Max closed her eyes and licked her lips, tasting rum and strawberry lip balm.
"Max?"
She blinked and looked up at Chloe. She was twirling her long blonde hair around a finger and looking thoughtful. "When you said you would always love me...what did you mean?"
Max was very much aware of the quiet of the room. "Well," she said softly, though her voice seemed to echo in her head. "I meant...I guess…" Max tentatively reached out and took Chloe's hand - the same one that had Chloe's name on the nails. "Well...I meant that I care about you, Chloe. You're my best friend. You're...kinda my only real friend. When I'm around you, I feel...cool. So...yeah..." She trailed off.
Chloe squeezed Max's hand, "When I'm around you, I feel...I guess...like I don't need anybody else. Because I have you. Ya know?"
Max bit her lower lip and looked down their clasped hands.
Chloe frowned, "Max...I'm worried about what will happen when we go home tomorrow. Mom goes back to work and I go back to Blackwell, and everybody is going to pretend like things aren't different now. But Dad's clothes are still in the closet! I'm not going to act like everything in my life hasn't changed!"
Max was struck by how vulnerable Chloe looked when she was sad or scared. She always admired Chloe's confidence and daring, but the last couple of days had shown Max a side of her she hadn't seen before.
Maybe deep down, this is who Chloe really is?
"I'm sorry, Chloe. But... I'm still here, right?" She wrapped her arms around Chloe and hugged her.
Chloe smiled and squeezed Max tightly, "I know, Super Max. That's why I love ya."
The next morning, as Joyce checked out at the front desk, Max and Chloe sat in the same chairs as they did the day before. Periodically, she would turn back to look at them and then shake her head with an exasperated expression.
"I'm glad you get to stay with us for a few more days, Max," Chloe whispered, looking up from the tablet in her lap.
Max smiled and re-tied her ponytail, "Me too. It's good your mom talked to my folks and they said I could stay with you until the end of the week. It means we can ride together to school just like we used to, even though it sucks we aren't going to the same one anymore."
Chloe smirked, "I sort of wish that I didn't get into Blackwell; but at least we can hang out afterwards."
Max found herself smiling as she looked at Chloe's long blonde hair tied back into a messy, hastily-done ponytail still wet from her shower that morning. She watched the way she nibbled her lip and stuck her tongue out as she drew on her tablet, and the way Chloe kept looking up and winking at her every time their eyes met. A butterfly feeling in her stomach started.
"What?" Chloe asked with a grin, "You keep looking at me like I have something on my face."
"Maybe because you do?" Max said slyly, "Maybe you have a huge zit right on your nose!"
Chloe's eyes got wide then crossed to try and see, "I do?" She touched her face, then laughed, "You're so full of it, Caulfield!"
Max stuck her tongue out, and Chloe stuck hers out too.
I wonder if Chloe will want to kiss again sometime?
Joyce Price stiffly walked over to where they were sitting and, taking a deep breath, she addressed them both. "I honestly don't know what to do with the both of you! You have some explaining to do when we get to the car!" She said with a measured tone of someone trying to keep their anger in check.
Chloe dutifully stood up, rolling her eyes when she knew her mother wasn't looking, and followed closely behind. Max got to her feet too and walked beside her.
"Whatever she's going on about, don't worry, Max; I'll tell her it was all my fault." Chloe whispered softly to Max, moving over until they were shoulder to shoulder and gently taking Max's hand.
Max gave Chloe's hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze, "No way! We're in this together no matter what!" she whispered.
The two of them slid into the car, and the driver's-side door had barely closed behind Joyce when she spun around in her seat and she shot them a look of impatient irritation. "My God, I just… I don't even know where to start! Do I even ask where you two got a bottle of rum from?" she struggled, trying to find her words.
"Mom, we didn't… " Chloe started to say, before her mother cut her off with a look and she closed her mouth and looked at the floor of the car.
"Chloe…" Joyce began in a tone equal parts frustration, exasperation and resignation, "I am so sorry for what has happened to us. I know it's going to be tough for a while for both of us, so it doesn't help when you do foolish things."
Chloe hung her head and nodded.
