Warren glanced up in the sky and witnessed a brilliant smattering of stars. He couldn't remember the last time that the sky had looked so incredibly iridescent, and it was something to behold.
As he stargazed, he could feel the wind swirling around him. It was warm, and he could feel an unmistakable eerie feeling growing within his being. He took a step backwards and felt the velocity of the wind increase. He turned himself around and…
*
"Oh, shit!" he yelled. His eyes burst open and he sat up so fast his head spun. He closed his eyes tight and curled into a ball, as he suddenly felt extremely queasy. After a moment, the feeling passed and he was able to relax.
He opened his eyes and tried to find his clothes on the floor, so he could get to work. But as he glanced down, he noticed that beneath the black shorts he couldn't remember putting on, he saw the palest of pale legs.
His eyes shot up the wall opposite the bed, where he saw the numerous Polaroids. His hands shot to his chest, and he felt the breasts underneath.
"Oh, no."
And at that moment, the door flew open and the blue haired girl, whose name escaped him, burst in.
"Jesus Christ," she cried as she caught the brunette red handed. "Again?"
*
Max flushed the toilet and scampered out of the bathroom as fast as her furry legs could. It wasn't just that there was a lot of brown scruff, it was the fact there was hair. She glanced around the house, noticing that it was empty.
She wasn't sure exactly what she was supposed to do, except that she was in an unfamiliar space, in some random guy's body that she didn't know the name of. She could feel panic starting to overcome her, and the body she was in was starting to react.
The only way she could think of to calm herself down was to be nosy.
Max was self aware to realize that it was one of her biggest problems. She was always being teased for being a world class snooper, but she couldn't help herself. She found that she liked learning more about people through their possessions. She supposed that the things people found precious told a lot about their story.
Max had also surmised that the experience she was having was too real to be a dream. She may have been having a literal out of body experience, but if she were to be confined to this boy's body, she would have to make the most of it. She would have to blend in, and the only way to do that would be to snoop.
Was it an excuse? Maybe. But it was something she knew she enjoyed doing, and she knew it was for a good cause.
She scanned around the boy's room, and for the most part, it was pretty underwhelming. This guy, whose name she couldn't remember for the life of her, had multiple posters adorning his wall, each poster varying in content. He had everything from superheroes, to sci-fi, to videogames.
At least there aren't any pornstars, she thought to herself. She had to give him at least a modicum of credit.
Max scanned his shelves, and she saw a various assortment of different figures. Just like the posters, they all varied in genre.
So this guy is 100% a nerd… I can relate.
Briefly, she wondered if he was a fan of Final Fantasy. Especially the movie Spirits Within. She shook her head, shooing away the ridiculous thought considering the circumstances.
Still, she was growing bored. There wasn't anything tantalizing from just snooping the surface level of his room. She'd have to go deeper.
She began by checking through his drawers. Most of them were just clothes. They were all clean, so she didn't feel any disgust or intrigue, but she was still weirded out knowing that she was checking through some random guy's underwear. Actually, she was even wearing the random guy's underwear. In his body.
"This is too weird," she said out loud to herself. Of course, she didn't get a response back. The thought almost made her sad, but then she remembered the nightmare that was the day before. How lonely she had felt, despite being around her friends and family.
A small part of her was grateful for the escape, even if this wasn't what she had in mind. If her and this guy did switch places, possibly again, she wondered if it would happen more and more frequently. And she prayed to dog that he wasn't screwing anything up for Chloe and Rachel. Especially so for her classes.
Max spotted his phone laying beside his desk. She picked up the phone and surveyed it once more. She was so busy the last time she was in his body, that she never had the time to see if she could unlock it. The only thing it was useful for her was to take pictures. At the time, she was surprised she was able to dream of a phone. Max had thought that that was impossible.
Maybe it's more evidence that this isn't a dream.
