Chapter 4

Beep…beep…beep…

Some strange, beeping sound woke Chloe from her restless slumber. With a groan she turned on her back, but still refused to open her eyes since her head was throbbing like someone was constantly driving a nail through it. The noise continued mercilessly, nonetheless, increasing the amount of pain.

"Ugh, fuckdammit!" she growled and slowly rolled out of bed to get some Aspirin. As she wanted to stumble her way to the bathroom, she stopped by the window in order to investigate the source of this damn noise.

A wrecker, towing an old, rusty pickup truck, was just about to drive backwards into the driveway of her home.

"What the fuck?!" the blonde frowned as the rust bucket was lowered and William signed some papers.

Realizing that her curiosity got the better of her, Chloe decided to get her much needed pill later and walked downstairs with slow steps, exiting the house just as the towing truck leaves. She walked over the lawn and came to a halt directly beside her dad.

"What's that?" she asked and got an answer right away.

"An old truck!"

"No shit," replied Chloe, already getting annoyed by her father, who hadn't even looked up from the paperwork in his hand…but did it right away as he felt the tension.

"It's our new science project!" he spoke proudly, giving his daughter, who had already crossed her arms, a smile. "And the topic is: Can the Prices bring an ol', rundown truck back to life?"

"Nice project, Frankenstein!" she simply commented with some cynicism. "Should I call the wrecker again, so he can tow this piece of crap back to the junkyard after you're done with it?"

"Oh, come on, Chloe. Where's your sense for adventure? We rocked the science-fare '08 and I think we can do this again! And besides…" He then leaned in to his daughter, putting some more encouragement into his voice. "If we pull this through, this bad boy will be all yours! So, whatcha think?"

A minute passed until Chloe eventually answered "Nice try, but you still suck!" and walked back into the house, slamming the front door shut.

Eventually, she did what she originally had planned to do: taking an Aspirin, hitting the shower, getting dressed and finally having a bowl of cereals plus a coffee.

Chloe had just finished her breakfast as Max came into the kitchen with a happy "Morning!" and made himself some cereals.

"Wow, somebody's in a good mood," mentioned the older girl plainly, watching as her step-brother sat down with his meal right opposite from her.

Ignoring this comment, Max simply asked "So, how are you feeling?" and began to eat.

"Ugh, like shit!"

"Well…alcohol comes always with a vengeance!" commented the younger boy and received a middle-finger and a stern glare, which faltered just a second later as Chloe dropped her sight in shame.

"Guess I fucked up big time again, huh?"

"Kinda," answered Max with a shrug, "Though we'd love to know why you did it in the first place."

Silence occurred for some time, accompanied by a tension that was hovering above the two siblings.

"Max," Chloe then suddenly spoke, gazing at Max with anticipation, "Let us elope! Just the two of us, nobody else. We could…y'know, just travel around and conquer the world, like we did when we were tweens!"

"Sounds like a plan, but…" the brunette boy said, followed by a deep sigh. "It won't solve our problems and…how should we live? We have no car, not enough money and are underage. The cops would drag us back here before the adventure would even have started."

"Yeah," agreed Chloe with another sigh. "You're right. But it would be really awesome!"

"Definitely!" was the boy's answer and once again, both became silent. As Max had finished his breakfast, he the eventually asked "Do you know Rachel Amber?"

"The school-princess?" frowned Chloe once more, sounding a bit agitated and then rolled with her eyes as Max nodded. "Who doesn't know Rachel fucking Amber?! Stupid bitch!"

"You don't seem to be very fond of her."

"Max, don't get me wrong. I know that you – like every other guy with a dick at Blackwell – are drooling like fuck when you see her…and probably wanna stick your boner into her pussy. But this doesn't mean I have to like her!"

It was not like Chloe didn't want Max to get his freak on with another girl. She just wanted to make sure that he wouldn't get hurt. Still, she felt a bit bad as her step-sibling hadn't replied anything.

