Chapter Ten
Max stirs and blinks the sleep out of her eyes as she looks around at the hotel room. It's not very light, but the clock says it's 8:11, so it must be a cloudy morning. The last thoughts in her dream addled mind had something to do with monkeys riding elephants and trying to save the world.
Darn zoo… and weed. Weird combo. Oh, wait. I'm awake and Chloe is still asleep! Now's my chance!
With mischief in her mind Max sneaks out of bed and over to Chloe and Rachel's, pulls the sheets down as stealthily as possible, then plants a vengeful spank on Chloe's butt. Max had remembered to get ready for bed before smoking pot the other night, so she stands in her t-shirt from yesterday and her night shorts, while Chloe and Rachel slept in bras and panties together.
Chloe grunts right into Rachel's ear and scrambles against the girl, both of them waking at once. When Chloe looks up to see Max grinning and standing with her shoulders back, feet apart and hands on her hips like Wonder Woman, so proud of her spank vengeance, she almost doesn't believe her eyes. "Max?" Her voice is scratchy, her body dehydrated from the three beers working overnight. "Holy shitballs, Max, you're loosening up and having fun! Fuck yeah!" She rolls to the edge of the bed and holds her hand high.
Max gives Chloe the high five she's waiting for and nods, smiling as she looks between Chloe and Rachel. "Rise and shine, my punk-rock friends. I'm going to tell you one of my deep, dark secrets at breakfast." And with that, Max just turns to walk to the suitcases and fetches an outfit.
Chloe sits up and swings her legs off the bed. "Is this about the writing on your arm? You're gonna tell us why you've been acting so fucking weird?"
Rachel sits up and cuddles into Chloe from behind, peeking her face around her girlfriend's right shoulder. "You don't have to talk about it if you're not ready yet, Max. It's only Monday. We have time."
Max simply smiles. "Just wait until breakfast." She turns and heads into the bathroom to shower up and prepare for the day.
When Max exits the bathroom in her peach jeans and baby blue shirt with three little yellow chicks on it, the other two are all questions. She can't help but giggle as she maintains the mysterious air and refuses to tell, just grabbing her dark blue jacket, photography satchel and putting her shoes on instead. She asks for their breakfast orders and heads down to the dining area while Chloe and Rachel shower together.
By the time the two arrive down at breakfast Max has them in the palm of her hand, the girls practically running to the table and taking their seats. The food had just been put down on the table right before they arrived, and Max even remembered the lemon wedge for Rachel's water.
"Alright, Agent Max, we're at breakfast now. You can divulge your state secrets." Chloe leans over the table and just ignores her food, eyes wide and attentive on Max.
"OK, here's what happened." Max begins, leaning forward and keeping her voice low and looking around to make sure nobody else can hear. "On Thursday, right before I called you…" She looks to Chloe, her expression very serious. "You're not going to believe me at first, OK? But just bear with me."
"Yeah, sure." Chloe nods, totally captivated, just like Rachel beside her.
"I had like an out of body experience. One minute I was on my bed, the next I was at my desk. There was a note in front of me, and that writing on my arm. The note told me all this stuff that was going to happen in the future. It told me that you two were going to die, and gave me instructions on how to prevent that from happening. So I called you immediately and asked to go on this road trip to save your lives."
Chloe looks at Rachel and then back to Max with a rather disturbed look on her face. "Are you being for real, Max?"
Max snorts as she tries and fails to hold in her laughter. "April Foooools!" She points and laughs at the two as they stare wide eyed at her.
Chloe throws her hands up and gasps. "Oh, you bitch! Is it April first today? Damn it, Max, you totally got me!" She waves her hands around in her frustrated antics, but smiles through it, clearly amused.
Rachel just laughs and starts cutting into her breakfast. "Good one, Max. You got me, too."
Max smiles to herself as she starts eating her breakfast, thinking to herself as Chloe and Rachel whisper to each other about all the ways they can get Max back.
I think that went well. I told them some of the truth and disguised it as a prank. Now their brains will subconsciously absorb it, and later when I tell the truth for real, they will accept it more easily… or something. At least I think that's how it works. I guess I'll find out in a few days!
During breakfast the girls make their plans, Max taking the first slot and wanting to do a little scenic hiking, Rachel firmly wanting to do karaoke in the evening, and Chloe still figuring out what she'll do with the afternoon slot. Once the food is gone they hop in Chloe's truck and drive off, Max using her phone to guide them to the parking lot at upper Macleay Park.
