Disclaimer: Anything familiar to you, I don't own. This is a work of fanfiction for personal amusement, fulfillment and a bit of self-therapy. I make nothing from any of it.
Note: Hey, folks. So, this is hopefully going to be a quick but important note and then we'll get you right along to reading.
First off I'm happy to announce that the first chapter of a story that is a more or less direct sequel to Fools of Us All went up today. It is called Aphelion and happens to be a crossover fic, involving a couple of characters from the audio drama, Tanis. I believe that you will enjoy this story. (It will end up being uploaded weekly at the MOST frequent, until I say otherwise. It's going to take me some time to get into the groove of things.) I have already enjoyed writing it. I can promise it will not be as long as Kaukasos, though. You do not necessarily need to know Tanis to understand or enjoy the story, but it's entertaining and I recommend the listen. If you are part way through Tanis, then recognize that this story would carry spoilers for it up to about season 2, episode 6.
Last but not least, after talking with a friend I figured I'd make an offer. You'll notice I am doing my upload a day earlier than usual. I wanted to ask, if you folks would enjoy me switching to uploading a chapter per day starting on the next upload day, Wednesday, until you are all caught up with my backlog. Kaukasos, for me, is finished. It was a great story, and it meant a lot to me. It continues to mean a lot to me and you people who came along for the ride warmed my icy black heart a bit, so, if this is something you folks might enjoy, I'd love to do it. If you want to keep it slow and steady, I understand, too.
I am also considering starting a twitter connected to this account, where I would post about updates, the writing/pre-writing process and upcoming projects. If you have any interest in that, let me know, too. I won't waste anyone's time with it if there's no interest. Thanks, have a great day, and enjoy Chapter Forty-Eight.
Chapter Forty-Eight: Dokímion
February 1st, 2012 3:00 PM
There was a time, once, when this classroom was one of her favorite places in the building. Even with Nathan glaring holes into the back of her neck, she had always been able to focus on Mrs. Drewer and her lessons. As Max stared pointedly down at her notebook, that time felt like it was a lot farther away than just over a month ago. Now, her life in photography class seemed to consist of paying just enough attention not to fail any surprise tests and staring down at the open notebook whenever she wasn't actively using it. As it turned out, this behavior had had the opposite of its desired effect.
Max had, at least, managed to avoid matching eyes with Nathan which was typically for the best for her mental health. However, upon turning in her photo to Jefferson at the beginning of class he had pulled her aside and informed her that he was well aware that she was his predecessor's star pupil and he expected her to begin participating in class. She had also been forced to stand at the front of the class while he praised her photo, a candid of Hayden laughing with Juliet and Dana in front of the school. Max had never asked what they were laughing about, but apparently the photo suggested that she had a 'natural talent for composition and an intuitive sense of framing and lighting.' Suffice it to say, all of this rang a little familiar to the part of her still tuned into the echoes of the other timeline. The start of class had been, on the whole, mortifying.
Now she could barely bring herself to lift her head and take in the sight of the classroom or its six huge tables and various posters and photos along the wooden walls, all of which was lit, for the most part, by the three large windows exposing the room to the courtyard. The good news was that Max had taken a table with Kate and she did a fair job of keeping Max from getting too nervous, even if she knew far too little to understand what was upsetting her. Max stole a glance at Kate, who was watching Jefferson intently, almost devotedly. The girl had not understood the change in Max's behavior during photography classes and she couldn't blame Kate for that, but at least she seemed to finally accept that things were not changing back any time soon. Max adamantly refused to tell Kate what was happening beyond the fact that she did not like or trust Mark Jefferson.
When the bell rang, an entire other world of problems rose up. She closed her notebook and slid the pen into the rings binding it. Looking around the room for the first time in several minutes, she first saw that Nathan was glaring her direction and second that Jefferson was not. Then she turned her attention toward the people more likely to indicate how the rest of her day was going to go. The vast majority of the Vortex Club Committee shared the class with her, after all. She first glanced toward Hayden who raised an eyebrow at her as the bell ceased to ring, his only sign of acknowledging that the day had come. Dana and Juliet, for their part, did not get into her face with excitement but Dana did wink back at her when she caught Max looking.
