Chapter 8: Beat the bullies, part 2

The piercing pain was indescribable; far worse than everything she felt before, including a fractured rib. Max closed her eyes and held her head tight, like she feared that it might literally explode any second, if she didn't hold it together.

Suddenly, the pain was gone. The small girl opened her eyes again and scanned everything in her sight. Only to see, that she stood in the crowded hallway of her school. It looked like every student was in this very hallway, waiting for something to happen. Max could hear single words, like 'Jasmine Graves', 'Chloe Price', 'kill' and 'amok'.

'Where am I? Did I pass out? What is going on here?'

The small girl tried to move, but she couldn't. Actually, she couldn't do anything. It felt like she was just a bystander in her own body.

The crowd parted in front of her and made way for Chloe, who was escorted by two policemen, her hands cuffed behind her back. Her white shirt splattered with red droplets. A sudden feeling of sadness rushed through Max. She felt how she started to cry and without any command she just run towards Chloe and embraced her into a tight hug.

"Oh Chloe!" the brunette girl cried out, pressing herself even closer to her friend, ignoring the pain in her body.

"Let her go, Miss!" one of the officers commanded, breaking the hug.

Chloe's expression was still cold and emotionless, like she was in shock. "Don't worry, Max. She won't hurt you ever again." she said plainly and was brought away by the policemen.

Max collapsed to the floor, hugging herself, and continued to shed tears. Nobody around took care of her. She felt left alone…without Chloe, she was alone. Her headaches returned, as suddenly her vision blurred, and the noise and chatter of the crowd around her went silent.

As fast as the headaches came, as fast they were gone again. The noise of dozens of people had disappeared and was replaced by some quiet, whispered chitter chatter. Max felt that she wasn't crying anymore and as her eyes focused again, the small girl saw a different scenery.

The halls of her school had changed into a courtroom. Max sat in the first row. Right in front of her was Chloe, sitting on a table, her back facing the brunette girl. She wore a black suit. Beside her was a man, telling her something.

'What has happened? Why am I in a courtroom? Is this another vision or even reality? Everything fells so real, like I'm really here. But my body doesn't obey me. It's like I'm trapped in another person.'

The door at the far end of the room opened and everybody stood up as a man in a long, black robe, probably the judge, entered and took his seat. The chatter in the room died immediately.

Max felt that someone grabbed her hand, holding it tight. She moved her gaze and saw that it was Joyce.

'She looks so sad; so worried. I've never seen her like that before. Not even after William died.'

The judge coughed, making Max focus on him again. She felt fear, nervousness and sadness in a wild mixture.

"Chloe Elizabeth Price," the judge began. "You've been found guilty of negligent homicide on Jasmine Veronica Graves. You're hereby sentenced to 10 years of prison at the Portland youth penitentiary. A chance for parole won't be possible until the year 2013."

Hearing this sentence sent a feeling of deep depression and desperation through Max. And while the room was filling with the whispering of the audience again and the judge held a final speech, the young girl just stood there and watched everything around her in slow-motion.

Chloe collapsed onto her chair and started to cry, her body shaking with every sob. The same happened to Joyce. Max felt hot tears running down her cheeks. Her gaze suddenly fixed on a table were a slender guy and a fat, baldy man congratulated each other with a handshake. Seeing those men sent feelings of hate and anger through her entire body.

As Chloe was about to be escorted out of the courtroom, Max darted through the seat rows, completely ignoring the complaints of the other people. The small girl wrapped her arms around her best friend and took her into a tight hug. Both girls stood there, crying in each others shoulder.

"Please, don't leave me! This is not fair!" Max cried out between her sobs.

Chloe started to pet her best friends back, pressing her even closer. "Ssh, I know, Maxi." She replied and softly broke the hug, looking into Max's blue eyes deeply while she brushed over her cheek and gave her a warm smile. "Don't worry, everything will be fine. You'll see, 10 years will be over in no time, and if I'm lucky, it'll only be half the time. Just keep on living your life and when I'm out of the joint, we will raise hell!" Max gave her a slight nod, leaning into her cubing hand.

