Chapter 03
Sunday arrives and, even without meaning to, Chloe wakes up unusually early. Her eyes widen a little when she checks the time on her phone and sees that it's only 5:17AM. She scowls a little.
Her sleep had already been plagued by worries and excitement about Maxine's visit which had been slowly building up over the past few days. The clock becomes an unusual focus for her through the day and she had viewed its passing with equal dread and excitement.
No longer concerned about the time or missing sleep, Chloe jumps out of bed, grabs a change of clothes, and rushes into the bathroom. Hurriedly showering but making sure to scrub everywhere and using the bar soap gratuitously until her skin is red.
After she brushes her teeth using plenty of mouthwash, she leaves the bathroom heading towards her door. The aroma of baking cookies wafts up from downstairs and she stops listening more closely. Every now and then, she hears the sound of footsteps and the clanking of pans.
Her mom must have woken early too to bake for the two girls. Chloe silently thanks her for a variety of things. The first being for her help in trying to make the best impression and the second for baking cookies. She can hardly remember the last time Joyce baked cookies at home. She wonders if her mom would keep doing it if…when Maxine keeps coming.
Opening her room, she throws her clothes onto a pile on the floor as normal. Her parents tried repeatedly to get her to stop doing that, but one of them always inevitably picks it up for her sooner or later, though, so she never broke the habit. Thing is even if they became stubborn and refuse to pick it up for her, she might still never break the habit.
However, as she faces the stairs intending to go down to help her mom and maybe sneak a cookie, a feeling of discomfort comes over her. She turns and goes inside her room staring unhappily at the clothing pile realizing that while she may not care how it looks, her parents do.
All other parents probably do too. What if Mrs. Caulfield decides to inspect her room? It sounds ridiculous, but what if? She might get angry and suddenly declares Maxine is no longer allowed to visit. Or what if Maxine is not like Chloe? What if she hates dirty rooms?
The thought eats at her until she decides the best way to fix it is to clean up. She pulls out the laundry hamper in her closet and begins picking up the clothes from the floor and throwing it in. She had to walk around a bit to pick up the ones that she threw too carelessly, but it was all done in hardly fifteen minutes. Afterwards, she puts the hamper back into her closet and shuts it, then examines the floor feeling more assured.
But then something else seems wrong. There are pencils, balls, her notebooks, and other bits of knick knacks all over the place. It's…ugly. She looks around more carefully and grimaces. The comics and manga she intended to show Maxine were lying haphazardly on her desk, the board games she had gotten out in preparation for the visit were just thrown on the floor, and the bags of candy and chips she bought were still in their plastic bags in a pile as ugly as the clothes.
All of this and her bed is still unmade. It suddenly occurs to her that the odor in her room may not be good either. She sniffs the air experimentally and it doesn't smell bad, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
She got to work. She immediately opens the door and windows as wide as possible to circulate the air in her room, then she begins picking up the things from the floor and puts them where they can't be seen. From there, things just seem to flow in a natural order as Chloe works without thought.
She had intended to help her mom, but it was nearly 6:20AM when she completed her task. Her bed is made, the floor is clean, the food were taken out of their bags and placed neatly on her desk, and the comics and games were together on another desk.
Sniffing the air again, it smells much better but, to be even surer, she runs to the bathroom, picks up a can of air freshener, and runs back spraying the entirety of the room. There. Now she can be happy with the state of this room.
Chloe heads downstairs and goes to the kitchen where she stares in awe at the display. There are two plates of brownies and cookies so fresh that the steam is still coming off them and their sweet scent is overwhelming. Her mouth waters slightly at the sight of them, though she knows Joyce won't react so well to her blatantly taking one.
Hearing her, Joyce turns from washing the baking pans, to smile at her, "Well, look at you. So early and smelling fresh."
She looks down. "Well, I wanted to look good, you know? I want her to like me."
"And she will." Her mother laughs. "She'll be very impressed. I can tell. Here, come help me wash this thing."
Ten minutes later, William comes down dressed for work grinning stupidly, "Well, well, washing dishes with your mother? Ain't that something?"
"It's a baking pan, dad. Mom was baking."
"Oh, believe me, I know. I can smell it all the way upstairs and it's what woke me." He goes over to a plate of brownie and gulps one down. "Oh, sweetness. Delicious."
"Hey!" Chloe shouts scandalized wanting one too.
"Now don't do that. Those are for her and Maxine." Joyce admonishes jokingly. "She's been working hard preparing for her visit. Just look at her. She was up early too."
"I found that out first hand. I went into her room to wake her up so she could get ready and I didn't see her anywhere." William's grin widens. "And get this – her room is spotless and smells as fresh as flowers. I thought I was in the wrong room."
Joyce mock gasps. "Waking early, helping me, and cleaning your room? My goodness, what will I do if I get used to this?"
"I can tell Maxine is a good influence already." William nods. "Chloe, you tell her I personally beg her to come as often as possible. In fact, she can stay here. I'll petition her parents for us to adopt her."
"Would you two stop already?" Chloe says. "If you keep this up, they'll think we're a bunch of weirdoes."
"Now how could they possible think that?" William asks putting on his best cartoon voice.
