Chapter 5: Healing a heart
Kate
Enlightened by a mixture of different colors, produced by the colorful Chinese lanterns above Max's bed and the lamps outside the window, the room of her friend comes slowly into focus as Kate opens her eyes. She feels groggy and sleepy; her neck feels sore by sleeping in a sitting position. The blonde looks down onto her lap, wondering about the weight, she sees Max's head resting on her thighs, using them as pillow.
The black-haired girl breathes deep and steady. 'She looks so peaceful when she's asleep; so innocent; like a whole different person.' Kate thought with a smile. 'What can turn such a beautiful being into such a broken and mistrusting character?' Her gaze falls onto one of Max's hands, as she recognizes a small scar on one of her wrists. Kate's eyes widen out of shock as she sees the same scar on her friend's other wrist. She knows their meaning, because she's seen them on other persons; on patients in the hospital; bigger, but on the same spot. 'Oh my god, did she try to kill herself?'
From one moment to another, Max's breathing intensifies. Her hands begin to twitch; her face grimaces in pain. 'Oh no, she's having a nightmare.' Some tears are forming in the dreaming girl's eyes as she begins to mumble. "…Chl…Chloe…no…don't…sorry…I…s-sorry…S-Sam…Sam…hel…help me…p-please…help…"
Kate starts to brush with her hand through Max's black-dyed hair, trying to comfort her. "Shhhh, it's okay. Calm down my fallen angel, you're safe here. I'm with you!" she whispers in a soothing voice.
Max opens her eyes and Kate tries to withdraw her hand, but with a fast grip it is put back onto her friends head. The black-haired girl turns her head and gazes into the blonde's hazel eyes, smiling warmly. "Please, it feels so good. I hadn't one of these in years." She leans her head towards Kate's belly, cuddling herself into her friend some more. "I need some cuddling so bad."
Kate heart-rate increases rapidly, followed by a big gulp and the heat rising into her face, making it blush. "I-I…uhh…n-no…p-pr…" she stammers. 'This closeness. I can feel her warmth. And I have this strange feeling inside of my stomach, like a fire is burning deep inside. What is this? I never felt like this before. And why do I have the need to touch her some more?'
Feeling her friend's uncertainty, Max lifts her body into a sitting position and stretches. "Sorry for making you feel uncomfortable. I…I just needed some mush and…"
"I-it's okay. I'm just not used to be cuddled like this. But it felt really good; strange, but good." Kate answers, looking at her lap, missing the warmth.
"Then we should do it some time again!" Max smiles.
Kate nods and changes the subject. "Who are Chloe and Sam?" the black-haired girl's smile fades and her expression becomes puzzled. "Y-you mentioned their names while you were asleep. You don't have to answer, if you don't want to talk about it."
"It's okay." Max sighs. "Chloe was my best and only friend here in Arcadia Bay, before I moved to Seattle and Sam…well; Sam was the same in Seattle."
"I guess Chloe is the one with the drugs?" Max nods, staring into emptiness; trying to suppress the emerging pain. "And Sam? I thought you had no friends in Seattle. What happened?"
"She fucking betrayed me, both of them betrayed me!" she yells, tears of anger are flowing down Max's cheeks as the bad memories are forcing their way on to the surface. "Everyone in my fucking life betrayed me! Chloe, Sam, my mom. Only my dad stayed at my side. He was the only reason for me to stick around."
Kate embraces her friend in a strong hug as she started to cry again, rocking her. "And now you have another reason to stay, because I will never betray you!" she whispers, which is answered by an even stronger hug.
Both girls separate again. "Kate, I-I…I think I…" Max sighs. "Thanks for being my friend and for comforting me. I'll never be able to repay you. Even though we know each other for such a short time you carry all this pain with me. I'd never met someone before who did this. I was always alone with it; had to hide it behind a solid wall and now…" She puts her bandaged hand onto Kate's and gives it a light squeeze. "I think you're actually healing me."
The Christian girl smiles warmly at her. "That's what I'm here for. Max, I think you're a wonderful person who had a lot of bad luck and now it is time to turn the tides. It is time for you to be happy again."