Max tried a couple of random passwords, not expecting any to work. After her 3rd attempt, the phone warned her that the phone would shut down with two more failed attempts. She cursed to herself silently, but then made the assumption that the answer to the password may lie within his stuff.
Within newfound determination, she snooped harder than before. She checked under his bed and found nothing. Still, she remained steadfast in her search, and decided her next spot would be the closet. She scanned his shirts and chortled at the various puns and word play that adorned them. He may not have style (she didn't have much style either) but he was cute. At least, his taste was cute. She had no memory of what he looked like.
She thought about checking what he looked like, but pushed the thought aside. Max used her newfound height to tiptoe her way up to scan the upper shelf of the closet, and found what she may have been looking for.
On the shelf lay a brown, wooden box. She grabbed the box and pulled down. But, of course, she accidentally knocked over a stack of board and tabletop games it lay next to. The boxes collapsed on her foot, and she winced in pain.
Of course, I can still feel pain! she thought sarcastically. She vaguely remembered feeling pain or discomfort last time, but she couldn't help being snarky.
Regardless, she opened the box, and inside lay some personal items. The most prevalent being a large scrapbook. She opened the scrapbook and saw various assortments of photos, all of them revolving around a slender woman of slightly below average height. She had long, dirty brown hair, hazel eyes, and an infectious grin. The book seemed dedicated to the woman, and several photos were of her with another man that vaguely looked familiar to Max, as well as a young boy that slowly grew older.
Max had only one guess who this woman was. And patiently she took her time studying the woman's story. She and her husband must have married quite young and they seemed happy together. Within a year or so, they had a baby boy, and she seemed to spoil him. There were a lot of photos of her and her son. Then, the scrapbook started to get less and less pictures, until she reached the last page, about 60% into the book.
The last page featured just two photos. One of a young teenage boy standing with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He was smiling in front of a cake with the candles in the shape of the number 36. Next to him, seated in a wheelchair with a bright red, logoless hat was a woman. Gone was her long brown hair, but not gone was the bright smile that adorned her face.
The last photo was of the mother, smashed in between her husband and her son. The mother looked considerably weaker, and the weariness had fully set in on the two men in her life. Max dug a hand carefully into the casing around the photo and turned it around, and read the back caption, which only read, Mom's Last Day 01-13.
The back caption of the birthday photo was 03-28-12.
Max carefully put both photos back into the sleeves, and returned the photo album and the box back in their spots. She couldn't help feeling miserable after seeing what she just saw. However, she had a task at hand.
She believed one of the two dates was the code. She went with her first instinct and guessed his mom's birthday.
The phone unlocked, and she took a moment to sigh in relief. At that moment, an alarm went off on his phone, and she instantly shooed it away.
Max opened his texts, hoping she could learn more about his life. The first text was from Brooke, who she remembered as his boss… or something. She remembered helping a cute girl with her skirt.
The message she left was a schedule. Max scanned it and hoped she wouldn't see that she was working as him. She checked the names.
She read names like Bridgette, Jack, Logan. None of them seemed familiar. Finally, the second to last name was Warren.
It clicked in her brain. That was his name!
Then she remembered the actual purpose of the schedule. She saw his hours and checked the day.
"Damnit!" she cried. "I have to work in an hour!"
*
Warren did his best to get dressed. He took his time to look through the girl's Polaroids on her wall to try to best judge her style. She was cute, that much he couldn't deny. Thankfully for him, it seemed she didn't have much of a style, outside of a twee t shirt, jeans, and she almost always wore a hoodie.
He tried his best to get dressed, while being as polite as possible not to glance at this stranger's naked body. It was one thing to fondle her breasts as an experiment to see if this situation was real; it was another thing to straight up gawk at this person's body.
It took him a long time to figure out how to do the bra. Long enough for the girl who burst in loudly to interrupt a second time to check on her.
This girl, whose name he didn't remember, chided him for taking so long. Warren stifled a frustrated response, and then feigned a yawn, which then turned into a full out yawn, and made the excuse that he was just tired.
