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.
Chapter Sixty-Two: Aristeia the Third
April 14th, 2012 9:45 PM
It was odd, but Chloe had gotten used to the parties, to a degree. She had certainly gotten used to thinking of them as time spent with Max and Rachel where, even if for a few minutes, they could be close to one another all at once without worrying about anyone or anything else. The last time they had treated one of the Vortex Club parties in this manner, though, Nathan Prescott had struck at a target. Admittedly that was likely to have been a different Blackwell Academy entirely, but it was not worth the risk. Just shy of three hours prior, Max had released a series of documents under a pseudonym to the entire student body, all of the school's employees and the parents of the students within. It had only taken half an hour before people at the party started to stare openly at Nathan.
That was what Chloe was doing, now. All pretense set aside, Chloe was on Nathan watching duty. Max and Rachel had each taken half hour turns watching him, and Victoria and Taylor had pitched in on their own shifts. It was, it seemed, Chloe's turn. While Max and Rachel indulged in the music, in a beer or whatever else they were going to get up to, Chloe tried not to let the loud tunes, the flashing lights or the crowd of people around her distract her from the boy with the light brown hair who was glaring back at her from a chair against a nearby wall. Chloe leaned one elbow on the edge of the refreshment table, where someone who Chloe did not know or recognize manned the keg. Resting her head on that hand, Chloe did not break eye contact with the boy shooting daggers in her direction. There was no longer any pretense to be maintained between them all, not now that the school was talking not just about the rumors relating to Max, Victoria and Stella but also about Nathan and Jefferson's school files.
Chloe did not look away from Nathan even as she freed a couple of folded bills from her pocket with her left hand and slapped them down on the table beside her. Nathan had not moved for almost two hours. At past parties he had occasionally deigned to descend to the level of the commoners and dance with someone who did not attend Blackwell or drink beer with someone none of them knew. Tonight, while Nathan clutched a red solo cup that clashed with his reddish-brown jacket, he wasn't talking to anyone and he was not dancing. That was fine by Chloe. There was no telling what he might be able to get away with if he disappeared into the crowd of people paying more attention to their body or their partner's than any drinks they might be carrying.
As for company, anyone connected to Blackwell who so much as saw Nathan was looking at him differently: sure, there had come to be a large amount of people who distrusted the boy after the rumors had surfaced but now Chloe saw the question in everyone's' eyes. It was one which Chloe knew contributed to the days in which Max could not eat, the nights in which she could not sleep. 'How dangerous is he?' Sometimes, Nathan tried to interact with people, though. This mostly consisted of staring angrily, lips curled in a sneer. So far, Chloe, Courtney, Taylor, Max, Victoria and Rachel had all rated this, though briefly Hayden had made an appearance in the gymnasium and Nathan had not been able to look the boy's direction. It used to be that Hayden would defend Nathan to anyone who badmouthed him. I guess he just needed to see who Nathan really was. Hell, not even that much of it, either. Just once, just one peek. Maybe everyone else will figure it out as easily.
After a moment or two, her blind groping for the beer she had just purchased paid off. She tried not to think about how much that she would like to be in that crowd of people whose edge started some thirty feet in front of her. She tried not to imagine being pressed against Rachel's back or the feeling of Max's hands on her own. It did not help anything. On occasion, Chloe would break eye contact to check her messages and shoot a very short response back to Steph, who seemed to be keeping her updated on what was happening in the science lab. As best as she could gather, the crowd was smaller than usual, Warren Graham was trashed beyond all description and Hayden and Justin were keeping him company. The occasionally rather geeky boy had apparently shifted past mildly upset about something which neither Steph nor Brooke could get him to talk about to 'goofy off his ass'. Steph, apparently, preferred him upset. Chloe had to agree: see, when Warren Graham was angry, it was disturbing, but when he was just mildly annoyed, he tended to be hilarious. In that way, the boy reminded her of Max, only significantly less attractive to Chloe.
Past that, Chloe knew that the rest of the crowd in the room consisted of Dana, Taylor, Juliet and, though no one was entirely sure what had motivated him, Daniel Dacosta. Given that he had never gone to a Vortex Club party to her knowledge, Chloe could only say that she hoped he was having fun. Good thinking on Brooke's part to bring him to the lab. That's where the real fun's to be had. Chloe lifted her head from her phone to return to staring at Nathan, who had gone to staring down at his own phone as if unbothered by her gaze. I swear to fuck as soon as my shift's over, I'm gonna go down there and toke up. The truth was that the music played at these parties had never been her taste and it was doubly not her taste when she did not have her girls with her.
Summoned, no doubt, by the very thought, Rachel and Max emerged from the crowd somewhere near enough to her that when they began to approach it caught her eye. God, has it been a half hour already? Time flies when you wish you were anywhere else. Turning away from Nathan briefly, Chloe focused in on the girls, on the way Rachel turned back to seize Max by the hand, the slight shake of the photographer's head, the soft smile. Somewhere a few feet off to the right, Victoria emerged from the crowd, too. She looked as if she might have been dancing with someone. Chloe wondered who briefly before returning her eyes to Nathan. Too bad it wasn't Max. Then again, Max hadn't really said what she thought of the whole idea of Victoria crushing on her. Chloe hadn't really considered what she thought of it, either.
