~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Max ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sunlight streaming in through the windows, slowly pulls me from dreamland. With a yawn, and a bleary look around, the previous evenings activities slowly work their way through the haze of sleep. I smile, and look back to find Chloe still curled up in bad next to me. Always remember this moment Max, I tell myself as I reach over to grab my phone. I load the picture app, and take a shot of Chloe's sleeping form. She so cute when she's sleeping. I adjust the angle, and lean back a bit till we both appear in the shot, and take a second one. Looking over the pictures, I notice in the second one, Chloe's actually wide awake, and making bunny ears behind my head. I look back at her, and see she's laying there with her eyes closed, so I lean down really close to her ear to whisper. "Faaaaaaaaaaker..." She erupts in a fit of giggles, and turns her face to mine. "I don't know what you're talking about, I just woke up." I capture her lips with my own, and kiss her sweetly. "Mhmmm..." I hum into her lips, before pulling back. "Sure you did." she laughs again, and I let myself flop down on top of her. "Let's never leave this bed. I'm hella comfortable right now." She laughs, and struggles around trying to dislodge me. "We can't... Mom would eventually wonder what was up, and come ruin your stay in bed forever plan." I roll off of her with an exaggerated sigh. "You're right, my plan is doomed to failure. Everything is ruined forever..." she laughs, and rolls over on top of me. She hangs above me looking down into my eyes, smiling. "I hope not everything forever..." she leans down and kisses me gently. I bring my hands up, running them slowly along her sides. "Okay, not Everything. This certainly hasn't been ruined." I lean up to kiss her again, more deeply this time.
I start to tromp downstairs, my hair still wet, from my shower. I can here the shower starting up again as Chloe takes her turn. I know it's way too soon, and I just had one, but I really want nothing more than to turn around and sneak in to join her. I take a deep breath, and continue downstairs, I really don't want to fuck this up over an attack of hormones. It smells good downstairs, and I can hear Joyce in the kitchen. I smile as I walk up to the doorway and lean against it like I did that first morning. She looks over at me, her brow perking up curiously. "Well don't you just look like the cat who ate the canary." Uh-oh, she sounds like she's on to me, but about what is the question. I give her my best innocent look, and shrug. "Well if that means I'm really happy I get to be here for when you're cooking breakfast, then I certainly do." She laughs softly, and I'm not sure whether she bought it or not. "That was was smooth Max, I'll give you that." She shakes her head still smiling amused. "I know you're a young woman now, and I'm not going to tell you when you can come and go, I just hope you're not getting into any trouble while you're out traipsing around at all hours of the night." I do have the temerity to look ashamed of myself at her not unfounded accusation. "You uh... heard us go then, or did we wake you when we came back in?" She makes a fondly exasperated sound, and shakes her head. "Does it really matter?" I let out a sigh, and shake my head. "No, probably not. But I want you to know there was No trouble okay? I couldn't sleep, and Chloe was nice enough to keep me comp-" She holds up a hand to cut me off. "Max honey, I'm not accusing you of anything, and I'm not trying to stop you from living your life, I'm just worried is all. I don't like you sneaking out, without so much as a note, and I don't really appreciate Chloe picking up thoughtless habits." That needles at me, and I can feel the frown forming. I kind of want to yell at her, I'm eighteen, I'm legally an adult, and I can go where I want. But this is Joyce, she's like my other Mom, and she's letting me live here, I really should try harder. "Max, I know you're a grown woman now, and I'm not trying to tie you down, and heaven knows I would Never try and keep you and Chloe apart. I just want to know you're safe. Would it be too much to ask you leave me a note next time?" I deflate, all the anger flooding out of me, and leaving behind more shame. I stare at my feet. "Yeah, no... I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. Next time there will be a note for sure." She sighs, and opens up her arms to me. "Come here Max... thank you for be willing to humor a silly, worried old lady." I fall into her arms, and let her give me a tight mom hug. "You're not old Joyce, and you've got plenty of reason to be worried. I'm not exactly a good influence... Not that Chloe needs one. She so..." I shake my head. "...much better than me." Joyce perks her eyebrow at me for a moment, and shakes her head. "Oh Max, I can't imagine what you've been through, but you're still you under there. You're a little rough maybe, but you're still a good person. Chloe and I are lucky to have you back in our lives." She takes a deep breath and steps back making shooing motions at me. "Now go on, and sit down, breakfast will be ready soon."