When the awaited doorbell comes, Chloe looks up at the clock to see that it's still ten minutes before seven before rushing to meet them. She puts on as big of a smile as possible.
Vanessa Caulfield gives a smaller smile in return upon seeing Chloe. She is holding the hand of Maxine who is wearing a plain blue backpack with a strap which holds on to her familiar panda bear doll.
"Welcome, Mrs. Caulfield." Chloe steps aside. "Come in. My parents are here."
She comes in taking care to slip out of her heels and glancing down at her daughter to ensure she is taking her shoes off too. The two follow Chloe into the living room where Joyce and William are waiting. Vanessa quickly exchange handshakes with them and greetings.
"Mr. and Mrs. Price, I presume? How are you? I'm Vanessa Caulfield."
"Oh, please, honey." Joyce says. "Call me Joyce. My husband here is William. No need to be so formal."
Vanessa smiles. "Oh, of course. Joyce, William. Sorry for coming so early, but I had wanted to introduce myself seeing as my daughter will be playing with yours and Chloe told me this is the only time I could see you both." She clears her throat. "As I said, I'm Vanessa Caulfield. My husband is Ryan Caulfield. You're probably already aware of my daughter, Maxine Caulfield."
William puts on a winning smile. "Right! You should know that I'm as excited as my daughter here by Maxine coming over. Chloe has been talking nonstop about her-" Chloe blushes at her dad's words. "-and I could already tell she's something special. She didn't mention how cute she would be, though! Ain't that right, Chloe?"
"Dad!" Chloe hisses.
Joyce laughs at their antics. "Anyway, I'm sorry we missed each other at the mall, Vanessa. I would have loved to meet your husband too."
"Yes, it's too bad but Ryan does send his regards." She glances at Maxine. "Joyce, both my husband and I work very late, but I would be able to take a break and pick my daughter up sometime this afternoon. Is it alright if she stays in your home until then?"
"Well, you didn't have to ask at all." William laughs. "Feel free to leave Maxine with us for a week, if you like. My wife and I work pretty late too, though I do get a reprieve on Sundays, thankfully. I don't have to work as long today."
Vanessa frowns. "So how long will the children be alone for?"
"Oh, only until 1PM at the latest, but I'll probably be home before then."
"And I will be home a little after." Joyce quickly adds. "But you don't have to worry. This is a very safe area and we've always taught Chloe to be careful. Maxine will be very safe here."
She still seems unsure, but is willing to concede. "Alright, that sounds good." She bends down facing her daughter. "Maxine, be on your best behavior while here. I do not want you causing any trouble. Is that clear?"
Maxine nods. "Yes, mom."
William laughs. "Ah, I'm sure Maxine is an angel. Don't worry about it at all. She'll have more to worry from us than we from her."
Vanessa smiles politely at the joke. She faces Maxine again. "You have my and your father's number. If anything goes wrong, call us immediately." Her eyes glance briefly at the plate of baked goods and her countenance becomes strict. "One more thing: you may only have one or two snacks. Nothing more. We are watching your weight now. Clear?"
"Yes, mom."
Satisfied, Vanessa gets up and faces the Prices. "Well, I think it's best I get going now. Before I do, could we exchange numbers? I would like for you to be able to contact me in case anything goes wrong."
William and Joyce agree entirely with that sentiment. They exchange mobile and home numbers. They had their cell phones out while doing so and Chloe stares at Vanessa's phone in surprise. It is a flip phone similar to what Maxine has. It looks quaint in comparison to the smartphones her parents have.
After finishing the exchange, Vanessa smiles at the other two. "William, Joyce, it is good to see you both and I hope Chloe has fun with Maxine today."
Joyce smiles. "I don't doubt in the least she will have the time of her life. If you've seen my daughter before you came, I don't think you'd doubt it either."
"Wonderful to see you, Vanessa." William smiles.
Acknowledging them one last time, Vanessa takes her leave. In the kitchen, Joyce looks at her plate of brownies and cookies sheepishly.
"I guess I cooked a little too much. I didn't know Maxine is on a diet."
Chloe didn't know either. She looks at Maxine's body. Most of it is hidden by her puffy coat and the baggy slacks, but it looks alright to her. The bits of her body that are visible – her hands, neck, and face – looks good too.
William agrees. "Ah, she looks perfectly alright to me. I say let her have all she wants; diets aren't for little kids anyway."
Joyce rolls her eyes. "If you believe that, you don't know many teenage girls."
"We don't have any teenage girls around." William grins, then raises his voice intentionally for Chloe's and Maxine's benefit. "But if any little girls here don't finish the delicious cookies and brownies, I'm warning them that I will gobble it all up when I get back."
Chloe snorts. "I guess that would be my cue to take the plates and hide it in my room."
"Excellent idea." Joyce says, then also raises her voice. "Oh, and if the entire plate were to disappear, I will simply assume Chloe is the one who ate it all."
That line earns a shy smile from Maxine, but it's the first she given since arriving. Joyce could hardly contain herself from picking up the little girl and hugging her. She takes the plates of treats and gives it to Chloe.
"Alright, c'mon, Maxine, lets party!"
Chloe runs to the stairs looking over her shoulders to make sure Maxine is following her. Inside her room, she places the plates down on the desk beside the chips and candy. Maxine stares in awe at the beautiful room.