A few steps away, Max pulled the two of them to a stop and Chloe's eyes slid sideways briefly to see Max line up and then snap a photo of Rachel. Courtney, who had been sitting not too far away from the far side of the doors to the gymnasium, got up to join Victoria and the two angled for Chloe even as Max and Rachel did. Then, Nathan did what might have been the most annoying thing he could have done while still in the gymnasium. Sneering, the boy slid his phone into the pocket of his doubtlessly overpriced jeans, made some sort of gesture she had gotten used to observing in him that involved touching the top of his right cheek and then stood up. He's touching the scars, maybe? Does it every time he sees Rachel. Either way, if the boy wanted to leave the gymnasium he had three options, unfortunately two of those doors were fire exits and touching either one would put an end to the party and bring trouble down on them all. In short, he was going to be forced to walk by Chloe.
Victoria and Courtney pulled to a stop beside her as Nathan approached. Rachel and Max were talking, flirting by the looks of things a few feet away, almost clueless as Nathan slowed nearer to Chloe and her sudden companions. Chloe saw his lips move, but whatever snide remark or cutting insult the boy shot at the two of them went unnoticed, swallowed up by the music, never to be known to anyone but himself. What a fucking shame, she thought, facetiously. Chloe's left hand rose and pulled the beanie down further over her hair as her right brought the cup up to her lips. If Nathan thought he was getting away, Chloe told herself as she drained what remained of her beer, he had another thing coming. A hand pressed down into her shoulder, as if to stop her from rising as Nathan approached. Victoria, looking down at her, shook her head twice, pointed to herself and yelled something. While she could hear the girl's voice, the music was just too loud to make out her words. The implication was obvious: Victoria was going to follow and watch him. At this point, Nathan passed through the doors and out into the hallway. Victoria turned without a word, leaving a confused looking Courtney in her wake, and followed.
Courtney, Chloe was given to understand, had done something to mend fences with Victoria earlier that day, but now stood lost without any input from the blonde. Chloe didn't have time to worry about her, though. She pushed to her feet immediately. Bad idea letting her go, Chloe decided. I wouldn't let Max follow Nathan out of the gym alone. Shouldn't have let Victoria. Chloe had just barely reached Max and Rachel, jaw clenching when Victoria disappeared from view, turning past the doors to pursue Nathan. Yeah, that's gonna be a big no from me. Reaching out, she shook either girl's shoulder. It had only been a second of hesitation, but it had been enough. Victoria had looked so confidently down at her, as if it was no big deal, that for a moment Chloe had wanted to shrug and go have a smoke while Victoria took over.
Chloe gestured to the door that the blonde had just disappeared from, as emphatically as she could and then made for it. When she glanced back, Rachel and Max were following. The music was so loud that Chloe had had time to get out into the hall and realize that there was no sign of Victoria or Nathan before she could explain to her girls what had happened, but as she did it was at a yell and she was already walking toward the center of the school. She had gotten a step or two before a hand closed around her forearm and Chloe turned. The hand belonged to Rachel, who shook her head when she realized she had Chloe's attention, gesturing to Max's back as the girl shot forward quite suddenly. Chloe blinked, confused, but followed. Trust Max.
When they reached the center of the school, there were still a few people milling about, some having bought a soda or a bag of chips from the vending machine and still others talking. It made it nigh on impossible to see down either of the other hallways but that did not stop Max from turning and making toward the front hall. At this point, Chloe fell in lock step with Rachel. How common had it become for the two of them to chase after Max as she hurried forward, propelled by some sixth sense that they had only come to understand in late October? Shit, that's what this is, she rewound! Chloe turned her head toward Rachel, whose eyes were wide as she hurried to keep pace with Max. The photographer had broken out into a run just a little too casual to be called a sprint. I fucked up!
Max did not lead them out of the school and toward the dormitories, instead veering off for, of all places, the girl's restroom. What was strange was the way that Max froze upon placing her hand against it, turned back and stared not at Chloe and Rachel both, but pointedly at Chloe. It was not a condemning gaze Max fixed on her, something telling her that she had done wrong in letting Victoria go alone even for a few seconds. It was fear, fear for Chloe. She couldn't say she understood it, but if it was important she would before it was too late. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, Max pushed the door open just wide enough for her to ease in sideways. After sharing a look, first Rachel and then Chloe followed suit.
Generally, the bathroom was what they expected. Half of the lights were on so it was rather dim, but it was a restroom, blue tiles and all. Once upon a time, Chloe had graffiti'd the place up very nicely, but now her artwork was mostly gone. Instead, the most conspicuous thing about this particular girl's restroom was the boy on the far end of it. The door slid shut behind Chloe, who did not speak because Max stood a step or two in front of her and Rachel with one hand held up. Nathan's back was to them and he seemed so enthralled in what he was doing that he had not noticed so much as their interest. Unfortunately, what he was doing was yelling as he shoved Victoria hard against a wall. The boy did not notice her eyes land on Max, Chloe and Rachel over his shoulder. He simply kept yelling.
