October 5th, 2013 6am
Max rolled over and groaned as she opened her eyes. Her room was still dark. She felt around for her phone on the end table beside her bed. She grabbed it and checked the time only to let out another groan. Who would willingly wake up at that early in the morning. As if on queue she heard a door outside hers open and shut before hearing whoever it was moving down the hall towards the showers. She sighed as she sat up and turned on the lights. She frowned as she realized she had forgotten to change her clothes before falling asleep last night.
She went to stand and felt a dull pain from her leg that made her remember her leg. She grabbed on the crutches and used it to move towards her closet. She frowned at her clothes before grabbing a purple t-shirt with the picture of Che Guevara on it and a pair of black jeans along with proper undergarments. She figured if she was up this early she might as well make good use of her time. She grabbed her shower caddy before making her way out her door. Even after using the damn crutches all afternoon yesterday she still wasn't use to the damn things. Slowly she made her way down the hall until she made it to the shower doors.
She opened the door and could hear one of the showers running she made her way to one of the unoccupied stalls and sat her clothing out of the way before stripping off yesterdays clothing and beginning her shower. About 10 minutes in she heard the other shower shut off and 5 minutes later she was done as well. She shut the water off and grabbed one of her towels from the caddy and dried herself off. She put her clothes for the day on and opened the shower curtain. She put her old clothes in the caddy and walked out of the stall.
She looked over to see none other than Kate standing at the sinks. Of course she would be the first person using the showers in the morning and the only person to usually be up this morning. Kate saw her walk up to the sink beside her.
"Hello Max," she said with a smile as she began to put toothpaste on her toothbrush.
"Hi Kate," Max returned as she began to do the same to hers. They stood in relative silence for a bit as they both brushed their teeth before they both finished. Kate turned to Max once her mouth was rinsed.
"So I can get your number while we are standing here. Maybe we can meet up tomorrow for some tea," she said with a smile. Max nodded before rattling off her number as Kate typed it into her phone. She watched as Kate typed a new message and sent it. Max realized she left her phone in her room on her nightstand when she didn't hear anything or feel any vibrations.
"I'm sorry Kate I must have forgotten it in my room. I can message you back when I get there," Max spoke as Kate nodded and they both left the showers to return to their rooms. Once back inside her room Max grabbed her phone and texted Kate back a smiley face. She looked at the time to see it was just approaching 6:45. She sighed before hopping over to her laptop and turning it on and popping over to a shady movie streaming website to watch some movies. She pulled up Iron Man 3 since she hadn't bothered to watch it yet and brought it over to her end table and laid it on her end table.
She laid there until the movie was over before looking at the clock and seeing it was almost 9 she sat up and stretched before she heard a knock at the door. She stood up carefully and hobbled over to open said door. She was surprised to see Victoria standing in the door with her arms crossed.
"Well Caulfield it seams Nate wants to pull you into the Vortex Club," she huffed and rolled her eyes at saying this before continuing.
"If you want to be a part of it the meeting its in an hour in the music room," she said as she looked Max up and down before scowling.
"Please tell me you aren't wearing that," she questioned as she kept the scowl on and raised an eyebrow. Max couldn't help the frown that came on her face. She didn't like wearing them anymore either but she didn't have any other choice and she couldn't afford to just go out and buy a new wardrobe
"Well I kind of have no choice. These and clothes like them are all I own and I can't afford to just change all of my clothes...even if I do hate these things now," Max mumbled the last part. Victoria had actually been listening and hear the last part. Victoria sighed before grabbing Max by her arm and started to pull her out of her door only to hear a small hiss from her as she looked down and remembered that Max was on crutches yesterday. Victoria walked closer and looked into Max's door to see the crutches and grabbed one and handed it to a very confused and startled Max.
"Follow me," ordered Victoria as she walked across the hall to her room. Max didn't normally like taking orders from others but she sighed and followed anyways since Victoria was now in her room and she couldn't hear her protest. She made her way to Victoria's room and inside before seeing Victoria standing at her closet with it open. Max just stood there as Victoria looked at her then sifted through her closet before repeating this several more times. She pulled out a purple button up sweater and a striped white and blue blouse with a pair of white slacks and handed them to Max.
"Put these on," she said as she walked outside the room, closing the door behind her. Max looked at the clothes and observed they still had the tags on them. She looked at the prices and she nearly felt her eyes bulge out of her skull. She could never afford these, let alone pronounce whatever the designer names were on them.
