"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!"
Max awoke to the sound of Joyce's voice calling her from downstairs. The first thing her mind registered apart from Joyce's voice was a sound like a drum playing a deep, three-beat tempo over and over.
Thump-thump-thump; thump-thump-thump; thump-thump-thump…
Keeping her eyes closed, she let herself arise to full consciousness slowly, reminiscing about the events of the past night. Was she dreaming? It had all seemed so unreal! The old chapel, the fog, it felt so much like a bad horror film that part of herself, now, was convinced she had fantasized the whole thing and would now wake up to the real world. A real world where Chloe couldn't be revived, just like her therapist said. Maybe Monsieur Lacroix didn't even exist? With a deep sigh at this depressing thought, she opened her eyes.
Fuck!
The searing light assaulted her as if she had just stared straight at a nuke going off, and she shut her eyes tight with a hiss of pain while wiggling out of bed and she fell miserably on the floor among Chloe's clothes and boxes of CDs and other unsorted junk lying about that Joyce hadn't had the courage to sort yet. She tried to open her eyes again. Protected by the shadow of the bed, she managed to at least see the pile of socks her head had landed on (please tell me these are clean socks!) but the brightness was still too much for comfort. Groaning, she closed her eyes again, stood up, and groped blindly on the bedside table until she found the sunglasses she had put there the night before in case such a thing would happen. Now, it was better! She let out a sigh of relief. No nuke going off or anything like this, it was just the usual morning sunlight shining from the window by the desk and the other window covered by an American flag, behind her, that gave the room a warm reddish hue. Normal sunlight, except that her eyes were now a hundred times more sensitive than the morning before. Monsieur Lacroix had told her this would happen, and she'd better get used to it, from now on sunglasses would be her new best friends! And that was not to be the only change, far from that…
She looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't look different from the day before. A little paler, maybe. And those round glasses gave her some kind of a rocker chick vibe she quite liked. Other than that, she looked just the same, yet she felt so different! At first, she couldn't really pinpoint it. Was it the way she could examine each and every pore on the skin of her mirrored self in high definition? Or the way the colors, even through her glasses, seemed so much more vibrant than the day before, as if her whole life until now she had seen the world through a black-and-white TV? Or was it the way she could feel each and every fiber of her t-shirt and boxer shorts rubbing against her skin, as well as every grain of the wooden floor beneath her bare feet? Or the way she could feel the air flow between her fingers when she raised her hand? Or was it the sounds, the way she could hear the bacon sizzling in the pan and Joyce humming as clearly as if she were in the kitchen? And that drum, over and over…
Thump-thump-thump; thump-thump-thump; thump-thump-thump…
No, it wasn't that… well, there was some of that, but it was something else, it was… she was different inside. She could feel her heart pump blood, the blood rush through each of her organs and muscles, she could feel every part of her body function, and it functioned better.
Yeah, right, your body got more efficient overnight. You're high, Max. Like, Limitless high.
No, no, she was sure of it. She had to try. How or what? She didn't know, but she had to try something. She walked to the middle of the room, looked at the floor, and suddenly an idea came to her. Yeah, that would make a great test. She bent over, put her hands on the floor, and did a handstand. Now, to say that Max wasn't exactly Olympic Gold material when it came to gymnastics was probably the understatement of the century. She had an absolutely terrible sense of balance, she would frequently trip on her own feet, and her upperbody strength was but a very lame joke. Before this morning, that is. Now, she could support herself in this position without feeling any kind of discomfort.
Wowser, if Miss Kaczinski could see me now! She thought, remembering her P.E. teacher from middle school.
I wonder if I can make it harder…
She took a deep breath, and raised her palms so her whole body was now supported by just her two index fingers. Still no discomfort.
Can't fucking believe it…
Another deep breath, and on for the ultimate test: she raised one arm horizontally. Now there was only one index finger keeping her whole body straight upside down. And she was holding.
