More Kate this time to start off, always a great way to begin. Poor Max needs a break from all the drama.

Chapter Fifteen: Seeds of Doubt

Max's POV – Kate's Room

I'd left Rachel to her own devices for the afternoon, always a dubious decision. God only knew what she was doing while I was here with Kate, drinking tea. "I hope Rachel isn't causing too much trouble while I'm here…"

"Trouble does seem to follow that girl," Kate agreed, sipping her drink thoughtfully.

"More like she seeks it out, or creates it if she can't find any," I corrected with a sigh.

"Well, she seems to be using her powers for good, keeping Victoria in check," she added hopefully, sounding grateful for that.

"Mhm… which worries me a little." I might not have known Rachel all that long, but… she didn't seem to have much of an impulse control. And as much as I might dislike Victoria, I didn't want her to get hurt or anything. "In all honesty, Victoria doesn't stand a chance, not now."

"What do you mean 'not now'?" Kate pressed, eyes narrowing suspiciously at the phrasing.

Realizing I'd made a fatal error, I began to backtrack. "Uh, well… she's found a new way to… pacify her, let's call it that."

As much as I'd tried to soften the reality, Kate didn't buy it as something innocent. "Max, what exactly did she do? Every time you mention it, you make it sound so ominous."

I bit my lip, taking another sip of my tea to prolong my response. "It's nothing to worry about, honestly."

She didn't seem to believe me but didn't push harder. "Okay, if you say so. You know you can talk to me about it, right?"

Feeling bad for hiding it from her, I sighed. "I know, Kate. Thanks. I guess I don't want you getting tangled up in Blackwell drama politics… more than you already have, anyway."

Her suspicion turned to concern. "Don't go worrying about me, Max. As much as I appreciate it, I'd rather you make sure you're okay. You've been under a lot of stress lately."

"Yeah, guess I have… but, spending time with you helps. A lot." That much was definitely true.

Just then, Kate offered me a broad grin, lightly nudging my shoulder. "Oh, stop it, Max. You always say such sweet things."

Returning the smile, I shrugged. "I do my best. Guess you bring out the best in me."

The suspicion came back, not quite as intense. "Okay, are you trying to butter me up for a favor… because it's working."

I held up my hands in surrender. "No ulterior motives, promise. I just… really appreciate having you around, Kate. That's all." Being around her was like a breath of fresh air.

"Well, I can safely say I feel the same, Max. It's nice to have someone normal to talk to," she replied, maintaining her beam.

Acting hurt, I clutched at my chest. "Uh, I am far from normal. Offended."

Kate rolled her eyes, chuckling at my melodramatic display. "You know what I mean. Someone who isn't bothered about all the Blackwell drama, someone who doesn't just write me off for stupid reasons…"

Placing my hand on her shoulder, I stared into her eyes earnestly. "Kate, listen, I don't care what anyone else thinks because I think you're amazing. And that word really doesn't do it justice."

"Are you sure you don't want something from me?" she asked with one of her soul-healing smiles.

"Well… maybe one thing…" I began, watching her expression turn unimpressed. "Joking, don't hit me."

Shaking her head, she swirled the remainder of her tea. "Lucky for you, I'm in a merciful mood today."

"All hail the mighty Marsh mercy," I lightly teased.

Putting her cup back on our makeshift table, Kate leaned her head on her hand. "You are so silly, Max… and that's one of your quirky charms."

"One of many," I added, watching her roll her eyes again.

"Speaking of quirky charms… I'm guessing Rachel got that for you." She directed her eyes to the bracelet dangling from my wrist, the metal 'M' and camera charm catching the sunlight.

I glanced at it, smiling. "Yeah, she made it for me. Pretty neat, huh? Which reminds me, I am totally getting a frame for your awesome drawing."

That got her grinning again. "Glad to hear it. Mind if I get a closer look?"

"Oh, no not at all. Go ahead." I held out my arm for her, feeling her fingers brush against my wrist as she examined the bracelet.

She carefully took the charms in between her fingers. "This is one of those… friendship bracelets, right?"

"Uh, I guess. I mean, I figured it was. Why d'you ask?" I had a feeling she was trying to imply something.

Suddenly, she looked a little sheepish. "Oh, no reason. Just curious. They can have several meanings… You and Rachel seemed… close, especially from what you've told me, so I was just wondering…" Halting her rambling, she sighed. "Sorry, I making a terrible mess of this…"

Now sort of understanding what she had meant, I bit my lip. "Well, as far as I'm aware, it's a friendship bracelet. I mean, Rachel likes to tease me, but… pretty sure that's all it is, you know."

