"I am deeply sorry for what I have done earlier this week. What I have done was extremely out of line and disrespectful. From the bottom of my heart, I deeply regret what I did and hope the two individuals who were involved are okay and wish to help make things better. I do not expect everyone to forgive me for my actions; I know that I've let some of my fans down and I do not blame you if it takes time or I will never be forgiven. For right now, I will be focusing on myself and my actions. Thank you, RA."

"It doesn't even sound like Rachel wrote it." I stared at the Twitter thread on Rachel's profile on my phone. It sounded robotic, even in my head.

"It was probably some intern or social media person her manager has." Chloe rested her head on her hand as she leaned forward on the table we were using.

We sat in Starbucks and she was on her break. On this Monday, I didn't have class and she brought me in as she worked to get used to me being around. She decided to work tonight to "occupy her mind," as she kind of worded it. Everyone was in class or work, so it was pretty empty.

"Rachel's really good at stretching the truth." Chloe recalled. "Too good, actually."

"It comes with being a drama kid." I placed my phone down and turned my head around to crack my neck. Rachel could become an actress too. She really is too good at it.

"True. She keeps texting me at three AM to let me know that she loves me. It's pretty funny, but she's staying true to what she said. It's just us saying I love you back and forth."

"At least." I nodded and crossed my legs. I haven't heard from Kate for the past few days. I was worried, it made it hard to breathe sometimes, but I had to give her space. Still, I wanted to know how she was feeling or if she was okay.

"I leaned over and whispered, "You're still gonna work here?"

"For now," she replied, "Just like a week and then I'll quit. Then I'll have to take you with me to the club; I already told Dana. How's your schedule, by the way?"

"One on Tuesday again and one on Thursday," I recalled, "I have Advanced Lighting and Magic/Ritual."

She snorted, "Why magic?"

"It was all that was available!"

"Okay, whatever, you nerd. Aka, Kate's in neither one of those, because why would she take magic."

"She did great at tricking Victoria."

"That doesn't mean she'll use FAFSA money to take a class on it. Speaking of Kate, has she spoken to you?"

I shook my head, "No. I'm trying not to freak out about it."

"You're pretty shit at it." I let silence fall until she said, "Sorry, I mean, it's good you're doing that?"

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose, "If she wants to talk to me again, she will. I would be clingy if I even tried."


I sat alone next to a power outlet for my phone and laptop, looking through Amazon for cameras and film, and listening to music as much as possible, but time felt slower and lonelier. To make this day a little worse, the magazine decided to finally debut and were on stands, which was way worse timing than Rachel and Chloe coming home. I have seen the videos that came out and they were intense as hell. This controversy burned out brightly and quickly, as the tweets came out the day after she left. I hope everyone assumes that she was doing those things out of love, but at the same time, I hope she'll address it and say it anyway.

On top of that, I was sticking to my word and looking up places to find a therapist for both me and Chloe. I hadn't had to look for one in a while, but I knew there was some phone call interview or something like that. This is for the best. We have to do this!

I shut my laptop off as I saw Chloe starting to clean up and putting the chairs on the tables. From how quiet it was, Chloe was the only worker. I yawned as I put my stuff back in my bag.

"I feel hella shitty right now." Chloe groaned as she wiped a table down.

"It was a pretty busy day today."

"It's not even that. Seeing my coworkers trying to hand me drinks back there was hella surreal. They were so used to it that they tried to just shove them in my hands."

"Do you remember why they even gave them to you?"

"I have no clue. I don't give a fuck, I don't wanna know, I fucking hate this."

"You still have the X on your hand, at least."

"It won't come off." She shook her head and chuckled. "It's faded, but it's really stuck on there."

"It's been like three days!"

"And I wash my hands every-fucking-hour, it's still here!" She lifted her fist up and, yup, still there. We shared a laugh and simultaneously sighed.

"Okay, let me just finish doing this cleaning shit and we'll head out."


We went to HUE sf at around ten o'clock and it was just as empty of Starbucks during Chloe's break. It was more chilled out than the other nights I've been here. The blue lights seemed to match more and the music wasn't as blaring. I actually feel like I fit into this scene. I don't feel all that scared! When we saw Dana, she was just leaving the bar.

"Chloe, you're back!" Dana cheered as she noticed us. "And Max, you're here again!" She pulled me into a tight hug, "Chloe told me all about bringing you here."

"Yup, I'm gonna be here all night."

"That's great!" She had a firm hold on my arms. Her head turned to Chloe next to me, who was watching the moving lights. "Chloe, the owner is going to be here later tonight, so be prepared for that."

"Shit…"

"Yeah, but… you'll be fine! Just don't call him an asshat again."

I laughed at the comment, stopping when Chloe glared. To keep me on Chloe-watch, I sat at the same barstool at the very end of the bar and Dana took the one next to me. Chloe was behind the bar and dancing a little, probably to stop herself from grabbing a glass.

"I think it's pretty amazing that you and Chloe are still friends." Dana started the conversation.

"She's my partner-in-time! We sorta complete each other." I folded my arms and rested them on the table.

"It shows. And it's very cool that Chloe and Rachel are still together too! I never got to say how awesome that is!"

"They're basically my parents. Between you and me, they're both thinking about marriage, but they don't know that they're both thinking about it. Know what I mean?"