Joyce turned to Max, "Max, honey...where did you two get the alcohol? The hotel said you didn't order it on room service, not that they would have sold booze to a couple of kids anyway."
"It was my idea." Chloe interjected, "Max had nothing to do with it."
Max tried to meet Joyce's gaze, "In one of the big party rooms in the hotel. We...took it."
"Oh girls! It doesn't even matter whose idea this was; it was dumb and if I hadn't made up a story about suddenly remembering about bringing it with me, they might have called the police! I don't want to send Max home, Chloe, because her parents and I agree that it's important for you to have your friend here to support you for a little while longer; but no video games or TV for the next week."
Chloe lay her head on Max's shoulder and moaned. "Fiiine. We're sorry."
"Mmhm, I'll bet you are." Joyce muttered to herself as she started the car.
The rest of the ride back to Chloe's, Max stared at the window, spacing out as Chloe's head rested on her shoulder. She thought that maybe she should call her parents that night as she hadn't talked to them since the funeral, plus she missed them. She wondered what her mother would say if she told her that she had gotten her first kiss, and that it was from Chloe.
The idea of kissing a boy always made me feel kind of icky and gross. I never even thought about kissing a girl, but with Chloe it felt...right, I guess? Like it just made sense? Chloe and I talk about everything, even stuff I'm not even okay talking to my parents about! We've talked about getting our first kiss...but I guess neither of us felt like it would be with each other!
I wonder if Chloe is thinking about this sort of thing too?
Joyce pulled the car up the driveway and Max saw her pause for a moment before turning off the engine. "We're here, girls." She said simply, "Chloe, go up to your room and get unpacked. You and Max can play for the rest of the day, but make sure to get your school stuff together before you go to bed."
Max heard and felt Chloe let out a sigh, before lifting her head off Max's shoulder, "Yeah, yeah okay."
Max remained next to Chloe as she followed Joyce into the house, her eyes roaming the hallway; the house seemed bigger and quieter than it ever had in the past.
"Come on, Max." Chloe called from halfway up the steps. Max followed her into her room where she closed the door and threw her bag on the floor.
As Max sat on her bed, watching her sort out her clothes and makeup, she was possessed by an artistic urge and reached into her bag to grab a disposable camera she always brought with her. She found a good angle and snapped the picture of Chloe from behind.
"Hope you got my good side." Chloe remarked, tossing her makeup bag by her bed.
"You don't have a bad side " Max said with a smile, winding the camera to the next shot.
"That's something dad would have said." Chloe got to her knees by the closet and smirked at Max.
"Oh, Chloe...I didn't mean…"
"It's fine, Max." Chloe said, undoing her ponytail and shaking her head so her long, blonde hair hung free, "Actually, you're a lot like him."
"I am?" Max asked, surprised. "Your dad was always so...funny and goofy. He always knew just what to say. I'm...well...I'm not like that. I get super shy and nervous all the time, and I never know the right thing to say."
"That's not true!" Chloe said with a firm tone, "You always know just what I need to hear, and you are there for me when I need you. You're the best friend I could ask for, and I hate when you put yourself down!"
Max shrugged, "Thanks, Chlo, but… I'm different when I'm not around you. People at school call me names... they say I'm slow...or dumb because I'm always the last to finish tests and I don't do well on homework. They call me...lesbo and mental because of how I dress and look. And maybe it's true? I want to be alone most of the time, taking pictures and writing. If it weren't for you, I would probably never even leave the house."
"Don't listen to those assholes, Max!" Chloe sat on the bed beside Max and took her hand. "You're Max Caulfield and you're amazing! You're not slow or dumb, and if anybody ever calls you those things when I'm around, I'll kick their teeth in!"
"I'm not amazing, really, or I wouldn't need your help just to pass most classes."
"You are amazing, Max, and besides...things are kinda the same for me at school."
Max shot her a confused look, "The same way how?"
"Well…" Chloe said, moving closer to Max, "I guess I'm so used to you being around and us doing everything together that it's hard to know who I am when you're not. It's always been 'Max and Chloe'...'Chloe and Max'. Blackwell is awesome and I can pass most of my classes with my eyes closed, but... without Max...I don't really know who Chloe is."