"You don't get to judge me. You betrayed me!" Nathan was too old for his voice to be cracking so much, but it was and it made him sound even more unhinged than she already thought him. As far as Chloe was concerned, she did not know what they were waiting for, but Max remained frozen, her back to Chloe and Rachel with one hand raised. What's she waiting on? Victoria's eyes returned to Nathan and she tried to sidestep him, only for him to slam her once more against the wall.
"I didn't betray you, Nathan, I swear." Once upon a time, when Chloe was younger and particularly hurt, she had imagined the sound of Victoria Chase's voice panicked, trying to avoid Chloe throwing down with her. It had been the petulant, angry fantasy of an embarrassed but ultimately unmotivated child, but Chloe remembered it. Back then she had imagined the sound as being vindicating. In reality, it was hard to listen to. Victoria was panicked. She was confused. Chloe was too, what in the name of hell was Max waiting for? Chloe shifted on the spot and glanced toward the mirrors along one wall.
"You sided with those fucking dykes!" Setting aside Nathan slurring them, Chloe learned something disturbing in the moment. There was no calm, rational face attached to Max's reflection, no sign she was planning something or thinking. Instead, her face was cold and frozen in fear. Her body was frozen in fear. They weren't acting because Max was scared.
"They didn't do anything wrong," Victoria told him, and then, finding her fire, she spat, "you did! You fucking drugged me, Nathan. How could you? I trusted you. You were the only one at this school I trusted like that. I told you shit." Victoria's eyes slipped back to the three of them and this time Nathan caught on. The boy turned to his left so that his remaining eye could get a fix on them, one hand still reaching out to pin Victoria against the wall. The boy's face was dark red which made its usual sharp angles seem more dangerous than before. His left hand reached out, pointing an accusatory and almost banishing finger at them.
"That's a lie that they told you, but you know what, you betrayed me before that, so you deserve to be lied to!" Unhinged, he stacked lie upon lie, disregard upon disregard. Max's face began to transform. Pale pink lips began to rise in a sneer not unlike Nathan's own, her dark blue eyes widened. It was not the typical Max kind of anger but it was one she had seen before. The girl's airborne hand closed into a fist. The situation is escalating. You got us into this mess, Chloe, get us out. "You stupid bitches don't have a clue what you're messing with."
"Take you hand off her, right now," Chloe called past Max. Her voice echoed off of the walls of the bathroom, sounding unimpressive even in her own ears. The right side of her body was cold. No, Chloe thought, shooting a glance left toward Rachel. The left side of my body is warm. If she looked her thespian in the eyes, she would see the fire rising. They were in a small, enclosed space and every second that ticked was marked by an escalation in tension.
"I'm sorry," Victoria told them, oddly enough focusing her attention on Chloe. "He just grabbed me and told me if I said anything he'd kill me."
"Don't worry about it," Max insisted, slowly setting her messenger bag down on the ground beside her. "This is why no one follows him alone. He doesn't fight fair." Fight fair? Chloe wondered. With one last great heave, Victoria pushed at Nathan who responded by throwing all of his weight against his right hand, pressing her back hard into the wall, hard enough that Chloe heard the thunk of her skull against tile. What does she mean, fight fair?
"This is your last warning," Rachel insisted.
"Shut the fuck up!" Disturbingly, instead of screaming this at Rachel or Max or Victoria or even Chloe, Nathan had turned at the last second to yell right into the closed door of a nearby stall. Oh fuck, he's off the deep end. That realization made it all the worse when she realized why his left hand might be reaching into his jacket. Whether Nathan was even cognizant enough to realize it or not, the entire situation changed the minute his hands started to move. He doesn't fight fair, Chloe thought. Max had been trying to warn them all: he had a gun. "I will kill you all and it won't fucking matter! No one will care! None of you can get away with this!"
"You will bleed out on this floor before you touch anyone in this room." The words came out of her girlfriend and childhood friend's mouth, but the voice was not hers. It was another's. It was another Max Caulfield's entirely. She had last heard it clearly threatening to bash Frank Bowers' head in with a bat if he ever touched Chloe again, and at that time all he had done was stop her from walking in front of Damon Merrick's knife. Max's slowly growing fury had reached such palpability, that Chloe felt like she was developing a headache. "Let Victoria go!"
"Max isn't lying," Chloe hissed at Rachel. The blonde looked at her in confusion for half a second and that half a second was all it took. The boy's hand disappeared into his jacket and Max took a step forward. Chloe did, too. The muscles in her left shoulder and arm tensed as she shoulder checked Max Caulfield. She had not done this in something around five years, but Max had always been someone she knew just how to knock off balance whether it was physically or mentally. The brunette never saw the hit coming. As Max fell sideways into and through the door to a stall, Chloe kept running. Max screamed her name. Metal glinted in Nathan's left hand as he extended it and his right lost its purchase on Victoria's chest.