Looking into each other's eyes, silence fills the room. Kate sees in the blue eyes of her friend something that she hasn't seen there before. 'Is it hope?' But before she even could think more about it, Max breaks her gaze and looks at the clock on her nightstand. "I think you should return to your room now and get some proper sleep. It's 4 in the morning and we have school. Aaaand I want to wake up to the sound of your violin, so you have to be awake before me." The black-haired girl says with a wry smile, winking.
A little disappointed by the mood-breaker, Kate nods, stands up and walks to the door. "Any favorite song you wish me to play?"
"You know the song Forever Yours by Nightwish?" Kate nods. "That one, please!" The Christian girl opens the door and wants to leave. "Kate?" She turns around and before she knows what just happened, Max kisses the shy girl on her cheek and hands her over a piece of paper. "My phone-number. We could text each other, y'know?"
Still a bit shocked from the sudden kiss, Kate just nods, closes the door behind her and walks in a bee-line to her room. She let herself fall onto her bed and lies there, staring at the ceiling, one hand on her stomach. 'This warm feeling inside of me. Is this how it feels to be in love with someone? But how is this possible? I'm a girl and she's too. Am I actually in love with another girl? What if I just interpret too much into it? What if this is just her way to show her gratitude? What would my parents say if I'm dating a girl? Dad would be fine with it, eventually, but mom?' Time passes and Kate has already closed her eyes, but she isn't able fall asleep, because all these thoughts are circling inside of her head. Suddenly she opens her eyes as she comes to a final conclusion. 'Oh Lord, I love her; I'm in love with Max!'
Max
After Kate left her room, Max throws herself onto her bed. She smiles and closes her eyes. 'I can't remember the last time I felt so good. I always thought it would be impossible, but now…' Covering her face with her hands, Max starts to sob. But this time it isn't out of anger or sadness, but out of pure joy. 'Thank you! Thank you, dog, universe or whatever entity there might be, but thank you for giving me Kate. She's the one I need; the one who can finally make me forget the past; to move on; to be happy again! Even if she's not in love with me, she'll be a good friend. A friend who has my back; stands by me.' She stops crying and stares at the ceiling of her room. 'Dog, I'm having such a major crush on her, but I shouldn't overdo it, or else I might fright her. Okay, Super Max, time for a battle plan! I should ask her out at least once more and if everything goes smooth, I'll ask her for a real date. If she says no, I'll play it cool, but if she says yes, I'm gonna jump onto her and give her a big kiss…or just a big hug…might be better. Yup, this is how it's gonna be!'
Still wearing her clothes of the day before, Max wakes up to the sound of her wished song; played on the violin by Kate. 'Thank you, my angel!' The black-haired girl jumps out the bed, gets rid of her shirt and jeans, and starts her morning exercises. She's filled with joy and energy, grabs her shower supplies and towel and heads for the showers.
At the same time Kate leaves her room, heading the same way. "Morning, Kate!" says Max with a happy voice.
"M-morning, Max!" Kate answers with a slight shy smile, blushing.
'She looks a little bit exhausted, like she hasn't slept well the rest of the night.'
"Thanks for playing my song!" the muscular girl say, pushing her friend with her shoulder cautiously.
"No problem! You can give me a whole playlist, if you want." She giggles.
"Making you my personal juke box? Hmm…" Kate pushes the tattooed girl, who winks at her.
"Morning, Kate! Morning, Max!" Dana's voice chimes. Both girls now avert their eyes from each other and look into the stern face of the taller cheerleader, one hand on her hip. "So, I guess you two had fun last night?"
"Y-yeah." Kate answers with a shaking voice, looking at her feet, blushing. Dana just raises an eyebrow.
The auburn-haired girl forces a smile. "Sounds great! Uh…Max, can I have a word with you?"
Max shrugs. "Sure. Just go on Katie, I'll catch up with you later." She says to the Christian girl, who nods, and follows Dana into her room. 'Okay, this is gonna be awkward. I don't know much about Dana, just that she's in the Vortex Club and the head cheerleader. I always categorized her as one of the bitches, like Victoria. But from her behavior I have more the feeling that she's carrying about Kate, like a big sister. I better hear her out, before going all badass on her.'
