I woke up Thursday morning with a minor headache. It was from the all-nighter I had to pull, not from homework I had, but because Chloe was starting to feel sick. She was really warm when I touched her forehead and was having stomach aches, so I was up checking up on her. Turns out, her anxiousness and coughing were from the throwing up and a late reaction from being out in the ocean in Long Beach.
I think I've yawned about a million times before I had to leave early for school. I didn't mind the bus; I just hope no one will talk to me.
My morning consisted of making ramen, setting up medicine, and getting ready for my day, though very slowly. After dressing up and yawning once again, I checked on her. She was done talking to her managers about being sick.
"You'll be okay being alone?" I asked as I tied my hair up.
"I'll be okay." She sniffled. She was lying down over the blanket, clearly sweating and overheated.
"Do you want me to call Rachel or will you do that?"
"I'll do that. Run to school already, Maximum Overdrive."
I chuckled, "Alright, see you later."
As I rode the bus, I was distracted by seeing people, other cars, and passing businesses. I had my earphones plugged in, listening to alt-J and Hannah Telle, thinking about getting something Starbucks for Kate. It was the least I could do and just be like "thanks for hanging out with me?" It was so weird, but the whole Long Beach trip, along with Kate's secrets, was bothering me. I forced myself to ignore it for, not only for myself, but her and our friendship too. I folded my arms, gripping my flannel shirt as I slid down a bit in my seat. Max, you're selfish for thinking that way.
When I got off the bus, I took a walk down a couple blocks and decided to buy the usual for Kate—chocolate cake pops. I decided to eat one on the way to the library, where we agreed to see each other, and went inside to our table. I wasn't sure if I liked the taste or if I was starting to like it, but either way, it was in my mouth.
She was sitting in the closest table, distracted, and writing in her notebook. I saw she had two coffee cups in front of her, also from Starbucks, and it made her look like she had the same addiction as me. I lightly dropped the bag in front of her, catching her attention. She smiled up at me and whispered a shy "hi" and waved her hand for me to sit down.
"You like coffee as much as I do?" I asked with a chuckle.
She giggled and turned one of the cups around, revealing a yellow post-it note with "For Max" written on it with a little smiley face next to it. She pushed it towards me and went back to her work, pencil in one hand and a cake pop in another. I tried to read it, even squinting my eyes like it helped, and saw they were notes for what looked like renaissance. She has already filled the page with bullet points and little doodles in the margins.
I folded my arms on the table and rested my chin on them, watching her write perfectly along the blue lines. I sipped my coffee from time to time, continuing to stay quiet. My cheeks felt like they were heating up when I noticed Kate was back in that skirt and suspenders outfit, but her hair was in the same bun. Her arms were exposed again, but they looked unmarked and clear. Maybe it was all in my head. They felt hotter when I saw she was also wearing the bracelet she bought for us.
"Excited for class today?" She asked.
Oh, right. She already went to class and they were most likely from today. Shit, I still had somewhere to go. My heart sped up immediately at the thought of having to interact and that there might be another introduction shit I wanted no part of.
"Not really..." I grumbled as I took a bigger gulp. "Chloe was sick so I was up taking care of her. But, I'll be fine, class has to do with lights, so I'll live."
"Is she okay being alone?"
"Yeah, she'll be fine. She's gonna talk to Rachel for hours, even when she's busy."
"That's nice. Of you and of Rachel."
I smiled, weakly chuckling, and resting my forehead on my arms, "Oh dog, I'm so tired…"
"Do you want to walk together to class?"
"I don't want to bother you and you're doing homework."
"You're not, but this is important."
I then felt a hand on my head, petting me and fixing my hair. "Don't worry, Max, you'll be fine."
I said "dog" a lot, but I didn't mean I wanted to be petted or walked. Though, being petted did feel kinda nice. I hope she was going to keep going, but after a moment, it stopped and I lifted my head again. She was sipping from her cup, sighing after and then went back to her notes.