First, they head downhill a bit to see some of the dark, mossy forest, passing hikers on their way up from the lower parking lot at the beginning of the trail. Soon, they find the Witches Castle in the gloomy forest, with some cold, eerie fog stuck in the area from the previous night.
"Um… I'm gonna post up here, you guys go ahead." Rachel stops on the trail, but Chloe pushes her insistently forward.
"Don't be such a vagina, it's just a haunted ruin! Let's go inside that dark entrance there and see if any ghosts perv on us." Chloe grins as she disappears inside the structure, pushing Rachel every step of the way.
Max waits at the entrance and takes a picture to illuminate the inside for just a moment, revealing all the elaborate graffiti on the inside of the room, while capturing Chloe's mischievous look and Rachel's frightened face. Then she climbs up to the top of the creepy old stone structure to take a selfie.
On the way back up toward the parking lot Max strikes up a conversation with Rachel, asking her what it was like to grow up in Long Beach. As Rachel tells all, revealing a lot of details to help Max truly get to know her, they pass the parking lot they arrived at and start heading up the second part of the trail. A light rain begins and Rachel is quick to protect her makeup and hair with her umbrella, giving the other two a triumphant look as they just have to get wet. The conversation shifts to Seattle when Rachel returns the favor, asking Max what the last four years of her life were like, the two bonding during the hike. Chloe is too busy huffing and puffing to participate, not feeling like doing all this exercise, but when the three arrive at Pittock Mansion she changes her tune.
"Nice… yeah, if I was hella rich, I'd build a mansion up here, too." Chloe remarks as the three walk around the mansion to check it out.
"Probably a lot less expensive than the mansions in Beverly Hills." Max replies as she admires the design of the century old home turned museum. "What do you think, Rachel?"
"I think mansions are a waste of money. It's beautiful, but if I had that kind of wealth, I'd use it to help people. Especially children in need." Rachel offers a bright smile when the other two give her such impressed looks.
"Just one more reason to call you an Angel." Chloe says softly as she reaches out to hold Rachel's hand.
When the three arrive at the fence protecting people from falling down the steep hill, they can't help but stare at the view in awe. All of Portland proper lies down below, and with the sun sneaking through the clouds and bouncing off the rain drops, there's a lovely rainbow right over the city. They make sure to capture the moment, each taking pictures of each other with the view behind them, and lastly Max takes a picture of Chloe and Rachel kissing under Rachel's umbrella.
The hike back downhill is easy, and Chloe has made her decision quite clear. She wants to spend the afternoon at the indoor pool and hot tub at the hotel and just soak after their hike. The girls make their way back to Chloe's truck just in time before a heavy rain starts to fall, and head back to their hotel room to change into their bathing suits.
Max changes in the bathroom while the others change in the bedroom, then they head down to the pool with some hotel towels, using Rachel's fancy purse to stow their phones and money. Chloe sports a black bikini with red words saying ROCK on the right breast and ON! on the left, repeating down below to say ROCK ON! over the butt. Max wears a tropical blue bikini with large flower patterns on it, and Rachel has a black and white zebra pattern bikini that has a lot less material than the other two girls are wearing. Everyone who sees the three girls walk down the halls to the pool seems to stare at Rachel, and she loves it.
They find one of the white plastic tables in the pool area to claim, leaving their towels and Rachel's purse at it, then Chloe rushes off to order them some lunch. Rachel and Max dip into the pool to stand in the four foot deep area to chat.
"So, Rachel?" Max seems a little meek about her question. "Is it OK if I ask you about your first time… with Chloe?"
Rachel laughs and splashes water at Max. "Don't be so shy. It was on July 22nd. What do you want to know?"
"Wowser, you remember the exact day? It must have been amazing." Max tries not to sound jealous.
"Well, it was my birthday, so of course I remember the day." Rachel drifts over to the edge of the pool and leans her back against it. "It was like seven months after I saved Chloe's life. We were best friends all that time, and I had been dating a boy, but just went through a breakup because of summer vacation from school. So, for my sixteenth birthday she offered me birthday sex, since I wasn't seeing anyone."
Max drifts over to rest her right elbow atop the pool edge, facing Rachel. "So that's when you realized you were into girls? You went from that boy to Chloe?"