"Max, hurry up or the bacon will get cold!"
Joyce's call made her lose focus and she dropped to her knees, panting with awe.
Holy shit, this was amazeballs! I feel like… like I'm Spider-Max!
But after the sights, the sounds and the touch, she became aware of the smells: the odor of bacon coming from downstairs that was invading her nostrils, the scent of weed and tobacco and Chloe's socks that were indeed dirty (and to Max's horror, it appeared that Chloe's foot hygiene was… questionable at best). And that strong musky smell that permeated every cubic inch of this bedroom, that she thought had to be Chloe's natural odor, like her pheromones or some shit. Damn, it was heady! Feeling dizzy, she suddenly craved for fresh air and went to open the window by the desk. But as soon as she opened it, she slammed it shut and collapsed on the floor, holding her head in her hands, overwhelmed by the onslaught of sounds and scents from outside. She felt like she just hit a wall head-on at 50 mph.
Dammit, this is too much to handle, how will I ever get out?
Slow down, Max, slow down, Lacroix told you about it, didn't he? Remember what he said?
"When you wake up, you will notice that your five senses are a hundred times more acute than before. You will need sunglasses as your eyes will have become too sensitive to handle natural daylight. You may feel overwhelmed by all the stimuli around you, and a moment of panic can be expected, but rest assured that this will be temporary, for your brain will be quick to adjust to this new sensitivity and develop neural pathways that will allow you to use your senses without any adverse effect. You can speed up this process if you wish, all you have to do is expose yourself to a very stimulating environment and force yourself to accept all the sounds and smells while remaining as relaxed as possible. Doing breathing exercises can help."
Okay, might as well give it a try now, right? There's no way I'm coming down for breakfast in this condition.
Max stood up, took a deep breath, and put her hands on the window. She started to hyperventilate in anticipation. It was like waiting to get punched in the face.
Chill out, breathe. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi…
She opened the window. Again, the tsunami of sensations, as if she were standing on the front row of a death metal show with no earplugs, while a bunch of sweaty dudes were cooking a shitload of different foods right next to her. She grabbed the desk with both hands and fought hard against her instinct to shut the window again.
One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi…
She forced herself to relax, and eventually, the wave receded, leaving room for much clearer sensations, as though all the stimuli had sorted themselves out in her head, leaving her the leisure to choose which ones to focus on. The neighbors were having waffles for breakfast, she could smell the dough cooking in the waffle iron. A few houses down the block, a mom was yelling at her kids to hurry up or they'd miss the bus. A car was passing by down the street, the driver was listening to some Lynyrd Skynyrd, she recognized the opening riff of Sweet Home Alabama. Thanks, Dad! She felt like trying something, she looked for the car, saw it far in the distance, and focused on it. She could read the license plate very clearly, and more, there was a fly resting on the trunk, and she could see it rub its legs together. The door of the house opened and she recognized David before she saw him, by the mixture of natural male musk and aftershave that emanated from him. She watched him get in his car, fully dressed in his security uniform, and drive off to Blackwell. Then once he was gone, she noticed a change in her immediate soundscape. The drum she'd been hearing since she woke up had changed its tempo to two beats:
Thump-thump; thump-thump; thump-thump…
Wait a second… it was three beats before David left… there were three people in the house before, so she heard three beats, and now with David gone, it was just her and Joyce and she heard only two beats… one for herself and one for…
Holy shit, I can hear people's heartbeats through walls!
"Max, last call, or it's cold bacon for you!"
"I'm coming, Joyce!"
Quickly, the girl got dressed and ran downstairs to be greeted by Joyce's raised eyebrow.
"Sunglasses indoor?" the older woman asked. "Is that a new fashion trend?"
"Oh, no, sorry Joyce, I just woke up with pink eyes this morning, I'm hella sensitive now."
"Ouch! Are you okay, hon? I think there's eye drops upstairs, sit down I'm gonna get them for you."