"Oh my baby-girl…" Joyce said with a shivering voice, before she couldn't hold back her tears and started to cry again.

Chloe took her mom into tight hug too. "I'm so sorry, mom! I wish…" She sniffed. "I wish I could've been a better daughter."

The tall woman pushed her daughter softly away, still holding her shoulders, and looked at her sternly. "You are a great daughter!" she said with determination. "Just stay strong and remember that there are people here who will always be there and help you!"

"I know." the blonde girl responded before she was escorted out.

And again, Max had to watch how her best friend was brought away; out of her reach. Her headaches came back and her vision blurred again, until everything went dark.

As before, the darkness was soon displaced by brightness again. The strong headaches vanished and slowly, her sight improved. Instead of being in a courtroom, Max was now in a room with fixed metal tables and chairs, which were spread over the entire place. Some tables were occupied by different people.

'Where am I now? Wait! Fixed tables and chairs. Barred windows. Parents with their in orange overalls dressed kids. I must be in the visitor's room of a prison!'

The metal door on the opposite wall opened with a loud buzzing sound. Again escorted by a guard, Chloe, dressed in an orange overall, walked in. She looked a few years older and her hair was now completely dyed blue.

A big wave of joy rushed through Max as her eyes met with Chloe's. She jumped up and embraced her in a tight and big hug. Both girls started to sob out of joy. "I missed you so much!" she whispered in her friend's ear.

"I missed you too, Maxi!" Chloe responded. They broke the hug, leaned in and their lips collided in a long and very intimate kiss. A warm feeling emerged from the inside of Max's body and filled her very being.

'Wh-what is going on? Why am I kissing her? I-I know this feeling. Is that how it feels to be in love with someone? Do I love Chloe?'

After they'd stopped kissing, both took their seat. "So, how's it going, Maximus?" Chloe asked, leaning forward in expectation.

"Well, Law-School is harder than I thought, but I'll punch through it. I'm happy though that I'm living here in Portland now and will finally be able to visit you as often as possible." Max answered, holding Chloe's hand.

"Yeah, that really rocks!" the blunette cheered, but her expression darkened instantly a moment later. "How's my mom?" she asked sternly.

Max glanced at their hands, her voice low. "She…uhm…she had another breakdown. Happened yesterday evening. She wanted to come, but…"

"I see…" Chloe interrupted her and inhaled deeply. Max raised her eyes again and saw that Chloe stared into empty space, her eyes wet from tears. "This is all my fault." she muttered.

"No, Chloe, it's not." the brunette answered, brushing her hand, but Chloe withdrew it and jumped up.

"Yes it is, Max!" Chloe yelled. The guard was already drawing his Taser-Gun, but Max signed him that everything was alright. She embraced Chloe into another tight hug, rocking her softly as she began to sob. "I was the one who killed Jasmine. I did it! And I left you and mom alone. I left her when she needed me the most. I'm just a stupid fuck-up."

Max broke the hug and brushed the crying girl's cheek. "You are not a fuck-up, you hear me! You know as well as I do that the whole trial was fucked. Normally, you would've received a sentence of only 2 years, but Fat-bastard Graves bribed the judge and the DA. I already have evidences, a shitload of them, and I'm gonna roll up the whole fucking case again to get you out of here!"

"But when, huh? You don't even have your degree, yet. And who the fuck knows how long it will take to revision the whole case." the blunette blurted desperately and sobbed again. "I don't wanna go back in there. They do things to me. Things I…"

"Time's up! C'mon Chloe!" the guard commanded, and grabbed Chloe by her shoulder.

Max held Chloe by her hand and gave the guard an evil glare. "What the fuck, dude! Are you cereal? That weren't even 15 minutes. According to article…"

"Inappropriate behavior." the guard interrupted her. "She yelled and touched a visitor. That's inappropriate behavior and a reason to end the visit. So, stand aside, Miss or your privilege to visit the prisoner will be revoked!"

Max let go of Chloe's hand. She felt anger, deep burning anger. She wanted to scream; she wanted to grab Chloe by her hand again and bail her out of here.