"Damn it Caulfield hurry up! You are in my room after all," she heard come from the other side of the room. She sighed as she began to change into the clothing. Once they were on she looked at herself in the mirror before sighing. These clothes didn't feel right on her but she was glad to finally be out of those Chloe influenced clothing for at least a day.
"Alright I'm done," she spoke loud enough to be heard on the other side of the door. She watched as the door opened and Victoria walked in and gave her a once over. She nodded before leading Max to the bed and sitting her down. She then walked over and grabbed what looked like a make-up bag. Max frowned at the thought of make-up before just resigning herself to her fate. She sat still as Victoria sifted through her bag before pulling out a few things. She sat as Victoria applied various things to her face.
Soon after Victoria stepped back pulled out a small mirror for Max to see herself in. She was surprised at how she looked. Some black eye liner to really give her eyes definition and some light blush with just a small am mount of light pink lip gloss. She actually thought that she looked good like this. She couldn't help giving Victoria a small smile. Victoria couldn't help the small smile that came to her lips at seeing how surprised Max was with how she looked. Max stood up and placed the crutch under her arm.
"Thanks Victoria. I will make sure to get these clothes back to you soon," Max said as she made her way towards the door.
"Don't bother," Victoria spoke as Max turned around wide eyed.
"They never really were me so I never wore them and never plan to so you can just keep them. Better they get worn by someone than sit in my closet. Besides now you can stop being a fashion disaster for at least 1 day a week," Victoria spoke, giving a smirk at the end. Max opened her mouth to protest but shut her mouth thinking better of it. Victoria was being nice so she really didn't want to give her second thoughts on it. She nodded and closed the door behind her and made her way towards her room.
Once Max was back in her room she rummaged through her closet looking for suitable shoes to pair with these clothes as she didn't feel her black converses matched these. She finally stumbled on a pair of white pumps she had kept since they were new in box when she threw out her other shoes. She pulled them out and put them on, taking a little longer to put the right one on so as to not agitate her ankle. Once they were on she checked her phone to see it was 9:45. She had 15 minutes to get across campus to the meeting. She grabbed her messenger bag and slung it over her shoulder before making her way out of her room.
She went as fast as she could but she still ended up 10 minutes late to the meeting. Stupid stairs. Why did the meeting have to be on the second floor of the main building. She opened the door to the room with a huff to see everyone just looking at her. She knew who some of the people were but she had never really spoken with any of them and now they were all looking directly at her.
"I think you are in the wrong room. Punk trash goes in the dumpster out back," spoke a black short haired girl, Courtney if Max remembered correctly. She heard the blonde next to her give a snort in laughter, Taylor if Max was correct. Some people were laughing a little but not everyone. This was a great start. Max already felt like just leaving.
"Shut it leech," spoke Nathan as Courtney huffed and crossed her arms before suddenly finding the wall beside her to be very interesting. Max watched as Nathan walked over and helped her to a chair in the front of the room. She was embarrassed to be in front of everyone like this.
"Alright everyone! This is Max Caulfield and I'm bringing her into the Vortex Club and its NOT up for debate," Nathan spoke making sure to stare down Courtney at the tail end of his sentence. Max was surprised that he was just putting her in without anyone caring what anyone else thought of it. She looked around to see that no one seamed ready to voice an objection. She could see Victoria smirking now beside Courtney and Taylor. How she didn't notice her sitting there before was beyond her.
"Now as you all know we are having our End of the World party this Thursday night and we are still looking for a DJ," Nathan began and at this point Max was just lost. She just sat and watched as everyone had input except for her. She knew her musical tastes wouldn't fit a dance environment so she decided that speaking wasn't in her best interest. She sat in silence until the meeting was over and once most of the people had made their way out it was down to Victoria, Taylor, Courtney, Nathan, a few girls, and 1 boy.
"Yo Max come over here," Nathan spoke as he waved her over. She hobbled over before stopping at the small crowd.
"This guy here is Hayden and the 2 chatting with us are Dana and Juliet," he continued as he pointed at each person as he said their names. She watched as Hayden smiled at her and she could tell that he was high or drunk but which one she couldn't tell.
"Well well well Max attack! Nice to meet you and welcome to the Vortex Club. You must have left a real impression on Nathan here if he pulled you in without a vote," Hayden said as he looked her up and down with a goofy smile on his face. She was about to reply when one of the 2 girls chipped In with a peppy voice.