Rachel shakes her head suddenly and swallows before speaking, her tone not seeming as relaxed as before. "No, no no. I'm not strictly a lesbian like Chloe is. I'm just… really open minded. I actually thought it was just playful birthday sex, but then she wanted to start dating exclusively afterward. It all just sort of happened."
Max starts to feel the tension in Rachel's words, the beautiful Californian not making eye contact nearly as much anymore. "What's wrong with that? Are you uncomfortable with me asking about this? I guess I probably shouldn't be. It's kind of rude for a virgin to be asking about someone's first time, when I don't have an equal experience to share."
"No, Max, it isn't that." Rachel sighs as she stares at the water. "It just feels weird to me, since you grew up with her. You loved Chloe first, and I feel like I'm some imposter that totally swooped your girl by being in the right place at the right time."
"Oh man, are you cereal?" Max swishes through the water to be in front of Rachel and wraps her in a tight hug. "That's not who you are at all, Rachel. You're the girl that saved Chloe's life! I'll always be grateful for you. I can see Chloe is in love with you, and I'm OK with that. Maybe you won't end up together forever, but I made her wait four years for me, it's only fair that I wait for her in return."
Rachel smiles and gives Max a squeeze. "You're the sweetest thing ever, Max. I… need to tell you something…"
"Hey! Getting hella handsy with my girlfriend there, Max Phelps." Chloe is heard shouting across the pool area, loud enough for the ten strangers present to overhear. "You're not allowed to do that kind of breast stroke in the pool here!"
Max pulls away from Rachel and blushes furiously as everyone stares at her. She's so embarrassed she takes a breath and hides underwater from their prying eyes.
Damn it, Chloe! Embarrassing the shit out of me… and Rachel was about to say something important. I wonder what she needed to tell me. I'll have to find a way to get a moment alone with her later. Hopefully it goes better than the last time we had a moment alone.
Rachel twists and pulls herself out of the pool, doing her best to save the mortified Maxine as she slowly runway walks toward their chosen table in her tiny zebra striped bikini. The distraction definitely works, all eyes on her and forgetting all about the submerged teen.
Chloe places a big tray down on the table with plates of food from the dining area and bottled drinks she had stashed in the hotel room. "Seriously, though, is everything cool? Were you actually trying to seduce each other or did something bad happen?"
Rachel takes the kale salad and one of the beers. "Don't worry, Blue. We're just bonding. Max and I have a lot in common."
Max comes up from the water to have a peek around and sees nobody staring at her, so she makes her way to the steps and slinks out of the pool to take her place at the table.
Chloe looks between the two as she passes Max the club sandwich she ordered and a plastic bottle of soda. "Alright, cool. Told you that you'd get along with her, Max." She smiles and takes a seat to start working on her lunch, keeping a keen eye on Max all the while.
Max can sense she's being watched, feeling like she might have overstepped her boundaries and offended Chloe, that is until she opens her soda. After unscrewing the cap the thing violently starts exploding and shooting fizz all over her, making her squeal in surprise and drop the soda on the tiles below.
Chloe laughs as loud as she can, rocking in her seat in amusement as she points at Max. "April Fools! You just got Mentos bombed! Told you I'd get you back! Oh, the look on your face, that was epic!"
"Ugh…" Max stands there with her hands held up in front of her, sticky with soda. "Such a jerk!" She growls, though she can't help but smile afterward.
Rachel laughs and shakes her head. "Hey, at least she waited for you to be in a bikini. Just jump in the pool and rinse off. You brought a real drink for her, right babe?"
Chloe nods and puts a hard lemonade by Max's sandwich. "Some rookie alcohol for the newbie that isn't used to day drinking. If we're gonna sing karaoke tonight, you ain't goin in sober, girl! Not on my watch!"
Max snickers. "That sounds like you, Chloe. Thanks for the rookie alcohol, I guess." Then she hops in the pool to rub herself down and clean all that sugar off so she can take her place at the table once again.
The three enjoy their lunches and beers, their spirits rising with the warm buzz of a little alcohol in their systems. As they're finishing their food the people in the hot tub leave, so the girls go claim it for themselves and soak for a while. Max tells the others all about her friends Kristen and Fernando, which leads Rachel to talking about her pre-teen friends from Long Beach. Chloe pretends to fall asleep while Rachel's talking, which earns her a punch in the shoulder that escalates to hot tub wrestling and making out. Max just smiles as she watches them enjoy each other until it's time to leave, feeling less jealous every time she watches them engage like that.