"How does she tease you?" Kate asked, trying to draw attention away from her ineloquent wording earlier.

"Uh, well… just saying things, mostly. I think it's just her nature." There was no way I could tell Kate about everything. That would be so embarrassing. She probably wouldn't want to hear it, anyway.

Now, Chloe, on the other hand, would've loved to hear all the sordid details… except I had a feeling that maybe there had been something going on between her and Rachel, and I didn't seem to be the only one to think that either. Joyce seemed to imply it, as had David. Even Rachel herself dropped small hints every so often. This was all so… complicated all of a sudden, trying to connect the dots.

Kate nodded sympathetically. "Like I've said before, I'm here to talk if you need it. And I really won't judge, contrary to popular belief."

Happy to have an out, I decided to make an exit. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks. I'd best get back to it before Rachel causes an international war or something."

"More like a Blackwell turf war, but I bet she could manage a global scale if she tried," Kate theorized, half-joking.

"You jest, but… I'm starting to wonder." Especially factoring in my rewind.

Bidding Kate goodbye with a hug, I left to go find Rachel. As always, she was in her room waiting. This time when I entered, she jumped up, practically buzzing with excitement. "Geez, Max, you took your sweet time."

"I didn't know there was a curfew," I said jokingly.

"Not for now, no," she agreed, tone coquettish as she winked. "Anyway, I have BIG news." The way she said that made me worry. "So, while you were out on your little date with Kate, I had one of my own. With Victoria."

Already dreading where this was going, I exhaled shakily. "What… what happened?"

Rachel smiled at the question, retelling the events of this afternoon. A slow sense of dread built up inside me as I listened to her animated version of Victoria's fall from grace. This was exactly what I had been fearing recently. The whole photo thing had been bad enough, a spur of the moment thing I now kinda regretted. How far would Rachel take this?

"Rach, don't you think that's a bit…" I let the sentence hang unfinished.

"A bit, what? Excessive?" she finished for me, getting a nod in return. "No way. Think about everything Victoria has done to you, to Kate, to everyone. You've only seen a fraction of what she's capable of. Last year, she made people so miserable that they left Blackwell for good. Her bullying could easily push someone too far, to the point of no return. Just for some 'fun'."

"Still, aren't you just doing what she did?" I pointed out hesitantly.

"Yeah, to teach her a lesson," the blonde explained. "You can't reason with people like her, Max. They only understand certain words and actions. You have to speak their language to get through to them."

"I don't know…"

She gave me an almost pitying look. "Oh, Max, it's people like you who end up getting hurt the most. You trust people too much, put your faith in the good side. We did a good thing with Victoria, okay. Think of how much torment we've stopped. And you had a hand in that. Hell, none of this would have been possible without you."

She was right… and that made me feel so bad.

"Now, how about a reward for all your hard work, hmm?" Her fingers brushed against my cheek, eyes zeroing in on mine.

As much as I wanted to protest, to tell her that she had done something wrong again and again until it sank in, I got lost in those hazel eyes. My legs practically turned to jelly when she cupped my cheeks, pressing her lips to mine. This felt so wrong and so right all at the same time. I mentally kicked myself for being so weak, feeling myself kiss her back.

When she finally pulled away, she gave me a smile. "Consider that the first part of my thanks. There's much more to come, but we'll work up to that."

Instead of doing what I knew I should, I did what I had done for the past couple weeks. Stayed in Rachel's room, not bringing it up again.

Max's Room - Three Days Later – Afternoon

It had been several days since Rachel told me what happened with Victoria. While she hadn't capitalized on that, as far as I was aware, I knew it would only be a matter of time before she did something… and I wouldn't approve.

Rachel was out right now, chatting up other Blackwell students, no doubt. It felt really empty and lonely without her around; I'd become so used to hanging out in her room with her. That made what I was feeling all the more confusing. Should I bring up my concerns again, more firmly this time? Or should I just leave it? Would Rachel hate me if I did the former? I… didn't want that. Shit…

Sighing, I reached for my phone, scrolling through my texts from today.

Rachel: ur gonna have to survive without me for a while

Rachel: impossible I know

Max: what are you doing?

Rachel: oh something with the VC club members

Rachel: got a party coming up

Rachel: and Victoria's had a… change of heart about my involvement in said celebrations

Rachel: im officially helping organize

Rachel: about time, right

Rachel: promise ill make it up to you later ;)

I hadn't replied to her chain of texts. They were a painful reminder of my involvement in the whole 'Victoria' situation. I needed to talk to somebody about this, and only one person made sense.

