Chapter 2
The next morning, Max slowly woke up and hoped that everything from the day before had just been nothing more than a bad nightmare. Sadly, it wasn't the case, evident from the room she was still in.
Sighing deeply, she moved her male body out of the bed and headed straight to the bathroom. She was halfway there as Chloe emerged from her own room as well, mumbling a drowsily "Morning!"
'Geez, Chloe looks like shit. Wonder what happened last night? Hadn't even heard her coming home.'
"Uh, Maximus?" said the blonde with one arched eyebrow, ripping Max out of her inner thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"Uh…morningwood, dude!"
Not familiar with that word, Max just frowned a "What?" which made Chloe roll with her eyes.
"Mor-ning-wood!" she spoke once more, very slowly, sighing as she realized that her best friend still didn't get the gist. "You. Got. A. Boner. Max!"
Gasping, Max looked down on herself and saw the erection that was noticeably present inside his boxer shorts. By all the blood that was now crawling up into his face, Maxine even wondered how her penis could still be all the way standing up. Immediately, she tried to cover her crotch and turned around.
"Oh my dog, I-I'm so sorry!" he stammered with a shivering voice, feeling so embarrassed. But as he heard Chloe's chuckle and felt her friend's hand on her shoulder, Max relaxed a bit.
"Chill, Maximus! I've already seen it a few times before and it's always a good sight in the morning."
'Wait! A good sight in the morning? What the…?!'
Max couldn't finish her thought as she realized that the bathroom door closed and Chloe was gone.
'Great! Chloe just threw me off-guard to sneak into the bathroom and I fell for it…UGH!'
After waiting another ten minutes in his room and now without an erection in his pants, Max heard how Chloe left the bathroom, yelling a "Done!"
Max then grabbed his clothes and finally entered the now unoccupied bathroom. First destination: the toilet. Only this time, he sat down, though it was still pretty awkward for Maxine. Then, he stripped of his pajama and gazed at his naked reflection in the mirror.
The day before, Maxine had been so caught up in figuring out this reality that she hadn't even wasted one tiny thought about her physical condition, not even as she had changed into her pajamas. But right now, and especially after the morningwood-incident, she gave it a deeper thought.
Her male counterpart was averagely built. Slim, yet not as skinny as Maxine. Body hair was rarely visible, except some pubic hair. Being originally a girl, Max's eyes eventually fixed on one special part of her body.
'I've never seen a boy naked before and though I find Chloe very attractive, I'm still not sure if I'm a full-blown lesbian, 'cause even seeing male Max in the mirror somehow…arouses me. Ugh, I just don't know how to deal with this!'
'(Sigh) I wish Warren would be here, so I could ask him about how to be a boy. Well, looks like I have to do some research on my own, especially how this thing down there works!'
Sighing once more, Max stepped into the shower and let the hot water run over his body. Being used to hers, Maxine found it rather uncomfortable to wash herself. But eventually, she got that behind her and was glad as clothes were covering everything up again.
Next stop, breakfast! After getting dressed in some random blue jeans and plain t-shirt, Max wanted to go downstairs, but stopped immediately on the stairs as a loud conversation between Chloe and her father chimed from the kitchen.
"…my fucking life!" yelled Chloe angrily, right followed by William's yet still calm voice.
"We know, Chloe. And we don't question your lifestyle, but your constant abuse of drugs and especially the influence your behavior has on Max!"
"Max makes his own decisions. It's not like I stuffed a joint into his freakin' mouth and forced him to smoke this shit!"
Then, Vanessa joined in the argument. "Chloe, we never said that you're forcing him, but it's a fact that you have a big influence on Maximilian! Since you two became siblings even more than before!"
"So, it's again just about Max."
"No, Chloe. It's actually about you!" William continued, even more concern sounding in his voice. "We both realized that you've changed a lot lately, and not in a good way."
"So?"
And again, Vanessa tried to support William. "We just want your best, darling!" But if anything, it infuriated Chloe even more
"If you really want MY best, then YOU should take a hike and get the fuck out of my life!"
Maxine could literally hear the loud gasps of William and Vanessa, who were just shocked about that comment. She already experienced how bitchy Chloe could get, but this was something way over the top for her. A behavior she just experienced when her best friend had a fight with David Madsen, her ass of a step-father from the other reality, but never towards her Mom. No wonder that William's reaction was harsh.