Chloe comes downstairs, and heads straight into the kitchen. I see her giving Joyce a good morning hug, before she heads my way, and settles down at the table next to me. She scoots her chair a little closer, and gives me a big smile. I can't help but grin back at her. I probably look like an idiot right now, but I don't even care a little. I slide my leg over a little until my foot touches hers, covertly making sure we remain in some kind of physical contact. It just feels so wrong, with space between us right now. Still I don't know how Chloe feels about public displays, or what she wants her mom to know, or if it's just way to early to be worrying about things like that. I want to get this right, we should actually probably talk about this. I snap to attention when Joyce clears her throat. She sitting across the table from me, and plates have been set in front of both me and Chloe. I can feel my cheeks starting to burn, as I realize I was completely spaced out staring at Chloe. Joyce is smirking at us, like she knows a secret, or like she knows we have one. "Is there something going on I should know about? You know girls... If there's ever anything you want to, tell me, or Talk to me about, I'm always willing listen. Good news, or bad... far be it from me to make judgments, I'm here for you." Coughing softly I hunch down over my plate. "I'm... going to follow Chloe's lead on this one." and I begin shoveling food in my mouth. I totally just threw her under the bus, but I have no idea what else I should have said, and I really am going to be following her lead on this. My fork clatters onto the plate, when Chloe's well aimed kick startles me. I look over at her, and shrug. She gives me a significant look, and I respond by looking back wide eyed, making a counter clockwise motion with my finger out of Joyce's sight, and hoping that it comes across as a "rewind" motion. Chloe sighs, and shakes her head. Joyce for her part, just looks amused by our little pantomime show. "Mom, it's... I'm not sure... I mean Max is..." she purses her lips, frowning mildly. "This is all really new for me, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say now." She gives me the help me eyes, and I take a deep breath, and reach over to take her hand. "I care about Chloe very much Joyce.. and Um... so we're kind of giving this a...try. It's kinda new, I mean kinda not for me, exactly, but I mean we only really decided this last night so... new?" Chloe looks over at me confused. "Not new for you?" I give her back a half smile, and shrug one shoulder. "Not... really. I've kinda had a thing for you since we were little. I mean I didn't really expect it to... still be a thing since we had been apart for so long but..." I shrug my one shoulder again. "...here we are." I lift her hand to my lips and kiss the back of it gently. She grins at me, her cheeks coloring softly. "That was so cheesy Max. When did you get so mushy?" I wrinkle my nose at her, and stick out my tongue. "Shut it Price, you know you like-" The sound of Joyce chuckling startles me back to reality, and I end up dropping Chloe's hand like it burned me. I forgot she's been here the whole time, watching us. She holds up her hands as Chloe, and I stare at her, bot of us wearing similar looks of embarrassment. "Don't let me interrupt. I've had my suspicions confirmed, and I'm glad to know I was right." She smirks, as she stands. "Now, I doubt I need to tell you not to hurt each other, but if you do... there'll be hell to pay, excuse my french. Now I've got to get off to work, you girls have a good day." she smooths her hands down her uniform, and heads towards the door. Chloe and I stare at each other for a moment, and start laughing.
"That, went better than I could have hoped." I lace my fingers with Chloe's, and give her hand a little squeeze. "I know Joyce is really cool, but still, I wasn't sure..." Chloe laughs softly, and shrugs. "Yeah, Mom's really great." she bites her lip uncertainly, as her eyes find our clasped hands, and examine them carefully. "So, does this mean you love me?" I stare at her dumbfounded for a moment. "Chloe I have Always loved you. Just... You know maybe not always in the same way... but.." I nod reluctantly. "I know it seems fast, but... It's been there for a long time for me. I'm not expecting anything from you, or anything... Really I didn't even want you to know yet... but, it slipped out, and I didn't take it back." I shrug, looking everywhere but at Chloe. "I hope that doesn't freak you out." Chloe takes a deep breath and let's it out slowly. "It doesn't exactly... I'm more freaked out by how I feel right now. I'm starting to realize maybe that I've felt the same way about you for a long time too, and I had no idea what it meant. I feel good, I do, excited, happy.. but also scared. It's intense, and it's scary... does that make sense?" I nod, and squeeze her hand. " Yeah, It makes perfect sense. I'm right there with you. I'm always nervous something's going to go wrong, or I'm going to fuck up...I mean it's not exactly the same, I just mean I understand how all that happiness can come with fear, and you know, when I first started really examining my sexuality, I was scared by how I felt too. It was intense... and it felt good, but it was scary." I give her hand another squeeze. "I'm here for you, with you. If you need support, or to talk, or anything... even if it's to complain about how much of a bitch I am, I'm here." Chloe laughs, and it floods me with a sense of relief that breaks the growing sense of anxiety that was building in my chest since this conversation started. "Max, you're not a bitch... despite the look, you're actually really sweet." I put on a mock offended face, and stare at her. "How dare you! I'm the Queen badass bitch, and I have no idea where you've gotten this idea that I'm all sweet and shit." I pull her in towards me, leaning in to meet her half way. I wouldn't want to cause her to fall off her chair, and ruin the moment. Our lips meet, and like always it's perfect. Her lips are soft, and sweet, and she responds so readily, like we were always meant to do this. Hell maybe we were, maybe soulmates isn't just a mushy pile of bullshit. Her tongue brushes my lips, and I part them for her readily, my train of thought completely lost in her boldness. She kisses me with an intensity I didn't realize was humanly possible. When she finally pulls away I'm left breathless. "Wowser..." is all I can huff out. She starts laughing at my eloquence, and after a moment I get caught up in her joy, and join in too.