"Don't worry, I found them and used them already… that's why I took so long to come down. Thanks."
"Poor thing, I knew I had to clean her room, there's still weed in the air and it must've gotten into your eyes… I told her many times not to smoke that thing, or at least in the house, but…" she sighed. "She wouldn't listen…"
Seeing the sad look in her eyes, Max put a concerned hand on her second mother's shoulder. "Hey, are you gonna be okay?"
"Yes, don't worry," she said as she quickly regained her composure. "It's just… I miss her so much, you know."
"I know."
I'm working on it.
"Now, have a seat, hon, I can't let you go back to school on an empty stomach!"
Max complied gladly and was soon presented with a plate of eggs and bacon which she devoured eagerly, much to Joyce's amusement.
"Wow, hon, you look like you've been left starving in the wild for a week!"
"Oh, shorry," Max said, her mouth still fully. "But it'sh sho tashty!"
And tasty it was! The eggs, the bacon! It tasted so… so vivid! Like she was eating those for the first time after surviving on bland protein bars for years! Delighted by her young guest's enthusiastic appetite, Joyce offered her a second service… and a third… God, where did that tiny skinny young girl store all this food? After this monster breakfast, Max took a quick shower, got prepared, and kissed Joyce goodbye, asking if she could come back tonight. Joyce was surprised, but yes, of course she could! Then Max got in the truck and drove off to Blackwell.
On the way, she made a stop on a deserted parking lot, behind a farming hardware store that wasn't open yet. Nobody around. Good. She better not be seen doing what she was about to do. Just another thing to check out. She got out of the Bane, went to stand in front of it, then squatted and put both hands under the front bumper. Then she breathed in long, and breathed out hard as she stood back up and lifted the truck. The machine protested with loud metallic creeks as it stood on its rear wheels. Dog it was heavy! She felt her legs and arms shake under the effort, and waves of pain ran throughout her tensed muscles, so much that she quickly put the vehicle back down and stood there, gasping, waiting for the pain and exhaustion to recede. She remembered when they moved to Seattle, five years ago, and she tried helping with the cardboard boxes. She remembered how hard it had been for her to lift the boxes full of books. It was the exact same sensation. Yes, the exact same sensation as when she'd tried to lift a forty-pound box of books. Except that now, it was a one-ton truck. She smiled to herself. She'd definitely gotten an upgrade.
The arrival at Blackwell was an ordeal to her and her super-senses. As soon as she got out of her truck, she was assaulted with the stench of dozens of teenage pheromones that saturated the campus, as well as the sounds of all these different conversations happening all at once around her, and which she could hear as clearly as if everyone had gathered around her. Not to mention that fucking drum! She winced, and did something she hadn't done in a while: she put her earpods on and turned on her music. When she first arrived at Blackwell, all alone and surrounded with strangers, her social anxiety had reached a point when she frequently felt the need to shut off the world around her and wrap herself in a cocoon of soothing music. Lately though, thanks to the great friends she'd made, she'd started to open up and didn't feel that need so frequently. Except today. Maybe in the long run she'd get used to her senses, but right now, she hella needed her music to help her withstand the overstimulation. She walked to the dorm, slightly aware of the weird looks she got.
Sunglasses in October? It's not even that sunny today. What, she thinks she's a rockstar now?
Yeah, well no, I'm not a rockstar, I'm a goddamn superhuman, you mere mortals!
Woah, easy there, Max! You're like, stronger and shit, okay, but don't start thinking like you're all superior.
Relax, Inner Max, I was just joking. I'm still the same old Max!
Sure hope so…
She reached the entrance to the dorm, where she saw Victoria, Courtney and Taylor sitting on the stairs, like they usually did, only this time Kate was sitting with them. They were all sitting around Taylor, their hands on her arms, and the blond girl was busy wiping tears off her puffy eyes with a tissue.