Max decided to leave Victoria, Taylor and Courtney's feelings on the matter a surprise. She wasn't sure how in depth they were going to have to go on this presentation to the committee, but she did not think she could go ahead with it if she looked up and saw that Victoria and her friends were going to suddenly become roadblocks. Whether she was moving particularly quickly that day or Max rather slowly, when Max walked out into the hall a moment or two after Nathan vacated the room, Rachel was there to hear Mark Jefferson stop Max from making a quick escape.
"Max, remember what I said," Jefferson called in his confident, attention demanding voice. "I expect your participation and your attention from today on." There was a moment where her blue eyes met Rachel's hazel and Max knew her deer-in-the-headlights moment was evident on her face. "Max?" For just a moment she thought about not answering him. She considered embracing her inner Chloe and flying the flag of defiance and 'fuck you' but the potential ramifications of such an act were too great. In the hall, Rachel motioned with her hands for Max to do or say something. She swallowed and turned, her eyes not landing on Jefferson but Hayden, who was standing behind her waiting his turn to exit the room.
"Understood," she told Jefferson over Hayden's shoulder. The man rubbed once at his goatee and then nodded, a small smirk taking over his features. Hayden grimaced as she turned away, as if he understood the tone in her voice for what it was: dread. Probably thinks I'm worried about the presentation. No sooner had the thought escaped her than she became worried. For his part, Hayden greeted Rachel when Max stepped out of the way and then, patting Max carefully on the shoulder, he strolled away toward the gymnasium. She took a moment to indulge herself in overanalyzing the gesture. As much as Max was not the greatest fan of the idea, she had come to suspect that she was sort of known as 'that girl who could break down at a moment's notice'.
"Hey," Rachel finally greeted her, shouldering the old, pale-blue backpack that contained their 'sample' decorations. Max mustered a smile but did not speak until they were two or three steps from the door to the photography lab and well on their way to the center of the school, where Chloe was likely to be waiting on them. Even then it took her a second to recover her wits about her. "Max, are you alright?"
"I'm great," Max lied, making no effort to disguise the fact. For a moment she found herself on the verge of a long-winded, sarcastic rant that would have successfully finished flushing her mood down the toilet. Then, with a sigh that sounded too shaky in her own ears, she let that rant go.
"I can tell," Rachel responded, playing along even if the concern still lay etched into her face. "Are you going to be good to do this thing?" The most affection Max felt like she could bring herself to show in the moment was the soft bump of her left shoulder against Rachel's right. That would have to be answer enough. For the most part, Rachel took her meaning fairly well. They reached the vending machines at the center of the school only a few seconds before Steph and Chloe did.
"Good luck," Steph called to them by way of greeting, before continuing off toward the front doors. Max was moderately surprised when Chloe did not follow after. Steph looked, if Max had to guess, a little harried. She wondered precisely what was going on with the girl. Chloe raised a hand in greeting, letting a small, crooked smile take over her face. If Steph looked like she was under a little bit of stress, Chloe looked like she was ready to drop on the spot. The artist's frequent exhaustion lately scared Max more than she cared to admit.
"Are you coming along?" Rachel asked Chloe, after tossing an arm around either of their shoulders and guiding the three of them toward the gymnasium.
"I mean, it's Vortex Club business and all but yeah," Chloe told them. "If they want me to wait outside, I will, but I'm coming with you." Max relaxed a little. There had been a bit of tension between the three of them since Max had decided that joining the Vortex Club was the most effective way to keep an eye on Nathan's behavior. It was good to see Chloe finally on board with the plan even if she continued not to want to be an active part of it. Max let out a long, slow breath and then gestured toward the back of the girl disappearing into the gymnasium ahead of them. Sarah was probably the first to arrive. As they followed her in, Max considered the girl. Something of a blooming fashionista, she considered herself pretty well above everyone around her. Max liked to explain her as 'think of Victoria on her worst day, multiplied by infinity and then given a megaphone'.
By the time that Max, Chloe and Rachel stepped into the gym the girl in question, still sporting her signature orange hair, was leaning up against the farthest, yellowed brick wall. Sarah lifted her head and raised an eyebrow at the three of them. Max wasn't sure if this was due to Chloe being with them or what, but she looked immediately bored and bothered. To cover this up or perhaps just to express her disdain, Sarah looked down at the telephone in her right hand without saying a word or giving them any kind of greeting. Max found herself rather glad that Sarah couldn't hear the unflattering things this caused Chloe to mumble under her breath. Before Chloe got to the part about seizing the means of production (or worse, the means of reproduction,) Max decided to distract her. In truth, it was as much for her own good as Chloe's.
