Phew, I'm relieved you guys enjoyed the first chapter :) That makes me really happy! To show my thanks, here's another chapter for you!

Oh! And since I couldn't fit it in, here's an alternate summary for Max's occasional POV: Max Caulfield, on the other hand, is completely lost when it comes to love. She's had a few crushes here and there, but nothing that got too serious. Which is why, when she crashes into this girl with her skateboard, she doesn't understand what she's feeling.

...

~Tell your vision, no, you're acting

The little boys go on pretending

They're wide awake...~

"How long do you have to wear the brace for?"

"Only a week. It's just a sprain, I'll be better by Saturday."

Max was sitting with a best friend of hers, Kate Marsh, in their favorite tea shop. It was mid-afternoon now and they decided to spend some time together during their lunch break. Plus, Max felt like she needed a nice relaxing moment after spending most of her morning with the nurse. Kate had her hand wrapped around her cup and Max was looking down into hers. While she loved being with Kate, she couldn't help her mind wandering into dangerous territory. Well, at least she considered it dangerous since it had to do with the girl she ran into earlier that morning.

Chloe.

The name was in no way foreign, nor was it difficult to say. Max knew another Chloe in Seattle when she lived there for five years. But she found herself tasting the two syllables, reveling in them. It made her feel tingly inside. It also made her wonder why Rachel didn't mention her before. Max would surely remember if Rachel had mentioned a Chloe Price, right?

"Max? Are you still with us?" Kate's voice was light and teasing, but Max could still hear genuine worry underneath it all.

"O-oh, um, yeah. Sorry." Max flushed and, to give herself something to focus on, grabbed her tea and took a sip.

Okay, more like a nervous gulp that scorched her throat and it made her sputter a bit. Kate handed her a napkin to wipe her mouth and Max took it, flashing Kate an apologetic and embarrassed smile. What was going on today?

"What happened, again? To your wrist?" Kate asked.

Max blushed deeper and started picking at her nails under the table. "I was skateboarding this morning. Trying to, anyway. But this girl came out of nowhere and I crashed into her and hit the ground pretty hard."

The brunette couldn't help but relive the impact. She could feel the shock and pain all over again. It ran through her like electricity, and it took everything in her not to wince when she remembered the way Chloe snapped at her. And she remembered when she stopped, watching her like she was sizing her up or something. Max felt weighted under Chloe's heavy gaze.

"Do you know who this girl is?" Kate continued.

"Um... I know for sure she's friends with Rachel." Max pretended to rack her brain for the answer like she hadn't been thinking about it since she heard it. "Chloe, I think. Chloe Price."

This time is was Kate that gave an unexpected response. Her eyes widened slightly and her hand visibly tensed around her cup. "Chloe Price?"

Okay, there's something clearly up with this girl if her name made Kate react this way. Max thought. "Yeah. Do you know her?"

"N-not personally, no." Kate relaxed a bit, but there was still a warning in her eyes that Max wanted to understand. "But she's the kind of person that has a name and reputation everyone knows. I can see why Rachel would be friends with her, she gets along with everyone, but..."

"Wait, reputation?" Max felt her heart sink at that. Of course this girl would have a reputation.

"Drugs, a DUI, expulsion, vandalism." Kate ticked off her fingers. "Those are just off the top of my head, though I will admit she was expelled over something ridiculous. I'm not quite sure what it was. I do know that her step-father was in her face about it later on."

"He sounds like an asshole." Max muttered.

"Worse than that, Max. He's the head of security at Blackwell." Kate's voice dropped like she feared they'd be heard. But Arcadia Bay was the kind of town where everyone pretty much knew everyone (which is why Max couldn't decipher why she didn't at least recognize Chloe's name. If she was really as bad as Kate said, she would've heard something. Right?)

"You can't mean David Madsen." Max was whispering, too.

"That's exactly who I mean." Kate frowned. "Chloe's biological father was killed in a car accident five years ago, and her mother married him two years later."

Max sat back in her chair, trying to process everything she'd just learned about a girl she just met today. Let alone that she was told these things by Kate, who is the last person you'd expect to be caught up in drama and gossip. Kate, also seeming to realize this, blushed a bit and straightened up. She twirled her stirrer around in her tea.

"All I'm saying is that you should be careful, Max." she said finally. "I feel Chloe is bad news, and I don't want you get involved or hurt."

"It's nice that you care, Kate. I'll be careful. Promise." Max smiled warmly at her.

And crossed her fingers under the table.

...

Okay, Max, you can do this.

Max felt bad for lying to Kate. She really did. But her curiosity about this Chloe girl was beating her, and that curiosity brought her to the door of Rachel Amber's dorm room. If there was anyone that could give her the answers she's craving it would be Rachel. She looked like she was best friends with Chloe. Max and Rachel may not of been best friends, but they were close enough. Rachel even told her once that if she ever needed anything, Max could come to her.

And Max needed to know about Chloe.

Very hesitantly, Max raised her hand and knocked once. Twice. There was a moment of silence and Max heard shuffling behind the door. The lock clicked and the door opened, revealing Rachel. The taller girl smiled when she saw Max and leaned against the door frame casually, crossing her arms.

"Max." Rachel said. She glanced down and nodded at the brace on Max's wrist. "It's not broken, is it?"

"Ah, no. Just sprained." Max said. She suddenly felt awkward standing there.

"That's good. But I wouldn't mind forcing Chloe to pay a couple medical bills." Hearing Chloe's name caused a twinge in Max's chest, but she covered it with a laugh at Rachel's joke. "So, what can I help you with?"

"It's...um..." Dog, how do I say this without sounding like a total creep? "It's actually about Chloe..."

Rachel's eyebrow arched in surprise. She grinned teasingly. "Now what would a girl like you want to talk about Chloe Price for?"