Hand in hand, Chloe and I make our way out of the house, and down the walk to where I have my Jeep parked. I release Chloe's hand reluctantly to head around to the drivers side, where so asshole has slit open my window. "Fuck! Goddamn hick-ass prick bastards!" Chloe comes running around the vehicle, worried. "What is it? What happened?" I shake my head, and sigh. " Sorry... Some Asshole slit open my window. Probably stole my radio, and my stash... I guess it's a good thing I'm not living out of this thing anymore, or I could have lost a lot more." I sigh again, and Chloe gives me a wry smile as she wraps me up in a hug. I want to continue to be mad, and I kinda am, but the hugging definitely makes it difficult to keep a rage going. I pull away slowly. "Come on, let's asses the damage, and get you off to school." I get up on my toes, and press a quick kiss to Chloe's lips. Her cheeks flush softly, and she looks around nervously. "Sorry... Not trying to out you to the neighborhood or anything." I pull my door open, to find, my stereo still in place. The confusion I'm feeling is evident on my face, and I climb into the jeep to check the back seat. I pull back the blanket I'm using to keep my booze out of sight, and I find it all there too. My frown deepens, as I take that in, and I go to check the glove compartment. My stash is still intact, a little low, but that's all on me. "What the fuck... Everything is still here. Did some little punk bitch just slash my window and run?" Chloe opens the passengers side, and peeks in. Her eyes zero in on something, and she points towards my side. "What's that under your seat?" My eyes go wide. "Dude did someone put a fucking bomb in my car or some shit?" Chloe stares at me like I'm an idiot, and I begin to blush under her gaze. I certainly feel like one now. "No.. it look like a file." I give her a confused look. "You know, like a paper file." I shrug, and reach down feeling around under my seat for the file in question. It's a thick brown file folder that I pull out. There's a post-it stuck to the front that reads: "To: Dyke1 and Dyke2 this might be helpful to you." Fuck you too mystery vandal. I rip the post-it off the front of the file and crumple it up. Tossing it behind me, I flip it off for good measure, and Chloe's starting to look at me like she's regretting that she ever let me kiss her. I smile sheepishly at her and shrug. "Dude is a prick, even if they might actually be trying to help. Plus they called you a dyke... rude." Her cheeks flush a little, but she laughs. "So what is it?" I shrug a again, and open up the file. It appears to be the police file for the Rachel Amber case. My eyebrows try and touch my hairline. "Holy fuck dude! This is the fucking Rachel Amber file...the Police one!" Surprise is written all over Chloe's face as she leans closer to look at the file in question. "Did our mysterious helper leave their name? How did they even get this? Is it even the real thing?" I shake my head, sifting through all her questions. "Um... no they didn't, and I really don't know about the other two. Still since all we really have amounts to only about jack, and squat, it probably couldn't make anything worse." Chloe frowns at me, and shakes her head. " I don't know about this Max, we should be careful... this could be a wild goose chase or something." Nodding my agreement, I put the file on the back seat. "Yeah maybe, but we shouldn't just dismiss it out of hand either. I'll look it over while you're in class, and we can decide what to do later. I mean come on, even if it's a false lead.. we have Powers Chloe, we have a major advantage." She nods slowly, not seeming completely convinced. "Yeah... I guess so. Still... I mean who knows we're doing this, and How do they know?" I chew my lip, my brows furrowing in consternation. "That's... a good question. Maybe Junkyard phone guy? He said some weird stuff about dreams... like maybe he's some kind of psychic or something? I mean he sounded a little unhinged, and wrapped up in whatever is going on, but... I mean it sounded kinda like he wasn't too happy being a pawn in whatever it is either." Chloe shrugs, and I give her a shrug in return. "I agree we should be careful though." Chloe smiles at me, looking a little relieved, like she thought maybe I'd suggest something crazy. I mean I probably will, just not yet. Not till I have more information to form a crazy plan around. I lean over and kiss her on the cheek. "Buckle up... Let's get you to school."