"Chloe Elizabeth Price, you'll take that back and apologize to your step-mother, right now!"
"NO! I'll never apologize to her, 'cause I never wanted her to be my step-mother! Mom isn't even dead for two freakin' years and you already re-married. Did you already fuck her when Mom was still around?"
"I loved your mother more than anything else!" shouted William back, and just hearing this argument hurt Maxine so bad that she couldn't hold back some tears. "When she died she left a great hole in my heart. And when Ryan left Vanessa and Max all to themselves, we found comfort in each other."
"Oh, so you just needed a pussy to fuck or what?!"
SLAP!
After that loud smack had faded, an eerie silence occurred. It was so heavy and depressing that Maxine couldn't even suppress a quiet sob. She heard steps closing in and not a second later, Chloe stood in front of and gazed at her for a brief moment with a reddened cheek, watery eyes and shivering lips, before the blonde just shoved Max aside and ran into her room, slamming the door shut loudly.
With slow and insecure steps, Max continued his way into the kitchen. William was holding a crying Vanessa in her arms, petting her back soothingly. As soon as both grown-ups became aware of the young boy, they broke the embrace, wiped their remnant tears away and tried to act as normal as possible.
"Good morning, sweetheart!" said Vanessa with a forced smile, which faltered immediately as she realized the emotional hurt in her son's eyes. "Sorry, you had to hear this. Chloe…she…"
Though, even in her reality, her mom was always over-protective and had a tendency to be bitchy, Maxine loved her nonetheless. She simply didn't deserve those hurtful words Chloe had shouted at her. Vanessa couldn't even finish what she wanted to say as Max closed in and embraced her tightly.
"You're a great mom!" he whispered and got hugged even stronger.
It had taken a few minutes for everyone to calm down again. Feeling bad to have beaten his daughter, William had tried to apologize to Chloe, but got just flipped off with harsh, yelled words. And while Max was eating a bowl of cereals, Vanessa stayed with him all the time, like he was a soothing anchor.
"Mom?" spoke Max, after he had been in deep thoughts the entire time. "Can I go and visit Joyce?"
"You're grounded, Maximilian!" was the plain answer from Vanessa, yet it didn't felt that adamant.
With a sigh, the young boy put the spoon down, his head lowered. "Mom, I know I messed up and I'm really sorry for that! But please, after everything that was said this morning, I'll just wanna get some space and…it's some time since I visited her. Please, Mom, I'll even make it up to you!"
Not used to hear such high words from her son and considering the circumstances, Vanessa exhaled deeply. "Fine. But no detours!"
Giving her an honest smile, Max gave his mother a silent "Thank you! I love you, Mom!"
Once more Vanessa's eyes got all watery as Max hugged her. "I love you too, Maximilian!" she answered, being happy that she was loved by her son and William.
Right after they separated again, Max made his way upstairs to pack some stuff. He was just about to leave as Chloe's door opened a bit and the punky girl's voice chimed.
"Hey Max, you got a minute?"
Of course, Maxine always had a minute for Chloe, every time and in every reality. So, she nodded, put down the just packed backpack and walked through the door, which the blonde had now opened entirely to grant the brunette boy access, before she closed it again.
"'sup, Chlo?" he asked, getting surprised as he got taken into another embrace, which sent a warm feeling of joy through the boy's body.
"I'm so sorry!" huffed Chloe, sniffling as another set of salty droplets rolled down the side of her face and soaked the fabric of her step-brother's shirt. "I said so fucked things to your mom and I…I didn't mean to, but…"
Backing away a bit, Max gazed deeply into Chloe's deep blue eyes, feeling the warmth inside of him increase. For a moment Maxine thought about to just lean in and feel those soft lips again, but decided against it, not wanting to mess-up too much in this reality until she found a way back.
"I know and…it's okay. But you should apologize to my mom and William, too!"
With a loud sigh, Chloe turned away, flinging her arms around her body. "They hate me, Max! They hate me like everybody else in this fucking world…except you!"
"Nobody hates you, Chlo! Not me, not your dad, not my mom and not Eliot. We all love you!"
For a moment, Chloe froze, before she turned around, looking at Max with a frown. "Since when do you call me Chlo?"
Though she had realized the strange reaction and avoidance of the topic, Maxine was way to overtaken by the wrong use of Chloe's nickname.
