Finally got around to get this chapter up. Hope you join! Also, kinda had this headcanon(s) for a character(s) that will appear in this chapter. Can you spot it? Original draft finished: 07/07/2015.
"Oh jeez, I'm running late." Max said as she ran down the street.
"Damn mornings. Never should exist." Max muttered under her breath. As she ran down the sidewalk, she chastised herself for not following her alarm.
Before she can continue blaming herself, she bumped into someone. Max realized again she was a tiny girl when she ended up falling down after bumping into the person. Looking up, her realization was confirmed as she saw who she bumped into. The person in front of her was rather large. The person looked unique, with the purples of their clothes and highlight. They seemed to have notice something of the bump, as they were looking around for where it came from. Seeing nothing, they returned to the phone in their hand and went to walk across the street. Max looked around and noticed a cyclist not paying attention to the person as they crossed.
"Look out!" Max called out. The person heeded Max's warning, as they looked up, saw the cycler, and backed off. As the cyclist passed, the person turned to see Max still on the ground. The person went to help her up.
"Gee, thanks for warning me. That would have gotten ugly if you didn't." The person said, offering a hand to Max. Max took it.
"No problem. Sorry for bumping into you earlier." Max said, getting up.
"Oh, so that was you?" The person asked. Max nodded.
"It's no problem. Again, thanks." The person thanked her.
"No problem." Max replied, waving goodbye. She went back to running.
Max felt good helping someone, but she had a job to uphold. Her journey had another halt, however. Max, again in her rush, bumped into someone else. Again, Max realized she was small as she fell again. However, she fell harder than before. Max winced in pain a little.
"Putanginaw." Max heard someone mutter. Opening her eyes, she saw the person she bumped into. She looked studious; glasses adorning her face and bag in hand. However, Max surmised that she had more than smarts in her, from what she could tell from the red streak in her ponytail.
"Sorry." Max said to her. The girl looked to Max and her look of anger quickly dissipated.
"Oh, it's, uh, okay." She said, getting up and walking to Max. She offered a hand, which Max took.
"No, seriously. It's my fault. I'm in a hurry and I already bumped into someone earlier." Max apologized. The girl shook her head.
"Hey, we're all in a hurry sometimes. Just slow it down a bit, okay?" The girl advised Max.
"Okay, thank you." Max said, this time walking to the bakery.
Max was making significant progress. So far, no bump ins. The bakery was just around the block. She looked to her phone, which told her she was only 45 minutes late. That didn't matter, as she had got there safely. That about lasted when Max opened the front door.
Max flung the door open, proud she made the rest of her journey without incident. But as the door swung, a scream got Max's attention. Looking inside, she saw what may have been a cake of sorts in a previous life. Now, it was a large mess on the floor. Next to the mess was a small, dark-skinned girl in a purple shirt and glasses. She looked so distraught. Max felt so bad.
"I was taking a nap here, who's causing a ruckus?" Max heard Clyde's voice say from the kitchen. As he walked out of the kitchen, Max saw his face go from stern to shocked.
"I just baked that. What the heck?" Clyde said, running a hand through his hair. Seeing Max, Clyde sighed.
"Hey, Max. Fashionably late, I see." He said, looking at his watch.
"Sorry, Clyde. I woke up late and had a pretty bad morning today." Max apologized, before looking to the girl whose cake she ruined.
"Sorry for your food, ma'am. I didn't mean to. I was just..." Max started, but stopped as the girl looked up to her, tears welling up and quivering lips as she looked to Max. Max got enamored with the look on her face. Though she hated to see someone sad, she couldn't help but look at the girl. The way her hair framed her face, the way the glasses heightened her appearance.
"Dammit Max. Do something." Max thought to herself. She stood there frozen. Max didn't realize the girl was no longer looking sad, but looking at her confused and even a little scared. Clyde was even looking at Max confused, but quickly caught on.
"Don't worry. My friend here just realized there are more girls cuter than her. She usually isn't this gay. Or clumsy. Or late. Usually, she can't keep her hands off me." He said to the girl, offering a hand. She accepted. Clyde looked at her as he brought her up. She wasn't on the verge of tears, but she was biting her lip a bit and not looking towards Max. She seemed to be looking at something at the ground.
"Look, I was serious. I know you're not opposed to the idea, Stella." Clyde said. That got her attention. She cleared her throat.
"I can't be that cute, can I?" She asked. Clyde shrugged.
"I mean, I think you're cute. Beside, you made her speechless by just looking at her. Kate didn't do that. She just stuttered trying to introduce herself. You, however? Speechless. Look, she's still a statue." He answered, looking back to Max who, true to his words, was still standing there.
"What about the 'can't keep you're hands off of you' part?" Stella asked. Clyde smirked to himself. He snaked an arm around Stella and pulled her closer.
"Oh, YEAH! When she started to here, she took one look, then she literally jumped on me and started kissing me. I had to tell her, 'Woah, babe. We just met. Maybe after work.' She didn't listen. All she WANTED was the Clyde!" Clyde said loudly, complete with over the top arm movements as he walked slowly around. Max snapped out of her trance when Clyde told Stella about their 'relationship'. Looking at them, Clyde noticed she was free.
"Oh, hey baby. Was just telling Stella here about our offensive, sexually open, raunchy relationship." Clyde said, which Max acknowledged with a roll of her eyes.
"Stella? This is my loyal sex fiend. Sugar-pie-honey-bunch-sweetie-belle-darling-cinnamon-apple? Stella." Clyde 'introduced' Max to Stella. Max crossed her arms.
"Haha. Very funny, Clyde. Now, can I redeem myself for I've done here?" Max asked. Clyde put a hand on his chest.