"Welcome Max, I'm so glad you are here! I know you said you couldn't be friends with us but hopefully its different now," Dana spoke as she got a little closer than Max was used to. She was about to speak again but the other girl decided to pipe in as well.
"Don't know why you couldn't be friends with us before and I had pretty much written you off as an anti social hermit but cool to see I must be a little wrong," spoke Juliet as she crossed her arms and half glared at Max. Max decided to speak immediately before someone else could put their two cents in.
"I was in a relationship with the Chloe Price and she got super jealous if I was others. Sorry for being so bad back then," she spoke as she suddenly found a spot on the ground super interesting.
"We've all been there," spoke Juliet as her glare faded and she just let a knowing sigh escape her lips. Max was surprised to hear her say she had been in a similar situation.
"When you date like Juliet does of course you hit some jealous assholes," spat out Dana with joking snark. Juliet just gave her a half glare as Dana let out a high pitched laugh. She couldn't help the smile that came to her face as these girls bantered jokingly about past relationships. She watched for a few minutes before she felt a tap on her shoulder and she looked over to see Nathan point over to Victoria's group before he moved over towards them. Max decided to follow so she bid farewell to Hayden and the 2 girls before moving over to Victoria and Nathan. She hobbled over to see Courtney giving her a tight lipped glare and Taylor looking at her with an eyebrow raised in question.
"Can we help you," spoke Taylor as she just looked at Max. Max really felt like saying something but she really didn't feel like arguing.
"Lighten up Tay. So how did you find your first meeting Caulfield," asked Victoria as she watch Max for her reply.
"Honestly I was lost. I've never been to any parties that didn't include Chloe and they were usually concerts so I didn't really know this much planning went into it," she admitted as she looked down at her feet.
"Small parties don't but when you arr doing them on school grounds you have to have all your bases covered," explained Victoria.
"Yea but it helps that the person wanting to do it has the Prescott name," spoke Nathan with a smirk. Victoria couldn't help the smirk that came to her lips as well. Max was still lost but she resigned that she would be lost regardless.
"So I'm hungry and this place has shit food. Wanna hit Two Whales," asked Nathan as Max nodded and Victoria seamed to be thinking about it.
"You know to be honest I don't think I've ever eaten there. Always thought they would have shitty food so never bothered," admitted Victoria.
"Nah they got good food actually," praised Nathan much to Max's surprise. She wasn't used to seeing Nathan give praise to anyone or anything even if he had been nice to her recently. They all walked out of the room with Max following as close as she could on her crutches. Once they hit the stairs she lost sight of them and she sighed realizing that since they weren't used to her they probably will end up leaving her behind. She made her way down the stairs as fast as she could and once she rounded the corner to go down the next flight she was surprised to see them standing there waiting for her.
"Damn Caulfield you take for fucking ever," Nathan said with amusement clear in his eyes. Victoria just looked at her with a smirk. Max was surprised at how they were treating her. Nathan and Victoria either didn't pay her any attention of out right despised her until yesterday but now it was almost like they had been friends all along. Max opened her mouth to speak but chose to stay silent instead. She watched as they turned and began to walk again and she followed behind. Once they finally made it to the parking lot all 5 of them climbed into Nathan's SUV and they took off towards Two Whales.
They arrived 10 minutes later and made their way inside. The managed to all fit in a booth with Victoria, Courtney, and Taylor on one side and Nathan and Max on the other. They waited a bit before Max saw Joyce approaching,
"Well howdy Max! Its good to see you honey. I see you brought friends. What can I get you," she asked as she pulled out her order pad. Max knew what she wanted but she waited to wait for the others. Victoria and the other girls seamed to be lost on what to get from the menu so Max decided that maybe she should go ahead and order first.
"I will have a grilled cheese with fries please with a coke," spoke Max with a smile. Joyce nodded.
"I will have the usual burger and fries with a sprite," ordered Nathan.
"I guess I will have what she is having but with a diet coke," spoke Victoria as she sighed, giving up on figuring something out from the menu.
"I will have the same as Nathan," spoke Taylor.
"And I will take the same as Victoria," finished Courtney as Joyce nodded and made her way to get the orders fixed. They sat in relative silence for a moment until Taylor broke the silence.
"I like your outfit Max. Where did you get it," she said trying to strike up a conversation. Max just hesitantly pointed at Victoria. Taylor looked at Victoria with surprise written all over her face.