"Since she's sick, I guess now would be inappropriate to ask if you could sleep over?"
What? Did I hear that correctly? She wants me to stay over at her apartment? But, Victoria is there? And she hates me?
"You want me to sleep over? At your place?"
"I felt kind of bad for bringing you to the party, so if you want, you could sleep over for the night at my place. I already spoke to Victoria about you being over and it took some convincing, but she said she'll allow it. Just for one night. But, if Chloe's sick, I could ask another time."
"My only issue is our trip over. Chloe's the one that drives. I would love to, though. Let me text her then." I took my phone out and took another sip of coffee. Hey Chloe, would it be weird if I stayed over at Kate's?
"I wouldn't want to put Chloe through a lot of sh—stuff, though. Should she come along too?"
"If she wants to. She might feel better if I change it to tomorrow? I have class tomorrow in the morning and then I'll talk to Victoria about you staying over for the weekend. Is that better?"
"Yes!" I perked up, my voice echoed through the building. I looked around me, causing Kate to giggle. I cleared my throat, "I mean—Yes, that would be better."
I checked my phone: Not today.
"Yeah, tomorrow would be good. I'll come over in the afternoon?" I said once more. Kate smiled, nodded, and mouthed some words. I tried to read them and what I got was, "So cute."
She started to blush and I started to blush, I was sure we were emitting gay energy from both of us. I checked the time and only about thirty minutes passed since I got there.
I had to do something before I start to implode, so I took out my sketchbook and angled it just enough so Kate couldn't see the paper. She went back to her work and I started to do what she did: draw something pretty. I tried not to be so obvious about drawing her, but judging by the smile on her face, I was being the most obvious. It wasn't going to look as detailed or even as cool as Kate's drawing of me, but if I showed this to someone, they'll know it was supposed to be her.
I finished up her hair and putting shading in places they go and I handed it to Kate to critique. Oh, my dog, critique was the worst part about being in art school. My anxiety goes from a hundred to a million when I had to present my work. Being a photographer meant there was deep meaning to everything we take pictures of and explaining it was difficult.
"This is good," Kate started. "You can add more darker shades so there's more depth. See, in places like my neck and my fingers."
She started to add her personal touch to it, adding darker tones. Like before, I was mesmerized and fixed on watching her hands. It was the same fix I had when I looked in her eyes. Everything about Kate was just so soft and kind and—wowser, that was gay.
"You understand what I showed you?" She asked me.
"Uh, y-yeah," I said. She passed my book back to me and it did, in fact, looked better. I closed the book and shoved it back in my bag, crushing some papers in the process. As much as I didn't want to go to class, I couldn't miss the first day. I put on a brave face and asked her, "Can I hug you before I go?"
"Of course." Kate stood up and pulled me, putting her arms around my neck. "You don't have to ask."
I hugged her back, "I wasn't sure."
"See you tomorrow at one, okay?"
"Yeah, can't wait."
We separated, I grabbed my coffee cup, and headed out. As soon as the library door closed behind me, I allowed myself to jump around and feel heat rise to my cheeks. I probably looked like a tomato, but I didn't care, I was excited for not only what just happened, but for another three days with Kate.
My class was on the very first floor in the back of the building, so I chugged my coffee down and threw it into the next trash can I saw. I passed Evan, Steph and Scorch, and even Warren while he was working. I never went through a hallway and greeted people before, and doing that now was... nice. It felt good to talk to more than two people before class, I nearly forgot I was nervous at all.
I went into class with higher spirits, welcomed by about four people, including the teacher, sitting on the floor and surrounded by studio lights. I recognized one person and she was the first person I saw because she was wearing all white.
"Hey Max!" She raised her hand.
"Hey, uh, Blaziken, right?" I sat next to her, hugging my knees to my chest.
"Yup," she replied. "I'm a TA for this class."
"Oh, cool, to help move stuff around?"
"Pretty much. From what it looks like, they'll only be three people for this class."
