The excitement died down when we passed Denny's again. For the whole stroll, Rachel was giving me advice and naming all the fights she and Chloe have done in their past. There were some that were serious, but most were silly. I kind of already knew it was okay to have fights, but her perspective was helpful. It does feel a little weird to talk about this. They haven't fixed their recent one. They'll do it on their own, Max. They'll do it on their own…

We walked into the Starbucks and saw that it was actually very empty. Chloe and the other employees were talking behind the counter. Chloe was the first to turn around, as she was the cashier, and then released a laugh of disbelief and amusement.

"Those are my clothes!" Chloe leaned over the counter, trying to look at Rachel.

"Thank your best friend, she chose it." Rachel lightly thumped my shoulder.

Chloe smirked at me and then looked at Rachel again, "You look better in them. I wish I could pull that off."

"You can later."

"What?" Chloe's eyes widened and her smirk disappeared. I nearly missed her saying that too. It was like her to be direct. Rachel swaggered away, winking at her, and sat at a four-person table.

Holy shit, Chloe mouthed out. She held her fist out and I bumped my knuckles against hers. Again, putting up another front for me. I went ahead and went to the table.

"Why are you facing away from the entrance?" I asked as I sat down across from her.

"I wouldn't want my famous face ruin your date. I already tried going to the back before and I couldn't. I hope sitting over here will make me unrecognizable."

"We're in the corner so, maybe?"

I placed my bag on the table and took out all the pictures I took of Rachel from outside. I laid them all out, side by side, in front of her.

"Here, maybe you could make some cool Instagram pic with these."

She placed her elbow on the table and rested her head on her hand. She exhaled happily.

"You're hella talented, how did you do this?" She grabbed some of them to hold them closer.

"Patience, I guess." I chuckled, but I felt awkward being praised by her. I'm never gonna get used to that…

"Hell yeah, this is going on my Instagram." She moved the films around and then took her phone out. I watched as she stood up, took pictures of the covered table, and then sit down again to type.

"Look at my talented friend," Rachel read her description, "That's the perfect thing to say under something like that."

"They're not that great..." I mumbled as low as I could, but she heard it regardless.

"I swear to god..."


For the next hour and a half, I watched and talked about the people who were walking in and out. It was a little game Rachel wanted to play. I gave her a piece of paper and a pencil and I tried to describe the people as best as I could as she drew them. Her art skills were okay, to say the least. Maybe if I squint, it'll look more like them… Chloe then came out with two coffee cups and placed them in front of us.

"They're on me," Chloe said, "Do you want the little, uh, shits?"

"Yes, for Kate." I replied with a snort. Chloe left again and when I looked back at the door, Kate walked through with her little backpack and sketchbook in hand.

"Kate!" I said way too excitedly.

"Hi Max!" She said back, waving her hand, "And Rachel, you're here! I'm so sorry about being so late." Kate sat down next to me, placing her bag next to mine.

We shushed her for saying her name too loudly, pressing our fingers to our lips. She understood, nodding, and pressing her own finger to her lips.

"Oh thanks, I like yours too."

A lot of her shirts have been plain and solid colors, but today it was a black shirt, covered in different flowers. She certainly rocked flowers better than I did. Again, I could see a gold chain necklace around her neck. But, she was still wearing a jacket for the hot weather.

"No braids today, huh?" I teased.

"No, but my roommate criticized my other outfit and then chose for me."

"Wow, we chose each other's outfits today, actually." Rachel added.

"You two know each other's tastes very well. My roommate will never let me dress her."

"Do you even like her doing that to you?" I asked.

"I like it. I know that's how she bonds with me." Kate was practically glowing. She looks beautiful… It was pretty embarrassing when I did compliment her, though. Caught us both by surprise.

"So, uh," I cleared my throat, "What did your friends need you for yesterday?"

"Oh, all of my friends are film majors and are participating in the upcoming film festival. I gave them the idea for the film, so they wanted a little more of my help. That's all they think about anymore, really."

"Oh yeah? What's it about?" Rachel leaned in.

"I'm not one to talk about unfinished projects. Maybe when I finish the outline, I'll let you guys read it."

Am I feeling… disappointment? Not sure.

"Hey, uh, Kate, I think," Chloe came up and dropped a white box in front of us, "Do you want a coffee too?"

"No, thank you. You're Chloe, right?"

"Yup, nice to meet you," Chloe smiled and nodded, turning back to Rachel, "Babe, I'm on break, do you want to go somewhere?"

Rachel grabbed her coffee and stood up, "Sure, I'll watch them later."

Kate and I laughed at that. Those two left, leaving me and Kate alone. Another time alone with Kate; don't screw it up, Max. I reached into my bag, digging around the many books I had in it.