Chloe managed to slip away from the guard's grip, ran towards Max and embraced her into a strong hug. "I love you, Max! I love you with all my heart! Please don't ever leave me!" she spoke between her sobs.

"Never!" the smaller girl answered with a determined voice. "I promise you that I will get you out of here as soon as possible. I love you, Chloe!"

They shared another kiss, before Chloe turned around and followed the guard out of the room.

Max stayed behind and again, she was alone. She felt lonely, desperate, and powerless. Her eyes welled up again as her head began to throb. The visitor's room blurred and pure silence engulfed the small girl, until there was only darkness again.

Bright daylight and traffic noise broke through the nothingness. Max stood, leaning against a car, in front of a huge, fenced building.

The front gate opened and a tall punk girl walked through it. Her hair was blue, with some mixed colored streaks here and there. She wore a black, ripped jeans, an old sleeveless button shirt with a lose tank top under it. The combat boots she wore stomped on the ground with every step. Her arms were muscular and covered with different tattoos. Although she looked a bit older again and had an extreme style, Max recognized her as Chloe.

Chloe turned around one last time, raised her arms and gave the prison two middle fingers, before she faced Max again, giving her the characteristic mischievous smile.

The warm and comforting feeling of love rushed through the brunette's body as she started to run towards Chloe, jumped at her and pressed her lips on her girlfriend's mouth.

They parted and Chloe looked at Max with a wide smirk. "Damn, babe, I never get used to how sexy you look in your dress!"

"And I can't belief how much your wild punk-rock look turns me on." Max replied.

"Mmh, was that an invitation?"

Max gave the punk girl a shrug and winked. "Maybe. Wanna bail?"

"Fuck yes! So, where's your car?" Chloe asked, taking a look around.

"You're standing in front of it." the smaller woman remarked.

"That's a Prius." Chloe mentioned, making a face of disgust, while she walked to the passenger's door. "Aren't you attorney-folks supposed to drive some fancy-pansy shit like a Mercedes?"

Max sighed and rolled with her eyes as she opened the driver's door. "Firstly, that's a stupid cliché. Secondly, I'm just a small attorney, not the DA…yet."

"Well…" began Chloe as both embarked the vehicle. "You sure kicked a lot of asses for being 'just' a small attorney. How many years has fat-ass Graves to serve?"

"Fifteen, and it wasn't only my doing. Many lawyers worked on this case. Only your release was my accomplishment alone." the brunette answered and started the car.

"Took you long enough." was Chloe's plain comment.

Max stopped the car immediately and gave her girlfriend an evil glare. "What?!"

"Eight years, Max. Eight fucking years! It took you eight shitfucking years to get me out of this hellhole." Chloe yelled at her, holding her glare.

Max knew that Chloe could be moody sometimes, but this time she saw something in her eyes that she never saw before. Something that was more than just anger. And it startled her. She took a deep breath and answered with a calm voice. "Chloe, I know that those eight years sucked like hell; that you literally went through hell. Jeez, Chlo, I suffered with you! Or do you think it was fun for me, seeing you in there, huh?" Tears were forming in the corner of her eyes as Max lost control over her composure. Her voice was shaking. "Every time I visited you, I saw how you broke more and more, and it hurt me. It broke my heart. It broke my heart so much that I gave up photography and decided to become a fucking lawyer instead. Because I knew that they never would let you out on parole, thanks to Graves. And now…I finally got you out and you…and all you do is blaming me for taking so long. That's not fair, Chlo! That's…"

Chloe suddenly took Max into a tight hug and rocked her as she started to cry. "I'm sorry, Max. I'm so sorry. It's this stupid prison. It…it kinda fucked with my mind, and I…I love you Max, and I don't even know how I should repay you for everything you did for me."

"Just be my lovable dork, you dork!" Max mumbled into Chloe's chest.

Again, a stinging headache occurred and the smell of cold smoke, mixed with Chloe's scent vanished.

Max gazed at herself in the glass door of a cupboard in front of her, while she was doing the dishes. She looked weary, exhausted and depressed.