"Dude, if you wanna fu-…uh…if you wanna date her, then do it. But remember that she's one of those backstabin' bitches and can easily fuck you over."

"Y'know, Chloe," Max eventually answered annoyingly as he stood up, "I get it that you don't trust other people a lot, but maybe you should try to learn something about them before going all judgmental. That would at least be fair!"

The blonde's gaze followed the brunette boy as he went upstairs, only to leave for school a minute later.

Groaning a quiet "Dammit!" she then got up as well and cleaned the dishes before getting her stuff from her room and starting her way to school.

Outside the house, William was still busy with that old truck, evident that he was fumbling at the engine while mumbling some curses, which let the blonde roll with her eyes again.

"Dad, you can't even fix the freakin' lawnmower. What makes you think, you can repair an entire, pretty busted truck?"

"Confidence!" it chimed from under the hood, "And the hope that you'd help me."

For quite some time, Chloe just leaned against the rusty frame with crossed arms, eyeballing what her father was doing.

"The fuel pump!" she eventually mentioned. "The fuel pump's gone as well as the battery. Plus, some rodent bit through the sparkplug cables."

With a smug smile on his face, William shifted his attention from the engine to his daughter, saying "And I thought this project sucks?"

"Well, you still do. The project doesn't!" was Chloe's plain answer as she, in return, gave the vehicle her full attentiveness while her father took a step back to give the punky girl some space.

"You're right. This poor truck indeed didn't fuck up."

"At least you admit it," replied Chloe, picking up the wrench to unscrew a cable. "And you also know that Vanessa will bust your ass for blocking the entire driveway with that junker?"

Crossing his arms, William just shrugged and couldn't hold back a smirk. "Firstly, she already knows. Secondly, she'll just be glad if we both make up again."

Slamming the wrench back into the metal toolbox, Chloe came forth from under the hood and gave her father a stinky eye. "It takes more than all this shit here to make up. You really hurt me, Dad! And repairing a truck together and giving it to me later aren't enough to get my forgiveness. Although…" she said at first with some bitterness, which somehow changed and became a soft tone. "…it's a start. Thanks for the effort, Dad!"

While wiping her hands clean with a cloth, Chloe internally asked herself why her father hadn't raged on her for what had happened yesterday. But, why wake up sleeping dogs? Instead, she simply picked up her backpack and left for school while William smiled warmly and said "You're welcome, kiddo!"

[Rachel]: Meet me at the drama lab!

As Max read this message, he didn't know what to think about it. Sure, since yesterday, a frequent exchange of texts between him and Rachel was more than to just expect, but that it was so soon came with a slight surprise. Nonetheless, the brunette boy went straight to said destination without any detour.

Because the door stood open, Max was able to take a peek inside and witnessed two students, performing a part of a play. One of them, was Rachel.

'Wowser, she's so awesome!' thought Maxine as she watched her crush for some time. Though she didn't recognize the play, Rachel's performance immediately carried her away. Rachel literally filled her role with life energy and therefore let the character become alive.

As the blonde glimpsed over the shoulder of her play partner, who had his back towards Max, she gave the young boy a short wink with her eye and a faint smirk. Right away, he blushed beet-red and shifted his gaze to the ground for a moment.

Eventually, both actors had finished their practice session. And while Rachel's partner grabbed his bag, the young blonde went into the wardrobe.

Maxine didn't know why, but somehow Maximillian's body moved on its own and he cautiously peeked inside the smaller room full of clothes.

Rachel stood in front of a mirror, putting on some make-up.

"Don't be shy, come in!" she said, her reflection glimpsing at Max with a wry smirk.

Walking in with insecure, small steps, Max only managed to say "Uh…H-hi Rachel! You…um…you wanted to see me?"

Swiftly, the attractive girl turned around, her smirk even wider. "Well, kinda," she answered with a shrug, "Actually, I just felt the need to uphold my duties as stalker. Uh…y'know, I've got a tight schedule 'n' stuff."