She says audibly, "You have a really nice room, Chloe."
"Thanks." She laughs. "You can put your backpack and coat anywhere."
Maxine looks around a bit then takes off her backpack placing it near entrance, then stands still unsure of what to do. Chloe glances at her a bit surprised as she still hasn't taken her coat off. It is a bit chilly outside and they do have the temperature set lower inside too, but it's pretty warm inside her room.
"Don't you want to take your coat off?"
"O-oh, I…really want to keep wearing it." Maxine says hesitantly.
"Oh, oh, no problem!" Chloe quickly assures her it's alright. "Hey, want to play a game? I have Monopoly, Scrabble, Family Trivia, and more."
After a pause, Maxine says, "I'm pretty good at Scrabble."
"Then that's what we're playing!"
Chloe quickly sets out the board and setup the game as best as she could remember. When it was set up, Maxine comes over to sit on the opposite side.
"Alright, Rock Paper Scissors to see who starts first."
They go through a quick game and Chloe comes out on top with Rock. Looking down at her seven letter tiles, she decides to start off with the word 'TALE'. Refilling her word tiles from the tile bag, she passes the turn to Maxine.
As the other girl is thinking, Chloe rushes over to the desk grabbing the chips and candy. Upon her return, she sees Maxine already puts down a word…and is already above her by two points. She merely grins seeing that, though.
"Eat all you want." Chloe says referring to food. Maxine looks at it with worry. "What's wrong?"
"My mom says I'm not allowed to eat too much snacks."
"This…this isn't snacks!" Chloe says quickly. "This is candy and chips. They're completely different."
"Oh..." Maxine still looks unsure, but she reaches out and takes some. Her face lights up as she chews. "They're really good."
"I know, right?" Chloe says. "Oh, and I got a word. Ha! I'm ahead by one point now."
It is a struggle, but one she pursues. The search for the Maxine that had been with her at the mall. Since coming here, the other girl has been hiding in a sort of shell and the tenseness she permeates bothers her as much as it must Maxine. So she offers food, smiles, and tries to keep the game balanced. That last one isn't too hard as Maxine is genuinely good at the game.
In fact, too good. Half an hour in, the smaller girl's points has built up to being twelve over Chloe and the latter struggles just to keep the point difference that low. Each play, though, adds another point or two…or three to Maxine's tally, though. At one point, Chloe played 10-point word and silently congratulated herself only to be blown away a moment later when Maxine put in a 14-point word.
Chloe feels the tingling of frustration build up, but after she played another word, she glances up at Maxine's face and pauses. The other girl is smiling. A small smile, but one nonetheless. Her face is flushed from how warm her coat must be making her and her eyebrows are furrowed slightly in concentration. Noticing Chloe's staring, she looks up and bright blue eyes meet her own.
Blushing, she averts her eyes but a giggle later makes her look up again. This time, Maxine blushes and looks away causing Chloe to giggle. That makes her look up and, this time, neither turns away. A few moments later, they both giggle which then turns into outright laughter.
The nervousness melts away from Maxine and Chloe siphons from the delight bubbling up from the other girl. Maxine plays a word that is only 3-point still smiling as Chloe grabs a handful of candy to eat.
She looks at her set of letters and suddenly gets an idea. She tries to hold back a grin, though she suspects she isn't hiding her increasing amusement so well if Maxine's giggle when she glances at her again is any indication.
Chloe places a few letters down. Maxine looks at the word eyes widening a little. A moment of silence passes, then a giggle. Chloe now openly smiles when Maxine's giggle slowly turns in laughter and she tries to hide it behind her hands.
The word Chloe played was 'BOOBS'.
It was a 9-point word but she didn't do it for the points. She did it for the reaction and the fact that it succeeds is the best success. Risking another glance at Maxine, she finds the girl's eyes dancing now with amusement and her expression is a little mischievous. Maxine plays her own word – 'BUTT'.
Chloe's reaction is similar to Maxine's own. First surprise, then a giggle that also turns into laughter, though she doesn't hide hers behind her hands. She loves laughing and she loves how her laughing makes Maxine laugh too. Inside, her heart seems to sing and she wants to keep this up as long as possible.
All desire to play the game competitively falls apart when Chloe plays her next word and it is equally lewd. Then Maxine returns with another lewd word of her own. The game's pace increases tremendously as they both focus intently on playing only specific types of words.
Eventually, the game ends because they run out of letters but Chloe quickly redistributes the letters to start a new game, and they continue. Maxine eats several chips in a row grinning widely and that reminds Chloe to jump up and bring the two plates of cookies and brownies over.
Maxine looks at the plates and her face distorts in worry. Chloe freezes remembering Vanessa's warning and is frightened she may have accidentally ruined the mood. She quickly tries to save it.
"You're only allowed to have two at most, right?" Chloe asks. "I have an idea. Here, try this."
She breaks up a small piece of brownie and places it in-between two pieces of chips like a sandwich handing it to Maxine. The other girl looks curiously at the mixture. Chloe makes her own and eats it in front of her making audible sounds of pleasure to entice her. Eventually, Maxine takes a small bite experimentally, smiles, then eats the rest.
She looks at Chloe, "It's good."