The girl made a comment about the bags under his eyes, in which Warren gave a non committal grunt. The friend must have taken the hint, because she then disappeared.
Minutes later, he left the bedroom and navigated himself to the kitchen area. He found that he was absolutely starving, and he searched the room for something to eat. Finally, he found a bundle of bagels, and searched the refrigerator for cream cheese. Thankfully, he found some and after searching four different drawers for a knife, he finally found one.
The cream cheese was half empty, which Warren took as a good sign. He spread the cheese on the bagel and dug in. He had never been more happy to have a bagel.
"Whatcha got there?"
Warren yelped. He hadn't heard the girl approaching behind him. It seemed as if the prankster knew it, for she cackled like it was the funniest thing in the world.
"Very funny," Warren huffed. He took another huge bite of the bagel, savoring the crunch as it entered the stranger's mouth.
The girl lifted an eyebrow. "This is a first. Since when do you eat cream cheese?"
"Uh," Warren muttered. His face heated up. How was he supposed to know this girl didn't like cream cheese??
"Since yesterday? I… uh… tried it on a whim and I changed my mind."
The girl pushed past him lightly and grabbed a bagel for herself. "You did disappear for a while yesterday. I was worried until you texted."
"Oh," Warren replied. He took another bite and muttered an apology. Of course, he had no idea what she was talking about. He hoped if he played along for long enough, he could start to figure out what he was supposed to do in this girl's life.
"Bagels aside, what are you doing today, Max?"
Max. So that was the girl's name. The second she said it, a feeling of relief shot through him. He told himself to remember the name. As long as he was going to be in the girl's body, he had to try to be her as much as he could.
It would help if he knew more about her, of course.
"Uh… nothing?"
The girl nodded. She seemed satisfied with the answer as if she were hoping that was the case.
"Rachel asked me if I wanted to go to this carnival. She said she was gonna pay, and she wanted me to ask you if you wanted to go."
"Sure," he smiled. A carnival would be nice. If she could spend his money, maybe he could spend hers. Plus, a fun filled day at the carnival was just what he needed to get rid of the stress that plagued his life.
Guess he needed an escape. He didn't think it would be from taking over a random girl's life.
"Cool. You should ask that chick Kate if she wants to come. You two are friends right?"
Warren dug in the pocket of the jeans the girl had laying on the floor. He had no idea girl's pockets were so small. He had to shove the phone in the bag that laid next to it.
He remembered he had left the phone in the bag in the bedroom. He squeaked that he would be back, and he returned shortly with the phone and the bag.
He dropped the bag on the table and opened up the phone. Unfortunately, the phone had a password, and he sighed. How the hell was he supposed to guess this stranger's password? He barely even knew her name.
The girl gazed at him playfully. "You are really out of it today, aren't you?"
Warren looked up at her. "What do you mean?"
"Can you not remember your password? Here."
She took his phone and put in 31194. She gave it back to him and scoffed. "Can't believe you forgot my birthday."
The phone opened to a wallpaper of a blue butterfly. Warren apologized for his lack of knowledge, but the girl in question just punched him in the shoulder and told him that her friend would meet them in twenty minutes. As she left, she cackled that she changed the password last night, as Max slept.
Warren sighed. He was barely an hour into the sequel of this girl's life, and he was messing up at every turn. He sent the text to that girl the friend mentioned, and then he wondered if he could learn more about Max from her phone.
After some searching, he realized the phone was pretty devoid of knowledge. The girl texted some, but nothing she texted helped him get a pinpoint of this girl's personality, except that she was somewhat nerdy and playful.
He didn't lose hope, however. He dug through her bag, and discovered a journal. He felt bad reading through it, but he figured that if he was already trespassing unwillingly into this girl's life. He deduced that reading through this girl's journal wasn't crossing too much of a line.