The door closes and Dana's blue eyes are glancing at Max like piercing daggers. "Okay, what happened between you two last night?" she asks with an agitated voice.
Reluctant to tell her about her mental breakdowns, she just shrugs and tries to answers nonchalant, but the first anger dwells inside of her, because of these offensive words. "We had some tea, talked about stuff and she played her violin for me, that's all."
"Then why didn't she leave your room and looks so exhausted?"
Now Max's eyes become slits, filled with anger. "Did you spy on us?" Dana keeps quiet, averting her gaze. "Listen bitch, what happens between me and Kate is none of your business, so back off and leave us the fuck alone!"
"No, it is my business!" the taller girl says with a louder voice. "Since Kate came to Blackwell I kept an eye on her and protected her from harm's way."
"Oh, you did?" the smaller girl scoffs. "Well, nice job you're doing, when Icky Vicky and her bitch-posse are bullying her until she cries. Are you even aware about the hypocritical bullshit you just said?"
"I…I…" she stammers, averting Max's angry gaze again.
"You…you…what?" Max mimics in a cynical tone. 'Okay Max, calm down. She's just worried about Kate and that's fine. Breathe in deeply.' She sighs, her voice calm again. "Listen Dana, nothing happened between me and Kate; no kissing; no sex; just talking. But if you wanna know my intentions; yes, I'm hitting on her, but not for a one-nighter. I'm going for a real relationship here, if Kate's even interested in me." She walks to the door, opens it but looks at Dana one more time. "Sorry for raging on you. I'm sure you're doing your best to protect her and I'll do the same from now on. We should work together, not against each other, if we want to beat Victoria!"
Dana, still averting Max's eyes, nods. "You're right!"
"Well, think about it! See you in class, Dana!" The black-haired girl wants to leave the cheerleader's room.
"D. Just call me D." she says to Max, who turned around one last time. Both girls smile at each other, knowing that they just became friends.
Chloe
It's Friday. Three days since Chloe saw her. Three days since she fucked up everything. These three days were nothing but a big blur to her. She knows that she's written numerous messages to Max, but none of them got answered.
The first day she tried to kill the pain with a lot of cigs and failed. The second day she gathered all alcoholic drinks from the Madsen household and tried to drown it. Chloe drank so much that she woke up this morning, without any memory of the day before. She just knows from the raging of her mother that she vomited all over the place and finally collapsed on the stairs as she tried to reach her room. David had to carry her upstairs and put her into her bed.
Now the bluenette sits at the edge of her bed again. Her clothes are stained with bear, schnapps, vomit and sweat. She knows that she stinks like a gutter, but she hadn't the motivation to wash herself. She was done; done with everything. Nothing worked to kill the emotional pain. There was no hope left. Resting her head on one hand, Chloe holds her phone on the other, staring at the display. 'C'mon you asshole, one last try. Give her one last chance. If she doesn't answer, you know what to do.' Her gaze wanders from the phone to her right thigh; a gun rests on it; loaded and ready for use. 'Without a brain, no shitty emotions and therefor no fucking pain.' she thought melancholy with a scoff. 'At least I would give step-shit something to think about, when I use one of his guns.'
She looks back at her display. 'She's probably having classes right now, at least for another thirty minutes. That's the deadline. Yup, hella pun intended. I give her thirty minutes to answer. After that, I know she doesn't give a shit about me anymore; that no one cares about me.' The punk-girl sighs. 'Well, time to nut up or shut up!'
Chloe types her last message and hits the send-button.
Max
Sitting in 'Language of photography', Max tries to listen to Mr. Jefferson, but is often distracted by Kate. Sometimes she just watches her for some time from the corner of her eyes, trying not to be too obvious.
Kate turns her head towards Max and gives her a warm smile, which she answers with a wink, and as she tries to concentrate on class again, she catches a glimpse on Dana, who again smiles at her, knowingly. 'Damn, it is so hard to keep my eyes off of her. I'd love to look at her the whole day. She's so sweet, so beautiful! Today I'm gonna ask her about an official date, 'cause I just can't wait anymore. I need to make things official or else I'm gonna get crazy! I want to touch her, kiss her, love her!'