Chloe closed her eyes. She felt the connection of her body on Nathan's and heard his head crack back into the wall behind him. Victoria, it seemed, had gotten out of the way. When she did not feel pain or hear a noise that sounded like a gunshot to her, she opened her eyes and pushed off of the boy. He stumbled forward once and then slipped, falling to one knee. Chloe glanced about once, saw that Victoria was frozen only inches from them and then turned her eyes back on Nathan. The world was cold. Her heart hammered in her chest or the bass had just dropped to such levels as would be wont to blow out the gymnasium's sound system. Whatever emotions she felt were negative and all draped in a kind of adrenaline-fueled panic. She did not think she could analyze them but she seized onto the one closest to a familiar friend: contempt.
"Victoria. Get Max out here," Rachel called from what might have been the end of a long hallway, miles and miles away. Whether Victoria moved or not, Chloe was not sure because in that moment sense returned to Nathan's eye and he looked up at her with rage, with panic of his own, with the most damnable sense of unbridled fear in his eyes. She wished she understood what he was so scared of, but he was the one with the gun. He was the one who had sexually assaulted people, he was the one who had threatened all their lives. Whatever voices he was hearing, whatever faces he saw which were not actually there, whatever was screaming for him to be the best, to be superior to everyone around him, it did not matter. Chloe saw the movement of the hand holding the gun as a rightful threat and reacted in kind.
She had never kicked anyone in the chest with these damned, heavy combat boots before but it produced a satisfying sensation in her leg when she did. The air drained from Nathan's lungs. His gun hand dropped, but unfortunately he remained a threat, so she stepped once, hard on his left hand. When he did not release the gun, she assumed they were at a standoff. When he regained his breath, she was fucked. Except, maybe not. Chloe felt the intense warmth flooding around her. Pale orange reflected off of the tile walls. Nathan's eyes, already wide and feral as he gasped for air, looked far too large to belong to a human being in that moment. Those eyes left Chloe and slid to the blonde with the long, thick braided hair behind her.
"You didn't buy that electrical malfunction bullshit, did you Nathan? I thought you were too smart for that." The sound the boy made after Rachel's little taunt was inhuman. It was not something the human body should have ever been able to produce and Chloe did not think its memory would let her sleep for some time.
"I didn't fuck up, you fucked up," Chloe told the boy and then for the first time felt the satisfaction of punching Nathan Prescott across the jaw. He crumpled immediately to the floor, releasing his hold on his gun. Chloe kicked it, sending the cold metal sliding across the bathroom floor and then stood tall as she rounded on Rachel. The blonde's hair shifted to and fro in winds that Chloe had not even noticed a second ago but could not help but shiver under, herself. Nathan's unconscious form held Rachel's undivided attention, her hungry attention. A small, pale orange ball, the size of a fist danced where it sat cupped in Rachel's left hand. Beneath its surface, it moved almost naturally and she saw it for what it was: waves of fire. Rachel was beyond angry. This was the kind of Rachel who could burn down forests. Chloe backed toward a sink. "Calm down, Rachel, he's done." Rachel's response was to shake her head and open her mouth to say something. Chloe did not let her get that far. She would burn him if he so much as twitched. It was possible it would even feel as natural – as good to her as punching him in the jaw had felt to Chloe. Though it was certainly a long shot, Chloe reached back and turned the sink behind her on full blast, angling her hand to splash cold water across Rachel's face as hard as she could.
For the most part, the diverted jet of water struck the blonde in the neck and not in the face but it did its trick. Confused, Rachel almost stumbled backward. For a moment the thespian was stunned as the fire she held like she was about to throw a softball faded away. Then, bizarrely, she laughed. Chloe was not sure what Rachel was feeling when she laughed, because her face was contorted still with a kind of white hot hatred, but she laughed. At this, Chloe reached out and grasped Rachel's right hand. The blonde's eyes focused on her.
For just a moment, everything that Rachel had been feeling continued to flow. Beneath Chloe's hand, Rachel was warm enough that it was a little unpleasant to hold onto her, for the first time ever. The room continued to experience unusual meteorological conditions in the way of wind strong enough to cause the doors of the stalls around them to shudder and occasionally open before slamming shut. The girl's face remained beet red. Every second they waited was a moment closer to the time Nathan awoke and became a threat once again. They needed to get him out of the way and then get out of there. She squeezed Rachel's hand tight, not letting go due to the warmth but also not trying to injure the girl.
"I need your help, now," Chloe told Rachel. The headache from before had not been imaginary and now that Nathan was unconscious and Max had presumably calmed down, it was fading. Behind them, Max and Victoria were nowhere to be seen: even the photographer's messenger bag had vanished. Slowly but surely the, frankly, reasonable desire to cause Nathan some grief faded from Rachel's eyes. Neither girl spoke as they released each other and seized Nathan Prescott. He was heavy enough that it took effort and coordination but a few seconds later instead of sitting on the floor crumpled over, he was sitting, slumped fully clothed, on a toilet seat in a stall. Rachel's breathing was still slowing to normal. Chloe's had not even begun. That did not stop her from getting an idea as she looked at her handiwork.