Thankfully, the journal wasn't graphic. It mostly featured the girl's thoughts and feelings of circumstances around her.
Max apparently felt lost. She felt that nobody in her life cared for her as much as they seemed, and that they were too wrapped up in their own feelings or desires. The girl that messed with him all morning was her best friend, Chloe, and they were adopted sisters. The girl they were hanging out with was Chloe's crush, and Max was trying to get the two of them together, but she was miserable in the third wheel spot, although she was unwilling to fully admit the fact.
She apparently was an expert doodler and more importantly a gifted photographer, and judging from the photos on her wall, he could see it. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to understand her abilities completely, mostly due to her lack of self esteem. She was enrolled in her dream class, Mr. Jefferson's, who apparently was some world famous photographer. Warren had never heard of him, but considering his lack of knowledge of art, he assumed that this was correct. However, she was constantly bullied and harassed by the two big bullies in her class, Victoria Chase and Nathan Prescott.
Warren felt bad for the girl. She seemed to have a bunch of problems, but barely had an idea to fix any of them. He promised himself to do his best to help Max with her situations, if they continued to switch bodies like this.
After flipping through some pages, he discovered an entry dedicated to him. Rather, it was dedicated to the weird experiences she's been having. She went into her dreams that she apparently had been frustrated with. She remembered bits and pieces, like a subway train and a crowd of people, but she couldn't piece it together in a linear way.
He could relate.
Max wrote her thoughts of the body switching scenario. She couldn't remember his name, but she remembered having lunch at the one cafe in town, and she remembered working at his job.
Warren couldn't help snickering. Maybe it was evil, but he found the thought of this hapless girl trying to learn how to wait tables without training amusing. Immediately after, he felt bad she had to go through all that. His day, at least as much as he could recall, was much easier.
He thought about leaving an entry for himself, just to clue her in on what he was doing in her shoes. However, just before he finished the thought, his eyes scanned the end of the page, where she mentioned she left a note for him on her arm, and in the journal part of his notes.
That was odd. Warren didn't find any journal entry. He went back into her phone and navigated to the journa appl. He didn't find anything, but he went into the deleted folder and found what he was looking for:
I don't know who you are, and I don't remember what your name is, but I think I switched bodies with you. If I'm wrong, and it was a weird dream and a weird day, then I'll delete this.
But if it is you, if it is that guy I switched bodies with, leave me a note. I don't care what it is. I need to know this is real.
Actually, wait. I do care what you leave. Tell me what you did today. I can't have you forgetting where my classes are or who my friends are again. I'll leave a second note that describes everyone and my classes.
I have a journal in my bag. Please, don't read it (oops, that ship sailed). And, please be careful of my Polaroid camera. I already broke it twice this year.
P.S.: my name is Max Caulfield. Sorry I can't remember your name.
A second note was indeed in the delete folder. Inside, Max wrote about her relationships, keeping a lot of her current feelings inside her journal. Warren was grateful for the idea, and he decided to do the same when he got back to his body.
As he finished reading, Chloe reappeared. She dug into the fridge and grabbed a water bottle before motioning to the door with her head. "Time to go, Maximus!"
Warren nodded and shouldered Max's bag. It was time to put the knowledge he attained to use.
*
Warren. Warren. His name is Warren.
Max continuously repeated the name over and over in her head. She wanted to remember his name before she (hopefully) woke up in her body. If the body switching was going to continue, she wanted to remember as much as possible, and all circled back to this dude's name.
It took her some time to remember where Warren worked, and to even arrive. Somehow, she managed to arrive just in time. Thank goodness it seemed that he lived in a quaint small town. There weren't exactly a lot of restaurants to choose from.
Max bumbled her way to the back and managed to clock in. Unfortunately, she knew this would be the easiest part of her shift.
It seemed that she was assigned to help open the store. She glanced around, and no customers were around, and she couldn't find any other employees.
