Chapter 3: Diplomacy

MAX:

I lay sprawled on my bed in nothing but a t-shirt a few sizes too large and underwear, staring up at the collage of instant pictures on the wall beside me. It was illuminated by rays of sunlight pouring in through the windows. My eyelids weighed a-hundred pounds; I was hardly awake and badly in need of some shut-eye.

There wasn't any time to sleep, though. I had classes soon and the showers beckoned to me. I also had other stuff to take care of, as I soon found out.

I rolled out of bed and onto my feet, grabbing my phone as I did so; I had a single message from a little while ago that had gone unnoticed. It was from Chloe, whom I'd given my phone number.

Today 8:02 A.M.

Max I'm picking u up after school, theres some shit u need to see

I typed out a quick response:

Today 8:37 A.M.

Ok

I put my phone down on the nightstand beside my bed, not looking forward to meeting her.

Don't get me wrong, I was always glad to see Chloe, but she probably wanted to talk about how I, "Knew what happened to Rachel.' In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have said, er...yelled that. I guess she deserved to know the truth, though, no matter how ugly it was.

Anyways, even if I wanted to, I couldn't do anything about it now; I could only rewind a few minutes at best, and this had happened several hours ago.

She was right, though; I did abandon her, and I beat myself up every day for it. I knew she was going to profusely apologize to me, but I was the one who owed her an apology.

I broke her heart when I moved away, one heart-break of many in her young life.

I pulled on a pair of short pajama bottoms and put a bra on underneath my shirt, and grabbed both the outfit I'd be wearing today, which consisted of an: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea shirt (the most hipster album ever), and normal blue jeans.

I'd grabbed my shower gear and other essentials as well.

The door shut behind me as I stepped out; I noticed something off about the small dry-erase board beside it, something I hadn't noticed earlier this morning.

In black print, it read:

WALKING CONTRACEPTIVE

With a fairly detailed image of a crossed out dick and balls below it, referring to a "cock-block."

My blood froze over, 'What. The. Fuck.'

I licked my hand and tried to smudge it to the best of my ability, but it was written in permanent marker and still visible.

'Who the hell...'

My cheeks burned with embarrassment, but I left it there for now...I couldn't really do anything about it.

The hallway had the usual low hum of activity as I passed by Kate's room; her dry-erase board didn't say, "Will bang 4 Jesus," anymore. It was just blank.

'I guess Victoria eased up on Kate? No, that didn't sound like something Victoria would do...right?'

I entered the showers and Kate stood there before a sink, which is one thing that hadn't been different. Her hair was down though, a rare sight.

"Hey, Kate," I smiled, glad to see her.

She spun around, "Oh hey, Max," her voice sang with an unusual cheeriness.

"How're you holding up?"

She clasped her hands in front of her waist, "Good, you?"

'This is slightly odd, she doesn't seem...down anymore.'

I came back down to Earth; I'd been staring at her for the past ten seconds.

My eyes went wide, "Wowser, I guess I spaced out, sorry."

She giggled, "It's all good, Max."

I tugged at my ear, "Oh, I think I still have your copy of The October Country, by the way."

She raised an eyebrow, "You gave it to me a few days ago, remember?"

"No...I don't," I scratched my head, "see you around, I guess. I need to take a shower."

Glancing sideways she uttered, "Yeah...see you around."

'That was too weird. It's like somebody's changing things while I'm not looking.'

I pushed the curtains aside to one of the shower stalls and stepped inside of it; I stripped naked and placed my things in a dry area.

I turned the shower knob to cold, 'If this doesn't wake me up, I don't know what will.'

My breath escaped me as the sheet of icy water hit; I was definitely wide awake now.

After turning the knob to a much warmer setting, I scrubbed the grime of the past day from my body.

Several minutes went by, and neither Taylor nor Victoria entered the shower room like they should've.

I concluded my rinse and dried off, throwing on my outfit except for my shoes and socks, and wrapping the plain white towel around my head.

As I stepped out of the girls showers into the hallway, I heard a commotion.

"You can't get out now Dana! So tell me the truth, or rot in there!"

'Oh, that's right. Juliet thinks Dana sexted her boyfriend.'

I walked towards Juliet and stood directly in front of her; she was looking down at her phone.

Dana yelled from within the room, "Juliet, let me out!"

