Author's Note: I actually had a rough time figuring out how to write this chapter. Fair warning, it gets a little hot. A little. So watch out, kids. Buckle your seat-belts (just kidding I'm not that great of a writer). Like always, if you enjoyed it be sure to drop a review and feel free to PM me! Stay awesome friends. :) Also... OHMYGOSH EPISODE 4 EPISODE 4 EPISODE 4 EPISODE 4
Chapter 3: Connections
Max could see, in her head, so many drunk bodies flopping into the water that night. Whether they were the product of a shit-faced accident or on purpose, now, that was a mystery.
Good thing they've got these spare rescue boards and oxygen kits around here, Max thought, somebody might need them.
This wasn't exactly her idea of fun but, if it got Max closer to the answers she desired, she would have to tough it out.
The booming bass grew more intense as the girls neared the strobe lights and "fun." Victoria pushed the metal door and held it open, motioning for Max to enter the danger zone.
This nice new Victoria is just weird... I don't know how I feel about this. Awkward.
Victoria, of course, wasn't doing this to be nice. Oh, no. She was really only holding that door open so she could sneak a peak at Max's ass. Maybe if she could get her drunk enough, the brunette may submit this time...
The Vortex was a bit bigger than Max imagined. Bodies seemed to be dancing and flailing everywhere... She didn't even want to think about how many would be there at the End of the World party.
"This way, Mad Max. Taylor and Courtney are waiting," Victoria tugged on the chaste girl's arm. "Nathan should be with them, too."
Okay. Maybe I can start my search there. Max remembered the words of the two girls in the bathroom earlier that evening. '...Maxine has no idea... That's why he can deal all of that shit to people... I heard his shit is cut with laxative... Do you think he's working with the guards?...'
Max decided that her plan of action was to watch Nathan that night for any clues linked to the transaction of drugs... and who is getting involved. If Kate was drugged at a Vortex club party in the other world, and Rachel was in the Vortex there and here and suddenly went missing, something had to be that missing link.
The girls came up on Taylor and Courtney shaking their booties for two absolutely intoxicated boys.
"Taylor!" Victoria yelled over the blasting music. Both of her minions snapped around and greeted their master.
"What's up Victoria?! You and Max made it!" Courtney acknowledged with a wink. Victoria shot her a look that screamed, "Shut up, bitch, nothing happened ...yet."
Max let out an awkward laugh. "Where's Nathan?"
"He's somewhere over there," Taylor pointed to a general area on her right. "Hitting some homies up with the good stuff!"
The brunette's blue eyes broke around the room, looking for the douchecanoe. She finally found him in his blue Letterman and he was, indeed, "hitting some homies up." It was difficult to see in the dark with only the zooming strobe lights and other people's phones to light the space up, but Max caught a couple glimpses of Nathan passing something in a plastic bag to a fellow student and getting a good amount of bills thrown into his hands in return.
Max knew she needed to get some of it- To take back with her, of course. There was no way in Hell she was going to actually use it, or let it fall into the wrong hands. She simply needed to obtain it so she could store it in her bag, find the picture, hop back to her own reality, and prove to Chloe and the rest of Blackwell that Nathan drugged Kate Marsh.
She dismissed herself from the three preps in her small group and pushed through the crowd towards her "boyfriend." It was time to get convincing.
"Hey, Nathan."
"Oh, hey babe. Didn't notice you got here yet.. hehe..."
"It's cool. Hey, I was actually hoping you could hook me up..." Max was trying.
"What? What are you even talking about?"
"Come on, drop the act, I saw you deal to those dudes over there..."
Victoria watched the two of them carefully. She wanted Max, and Nathan was not about to stop her.
"Okay, fine," Nathan pulled a small bag from his back pocket.
That was easier than I expected. Phew.
"BUT," he began, moving closer to Max, pinning her against the wall.
Holy shit... Of course he wouldn't give it to me that easy. Max was about to throw her hand up and rewind when Victoria came rushing up.