'Shit! So, Maximilian never used that name. Ugh, better set this right before it gets too conspicuous.'
"Uh…I-I thought it would be a cool nickname for you."
"Huh…okay!" answered Chloe eventually with a shrug and slumped down on her bed.
'Phew, dodged that bullet!'
"So, what are we gonna do the rest of the day?" she then asked and lighted a cigarette. "Chillin'? Tokin'? Fucking?"
"Actually…" Max started, entirely ignoring Chloe's last proposal. "I wanna pay Joyce a visit."
Once more, the blonde froze and frowned, her body completely tensed up. "Why? You never visited her before."
"I know," Maxine replied, remembering Joyce like she had seen her just yesterday. Well, actually she had seen her just yesterday. But that was something she couldn't tell Chloe. "But when you mentioned her before, I…I kinda remembered her. How she was and that…that I kinda miss her."
For a minute, Chloe stayed silent, just staring at the ceiling while her eyes were welling up. "I miss her too, y'know. Her cooking. Her witts. Her strength. Just…everything, even her annoying sides."
After wiping her eyes with the back of her hand and pressing the half-smoked cig into her ashtray, Chloe got up and grabbed her black hoodie. "C'mon, let's bail!"
Being sixteen and having a license, Chloe and Max took the family's blue station wagon and drove all the way to the cemetery, parking right in front of the gates. Like they were about to attend a funeral both stayed quiet until they stood in front of Joyce's grave.
"I can't believe it!" whispered Max, almost overwhelmed by deep sorrow.
"Yeah, me neither," added Chloe with a sniff, brushing away another tear. "Sometimes I wish, it wouldn't have been her, but…"
"William?!" completed Max her sentence, gazing at her in unbelief and anger. "You should be cautious what you wish for, Chlo! Or do you think it would've been better?"
"Yeah! At least better than this shit! Or do you think it could've been even worse?!" retorted the blonde angrily, close to go all ballistic on her step-brother.
But Maxine knew this behavior. How Chloe tented to blame each and every other human being, but herself. Raging at her or witticism wouldn't do any good, so Max tried to ease up this tense situation with some cynicism, instead.
"Well, Joyce could've married an ex-military asshole, who treats you like his recruit, has a PTSD-induced paranoia and puts surveillance cameras all around the house."
The short moment, in which Chloe said nothing, Max just hoped that she wouldn't freak and was relieved as the blonde scoffed loudly.
"Damn, that's for reals some pretty grim-as-shit scenario!"
"I know," chuckled Max dryly, letting a sigh follow. "What I just wanted to say is, we all want you to be happy!"
"But you're the only one who makes me happy!" was the blonde's soft reply as she wrapped one arm around Max's shoulder and pulled him in closely.
Like that, both remained for some time, enjoying each others closeness for a long, soothing moment.
October 10th 2010
Dear Maximilian,
Let me first say that, writing those lines to you is as awkward to me as it will be majorly awkward for you, but I think it's necessary since I took over your body and am about to have an impact on your life.
In order to put away any further confusion, let me introduce myself to you.
I'm Maxine Caulfield, your…well, female, eighteen-years-old counterpart from another reality. Crazy, right? But it's true and you're not schizo or bonkers in any other way.
Anyway, tomorrow, school starts and I'm about to meet more people than Chloe or William and Vanessa. And the more people come into the picture, the higher are chances to mess things up. But I'll honestly try to keep my influence on a minimum.
Don't be mad, but I read your diary to gain some info about you and your reality, and though it's different from mine, I'll try to make the best out of it!
To be honest, I thought this mess would only last minutes or in a worst case, hours. It's now been over two days and no end in sight. But in case I figure out a way to reverse that shit or if the problem solves itself automatically, I'll leave you regular messages of what I've done, so that you'll have a clue and can react on it. Gosh, I just hope it doesn't become some on-off-shit!
Oh, btw, I'm kind of a photo-nerd and already made a lot of pictures with your phone (sorry, can't help it), but I actually suck at writing poetry 'n' stuff, so don't worry, I'll leave your stories untouched.
Well, that's all for the start. Hope I can solve this shit soon.
Maxine
P.S.: Since I'm originally a girl, I had to do some research on how…everything kinda works, so…yeah, I think I'll manage without causing some damage.