"You actually loaned out some of your clothes," questioned Taylor in a surprised voice.
"Actually I gave them to her," Victoria clarified as she sat just looking out the window.
"Really? Damn Max you better worship those clothes cause Victoria never loans out her clothing, let alone give them to anyone," Taylor explained to Max's confused expression. Max didn't know what to say about this revelation. This just confused her even more about why Victoria was being so nice to her all of a sudden. She didn't have much time to voice it as their food arrived. One by one the plates were sat down followed by their drinks. They began to eat in silence once again until half way through their meal they heard a huff from Courtney.
"I'm so fucking confused. One minute you despise her Victoria and now you are hanging with her and even giving her clothes. What the fuck gives," Courtney questioned no long able to hold in what she was thinking. Victoria fixed Courtney with one of her iciest glares before speaking in a low tone.
"I seriously suggest you sit the fuck down Wagner and remember your place before you seriously piss me off," spoke Victoria without hesitation and making Courtney gasp as she followed what Victoria said and began to eat again without taking her eyes from her plate. Nathan let out a snicker of amusement as Max and Taylor just stared at Victoria in awe as she went back to eating like nothing happened. They finished eating shortly after as they paid for their meals before they made their way out to the parking lot.
"Fuck it. I don't feel like going home yet and Blackwell ain't got shit today today so whats say we head to the beach and chill," spoke Nathan as he looked at the group.
"I'm down but I think Courtney needs to catch the bus back to Blackwell. She must not be feeling well to think she can talk above her station," spoke Victoria with everyone getting the drift that it was an order and not a suggestion. Courtney nodded and started to walk towards the bus stop. Max frowned and she really didn't want to make Victoria and Nathan hate her again but she couldn't just stand by and let this happen.
"That isn't fair Victoria. She simply voiced the same question that has literally been running through my mind all day. And I'm sure you will all hate me again for this but I can't stand around and watch someone get treated like this. I'm going back to Blackwell on the bus," Max spoke as she turned to make her way towards the bus stop.
"Suit yourself. Come one Nate lets roll," spoke Victoria with a scowl as they climbed into his SUV and took off to the beach. Max didn't care if they hated her again. In a strange way everything felt wrong today. She was so used to being alone that the last few days had felt so fake. She made it to the bus stop a few moments later and she could see Courtney there with her hands covering her face. As she approached she could hear sniffles and see her shoulders shaking.
"Are you OK," Max spoke as Courtney looked up surprised to hear her.
"Why do you care? All I've done is treat you like shit," spoke Courtney as she attempted to wipe her eyes. Max couldn't argue that point cause even when she was dating Chloe they had called her names like punk trash and even homophobic slurs like dyke. She wouldn't let the past make her bitter though. She was better than that.
"I care because how she treated you wasn't right. Even if it was about me I still don't like it. That's why I decided to go back to Blackwell," Max explained as she sat down beside Courtney. Her honesty surprised Courtney as she could see from her facial expressions. They sat there for a few minutes without speaking before she heard a sigh from Courtney.
"I'm sorry for being such a bitch to you Max," Courtney spoke as she stared at her hands. Max didn't speak and just let Courtney continue.
"I wasn't always like this. At my last school I was bullied cause I was nerdy and I didn't want that to happen again when I got to Blackwell. I've tried so hard to be popular so I wouldn't have to feel like that again. I've become exactly what I hate," she finished as her shoulders began to shake again and she covered her eyes again. Max couldn't help feeling bad for the girl so she just put her hand on her shoulder and gently rubbed. A few minutes late Courtney had calmed down and she looked over to see Max giving her a smile.
A sudden beep pulled them out of their musings as they looked up to see Nathan's red SUV sitting beside them. They were both confused before Victoria yelled from the passenger side.
"Caulfield! Wagner! Get your asses in here! We don't have all day," she spoke as the 2 girls looked at each other before climbing in the back and the SUV took off towards the beach one again. They arrived a short time later and parked before they climbed out. Everyone was beginning to make their way towards the sand when Victoria spoke.
"Courtney you stay here. We will catch up in a few minutes," she said as Courtney stayed and everyone else went to the chill on the sand. Max had difficulty moving her crutches on the sand but was surprised to see what looked like a fire pit and a log about mid way towards the water. Once there she sat down on the log and extended her legs to make herself more comfortable. Taylor sat beside her as Nathan plopped down on the sand and took his shoes off, digging his toes into the sand.