Max shrugged Rachel's arm off, though she made sure to do so carefully and not to show any disregard. This was enough to draw Chloe's attention so that it was not so much of a surprise when Max pulled her in for a brief, tight hug. No one beyond the three of them could have heard Max thanking Chloe for coming with them, but she hoped that the artist did not mistake the genuine appreciation in her voice for anything else. When Max did not receive an immediate response she pulled away from Chloe to perhaps give her a chance to draw a full, unrestricted breath. It would have been easy, in the moment, to get lost in the girl's face and trying to read every glimmer in her eyes.
Thankfully, Dana and Logan came through the door at that point. Unlike her quick goodbye after class, this time Dana was more open about her support, even if it was in the perhaps tacky form of a finger gun. Logan, on the other hand, practically walked by the two of them without even looking. Logan doesn't give a fuck. Max had suspected for some time that his support was entirely down to upsetting Nathan after Nathan had gone out of his way to be a total dick to him when Rachel and Max were first trying to get admitted to the group. Speaking of Rachel, she was looking past Logan and Dana to see if someone else was close behind them.
Max wondered who the actress was looking for. She knew precisely who she was most curious about. To Max, the biggest mystery of the group was Victoria and what kind of a response she would have toward their idea. Theoretically, if the fashion-obsessed photographer 'abstained' indefinitely, there was nothing to worry about. Max had to admit that she and Rachel were banking on that more than they probably should have. Getting Victoria on their side seemed unlikely, but if one asked Hayden she had already come over. That made far less sense to Max than the idea that maybe there had just been a hiccup between Victoria and Nathan and it would be smoothed over by now.
The worry continued to grow as the three of them grew silent and watched first Dana, then Hayden and Zachary walk in one by one. That was six of the ten members of the Vortex Club. If we can impress all of them, Nathan, Victoria and the others won't really matter. The truth was that Max held no hope about Taylor swinging things to their side. Maybe if Max personally put pressure on her, but that wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want to pressure Taylor into being friendly with her in public, she just hoped that one day very soon the girl would choose the route herself. As if summoned by the thought, Taylor and Courtney entered the room and glanced around it once, lost.
"Where's Queen Bee?" Rachel asked in a mutter as the two girls walked clean by them, not even turning their heads to look Max or Rachel in the eyes. "And why do I get the feeling they don't know."
"Oh they don't have a fucking clue," Chloe replied. Max personally had to agree. Even taking up a spot along a stretch of wall and setting aside their bags, Courtney and Taylor looked slightly as if they expected victoria to emerge from some shadow without a warning. Oh shit. "The drones are never spotted without their queen in the wild." Max opened her mouth to admonish Chloe for being a little meaner than strictly called for but shut it. The girl did make a valid point: Taylor and Courtney did follow Victoria around everywhere. She had been in class and the three of them had been among the first to leave the room, together. So, Max thought, what if Victoria and Nathan are late because they're trying to decide how fast we're gonna be told to fuck off.
"Well," Max started, immediately intent on quieting that particular voice, "what was the rest of your day like?" she asked them both. She wasn't sure she minded who started talking as long as it wasn't her. Sadly, Chloe's exhaustion and Rachel's nerves were as immediately evident as the unpleasant creeping concern growing in Max's chest. The day had looked so promising only that morning: she had woken up to warmer temperatures and a clear, sunny sky. It was a shame that Jefferson and the potential reunion of Nathan Prescott and Victoria could put her back into a funk. Max nonetheless let Chloe lead the discussion until something else happened.
Almost ten minutes after their arrival, Nathan stalked into the room, oozing his frustration and aggression. For a moment, he stopped just inside the doors and scanned the room as if looking for someone. This was not all that different than when Taylor and Courtney arrived and Max wondered now if Nathan and the two wildly overdressed girls keeping to themselves at the back of the room might be looking for the same person. What if Nathan wasn't with Victoria? Max pondered this for a moment until the boy's eyes landed on her and he sneered before stomping farther off into the room.
"I think I'll volunteer to do some manual labor for you guys during your Vortex Club work," Chloe told them, as if Nathan's glare was some kind of a signal. Awww, she's feeling protective.