"Hi all," she said timidly as she approached and took off her earpods. Everyone looked up and tried to smile at her but only managed to look sadder. Victoria rose, greeted her with a short hug and whispered a short "Thank you for last night" in her ear. The scent of her pheromones mixed with expensive perfume and skincare products made Max shiver.
"Sunglasses?" Courtney asked, her keen eye for fashion making her the first one to notice. "Trying the rocker chick look?"
"Yeah, I'm the new Joan Jett!" the brunette said while spreading her arms in a theatrical gesture. Nobody laughed. "No, actually I have pink eyes, hurts like hell so I'm gonna have to keep those on all day."
By the way, Max, have you thought about the future? This lie will only get you so far, how are you gonna explain that you'll now wear those every fucking day, even in winter? Chronic pink eyes? A severe eye condition you just got diagnosed with? Bah, I'm gonna find something eventually! Got more important things to think about now. My transformation. Chloe. And right now, Taylor. Poor girl's devastated!
"Hey Taylor," she murmured as she knelt in front of the blond girl. "I'm not gonna ask if you're okay, because obviously you're not. Vic told me about your mom, and I'm really, really sorry. If there is anything I can do, anything you need, just remember you can always knock at my door."
"Thanks, Max," Taylor said in-between sniffles. "Got to ask you something… asked Kate the same question… why are you being so nice to me when I've been such a bitch to you?"
Max took a look at Kate, smiled, and focused back on Taylor: "And I'll give you the same answer she probably did: it was long ago, in another life, when all we had to worry about was school and popularity and petty shit like that. Now, with all that's coming down on us, we don't have time anymore for those things, so let's just move on and support each other. Which reminds me, I never got to thank you for the card you sent me at the hospital. And you too, Courtney."
Courtney nodded, and Taylor let out a chuckle before answering: "Oh, that was nothing, really, but I'm glad you liked it. And thank you for being here."
"No problem…" Max then stood up and said: "Gotta go to class, are you gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, don't worry."
"We're staying with her a little longer," Victoria added. "You and Kate go, we'll catch you later."
"I'll pray for your mom, Taylor," Kate said softly as she rose herself and gave the crying girl a gentle pat on the shoulder.
The two girls quickly went to Max's room for her to drop some stuff before going outside again, heading for the main building.
"It's really unfair what's happening to Taylor's mom," Max commented.
"Yeah… yeah it is."
"Kate? Are you alright?"
The Christian girl seemed to be elsewhere… looking down, her shoulders slouched, a look of anxiety in her eyes. And to Max, she smelled weird. Some kind of bitter odor, which, if her demeanor was to be believed, was the scent of fear and stress. She answered with a shrug.
"It's not only about Taylor's mom, is it?"
Kate shook her head slightly, and Max caught a glimpse of a tear before she looked away.
"Kate… I take it your weekend with your family didn't go so well? You can tell me, you know…"
"I… I just don't want to bother you with my problems. You've always been so patient with me, putting up with my worries, I don't want to…"
"Hey, wait, where does that come from? Come on, to me, you have always been so patient with me, putting up with my shit. You're never gonna be a bother to me, for cereal."
Kate chuckled: "You said cereal again."
Max shrugged playfully: "Can't help, that's my own little quirk. So what is it?"
"My…" she swallowed back her tears before she continued: "My parents got a letter from Sean Prescott's legal team."
"Legal team? Like, the guy can't have just one lawyer like everybody else, he's gotta have a legal team? So what did they want?"
"They want me to withdraw my complaint against Nathan."
Max startled: "Seriously? What the fuck! Sorry bout that. But, come on, after what he did to you, they can't expect you to do that!"