"Right? And you're only eating a small piece of brownie, so you will still stay under the limit."
Maxine smiles happily making another one for herself. Relief flows through Chloe loosening her chest. She didn't know if what she said was true or if the other girl will really stay under the limit her mother set, but so long as she's happy, everything will be alright. Chloe plays a word.
When this next game ends, Maxine asks if they could play Monopoly. Chloe was going to say yes when the set of comics on her desk catches her eyes.
"Wait a minute, I want you to see something first."
She runs over to the desk quickly rifling through the reading materials. Settling on one, she returns and holds it out to Maxine who hesitantly takes it.
"I was thinking that maybe you'd like to read this? It's manga. A comic book from Japan." Chloe smiles. "I remember you said you like Batman, but didn't like certain parts of it. I was thinking that this type of thing might be more to your liking. Do you want to read it together?"
Maxine looks at the title – 'The Girl Next Door' – and admires the beautiful artwork on the cover. She's never seen something like this before. "It looks cool. Yeah, lets read it."
"Alright! Lets lie down."
Chloe lies on the floor next to the food and looks invitingly at Maxine. The latter goes down on all four crawling until she lie beside Chloe so closely that she could feel the outline of Max's sides through her coat. Chloe opens the manga holding it a little to the side so it would be in-between them.
"Hey, you opened it from the back."
"Oh, that's a thing with Japanese manga. You read right to left, so you have to start from the back." Chloe points to the top panel on the first page and trails her finger. "Here, start with this bubble here and then read to the left."
Maxine makes a small noise of awe her eyes following Chloe's finger. They fall into silence reading the first two pages. Reading a comic together turns out to be surprising cumbersome. When Chloe reached the end, she pauses not knowing if Maxine finished too or not. Eventually, she tried asking and got the affirmative, so she turns the page.
Then it also turns out that reading in general is kind of uncomfortable. It draws your mind and you put a lot of your attention into it. This means silence ensues. Silence for reading is alright, but when someone else is there beside you, the silence suddenly becomes bothersome. Chloe purses her lips trying to decide between the feeling she should say something to Maxine and the feeling that anything she say might not really be interesting.
After a few pages of this, things get a little better, though. She discovers that, when finished reading, Maxine would look up at her. So rather than asking 'finished?" over and over, she could just look over to get a clue.
Then the manga picks up and they begin to laugh a little. Maxine also starts pointing out things that made her curious and they would chat about it. She says their uniform looks so cool. How weird it is that they eat lunch right in their classroom.
"That girl is his best friend, right?" Maxine asks.
"Yes, that's right."
"Why does she call him by his last name, though?"
"Oh…that's…see, that's actually his first name."
"What? But the other kids were calling him something else."
"They were calling him by his last name." Chloe grins. "It's a Japanese thing. They call each other by their last names and only by their first names if they're like super, super close."
Maxine looks amazed. "So if we were Japanese, I would call you Price and…"
"…and I would call you Caulfield all the time."
"That's really weird."
Her remarks makes Chloe laugh which, in turn, makes her laugh. Maxine then looks at her to indicate she finished. Dutifully, Chloe turns the page so they could continue.
At some point, they had reached a scene where the main character is arguing with a cute girl – the love interest as Chloe knows from reading this already – when she suddenly smells something sweet. It takes her a moment before she recognizes the smell as some kind of berry. She isn't sure which type exactly, but a berry.
She sniffs the air experimentally trying to find out where it's coming from. She almost thought it might have been the food nearby but it isn't coming from that direction. She leans a bit to the other way and the smell becomes a little bit clearer. Turning her head a bit, she stares at Maxine's face.
It must be whatever soap or shampoo she uses. Chloe hadn't noticed it before because they hadn't been this close to each other until they started reading, but they're now in close proximity and have been for some time. She sniffs the air again more deeply this time and the scent is now stronger.
"Hey, I, uh, like the smell of your shampoo. It smells like berries."
Maxine stills and a flush comes over her face. She nods shyly. "That's not shampoo. That's perfume. My mom says it's good for me to put it on. It's called strawberry passion." Chloe blinks not sure what the 'passion' part is supposed to indicate. "Here, smell it."
She leans in closer and lifts her head slightly. Chloe hesitates a little, then leans in close to Maxine's neck and inhales. The scent is really intoxicating. She leans back and smiles nodding in approval.
"It's really good. Your mom has…good taste."
Another flush. "Can we turn the page now?"
"Page? Oh! Right."
She does as asked and the other girl returns her focus to the manga. Chloe's attention, however, remained on the scent for the longest time and she wishes Maxine would let her smell her again.
When Maxine laughs again, her internal thoughts breaks to look down at what she found so funny and she laughs too seeing the protagonist tripping over a girl.
Eventually, they reach the end of the manga and Maxine lets out a disappointed sigh feeling as if she was just beginning to get into it.
"I really like that. I wish there were more."
Chloe looks over, "That was only the first volume. I have two more volumes, if you like."
Her eyes brighten. "Really? I…" She hesitates looking at the other board games. "I really want to read, but if we keep going, we might not have time for the other games."
"Then we can play those games and I can just loan you the manga to take home." Chloe says simply. "I actually read them already, so I don't mind if you have them for a while."