A door got slammed shut with a loud bang. "MAX! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?" Chloe's heavy voice chimed through the apartment, accompanied by stomping steps. "There you are! Why didn't you answer me?" she yelled, walking into the kitchen.

Normally, Chloe's voice would've generated the warm feeling of love and joy, but this time it produced only fear and desperation. The smaller woman didn't even bother to turn around as she replied in a clam voice. "Because I made it a rule not to talk to you anymore when you're drunk."

"So now you're ignoring me?"

Max dropped the plate she had in her hand into the sink and leaned her hands on the counter, mustering all strength to keep calm. "No, I'm not ignoring you. I'm just tired of these stupid discussions that we always have when you're drunk. Now, if you wanna talk, go to bed and sober up!"

"You talked to her again, didn't ya?" Chloe suddenly asked with a suspiciously tone in her voice.

Another wave of fear, paired with guilt, rushed through the brunette's body. "I don't know what you're talking about." she answered plainly.

Suddenly, Max's shoulder is grabbed hurtfully and her body got turned around. She now faced Chloe, whose eyes were radiating this strange kind of anger like in the vision before. "Don't lie to me! You called HER again. What was her name? Rita? Ronda?"

"Rachel. Rachel Amber. And she's my client, so I have to call her from time to time."

Max crumbled to the ground as Chloe's flat hand slapped her right in the face with full force. But it hurt her only physically. Emotionally, she felt just dull. A few second later she's grabbed by the collar of her shirt and pulled onto her feet again.

Chloe's face was now right in front of her, their noses almost touching each other. Max could smell the nauseating mixture of alcohol and tobacco as the punk hissed in her face. "I told you not to call her ever again! And yet, you did it anyway. Are you banging her behind my back? Is she the reason why you treat me like shit all the time? Tell me, Max!" But Max didn't respond. She just averted the blunette's gaze until she's slapped in the face and hit the ground again. "Haven't I given you all my love and affection, huh?" Chloe yelled, throwing the already washed up dishes against the wall, where they were smashed into a thousand pieces.

"No, Chloe. You haven't." These words made Chloe to stop in her tracks as Max spoke them with a quiet and shivering voice, while tears started to flow down her cheeks. "Since you're out of prison, everything you did was to yell at me and…and to hit me…and…and…" Her voice failed for a moment as suddenly all emotions rushed over her. "And y-you forced me to…to…" A sob escaped her mouth and as she looked into Chloe's widen eyes, she almost could see some kind of realization. "Whatever kind of feelings there were between us…they're gone. You've changed, Chloe. I tried to ignore it; tried to sit it out; hoped that it would end soon, but it didn't. And I...I just don't love you anymore."

The short glimpse of guilt in Chloe's eyes vanished from one second to another. She darted forwards and took Max's neck into tight grip, which made her groan in pain. "Say this again, bitch!" she hissed.

"Y-you're hurting m-me…p-please…"

"Stop whining and tell me again that you don't love me anymore!"

But all Max did, was to brush over Chloe's cheek. "Wh-what happened to you, Chlo? Where's the caring Chloe I used love? Where's my Captain?"

"You still remember this pirate-crap." the blunette scoffed and turned away. Max dropped to the ground as Chloe let her go. "Stop living in the past, Max. Prison's changed me. It always was about eat or be eaten. Guess on which side the old Chloe stood. Now stop bawling like a fucking baby, clean up this shit and come to bed!"

After Chloe had left the kitchen, Max tried to stand up. Her cheek hurt and she felt dizzy. She gazed at her reflection in the glass door again and saw that she looked even worse than before. The small woman took out her phone with shaky hands and typed a message.

Max: She did it again. Can't take it anymore. Gonna end it now. Love u.

In a matter of seconds her text got answered.

Rachel: max, don't do it! u r not alone!

Rachel: max! answer me!

Rachel: MAX!

Her phone started to buzz continuously as she got an incoming call. She just stared at Rachel's ID and the associated picture of a beautiful blonde woman for some time. And there it was again, this wonderful warm feeling of joy and love, but it was instantly suppressed by dullness. "I'm sorry." she whispered and let the phone drop onto the floor, where it kept on buzzing.