"What are you doing?" Rachel hissed at her as Chloe reached into her pocket. The large sharpie came up like a faithful servant eager to be of use and Chloe bit down on the cap, pulling the marker free. "Are you fucking serious?"
"The fucking seriousest," Chloe insisted, playfully around the marker cap in her mouth and she leaned past Nathan to scribble on the wall beside him.
Here I sit, broken hearted,
Full of shit and SO outsmarted
I've got no class, so take no chances
I drug girls at school dances.
Nathan Prescott, 2012
When Chloe thought she heard him groan as if he might be coming to, she grabbed Rachel with her right hand and without bothering to cap the marker, pulled the girl from the room. She had no idea if Rachel was exasperated with her or not. She did not care. The action, petty as it was, had been very grounding. Chloe felt more like herself when she pushed out into the hall, caught sight of Max and Victoria standing only two or three steps away looking as if they had been arguing about whether or not to go back in and then gestured with her head for them to run. She took the lead, freeing the cap of the marker with her right hand, placing it on the writing utensil and storing it away.
"He's coming to with a sore jaw, it's time for us to leave," Rachel said, in response most likely to some question that Chloe had not even heard. She thought Max had asked something of the girl, far too quietly.
"Leaving the party was a shitty idea," Victoria suddenly called as Chloe angled for the gymnasium.
"Probably," Chloe told her, as loudly as she could as she glanced back at the blonde, "but now you know."
"What?"
"You know he's not going to cool down."
"I'm getting the fuck out of Blackwell," Victoria declared as they reached the edge of what Chloe liked to think of as 'Able-To-Hear-Yourself-Think Land.' Here, no one looked at them, no one seemed to know anything had happened. Were people looking at us before? Chloe had not noticed. She had barely noticed the floor beneath her feet, the lockers along the walls or the two sets of open double doors they had passed through. Chloe glanced down at her left hand. It looked like shit, with abrasions across the knuckles. She was moderately impressed at how little it hurt. As for the blonde photographer's declaration that she was leaving Blackwell, it seemed to refer to the larger scale, moving away. This was evidenced by Victoria following them into the gym. Max is the only one of us that can help with that, all things considered. Still, Victoria needed words in that moment, judging by the lost, frustrated look on her face as she glanced around the gym and then started for the refreshment table. It just so happened that in that moment Chloe felt some kind of way about the idea of her leaving because of Nathan Prescott and she was not sure there was anything she would not say or do with the adrenaline still pumping through her.
Chloe turned on the spot and examined both Rachel and Max. Rachel did not seem to be paying much attention to her surroundings. She continuously started to raise and look down at her left hand and then lower it. When Chloe brushed against that hand, she did not jump as if she was in pain, so whatever was happening was emotional, mental but Rachel's face was blank. She had, Chloe realized, retreated to the safety of a calm and dispassionate mask. Max would not match Chloe's eyes, though she looked more guilty than angry. Okay, so the girlfriend's not gonna hate you for pushing her into a toilet, Chloe told herself and then smiled once at both girls and stepped away. It was for the best. I don't want to know what she was going to do to Nathan. Chloe reached out and placed her left hand on Victoria's shoulder. The girl froze and turned her head, no longer reaching for the cup that the, frankly, nobody behind the table was offering her. Chloe leaned in close and all but yelled into her ear.
"You need to talk to Max about what happened tonight." If anyone could help the girl parse through the feelings she was having, it was Max. Unlike Chloe who would have remained at Blackwell just to be a boil on Prescott's pampered ass, Max was likely to support Victoria if she made a rational choice to leave. Chloe was just concerned that in her current state, Victoria wasn't making any rational choices. This concern was reinforced when, as soon as Chloe released her, Victoria looked pointedly away, picked up the offered cup of beer and began to drain it far too quickly without leaving the table. This is gonna go downhill fast, Chloe thought, but we can't leave. Here there are witnesses if he tries something. She wished she had thought to pick up Nathan's pistol.
Victoria was halfway through her third beer when Taylor and Courtney showed up. By this point, there had been absolutely zero sign of Nathan and lot of them standing around the door was beginning to attract raised eyebrows. Communication passed between Chloe, Rachel, Max, Victoria, Courtney and Taylor but it was almost entirely silent. With some frustration, the blonde still wearing those damned pearls finished her third beer and joined them in making an escape to a quieter part of the school. Personally, Chloe thought as she followed Max from the gym, she hoped they could stop by the science classroom. Either way, the moment she can hear me, I'm telling Max to talk to her. Victoria was surprisingly well composed, and Chloe gave her credit, but the crossed arms and the withering looks she gave anyone who so much as glanced at them as they passed were bound to upset someone.