The vibration of her phone inside of her pocket disturbs her thoughts. She takes it out and gasps as she sees Chloe's ID. 'Fuck! Not again! Chloe, just leave me alone! Why are you doing this to me?' The last three days have been very hard, because Chloe literally bombed her with messages, always bringing back the pain. Luckily Kate was there most of the time to comfort her. Her heart rate increases, pain crawls through her body. She's on the edge of having a meltdown again. 'Oh no, not here; not in class!'
She packs all her stuff and stands up. "Sorry, Mr. Jefferson. I-I don't feel well. Can I go?"
Jefferson looks at her perplexed, but nods. "Yeah. Sure, Max. But before you go, please hand over your photo for the Everyday Hero Contest."
'Shit, I'd hoped that he would forget about it. I hate contests and I'd like to avoid them, but he's so persistent about it. Ugh, fuck it!' She grips into her bag, pulls out a photo she'd prepared in the case of emergency, hands it over to Jefferson without another word and leaves the room, giving Kate one last glimpse, seeing that she's worried.
Max runs towards the girl's room. The same restroom where she saved Chloe from this maniac Nathan. 'Nice choice, idiot! More memories of her.' She leans over a sink, trying to control her breathing; trying to suppress a sob.
Suddenly the door opens and Kate enters. "Max, are you okay?" she asks concerned.
The black-haired girl shakes her head and hands the blonde girl her phone. "Chloe, again?" Max stays silent and Kate sighs. "Maybe you should answer her; tell her to stop or sort things out. Otherwise it will destroy you and I don't want that!"
"I know." Max answers and turns to Kate. "But what should I tell her?"
The blonde girl makes a step towards her friend and lays her right hand on Max's chest. The sudden touch let her heart skip a beat. "Sometimes it helps to listen to your heart." She says, looking into the black-haired girl's eyes deeply.
'She's right. Maybe I should've done that earlier, 'cause I know what my heart wants and just my stupid head prevented me from listening to it.' "Kate?"
"Yes?"
She knows that this neither the right place nor the right moment, but she can't wait anymore, she needs to set everything straight, right now. Max is nervous, very nervous, her voice is shaky. She gulps. "Y-you wanna go out on a date with me?"
For a moment there is absolute silence, every second seems to last hours, until Kate's lips form a big smile. "I'd love that."
Captured in the moment, Max embraces Kate's head with her hands and gives her a long kiss. 'Oh my dog, I'm kissing her! Her lips feel so amazing; soft and warm. I could stay like this forever!' Both part after a minute; Kate deep-red blushing. "S-sorry, listened to my heart too well." The black-haired girl says, smiling wryly.
Surprisingly Kate gives her another small kiss. "Next time, do it after the date with some romance!" she adds and gives Max her phone back. "And now, answer Chloe! I need to head back to class. I'll stop by your room after class and we talk about the details of our first date." The blonde says, heading for the door. 'Wowser, did she just get all bossy on me?'
"Roger that! And Kate…" Kate turns towards her, before leaving the restroom. "Thank you! You're the best!" Giving her one last smile, the blonde girl leaves the room, leaving Max alone.
All alone now, she takes her phone, unlocks it and reads the very short message.
Chloe: I'm sorry. Please, you're the only one I've left!
Max looks at it for a while, types an answer and hits the send-button. "I'm so sorry, Chlo!" she whispers.
Chloe
Ten minutes after Chloe wrote the message her phone chimes, nearly startling her. She looks at the ID and sees that it's from Max. 'She answered me!'
Chloe opens the message and her eyes widen, filling with tears.
BANG!
Seattle, March 2009
"RYAN!" Vanessa shouts through the Caulfield's house.
Ryan Caulfield, a tall and broad man with short hair and a full beard, sitting on the dining table with his daughter, eating dinner, sighs. "What is it, my dear?"
"Uh-oh." Max says with a quiet voice, knowing about the shitstorm that is heading towards the kitchen.
Max's mom storms in, waving a sheet of paper in her hand. "What is this? 600 dollars for a new laptop plus 200 dollars for a software!?"
"Yeah, our daughter needed a new computer and a new photo-software to edit her photos. So, I bought it." He says in a calm voice, shrugging.
"And what is wrong with her old computer? A few days ago it still worked fine."