"I could think of some manual labor for you to-"
"Keep it PG," Max told Rachel, unable to resist rolling her eyes at the girl's antics. The blonde frowned at her but shrugged as if to say she would- for now. Max tossed aside the idea of giving her a little bit more crap when Victoria came in a moment later. Still dressed to the nines as she had been all day, the girl mimicked Nathan in giving one full, scan of the room. There was no particular explanation evident for why the photographer bearing the short, windswept hair was late. Victoria's eyes landed on Nathan before the three of them and moved on almost immediately. This did not go unnoticed by Chloe either, who nudged Rachel briefly and muttered something before being noticed.
"Alright, I can see everyone's here," Victoria started, and then, focusing intently on Chloe, she seemed to be deciding what to do with her. The look on her face, the quirk of her lips, it was all akin to a warning that some snide comment danced on the tip of her tongue. Max frowned, then, when Victoria looked first at her and then Rachel in turn. Whatever the girl thought of saying about Chloe's presence faded and was replaced instead by a haughty, "So, what, are you trying to join, now, too?" Chloe's derisive snort earned her very few points with Victoria, judging by the frown it was met with. Max stifled a sigh only with great effort.
"No, I'm just here to offer to do some of the heavy lifting for the party next week."
"Not interested, this is club business only. If you're not part, get out." That was crossing a line, as far as Max was concerned. Grumbling, Chloe turned away and began to walk toward the double doors of the gymnasium. Chloe had been fine with the idea of waiting in the hall earlier, but given Victoria's attitude, Max no longer agreed that that was an acceptable option. She turned, balancing her bag on her left shoulder and with her right arm grabbed Chloe by the shoulder and held her in place, earning a confused look from the artist.
"She's here for us," Rachel told Victoria, speaking loudly enough that the room at large could hear them. Max thought this was quite forceful and enjoyed the sound of Rachel imposing herself not just on Victoria but on anyone else who expected that Chloe could be talked down to like that while they were around. Some things are more important than the Vortex Club, Max reminded herself as she watched Chloe's smile return and, if anything, grow a little wider. Victoria shrugged and instead of arguing trotted off toward the wall where Taylor and Courtney now stood, nose a little too high in the air. Max was going to mark this down for comment when she noticed something far more interesting in the moment: Nathan was pointedly looking away from Victoria and she was doing the same to him. Trouble in paradise. The Platonic Power Duo still aren't talking.
"Right then," Hayden said, "You heard the lady. Chloe stays. Let's get this show on the road." There was, at least, a murmur of agreement among the group on that point. Coming from disparate corners of the gym to be in easier range of Max and Rachel, everyone but Nathan himself eventually formed a half circle around them, though Victoria was doing her best to seem disinterested. When Rachel dropped her open bag and gestured for Max to speak—something notably the opposite of the plan—Max frowned. She wasn't about to argue with everyone watching them and Chloe's hand on her shoulder was, at least, comforting. "What's the plan, Max?" Hayden prompted.
"What's the theme?" Sarah asked, immediately. For the first time she seemed interested in what Max or Rachel had to say, though the fact that she was still holding her phone suggested that she wasn't sure how long she would stay interested. Max shot the blonde beside her a look. The theme had originally been Rachel's idea and she couldn't help but wish, as her stomach flipped in her abdomen, that Rachel would take over and explain it clearly. Look, she's already agreed to be your go-between if we've got to talk to Nathan. Take her advice and speak up. Rachel was right on that last point: Max needed to start raising her voice in larger social situations. She let loose one more long exhale and looked not at Sarah or Nathan but at Hayden, Juliet and Dana.
"So, for a theme, we chose Eros and Ludus," Max started. "Rachel could probably explain a little better, but I'll give it a shot. The ancient Greeks had seven words for love. Eros was more of a passionate, sexual love. Ludus was more playful and probably a bit more careless." For a moment, as Max began to explain, she thought she saw the idea immediately losing them traction with Dana, something about the grimace and the look of disconnect in her eyes. It faded pretty quickly by the time that she finished expanding on each of these concepts a little more. Hayden remained impassive and fairly neutral the entire time. Max did not know why. Does he already hate the idea? As Max's explanation came to an end, Rachel leaned forward and began to free the streamers from the pack at her feet.
"So, we're thinking silver and bronze colored streamers and something pretty similar for table covers, at least on any tables we have. We could set up two pretty bright lights near the doorway to make it all look pretty cool while we're waiting for the music to start." Rachel tilted the still wrapped roll of silver streamers in her hand as if to show it catching the light filtering in through one of the windows at the top of the room. "Also, Max was thinking it was better to keep the table handling any 'refreshments' closer to the doors. It's a good idea really, people can see it when they first come in so they'll always know where to find it. Besides, setting it against the back wall in the past has made it so a lot of people end up spilling while they're trying to get back to their friends or get out into the hall so they can have a beer and talk."