Blackwell's parking lot is about as crowded as usual, which is to say it's really not too bad. Chloe hops out of the jeep, and starts towards the main campus, while I settle in to wait here in case she needs me. I watch her walking away, and she occasionally looks back at me as she goes. I give her a really goofy grin each time. I can't help it, I'm insanely happy right now. She really not far away yet, when I notice a tall blonde heading her way with determination. I don't like the aggressive way she's carrying herself, so I get out of the Jeep, and start to head over. She reaches Chloe long before I can, and I can see them speaking, I can't quite hear what it's about but it looks like the prissy bitch is pissed about something. Her hand suddenly comes up, and she slaps Chloe across the face. I take off running now, and don't even try to find out what's going on. I just slam right into her bodily, sending her to the ground. She lets out an ear-splitting shriek, and tries to get back to her feet. Stepping forward a bit, I place my boot on her hand, and press down. Not too hard, but enough to keep her pinned to the ground. "Get off of me you bitch!" she screams up at me from her place on the ground. Chloe places her hand on my shoulder gently to get my attention. "Max... we're drawing a crowd." I frown looking around, at the students starting to gather around. I consider giving her a swift kick, but decide to take the highroad. I just rewind instead. Her hand suddenly comes up, and I'm there to grab it. "Don't you fucking touch her." I hiss at her, as I interpose myself between the two of them. Miss Priss wears the shock of my appearance, mingled with a little bit of fear plain on her face, as I glare up at her. It doesn't last long though, she carefully schools her expression back into one of disinterested superiority as she switches her attention to back to Chloe. "I Knew she had something to do with you Price. So what now? You going have your little attack dog maul me like you had her do to Nathan? My frown deepens, as I stare up at her. "Fuck off... he attacked first. I just finished it before he could do anything to Chloe." Her gaze shifts to me, and she sneers. "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Price." I grip her arm more tightly, and sneer right back at her. " Well I'm talking to you, and your little boy-toy Nathan started that shit." She turns her glare back over to Chloe. "Are you going to call your bitch off or what?" Chloe purses her lips, and sighs. "I don't control Max..." she spits at the other girl, then shifts her gaze to me. "but, you should probably let her go before we start drawing attention to ourselves." I narrow my eyes up at the well groomed girl, and finally let go. "Yeah, sure, you make a good point." I don't take my eyes off of her as I address Chloe. She begins rubbing her arm where I had grabbed her, and I smirk up at her. Chloe sighs softly. "Victoria... Look I'm sorry, Max is a little protective." So Victoria is her name, it sounds about as pretentious as she looks. She spares a glance my way and sneers. "You need to keep her..." she jabs a finger in my direction aggressively. "Away from Nathan. He has enough problems without a couple of mangy dykes deciding to play pinata with the rich kid." I place my two finger at the corners of my mouth, in a vee shape, and flick my tongue between them at Vicky. She wrinkles her nose."Why are you even here? You don't go here." Chloe let's out a long suffering sigh, and I stop immediately. I really should try to not make this worse. "She's here, because she's worried about me, she's been here to protect me. Nathan's been... I mean haven't you noticed anything lately? You're dating him or something like that right?" Victoria frowns, and shakes her head. "We're not dating, but he is my best friend." I decide to push my way into the conversation here. "He's your best friend, so you'd do whatever it takes to protect him right? You came out here to confront Chloe, because you thought she was responsible, just like I've been coming here everyday and waiting around in the parking lot in case Chloe gets harassed again." She narrows her eyes at me for a moment, and then slowly let's out a breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. "As loathe as I am to say it, you make a coherent point. For some random low-life... And..." she nods reluctantly. "I'll admit he's been a little, off lately. I just figured his father was getting on him again. Nate just wants to be a photographer, and his Father keeps going on about him embracing his destiny, or something, that basically just boils down into him trying to force Nate to be just like him." Chloe nods, almost reaches out to Victoria, and then thinks better of it. "Look, I don't know what's going on, just... we don't want to fight." I nod my agreement with Chloe. "Yeah, I mean despite my badass appearance, I'm a better lover than a fighter." I give Chloe a wink, and she looks away her cheeks coloring lightly. Victoria makes a disgusted noise, and shakes her head. "Just stay away from Nathan, and I'll see what I can do about keeping him away from you." and with that she turns and strides away from us, somehow making it all look very dignified. Chloe turns to me, and reaches out to take my hand. "Max... I appreciate that you stepped in, but... did you have to tease her quite so hard?" I frown mildly, and squeeze her hand. "I... well she's throwing around the word dyke like it's an insult, and that pisses me off. Plus she hit you, so I wasn't feeling too generous to begin with. She's lucky teasing is all she got." She purses her lips at me for a moment, and nods. "It didn't get worse, and you did talk her down anyway... Which was awesome by the way." I smirk up at her. "Are you really so surprised by my awesomeness?" She smirks right back down at me, and nods. " I am, I had no idea you had it in you." I laugh and give her a playful swat on the arm. "It's a good thing you're cute." I get up on my toes to kiss her cheek gently. "Now go and get to class before you're late." I give her cheek another quick kiss, and step back. She smiles at me brightly, and I feel a pang of loss already. "I'll see you later Max." she turns and heads for the main building, while I wave after her. "I'll be here Chloe." She looks back at me once, and smiles. "I'll always be here." I add quietly to her retreating form.