Kate sighed. "Apparently, they can. They say since I was drugged, I can't be sure it was Nathan who took me to the Dark Room. And there's no proof it was actually Nathan who drugged me, after all I could've taken those drugs myself, since I seem to be enjoying myself on the video, kissing those boys…"
Her voice broke into sobs and they had to stop for a while, with Max holding her for comfort, until Kate could finish her sentence: "They say they have a copy of the video and if I choose to testify, they will have to show it in court as evidence. They say I should think about my r-r-reputation…"
Max let the words sink in, growing more and more disgusted as she comprehended the meaning of all this: Sean Prescott knew his son was toast, and he was trying to get him as light a sentence as he could by downplaying his role in the whole affair. And one of the ways old man Prescott found to achieve that was apparently to bully her friend into giving up suing him. Max felt her pulse quicken and her veins fill with hot murderous intent. Asshole! He was an asshole, and right here right now, for just a split second, she was more than willing to kill him in a slow and painful manner. But then it passed as quickly as it came, and Max focused on her friend once again:
"B-b-but this can't be… they found the Dark Room, and the photos, Nathan posing with Rachel's body… he can't get away with it, they have evidence!"
Kate shook her head slowly: "Evidence against Jefferson, not Nathan. His dad managed to get him into psychiatry, he can still claim Nathan was just another victim, bullied by Jefferson into being his assistant, and posing for those pictures. Which I'm starting to believe myself…"
"No, Kate, not in a million years! Okay, he clearly has issues, but that's no excuse for what he did to you, Chloe, Rachel, and what he was about to do to Victoria and who knows who else after her. He must be brought to justice for what he's done, we can't let him get away with it because of his rich dad's legal team. Have you talked to your parents about it?"
"My mother agrees with them."
This left Max utterly speechless.
"I know," Kate resumed upon seeing her friend's astonishment. "Could barely believe it myself when she told me. In a nutshell, she thinks I would never have gotten involved in all this if I hadn't gone to that stupid party in the first place, so I have a responsibility, and I now have to think about my reputation as well as my family's, and for that, it's best to not get involved any further and forget it all happened."
"This is bullshit!" Max cried out a lot louder than she intended, and Kate quickly shushed her while looking nervously around to make sure they weren't drawing too much attention.
"Sorry," she resumed less loudly but still with anger in her voice. "I just can't believe your mom could say something like that, I know she's said a lot of mean things to you when she thought you'd gotten drunk on your own, but damn you were set up, Kate! Can't she get that?"
Kate shrugged, powerless. "What about your dad?" Max resumed.
"He… he loves me very much, he told me again that I would always be his brightest light, but he never really stands up to my mom."
"She's such a b-"
"Max, please! She's still my mother."
"Kay, sorry. I'm just so mad at her!"
This made Kate sob even more: "Please don't be, Max. I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you upset, and you have a right to be, but right now… could you just give me a hug and told me everything's gonna be okay?"
Max softened. How could she resist those big, bright pleading eyes? "Of course, Kate, come here…"
And she held her friend in a warm embrace, whispering words of comfort in her ear. "I wish there's more I could do," she said. "If I could go to court in your place, take all the heat for you, I hella would. I hate to see how much you have to deal with after you've suffered so much already. But if all I can do is be there for you when you're feeling down, then you can count on me, anytime."
She felt Kate nod against her shoulder, then her friend sniffled and whispered: "Thanks, Max. You're the best friend I've ever had."
Max let out a sob and giggled right after that: "Okay, we should stop now before we get all mushy on each other and melt down in a puddle!"
This made Kate laugh and they broke their hug and moved on inside the main building, on their way to their classroom. As they walked down a hallway, they spotted a tall, broad-shouldered brown-haired guy in a football jacket holding a shorter, chubby student by his collar against a locker. From a distance, Max could clearly hear the football player threatening the other guy. She sighed. Logan Robertson, football star and biggest jerk in Blackwell, bullying Daniel again. Logan was a member of the Vortex Club, good-looking, athletic, dumb as sand, self-proclaimed womanizer, whose hobbies included drinking, trying to get into girls' pants and bullying nerds into doing his homework so he had more free time to drink and try to get into girl's pants. Daniel, on the other hand, was a member of their photography group, a talented artist, and one of the sweetest, most sensitive souls she'd ever known.
