.
Woah, she's armed to the teeth.
"I bring goodies and some baddies," Courtney laughed. She waved her hips to the left and right, then bowed. "You're all so very welcome."
"What kind of goodies?" Chloe asked, sitting up as straight as she could.
"Oh, I got some snacks, some drinks. I brought music," she began to gyrate in a showy way, "I brought games. I brought it all, baby. Even some other drinks." She winked and plopped one bag between Taylor's legs, which doubled as Chloe's lap.
"Only if she's cool with it," Victoria said, her tone commanding. "Kate, I mean." Chloe rummaged through the bag and removed a handle of tequila, turning to Max and mouthing 'what the fuck' with a smile.
Aw, Vic. You're such a mushball. And...wowsers, that's a big bottle.
"Of course only if it's cool with Kate," Courtney snipped back. "I just wanted to have all my bases covered."
"You making up for the not being able to set up the End of the World Party?" Taylor asked with a smirk, finally looking up from her phone. Courtney thought for a moment, then shrugged with a nod.
"Max, have you ever had like, hard liquor?" Chloe asked her, jostling the bottle of tequila.
"Does the Fireball when you gave me a lap dance count?" She shot back victoriously. Taylor's phone slipped from her hands as she angled her head up to stare at Max.
"Yo, what?" She asked with wide eyes.
"That does count a little bit," Chloe responded with a playful smile, ignoring Taylor's question.
"Well, now you guys know what they're doing if they both disappear at some point," Victoria mocked, crossing her arms smugly. Chloe faced her and nodded enthusiastically.
"You bet your ass, Chase," Chloe smiled sleazily. "Know what I call Max's room? The Petting Zoo."
Oh my god, Chloe. You ARE the billboard.
"Because I'm all about dat heavy petting," the punk continued as the the door opened once more, revealing a flustered Kate. "Animals! Of animals! Petting animals!" Chloe added in absolute horror, her eyes screaming with regret.
"I'm sorry I'm late!" Kate said. She had a rectangle in her arms that was covered in wrapping paper. "I was having trouble with something. How are you? We're talking about animals?" She asked, setting the present down next to Victoria's suitcase.
"We might as well be," Victoria said, glaring at the blue haired girl. She took on a nervous look and cleared her throat. "Um, Kate... We were wondering if you'd be cool with us drinking just a little? No one's going to get smashed or anything, but there's some wine and...other stuff." Kate seemed to shrink a little as she felt all eyes on her.
"Oh, of...of course that's cool with me!" She said, returning Victoria's nervousness. "Is it, uh, okay if I have a little bit of wine?" Chloe immediately whipped toward Max with a concerned look. Max did her best to shrug as subtly as possible before wriggling her phone out of her pocket.
"Sure, Kate, if you want some," Victoria replied as Max tapped on her phone.
I knew this secret text club would come in handy...
Max: Kate, are you SURE you're cool with this? We don't have to do any drinking if you don't want.
She sent the text and sighed, then immediately heard two simultaneous beeps coming from Chloe and Kate's phone. She closed her eyes, internally facepalming.
Of course both of their volume is on. That's not suspicious like, at all, Max.
Kate, unaware as always, fished her phone out of her pocket and read the text. Her brow crinkled for a moment, then she laughed as she faced Max.
"Yes, Max. I promise I'm okay with it. I've done a lot of work at the doctor's and I think a little bit of wine would be good for me in overcoming some fears. I promise if I start to feel bad, I'll let everyone know." She looked around her. "Is that...okay?" Victoria nodded at her, then headed off to the corner of her room.
"You think you're a sneaky ninja," Courtney laughed, pointing at Max. The brunette scrunched her nose, admitting her poor planning.
"I'm protective of my Kate," she said, crossing her arms.
"No, my Kate," Chloe argued.
"I'm all of your Kate!" The little blonde laughed. "Friendship isn't a nonrenewable resource, last I checked."
"Uh, yeah," Victoria muttered as she came back to Kate with a glass in her hand. "I thought maybe you'd like the first glass." Victoria took the bottle of wine out of the bag and seemed to make a show out of opening it in front of the girl, holding it close as the seal broke with the twisting of the cap.