Maxine looks excited at first but deflates almost immediately. "I want to, but I don't think my parents will let me. My mom says comics are a waste of time and my dad says I should focus on studying. He says studying is the only way to get ahead in life."
Chloe blinks. "Parents are weird. My dad said the secret to success is hard work and the willingness to get your hands dirty."
"I wish it was like that for me. Then I can read comics too."
Smiling a little, Chloe says, "Well, if you can't read comics at your house and we can't finish it here before playing all the other games, I guess that just means you'll have to come back."
Maxine pauses, then smiles too. "Yeah. I want to come back here a lot more. Your house is so much more fun than mine."
Chloe would be the first to disagree with the idea that her house is fun, but today, she would have been proven wrong. Since Maxine came here, she has had more fun than she can remember.
"So what do we do now?"
Snapping to attention, Chloe grins, "You wanted to play monopoly before, right? Lets do that."
Eager to start playing again, they quickly setup a new game of Monopoly together. Maxine decided on the dog as an icon saying he is 'cute' while Chloe chose the battleship for being the coolest looking one and, another Rock Paper Scissors contest, Chloe is the first to play.
The game started fairly quickly with Chloe buying up a light blue property, two purple, and an orange. Maxine is less lucky landing on a 'Chance' tile giving her a card that sends her to the 'Go' tile giving her an extra $200, then her next roll lands on her Chloe's property making her pay rent, then the next roll lands her on 'Community Chest' giving her a bank error that pays $200, and then she finally lands on a green property allowing her to buy her first property.
By the time Chloe passes 'Go' for the first time replenishing her funds a little, she is already flush with numerous properties giving her a large advantage. She now owns at least one of almost every color on the board, except for green and blue. Maxine owns one green and one blue, but has much more cash. The lopsided advantage, though, means that there's a good chance Chloe will win the game very quickly.
The first hiccup occurs when Maxine lands on 'Chance' yet again. She eagerly picks up a card expecting to win more money, but becomes upset when the card declares she must go to jail.
"Maxine? What's wrong?" Chloe asks looking at her friend's face. "It's not that bad. You can pay $50 or get out of jail by rolling a double."
"Yeah, it's just…I feel weird about that place. My mom says that if I don't study and practice enough, I'll end up poor and in jail, so it bothers me a little. I'll go there."
Chloe flinches a bit wondering why her mother would tell her something like that. As Maxine is about to move her icon to the jail space, she stops her.
"Wait, instead, of going to jail, we can do something else."
"Like what?"
"You can just pay $50 right away. Or maybe just stay in that same spot for three turns." Chloe's eyes light up when another idea occurs. "Or maybe I can issue a challenge that you have to go through."
"A challenge? Like what?"
"Like…this!"
Chloe lunges towards her and begins tickling her sides. Maxine jerks a bit then bursts out laughing struggling to get Chloe off. She shouts 'stop' in-between laughing but Chloe ignores her, of course.
"Your challenge is to survive my tickling!"
"Stop! Stop!"
Maxine finally stops the tickling by successfully grabbing both of Chloe's arms and holding it in place. Conceding defeat, Chloe backs away giggling a little. Maxine pushes herself up afterwards smiling.
"Alright, since I passed my challenge, it's my turn."
"Oh no, you don't!" Chloe says. "Your challenge just helps you stay out of jail. It's my turn."
Chloe takes the dice and rolls once again succeeding in landing on another property – another purple. When Maxine takes her turn, she lands on the last available purple ending Chloe's potential monopoly ownership. Chloe scowls a little and rolls again.
The game continues as thus until, some half an hour later, Chloe rolls a dice earning her a seven which lands her on the last available red property.
"I got a monopoly!"
The game hits its turning point as the first monopoly appears. Up until then, Chloe has managed to get the majority of the properties, but Maxine managed to take at least one of a few colors breaking her potential monopolies. Furthermore, the railroads were evenly split between them though Chloe managed to get both utilities companies.
The only available properties left are the last yellow, two more greens, one more blue, and one more orange. Their cash supply are both a little under a thousand, so they're not in any danger of bankruptcy yet but now that Chloe has a monopoly, the stakes are higher.
"Your turn, Maxine. You're a little behind me, so don't get the wrong roll." Chloe teases knowing that no real damage can occur until she starts building homes on the monopoly.
Maxine rolls. She lands on the railroad which is owned by Chloe and is forced to pay $100. Chloe takes the dice and rolls hoping to get at least one of the green. She lands on the 'Go To Jail' space.
"Challenge time!" Maxine suddenly says giggling.
"What?"
"Challenge. You have to pass my challenge."
Chloe blinks. That was a thing meant entirely for Maxine and she hadn't actually intended to do it herself, but the idea excites her a little. She nods eagerly awaiting to see what she has to do. Maxine thinks a little then a grin appears on her face. Chloe braces herself wondering what will happen.
Maxine moves over grabbing a few chips and a piece of brownie and cookies. She mixes in a few other candies too making a sort of candy snack sandwich using the chips to hold them together. Then she holds it out to Chloe.
"Eat this!"
Chloe looks at the concoction with fearless eyes. "Too easy."