Somehow not able to process Rachel's answer, Max simply looked at her with dilated eyes, only saying "Um…" which caused Rachel to giggle.

"C'mon, Max. We've PE. Let's head for the pool together!"

After Rachel had packed the make-up into her backpack, she and Max walked side-by-side to the pool building. But instead of talking, both simply threw a few glimpses at each other.

'Wowser! I'm walking with Rachel to PE. Is this even something special? Ugh, having a hard crush sucks!'

They had just left the building, as someone called "Hey Rach, you got a minute?"

"Just keep goin'! We'll see us in PE," said Rachel and walked over to a brunette girl, Max knew as Dana Ward.

Still not able to believe and therefore befuddled of how well things were going with Rachel, Max just kept on walking on autopilot, until a sadly too familiar, female voice ripped Maxine back into reality.

"And where're you thinking you're going, perv?"

'Victoria!'

Though younger and in a different reality, Victoria Chase looked pretty much the same like her older version. Short, pixie-cut blond hair, over-expensive clothes – mainly consisting of a skirt, a blouse and a sweater – and this always pissed-off, bitchy demeanor. Yes, even in this reality, Victoria Meribeth Chase set the hit list for the bitchy upper class of Blackwell Academy.

"Hey perv!" she addressed Max once more, even giving him a slight push, "I asked you something!"

Just now, Maxine realized that – probably out of routine – she nearly had walked into the girl's dressing room.

"Uh…s-sorry! I…" Max stammered, but couldn't even explain himself as Victoria already called for the teacher.

"MRS. BOREAS!"

Right away, the door of the teacher's office opened and a broad, muscular woman, with an angular face and short-cut black-grey hair, dressed in sport shorts and an Otters-shirt appeared. And without a break, Victoria stated her side of the story.

"Mrs. Boreas, this pervert here tried to sneak into the girl's dressing room to peep on us!"

"Mr. Caulfield, is this true?" chimed the harsh voice of the teacher, letting Max know that, whatever he would say, they would call him a liar.

"N-no! I…I was just lost in thoughts, as…"

"Cheap excuse!" interrupted Victoria right away. "I caught him red handed! He even had his hand already on his crotch!"

"Mr. Caulfield, if this is true, then you're in for a visit at the principal's office!"

Mrs. Boreas as well as Victoria had now started to shoot in on the poor boy, making Maxine realize that there was no chance to avoid punishment at this moment. She already wanted to give in as a very welcome voice turned the tides.

"Hey Max!" said Rachel Amber and took place right at Max's side, while assessing the situation. "What's going on?"

Of course, it was Victoria, who answered the question, adding some more drama. "I caught this little tweep as he tried to sneak into the dressing room!"

"Sneaking in? Through the door while it's filled with girl's? I get that Max is awesome, but he's definitely not a ninja!" the blonde with the green eyes shot back and then addressed the teacher with doe-eyes. "Mrs. Boreas, Max wanted to bring me my bracelet, which I had forgotten in the drama lab. I told him that I was already here, but then got held up by Miss Ward. So, Max…mind, giving me my bracelet back?"

Though, at first, he didn't know how to react, Max felt a soft pat on the right side of his jeans. And as he moved his hand into his pocket, the brunette boy – to his surprise – found the bracelet there, pulled it out and reached it to Rachel.

"Thank you, Max!" she replied with an honest, warm smile and then glanced back at the PE teacher. "See, Mrs. Boreas! This is nothing more than a misunderstanding. A very confusing one I might add. No wonder Victoria became very protective for her fellow students, which shows how much she cares."

Upon the amount of sweetness, the pixie-blonde blushed and stayed silent, not knowing how to boldly reply Rachel's praise of her person, who actually never cared at all about others than herself.