She opened a drawer next to her and took out a sharp knife.

"MAX! MOVE YOUR LAZY ASS INTO THIS FUCKING BEDROOM RIGHT NOW!"

Max closed her eyes, took a deep breath and everything went silent.

Pure darkness surrounded her. Not one sound could be heard. It was the perfect absence of everything.

'Where am I now? Am I…dead?'

A faint sound could be heard in the distance. It became louder and louder until it turned into a deafening whistling noise. The headaches returned with full force. She could hear her heartbeat and the streaming of her blood.

All this noise tuned down with every second, until it was replaced by Audrey's voice.

"…scratches, sprained wrists and ankles, and maybe the one or other bumped balls from Chloe's skater-posse. A Band-Aid here, a painkiller there, but no hospital needed. But your stuff is serious and…shit! Max!"

Audrey shook Max, who suddenly sat up with a start. The nurse startled, lost her balance and landed on her butt.

Max scanned the room. Her breathing was fast and her heart raced. "Chloe!" she gasped and then looked at the nurse. "Audrey, h-how long is it that Chloe left?"

"She left maybe a minute ago…wait, don't you remember?"

Not paying any attention to the black-haired woman's question, Max jumped from the bed and headed for the door, only to be stopped by Audrey. "Max, wait! Fractured ribs, unconsciousness, nose bleeding and memory loss. You're not going anywhere until a doctor give's you a clean bill of health!"

"Audrey, you don't understand. I have to stop Chloe!" Max said desperately, trying to free herself from the nurses grip.

"Why? She's about to report the attack on you to the Principal."

Max grabbed Audrey on both shoulders and looked into her brown eyes deeply. "Audrey, she's not going to the Principal."

"Shit!" the woman muttered as she understood and let go of Max, who left the infirmary.

'Chloe learned my schedule every school year. Especially the classes I shared with Jasmine. She always wanted to make sure that nothing happens to me.'

Completely ignoring the pain and exhaustion that ran through her entire body, plus the fact that she was only wearing a blanked and her panties, Max sprinted through the hallways of her school. She knew where Chloe was heading; what she was about to do.

'This last vision. Was it real? No, it couldn't be! It was just a pure nightmare. Chloe would never hurt me like this. I refuse to belief that it was her! And if it was true, then I have to stop it!'

Tears flowed down from her cheeks as she remembered these last visions; this chain of events that would happen, if she doesn't stop Chloe.

She'd almost reached the classroom as the sound of falling chairs and tables, shrieks and gasps chimed throughout the school building. And above all, Chloe's hate-fueled yelling.

"YOU STUPID BITCH!"

"HOW DOES IT FEEL, HUH? HAVIN' A GOOD TIME?"

"WHY AREN'T YA LAUGHING?"

Max reached the classroom and what she saw engulfed her mind with horror. Jasmine Graves laid on her back, whining in agony, while Chloe sat on her belly. She was holding the chubby girl on her collar, giving her now and then a punch. The whole class, including the teacher, just stood aside, watching the whole scene. Some students where even filming it with their phones.

"I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE HER ALONE!" Chloe yelled again, let Jasmine's head hit the ground and started to give her a barrage of punches. Every one followed by a word. "DON'T…EVER…TOUCH…MY…MAX…AGAIN!"

At first, Max just stood in the doorframe, not moving a muscle. Seeing Chloe in this rage; seeing her beating someone up; frightened the young girl. But there was no time to lose. One of the following punches would kill Jasmine and therefor leading into a dark future for both of them.

Remembering this future, Max finally snapped out of it, jumped forward, wrapped her arms around Chloe and pulled her off Jasmine. "Chloe stop!"

"No, Max! She hurt you! She deserves it! Lemme go!" the blonde yelled, struggling against her best friend's hold.