With plenty of time to kill, I hop back into the jeep, and rummage around in the back seat to retrieve the police file. I figure I can try and be a little productive with my downtime, I mean it's not like I have anything else to do between now and lunch. Lunch time is more Chloe time. I can't help but smile at the thought, I miss her already. Is that weird? I shake off my thoughts, and crack open the file folder. There's the usual stuff, like on T.V. or whatever, like some pictures, and statements. The Officer in charge seems or seemed to have been a detective Madsen. There were some pictures alluding to a different investigation into a suspected Low Level drug dealer named Frank Bowers. Could that be the same Frank that junkyard dude mentioned? Looks like she was really close to this Bowers guy, if those pictures are anything to go by. Trouble with her drug dealer boyfriend maybe? But how would Nathan fit into that. Maybe she was dating Nathan, and was trading favors for drugs to Bowers. When Nathan found out he did something to her? I wonder if detective Madsen keeps anything else about this case at home with him. Might be worth looking into later. I set aside the pictures and start reading over the written statements attached to the file. Most of them say the same kinds of things. Rachel was very open about wanting to leave Arcadia Bay, that she wanted to head back to California, where she was from originally and try to make it as a model, or actress, or something. It's also commonly mentioned that she was was last seen at a Vortex club party, with Nathan Prescott. That definitely sounds suspicious, and it would seem like Madsen agreed. There are a bunch of co-ordinates attached to a file on Nathan's SUV. The make and model, the color, and the license plate number. That could come in handy. I set the file aside, and lean back in my seat. Maybe I should consider breaking into Nathan's dorm room to see if I can find a connection between him and Bowers. I wonder if daddy Prescott keeps a home around Arcadia Bay, and if Nathan stays in the dorms because they don't get along, or if all he has is offices or whatever around here. That might be good to try and find out too. A yawn escapes my lips and I check the clock. It's only been about an hour and a half. Maybe a nap would be good between now, and lunch. We were out pretty late the other night. I grin in spite of myself. It was a very good night, we had so much fun together. We laughed, and kissed, and now we're a thing. Me, and Chloe, Chloe, and me... and I need to stop this, I'm getting all mushy. If I'm not careful I'll be one half of those super cutesy couples you just want to strangle. I laugh softly to myself, and shake my head. No way am I letting that one happen. I look over and poke at the file one last time, to see if I can pull anything useful out of it. Finding nothing of use, or nothing I could think of as useful, I turn up sound on my phone, and settle back into my seat. I'll have Chloe look over it later, and see what she thinks. Until then, it's nap time. I close my eyes, and let my mind wander as I drift off.
- Chloe -
After Victoria's little confrontation earlier, I'm hoping for a nice quiet school day. No more threats or weirdness, just me and my education. Still it's nice to know Max is out there ready to intervene at any moment if things do get crazy. They way she just seems to appear is hard to get used to. I know the time between her arriving, and her leaving is just gone, rewound away, but it's like she's the one who can teleport. Victoria didn't even react, and that's a little strange actually. I mean she might have been too focused on me to notice that Max hadn't just run up, but still, there might be something else going on there that we haven't figured out yet. Also, is it just Max, or would people not act like anything was strange if I just teleported away in front of them? If it is just Max, it could be some weird continuity thing I guess. I shake my head, trying to dispel the questions I may never have an answer to, well unless Max rewinds in front of people we know are paying attention to her, but that'd probably be a bad idea. Maybe I could try recording her on my phone or something... if we time it right. Ha! Time it right. Maybe we could get something on video, and maybe that would be an answer? Though a person filling in the blanks is not the same as a recording device that can only replay what it's seen... Gah! This is getting me nowhere, and if I don't pick up the pace I'll be late for class. I make my way briskly to my locker, and open it up to pull out the books I'll need for my morning classes. I pause a moment to look at the pictures I have taped up inside the door. Dad of course, an old picture of my cat bongo, and an old picture of Max, and I. Maybe I should get a new one to put up in here, maybe just her, or maybe even something couple-y. I can feel my cheeks starting to burn at the thought of doing something so prosaic. Still, she's become the background on my phone, and that's got to be at least as ordinary as a picture in my locker would be. I tuck the last book I'll need into the crook of my arm, and nearly drop them all when I close to the locker to reveal Dana standing there behind the formerly open door. As I try to get my heart rate to slow back down, Dana smiles brightly at me. "Hey Chloe! How're things?" I take a few deep breaths. With my heart still pounding I try to return her smile. I feel like it's a lot less perky than hers, and a lot more awkward, but it's there. "Hey Dana... and things are fine. Um... great actually." a more natural smile crosses my face as I'm reminded of recent developments."How're you?" Her smile brightens, which I didn't think was possible until just now. "I'm doing great myself, thank you you very much." her eyes twinkle with a little mischief, and I brace for impact. "How's Max?" I can feel my cheeks flushing, as a goofy grin spreads across my face. I'm so obvious. "Uh... She's good too. Um... you were right, about her. We talked about it." Smugness seeps into her smile, and she gestures to me to continue. "Annnnd? How'd that go?" A breathy laugh slips from my lips, and I shake my head. "I think you can probably tell how that went... but um... yeah. I guess we're kind of an item now." Her smile widens into a grin. "Ha! I totally called it! Good for you, I'm glad you guys got that out in the open." I laugh nervously and give her a half hearted shrug. "I don't know about out in the open..." She holds her hand up to stop me. "Everyone who saw knew something was up before you did... It's out in the open." she offers me a sympathetic smile, and a shrug. "Sorry..." I nod slowly. "Yeah, no I guess I knew that already..." I sigh softly, and leans back against my locker. "Not much I can do now really. Dana looks a little guilty. "Well... I guess I could keep your confirmation to myself. No one has to know anything concrete, though I can't promise I won't crack if Juliet grills me." We share a laugh at that, and I shake my head. "No, it's okay. I guess there's no need to keep it a secret. I'm nervous, but... you I kind of want people to know too? You know?" I shrug, and push away from the wall. "Max is... great, and I'm proud that she wants to be with me of all people." Dana shakes her head. "Don't sell yourself short. I mean she's clearly crazy about you, so..." she shrugs. "Though if you ever need help getting ready for like a date or something, It'd be totally fun to make you up. If you want to let me." She shrugs again. "Think about it! I've gotta get to class though. We'll catch up later." she waves as she heads off, and I wave back automatically. This is a little confusing, are we friends now? She's probably mostly just excited she's got some new gossip to share. I take a deep breath, and start towards my class. As I settle in and prepare my desk, I'm left hoping that not asking her to keep it to herself wasn't a mistake.