This is so unfair… wish I could… wait, I can now, right?
"Hey, Logan!" she called out as she walked closer to him. She immediately felt assaulted by his smell, this excessive amounts of testosterone which to her smelled like the storage room of a gym, you know, the one where they keep piles of towels drenched in stale sweat.
Holy shit, he reeks! Is that the smell that's supposed to make straight girls all hot and bothered? Okay then, I guess I'm definitely gay.
"What'd you want, hipster?" he answered rudely.
"Just being curious," she answered casually, ignoring his tone. "What does a big guy like you do this for? I mean, you're the star of the football team, you are pretty successful with girls, you have friends, yet you still feel the need to act like a bad 1980s teen comedy bully. Can't you see how ridiculous you are?"
"What the fuck?" he let go of Daniel and turned his full attention to her, his face red with astonishment and anger. "Why come mess with me, don't you have a rooftop to go to?"
"Logan!" Kate scolded. "That was really not nice!"
"Oh, you shut up, nun-slut!"
These words hit Max like a freight train. She felt something snap in her mind.
"How did you call her?" she asked in a blank, emotionless tone.
"Nun-slut, yeah!" he sneered. "Like, all goody-two-shoes love Jesus and shit, and secretly wants to suck all the cocks in Blackwell! I remember your tongue in my mouth, Kate, you really kiss like you're begging for the D!"
Shocked, Kate froze, pale as death, tears starting to trickle down her cheeks. But Max didn't notice, nor did she notice anything beyond the tall jock that stood before her. She couldn't think of anything else but him… him, and how badly she wanted to hurt him. She didn't know, until then, that one could "see red" so literally: her vision was obscured by a crimson shade as though she was looking through a veil of blood, with the boy being the only clear thing she could see.
"Take that back," she said, slowly but firmly.
Logan laughed: "Or what, hipster?"
She felt her hands close into fists, her nails digging into her palms so hard it hurt.
"I said, take that back, right now!"
"Or what?" he insisted, shoving her defiantly with one hand. She was pushed back slightly, and he stepped forward to stay at her level.
"I'm not joking Logan, take that back or-"
"Or fucking what?" he shouted, shoving her again. "What the fuck are you gonna-"
She shoved him back before he could finish his sentence. With a gasp of surprise, the boy felt her hand push on his chest like a piston, felt his own feet leave the ground and flew backward to land painfully on his shoulder, roll and come to a stop, laying on his side, a good fifteen feet from where he stood. He looked up at the petite hipster with terrified disbelief: did she do that? How was this even possible?
Max looked at her hand, bewildered by what she just did, what she could do. But more bewildering to her was the sensation that was taking over her, something she had never ever felt before. Of course, as someone who had seriously considered committing suicide, she knew only too well how dark her emotions could be, but she had never felt such an extreme of blind fury, like a storm raging in her guts and screaming to get out. She was trembling, literally seething with rage. Red hot tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked around her, at all the other students who had witnessed this scene and stopped, watching her with awe. Watching her. Her worst nightmare was playing again, Max Caulfield, center of attention. Hey, look, Suicide Girl's blowing a fuse! Only this time it wasn't the need to cower in the bathroom and cry out her anxiety she was feeling. On the contrary, it was an urgent need to explode, right here.
"What the fuck is WRONG WITH YOU?" she yelled, so loud her throat went sore. "I have enough of all the shit we got to deal with because you guys wouldn't leave us alone! Guys like Logan, like Nathan and Jeffershit, always preying on us and abusing us! Is it so fucking hard to be decent people? To treat us like fucking human beings? We girls are miserable BECAUSE OF YOU! AND I'M FUCKING TIRED OF THIS!"