Mrs. Boreas, however, got entirely entangled by the actress' aura, her demeanor softening. "Well, I'm glad and thank you, Miss Amber, for bringing some light into this uncomfortable situation. However, I suggest that, in future, you should send someone else to bring your belongings."

And then, the show was over. Mrs. Boreas went back to the office and Victoria gave her nemesis a stinky eye and vanished into the dressing room. Only Max and Rachel remained.

"Thanks!" spoke Max quietly, feeling a bit ashamed from this entire situation, whereas his crush just kept on smirking at him.

"Dodged that bullet, huh?" she said with a giggle, adding a mocked "Maximilian Caulfield, the notorious perverted Peeping Tom of Blackwell Academy!"

With a scoffed "Yeah!" Max locked eyes with Rachel, both staying like this for some time. Once more, the young boy felt how a bunch of butterflies were going wild in his stomach and the need to simply lean in emerged from within. And it might have happened, if Rachel's demeanor hadn't gone dead-serious.

"You owe me, Caulfield!"

Taken aback, he simply gasped "Wh-what?!" before the brunette boy realized that he got mocked once more, evident as Rachel's stern expression faltered and she planted a faint kiss on his cheek.

"Ice cream. Meet me at the stairs right after school!"

Without another word, Rachel left for the dressing room, leaving Max alone with those last words, chiming in his head over and over again. Entirely absent again, he then walked into the boy's dressing room, freezing on the spot upon the picture that was presented in front of him.

'Holy crapers!' gasped Maxine internally as she saw several naked boys in front of her. This sight didn't actually just arouse her, but also made her feel embarrassed beyond everything. 'Damn, I thought I'm into girls. So, why am I getting aroused by this?!'

Being obviously flustered, Max bowed his head and tried to avert any presentation of manhood entirely as well as hiding the bulge in his pants by sitting down.

'Ugh, why do I always get a boner? It sucks so much! As a girl you just get wet and as long as you don't spread your legs, you're safe and sound.'

'I better wait until everyone's gone and I'm alone.'

A good plan, yet flawed and not working that well as someone realized Max's strange behavior.

"Hey Max, you're alright?"

And again, this voice was much known by Maxine, making her groan internally again.

'Oh no! Not Warren! Please, don't let it be Warren!'

But of course it was Warren. And he was standing right in front of Max, who was just glad that the other boy already wore his trunks.

"Um…no. Actually, I feel kinda dizzy 'n' shit." Max eventually gave back, but then also found it awkward, how Warren was gazing at him. It somehow remembered Maxine of the looks Warren had given her in her reality.

"Oh," the nerdy boy mentioned, "Then maybe you should stay put a bit longer. I can tell Mrs. Boreas and then keep you some company."

'Okay, maybe I'm a bit sensitive right now, but…is he hitting on me?! Is the Warren of this reality…gay?! Jeez, I can't catch a break!'

"Uh…thanks Warren, but just go ahead, I…I'm just gonna sit for another five minutes and then join you guys."

"Okay-dokay, just holla, if you need some company!" replied the other boy with another toothy smirk and then left for the pool.

After Max had made sure that nobody was around anymore, he started to look for his locker. Thankfully, like in Maxine's reality, they were ordered alphabetically and the lock combination was still her birthday.

Now having access to his bathing clothes, the young boy started to undress and change into his trunks. Maxine had never been a friend of showering before swimming, but also knew about the fuss teacher were making when skipping it. So, Max hit the shower and then walked into the pool area.

On the one side were the girls, occupying two lanes. The other two were reserved for the boys.

Instinctively, Max let his gaze wander to the girl's side, looking for Rachel. But instead, he spotted Chloe.

'Wowser!' gasped Maxine internally as she witnessed how Chloe, dressed in a cobalt-blue swimsuit, plunged into the water and swam her lane as fast as an Otter. He only could withdraw his mesmerized gaze as someone was clearing her throat behind him, followed by the chiding voice of Rachel.