No Nathan Prescott waited outside of the gym, nor among the people lining the hallways. Maybe he was still in the bathroom, sitting in the stall lamenting his failed attempt at revenge. Maybe he was back in the dormitories. Chloe did not care as long as he stayed far away from the six of them. Everyone else she cared about was either safe in their room or in a classroom with several other witnesses. He would not be taking anyone from her, not tonight. By the time that Chloe heard any member of their group clearly, they were practically standing outside of the science classroom. Yet, Max veered away and toward the wall opposite of it as she spoke.
"We sent the email, to everyone," Max was confessing to Victoria, who had the good graces to shut her mouth and hide the stunned look on her face after only a second or two. "What are you so shocked about? I warned you I wanted to do something like this." Victoria shook her head and answered with a vague hand gesture. Taylor slowed down behind Victoria but when she reached for the other photographer, Victoria jerked out of her grasp.
"No one touch me for a bit, okay?" Victoria asked, her voice surprisingly level. Chloe turned her attention from them to Rachel. While Max gave Victoria the run down on the email and what they hoped to accomplish with it, Chloe watched the blonde beside her. The thespian's face was still blank, but her eyes had come back to life and she responded to realizing that Chloe was examining her by reaching out and lacing the fingers of her right hand into Chloe's left. It was comforting.
"Listen," Max was saying, "David's like a dog with a bone. If he just bites, something will come of it, sooner or later."
"I'll think about waiting," Victoria finally said. "I'll think about it." At this Max fell quiet, arms crossing over her chest and turned back toward Rachel and Chloe. "I really want to get fucking wasted," Victoria admitted to someone. Chloe did not know if it was any of the three of them, or Taylor or Courtney. Chloe was interested in only Rachel and Max in that moment because she knew that several things had happened to the two of them in that bathroom and for the last few minutes she had stood in the gym unable to speak to either of them.
"Same," Rachel chimed in, quietly. Rachel had lost her cool, had been ready to burn Nathan. Max, on the other hand, had been poised to enact some serious violence on him or get herself shot in the process. In Rachel's case, the fight, the danger of the gun might be to blame for her rage. In Max's though, Chloe had seen and felt the progression of fear to anger. The fear had not just frozen Max in place before the anger came to wash it away, it had also driven her to run with a specific destination in mind: the girl's bathroom. Max had traveled back in time. She had seen something in another timeline which had tipped her off as to what was happening and the idea that it might have been severe enough for Max to throw caution to the wind and risk her life was unsettling. Now that she could talk to them, Chloe, her of all people, could not find the words. She stepped forward, releasing Rachel's hand. Her left arm tightened around Rachel's shoulders and her right encircled Max's and she pulled both girls in.
The lot of them smelled of sweat and Rachel was still unnaturally warm, but Chloe did not mind. She did not make to release either of them even when she felt someone tapping on her shoulder. Hell, even after Max voiced her concern about Chloe continuing to hold onto them, she didn't stop. She wasn't sure how to put words to it but she had had a realization in that bathroom. As much as she was just fine to put Nathan Prescott on his ass a hundred times, she had not been affected in the same way as either of the two of them by the night that Nathan had hurt Max or maybe she had somehow come to be in better control of her anger than either of the two of them. She was not sure which of those two options had more disturbing implications, considering how she used to be ready to fly off the handle at a moment's notice, but no matter which was the case, there was a risk of losing these two every time something like this happened. Especially now that Nathan's going for guns.
After she had had her fill of holding onto them both, Chloe released her hold and turned to look at who had been trying to get their attention. Taylor stood in wait behind them, looking markedly uncomfortable. Chloe couldn't blame her. A few steps away Victoria and Courtney were talking, though as to what about, she didn't know. Slowly, Chloe untangled herself from Rachel and Max and slid her hands into her jacket pockets as she smiled sideways at the fourth girl, tilting her head questioningly. Taylor, for her part, cleared her throat and did her best to fix a concerned look on her face instead of one that suggested she knew she had intruded upon some kind of intensely personal moment. Then again, it was hardly her fault: they were standing in a hallway of Blackwell Academy with the occasional strangers dotting the wall.
"I guess I just wanted to know if you guys thought there was any real chance Victoria – or anyone else- is going to be safe?" Taylor liked to get down to business where Victoria was concerned, it sounded like. Or, was she (rightly) concerned about herself? Either one made sense to Chloe. "I mean, with Nathan like this... I don't know that he's going to calm down." The girl rubbed awkwardly at one arm with the opposite hand.
"If the rumors about him go wider spread and reach everyone, especially after the emails that went out tonight, then maybe, yes," Chloe started, looking sideways toward Max. "But I don't know that anyone who has actually had to deal with his bullshit is really on board with that." If those 'rumors' got around and gained traction, it would mean that, effectively, everyone knew precisely what Nathan had done to Max. This was something of a double edged sword as it opened her up to Nathan accusing her of any number of things, including willful participation in his debauchery paired with heavy drug use. The truth of the matter was that while Max might smoke a blunt a week, at the most, she was not guilty of heavy drug use. Hell, most of the time Chloe thought the term to be improper to apply to Justin and if that was the case, then Max was in the clear.