"I have the picture I took of you." I gave it to her and she gasped. She had her hand to her mouth and her eyes were wide, taking a moment to admire.

"Wow, this is very cool!"

I could only blush. I appreciated her compliment more than anyone else's—even more than Rachel's. I couldn't even act humble.

"Oh," I grabbed the box and slid it over to her, saying, "These are for you. I remember you said you liked sweets." Chloe told me that she liked them, but I thought it would have been weird to mention that I knew she liked them already. I felt my heart race as soon as I gave them to her.

"Thank you! I love these." She opened the box and they were all the chocolate ones. She grabbed two: one for me and one for herself. These ones were especially sweet, but I took the one she offered. Not awkward as far, I think. You got this, Max.

"Anyway," she finished her pop and grabbed another, "ready to start studying?"

I groaned, "I was hoping you forgot."

She giggled, "Nope, I'm determined to help you pass your next tests and hopefully not see you slamming your forehead into a table again."

"I was only doing that because I spent nearly all week studying for it and then I bombed it hard."

"And I don't want you to do that again," she placed her hand on my shoulder, "So, for the rest of the time, you're going to do your Nutrition work and I'm here to help you, okay?"

I sighed and slouched, "Okay. Can't wait to learn about all these kilograms and how to identify complex and simple nutrients."

"You're going to be fine," Kate took a pencil out of her bag, "You brought your book, right?"

"Yeah," I took the thick bright orange book out, loudly setting it down, "This already sucks."

"Only a couple more weeks," Kate reassured, "What do you have the most trouble with?"

"It was a lot of the math stuff and... pretty much all the numbers. You know what, pretty much everything."

"Okay, so you need to read this again and try to answer those little analysis questions at the end of every chapter. If you feel like you can't answer it, ask me."

"Right, will do."


"I'm back," Rachel huffed as she sat down again, about thirty minutes into the study session, "I never met so many people in such a small amount of time. Just kidding, I had."

"Are you getting to that point of needing a bodyguard?" I pushed the cake pops towards her.

"I don't need one, but... maybe in a few months." She grabbed two.

"Maybe watching us will help you relax."

"Yes. I want to learn about vegetables." She perked up again, eating a cake pop whole.

"Alright, let's begin." Kate smiled at me.

It wasn't so difficult in the beginning. Most of the questions were pretty easy! After chapter three, I felt like I was going to fall asleep about a million times. I wrote the answers down into my composition notebook, skipping some because I didn't know them. I could hear Rachel and Kate talking to each other, which kept me awake.

"Have you ever sat down and was like, "hmm, do I really believe in God?" I don't mean that rudely, but it's a thought I've had." Where… in the hell did that question come from? And why did it leave my mouth?

"No, I never really thought about not being Christian." Thank dog she was comfortable with it. "It's something I've known since I was little; It's something I'm comfortable with."

"You're hella devoted? I don't think I should word it like that."

Kate snickered, "It's fine. I was until a year or two ago, I'm not sure."

"What do you mean?"

"I used to wear a purity ring." Kate's hands started to move, feeling over her left fingers.

"Wow, for real?" I felt the shock in Rachel's voice. I didn't have to look at her face to know her eyes were nearly popping out of her head.

"Yeah, but... I don't wear it anymore, obviously."

Rachel was quiet after that. I was shocked too. There were so many questions I wanted to ask. But it was a very personal and I wouldn't want to creep her out or make her uncomfortable. I let to let the questions dance around in my mind until I continued to write my answers. It wasn't important, not right now.

"Hey, we should stay here to eat something. Would you mind a small dinner with us?" Rachel changed it quickly.

"I would love to! I need to make up to her about leaving so early yesterday."

"Good, you hear that, Max?" Rachel slapped the table to get my attention.

"Huh?" I lifted my head up, "Uh, yeah, you don't have to though, Kate."

"I want to. Plus, most of our time is for studying. I wouldn't want you to leave groggy." Kate got closer to look at my paper.

"I left some blank so I can ask you later."

Kate nodded, "Good idea."

And that was all that happened. Rachel and Kate talking, Chloe coming by periodically if we needed anything, and me, suffering. I overheard Kate saying she was already finished with her assignments and that her time was used to help her friends' short film. I eventually asked for Kate's help and I could feel Rachel just watching us.

Even though Kate told me she never took the class, I learned more from her in this one sitting than I learned from my teacher all quarter. I was more engaged and everything somehow made more sense. I didn't realize it was about to be seven when we finished.

"You're really good at teaching." I wiped my forehead, throwing my pencil into the crevice of my notebook.

"I've been told," Kate folded her arms, "I have a little sister and she asked for help all the time."

"Aw, you have a sibling?" Rachel placed a hand over her chest.

"I have two. I have younger sisters."

"What're their names?"