So...she knows there's nothing wrong with it... Oh, Victoria...
"And thus," Victoria declared as the dark red liquid spilled into the glass, "the night has officially begun."
"Man, pajamas are sneaky little fuckers," Chloe said as she entered Victoria's room with a blushing Max behind her. "I can't believe it took us a half hour to find them."
To find them, put them on, take them off... Put them on then take them off AGAIN.
"I was going to check and see if you guys were okay but..." Kate raised her hand until it jerked to a stop, the silk ribbon wrapped around it growing taut. "They tied me to the bed frame." She shrugged with a small smile and sipped out of her glass. Chloe chuckled and headed over immediately to untie it.
"Very cool of you, guys," Max said dryly as she eased herself onto the floor next to Taylor. "Did you finally pick out a movie while we were gone or were you just harassing Kate the whole time?"
"We had plenty of time for both, trust me," Victoria snarked over her shoulder. She tapped a few buttons on the TV and fell onto her butt. She spun around and dragged herself closer to the other girls with her feet in pedaling motion. "Rock, paper, scissors declares that we're watching Lost in Translation first."
"Typical," Chloe muttered, then grinned when Max shot her a look. She roughly tousled the girl's hair. "Sorry, I had to."
"Wish Warren was here," Courtney mumbled from the couch. "We'd have a lot more movies to pick from." Taylor squawked a 'ha!' and tilted her head back to see Courtney.
"You are actually the most transparent person ever," she said.
Ah, good call, Brooke.
"Shut up, I'm just saying the boy knows his movies!" She fought back. Victoria shook her head with a smirk before standing up.
"Well, I've seen this movie a million times. I'm going to go out for a quick smoke. Anyone want to join me?" She swept across the room and grabbed her cigarettes.
"Actually, yeah, I'll come," Chloe said, hopping to her feet. She bent down over Max. "Catch me up on everything when I get back. I need to know about all the whacky language misunderstandings."
"Aye aye," Max replied, hopping up enough for their lips to barely make contact.
"You smoke those cheap things?" Victoria sneered with a hand on her hip. Chloe looked at the cigarette between her fingers and scowled.
"I like them," she replied with a small pout. "I mean, they all kill us, what makes yours so much better?"
"Oh honey," Victoria said condescendingly, holding out one of her own for Chloe to try. "Trust me." The punk rolled her eyes and took it, setting it between her lips as she stuffed hers back into its pack.
"Bumming a cig from the popular bitch. I'm slipping, man." She smiled wickedly at the blonde. "Don't you vape, too? Why are you flip flopping?"
"I don't know..." She leaned against the brick of the building. "It's trendy?"
"That was surprisingly honest," Chloe chuckled, sparking her lighter and lighting the cigarette. She took a slow puff and coughed. "Christ, man. Fucking menthol."
"You're just uncultured," Victoria snipped back. "They're good."
"Yeah, yeah..." Chloe took her spot next to Victoria. She thought for a moment, unable to fight the smile building in her cheeks. "So," she said, turning toward the girl, "did you get Kate somethin' nice for Christmas?"
"Excuse me?" She responded.
"Oh for fuck's sake, Vicky. Worst kept secret ever." The punk held her hand up. "And I think it's awesome! I'm just teasing you. You two would be hella cute together, seriously." Victoria stared at her, looking furious despite the visible blush. She began to speak several times, but cut herself off.
"Yes, I got her something," she finally said. Chloe nodded impishly. It was quiet for a moment as the smoke grew around them, before Chloe sighed and stepped away from the wall, turning back to face the other girl.
"Okay, look. I'm really new at this peptalk shit, so cut me some slack, but..." She quickly took another drag to keep herself jazzed. "I know everything with you and Kate is complicated. Back to what happened with Nathan and fucking Jefferson," her tone picked up a growl over his name, "to her whole religious thing. It's kind of a clusterfuck. But I think you're doing great. And I know how just...fucking maddening it can be to have feelings for someone and be unsure of the outcome. So if you ever need to talk, I'm here." She took another drag and angled her head away as she exhaled. "Cool?"