I repeated the same thing I'd said in the previous timeline, "Hey, Juliet. Is everything cool?"

She scoffed, "Oh yes, Max! I've locked Dana in the room because we're 'cool.'"

"What did she do?"

"What didn't she do? Dana's been sexting with my boyfriend."

I crossed my arms, "Hm, lemme guess. Victoria told you that."

She looked at me sideways, "Huh? Uh, yeah...she said she saw the sexts."

"Have you seen them?"

"No, I haven't."

"And you believe Victoria, a notorious shit starter?"

Her mouth was agape, she blinked a few times, "You...have a good point there."

Dana's voice cut in from behind the door, "Let me out, Juliet! I didn't do anything!"

Juliet quickly turned around and unlocked the door, "I know, Dana...sorry."

She gestured towards me, "Max here, convinced me of your innocence."

Dana looked at me from behind the door as she swung it open further, "Thanks, Max."

I grinned, "You're welcome."

It was then that I remembered Warren would be asking for his uh… 'movie booty.'

I inquired, "Hey, Dana. Do you have Warren's flash drive? He wants it back."

"Oh, yeah!" She gestured for me to come into the room, she grabbed it and handed it to me.

She leaned closer to me and whispered, "Hey, between you and I. Warren's got the hots for you. There's a folder on there labeled 'Max.'"

I sighed, "Yeah, I'm aware. Sweet guy, but he's going about it in the wrong way."

Dana leaned away from me, "I don't think he's ever been with anybody before, he's inexperienced."

I held up the flashdrive and smiled, "Thanks, Dana. See you around."

She smiled back, "Catch ya later, Max."

I walked back to my room and opened the door, eyeing the dry-erase board, 'Yep, still there.'

I dried my hair in front of my mirror; it returned to its usual wavy state, a way I don't usually leave it. The waviness didn't look half-bad on me, though, so I kept it that way. I did sweep my bangs to the side, though. After all, Kate had her hair down out of its usual tight bun for once.

My mind flickered back to the unusual differences in this timeline, 'I'm gonna get to the bottom of this.'

I threw my shoes and socks on and left my dorm room again, determined.

My clenched fist knocked on Victoria's door, aiming to confront her about the lovely little drawing that graced my dry-erase board, since I figured she'd done it.

She yelled from inside, sounding irritated, "What? Fuck off!"

"It's Max...Caulfield."

"What do you want, bitch?"

I was so done with her shit, "I want you to get the fuck out here."

After a few moments of silence, the door flew open and there stood Victoria with her unfinished make-up covered face.

She crossed her arms and pursed her lips, "This better be be fucking important."

I pointed towards my door, lowering my eyebrows, "Did you do that?"

It took her a moment to see it, and she shook with laughter, "Holy fuck, that...is fucking precious. You think I did that? I can't even draw!"

She laughed some more, and slammed the door in my face.

'Oooookay...I guess she didn't do it...but if not her, who?'

I went to Kate's room, figuring that talking to her was more important than mending my shattered dignity.

I knocked gently, "Kate? It's Max."

A quiet voice came from inside, sounding muffled, "Come in."

I did, she was seated at her computer, typing. Her hair was now in a tight bun.

I glanced over at her pet bunny, who was happily snoozing.

"I just wanted to ask you something."

She spun around to face me in her chair and sat up with good posture, "Alright. Oh, your hair looks nice."

I pointed to my hair, "Oh, this? This is just how it is before I straighten it."

"It looks good, really."

I grinned, "Well, thank you. Your hair looks quite nice too."

She leaned forward on her elbows, smiling back with rosy cheeks, "Thank you. So...what was your question?"

"Oh, I just wanted to ask if you ever went to to that Vortex Club party a few months ago."

She chuckled, fidgeting with the crucifix around her neck, "Me? No, I never went."

I tilted my head, "Really?"

"Yeah, I've been fairly busy all the time. Trying to stay on top of my school-work has been tough."

I zoned out again, 'Woah, she never went to that party. She never got drugged, and that horrible video of her was never taken.'

I snapped back into it when she asked, resting her hand on her chin, "Are you okay?"

I almost dropped the F-Bomb, but I caught myself; I knew better than to utter curses around her.

I stammered, "Uh...Yeah. I zoned out again, I didn't sleep well."