Kate catches up to me between classes, which was lucky for me, because I wanted to check up on her after the little incident with Nathan, and then principal Wells. She lied for me, or well she lied for Max, and I don't know how she feels about that. "Chloe, I just wanted to thank you again for, looking out for me. Nothing's happened, and it might not, but I still appreciate that you cared enough to warn me just in case." she smiles up at me, and I can't help but smile back. She's such a little sweetheart. "I also wanted to let you know that there's a rumor going around about... you." She shifts uncomfortably. "Everybody is talking about you, and that girl... um, the one who..." she lowers her already soft voice. I find myself leaning in just to hear her. "...beat up Nathan." I nod along, letting her know I'm with her. "Max." I supply helpfully. Her brows furrow just a little bit, and she shifts in place awkwardly. "Max..." she echoes. "Well, they've been saying that she's your... um, that you and her..." My cheeks catch fire, and I clear my throat. Dana certainly works fast. "Well, that's not exactly a rumor." It's my turn to shift awkwardly. It occurs to me that this might put a damper on my ability to keep an eye on Kate, she's quite openly religious, and well this might not be okay with her. To be honest she really seems super nice, I wouldn't mind being her friend too. "O-Okay... well then I just thought you should know, but if it's true..." she bites her lip, falling silent. I'm starting to feel a little panicked. I wish I was the one who could turn back time. Thinking of Max makes me feel calmer, she's worth the scorn of a bunch of ignorant people, even Kate if she's one of them. "Do you want to... come with Stella, Alyssa and I to the Vortex club party this weekend? You could bring Max... if you want." I blink a few times, surprised. There's a Vortex club party this weekend? "There's a Vortex club party this weekend?" I blurt out, looking around at the walls for the posters that always announce the next Vortex gathering. Kate giggles softly, and nods. "I saw Tailor putting up posters today. I guess it's a little last minute, but... I'm not a member of the club, so maybe just the open invitation was a last minute thing." she shrugs. "You don't have to... Alyssa thought it might be good for me to, get out, and Stella's going to be working there, so.. we decided to go together." I smile at her, and shake my head. "You don't have to explain, and I mean I've never been to one of these things before... so maybe it might be fun? I was never interested before. I guess I never had any friends to go with though. I'd have to ask Max if she wanted to go first... but, I mean if you guys want me to come along, I guess it wouldn't be so bad as long as you're there." I shrug noncommittally. "Though things might get... interesting if we see Nathan, or Victoria there. Max has not made a good impression on either of them I don't believe. Victoria confronted me today, and Max came to my rescue again..." Kate's eyes get really big, and she brings her hand up to cover her mouth. "She didn't beat up Victoria too did she?" I can't help it, I laugh, and shake my head negatively. "No... I mean she wasn't exactly gentle with her, but the only attacks she made were verbal." Kate let's out a breath, and nods. "Thank God. I mean Victoria is a b-... mean girl, but I'd be worried about you if I thought your fr-... girlfriend was violent." I frown, and shake my head. "She's really not... not Much anyway. She gets really protective that's all, and well she's had kind of a rough life, but it's not like she's out of control, or has an explosive temper or anything. In fact the only time I've seen her get violent was when she thought I might get hurt..." I smile a little in spite of myself, and shrug. Kate nods, but doesn't look completely convinced. I purse my lips, frowning. I don't like her thinking Max is abusive or anything. "You'll get to meet her soon, you'll see. She's actually really sweet underneath the attitude. She's the most amazing person I've ever known." Kate smile, and nods placatingly. "I'm sure she is, and I'm sure I'll like her too." She shifts awkwardly for a moment. "But... if you ever do need someone to talk to about... anything, you can talk to me." This is probably the best I'm going to get for now, so I nod. "And you know Kate... you can talk to me too, if you ever need to." Kate gives me a big, blinding smile, and nods. "Of course Chloe. Now I better get to class. See you later." I wave after her. "Bye Kate."
