Chapter Seven
Max smiles as she starts to turn around. "And you must be…" Her smile immediately flattens and her eyes go wide when she sees the man standing next to the beautiful young lady that spoke to her. "Mark Jefferson!"
He chuckles and reaches up to brush his beard with a finger and thumb. "I see you're a fan. Max, was it? If you're serious about photography you should be applying to study under me, here at Blackwell Academy."
Oh, fuck! I'm standing in front of a psychopath! Don't freeze up, Max. Don't make him suspicious. Do something… say something… shit!
Even with her efforts to be brave Max is frozen for a long few seconds, her eyes darting between the two standing before her. Rachel on the left carrying a large purse, and Mark on the right carrying what must be Rachel's suitcase for the road trip. She can't help but take those few moments to inspect Chloe's girlfriend.
Rachel's straight hair drapes down to her breasts and shines like silk in the morning sun. It seems to have three tones, mostly a light brunette with chocolate brown and dirty blonde streaks for contrast, a truly beautiful but likely high maintenance look. Half her face seems hidden behind a massive pair of fancy sunglasses, the type celeb girls wear, but the features that are visible are naturally well shaped and painted properly by a girl who knows her makeup. One blue feathered earring is dangling a good four inches long from her left ear, though her hairstyle hides whether or not there's one in the right ear. A red and black plaid long sleeve shirt lazily drapes over her petite form, the front open to show the white t-shirt beneath and some of its punk-rock logo. Black jeans hug her hips and legs perfectly, while each leg has precisely eight slits in the fabric from thigh to shin, leading down to her black high-top Converse with white laces.
It's like someone made a cyborg specifically to be the perfect girl for Chloe and sent her here to crush any hopes I might have had of ever being with her. I can't compete with that.
"Ah, heh, feeling a little star struck there?" Mark Jefferson steps forward and waves his hand in front of Max to try and break the awkward silence she seems to have fallen into. "There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm a cool teacher, right, Rachel?"
"Oh, you're the bomb, M.J.!" Rachel affirms, making a dramatic hand gesture as if dropping a bomb, which makes a few thin silver bangles on her right wrist jingle audibly.
Max shakes herself back to attention and forces a smile. "Oh, yeah, haha. I was just star struck. I'm very familiar with what you're all about, Mr. Jefferson. I… really hope you get everything you deserve."
"Thank you, Max. Perhaps one day you'll be a famous photographer as well. I know Rachel here certainly has a lot of potential." He seems oblivious to Max's coded message, too busy buttering Rachel up.
The girl smiles wide and seems to wiggle slowly from head to toe, clearly quite taken by this dangerous man. "Aww. Well, if I become famous it's only because I had such a great teacher."
Oh my God, I'm going to throw up! I have to stop this.
Max coughs and holds her camera up, an idea striking her to break this up. "Hey, Rachel? Would it be OK if I asked you to take a picture of me with Mark Jefferson?"
Rachel shrugs as she steps forward to collect the Polaroid camera, giving it a look over before twisting around to watch Max go stand next to the teacher. "Damn, you really rock the retro thing, Max. Can't remember the last time I even saw a Polaroid, let alone used one."
Max shudders as Mark Jefferson puts his hand around her shoulder to stand close to her, but forces out a response. "Yeah, that's me, I like the retro stuff. Please hurry, Chloe is waiting."
"Now now, Max." Mark chastises. "We don't want to rush the creative process. Photography is about finding that one vulnerable moment and capturing it forever. I could frame anyone in a dark corner and capture them in a moment of desperation, and it would be beautiful. It would sell. Take your time, Rachel. Make it count."
What the literal fuck!? Dark corner? Get this psycho off of me! Don't take your time, Rachel!
Max waits an agonizing fifteen seconds that feel like minutes as Rachel gazes through the viewfinder and takes steps side to side and forward and back, then finally clicks the photo. As soon as it's taken Max twists to grab Rachel's suitcase from Mark Jefferson. "I can take it from here, thanks for the help and the picture! Have a nice Spring Break!"