She felt panic start to rise and she wondered if she had the right place. The punch card had said Warren Graham, however, and she was sure that it was likely he was the only Warren in town.
As she tried to decide what to do, a door opened and Warren's boss stepped through. She was dressed in the same uniform as him, but her long skirt still had the little butterfly that she left on the seam.
"Oh, hey, Warren."
Her face seemed to brighten when she saw her coworker's face. Max greeted her back with a smile, while she read the name tag on her collar. Brooke.
"Gotta say, I haven't worked with you in a while," Brooke said while grabbing up some menus from the back.
"Uh, yeah, it has been a while, hasn't it?"
"You tell me," Brooke stretched. "I wish Sam would let me make the schedule. I'd schedule the two of us more and not work the morning shift."
"I hear you," Max sighed. "I'd like to be able to sleep in for once." Max quietly wondered if she was correct in assuming that Brooke was the manager.
"You tell me," Brooke laughed. "Mornings are not my thing at all. If they want me to be a supervisor so badly, I'd rather be at night, like I asked."
"Well, you know what they say. Late night, come home, work sucks…"
"I know!" They finished together while laughing simultaneously. Brooke lightly punched her in the shoulder.
"I knew I was going to have a decent day when I saw we were opening!"
"Thanks!" Max smiled. She wasn't sure what to do, so she helped out by putting the bundles of silverware on all the tables.
Brooke explained that the cooks had already arrived and were quietly setting up the kitchen behind them. She then moved over by the coffee pot, wiping down the counters and brewing them some coffee, in which Max approved.
After Max finished with the last table, Brooke brought her a cup, as well as some sugar and creamer. "You remember how to open? I know it's been a while."
"Uh, no. I feel like I'm still asleep elsewhere," Max replied. It felt like she was still telling the truth.
Brooke grinned. "Same here. Well, don't worry, I got time to show you."
From there, the duo went to work setting up the restaurant. Brooke complimented her on already setting up the tables, but there was more to be done from an organizational and preparation standpoint. Max noticed that at times, Brooke would get a little close, even at one point lightly touching her hand.
Despite her annoyance at Chloe, Max loved playing matchmaker for everyone but herself. The more time she spent with Brooke, the more that she liked her, and had a hunch Brooke might feel a certain way towards the boy whose body she was borrowing.
The two finished their tasks. Max was impressed with herself for catching on so quickly, but she also chalked it up to Brooke being a good teacher. She may not be a manager like she mentioned, but she was on her way to being one.
Brooke explained that they had knocked their stuff out so early, that they had time to relax for a bit. From there, the two chatted for the next five minutes or so. Fortunately, the coffee seemed to put Brooke into a talkative mood, and Max just had to listen, which she thankfully could do best.
She learned that Brooke had a drone that she loved flying, and that she loved video games and anime, something that she could appreciate. She also had a hunch that Warren would also appreciate her variety of topics. Max also learned that Brooke was just a year older, and that she loved out of town. Supposedly, her town was even smaller than Arcadia Bay, and that Brooke had just missed the date to turn in an application to attend Blackwell Academy. Max couldn't help but be impressed that Warren was able to attend a school that Brooke stressed was "prestigious".
If I were him, I would totally ask her out… Wait, I am him! At least right now… Maybe I should ask her out for him.
Max licked her lips. She hadn't asked anyone out before, and she couldn't help but feel nervous. Did they even allow coworkers to date? She didn't know, but it wasn't her life right? She's sure any guy would appreciate getting a girlfriend… She should go for it, for him. He could thank her later.
"Hey Brook-"
"Oh, shit," Brooke shot up instantly. "We're five minutes late to unlock the door!"
Brooke shot to the back to turn on the open sign, while telling Max to turn the knob to unlock the door. It took Max a few tries to get it, but finally she was able to get the door open.
A few minutes later, they had their first customer. Brooke seemed pissed at herself for failing to open the store on time, though she didn't take it out on her or the rest of the crew.