Max felt how her body was about to give up. The pain and the exhaustion were about to overwhelm her. In pure desperation, the small girl gathered every bit of strength she had left, grabbed Chloe by her shoulders and wrestled her down. Max didn't know how she did it, but with a smooth move, she managed to sit on Chloe and pinned her down. Now the young girl looked deep into her best friend's hate radiating eyes. "Chloe, just stop it, please! You'll kill her if you keep doing this. And if you kill her, you…you'll…" Thinking about what she experienced, Max started to sob. "…you will go to prison a-and then you'll change and…and…Oh Chloe, please, don't hurt me…please…d-don't hurt me!" She didn't care that everyone was staring at them; that she was almost naked. What mattered to her was Chloe. Her best friend. Her love. Exhaustion eventually took over and Max collapsed onto Chloe's chest, crying every bit of physically and emotionally pain out.

Two arms embraced the brunette girl's shaking body. "I'd never hurt you, Maxi." Chloe whispered and started to cry, too.

"Two broken ribs, three broken fingers, one broken cheekbone, one broken nose, two chipped out teeth and a various number of bruises and cuts." Principal Hargrove read out and then gazed at the 5 persons at the conference table in front of her. "I'd expected such a list after a heavy fight in a shabby bar down at the pier, but not at a Junior High School."

While the black-haired woman tried to stay calm at first, she suddenly lost her temper, threw the list on the table, broke the pen she had in her hands in half and started to yell. "During my whole educational career, nothing like this ever happened. Thanks to social media, this whole bullshit is now all over the internet and the school-board is about to bust my ass, saying that I lost control over my school. Godammit!" Hargrove stood up and threw the two halves of the pen in the next corner. After she took some deep breathes, she eyed every single person in front of her. "Now all I want to know is how something like this could happen." she said with an almost threatening voice, leaning on the table. "Anyone?"

Since her office was too small for 6 persons, they shifted this meeting to the conference room of the school. On one side of the table sat Max, Chloe and Joyce. On the other side Jasmine Graves and her father Gordon, a bald man with a heavy body, dressed in a suit. It was the late evening of this eventful day. Despite Max's and Jasmine's rather serious injuries, Principal Hargrove and the school-board insisted to bring some light into this incident as fast as possible, especially after it went viral over the internet. Of course, the doctors had to give the two girls a go, first.

"For me the case is clear. This…girl…" Gordon Graves almost spitted out, pointing at Chloe. "…beat up my poor, innocent daughter."

"Pft, innocent…yeah, right." Chloe scoffed, arms crossed. Her right hand was in a bandage.

"You finally have something to say, Miss Price." Principal Hargrove addressed the blonde girl.

Chloe sighed and rolled with her eyes. "What is there to say?" she blurted out. "This bitch…"

"Chloe, language!" Joyce interrupted.

"Oh, excusez moi, this FUCKING bitch beat up Max without any reason and broke two of her ribs. Neither was this the first time she bullied her nor was Maxi the first victim. She had it commin', nuff said!"

"This is outrageous!" Gordon Graves yelled and stood up. "This brat is lying! There is no evidence that my daughter ever did something like this."

"If you call my daughter a brat ever again, we will have another incident here, Gordon!" Joyce fired back, getting up, too.

"Shut it and sit down!" Hargrove intervened and both parents sat down again. "Let me make one thing clear. I don't wanna hear any insults or unnecessary accusations in this room, especially not from one of my students! But Miss Price said the truth. Your daughter and her gang, Mister Graves, are very well known around school. So far, they always got away with everything, because coincidentally nobody saw anything. But this time, we have an eyewitness."

"Who?" the baldy man asked, his fist hitting the desk.

"This person wants to stay anonymous."

"Who says that this person isn't lying and wants to damage my reputation?" he kept pushing.

Hargrove sighed. "Mister Graves, not every human being on this planet lies or wants to mess up your already not so great reputation. Why would a kid do something like that? Besides, the witnesses' statement matches perfectly with Miss Caulfield's, therefor I have no doubts about its validity."

The fat man's fist hit the desk again. "This statement and the witness don't matter. My daughter got deliberately attacked by this delinquent and I want to see some consequences!"