"My youngest sister's Lynn and my other sister's Katelynn."

Rachel and I sat there, thinking about those names. I knew Rachel was thinking about it too—her furrowed eyebrows said it all.

"Wait," I had to say. Kate's head hung and she chuckled, "Yes?"

"You're Kate and your little sister's Lynn… So, your middle sister is Katelynn? Like some name sandwich?"

"I always thought that was funny. I never asked my parents about it, because I don't think they notice it either."

Rachel chuckled, one side of her lip curved into a smile, "What's it like to have siblings? All three of us are, like, single children."

"I know there's a stereotype about siblings hating each other, but I personally love mine. I can't think of any reason to dislike them, other than times they steal food from my plate. What about you guys? What's it like being a single child?"

"Nothing special, other than being more responsible." Rachel rolled her eyes. I nodded in agreement. "Do you talk to them?"

"I haven't in a while. I've been so busy." Kate tapped her pencil against her now filled page of sketches. "I should do that soon. I'm sure they miss me as much as I miss them."

"I'm finally done." I interrupted. I dropped my pencil down and ran my hands down my face. I feel like I'm gonna die… so much learning…

"Good job, Max." Kate held her hand out for a high five. I gave her one, weakly, and then slammed my head down on the book. Ow, fuck.

"What did I say about doing that?" Kate whined. Hearing that made me regret it instantly.

"Don't do it because you don't want to see me get hurt." I said that while looking down, but I lifted up as fast as I fell.

"I think this calls for dinnertime!" Rachel clasped her hands together. The Starbucks was surprisingly empty, but I could see Chloe's face that she was very happy with that. I lifted my arm and waved her down.

"Yeah?!" She acknowledged. She didn't move an inch.

"We want food!"

Chloe disappeared into the kitchen, as if she was also the only employee there. Wait, is she the only employee? I then heard Chloe and other guy talking, more like yelling and a loud thump. No, someone's here.

"Who is paying for this?" Kate asked.

"Me," Rachel replied right away, "And please don't be "I insist," no, I got it."

Kate looked at me and I looked back. I shrugged, I was used to it, "She pays for nearly everything."

Chloe came back out with four bags, sitting next to Rachel.

"Since I'm not doing anything, I'll join you," Chloe started to pass out the food, "I got the BLT, I got Rachel the turkey thing, I got Maximus Prime the bacon shit, and I got Kate a different turkey one because I didn't know what you wanted. Shit, I forgot drinks."

Chloe left again. All of us thanked her before she was completely gone and started to dig in. It was really quiet; I didn't know we were this hungry. I tried to eat slow, but I was ready to inhale it. I saw Chloe come back, but with only two cups.

"You guys can share, right?" She asked with a smirk.

Kate and I stared at the cup, but Kate replied, "Only if she's okay with it."

"Um... my cup is still full, actually. It's really cold, but I'll keep drinking it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah!" That was a lie. My coffee cup was completely empty, but I wasn't prepared for such a direct question.

We all ate and conversed occasionally, talking about our favorite movies and what we do in our spare time. I only listened, but everyone always looked at me in case I had something to say. Kate, Rachel, and even Chloe were getting along together. I finished my food first and pretended to drink out of my cup in very tiny sips. After I put the cup down, Chloe snatched it from my side and shook it around.

"This bitch empty!" She exclaimed. She threw it across the empty shop, echoing and bouncing off the tile. Great, I just got exposed for my horrible awkwardness.

"Max, it's okay, we could drink from the same one." Kate slid her cup to me. I hesitated, but I took the cover off and drank from the rim. I could hear Chloe and Rachel scoff in disbelief.

The other three eventually finished and we were the last ones to leave. Chloe had to get up early tomorrow to open the place again.

"My friends need me. Again," Kate announced as she took her phone out, reading off a text, "They're at a theater. I need them to pick me up."

"Kate, we could drop you off. Chloe has a car." I pointed at the gray matte car on the side of the street.

"It's fine," she started to type in a number, "You three already did a lot for me."

"We could take an Uber instead," Rachel suggested, "Or Max could."

Kate put her phone down. Her face was full of thought. I watched as looked around, pressing her lips together, and swinging her foot around. She eventually put her phone back in her pocket.

"Could we go together?" Kate asked Rachel.

"Of course," Rachel turn to me and Chloe, "I'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Yeah, we'll hang outside," Chloe grabbed my arm, "Let's go, Maxsacre."

We separated and, as soon as I closed the car door, Chloe punched me in the arm.

I grabbed and rubbed my arm. "What was that for?"

"That's for chickening out on indirectly kissing her."

"There's next time!"

"Okay, yeah, what the fuck ever." Chloe started the car. I just knew that I was going to get lectured at home. Stupid, Max.