"Lookin' for someone, Mr. Caulfield?"

Max froze and gulped hard. Slowly, he turned around and was met with two stinging green eyes, which were glaring at him. Rachel, her young body covered by a red swimsuit, had her hands rested on her hips and an eyebrow arched, like a mother who had caught her child as it was about to reach into the cookie-jar.

"I-I…I…" stammered Max once more, his face turning red. But Rachel just snickered again and took position beside him.

"She's hella hot, isn't she?" said the blonde, crossing her arms as her beautiful eyes followed Chloe.

Again, Max didn't know what to say. The girl's intensions simply remained a mystery to him. Therefore, he stayed quiet.

"Max, I'm neither stupid nor blind. I know about the chemistry between you and Chloe and all I wanna know is, does it interfere with our ice-cream shindig?"

Finally able to avert his gaze from Chloe, Max eventually looked at the now wryly smirking girl, answering "No, ice-cream is still a go!"

A sparkle of happiness appeared in her stunning green eyes, yet Rachel wasn't able to reply anything as Mrs. Boreas interfered.

"Miss Amber, I guess Mr. Caulfield's confusion rubbed off on you, or why is it that you're at the wrong side of the pool?"

"Sorry, Mrs. Boreas!" returned the beautiful actress politely, gave Max a slight shove with her shoulder, saying "See ya after school!" and left.

As Max's sight remained at the blonde – especially her behind – he didn't realize that Chloe was staring at Rachel as well, but with an angry frown instead of yearning.

With a deep inhale, Chloe emerged from the water. Her heart raced and her breathing was fast. She combed a lose strand of strawberry-blonde hair from her face and put it behind her ear and then climbed out of the water.

She loved swimming, because being weightless also felt like being free and without the burdens of the world. Moments, in which she could think clearly without using drugs. This is why she had decided to join the swim team as a successful swimmer. During the last competition against the Newport Senior High School, Chloe had even managed to get second place and was therefore seen as the following team captain. At least, if it wasn't for her numerous infractions.

Furtively, she glimpsed at the other side of the pool and immediately spotted her step-brother, talking with Rachel Amber. Right away, her already from the swimming blushed face turned even redder as she scowled at the scene.

"You hate her, don't you?" asked Steph, her hand resting on the blonde's shoulder to calm her down.

"She's fake!" she simply spoke venomously, shifting her sight to look at Steph. "I mean, you crush on her, don't you? So, doesn't it bust your mind that she's making a move on Max?"

For a short moment, Steph glimpsed at Rachel and then back to Chloe, her demeanor stern, yet without any anger. "Maybe it should, but actually it doesn't. Rachel is her own person and if she decides to date Max, then it's her choice and not mine to judge. And besides…" a soft smirk appeared on her face. "She's not the only hot girl in this school."

Scoffing, Chloe rolled with her eyes. "Geez, Steph! You know I'm with Eliot."

"…and you hate it! But that's not for me to judge either. However if you're up for some tryouts, just gimme a sign!"

As Steph moved and went to do some warm-up, Chloe just scoffed once again and shook her head with a smirk on her lips, already asking herself how it would be to have sex with a girl. She raised her sight again, only to see right on time how Rachel jumped in the water. But there was no time to be moody, since Mrs. Boreas loud voice indicated the start of the lesson.

"Alright girls, everybody who hasn't warmed up yet, do it now and then gather around!"

Quietness.

Chloe loved it when the pool was entirely empty and she was the only one swimming. Only some faint sounds were still chiming from the dressing rooms, but soon, they were gone as well.

"Finally!" Chloe sighed as she was lying on her back and let her body float over the calm water.

"Chloe," yelled Mrs. Boreas from the office of the building, disturbing the peace. "I appreciate your effort, but I wanna lock down the building, so move it!"

"A-okay, Mrs. B!" replied Chloe, followed by a sigh of annoyance, swam to the closest ladder and climbed out of the water.