As Rachel exits the hot tub Max watches and finally figures out what makes her so attractive. While her skin seems soft and flawless from head to toe and her face is beautifully shaped, most of her body seems to have average proportions save for one crucial detail. Her rib cage is quite small, pinching her waistline and giving the illusion that she has larger breasts and wider hips than she actually does. Max becomes lost in her photographic mind as she imagines all the tricks in the book on how to show off Rachel's body in two dimensions, until Chloe yells at her to get out of the hot tub and the three finally exit the pool area.
After rinsing the chlorine away in the hotel room, they put their daily outfits back on have an hour left to burn before the evening begins. The girls decide to spend it calling their parents and friends with April Fools jokes and catching up a bit on what everyone else is doing with their Spring Breaks. Max tries to snoop on Chloe when she's on the phone with Joyce, but doesn't hear anything dramatic.
When the sun sets they head to Voicebox Karaoke, where they link up with three Portland girls wanting to sing the night away as well. The six of them pitch in and purchase a private room in which to eat, drink and sing with some or no singing skills, all of them happily embarrassing themselves except for Chloe, who seems immune to embarrassment.
They leave with hoarse throats but in a jolly mood, recanting some of the fun moments they just shared with the locals. When they arrive back in the hotel room Rachel points out that there's no beer left, and uses her 'pretty please' face once again to send Chloe shopping.
Max sits on the foot of her bed watching TV as she eyes Rachel coming back from the door, sitting just left of Max instead of going to sit on her own bed. "Hey, Rachel… are you about to tell me what you were going to in the pool?"
Rachel nods and wraps her right arm around Max's back to hold her shoulder to shoulder. "Yeah. I've been thinking. I might have a solution to this whole… we both love Chloe thing."
Max looks a little worried as she folds her hands in her lap, fidgeting a little. "A solution?"
Rachel struggles with her words, then lets out a heavy sigh. "I'll just come out and say it. I've been having feelings for you, Max. I want to invite you into our relationship, if you're OK with it, and Chloe is OK with it. What do you think?"
Max locks up, totally petrified as she stares at Rachel.
"Sweetie, don't be so tense. I don't bite… unless you ask me to." She offers a seductive smile as she twists toward Max and leans in, holding the girl hostage with the arm that's already around her.
"Ah… Um, Rachel, I don't know about this. This isn't… I'm not…" Max squirms as her heart races, feeling the heat of Rachel's breath on the left side of her neck.
"Just give it a chance." Rachel whispers as she leans in close, brushing her cute little nose all the way up Max's neck and into her ear. Once her soft lips press into that ear and send shivers up and down Max's body she whispers again. "April Fools."
"Nngghkk…" Max feels her brain explode, falling backward and pretending to faint.
Rachel bursts into laughter and pats Max on the stomach. "Had to get you back, didn't I? Happy April first to you, too, Max."
Max sighs and opens her eyes as she stares at the ceiling. "David was right. You guys are going to turn me into a hell-raiser."
Hearing Joyce's word for her just makes Rachel laugh even harder, but she lets it end at that. Rachel heads into the bathroom to wash her makeup off and strips down to her bra and panties, then tucks herself in bed. Meanwhile, Max chronicles the day in her journal, then changes down to her shorts. By the time Chloe arrives the two of them are tucked in and cozy.
Chloe passes out beers and joints, then strips down to her bra and panties to cuddle up with her girlfriend. Chloe and Rachel start getting frisky and ask for some private time, so Max collects her photography satchel and heads into the bathroom. While she's organizing all the photos she's taken in the last few days, cleaning and reloading her camera, and remembering to brush and floss before bed, she has plenty of time to think.
Wowser. That was the best day I've had in forever. Or maybe it just seems that way after all the drama I've had to suffer through since Thursday. But playing practical jokes on each other, going exploring, singing, drinking and getting high together, I really feel accepted by Chloe and Rachel. I feel like I'm part of their group now. Today feels like it went so perfectly I almost forgot why I'm here. David Madsen… what are you doing over there? I guess I have to come up with a Plan B at this point. If my note didn't get to him, or failed to get through to him, I need to go to someone else. How do you leave anonymous tips to the police? I'll have to look it up tomorrow, figure this out. I'm really starting to care a lot about Chloe again, and now Rachel, too. If David won't come through for them, I'll have to do it myself.