That was harder than I thought. But at least I have a picture of this moment now, so worst case scenario future Max can at least come back here and beat that psycho to death with my camera.
Mark's arm swings loosely back to his side after relinquishing the suitcase, watching Max with a peculiar eye. "Ah… right. Enjoy your break, kids. Don't forget to take pictures." He folds his arms as he watches Max hurry away with the heavy suitcase, clearly finding her behavior suspicious.
Rachel twists her head left and right as she watches Max run off with her belongings, and Mark Jefferson standing there bewildered. "Um, OK! Guess she's really pumped for the road trip. Seeya M.J." She offers a cute wave and smile then twists to walk down the stairs into the parking lot, following Max in her own good time.
Chloe spots Max awkwardly hurrying with the suitcase and Rachel doing her sexy runway walk down the parking lot, so she hops out of her truck and moves to the back to undo a bungee cord for when the suitcase gets to her. "Thanks for helping Rach with her bag, Max."
"Yeah, no problemo!" Max pants the words out after rushing across the parking lot, then groans as she lifts the suitcase with both hands to slide it under the tarp.
"Hey, you forgot your camera." Rachel calls out as she waves the camera in one hand and the photo it spit out in the other.
Max twists around and walks forward to meet Rachel a few feet from the truck to collect and escort each item into her photography satchel. "Yeah, thanks. Sorry about that, I'm not normally such a spaz."
"Yeah, you kind of freaked out a little, girl." Rachel smiles, seeming amused more than anything. Then her arms part as she sees Chloe coming. "Hey, Blue."
"There's my angel." Chloe coos the words like honey as she falls into Rachel's arms and gives her a kiss much longer than Max was hoping to see.
"Ahem." Max audibly clears her throat to get them to stop and look her way. "Sorry, I got distracted by Mark Jefferson back there, so we didn't actually meet properly. I'm Maxine Caulfield, but just Max, please." She holds out her right hand toward Rachel and smiles.
Rachel laughs as she reaches out to offer a delicate, girly handshake. "Rachel Amber. It's a pleasure. Chloe has told me a lot about you, and I look forward to filling in the blanks about you this week."
Max smiles and nods as she releases Rachel's hand, noticing that it feels way softer than her own, which only makes her feel inferior to the girl in yet another way. She takes solace in the only fact she can, in that both her and Rachel are 5'5, so at least the super model to be will never have a height advantage on her. She heads to the passenger side of the truck and opens the door to scoot in. The pickup truck just has one bench cushion as a seat, so Max slides to the middle and soon finds herself between Chloe and Rachel. She pulls her photography satchel to rest on her lap and looks around for a seatbelt, but of course there isn't one for the middle person. Her eyes land on a black umbrella though, the loop at the top of it connected to a matte black oval carabiner stuck through one of the loops of Rachel's jeans.
"Um, you seem pretty dedicated about having an umbrella on hand." Max points down at the umbrella as she probes Rachel a little.
Rachel looks down and nods as she pats the thing. "Yeah, California girls don't like getting rained on, we're not used to it. I don't know how people around here can just walk around getting wet all the time."
Chloe snickers as she turns the engine on. "You don't complain when I get you wet all the time."
"Oh my God." Max and Rachel almost whine in perfect unison, then look at each other and laugh. "Jinx." Max adds and nudges Rachel with her arm.
Rachel leans forward to look around Max as the truck pulls out of the parking lot. "Hey, do we need to cruise over to Frankie B's? Or are we stocked up?"
"Got enough grass under your ass to last us two weeks. Have a look." Chloe lazily waves her hand down toward the floor. "And wave goodbye to this hicktown!" She shoves down the gas to speed away from Blackwell Academy.