"It's kind of too late for me," Max admitted suddenly, lowering her voice. "Enough people know that it might as well be common knowledge. Even if it's 'just a rumor' like Victoria." At this point Taylor gave a slow nod as if to show that she understood and then made as if to start back for Victoria and Courtney. Chloe watched quietly, feeling Rachel's arm snake around her waist, as Max reached out and took the girl by the forearm. Taylor stopped firmly in her tracks. The blonde looked down, past her white and black striped top to Max's hand and then raised an eyebrow toward Max. "Do me a favor and don't trust Mr. Jefferson. There's a reason he's tripped off all of my alarms. I think Nathan's his favorite student."
"Are you being stupid?" Taylor asked, pulling her arm free. It was not aggressive, nothing about her response was. Mostly she looked confused and a little amused, to boot. "You're his favorite student. Do you even listen to him?" Max shook her head and Taylor's voice lowered. "'Max's photo is a prime example of using natural lighting to frame your target.' On and on and on." Chloe snorted. It wasn't that it was amusing or even unbelievable that Max had earned the (hopefully) unsuspecting man's admiration. She was, after all, an amazing photographer. It was just that Chloe suspected by the look on Max's face that this was so far from a compliment that it wasn't funny.
"I tune him out as much as possible," Max told Taylor, bluntly, eyebrows knitting together. "Unless he's giving us content for the test."
"You should hear how he praises your photos. There's a reason he's always asking you for answers." For the first time Chloe heard Taylor speak with a sentiment that was separate from her near hero-worship of Victoria. Taylor, a photography student herself, was jealous of Max's skill, both real and perceived. She was jealous that a famous photographer thought so highly of Max. Oh god, you poor fuck, if you only knew. If she only knew? It wasn't as if Chloe knew a ton of what Mark Jefferson was about. Max had exposed bits and pieces of the other timeline to her, but had not done so in much detail. The majority of what Chloe knew, she had gathered from flashes in dreams. She could remember one shot, of a man who might have been Jefferson in the dark and a gleaming needle as it touched her neck. Chloe threw her arm over the shoulders of a distressed Max.
"You're just too damned talented," Chloe teased the girl, pulling her in tight. When Max seemed to acquiesce, moving in close to Chloe's side, she brought her arm down from the photographer's shoulder to her waist, wrapping that arm tight around Max. Max's mood, however, didn't improve. Instead the girl looked somewhat contemplative. It was as if Taylor had just told her that the answer to life, the universe and everything equation was 42, instead of the fact that her least favorite teacher considered her his favorite student. Taylor, it seemed, certainly looked to be completely unaware of the importance of what she had just said. That was alright. Max shifted her bag's weight on her shoulder and hummed.
"Thank you for the warning, Taylor."
"I didn't think it was a warning, but if you're sure Jefferson's so bad, maybe it was." This was not dismissive, it wasn't a 'you're overreacting', it wasn't even joking or mocking. Taylor looked as if the fact that Max had not responded positively to hearing that she was Jefferson's favorite student had been enlightening, the answer to a question of her own. I wonder what she was asking, Chloe thought, beginning to feel uncomfortable. Only an arm's length away, Rachel stood quietly observing them all. Chloe hated that observation, it felt as if Rachel was disconnected from them and that felt absurd. She reached out and grasped the thespian by the forearm until she came in close. It was Max who had the free hand to embrace Rachel. Chloe just did herself the favor of not letting Rachel go.
"Listen, Taylor," Max said, emphatic as she stared at the girl from over Rachel's shoulder where Max's head had all but nestled. "I absolutely think he's bad. He's shit. He's the worst there is. I think there's something broken and fucked in his head and if he and Nathan are getting buddy-buddy – and you can't deny Nathan acts different in his class, now – then it's not good. It's dangerous for people. People who know too much." Even as Rachel and Max broke apart, Chloe all but rolled her eyes at the phrasing. Taylor, on the other hand, nodded as if she was being told that it was raining that day, and she should take an umbrella with her.
"In other words, you're telling me to play stupid?" Taylor asked, suddenly grinning as if she had heard the funniest thing in the world in the dim light of the school hallway. When Max nodded the blonde all but relaxed and glanced back toward Courtney and Victoria who were talking somewhat quietly to one another. "I know how to play stupid," she promised, waving a hand dismissively. "You and Victoria should learn." Chloe laughed, and this time it was loud and open. Maybe Taylor had been teasing, but she hadn't been wrong. Max frowned. "You're both the same like that: you're so smart but you never know when and how not to say something that could get you in trouble." On that front, Taylor might not be entirely correct, but it was still funny to hear that someone, anyone, had noticed Max's tendency toward being grandiose.
"You know, you'd be shocked how good she is at not saying things." At this, Max wilted slightly under Chloe's arm. Yikes, didn't mean it like that. "No offense," she tried quickly, not removing her arm but turning guiltily to look at Max directly. "I just mean when there are big things you have to keep quiet, it's easy to forget to say the little things too." She met darker blue eyes, eyes which grimaced slightly but acknowledged her clarification and then, frowning herself, tried to let the moment pass. God, can you just not fuck up anything else today, Chloe?"