"It was ten years old and even my old photo-software crashed every five minutes on this piece of junk; working with it was almost impossible. And the new software contains some new functions which could help me editing my pictures even faster." Max adds with an enthusiastic voice, because she wished for so long time for some new tech and loved to work with it.
Vanessa, now glancing at her daughter furiously, put both hands on her hips. "That's really great for you, but we can't afford it, you understand? Wouldn't a used computer and the old software have done the same for the time?"
"Vanessa, we're not poor! I earn twice the money than in Arcadia Bay; we can afford it, even with you unemployed." Max's dad tries to calm her down, preventing the brunette woman to rage against her daughter.
But she got even more furious. "Figures that you would bring it up again. Yes, I messed up my business-idea. Yes, I'm unemployed. Let's blame me for everything."
He sighs. "Darling, no one here blames you."
"Oh yes, you do. You always told me what to do and what not, and now you see what it led to."
Ryan's voice gets louder as he stands up. "I just tried to help you, but you wouldn't listen, knew everything better and now you've got the results!"
'Oh no, they're gonna fight again.' "Mom. Dad. Please, both of you, calm down!"
"Stay out of it, Maxine!" Her mom answers, giving her an angry glimpse, before looking at her dad again. "Here we go; my fault. I didn't listen, I messed up."
"Yes, because it was a stupid idea to expand your business after such a short time!" both of them are yelling at each other now. The only thing Max could do was to stand by and watch.
"Oh, now I'm stupid?"
"For making such a big thing about 800 dollars I invested in the future of our daughter, yes!"
"That was no investment; you just spoiled her, again! Look at her; you turned her into a spoiled brat!" Vanessa points her finger at Max, whose eyes were now widened in shock, welling up, upon the accusation. Even Ryan couldn't belief the words he just herd and stared at his wife. Realizing what she just said, the brunette woman turns towards her daughter, her voice failing. "M-Maxine…I…I didn't…"
Max took a few steps away from her mom, still staring at her. The first tears rolled down her cheeks. "I hate you!" she whispers in a shivering voice, turns around and runs for her room. She slams the door shut, throws herself onto the bed and starts to cry. 'How could she say something like that to me? I'm the one who sacrificed so much for her dream and now she blames me for her failing? If it weren't for her, we never would have moved to Seattle and I never would've lost Chloe. I hate her! I don't want to see her anymore! I can't stay here anymore!'
Still hearing her parents fight; she takes out her phone and dials her only friend's number. "Hi Sam, it's me…Feeling like shit…Yeah, they fight again…Listen, I need a place to crash for the weekend…I know, I've never been at your place, but I don't want to stay here…Sounds cool…No, I'll find my way there. Okay, see ya in a bit!" The brunette girl puts away her phone and starts to pack some clothes. She leaves a short note at her room door and sneaks out of the Caulfield's house, making her way to Sam's place.
Slightly an hour later, Max arrives at the Brighton's home. A big, villa-like house. 'Wowser, they must be rich or something. Never knew that Sam was living the high-society way.' She rings the doorbell and a moment later her blonde friend, dressed in some black jogging pants and a black hoodie, opens the door with a big smile and fakes a bow. "Welcome to the casa del Brighton! Please, come in, milady!"
Max's eyes are almost welling up again, upon seeing her best friend. She jumps at the slightly taller girl and hugs the breath out of her lungs.
"Whoa, whoa! Down, Max!"
The brunette releases her and stares at her feet. "Sorry, I'm just so happy to see you, after all this fucked up shit at home." she says.
"It's okay. I was just surprised." the blonde answers, touching her friend's shoulder, as she leans forward and starts to whisper in her ear. "You can go all mushy at me up in my room, 'kay?"
Max gasps because of the tease and just nods, while Sam just grins mockingly. As they make their way to her Sam's room, the smaller girl almost rotates around 180 degrees, because of the interior of this house. Everything was big. Big hall, big stairs, big paintings, big everything. 'Good dog, they must really be rich or else they couldn't afford all this. But Sam never made the impression to be rich. She was always kind and modest; never wore fancy brand clothes or even had the state of the art tech.'