Watching Nathan gain an expression of happiness as he dug his toes in the sand gave Max a bit of an internal chuckle. She didn't think anything could make him genuinely happy. A few minutes later and they were joined by Victoria and Courtney. Nathan reached into his jacket and pulled out a joint and lit it up taking a hit. Max watched as he passed it to Victoria and she took a drag. She wasn't sure if she felt like smoking. She had done it a few times with Chloe but she never really enjoyed it much. One the joint came around she decided to just let it pass on back to Nathan.
"You don't toke Caulfield," questioned Nathan as he took another hit.
"I've tried it a few times with Chloe but never really liked it to be honest," she admitted to them. Nathan snickered before passing it back to Victoria again.
"Knowing that punk wanna be it was that cheap shit Franks sells for pennies. You should try what we have. This is the good stuff. We pay extra to make sure Frank gets us the high medical grade shit," spoke Victoria as she took her hit. Max debated before the joint got back to her again. She decided that maybe she could try it just once. She took a drag and began to cough. The others around her began to laugh which caused Max to frown. Once her coughing was done she could feel it a little bit. This was much faster than the stuff Chloe had. Once the joint got back around it was only big enough to give her the last hit. She took it and held it as long as she could before she coughed again while exhaling.
For the next few hours they just sat there talking and hanging out with everyone laughing at old stories or just picking up random things and throwing it at the water. It was beginning to get dark as they started to stand make their way back to the SUV. They had been at the beach for hours so Nathan was down from his high and good to drive again. They piled in and took off towards Blackwell once again. They arrived in the parking lot 45 minutes later and Max pulled out her phone to check the time. It was 7pm. Her eyes went wide. They had spent about 6 hours at the beach alone. She sighed as she pocketed the phone and got out with everyone else. They took their time heading towards the dorm laughing and joking all the way. Max was surprised as she had never seen this side of any of these people before. She couldn't help the smile that came to her face. They ended up sitting at the picnic tables next to the entrance instead of going to the dorms.
"Man today was actually pretty fucking chill," Nathan spoke as she stretched.
"No kidding. I wish we could be carefree like this all the time," Victoria sighed out as she placed her chin in her hand with her elbow on her knee. Max couldn't help but agree with them on this. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and she pulled it out to see a text from Kate. She opened it up to read.
Kate: Hey Max do you still wanna have tea tomorrow?
Max let a small smile come to her lips again.
Max: Sure. How about 2 tomorrow afternoon?
Kate: Sure I should be back from church at that time. I will see you then :)
Max pocketed her phone before looking back at the group as they continued to talk about random things. A short time later they heard Nathan's phone ring. He pulled it out and looked to see who was calling before a pissed off scowl crossed his face and he answered.
"Hello? Yea. Yea alright I'm on my way now. Will take me about an hour. I'm at Blackwell. OK be there soon," he spoke into the receiver before hanging up and pocketing his phone.
"Always something to ruin a fucking good day. Dad wants me home for some bullshit. I will see you guys later," he said as she stood up and took off to the parking lot before leaving in his SUV. Victoria watched him and frowned as he left out of the parking lot. She stood up and everyone else followed suit.
"I guess we might as well get inside before security starts to harass us for being out so close to curfew," Victoria spoke before turning to start making her way towards the dorm. Max and the other 2 girls followed behind her. One they were in front of the dorms they saw the head security guard David Madsen standing there with a serious expression on his face. Max knew he didn't have a high view of her because he was Chloe's step father and to him anyone that associated with Chloe was up to no good. He watched the 4 of them make their way inside dorm before she lost sight of him as they passed beyond the doors.
One upstairs they separated with Courtney's room one floor bellow theirs and Taylor's room near the beginning of the hallway. Now it was just Max and Victoria and Victoria followed her to her room. Max couldn't help the question that she finally asked to Victoria.
"Why are you being so nice to me now," she asked as Victoria fixed her with a serious expression. Victoria didn't speak as Max turned back around and opened her door and began to step in. She turned around once inside to be surprised that Victoria was extremely close.
"Because now I have a chance. And I plan to take it one way or another," spoke Victoria in a low voice. Suddenly max felt something pull her forward by the back of her head and something on her lips and she couldn't help the surprise that was written on her face.
Her self proclaimed arch rival. The Queen Bitch of Blackwell. The Ice Queen Victoria Chase...was kissing her.