"Max, come here for a minute! I need you to help me with something super quick..." Victoria sucked at making up excuses.
Max didn't care. She latched on to that sentence and totally agreed to leave with the blonde. She pulled away from Nathan with Victoria's help and snatched the plastic bag from Nathan's hand.
"I'll pay you back later, promise." Max called out behind her as she happily allowed herself to be dragged out of the scene by a jealous Victoria.
Score! Nice one, Max. You got the stuff and you fled the area successfully.
Max didn't realize how far away from Nathan Victoria was really taking her... They were almost in the locker rooms again.
Victoria stopped suddenly and turned to focus her attention on Max. That whole "I'm so cute and innocent" act teased her too much. Max just didn't know what that did to her... Oh, Max, you have much to learn.
"Hey, Mad Max," she proposed enticingly, "Don't you think this dark, secluded room is... sexy?"
Oh shit. Victoria's pulling the same looks she gives Jefferson... She is not about to pounce on me, is she? I didn't even know she rolled that way...
"Well?" Victoria asked, sashaying closer to the pure little brunette.
"I, uh, I don't know, maybe?" Max stumbled. This was an awful lot to take in. Victoria was definitely hot, there was no doubt about that, and she did take quite the interest in her.
Victoria had enough of the waiting, she was a very impatient person. She was going to get what she wanted, one way or another. In one swift move, she smacked Max up against the wall and looked her dead in the eyes.
"I want you, Caulfield." She said as she began to plant hard kisses all over Max's neck, receiving soft, airy sighs in response. "And I'll have you, any way I can." she said in between smacks.
Victoria moved her kisses up a bit, going up the side of Max's neck and across her cheek onto her lips. She bit Max's bottom lip lightly and forced them open so she could push her tongue through, entwining it with the one she quickly met once inside.
Both girls' hearts were racing more than a million miles an hour.
Victoria lifted one hand off of the brick locker room wall and gently grazed it down Max's face, and along her neck, and lower...and... Wow. This girl's game is strong, for someone who hasn't done this before. Or has she? Fuck, she's almost better than Mr. Jefferson...
Max wasn't even doing anything, besides standing there taking it, and it was turning Victoria on.
The tiny-framed brunette felt vibrations from the boom of the blasting bass playing in the party on the other side of the wall. She knew she shouldn't be doing this, but Victoria made it feel so good. As much as Max disliked her, she had to admit that this girl was good at being sexy.
Was Max's first sex partner going to be a girl? That slightly surprised her; she had never realized she was attracted to the feminine crowd this way... Maybe Victoria was just "that one girl"... Or was that Chloe?
Shit, I'm confused.
Max looked around the room as Victoria pecked back down her neck. I really shouldn't be doing this, she thought. What would Chloe think?
Max pulled away from the roused prep. "I'm sorry... I-I cant, Victoria." she stumbled.
"Why not? I thought you were enjoying this." Victoria cradled the brunette's face.
"I was," she assured, "But we just cant..." Max looked down at the clammy floor.
Victoria's face sunk slightly, then quickly morphed into a half-glare-half-pout. She wasn't getting what she wanted tonight. "Fine, whatever. I'm going to go enjoy the party. See you around, Maxine."
Victoria's way of dealing with unpleasant situations was odd. It was as if she flipped an attitude switch in her brain the instant she didn't get her way... Almost like how Chloe used to...
Max watched the sexy short-haired blonde take the Walk of Shame through the showers and out to the pool. She took a moment to gather herself and took that opportunity to exit the building.
Once outside of the Blackwell gym, Max looked at the time on her phone.
10:53PM
It was ironically hilarious how she was constantly watching the clock as if she would run out of time soon. Well, maybe she would, what with the tornado coming tomorrow... She really needed to find that picture... Fast.