She takes it and gulps the entire 'sandwich' down. The taste is a bit strange and conflicting, but hardly bad. Maxine stares at her impressed at how easily she does it, but perhaps she would be a little less so if she knew that Chloe had designed far worse snack sandwiches.
"You ate it right away." Maxine says. "Gross!"
"No, delicious!" Chloe laughs. "Your turn now."
She rolls a higher number and lands on one of the open green spaces which she purchases immediately. Then it's Chloe's turn and she misses the last blue property by a single point making her feel a bit aggravated.
That bit of aggravation turns into disbelief and outrage when Maxine then lands on it giving her the most expensive monopoly in the whole game.
"Yes!"
"Awww, you got it." Chloe grins. "Looks like we both got one now."
"Yup. Mine is also the best one."
"Also the one that's hardest to land on."
"But if you do, you'll pay. Alright, I'm feeling on a hot streak."
Maxine suddenly gets up and zips off her blue coat for the first time throwing it on the bed. Chloe looks over able to see Maxine for the first time without the oversized coat and examines her body. Her body is…completely normal.
She is a little plump in places. Her shirt is a simple pink long-sleeve and her chest has small bulges indicating the starting growth of breasts. The loss of the puffy coat also works to make her already small frame a little smaller and Chloe feels as if she could crush Maxine if she handles the other girl a little too roughly.
Maxine notices her staring and blushes feeling a little self conscious. Involuntarily, she raises her arms in front of her body as a sort of protective wall. Realizing what her staring is doing, Chloe blushes and turns away.
"You look cute."
"T-thanks. My mom helps me a lot with watching what I eat. She says girls have to do it." A pause makes Chloe look over. Maxine is now staring at Chloe's body a little too much deepening her blush. "My mom says you are what I should look like."
Chloe looks down at her own body in surprise. She is what Vanessa thinks Maxine should look like? But…but why? Her body isn't anything great. She's too tall and too thin. Her own mom used to complain that she doesn't eat enough and that she looks like a stick.
Looking into Maxine's eyes, she says, "I…I think you look way better, Maxine."
They stare at each other in silence for a bit until both breaks the look coughing a little. Their faces are intensely red and the silence feels a little uncomfortable, though also a little nice.
Swallowing, Maxine reminds her, "Uh, I think it's your turn now."
"O-oh, right."
Gathering herself, Chloe realizes the time has come to build properties and she builds all the way up to the max allowed of a hotel. It depletes a large amount of her funds but she'll now have a large advantage. She then rolls landing directly on 'Go' and Maxine's then turn the tides again building four houses on her monopoly.
They continue like this for a little while. Eventually, the last of the property – the last green which is purchased by Chloe breaking Maxine's potential monopoly – is gone and the game settles with Chloe owning a monopoly for the orange and red property while Maxine only has the blue property. In short, as predicted, Chloe is the most likely to win.
Then Maxine lands on the 'Go To Jail' space.
It takes a moment, but then a large grin appears on Chloe's face. Maxine instinctively covers her sides and huddle inward to prevent any tickling attacks. She looks at Chloe grinning expecting her hands to just fly out in another attempt to tickle her at any moment.
So when it's like that, how could she resist doing exactly as expected?
"Alright, your challenge is to stand on one leg and rub your head and belly at the same time."
Maxine is confused. She experimentally rubs her head then tries to follow with rubbing her stomach only to realize a moment later that she accidentally stopped rubbing her head. She tries again and gets up to stand on one leg only to stop rubbing altogether as she focuses on lifting her leg.
And, of course, while she is trying to figure this out, Chloe tackles and straddles her to start another tickle attack.
Laughter bursts from both girls as Maxine tries to struggle out and Chloe maneuvers to continue tickling. The former twists her body until she turns around with her back to Chloe trying to block the latter's hands, though it is futile as she merely continues tickling Maxine's sides.
Eventually, she turns the table again by twisting continuously until she is able to maneuver into wrapping her arms around Chloe's body holding her arms in place. Seeing she had been caught again, Chloe stops the assault and breathes laughing a little.
The berry scent reappears again. It seems almost different this time. This time, there is a stronger smell of earthiness and something undefinable. It has a sense of vagueness that's just enough to make you want to inhale again and again to know what you're really smelling. She inhales again more deeply.
"Are you smelling the perfume again?" Chloe looks down to see Maxine staring at her. She nods blushing a little. "You really like it."
She then surprises Chloe by lifting her head close to her and leaning in so close that her hair brushes against her nose. Maxine then inhales deeply before leaning back showing confusion.
"You don't smell like any girls I know. All the girls I know smell like…like something. You just smell normal, though."
Chloe's blush deepens. She smells 'normal' because she doesn't use any perfume. "O-oh. Is that bad? Should I smell like something?"
Maxine bites her lips a little. "My mom says that a girl's smell should match her clothing, make-up, hair, and personality. That's why she chose berries for me. She says I'm like a growing berry."
"So what should I smell like?"
"I don't know." She says. "Your hair is blonde, though, so maybe lemons?"
"Do you think so?"
"Maybe. Well…my hair isn't the color of any berries I know, so maybe it doesn't have to be your hair." Maxine lights up. "Oh wait, what's your favorite color?"
"Oh, uh, blue."
"Hey, your eyes are blue too." She says staring closely. "So something related to blue? Blueberries? What do you think?"