I'm practically squirming out of my seat by the time lunch rolls around. The prospect of doing something even vaguely normal with Max has me excited to see her. Not that I wouldn't be anyway, I'm kidding myself if I even try to say otherwise, but I'm extra excited. Hurrying to my locker to drop my books off, I only barely notice how people are staring at me as I pass. Maybe it was a mistake to give Dana free reign with information about my personal life. Then again, maybe it was Victoria, or Nathan trying to get back at Max through me. It's not like I really care all that much, and Arcadia Bay is a small place, everyone was going to find out eventually. Our experience with Mom this morning would indicate we're far from subtle, but still all this attention feels weird. Passing through the halls, on my way out, I smile. None of it really matters, they can stare, I'm not going to be ashamed for being happy.
Max leans over for a kiss as soon as I'm in the jeep with her. Max's kiss is intense, and full a of longing that I share. I didn't realize just how much I missed her till I got here. When she pulls away I'm a little breathless, and she's grinning at me in that smug way she does. "So... Two Whales for lunch? Or did you want to skip it and just make out here in my car?" She waggles her eyebrows at me suggestively, and laughs. My stomach growls, making her laugh even harder, and put her hands up in mock surrender. "Alright... I can take a hint. Lunch it is. I wouldn't want my girl to starve to death." I look away to hide my blush. "Oh just fuck off forever..." She laughs again, and reaches over to take my hand. Our fingers slip together like they were made to fit that way, and I sigh in contentment. "So... how was school?" she has laughter in her voice as she pulls out of the parking lot. I sigh softly, and shrug. "Long, and it's only halfway over." I give her another shrug. "Oh, but... apparently people are talking about us. I guess I'm officially out to all of Blackwell." She looks over at me through the corner of her eye as she drives. "How do you feel? Is it a good thing, a bad thing... are you getting shit about it?" I shake my head. "No, no one's bothering me about it, not yet anyway, and I'm fine. I mean I don't care who knows, or well everyone who has an opinion I care about, has been cool about it so far... and one of them makes out with me so..." She gives me a mock indignant look. "Cheating on me already? How dare you... So who is it? Dana, or Juliet maybe? Oooh.. or is it Kate? I bet it's Kate, it's Always the quiet ones." Laughing lightly, I reach over to playfully swat her arm. "You're the only one I make out with you jerk. Oh! Though speaking of Kate..." She looks over at me briefly her brow raised curiously. "Well... there's a Vortex club party this weekend, and well she was planning to go with some friends, and she invited me along too. She... um, also suggested I maybe should bring you along." I look away suddenly feeling very shy. There's a long pause before Max speaks. "Are you asking me on a date Chloe?" I nod shyly, and peek over at her through the corner of my eyes. She's grinning like an idiot, and I can't help but laugh, both at her, and my own nervousness. "Well then yes, of course I'll go with you!" She pulls into the Two Whales parking lot, a little haphazardly, and pulls me into a kiss as soon as we're mostly in a parking spot. We head in to the diner to have lunch hand-in-hand.
We settle into the booth we always used to go to when we were tweens. Max stretches her leg out till foot rests against mine under the table, and smiles at me. Mom drops by to take our orders, and pour us some coffee. Max drinks hers black. I have no idea how she can stand it, it's too bitter for me that way. She reaches across the table to take my free hand, and begins tracing her finger over my palm idly. "So I was looking through that file while you were in class. I got two interesting bits of information for right now, and some other potentially useful stuff for later. I perk a brow at her curiously. "Lay it on me Mad Max." She smirks at me, her brow perking a little. "Mad Max?" Shit, I never actually called her that to her face. "I like it. So anyway... it looks like little miss perfect was shacking up with some suspected drug dealer." My brows raise in surprise. "Frank Bowers? Jeez that's kinda creepy..." She perks her brow at me again. "You been holding out on me Price? Are you a secret stoner?" I give her a little playful kick. "No way, but I mean everyone's heard of Frank. Small town remember?" She sticks her tongue out at me. " Yeah, yeah... suuure Chloe-doo." She purses her lips for a moment. "Chlo Marley? Hmm... I'll leave the nicknames to you." she laughs softly, shrugging. She's such a dork. "But anyway... that could be something, and junkyard-douche mentioned a Frank, so... maybe the same guy?" I nod, and we put the conversation on hold for a moment, as mom brings us our food. "The other bit of information I know is important, is that Rachel was last seen at a Vortex club thingy with... can you guess who?" she asks me around a mouthful of burger. I swallow my bite before speaking."Nathan Prescott?" She slaps the table once, and nods. "Bingo! Nathan fucking Prescott. So... I figure we see if we can find out where he lives, or maybe if he's in the dorms? Then we break in, and see if we can find a connection between him, and Bowers... or the file said the officer in charge was a detective Madsen... we could go and break into his place and see if he has anything pertaining to the case at home.." I frown at Max, and shake my head. "Why do all your plans include breaking and entering?" She shrugs, looking at me as if the answer were obvious. "Because, no one's going to tell us, or give us anything if we try and ask for it, so... we gotta go take it. Officer Madsen isn't going to give a couple teenagers information on a case, and Nathan sure as hell is not going to co-operate." I bite my lip, and sigh. "No... I guess not. Can we at least save breaking into a police officer's house as a last resort." She laughs. "Well yeah, duh! Last resort, even if we do have the power." she laughs again, reaching up to brush her fingertips along my cheek. Then she steals some of my fries, but, I really don't mind.