Unimpressed by Mr. Graves' threatening gesture, Principal Hargrove held his angry gaze. "Oh, there will be consequences and that is why we are here. I'll make no secret out of it that the board wants me to make an example."

"Then this farce is a waste of my precious time. This girl is guilty. Just expel her."

Joyce crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave Gordon the most evil glare Max has ever seen. "Then I suggest that your daughter is going to be expelled, too."

"Mrs. Hargrove…" he began.

"MISS Hargrove, Mr. Graves!" the Principal interrupted him.

"I'm sorry. MISS Hargrove, the case is clear." he continued in a very fawning voice. "Miss Price viciously attacked my daughter…"

"Who attacked Max first." Joyce threw in.

"Maybe, but she will receive her punishment at home."

Chloe's mom just scoffed. "Oh, and what will that be? Grounding for a week? Or is she just getting a Volkswagen instead of a Porsche on her 16th birthday?"

"I don't have to take this from a waitress!" he blurted.

"Sue me. Oh wait, witticism isn't a crime. Bummer, now you have to fight without your lawyers." the blonde woman mocked.

Max wasn't paying any attention to the ongoing conversation. Even though the doctors said that she was able to attend this meeting, she still felt very weak and exhausted. Most of the time, she was into deep thoughts about her last visions. And as horrible as they were, the only thing she kept thinking about was this warm feeling she had for Chloe. Before, Max never understood it; didn't know what it was. But now she was sure. Now she knew that she was in love with best friend.

Max gazed at Chloe, who sat there with her typically pissed-off expression. Just seeing her face let her heart skip a beat.

'She's so beautiful. Now that I'm sure about my feelings I start to see her in a different light. I recognize things that I never paid any attentions before. Gosh, I crush so hard on her! But how do I tell her? What if she isn't into girls or worse, not into me? But in my visions she loved me, too. Ugh, why is everything so complicated?'

Again, Gordon Graves' fist hit the table, startling the young girl. Now her gaze shifted to Jasmine, whose face was bandaged multiple times. The black-haired girl looked weak and fragile.

'I don't know why, but I pity her. Her dad seems to be a giant asshole and always talks about himself, not about his daughter's injuries. And where is her mom? Doesn't she care? My mom freaked as Joyce called her. She cried so hard like I never heard it before. I hope that my parents are here soon, stupid traffic jams!'

'Before the meeting, I saw Jasmine in the hallway. She was crying, but all her dad did was to speak on the phone or tell her that she shouldn't be such a wimp.'

"This is bullshit!" Chloe suddenly yelled, bringing Max's focus back to reality. She stood up. "Why are you discussing this shit anyway?"

"Chloe, please…"

"No mom. Punish me, expel me, I don't give a fuck! But I won't apologize for what I did! Jasmine hurt one of the kindest people I've ever known, out of no reason. Max didn't do shit do anybody. All she ever did was to take her photos and be friendly to everyone. Why would you hurt someone like her?" Tears flowed down Chloe's cheek as her gaze met Max's. Her voice started to shiver. "Since elementary school she's been bullied for just being her and I never figured out why, because for me, she's always been the best friend I could've wished for, and I promised myself to protect her from harm's way. And thanks to HER…" She pointed at Jasmine, who looked away. "…I've failed. I've failed, because nobody had the guts to stand up against her and her asshole of a father! And that is what I'm gonna do now, I'm making a stand! So, expel me, if you want, but let me say just one more thing: FUCK YOU Graves, you slimy, fat son of a bitch, fuck you and your bunch of degenerated assholes!" Chloe flipped him off, turned around and left the room.

Silence filled the conference room after the door's slammed shut. Principal Hargrove broke the quietness with a cough. "Well…that was…kind of…wow!"

"I've never been offended like this before!" Gordon Graves yelled out loud and stood up.

"I think it was overdue." Joyce commented with a smirk, obviously proud of her daughter.

"You…"

"Sit down and shut it, Graves!" Hargrove instantly intervened.

Max was tired of this fighting and arguing. The only thing that mattered to her right now was Chloe. She stood up and left the room, ignoring everyone else.