Another person came in, slightly in a hurry, and entered by slamming the door open. I recognized her too for blonde-and-white hair and her blue shirt, but mostly for the fact that I just passed her on the way here.
"Wow," the teacher checked his watch, "Right on time."
She put both of her thumbs up and sat next to me, squishing me in the middle.
"Scorch, I thought you were going somewhere with Steph?"
"I was... I was walking with her to her class." She admitted. "But I couldn't because she said she had to take the elevator and—"
"Ahem! Class is now in session."
The last thing I expected was a lot of movement. The first two hours of class was having to take the studio lights and put them in different places of the room and the second half was going through the hallways and looking through windows like creeps and even stepping outside for natural light. Luckily, my bag was a little lighter from taking my laptop out and forgetting to put it back. It was a relief, because my back would be broken by now, for sure. I was still tired when class was over and I desperately wanted to lie down in class and sleep there instead. Of course, I didn't, I walked with Blaziken and Scorch until we had to split paths at the bus stop.
"See you around, Max!"
"Bye, you guys." I waved my hand at them.
I was standing there for a moment, waiting for the bus to come. Then, I suddenly heard a voice. It wasn't far and I could tell it was coming from the right, where the school was.
"Hey, Max!" I heard again. When I focused my eyes, I finally realized who it was.
"Juliet!" I called back. The first thing she did was playfully punch my arm.
"It's been so long! I was shocked to see you at that party!" She smiled wide. "How are you?"
She looked like she hasn't changed a day. She was still the same Juliet Watson I remembered a year ago, down to her semi-aggressive and extroverted nature. She seemed happy to be here at all, maybe even to see someone she knew?
"I'm fine. How was Chicago?"
"Good, but so fucking boring." She rolled her eyes. "All I was able to do was be in school and be a cheerleader. Like, how pathetic is that?"
"Ah, maybe boring for you. I don't think that's pathetic at all."
"Whatever you say. I'm so glad that I found you! I just wanted to finally connect. I have to go with some friends, so I'll see you around, okay?"
We waved goodbye to each other as she walked away. Right on time, the bus arrived.
After the bus ride and riding the elevator of my apartment building, I walked in on Chloe sitting on the couch with a bowl in her hand and watching what sounded like an action movie on TV.
"Hey Max Mayfield." She greeted me. She was in a lot better shape than earlier and didn't sound so stuffy anymore.
"Hi Chloe." I dropped my bag next to the couch and dropped myself on the couch, resting on Chloe's shoulder. I could smell the chicken ramen noodles I had to make from her bowl.
"Class was boring?"
"More like class had too much to do. I had to walk so much... and I have homework!" I groaned. "I see you're feeling better."
"Hella better." She replied. "To be hella gay, you know what I love about Rachel?"
"I don't know, everything?"
"No... well, yeah," She shrugged her shoulder. "But dude, her eyes... are the fucking shit."
"That's surprising," I lifted my head up, "coming from you, too."
"I was Skyping with her and I'm so fucking gay. Like, what's that color? It's like brown, but not?"
"... Hazel?"
"Yeah! I was like, "fuck.'" She put her bowl on the coffee table, grabbing my arm. "Literally, hot damn."
I couldn't help but chuckle. Chloe could write a whole book about why she loved Rachel so much. I folded my arms, "But still... everything."
"Fucking duh." She let go of me. "Anyway, what was that text about sleeping over?"
"Oh, Kate said she felt bad for bringing me to that party, because I nearly had an anxiety attack, I kinda did, now that I think about it. So, she asked about sleeping over, but then I told her you were sick. But, how about you? Do you want to come along?"
"I think I should." She answered with very little confidence. "But, I don't want to be stuck with Victoria."
"No one does, but you don't have to hang out with her." I assured. "And you should, only because I should keep an eye on you. Keeping you home alone for now is bad, don't you think?"
She was silent, looking down and nodding. Saying with a smile, "Good idea."