Max felt the heat rise in her cheeks. "Is... she okay?"

Rachel's expression went blank and she blinked at Max. There was a heavy silence and Max could feel it pushing against her. And when Rachel suddenly began to laugh, Max bit her lip. She felt like a child that had just been scolded for doing something bad. She actually wanted to cry.

"You're more confusing than I thought, Max." Rachel said when her laughing fit was done. "You're the one with the brace, but you ask about how she is." She shook her head, but her smile was fond. She stepped back and gestured into her room. "Come in and we'll talk."

Max opened her mouth to say something but she felt like all the oxygen was cut off from her brain. She couldn't form a proper sentence and instead looked like a fish out of water. Rachel rolled her eyes and pulled her in, closing the door behind her. With her hands on her shoulders, Rachel moved Max to sit on the bed before walking over to her dresser.

"You know, it's funny." she said as she searched through her drawer. "Chloe asked me to tell her how you are when she dropped me off."

"W-what?" Max managed to squeak.

"Don't believe me?" Rachel turned around, holding something between her fingers. At a closer look Max realized it was a joint. Rachel noticed her looking and held it out to her after she lit it. "Want a drag?"

"No. I'm good." Max shook her head. "But did Chloe really tell you to let her know how I was?" Rethinking everything that Kate had told her, finding out that Chloe cared about her well-being was the last thing she expected to hear.

Rachel nodded solemnly. The lit end of the joint burned brighter when she took a puff from it, holding the smoke in her mouth before letting it out slowly through her nose. Max watched it dissipate into the air. "She did. I promised her I would, but..."

"But what?" Max said.

Rachel turned around and placed her weed in her ashtray before walking over to her desk and picking up a notebook and a pen. She tore out a section of paper and scribbled something down. Smiling to herself, she went to Max and grabbed her hand. Her other hand clasped over it and Max felt the material of the paper tickle her palm. Confused, she looked up at Rachel. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"You can tell her yourself."

Max's hand jerked back in surprise, which made the paper slip out and hit the floor. Rachel sighed heavily and dropped her arms in exasperation. "What?! I can't do that!" Max cried.

"And why not?" Rachel said. She was clearly impatient and annoyed. This wasn't how she thought it'd go.

"B-because-" Because we barely know each other? Because it'll be awkward? Because I can't understand why this girl makes me feel so damn confused? Any of those would've been legitimate reasons.

"Max." Rachel's tone was firm. "I'm gonna ask you a serious question, and I want you to answer honestly."

"O-okay..." Max said.

"Do you think you like Chloe?"

And there it was again. The rapid beating of her heart, the sudden spike of heat in her cheeks, the onslaught of butterflies in her stomach. Rachel's eyes were burning into her and she tried not to pretend that they already knew the answer before she had it figured out herself. "I..." Rachel's eyebrows raised in expectation. "I... I don't know..."

Disappointment clouded over Rachel's features and she stood straight. She combed her fingers through her hair and ruffled it slightly. "I'm gonna pretend like you didn't just lie to me and tell you to just go for it."

"Rachel, I-I don't even know if I like girls-" Max began before Rachel gave her the 'are you fucking kidding me right now' face.

"Dude! Okay, listen to me." Rachel took a breath and picked up the slip of paper off the floor. She took Max by the wrist and pulled her off the bed, leading her over to her door. She opened it and turned to Max, practically shoving the paper in her hands. "Take this paper, go to your room, take out your phone. I'm sure you can figure out the rest from there, yeah?" She didn't wait for Max to reply and eagerly shoved her out the door. "Good. Bye!"

Max flinched, both from the pressure inflicted on her hand and Rachel shutting the door, and stood there for a moment. Her hand tightened around the paper in her hand and she looked down at it. She bit her lip.

Why is Rachel so determined to get me and Chloe together? Does she know something we don't? Something I don't know?

Max decided that she'd had enough of looking like a lost puppy outside Rachel's door and, like a zombie, made her way to her room. She shut the door quietly behind her like she was scared of disturbing someone's rest. And, to be honest, she was. She was disturbing her own rest. Her heart hadn't stopped pounding in her chest and she could feel it reverberating off of every nerve within her when she sat down on her bed. With trembling fingers, Max unfolded the slip of paper. On it, ten digits were scribbled in Rachel's elegant penmanship. The color of the pen ink was blue. Electric blue like Chloe's faded hair. She bet Rachel did that on purpose.

It was effective in making Max recall when she ran into Chloe. The panic she felt when she saw the fire in Chloe's eyes as she started to cuss her out, the sense of confusion when that fire quickly diminished when she saw Max. The defined rush of static that coursed her veins when she could tell that Chloe was trying to tone down her diction for her sake. There was an apologetic and warm glint that took the space the fire left behind when she handed Max her skateboard. Max experienced loss when she watched and felt Chloe's hand move away from the board.

And how could she deny the warm sensation that pooled in her stomach when she caught Chloe looking at her as they were walking away from each other?

Maybe Rachel knew what she was doing when she gave Max this paper.

What have you got to lose, Caulfield? Your pride? Your dignity?

Her eyebrows furrowed together and her jaw set.

Fuck it.

Max unlocked her phone and opened up her phone. Pausing in between each number she punched in, Max felt her confidence waver. She held her breath as she typed out her message. If she thought about what to say, her restraint would kick in again and she doubted she'd ever try to do it again. Reading it over, Max nodded to herself-

-and hit send.

...

Aaaaand there! I hope you guys enjoyed the next installment of This Side of Paradise! I should tell you guys now that just because the lyrics are in a certain chapter, that doesn't mean it is meant for it. It could be foreshadowing a future chapter or referencing a previous chapter. Know that the lyrics are in order, though :)

CaptainVampireQueen awaaay!