The corners of her mouth turned up, "Take care of yourself, Max. Sleep is important."

"Duly noted, Kate. See you in class."

I left her room, went back to mine, and grabbed my school stuff.

It was pretty much time to start heading to class, my first one for the day was World History.

I felt my phone vibrate, one new message.

It was from Warren:

Today 9:43 A.M.

Hey Max! did you get the flash drive yet?

I typed a response:

Today 9:44 A.M.

Yep, I'll give it to you after school

I put my phone away.

It was going to be a looooong day.

From the moment I entered Blackwell's main hallway, my day took a turn for the worse. Everyone looked at me like I was some kind of freak.

The mental image of my unflattering dry-erase board filled my mind the entire day.

Poor me had to endure snide comment after snide comment; I was the bullying victim now, not Kate. I could only assume Nathan was dealing with this shit too.

I felt sorry for him, kind of.

I took every comment with a grain of salt, knowing that they were all idiotic or completely false. Oftentimes, they were both.

Chloe had rubbed off her I-don't-give-a-shit attitude onto me. I had to sit through Jefferson's class, though, whom I now knew was a complete psychopath that kidnaps innocent young girls, myself included in the previous timeline.

'He'll get his karma, I'll be making sure of that.'

I made it through the school day, barely.

I messaged Chloe:

Today 4:06 P.M.

Hey Chloe I need to give something to somebody really quick.
I'll meet you outside my dorm building.

I met Warren by his ancient blue hatchback.

"What up, Max? How are you?" He put out his arms to hug me.

I let him, just this one time.

"Here's your flash drive, thanks," I held it up to him, and he took it.

He rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, no problem."

His hand gestured towards his hoopty, (old worn out car) "Check out my new wheels…"

I walked around, examining it, "Cool, very old school."

"1978 to be exact. Now we can go to the drive-in."

"There's one in Newberg, just 60 miles away."

"You're in the wrong time, Warren."

I continued, "But then, so am I…"

I was mostly just repeating what I'd said in the previous timeline, trying to keep this conversation from becoming any more awkward.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, it's been one strange fucking...week."

"I bet. Heard you got in a fight with somebody."

I tilted my head, "Huh?"

"That blue-haired girl, people are saying it was a fight."

I sighed, waving my hand in dismissal, "Oh, it wasn't really a fight, we're old friends. I was trying to keep her from doing something stupid."

He grinned, "Good friends always keep each other from doing something stupid."

His eyes went wide, as if he'd remembered something, "Oh hey! Did you get a chance to check out the movie booty on my flash drive?"

"Yeah, thanks. You had some pretty cool shit on there, from 'Akira' to 'Twilight Zone.' Which seems apropos...lately."

'Not to mention your folder of me…'

"Yeah, I consider myself a pop...cultural pirate connoisseur."

"Sounds a lot better than thief."

He lowered his voice, "Ha ha. Make sure you watch Cannibal Holocaust."

"Seen it, the emo-vampire movies on there were more disturbing to me..."

He crossed his arms, "Can't a sensitive high school boy love sensitive vampires too?"

I smirked, "So you're sensitive…"

"Ouch! That sounds awful the way you say it."

"Actually, I was impressed you had 'Faster, pussycat. Kill! Kill!'"

He grinned, "Russ Meyer was a genius of black and white. Plus, babes with breasts."

"Yeah, babes that would beat your sensitive ass down."

"If I was lucky."

'Ugh.'

"Oh yeah, speaking of hip and fast, we should cruise out in my car to an actual movie this week…you seem distracted, though."

"Yeah, I am. I'm thinking probably not this week...maybe the next? I've got lots of business to take care of."

He grinned, "Monkey business? Or ape business? I was gonna ask if yo—"

"Max Caulfield, is it?" I looked up and saw Nathan Prescott.

He shoved Warren away and got in my face, his breath smelling of strong alcohol.

"Why the fuck do you have to poke around in my personal shit, you nosy whore?"

I growled, "Why the fuck do you have a gun?"

His eyes went wide, but he quickly returned to his scowl, "How the fuck do you know that?"

Warren tried to step in, "Get off her, dude!"

Nathan turned around and headbutt him as I winced, as I were feeling Warren's pain.

I cocked my right arm back and punched Nathan as hard I could in his ear, leaving my fist numb.