"It sounds good to me. Whatever you like."
"What I like?" A pause. "Well, I really like those water scents like rain and beaches and stuff. Mom wouldn't buy them for me because she says it doesn't fit me, but I really like them."
"That sounds great."
They fall into a silence where the two of them stare at each other leaving the Monopoly game forgotten. Chloe wonders that Maxine commented on the color of her own eyes being blue when hers are blue too. A really nice shade of blue that seem to lightly glow.
Subconsciously, the question occurs to her of what the two of them were doing, but the moment seems so much more important.
"Chloe! Maxine! I'm home!"
The shout startles them both. Maxine stares towards the door realizing that her friend's father has arrived home as promised. Chloe glances at her friend a little before pushing herself off the floor and walking to the door. Opening it a crack, she returns the shout.
"Hey dad, we're in my room."
"Can you and Maxine come down? I'm going to make you two some pancakes."
"Sure thing, dad."
She returns and helps Maxine up. Smiling, she gestures to the door.
"Hey Maxine, you…you like pancakes, right? Of course you do." She laughs. "C'mon, lets go down and my dad will make us some."
Maxine nods and Chloe leads the way. Downstairs, William is busy in the kitchen making the batter for the pancakes and on the table are two glasses of orange juice.
"Sit down, my young princesses, and your servant shall shortly bring you a mid-afternoon delectable for you both!" William says jokingly.
Maxine sits down first and Chloe takes a seat beside her. Risking a glance at her, Chloe quickly looks away when she thought the other might turn her way. A moment later, she feels Maxine elbow her. Turning back, she sees Maxine grinning playfully. Happy to oblige, she returns the elbow.
A second later, they're both elbowing each other repeatedly which then turns into a small struggle in which they grab each other hands and try to maneuver the other around for a purpose neither really knows.
"Whoa, whoa there. You're both supposed to be princesses, not barbarians." William chides playfully placing two plates stacked full of pancakes on the table. "Now if you two would settle down, lunch is ready. Bon appétit."
Chloe glances at the other side of the room. "We'll eat while watching TV, alright?"
Chuckling, William says, "Well, royalty do deserve the best. Be my guest. By the way, Maxine, your mother called me and says she'll be coming in an hour."
Maxine nods in understanding. Grabbing their plates, she and Chloe go over to the couch and sits down. Chloe walks with slower steps and allows Maxine to choose the channel to watch dismissively. She had known it was only a matter of time before the other girl had to leave. In fact, Vanessa even outright said she is coming around the afternoon.
All the same, she couldn't stop the twinge of disappointment that comes when the time is near.
"I wish you didn't have to go."
The words were muttered half meant for herself but also half hoping that Maxine would hear it. She does and turns to Chloe smiling a little. Instead of saying anything, though, she leans her head on Chloe's shoulders and continues watching the channel. Chloe stiffens momentarily before relaxing against the gesture.
In that moment, they are happy. Sometime down the line – maybe hours, days, months, years – the feeling that ties them together then might not hold, but for now, it didn't matter.
William is in the background cleaning, she is sitting here with Maxine, and the silence around them soothes their hearts letting them forget about any troubles they might or will have.
When Maxine's phone rings some time later, Chloe's demeanor saddens already knowing who it is. Her fear is confirmed when she hears the word 'mom' and when Maxine says she's coming. After hanging up, she gets off the couch and stands in front of Chloe.
"My mom is here."
Chloe nods sullenly. "I know." She gets up quickly. "I'll walk you out?"
"Sure. Just let me get my stuff first."
It isn't that far but Chloe wanted to walk her all the same. They runs upstairs to grab her backpack and stuffed bear and Chloe also picks up the other two volumes of the manga they were reading to give to Maxine.
"Don't forget these. Be sure to read them, okay?"
"Yeah, I can't wait to find out what happens next."
As they come back down, Chloe rushes ahead to open the door for her and Vanessa can be seen sitting in a small car waiting patiently.
Maxine stops at the door. "I had fun being here, Chloe. Thanks for letting me borrow your comics."
"Yeah, no problem. I, uh…" She hesitates a little. "I would like it if you come back sometime soon."
"I'd like that too. When I come back, we should read more comics and make more of those chip sandwiches. Maybe not too much next time, though. I really have to watch my weight or my mom will get mad at me."
Chloe frowns and stares at Maxine's body once more. She has her puffy coat on again, but she still remembers what she looks like without it. Every time she looks at the other girl, she simply can't see a problem. She's also reminded that Maxine says her mom thinks she should look like her.
"Maxine, I don't think you need to be thin. You look fine the way you are."
"I want to be thin."
"But you look fine the way you are now."
"You don't understand, Chloe, you're already thin." Maxine's voice rises a little. "You don't have to work at it like I do. You're naturally like it."
Frustrating builds in her a little. "But you're fine naturally too. I don't see why you need to change."
"You don't understand."
Abruptly, Maxine turns and leaves. Chloe deflates a little seeing her do so. The tension of the moment now hits her hard and seeing the stiffness of Maxine's departure makes it worse. She watches the car depart and how her friend now doesn't even look at her.
She turns inside and closes the door leaning against it. Somehow, the argument – which only looks like an argument now – seems inconsequential and she can't even find the reason why it happened. If Maxine didn't want to eat chip sandwiches, she would have gladly accommodated her.