Where should she look first? Max thought about where she first came in contact with the photo of her and baby Chloe from 2008. She remembered that Joyce had taken it from the family picture album in her living room the morning she kissed Chloe.
Max's thoughts trailed for a moment. She thought about how Chloe's lips felt on hers, how warm and fuzzy her tummy felt. How she thought she might fly away if Chloe wasn't there as her anchor... And all of this happened in a split second. She wondered if Chloe felt the same...
Back to the important stuff, Max. You need to get over to the Price house and get a hold of that picture.
Blackwell buses stopped their routes at 10:00, students' curfew. Max would have to hike down to the real bus stop and wait for the next one. She searched the Arcadia Bay bus system on her phone and, to her delight, the next bus picked up at the stop near her at 11:00! She headed down to the little red dot on her screen and stood in the moonlight waiting.
The bus dropped Max off on 39th Terrace. She jumped down and walked a few houses until she stood in front of a blue house number 44.
Max knew it was rather late to be visiting anyone, but the tornado was coming to flatten the town tomorrow, and she had no idea when it would show up... This was a force of nature not to be reckoned with.
The introvert paced up to the familiar door and knocked on it. No answer. She knocked once more and waited patiently. Eventually a groggy Joyce unlocked and opened her front door. She had obviously been sleeping.
"Hi, Joyce." Max said with an apologetic look on her face. "I-I'm sorry if I woke you up, I just needed something."
"Why at 11:00? You couldn't have waited until tomorrow morning?"
"No," Max lied, "I'm leaving to visit my parents tomorrow."
"Uh, alright then," Joyce sighed, "What is it you needed?"
Max didn't prepare for this. Quick! Think of something, Sherlock.
"Well," she wavered, "Is Chloe awake? I need to get it from her."
"You're lucky. I think she's in her room watching late night television." Joyce yawned and shuffled back upstairs into her bedroom.
Max went straight for Chloe's room downstairs. She knocked lightly and cracked the door open.
"Chloe? You there?" she whispered. No response. She must be asleep.
Max closed the door as quietly as she could and searched a shelf decorated with tons of old trinkets and things. She pulled off the thick book and set it on the kitchen table.
Yes, she thought, I'm almost home.
Max flipped through the pages and scanned every picture. Nothing. Nada. Nope.
I swear, it was here. Where could it possibly be?
Max tried to think harder about the possible location of the elusive snapshot. The last place she had it was in her dorm room, on the edge of her bed. She had to go there.
Back at Blackwell, Max shot straight for the dormitories. There was no time to waste. She entered the hallway and glanced at Dana's door on the way down. Her slate wasn't clean this time; it instead harbored many crass drawings of pregnant women and babies.
Poor Dana...
Max opened the door to her room and slammed it shut in haste. She pounced on her desk, throwing papers on the floor in her desperate hunt.
No picture there.
She moved to the couch, ripping away the soft, fancy pillows and cushions.
Nothing.
She sat on her bed and pouted, wondering if she would be able to find this stupid picture before it was too late for Arcadia Bay. Her feet wandered under the bed. Something felt slippery; Max got down on her hand and knees and peered under the bed to see what it might be.
The picture!
There is a God, she thought to herself as she snatched it out from under the bed and plopped on its edge. Max positioned the picture exactly the way it was the day she time-hopped. She attempted to get her racing mind to calm down, so she could be at the same mental state. Who knew what this kind of stuff required? If there was one thing Max did know, it was that there was no greater feeling of longing than what she felt in that moment, and there was no other person she would want to spend the rest of her moments with than her blue-haired bestie as soon as she returned. After fixing the past, of course.
Max stared down at the picture and began to hear Chloe's childish voice in her ears one more time. "Cheesecake!"
The universe is giving me a second chance, Max thought, I'm going home.
One More Quick Note: This chapter is probably not done yet, I didn't really spend as much time on it as the others. Sorry if it seems a bit rushed... Expect either more to be added later or a better quality Chapter 4!