Max: Kate, i need to talk to you

Kate: of course, Max

Kate: come over whenever

Mentally preparing myself, I exhaled deeply and made it to her door, knocking. I needed to get this out of my system, confirmation that I wasn't just going crazy. If anyone could provide that, it would be Kate.

Her welcoming smile faltered when she noticed my disheartened, guilty expression. "Max, what's wrong?"

Honestly, I felt like crying when I realized all the things that were wrong in my life right now. "Oh, so much, Kate. I don't even know where to start."

Ushering me in, she sat down with me on her bed, taking hold of my hand to comfort me. "I'm here, listening."

I squeezed her hand back, not sure how to even begin. "This is… going to take a lot of explaining, okay. And… some of it will sound crazy. You… you do trust me, right?"

"Max, of course I trust you. Silly question."

With her reassurance, I started from the very top, from that car crash I'd had on my way to Blackwell. Of course, Kate was surprised and a little skeptical. After a quick demonstration, much more innocent that the one I had done with Rachel, she couldn't really deny it. Then, I started the even longer explanation regarding Rachel, and by extension Victoria. I left out the more… embarrassing parts about me. Part of me was a little ashamed for getting pulled along for the ride.

When I finally got to the end, Kate took a few moments to process it all. "So, you helped Rachel get a picture she's using to blackmail Victoria with."

I nodded, glad she understood. "Yes, that's a good summary. And I'm just worried she'll… take it too far. I mean, she kinda already has…"

"I can see why you're worried. I know Victoria's a…" she hesitated, rethinking her wording, "...not nice, but she doesn't deserve to be tormented. That puts us on her level."

I was relieved to hear someone agree with me, especially Kate. "Exactly, but Rachel doesn't see it that way."

Tilting her head to the side, Kate seemed deep in thought. "Have you tried talking to her again about it since then?"

"No, I… I was debating it but… I guess I don't want her to hate me…" I admitted reluctantly, feeling so stupid.

Kate gave me a reassuring smile. "I don't think she'd hate you over something like this. Sometimes, you have to say things other people might not agree with. Yeah, she might get mad for a while, but if you don't say anything, it'll eat you up."

Everything she was telling me right now, I'd already told myself a million times. Coming from Kate, they carried a lot more weight. "You're right, Kate, I know. I just wish it was that easy. I guess I have my rewind but… I don't want to use it for every little thing. I don't even understand it."

"As hard as it might be, you should talk to her again about it," Kate tentatively suggested. "I'm sure she'll listen if you're genuinely bothered by it."

"Let's hope so…"

After chatting with Kate a while longer, I got a text that Rachel was on her way back. Time to face the music. Getting one final pep talk from Kate, and a much needed hug, I trudged back to Rachel's room. Exhaling deeply, I pushed on the door and waited around for her to return.

Ten minutes later, she came back to her room, beaming at me. "Fancy seeing you here."

Bracing myself, I swallowed my apprehensions. Now or never... "Rach, can we… talk, please."

"Oooh, someone looks serious," she said with a grin, faltering when my expression remained solemn. "Seriously, what's up?"

Not knowing how to go about this, I just let the words tumble from my lips, no thought about whether they made sense or not. "Listen, about Victoria… I'm not comfortable with you taking advantage of her. I know she's nasty and mean, but… we won't get anywhere doing the same back. She's a person, too. Spiteful, yeah, but a person nonetheless. The other day, you went… too far, at least I think so. Shit, this whole thing was too far. We should never have taken that picture..."

Rachel's expression softened, pulling me into a hug. "Oh, Max, why didn't you tell me it was seriously bothering you?"

Hugging her back on instinct, I buried my head into her shoulder, catching a whiff of her perfume. "I… I tried, but… I was worried you'd hate me…"

She began stroking my hair, voice soothing. "Now, that's just silly. I understand your concern. And I guess I got a little carried away before. Victoria's done a lot of horrible things to me and Chloe, other people too. I just wanted her to understand how we all felt, you know."

"I think she does now," I muttered, wondering why I had gotten myself so worked up over this.

"More or less." Gently, Rachel pulled back, her hands on my shoulders. "Look, I'm going to keep the photo as a deterrent, just in case she forgets, but I won't use it unless absolutely necessary. Good compromise?"

For the first time in days, I managed a genuine smile. "I can work with that."

So, that little episode seemed to have worked out okay… right? Next time, it's Rachel's turn...