At the upper floor, they both met two men talking. The first one was a big and broad blonde man, with an angular face and a mustache in his forties, Sam's dad. The second was a few years older than Sam, but as broad and big as his father, his hair cut down to a few millimeters, her bigger brother. 'Sam once told me about her family. Her mom passed on when she was ten years old; making her dad and brother her only close family she's left.'
Sam's dad forms a smile as he sees the two girls. "Samantha, ich wusste gar nicht, dass du Besuch erwartest. Möchtest du uns nicht vorstellen?" he says in a foreign language, which Max could identify as German.
"Entschuldigung Papa, es war sehr kurzfristig." she answers in fluent and perfect German, also. Then she coughs as she changes the language again. "Dad, Mike. May I introduce my friend, Max Caulfield. Max, these are my dad, Alexander, and my brother Mike."
"Isn't Max a boy's name?" Mike asks with an agitated voice.
"Mike, sei nicht unhöflich!" his dad rebukes.
"It's short for Maxine, you big oaf!" Samantha says agitated.
Max gulps as she tries to speak and to calm down Sam, before she's making a big thing out of it. "I-it's okay, Sam. Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you two!" She's slightly nervous, but shakes both men's hands.
"Okay, now that we all know each other, let's get you comfortable!" Sam takes Max by her arm and leads her towards her room. Like the rest of the house, her room is big. Nearly as twice as big as her room at home. The walls are covered with band-posters. A big queen-size bed; shelves, filled with a buttload of books, mangas, DVDs, CDs and other stuff; a walk-in wardrobe; an Apple-computer on a big desk and a bigass plasma screen with next-gen consoles. 'Maybe she doesn't show her rich roots in public, but her room radiates that her family has a lot of money. She's got everything a nerd-heart desires!'
The brunette whistles at that sight. "Wowser, not only you speak two languages fluently, you also have everything I've ever dreamt of in my wet, nerdy dreams!"
Her friend just shrugs. "Yeah, it has some perks to have a rich family, but I don't brag about it, just use it to my personal desires." she says with a big grin and a wink, but changes her expression as she continues. "About the two languages. It's kind of a family tradition to grow up bilingual. May great-grandparents fled Germany during the second World War, settled here, changed their name from Heller to Brighton and raised my grand-dad the 'old German-Ways'; whatever that meant. Either way, learning and speaking German at home became a big rule. But enough with the Brighton-history lesson, here take these and follow me!" Samantha gives Max some blankets and pillows in her hand and heads toward the big window and opens it. A fresh evening spring-breeze blows into their faces as Sam climbs out of the window onto the roof in front of it. "C'mon, slowpoke! Inside is boring, outside is the action!"
Max follows her and over a small ladder both girls reach the flat roof at the top of the house. Her legs are shaky, because of the height and the cool air, but as she lifts her head and gazes at the panoramic view in front of her she gasps out of surprise, short of words. In front of them was the Seattle night skyline, enlightened by a full moon on a clear sky. "Wowser!" she whispers, takes out her camera and shoots a photo of this perfect sight with Sam in the foreground.
"Hey, no pictures!" the taller girls mocks.
"Why not, everything looks so beautiful!" she answers with a shrug and a slight blush.
Spreading out the blankets and pillows, Sam builds the both a cozy place to lie down and chill, without freezing. She lies down and pets with her hand a spot beside her, telling Max to lie down, too. As they both got comfortable, Sam leans towards Max and whispers in her ear. "Now you can go all mushy on me!"
Accepting the invitation, Max flings an arm around her friend's hip and rests her head on her shoulder, enjoying her warmth. "Thank you!" she says to her in a quiet voice. "I needed that. You're the only one who can fill this empty hole inside of me."
Sam smiles at her. "Don't mention it! I'll always be there for you, promissed!"
Both look at the skyline some more in silence, until Max lifts herself up and looks at Sam, anxiously. "Sam? What if you ever have someone who you love in your life? Would you still be there for me?"
She shrugs nonchalant, as if this question hasn't bothered her at all. "Sure. You're my best friend after all."
"A-are you crushing on someone recently?" the brunette asks. Her heart pounds heavy in her chest, because she fears the answer.