"Bwah? I am hurt. All those nights laying together in my bed; our breaths mixing as we whispered sweet nothings to each other; the heat of our bodies flowing between us; those dreams you told me about our family; all that was just a lie? You played my heart, Maxine." Clyde said, resting his head on Stella's shoulder, 'crying' on her shoulder. Max walked up to him and smacked the back of his head.
"Come on, I'm serious. Help me help this girl out." Max said. Clyde got up, rubbing the back of his head and a huge smile on his face.
"Alright, alright. You want to make Stella a happy girl? You're going to help her make her cake again. Come on." He said, leading them to the kitchen. Max looked to Stella, who was less sad than before.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your cake." Max apologized. Stella looked up and smiled at Max.
"It's alright. The cake wasn't difficult to make. You should be more qualified to make such a cake since you work here." Stella said. Max smiled a bit.
"Clyde makes most of the food. I'm just the cashier. The only thing I do food-wise is help make the chocolate chip cookies to make sure they're just right." Max said. Stella gasped.
"You made the cookies? They were really good." Stella said. Max blushed a bit.
"Are they better than Terry's?" Max asked. Stella thought for a bit.
"Only slightly better. No offense to her." Stella confessed.
"Hey ladies? You ready? Or do you want to continue jerking around?" Clyde asked. Max and Stella hurried in.
"Ready?" Clyde asked. Both of them nodded.
"Okay. Here's the recipe, again. Don't get hurt, blah blah blah, I'll cover the counter." Clyde said, leaving the girls alone. They looked at each other, smiled awkwardly, and looked at the paper.
"Okay, first we'll need..."
Clyde stood at the counter, dancing a bit to the music he had put on. He stopped just as the door opened and two people entered. Seeing the two that entered, he smiled.
"¡Brooke! ¿Como estás? ¿Estás bien? ¿Necesitas un postre?" Clyde asked, a wide smile on his face. Brooke rolled her eyes
"Clyde! Ayos lang! Eh ikaw?!" Brooke said. Clyde kept smiling.
"I see you're still being uncultured. You're in my prayers, Alyssa. Sorry you're being associated with her backwards ways." Clyde teased. Alyssa chuckled a bit, but stopped when Brooke glared at her.
"But seriously though, you guys been good?" Clyde asked.
"Could've had a better morning, but don't we all." Alyssa started. "Someone bumped into me and I almost got hit with a bicycle, but other than that, it was okay."
"Weird." Brooke said. "I bumped into someone as well."
"Wouldn't it be weird if it were the same person?" Clyde wondered out loud. Alyssa and Brooke both chuckled in response.
"Anyway, anything I could get you?" Clyde asked.
"It's alright. Stella was going to treat us here with a surprise. We'll just wait for her." Alyssa said, heading to one of the booths with Brooke in tow. Then, just when they sat down, Stella emerged from the kitchen with a very big, delicious looking cake.
"Hey, guys! Nice to see you're already here!" Stella said, heading for the booth. Brooke and Alyssa looked surprised as they stared at the cake in front of their friend.
"You've really outdone yourself this year, Stella." Brooke said, examining the cake.
"Gee, you didn't have to do this." Alyssa said, also looking over the cake.
"I only want the best for my friends. It's the least you guys deserve." Stella said, sitting across from her friends.
"How are we going to finish it all?" Brooke asked, intimidated by it's size.
"I met a new friend whose more than happy to help us out." Stella said.
"Clyde, I'm gonna join Stella for lunch. Is that okay?" A voice called from the kitchen.
"Yeah, Max. Go get 'em, troopa." Clyde said, resting on the counter. The kitchen door swung as Max ran to Stella.
"Hey, Stella." Max said, gleefully. Stella smiled and gave her a hug.
"Hey. Thanks for helping out." Stella said.
"Oh, Max. These are my best friends. Alyssa and Brooke." Stella introduced them. When Max went to look at them, she froze. Alyssa and Brooke were also frozen.
"You're the girl that bumped into me." Alyssa and Brooke said simultaneously. Alyssa and Brooke looked at each other, surprised they bumped into the same person. Max shrunk a bit.
"Hey, do I win something for guessing correctly?" Clyde said as he watched the meeting transpire.
"Wow, you already met each other?" Stella asked, looking at her friends, all three of them.
"Yeah, I guess." Max said, feeling uncomfortable.
"Well, we have a lot to talk about." Brooke said, grabbing a fork. "But first, Cake."
"Agreed." Alyssa said, joining in. Stella took part as well. Max shrugged to herself, and joined in.
Clyde sat outside the bakery, playing a game on his phone. He had been there while the girls had their little playdate. The door swung open, but he didn't turn around. He did see it was Alyssa and Brooke who left in his peripheral. It was about a minute or so until Stella joined them and walked away. Max joined Clyde soon after and sat next to him. Clyde felt Max rest her body on him.
"Hey, Maxima. You survived the cake?" He asked, which Max groaned.
"Hey, Clyde. You mind doing me a favor?" Max said weakly.
"No, I'm not sucking your willy, Max. I already finished my quota this month." He said.
"Haha, very funny. Seriously, I need your help." Max said.
"It's nothing sexual, is it? Because apparently those nights together were nothing." Clyde said, trying not to laugh. Max pinched his arm.
"Ow, kinky. So, what is it really?" He asked.
"Honestly, I think you probably believe your own lies sometimes." Max said. "Anyway, I need you to drive me around this weekend. I have the hiking thing with Kate and Dana's practice coming up. Can you do that for me?"
"I was already coming along with the hiking thing, but if you need me, then yeah I'll help." He said, still focused on his game.
"Thanks, Clyde." Max said, resting on his shoulder as the sun set.
So, this was the last chapter I finished for this story so far. Still trying to figure out the next chapter. So, yeah.