Rachel continued to make their argument as calmly as if she were having a simple conversation. It made sense. There was a reason she was one of the best actors the school had: she knew how to memorize her lines and make reciting them look effortless and natural. Rachel was a natural and, as Chloe often said, a force of nature in her own right. Hayden, for all his pretense at staying neutral a moment ago, pulled a briefly impressed face as if he hadn't quite thought of the spillage problem before.
"Honestly," Rachel added, seizing on this as a point to ram home, "more spillage, more cleanup at the end of the night, bigger pain in the ass. As for the stage we'd have to adjust it based on what kind of lighting rigup we're using but we could totally go with a bright bronze banner across the top." For the next couple of minutes, Max and Rachel fielded a series of questions. Most surprisingly the majority of them came from Zachary and Sarah even if Juliet did chime in once or twice whether to ask her own or answer one of the others'. Whether the rest of the group was already satisfied, disinterested or intent on saying no already (rather like Nathan, Max thought) they stayed fairly quiet. Max found herself wondering precisely where Victoria fell on that scale. Kind of surprising, that.
Max glanced back at Chloe as a lull in the questions approached. She had been quiet the entire time, standing a step or two back. Now the punk had her arms crossed over her chest and was positively smirking at Max with pride in her eyes. It caught Max off guard enough that she felt the red creeping into her cheeks. This didn't go unnoticed by Chloe, either. The smirk merely transformed into a large smile. This was not the time for Chloe's teasing games. Max was forced to turn away from her to keep it together, though thoughts of vengeance began to sprout in the back of her mind.
"Well, I'm in," Hayden announced when no one else had spoken. This seemed to be an impromptu and informal call to a vote. It played out familiarly: Dana and Juliet agreed almost simultaneously with Hayden on this point and Max smiled with relief. It was pretty cool to see how much each of them had their backs. When Sarah gave a vague shrug as her response, Max chose to interpret it as 'why not'. She was, however, surprised by Zachary's response.
"I hate having to get up early on Sundays and clean all damn day, you make a good point about the beer. " He didn't say anything else but judging by the slight quirk of Hayden's lips, that seemed to be the equivalent of an endorsement. Max was surprised by his support, but pleasantly so. Nothing quite prepared her, though, for what came next. For the most part, Nathan had been silent in the back so she was not so deluded enough to expect to hear any kind of praise from him but Max was almost just as surprised when Victoria spoke up.
"Yeah, that sounds fine, I guess," Victoria finally said, all eye rolls and reluctant admissions. For the entirety of their presentation she had been paying attention, though standing with her arms crossed over what was sure to be a five hundred dollar top or something outrageous of the sort. For just half of a second, Taylor smiled over Victoria's shoulder and then announced that she agreed. Courtney followed suit a moment later and there was no stopping the smile from coming to Max's face at the sound of how confused Courtney was, as if she couldn't quite believe she was endorsing one of Max and Rachel's plans and accepting them into the club.
Nathan's subsequent stormout sounded pitiful in the air of the large, old gymnasium with the yellowed walls and long abandoned basketball court. Chloe pressed a hand onto either Max's or Rachel's shoulder and joined them and the majority of the club in watching Nathan's petty fit, arms stiff at his side, feet slamming unnecessarily into the ground as he walked with big, exaggerated stomps. Oh thank fuck, it's over. Still, this meant there was certainly going to be some sort of long-term trouble between Victoria and Nathan, judging by the fact that victoria was the one person not staring at Nathan's retreating form, instead looking toward the floor.
"I really, really liked the idea and I hope you two bring out some more cool ones going forward," Juliet told them as the meeting came to an apparent and abrupt end. Once Nathan was gone, Victoria slowly returned to her haughty self. While Max hadn't been thinking in this terminology, she realized as Sarah, Zachary and Logan began to break away from the semi-circle around them, that she and Rachel were now officially part of the Vortex Club. Instantly conflicted about this fact, Max reminded herself thant there really wasn't room for prejudice from the other timeline to hang around in her feelings toward the club, not if she wanted to stay part of it and in a position to keep an eye on Nathan's activities as often as possible. That's the goal from now on, she reminded herself.