Now Sam looks at her again. At first with a surprising expression, but then it turns into a mocking grin. "Look at that, giving her a cheesy view and some romantic moment and the little, shy Maxine Caulfield gets all kinky!" Max averts her gaze shyly, feeling the heat rising into her head as she blushes. "But to answer your question; yes, I have a crush on someone."
Max's heart sinks to her feet. "Who?"
"Oh Max, someday you'll know, but for now, I'll keep it a secret." she says with a smirk. But before her friend could drift into a melancholy mood, Sam adds. "And you, how about my little hipster here? Are you crushing on someone?" Max nods. "Do I know this person?" She nods again. "Who?" Sam didn't expect an answer, because she denied her friend the same. But suddenly Max leans forward and press her lips onto Sam's.
Expecting her best friend to snap out of her surprise any second now, Max prepared herself to get a slap. But it didn't happen. Both girls remained kissing for a long time, enjoying each other closeness. The brunettes heart races; she stopped breathing and just enjoys the moment.
As they part, both are resting their foreheads at each other. "Damn, Caulfield. Now you found out my secret." Sam says mockingly and both girls giggle.
Max wakes up the next morning, smiling big as she recalls the last night. The kiss on the roof, her first kiss ever, was so magical; so perfect and it wasn't the last one for the night. 'We kissed almost all night. Her lips felt so good, I just couldn't stop. But she didn't mind, though. Dog, I dig her so much! She finally made me forget about Chloe and all the other shit that goes on in my life!' She was in such a good mood, that she jumped out of the bed, realizing that Sam wasn't there. 'Hmm, strange! Maybe she's preparing some breakfast for us?'
Suddenly Sam rushes into the room and before Max could even say something she starts to pack the brunettes stuff. "Quick, Max. Change, grab your stuff, you need to go!" 'What the fuck?'
"Sam, wait!" She grabs the blonde by her shoulders, making her look into her blue eyes. "What's going on?"
The taller girl's expression stays stern. "Max, there's no time to explain, please!" Her hand brushes over Max's cheek and the smaller girl nods, changes into her blue jeans, her t-shirt and her grey hoodie. Then Sam takes her hand and both head for the main door.
Out of nowhere a broad person blocks their way. It was Sam's brother Mike, giving them a fake smile. "Hi, Sis. Maxine. Where are you two going? I thought your friend wants to spend the whole weekend here?"
"Y-yeah…uhm…something came up. Max needs to head home; her parents want to talk to her…important stuff, y'know." she lies with a nervous voice. 'Why is she lying to him? What is this all about?'
"Alright, I won't stand in your way. Was just curious." then his smile fades as he leans towards his sister. "Ich habe euch beobachtet. Du weißt was passiert, sollte ich sie noch einmal zu Gesicht bekommen." His voice sounds like the hissing of an angry snake, full of poison, but Max couldn't understand a word he was saying. But the fear in Sam's eyes and the sound of his voice told her, that it was a threat. 'What the heck is going on here?'
After both girls left the house, Max turns towards Sam and looks into her grey eyes. "Okay Sam, cut the crap, what is going on here? If this is about the ki…"
"Don't mention that ever again! It never happened, 'kay?" The brunette girl can see the pain in the blonde girl's misty eyes. "Max, please don't ever meet with me again; don't ever come back here and…" Sam sobs. "I'm sorry. It's over! We two are done!"
"What?! W-why?! Sam, please! Talk to me!" Now Max's eyes are welling up to. She stares at her, awaiting an answer, but instead Sam runs back into the house, slams the door shut and leaves Max alone. "DON'T DO THIS TO ME, YOU PROMISSED!" she yelled at the closed door, but still received no answer.
Max couldn't remember her way home. All she knew was that she cried the whole time and continued as she reached her room, locking it after she entered. She stands there, staring in emptiness as she thought everything through. 'Why? Why did she do that to me? Why all of a sudden, when she enjoyed it to be with me? She acted so strange, as if…as if she was afraid of something; as if she had no other choice. It hurt her, too. Something is definitely wrong and I'll find out what it is! And then, I'll make sure that we are gonna be together again!' Max thought, summon up some new strength. 'Nothing and nobody will stand between us! And I think I know the obstacle…Mike!'