She was starting to get really hysterical, and everybody backed off some more as if she were a volcano about to erupt. And she was indeed about to erupt when strong hands grabbed her shoulders from behind. She yelled and jerked free, but the hands returned and a deep male voice called softly:
"Max, it's me, David. Calm down, I'm here, it's gonna be okay."
The girl turned around to face him and melted in his arms, blowing off her rage in messy sobs. Holding her with one arm, the chief of security reached out to Kate with his free hand to comfort her as well, and when they were both calmed down, he had them come to his office, along with Logan and Daniel, to sort things out.
After hearing everybody's story, David gave Max a half-assed lecture on how violence is not the answer (though she could see a sparkle of pride in his eyes for what she did) and let them all go back to class, except for Logan with whom he needed to have a talk.
"Max, uh, thanks for your help," Daniel said sheepishly once they were outside the office.
"No problem, it was my pleasure," she said warmly. "How do you feel?"
"Well… kind of feeling like shit for not being able to defend myself…"
Suddenly, and to the boy's surprise, Max reached out and gave him a hug.
"Daniel," she said as she broke it, "you don't need to feel bad about it. It doesn't matter if you can defend yourself from big jerks like Logan or not. Even if you do, there's always gonna be a bigger jerk around the corner. What matters is who you really are, and you are one of the sweetest persons in Blackwell. Don't change, Daniel."
"Why, thanks! This is… really wise, Max! You know, I'd love to draw you one of these days, would you like it?"
She smiled, at once pleased and shy. "Being your muse? Wowser, I didn't expect that! I, uh… yeah, why not!"
"Great! And you too, Kate! Actually, I'd love to draw you both together, there's such a great friendship between you too, that's really inspiring!"
Kate smiled and blushed. "Well, that's… sure, I'd love to."
"Great! I have to go now, I'm late already. I'll see you around!"
He left, and Kate turned to her friend.
"Are you okay now?" she asked softly.
"Yeah," Max mumbled, embarrassed, "I cooled down… kind of lost my temper out there…"
"You sure did…"
"What about you? Are you feeling-"
"Not too bad, don't worry. It was… kind of scary, seeing you like that, I've never seen you so mad before. But… thanks for standing up for me."
Max smiled: "Anything for my friend," she said, and enjoyed seeing Kate blush.
"Still, I wonder… how could you push Logan to the ground like you did? He's like twice your weight, at least!"
"Uh…"
Quick, come up with something!
"Well, you know I don't sleep well, these days, and my therapist thought some intensive exercise could help blow out some steam, so I've been doing pushups. Like, lots and lots of pushups."
Good one. Funny, before this morning, I couldn't do more than one pushup before I fainted. Now, well… perhaps I should challenge David to a pushup contest? Would be hilarious to see his face, big grizzled ex-Marine beaten by a little girl!
Kate seemed to accept the explanation, to Max's relief, and the two girls soon went on their way to their classroom. Max turned her phone back on and was assaulted by a wave of messages:
Victoria Chase: Ohmygod Max, I heard you had a meltdown, what happened? You ok? Txt me back!
Warren Graham: So fucking awesome how you ripped Logan a new one! Cant believe you did that! MAX POWER!
Brooke Scott: About time someone put that douchebag in his place. Way to go Max!
Dana Ward: That was epic. Thank you. You ok?
Juliet Watson: Max, I heard you, this was a real cry from the heart. You gave me an idea for an article on the condition of women at Blackwell, after all the shit that came down recently we were due for a wake-up call, and you just did that! Can I interview you?
Wow, wow, wow! She sure didn't expect that much support! She thought she'd become the newest viral laughingstock after her tantrum, but it looked like she had vastly underestimated how unpopular Logan really was. She felt so warm inside, reading those messages, she couldn't help but flash a big goofy smile all the way to the classroom, which amused Kate a lot. Max Power? She could get used to that…