Rachel leans down and reaches under the seat to feel around, then smiles as she feels something and sits back upright. "Sweet. Yeah, I can't wait to get out of this boring ass town. Let's get poppin'!" She reaches across Max to push a couple buttons on the disc player in the dash, turning the punk-rock music on and cranking it up.
Well, I guess that kills the conversation for a while. I don't want to lose my voice trying to ask them stuff when they're rocking out like this. Oh well, there will be plenty of time for that later. I hope David finds that note and makes the right moves. And I hope I didn't tip Jefferson off by acting so weird around him.
Max just leans back in her seat as she tries to enjoy the punk-rock music, even though she's generally into much more mellow music. Arcadia Bay disappears into the rearview mirror, and soon they're on the road that takes them out of town and to the highway. The forests and hills are nice scenery that help Max daydream about everything that's going on in her life, and she slowly grows accustomed to the punk-rock music, allowing it to grow on her since it's what Chloe likes so much.
When the hour long disc of music comes to an end they're just about to pull up to Eugene, so they decide to stop in town to walk around, take some pictures and visit a few shops. A music shop is first on Chloe's list, of course, and they pick up a few more music discs for her old truck to play during their travels. Next they visit a camera store where Rachel and Max are able to bond a bit in their shared interest for photography, nerding it up as Chloe put it. Finally they find a highly rated coffee shop to over-caffeinate, Rachel spending nearly a minute describing the most specific concoction the poor Eugene barista has ever been forced to create.
"So, you call Chloe Blue?" Max asks Rachel while they sit in the coffee shop, Max on one side of the table while Chloe and Rachel sit beside each other.
"Sometimes, yeah. It's a compliment that fits, ever since she dyed her hair to look so sexy and fresh!" She smiles at Chloe, who takes off her beanie to fluff her hair dramatically and playfully show off.
"Yeah, it looks awesome. I've been meaning to ask how long you've been doing that, Chloe." Max bops the girl in the shoulder as Chloe continues to pose and make faces while running her fingers through her hair.
"Ow, alright. I started it a few months ago. It's a 2013 thing. It'll be hella funny at graduation because my yearbook pictures will show me blonde."
"Oh, at the beginning of senior year when they took the pictures?" Max sips her coffee and looks between Rachel and Chloe. "Is that when you two met, at Blackwell Academy?"
Chloe shakes her head. "No, we met at the regular one. Blackwell Public High School, back when we were freshmen."
"Yeah, when we were fifteen." Rachel chimes in. "My parents decided to move to Arcadia Bay from Long Beach for some real estate investment crap and made me go to high school in a backwashed fishing town. Took em three years to figure out the plan's a bust, but I was already accepted to the senior's academy, so I just live up here alone in my dorm now. Parents bailed on me and went back to Cali."
"Hey, you're never alone Rach. Everyone fucking loves you." Chloe cuddles up to her girlfriend and peppers her cheek with kisses, which dislodges the giant sunglasses and makes Rachel reach up to save them from crashing on the table.
"Dude, careful, you're gonna break my stunnas!" She places the glasses down on the table safely as she lets Chloe kiss her, and finally lets Max see her full face.
Damnit, she's more perfect than I imagined. Gorgeous hazel eyes and red splashes of eye-shadow to really make them pop. Just the right amount of eyeliner and mascara, it's like she's a professional makeup artist. And Chloe is swooning all over her right in front of me. Ugh, the jealousy is ruining my coffee. Just keep it together, Max. You did all you needed to do, now you just have to keep them busy for ten days while Arcadia Bay sorts itself out.
As Chloe's physical affection for Rachel escalates to cuddling, kissing and whispering sweet nothings into her ear, Max slumps back in her seat to sip her coffee, trying not to watch. The coffee is nearly gone by the time Chloe stops doting all over Rachel and remembers she has another party at the table.
"So, Max! Rachel and I plan to move to L.A. together after we graduate this year." She leans forward to put her elbows and hands on the table. "You should totally come down and join us after you graduate next year! We're gonna fucking rule that city!"