Back at school I'm only able to partially focus on anything. Max takes up a lot of my mind, but also I'm wondering just who I could ask about whether or not Nathan was living on campus. Juliet would probably know, she knows a lot about what goes on around here, conversely I could try asking Kate and seeing if she knows anyone she could ask. She'd probably ask a lot less questions... but I'm not so certain she'd be able to get me an answer. I guess I could always try Kate first, then go looking for Juliet. This is probably the most I've socialized since... before Max moved away. With some semblance of a plan, I go back to just doodling little versions of Max's face in different styles, while trying to look like I'm listening in class. I could do science class in my sleep anyway, so I'm really not worried about my grade. I just doodle, and think about what I'm going to wear this weekend. I wonder what Max is going to wear... Before I know it class is over.
Once again traversing the Blackwell hallways, I keep my eyes open for Kate. Finding her in the crowd is actually not as hard as you'd think considering how small she is. She definitely stands out, the way she dresses, and carries herself is just different than the majority of the student body. People are definitely still staring at me, some of the boys leering more openly than usual. It's kinda gross actually. "Hey Kate." I wave at her as I make my way over. She smiles up at me. "Oh, hello again Chloe. What can I do for you?" I pause a moment, considering my words. "Well, I have two things actually. One, I wanted to let you know that Max, and I will definitely be joining you this weekend." She smiles brightly, clasping her hands together. "Oh good! I'm glad you decided to come along. It'll be much more fun with a group." I nod my agreement. "Yeah it should be a good time, even if the party sucks. Anyway, the second thing is... um... do you know if Nathan lives in the dorms here, or not?" I raise my brows hopefully. She shakes her head looking a littler perplexed. "No... but I could find out easily. Why do you want to know?" I purses my lips, not exactly sure how to answer her question. "Well... I just want to try and resolve whatever this animosity he has towards me is... and I don't know, knowing this might help get that resolved..." I really don't sound sure, but I'm not sure what else to say, it is sort of the truth, even if it's really vague. Kate frowns for a moment, and I'm worried she's either going to ask for more, or refuse. "Alright Chloe... I'm not sure how this will help, but I trust you not to use the information to do anything bad." I exhale softly, and smile. "Thanks Kate, and I promise it's not for anything bad... That'd just escalate the problem anyway, and I don't want that." She nods slowly looking more satisfied. "That's true... Alright, I'll text you as soon as I know anything." I smile, and lean in to giver her a hug. "Thanks Kate, I really appreciate it." She seems a little taken aback, but she slips arms around me in return. She pulls away, and smiles shyly at me. "I should go, but I'll talk to you soon." I nod. "Yeah, we'll talk soon. See you later." She smiles, and waves as she heads off, presumably to her next class. I get out my phone to give Max the news.
Me:Kate says she can find out if Nate has a drm rm
Mad Max: Awsme didnt know Kate was tny nnja too
Me: Haha srsly idk how she can find out but idc we know smth we didnt either way
Mad Max: good sht so what you wearing? ;)
Me: ewww & NO EMOJI!
Mad Max: UR no fun
Me:Should thnk abt wht you can wear to the pty.
Mad Max: Fck I got nothing I figr smth out
Me:k gotta go to clss now Mss U
Mad Max: Mss U 2 3
Me: I let that one slide
Mad Max: Yussss!
I shake my head laughing to myself as I put my phone away. Max is a lot of fun. She's so good at keeping this whole weird thing we've gotten ourselves into light. I don't know what I'd do if I was still on my own. I hate feeling like I'm relying on her too much, and I kinda hope she feels like she needs me just as much. I'm really not sure that she does though. I mean she's survived on her own for... awhile, and well, I really haven't. I've had my mom, and for a long time my dad... I take a deep breath before I enter the classroom. I need to get my mind off of the negative, and focus on the positive. Max is here, with me now, and she wants to be. She's with me, because she likes me, that should be enough right? Wanting her to need me is selfish isn't it? I settle into my desk, and arrange my things. I fully intend to try and pay attention, but I know I'm most likely just going to spend my time thinking about Max. How did I ever not realize I was into her? I shake those thoughts away, and instead end up focusing out the window. It may not be good for my education, but it is something other than whether or not Max needs me, and if I'm selfish for wanting her to. If I can;t get my head back on my school work, I might lose my scholarship. Mom would kill me if that happened. Ugh.. I am so screwed. Maybe if I can keep my grades up enough, I can focus better once all of this is over. Either way, the rest of the day is going to be a long one, I can tell.