Trudging to the couch, Chloe slumps down. The TV is still on, but she doesn't pay it any mind. Guilt flows through her and she wanted to call Maxine immediately to apologize, but feels as if it's a bad thing to do so immediately. Maybe she should wait a day and call to apologize. Or maybe it's a bad thing to bring it up at all? Maybe she should call and say things like how thin and good she looks instead?
What does one do in this kind of situation?
Two hours later, Joyce returns home expressing disappointment that she missed Maxine. As she and William started to chat about their day to each other, Chloe decides to break in.
"Mom, dad, can I ask you something?" When they turn their attention to her, she continues, "Have you ever said something that made the other mad?"
William grins. "Maybe once or twice."
"Once or twice, he says." Joyce scoffs. "We both have, honey. Probably more times than we can remember."
"What did you do to, like, stop the other from being angry?"
Joyce raises an eyebrow. "Well, I would say apologizing is the way to go."
"I would agree too." William begins. "But that would be a case of doing as I say and not as I do. I've always apologized too but it usually comes after a convoluted and badly enacted plan that tries to do the same thing."
"Yes, your dad is a fool like that. One time, he accidentally tore my handknit scarf. I didn't spend that much time on it and wouldn't have really cared. He could have just apologized. Instead…"
"Instead, I scoured several shops and garage sales until I found a new one that looks kind of the same-"
"While not really being the same at all."
"-and I bought it putting it back in the torn scarf's place hoping Joyce wouldn't notice. I also bought your mother several expensive bouquets of roses out of guilt."
"I was already used to his shenanigans by that point, though. Him doing that out of the blue made me suspicious and I spent hours scouring the house looking for what went wrong. It wasn't until I nearly gave up and picked up the scarf to stare at it when I saw that it wasn't mine." Joyce clucks her tongue. "I confronted your father with it."
"I cried. I apologized. She forgave me and…that's it. Another long winded episode that could have ended in an hour if I had just confessed."
Chloe furrows her eyebrows. "Why did you go through all of that instead of just apologizing?"
William makes a face trying to come up with an explanation. "Well, sweetie, it's hard to say. Us men are strange like that. Apologizing usually works, but it never feels enough. As if it was too easy. We rather go through a ridiculous trial to redeem ourselves than simply say sorry. That greater effort means a greater apology."
He sighs. "That's a poetic way of putting it. The truth is that I was just afraid your mother would get really angry at me and I didn't know how to apologize. I thought that if I get her a new, similar scarf and buy her presents, it would be better."
"Well, maybe it worked a little." Joyce smiles. "I did really like the bouquets, so it probably softened me up for him. Besides, it is a nice story to tell to our children sometimes, so there's that too."
Chloe nods in understanding trying to imagine the entire scenario in her head. Joyce looks at her daughter curiously.
"Chloe, why did you ask us that? Please don't tell me you and Maxine got into a fight already."
Blushing, Chloe mumbles, "It's not exactly like that…"
"If they did, I couldn't tell." William says. "They were playing with each other and watching TV with their heads on each other's shoulders right before Maxine left. They could have been ready to get married for all I know."
"Is that right?" Joyce's eyes twinkle. "I do so love a good friendship. You know, I had a childhood friend too, Chloe."
"Doesn't everyone?" William jokes. "Making friends as kids is as normal as peanut butter on bread. It's why we were so worried when it took you so long to get one."
"I told you I have friends before." Chloe says annoyed. "Besides, Maxine isn't like them. She's different."
"Yes, she's different in that we've actually seen her."
When Chloe looks hurt, Joyce throws William a pointed look and he becomes sheepish. Clearing his throat, he tries to save face.
"What I mean is that you actually bring her over. It's all good and well to have school friends, but real friends are different. You just said yourself, but hell, me and your mother could already tell. So far, I haven't seen you cleaned your room for any of your other friends."
"Oh lord, yes." Joyce smiles. "Did you even realize how excited you've been for the past few days? Even without saying it, we knew what you were thinking about, which is great. Having a friend you feel that close to is important."
"Important and fun." William says. "It would be terrible if something comes between the two of you and Maxine no longer comes over."
Her father's words chill her. To think that fateful meeting in the diner so long ago leading to a friendship that lasted so short and over something so trivially stupid. The thought pained Chloe unbearably and she wanted to run to Maxine right now and throw her arms around her as if to physically prevent her from going.
Chloe can't let that happen.
That night as she is lying in bed trying to get to sleep and succeeds in only tossing and turning instead as all her thoughts were focused on what to do, what ifs, and what will happen. The regrets keep building to the point where she wants to hit herself or scream to alleviate the build up inside of her.
She imagines going back to the way life used to be. Going to classes, listening to boring lectures, saying hi to Justin outside school, then going home to stare outside the window, and she despairs feeling a sort of terrible haze surround her. She dismisses the thought and thinks of Maxine's face instead.
As she imagines it, that peculiar smell of berries – strawberry passion, was it? – somehow returns and she automatically begin to calm down, but the anxiety of their final apart still eats at her inside.
As sleep overtakes Chloe, the last memory to pass through her mind is of blue eyes.