"Look," Taylor started, turning away from the both of them to Courtney and Victoria. "I really wanna check up on her." That was fair. Victoria had been through a lot and despite the fact that Courtney and Taylor knew little about tonight's escapade – as far as Chloe knew – the tall, thin blonde looked less like herself than usual as she and Courtney talked. Quiet and not as bombastic, Victoria pressed back against a locker as if it was all the support in the world, all she would need to stay standing. I never thought I'd say this about someone who brought Victoria down a peg, but if Nathan had to step on legos barefoot every morning when he got out of bed for the next thirty years, it'd totally be too lenient. Chloe looked sideways at Max to see if she was alright and beneath her new sweatshirt, Max looked to be a little warm but otherwise not too upset if the neutral look on her face was anything to go by. Chloe reached across herself to grab Max's free hand and found it waiting for her. She did not respond to Taylor as the brunette turned away. Instead she pulled Max forward and began to run her left hand through the photographer's hair, pressing her lips to Max's forehead.
"We need to figure out where we're going. Can't keep standing here."
"Chloe, Rachel," Max suddenly declared, grasping tightly to either of them with either hand. It forced Chloe to release her so she could step back enough to look the shorter brunette in the eyes. Max was speaking just loudly enough for Chloe and the thespian beside her to hear. Rachel had been all too quiet over the last few minutes, Chloe wasn't sure if it was Rachel processing her feelings or what, but she wasn't about to find out. "Victoria's about to have one fuck of a breakdown and I don't know what to do." This was disturbing and enough of a departure from talking about Jefferson that as Taylor got entirely caught up in talking to Victoria, Chloe eyed them. At this point, Ms. Chase looked more angry than upset but Chloe knew that was how many people protected themselves, acting angry. When prompted by Rachel grunting and gesturing for her to go on with one hand, Max continued. "I just got back from looking for Nathan. If he's on campus, I couldn't find him for almost an hour." Considering that the girl speaking to Chloe hadn't left her side since Chloe and Rachel had emerged from the bathroom, she had to assume Max had just rewound. "And Victoria's about to have a meltdown and it's going to be ugly."
"Get over there," Chloe told Max without hesitation, gesturing with her chin to the three girls only a step or two away from them all. Rachel's response was to nod and then bring her hazel eyes alive without the benefit of the fire that said she was considering turning someone into a pile of ash. "Nathan's probably in his room, nursing his bruised ego, breaking all his expensive shit in some little bitch fit. Get over there." When the brunette in front of her responded with an eyebrow raised, Chloe released Max entirely. "You're like, the only one who can calm her down at this point."
"Why's that?" Max asked her.
"Jesus," Chloe hissed. "I love you and all, but sometimes you're a daft fucker." Max did not look as if she had been off on a journey, chasing Nathan around campus. Then again, save for the small trail of blood leaking from Max's right nostril she did not look any different than she had moments before, except for, perhaps, the dumbfounded look on her face as a result of how Chloe talked to her. She was surprised, nonetheless, as the brunette disengaged from them and immediately walked past Taylor and even Courtney to rest her hands on either of Victoria's shoulders, hunch slightly and begin talking to the blonde. "Fuck, she might be the only chance Victoria even has," Chloe told Rachel.
"You know something?" Rachel whispered as she embraced Chloe once, tightly, perhaps as worried as part of Chloe was about Max connecting emotionally with Victoria. Chloe did not look too deeply into the tight arms around her shoulders. "You were kind of hot putting Nathan on his ass." The shorter blonde slouched even more to bury her face into Chloe's neck. Chloe wouldn't have minded except she thought she detected the hitch of a sob in the girl's throat.
"Doing it was kind of hot," Chloe promised her. "I looked in a mirror and almost got lost when I saw myself." Rachel laughed into Chloe's throat. "I'm serious," Chloe insisted, rubbing at the blonde's back softly. "I'm too hot for words."
There was almost a minute after that, during which Rachel did not move. It was a minute in which no one bothered the lot of them. No sound rose that was too powerful from the gymnasium or the science classroom opposite of them, in which Chloe's roommate and several others were having a smoke. It was a minute in which Chloe watched Max over Rachel's shoulder as she talked to the wealthy blonde. When that minute was over Victoria's hands rose to cover her face. Max looked awkwardly at Taylor, Courtney and then to Rachel and Chloe. Chloe could only nod emphatically as she felt Rachel press closer into her. There was nothing Chloe could do to help and perhaps there was nothing she was supposed to do. The smaller brunette reached around Victoria and began to rub at her back even as Max tried to talk to her. Chloe thought it was a pointless endeavor: Victoria had been swallowed up by a grief they could not entirely see. Eventually, the two photographers walked down the hall, Max supporting Victoria, to find some privacy to talk in. Chloe did not bother them.