"I, uh..." Victoria watched on dumbfounded before shrinking a little and nodding. "Cool," she said.
"But," Chloe held out the almost spent cigarette on display as she winked, "you can keep your shitty menthols."
"Just one, c'moooon," Courtney pleaded, holding the shot glass out to Max. "Celebration! Celebration!" The brunette looked at the other girls in the circle, all but Kate holding a similar glass.
"I...I don't know..." Max said, throwing a quick glance at Kate. Her uneasiness seemed misplaced as the girl watched her with excited eyes. And then even she joined in on the peer pressure.
"Do it, Max! I believe in you!" She giggled into her hand. Max's eyes went wide as she shot the girl a betrayed look.
Holy shit, Judas, chill.
"Wow, really!?" She laughed. "I guess if Kate Marsh tells you to drink, you better do it." She took the glass from Courtney and stared down into it. "It probably tastes fine, right?"
"No, it tastes like shit," Chloe snickered as she wrapped an arm around Max. "Let's do it!"
"Can...can I do the little message?" Kate asked, holding her wine glass in the circle with everyone else.
"Of course, Katie," Victoria said.
Wait...Katie?
"Thank you," said the girl. "I just wanted to say that even though this school year started terribly, it has given me a lot in return to be thankful for. I have so many wonderful friends now and I wouldn't trade that for anything. I'm going to miss you all over the holiday but I hope you'll at least keep in touch with text messages!" She closed her eyes as she smiled. "Was that okay?"
"Perfect," Victoria said, sniffling away a small amount of emotion. She moved her glass forward, followed by everyone else until multiple clinks could be heard. All together, they shot back the liquor with varying degrees of disgust on their face while Kate giddily watched.
"Ah, that familiar burn..." Chloe rasped with narrowed eyes. She quirked an eyebrow at Max, who was holding a suspiciously neutral expression. "You okay, babe?" Quickly, Max reached beside her and clawed into Chloe's arm.
"That was awful," she squeaked, blinking away the tears in her eyes.
People do this for FUN!? Why didn't this one taste like cinnamon?!
"You get used to it," Taylor laughed, plucking the glass from Max's hand.
And she was right – the third one was much easier than the first two.
The sleepover continued for several more hours, with a rotation of movies, snacks, gossip, games and tipsy dancing. Eventually, Max had passed out in a pile on the floor that consisted of blankets, pillows, Chloe and Courtney while Taylor slept face down on the couch. At some point during the night, Max was stirred awake. She lifted her head slowly, trying to find the source of the noise that had awakened her. On the bed, she saw Victoria and Kate sitting very, very close. Victoria was holding a framed picture with wrapping paper in a pile on the floor below her feet. Kate seemed to be looking on shyly, her thumb nervously twitching against her hand.
"Do you like it?" She whispered.
"Kate, I love it. I...I love...uh," Victoria sputtered out a self-mocking chuckle. "It's beautiful. Like the artist, right?" She ignored Kate's flustered reaction as she retrieved a small, wrapped box of her own. "I got you something too. I hope you like it, there's kind of a whole thing behind it I can explain..." She handed the box to her. She looked back at the picture in her hands and released the most genuine Victoria-smile Max had ever seen. Kate began to unwrap the box, but Max's eyelids became heavy. As sleep took her once again, she couldn't help but smile.
I REALLY hope I remember this in the morning...
A/N: By my count, that's one month on the button! Hope people are still here! ...hello?
Coming back with a laid back chapter - the kids hanging out with just a pinch of Chloe POV. Only because the idea of her and Victoria having a one on one seemed fun. Can't wait to revisit that in the future.
You may have noticed that my story has gotten a dramatic aesthetic overhaul. That's all thanks to MaiQueti and her AMAZING artwork. It is like the coolest thing ever and you absolutely should check out her stuff! (Here on FF, links are super finicky so I ask you to click on my profile where I have two links to her art. Check it out!)
Other than that, I hope everyone's been doing well and I'm excited to get back to regular posting! Thank you all for reading and being awesome people. XOXOXOXO