Max couldn't talk much with Brooke, not because the day was busy, but because Brooke was too laser focused on the job at hand for conversation.
Max didn't mind. She had to recall everything she was supposed to do. Fortunately for them, the morning rush wasn't too bad. It wasn't exactly slow, but after an hour or so, Max understood what she was doing, and she was even able to get into a rhythm.
She didn't particularly like being a waiter, but she found that she was getting steadily better as she continued to wait tables. Before she knew it, Brooke had excused her for a break.
Max was starving, and she wasn't even aware of that fact until she could finally sit down. Brooke smiled over at her and offered her some eggs, bacon and sausage for her "lunch break", in which Max was grateful.
Max wolfed her lunch down, and before she knew it, she was back to work. This time work dragged a little slower, but before she knew it, her shift was over.
Brooke came to the back and winked at her before sighing.
"Slowest part of the day now."
Max nodded. She wasn't sure what to say. She slumped against the wall, and took a moment to rest. She didn't realize how exhausting waiting tables could be, even if the day was slower than before. Even Brooke dragged a box over next to her, and sat down heavily after claiming she was taking a 15 minute break.
"You did well today," Brooke beamed at her, in which she responded in kind.
"I still have another hour to go," Brooke whined. "Thank God it's slow today."
"What are you doing after work?" Max asked. She was determined to see if Brooke was actually interested in Warren.
"Nothing much," the supervisor shrugged. "Maybe fly my drone. Maybe take a bath. I don't have anything planned, surprisingly. Why do you ask? Did you have something in mind?"
Max opened Warren's mouth to make a suggestion, but his phone started vibrating before she could voice her thoughts. She dug the phone out of his pocket and swiped at the notification.
"I, uh, was just wondering. I have to hang out with my Grandma today after work? But if you want to hang out sometime…"
Brooke beamed up at her. "I would love that. I think we're both off Tuesday. Wanna go see that new Avengers movie?"
"Sounds great!" she replied.
"Cool!" Brooke pushed off of the box and squeezed her hand. "I already can't wait, but I gotta get back to work. Your relief may be here, but Logan's slow as all hell."
"Good luck," Max called after her as Brooke pushed past. The girl made her way over to the door of the break room to make one last comment to her coworker.
"Thanks! Have fun with Grandma!"
After that, Max clocked out and said a greeting to Logan, who only grunted. Nonplussed, Max made her way back to his house. She was excited about what she achieved, but she couldn't help but wonder what was waiting for her at Warren's Grandma's… once she figured out where she lived!
*
Warren would say he was doing okay. Thank goodness that Max had thought to leave him some notes… even if he took the extra step by reading her journal. Chloe and Rachel were very attractive young women, even if Chloe wasn't his type. They had a habit of teasing and messing with Max, that ordinarily would have gone over his head or offended him in some way.
They said everything from nicknames to childhood memories Max and Chloe had that Warren had no clue of. Although reading her notes made imitating Max easier, he noticed that the bond she and Chloe shared was much much deeper than anything Warren shared with either of his friends, as much as he liked Alyssa and Daniel.
Even still, Warren could understand how Max could have friends like these. Despite the joking and teasing, he found he was having a lot of fun with the other girls. No offense to Daniel, but he had always prefered having friends that were girls. Although he never could understand why.
Chloe had led him over to a pair of bikes, where the two met Chloe at the end of the driveway to bike over to the carnival. Warren was simply in awe of the hustle and bustle of Seattle. Sure, the family lived in the cul-de-sac boroughs of the city, but their adventure took them through the downtown section of the Emerald City.
Simply put, he loved the experience. He grew tired of the same ole same ole of Arcadia Bay. He was ecstatic to observe the tall skyscrapers and the pedestrians that littered the beautiful city.