He stumbled to the side, clutching his ear. He turned around and looked down at his hand, blood stained it.

'Oh shit…'

I braced myself as he cocked his arm back, I was about to get fucking decked.

But Warren came behind him, putting him in a headlock.

Nathan made choking noises as he tried to elbow Warren, but he missed.

They fell to the ground, Warren still had him in his death grip.

Nathan stopped struggling as he went unconscious, Warren released him. Blood dribbled down from Warren's nose as he stood up, bent over with his hands on his knees.

He panted, "You okay?"

"Yeah, you?"

He nodded, Chloe sped over to us in her truck from seemingly nowhere.

She stopped directly in front of us and got out, wide eyed.

Noticing Nathan on the ground, she leaned over him as he groaned in pain, "That's what you get, asshole!"

She looked over at me, "Max, we need to go." She gave a thumbs up to Warren, "Thanks, dude. We owe you one."

He nodded, and we got in the truck and sped off. Blackwell grew smaller in the rear view mirrors.

"Where did you come from, Chloe?"

She ignored my question.

"You alright, Max? Did you get hit?"

"Almost, Nathan nearly pushed my shit in."

She frowned, "If he hit you, I'd be fucking furious. I'd probably burst into flames."

"Blue flames," I teased.

A chuckle escaped her mouth, but she fell back into a somber mood, slouching.

She groveled, "Max, listen. I'm hella sorry about last night, I really didn't mean what I said."

"Chloe, don't sweat it, okay? I'm the one that owes you an apology. You were right, I did abandon you."

She gawked at me, "What? No, Max...don't say shit like that. You did not abandon me, you just...didn't know how to work up the courage to talk to me. I probably wouldn't have been able to either, if I were you."

"I'm a coward, Chloe," I looked down at my legs, avoiding her gaze.

She put her hand to my chin, gently forcing me to look up at her as she glanced at the road intermittently, "Dude, you are not a coward. I can see it, you became a badass. I saw you fucking punch Nathan Prescott!"

My eyebrows scrunched upwards, "I'm a badass?"

"A badass, Max."

She released her hand from my chin, "Also, we're going to the junkyard again. We can speak more privately there."

"We can't speak in the truck?"

"Well...we can. But I'd rather not be driving when we do."

"Uh, what are we going to speak about?"

"Rachel. You said you know what happened to her, I need to know too."

I held my hands in my lap, squeezing them together, "Yeah, you do deserve to know."

Her gaze remained fixated on the road ahead of us, "Yeah...I do."

I gazed out of my window as we passed by lush, green woods.

We were at the junkyard not long after, Chloe turned the truck keys and the rumble of the engine fell silent.

The sun still stood high in the sky, baking everything in a bright yellow glow.

She inquired breathily, "Are you good to talk about it?"

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, "Yeah, I think so. I'm going to warn you, Chloe. You're not gonna like what you're about to hear."

"I don't care. Lay it on me, Max."

I gulped, "Chloe, Rachel...is dead."

Her forehead creased, "How do you know?"

"I saw her body," it came into mind that, she could too; Rachel was buried in this very junkyard.

Her eyes widened, "That...can't be possible."

"She's buried in this junkyard, Chloe."

Her voice shook, "Prove it...show me, I need to see her!"

"Follow me," I muttered, getting out of the vehicle.

She followed, and I led her to where Rachel rested.

"We're gonna need to dig right there," I pointed down at the exact spot.

Without hesitation, we dropped to our knees and began to claw away the dirt.

Our fingers dragged away the cold soil, one would think we were digging for buried treasure, just like when we were kids. But this was no treasure, nobody should ever have to dig up the remains of another human being.

Chloe began to get more and more panicked, clawing faster and faster. I clawed faster too, the dirt under my nails painfully ripping up the sensitive nail bed.

We clawed and clawed and clawed, but nothing ever came of it.

My stomach felt like it had flipped upside down.

Rachel's body wasn't there.

Any empty pit lie before me as my heart raced.

"She was right here!"

Chloe panted, glistening sweat ran down her face, "Are you sure this was the spot?"

"Yes! I'm completely sure."

I struggled to catch my breath, the weight of the situation pressed down on my chest. It was like trying to breathe through a straw.

My consciousness faded to black as the ground came towards me.