"Shut the fuck up, that's amazing! I can't even think about stuff like that right now. I'm just a bartender and my boyfriend is a tattoo artist. We're just settling in."

"Did he do the one on your arm?"

"Yeah!" She held her right arm out. Looking closer, it was a large design of the comedy and tragedy masks. "That's how we met."

"Wowser, like he asked you out while he was doing it?"

"Not during, but after. He was awkward about it, but that made him way better."

"That's hella cool."

"You got into saying that too, huh?"

"Again, Rachel and Chloe are my moms."

"True," she laughed, leaning on the table, and crossing her legs, "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"We're talking about them and me and our relationships, but what about you?! Are you still with Warren?"

I shook my head, "No, he's just a friend now. He has a boyfriend, actually!"

"Shut up that's cute. Then, have you met anyone? Cute boy, cute girl?"

I couldn't help but let out a shy giggle, "I dunno right now. I met this amazing girl, but… I dunno what we are. We're stuck in between, I guess."

"What's going on?"

"I can't really explain it. It's kinda confusing."

She hummed and said with a smirk, "Try me."

I took a deep breath. I couldn't explain much to her; I felt like every word I said was too much. It was like it came out in one breath. She nodded her head periodically to let me know she was still listening. In my monologue, I looked at Chloe occasionally and she was doing fine (though there were a few times she was pulling a drink to her face) and made a few drinks for people. "So yeah, that was my week."

"God, you must be so confused." She rubbed her hand on my back. I can't think of a word better than confused. I wish I could; it doesn't fully describe how I feel.

"A little bit."

"We could totally talk about something else, if you want."

I perked up again, "Well, you! You and your life and how you even got here."

"If you have to know," she exaggerated, flipping her hair, "I moved here in February. I met my boyfriend about a year ago and we were living together for a bit in Oregon and then he was like "I always wanted to live in San Francisco." So, we're here now." She shrugged her shoulders.

"How simple."

"We're both simple people. I went through enough in Blackwell, the whole clique thing and… pregnancy thing. Then Oregon was just crappy and I lost all my friends, so I've been laying low!"

"Whoa, no Juliet, no Hayden, no Taylor…?"

"Nope, we all sort of drifted off. I don't mind though." She was still smiling after saying that. "I do miss Juliet. I would love to be with her again."

I expected that. I wish I could help her with that. It was nice to know that she was still herself, carefree and hella nice, and hasn't really changed a bit. I felt pretty comfortable around her, even after not connecting for a year. I scoffed, "Blackwell, what a crazy ass place."

"You said it, Max. I hope we get to hang out more now that you'll be coming here."

"Of course! Do you have a new number?"

After exchanging our numbers, our conversation went on and on like my school and how we felt about living in San Francisco. It felt great to connect to someone again that wasn't Chloe, Rachel, or even Kate. She admitted that she hasn't spoken to a lot of people either and so our relationship became a lot closer in one sitting.

"I haven't spoken to her in a few days. I want to give her space, but it's hard."

"I bet. I'm sure she has her reasons." Dana sat closer, but I was okay with her being in my bubble.

"I know that, but!" I was ready to reason with myself, trying to make myself feel hopeful, "I dunno, there's no but here."

"She'll come back to you when she's ready, okay?"

"I hope so—"

"Are you ready yet or what?" Chloe sneaked up on us, scaring both of us, "Because the manager likes me now and I don't want him to hate my ass again."

"Oh shit," Dana took her phone, the screen shining onto her face, "It's three already? We should do this every night!"

"I would like that a lot."

Chloe groaned, running her hand down her face, "I'm hella tired."

"Sleep off the rest of the night," Dana insisted, "I'll clean up."

Without missing a beat, "See ya, Ward."

"See you tomorrow night, Dana."


I nearly fell asleep during the car ride home. We were so dead tired that we didn't speak to each other during the whole travel. When we got home, we took turns using the bathroom, she took the couch and I took the bed, and as soon as I plopped down in bed, my phone decided to ring again. I turned off the light in my room and went back to bed, listening to the vibration on the table. I ignored it at first, but when it stopped and rang again, I had to grab.

It could just be Dana wondering if we got home safely.

I rubbed my eye and looked at my screen, Kate. I was shaken at first to see Kate's name and her smiling face on my phone; I rubbed my eyes again to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

Stay calm, you're as cool as an iceberg.

I answered it, not saying a word.

"Hello?" She said after a minute.

"Hi, um," I kind of gasped and bit my lip, "How are you?"

"I didn't mean to bother you so late—"

"It's fine! It's okay. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, I guess. I went to see a therapist and my doctor yesterday."

"That's good."

"And, I wanted to apologize for not even texting you one thing. So many of my friends have been blowing up my phone and I hung out with them." There was still sorrow in her voice, but I still wanted to give her some space on that subject. I pushed the questions away, as much as I didn't want to.

"No, it's fine, Kate, really. I've been busy too." Busy in our words being staying in a coffee shop and a club for hours. "I'm glad that you've been with your friends and seek help. Which reminds me, I have to do that."

"That would be good." She chuckled lightly. "Do you have class tomorrow?"

"Yeah, in the evening."

"Me too! Meet up at the curb before class?"

"Five o'clock?"

"Yes."

"Alright… okay! Um, goodnight, Kate, see you tomorrow at five."

"Goodnight Max. Sleep well."

She hung up, prompting me to slam my face into my pillow and scream into it.