Max smiled, "Chloe is the coolest person I know."
"You must not know many people then." Chloe said with a smirk.
"I already told you I don't."
Chloe laughed, "So, that must mean Chloe is the smartest person you know?"
Max nodded, "Of course."
"And the funnest?"
"Definitely!"
Chloe giggled, "What about...um...the silliest?" She stuck her tongue out and crossed her eyes.
Max laughed, "Duh!"
Chloe lay back on the bed, "The best dancer? The best singer? The best artist?"
Max lay down beside her, "Yes, yes and double yes!"
Chloe turned her head toward Max, "What about the prettiest?"
Max looked at her and Chloe's blue eyes stared at her with a look that told Max that the game was over. "Chloe...can I ask you something?"
Chloe smiled, "Of course. You know you can."
Max could feel the back of her neck growing warm and she rubbed it nervously, "Why...did you kiss me last night?"
Chloe shrugged, but Max saw her eyes look away from hers, "Felt like it, I guess. I was upset and...you made me feel better, so...um...seemed like...it felt right, you know?"
"Oh."
They lay quietly for several minutes, both staring at the ceiling.
Finally, Chloe sat up and said, "I always wondered what my first kiss would be like. We talked about it, remember?"
Max sat up too and nodded, "You said that you read it would feel like a bolt of lightning, or like music playing in your head."
Chloe smirked, "Yeah, and you said that I was weird and that it would probably be like kissing your hand."
They both laughed, but it was nervous laughter.
Finally, Max said, "Did kissing me feel like lightning or music playing your head?"
Chloe shook her head, "No. Did kissing me feel like kissing your hand?"
Max shook her head, "Not really, no."
"Max?"
"Yeah?"
Chloe bit her bottom lip and hesitated for a moment, then quietly asked, "Is it weird for two girls to kiss like we did?"
"I don't think it's weird." Max said with a shrug. "It didn't feel weird when you kissed me."
Chloe looked thoughtful, "No...I guess it didn't feel weird to kiss you either. It felt...good. Really good, actually."
Max nodded, and rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "It did feel really good."
A smile crossed Chloe's face, "Hey, Max, you want to try kissing me now?"
Max shrugged, her cheeks beginning to burn, "I guess. Um...but what if your mom walks in or something?
Chloe looked toward the door, "I think she's busy on the phone with people. But…" Chloe slid off the bed and turned the lock in the doorknob, "there! Happy now?" She went back over to sit beside Max on the bed.
Max took a deep breath and then let it out slowly as she lifted her eyes to meet Chloe's. As if sensing her hesitation, Chloe took Max's hand and said, "Hey, it's okay if you don't want to. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or anything."
"No!" Max replied, a lot louder than she expected her voice to sound, "I do! I do want!"
I really do!
She lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. "Just...give me a second."
Chloe nodded and closed her eyes, still smiling.
Max took another deep breath and let it out. She looked at Chloe intently, her eyes focusing on her best friend's closed eyes, partially hidden behind a curtain of long blonde hair, her nose with nostrils flaring as she gently breathed in and out of it waiting, her lips shining slightly with her raspberry lip gloss. She felt that same butterfly feeling that she felt earlier in the hotel, but it was stronger now and no amount of swallowing or deep breaths could make it go away.
"Chloe?"
"Yeah?"
"You are."
Chloe opened her eyes again, "Huh?"
Max reached forward and swept a wave of long golden hair behind Chloe's left ear with her curled fingers. She left her hand on the side of Chloe's face and gently leaned forward toward it. As the hot warmth of her face made her ears feel like they had just ignited, Max shyly brushed her lips softly over Chloe's. At the touch of their lips together, Chloe closed her eyes again but Max's were already closed. She parted her lips slightly to answer Chloe, but instead Max moved forward again and gently took Chloe's bottom lip into her mouth. She wasn't sure if this was even what kissing was supposed to be, but Chloe's soft gasp made Max feel that she was on the right track anyway.
In her head, she answered Chloe's question: You are, Chloe. You are the prettiest person I know.