"It was a good idea," Chloe told them, quietly as Dana approached and Juliet took off for her locker. "You didn't really tell me what you'd chosen." Max smiled apologetically and even though Chloe waved her off, she thought she saw some discomfort in the artist's face.
"Nice idea, little risque, but awesome," Dana informed them. Rachel shared a high five with the shorter girl, during which Hayden backed away from the lot and rewarded them with a thumbs up held roughly level with his waist. He was trying to step back and let us impress the others on our own. Eventually the rest of the group filtered away, including the infuriatingly inconsistent Victoria Chase and her shadows, leaving Max, Rachel and Chloe standing alone in the gymnasium. A few seconds after Taylor vanished from the room, the silence became uncomfortable.
"Let's get out of here before hell freezes over and takes us with it?" Chloe suggested. Max laughed as she tossed an arm over Rachel's shoulder and saw with some enjoyment that she was satisfied. Good enough, Max told herself and followed Chloe from the room.
Their idea of celebrating was a trip to McDonalds. Max had eaten from that place more often in the last few months than she could remember doing her entire life. That's what happens, she told herself as she settled into a seat with a tall coke, when the only other place to get a burger in town isn't somewhere you can really go, anymore. It wasn't that they thought the diner wouldn't serve them, but exposing Chloe to her mother any more than necessary didn't seem to appeal to the girl. There is damn sure a quality difference, though, Max though, unwrapping a burger.
"So, think we can convince Chloe to go to the valentine's day party with us?" Rachel asked Max, leaning across Chloe to do it.
"I'm right here and maybe you can ask," Chloe informed the two of them, furrowing her brow.
"I'm not sure," Max told Rachel, playing along. "She can be so stubborn sometimes." Her next sentence was cut off by an elbow jabbed into her ribs.
"If you want to see stubborn, I promise you I can show you." Max didn't say another word. She rubbed at her side and then, pretending to be upset, grabbed hold of her drink and took a long sip. Chloe sighed. "Fine, I'll go to the party. But we get to hang out on the actual Valentine's Day. All three of us. Or else. And if that makes me silly and goopy and shit, so be it."
"Awww," Rachel called, far too loudly for Chloe's taste judging by the way the girl pulled her hat down lower over her bright blue hair and hunched over her sandwich wrapper. "She's turning into such a romantic," the blonde said, again leaning past Chloe to look at Max. Chloe, for her part, seemed unwilling to match Rachel's eyes but from where Max sat she could see the slight pink tinge of Chloe's cheeks and thought that Rachel's teasing was having the desired effect. For her part, she was just taking the meal as an opportunity to relax, no matter how much she wondered what exactly the 'beef' in her hamburger actually was. "You're such a sweetheart, Chloe."
From now on, Rachel and I will have even more chances to figure out who Nathan's early targets are. Max's stomach churned at the idea all over again. She slid her sandwich away from her and Rachel and Chloe both took notice of this and fell silent. Max hoped they did not start worrying about her eating, all over again. She was doing her best to eat even when she did not feel hungry, even when she felt ill. The new moral dilemma threatened to resurface and fight her appetite off for a good long while, though. Is it better to let something happen and catch them both in the act or stop Nathan from hurting someone else? One of them left Jefferson out there and, by the sound of things, he was already a predator, himself. The other let someone get hurt, though, someone who didn't deserve it. How was either choice ethical?
One guarantees someone at Blackwell gets hurt but Jefferson and Nathan might realize what each other are and get caught working together. The other means no one at Blackwell gets hurt. That was certainly more appealing but the problem was that Jefferson would still be there to hurt someone later, or after they left or maybe in a way they couldn't detect. There were no good options. All of this was, of course, predicated on the idea that Jefferson and Nathan connect when Jefferson realizes that Nathan was drugging and taking advantage of people at the school. That was just an assumption, not any established fact. This would all be so much easier if I could just talk to them and find out what's going on. Even with my rewind I don't know how the hell I'd do that. 'Hey, Mr. Jefferson, you into drugging and photographing teenage girls against their wills?" Pull it together, Max. She no longer felt hungry or like celebrating. This is to take two dangerous people down. You tried to do this the nice, way and it got you hurt. Clearly that's not how this works.
Max reached out, intent on busting the awkward silence at the table, and grabbed her sandwich. Not matching either girl's eyes, she took one large, emphatic and exaggerated bite from the Big Mac. Now, go back to talking and shit.