Max forces a smile as she tries to choke down how left out she's feeling. "Yeah, L.A. sounds wonderful. I hope all your plans work out. Excuse me, I need to use the restroom before we get back on the road."
Chloe's face shifts to concern at the sudden dismissal, looking to Rachel after Max is gone.
"I don't think she's comfortable watching you mack all over me like that, babe." Rachel offers as she finishes up her own coffee.
"What? No, we talked about that. She said she's cool with us dating." Chloe argues as she slips out of the booth to discard her cup in the trash.
"Dude, she's obviously butthurt. Maybe she's down with us dating, but not with watching us get all affectionate right in front of her." Rachel stands to discard her garbage as well.
Chloe nods as she understands what she did to upset Max, but the two of them wait for Max to exit the girl's room before they go in together to avoid further stoking any flames.
Once back in Chloe's truck they put in the new discs from the store and let the music distract them away from the slightly awkward ending to the coffee stop, smiles returning as they rock out on their caffeine highs.
The drive up I-5 is easy on Saturday, Chloe making good time getting them to Salem just after noon. The three have a very short discussion about where to go for lunch, as Rachel rather adamantly demands they go to Chipotle Mexican Grill. Max isn't shy to playfully pick on Rachel for being so Southern Californian and demanding Mexican food, and Chloe joins right in, leaping at the opportunity to try and help Max feel more included and like less of a third wheel. The girls walk through Lancaster Mall and find some good spots to take fun pictures of each other, then get back to the road.
Arriving in Portland mid-afternoon allows for plenty of time to drive around the city with phones in hand, making notes and plans for the week to come. Then comes the hard task of finding a hotel they can collectively afford to stay in for over a week, and the decision on how to room. It's a long discussion, but in the end Max is able to talk Chloe and Rachel into going with one room that has two beds in a three star hotel, rather than two rooms in a lesser quality motel. Max assures the girls it's not a ploy to prevent them from having sex, and that she'd give them all the privacy they need, but she secretly wants to keep a close watch on their relationship.
After taking the elevator up to their floor and entering the room, Max hauls her heavy suitcase to the closet and shoves it inside. "Whew, we made it." She sighs as she drags herself over to one of the beds and sits on it to start fidgeting with the contents of her photography satchel. "Got some good pictures today, but I know we'll take a lot better pictures pretty soon!"
Rachel drops her bag by the closet and strolls past Max to sit on the other bed, thumbing through her phone. "I second that. This is the most ballin city in Oregon, lots of awesome photo ops. But, it's about dinner time and I just feel like chillin in here. What about you two?"
Chloe carelessly tosses her suitcase against a wall and shrugs, looking to Max who nods in acceptance toward the idea. "Alright, let's order a pizza or something."
Rachel shakes her head. "Nah, that's too greasy. Could you cruise around and find some good takeout? You already know me and Max so well, but we still have some catching up to do with each other." She offers Chloe her best 'pretty please' face.
"Oh, gotcha. You two get to know each other better, then. Just save the rated X stuff for when I get back, OK? I don't wanna miss Max's story of how she lost her virginity." She grins as she watches Max's face go beet red, then turns around and heads back out of the hotel room.
Rachel stands and makes her way over to the door to open it and look down the hallway to watch Chloe get into the elevator while Max sighs, happy to relax on the cozy bed for a second as she thinks.
That was a pretty good day, all in all. We made it to Portland safely, saw some pretty cool sights in Eugene and Salem, and have a lot to see here in the coming days. I didn't realize how hard it would be to watch Chloe kiss all over Rachel's face, though. I feel the same surges of warmth all through my chest when I'm around Chloe that I did when I was only 13. I thought that was just kid crush stuff. Am I still crushing like a kid, or is this something more? Am I in love with Chloe?
Rachel closes the door and turns around. "Max." She has a dead serious expression and tone all of a sudden. "We need to talk."