His two companions teased him for being a slowpoke, but Warren didn't mind. None of the three of them were in much of a hurry, with the weather being as pleasant as it was. Warren also knew that Max was attempting to play matchmaker with Chloe and Rachel, and he understood that the more they teased Max lightheartedly, the more they would bond.
Now that he thinks about it, he better be wary of Max playing matchmaker in his life.
"Just around this corner, and we're there," Rachel pointed with her thumb as they passed the next intersection. Warren couldn't help but be excited. This carnival was guaranteed to be more extravagant than anything Arcadia Bay could produce.
"By the way," Rachel continued. "I promised a friend of mine that we'd meet up with her. Thought we could turn this threesome into a foursome."
Warren lifted an eyebrow at the phrasing, but Chloe immediately interrogated Rachel about the surprise extra to their party. Warren, now that his knowledge was expanded, could hear the jealousy in Max's adopted sister's voice.
He felt relieved that the friend Chloe had him text responded that she was busy. The Kate girl did appreciate the offer and wished them a good time, but he was glad he didn't have to tiptoe around yet another person pretending to be Max.
If Rachel could hear the tone in Chloe's voice, she didn't let it be known. "Oh, you remember Steph? We ran into each other the other day, I asked she could join us."
Chloe's attitude noticeably changed. "Damn, Steph's gonna be there? What are we waiting for!"
Warren chuckled to himself. Chloe's enthusiasm was infectious; he had to admit. Still, he had reason to worry. None of Max's notes detailed a "Steph". He had no idea what he was walking into.
"Have you met Steph, Max?"
Chloe had pushed ahead of them to round the corner. Rachel had allowed herself to trail behind slightly to talk privately with Warren.
Warren shook his head. Secretly, he was glad he lucked out that both he and Max were meeting Steph for the first time. He made the mental note to leave Max a message about his first encounter with her.
After shaking Max's head, Rachel's eyes seem to sparkle a little brighter. "Oh, you'll like her. She's an über nerd. I'm talking the ultimate dungeons and dragons geek. She's got a killer taste in music too, and she's hilarious."
"Sounds like you're really buttering her up," Warren observed.
"Well," Rachel shrugged. "She is a hella cool chick. And," Rachel glanced over at their blue haired friend, who was waving a set of tickets over at them."
Rachel and Max politely picked up the pace to catch up to their companion. "The thing is, Steph is an out lesbian."
"Ah," Warren replied. No wonder why Rachel was walking on eggshells.
"I don't know your sexuality. I know Chloe likes girls… but I'm not so sure about you."
"Um," Warren replied. None of the notes Max left on her phone had said anything about her sexuality. However, he did read her journal, and it briefly mentioned how she found another classmate cute, and she even mentioned that she had thought about a female character in an anime he couldn't remember. It was fair to assume that Max was at least bisexual, or at least questioning. Warren had no problems with that, or with Steph's LGBT status.
Unfortunately, he had hesitated a bit too long to give an answer. Rachel seemed to interpret the hesitation as its own response. "It's okay if you're not into girls… or even if you aren't sure. I just wanted to give you a heads up, okay?"
Warren licked his lips and smiled. "That's nice of you, Rachel. I don't care that she's lesbian. I just don't really know though."
"About yourself?" Rachel added.
"What's taking you two so long!" Chloe shouted. She had circled back to her two friends, and had begun dragging them through the entrance of the carnival. Rachel had made a face at him before readjusting to hold Chloe's hand.
Warren allowed himself to get half dragged for a time, but eventually Chloe released them. Rachel dug out her phone and informed the two girls where her friend was located. Meanwhile, Warren scanned the carnival. He saw tons of games, rides, and food stands. It was almost overwhelming just how many attractions surrounded him. Sure, Arcadia Bay had the fair every year, but the fair could never hold a candle to what Seattle could produce.
He wanted to do everything and anything, and, truth be told, he didn't care a smidgen about meeting this girl. In fact, if he had his way he would ditch Rachel and Chloe, as entertaining as they were, to have some fun in and around this carnival.