When Chloe was upset, she mostly retreated to a safe and comforting place, like her room, the lighthouse or one of the various secret places she and Max always used. In this case, it was her special spot at school.

As Max reached the abandoned stairs, she spotted Chloe right away. The blonde girl sat at the highest step, her elbows resting on her thighs and her face was buried in her hands.

Just happy about that she'd found Chloe, Max sat down beside the blonde girl, put her arm around her and rested her head on her friend's shoulder. "I knew you would come here."

At first, Chloe didn't even bother to respond or to raise her head. But after some time she sighed. "Max, I want you to go home!"

"I am home, Chlo. Because you're everything I need to be happy, therefor you're my home!" Max said and cuddled herself closer to Chloe.

Suddenly, the taller girl moved away from Max. "No, Max. I-I'm not your home. Your home is in Seattle with your parents."

"What?!" Max gasped in surprise. "Chloe, I-I don't understand."

"Max, you're not safe here. People around me get hurt eventually."

"That is not true and you know it!"

"Oh really?" Chloe blurts. "Time for some reality-check. Bongo kitty: dead. My dad: car crash – boom - dead. You got almost beaten to death. What else do you need, huh?"

"Chlo…"

Chloe withdraws her shoulder as Max tried to touch it and jumped up. "Max, I'm serious here. You said it yourself. I'm gonna hurt you sooner or later, and I…I…look at what I did to Jasmine."

Now Max was the one who got to her feet slowly, walked over to her best friend and met her face to face. "Chloe, I didn't mean it like that, ok?" And again, the younger girl tried to touch her friend and yet again, Chloe backs away.

"It doesn't matter how you meant it. Maxi, I failed you. I failed…me. When I saw you this morning, I…something broke inside of me. It made me realize that…that…" She sighed and turned around to avert her friend's welling up eyes. "J-just go to Seattle. There you will meet other geeky people, who can be better friends than I am."

Max grabbed Chloe's shoulder softly and turned her around again. "What if I don't want to meet other people?" She brushed over her cheek. "What if I just want you at my side?"

Chloe touched her friend's cubing hand with her bandaged one and closed her eyes. At first it seemed like she would lean into it, but instead she put it down. "But I don't want you at my side anymore."

SLAP!

Completely taken by surprise, Chloe held her already reddening cheek and gazed at Max with wide opened eyes.

Max's eyes were filled with tears and her lips were shivering. "This hurt more than any punch or insult Jasmine has ever thrown at me!" She took a few steps back. "You want me out of your fucking life? Fine!" she yelled, turned around and walked away, but glimpsed one last time over her shoulder. "But don't ever expect me to return, you…you…" Her face grimaced and she kept on walking, hugging herself while her body shook from her sobs.

Even several minutes after Max had left, Chloe hadn't changed her position. Her hand was still touching her cheek and she still stared at the point, where Max went out of sight. "I'm sorry, Maxi." she whispered with a trembling voice. A tear flowed down her cheek. "It needs to be. This is the best for both of us. Everything will be fine." she spoke to herself, but deep inside, she knew that those words were just a lie.

October 21st 2008

Dear fucking journal, just guess what happened today. Chloe...yes, Chloe…yes, the one and only…yes, my first big crush just shit-canned me. Yes, this stupid bitch just kicked me out of her life. And you wanna know why? Oh this is hilarious: Because she didn't want to hurt me. Can you belief this shit? First I got beaten up by Jasmine, then I had these fucked up visions and then Chloe fucking Price, my best friend and first love, breaks my heart!

Chloe, if you ever read this: you said you didn't want to hurt me, but you did! You hurt me plenty! You fucking moron ripped my heart out of my chest, squeezed every drop of life out of it, threw it in a blender and hit the power-button!

And if this day can't get any better, I just got grounded for one week, because I told my mom that she should mind her own fucking business.

I'm done. Done with Chloe. Done with this world. Done with everything.

Fuck Chloe! Fuck Arcadia Bay! Fuck Blackwell! Fuck Seattle! Fuck everything!

Maxine Caulfield, going into excessive crying-mode now.