After picking up her towel and shower supplies, she went for a hot shower. As soon as the water hit her body, she sighed in relief and stripped down her blue swimsuit.

Chloe always used the time under the shower to think and it wasn't any different right now. She reminisced about what Steph had said to her, regarding trying her luck in the girls-department. She definitely was done with Eliot, after he had beaten her up again.

"No more!" hissed Chloe, bumping her fist against the tiled wall. The decision to boot him right after school and be done with it, made. As long as she would stay in public, Eliot wouldn't try anything stupid.

Aware that Mrs. Boreas would bust her ass if she'd waste even more time, Chloe turned off the water and wrapped the towel around her body. She was just about to go for her locker as she spotted Rachel Amber, standing right in front of it, her shoulder leaning against the metal door and her arms crossed.

"Hi, Chloe!" she spoke plainly, her demeanor stern and her words having a serious undertone. "I need to talk with you!"

Realizing that this was a demand and not a request, Chloe crossed her arms as well and gave her a stinky eye. "What do ya want, Amber?"

Being always honest and sometimes bold, Rachel said "I wanna know what's goin' on between you and Max!"

"None…of…your…business, bitch!" blurted Chloe back, closing in and tapping with her finger on the other girl's chest.

However, Rachel didn't appreciate the contact, grabbed Chloe's wrist and twisted, making the taller girl turn around with a groan of discomfort and pinned her arm on her back. But instead of kicking her behind, Rachel released Max's step-sister right away again.

"I don't wanna be your enemy, Chloe!" the actress told her, without any scowl. "So, just tell me. Are you and Max together or is anything else going on between you two?"

"No," said Chloe in defeat, her gaze dropped at first, before she, however, gave the green-eyed girl her darkest, most intimidating gaze. "But if you hurt him, I'll kill your bitchy ass!"

For Rachel, those had been nothing more than empty words. Empty, yet hurtful. Still, she remained her calmness.

"I'm not like that, Chloe."

"Oh, come on!" the punky girl kept on ranting; "You're in the same aloof class like Victoria and those other bitches." And pushed it too far, making the other girl lose her temper.

"I'M NOT LIKE VICTORIA!" she yelled into Chloe's face, which caused her to take a step back as she was entirely surprised by this outbreak. "You stupid cunt don't know me, yet you dare to judge me!"

She closed in on Chloe, her index finger hovering dooming in front of the strawberry-blonde's face, which caused her to fell some fear.

"Despite you, I care about others! I help people and support them! But you…you always keep for yourself and don't even give a rat's ass about others! You're an egocentric asshole, who always whines about how bad she's treated; who needs to fuck up all the time to get some attention. You're nothing more than an attention-whore, who sells her dignity to…"

During Rachel's entire rage against her, Chloe's eyes got more and more watery by the second. Her jaw clenched as tension and anger was building up inside her, until it was released in one big blow.

"SHUT UUUUUP!"

SLAP!

Rachel didn't even realize the fast, flat hand that was connecting with her right cheek in merely a glimpse of second later. The immense force that Chloe had put behind this smack, threw the actress' head against the metal locker, leaving a dent in the door.

Rachel Amber went down, a bleeding wound on her forehead, and all Chloe had been able to do was watching this event with big eyes in slow-motion.

Additionally, Mrs. Boreas entered the dressing room not a few seconds later as she wanted to check out what the commotion was about. The broad woman stopped right in her tracks as she saw the bleeding, unconscious girl on the floor.

Right at this moment, Chloe realized what she had done; realized that she had just gone too far. That she had physically hurt someone. Not only someone, but the most popular student of Blackwell Academy and on the top, Max's crush.

As the shocked girl gazed into the merciless, anger-filled eyes of her PE teacher, she only managed to say a whiffed "I-I'm sorry…" with trembling lips, before she buried her face in her palms and broke down on the spot.