About s of the way through the carnival, they found the person they were looking for. She was sitting amongst a cluster of white benches that were surrounded by different multicultural food stands (the smells of each made his stomach rumble).
The girl in question was a cute brunette, whose hair was short, almost like the girl whose body he borrowed. She was extremely tan, much more so than anyone he knew. As he got closer, he could see that she had an awesome dragon tattoo just below her collar bone. The girl, Steph he believed, was wearing a black tank top, baggy brown cargo pants and a black beanie, with a red dragon logo on the front. Once Steph saw the trio of girls, she smiled brightly, and Warren saw that she was cuter than he realized.
"Steph!" Chloe cried.
Steph laughed. "Chloe!"
Chloe ran over to sit across from Steph. Rachel gave Max a smirk before parking herself next to the new girl. Warren hesitated yet again, before finally slinking himself next to the blue-haired girl.
"I haven't seen you in forever, Chloe! How have you been?"
"Same ol', same ol'. Just with more weed! What about you? Where did you disappear?"
"Oh, you know," Steph smiled wistfully. "I've been around." Steph greeted Rachel and the two had a brief discussion about Rachel's modelling. Warren quietly watched the trio of girls discuss amongst each other. There was an obvious sense of familiarity amongst them. It made him wonder just how Max was the only one who didn't know who Steph was.
The discussion between Steph and Rachel eventually flamed out, and Steph beamed next at Max. "Hey, sorry for being rude, but I don't think we've met. I'm Steph!"
Warren smiled. He almost introduced himself with his own name, but thankfully he stopped himself. "I'm Max. Uh, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know Chloe and Rachel?"
Steph's smile faltered slightly. He wasn't sure if either of his friends caught it, but he certainly did. "Oh, so they haven't mentioned me?"
She turned to Chloe who raised her hands in defense. "Don't look at me. I didn't think I'd see you again."
Rachel shrugged. "Same here. I didn't even know Chloe knew you until your old pal, Mikey, ran into us at the mall the other day. After talking with him, I thought I'd reach out to you and see if you wanted to hang out."
"I gotcha," Steph smirked. She took a swig of a water bottle she must have had tucked in a pocket of her pants. She turned to Warren and smiled. "I used to live near Portland where I went to school with Chloe. We used to play DnD every now and then. But I ended up moving away. I still don't know how Chloe ended up in Seattle."
"It's a long story I'd rather not get into," Chloe grumbled whilst crossing her arms.
Steph nodded. "Understandable. And I met Rachel because Rach did a play about a year and a half ago, where I was in charge of sound design. I was basically a producer in other words. I had no idea Chloe and Rachel knew each other until yesterday… but it's nice to meet you Max."
Steph beamed at Warren, who couldn't help but smile back. But Warren had another burning question on his mind. "So you and Chloe played DnD?"
Steph sat up a little on her bench. "Duh! Do you play too?"
Warren scoffed. "I'm only the best mage in my party every year!"
Chloe and Rachel shot him a look, and he mentally kicked himself. He had absolutely no knowledge if Max ever played DnD, and judging from her friends' looks, it doesn't seem like she ever played.
Steph took the info in stride. "A mage, eh? Well, you're talking to only the best dungeon master on the West Coast! Maybe we should run a game together… see how good of a mage you really are!"
Warren smirked. He may have somewhat blown his cover, but if he acted confident enough, maybe he could convince Chloe and Rachel that there were more layers to Max than they had known.
"Oh, you're on, Steph! Just name a time and place!"
Steph smirked even harder than he. "Next Friday! I want you, Chloe and Rachel to be in a party. I already have a campaign just waiting for someone to play." She turned a head at Chloe, who seemed to be surprised that this meeting had gotten this heated. "It'll be just like old times, Chloe. What do you say?"
Chloe pounded on the table with her fist. "I'm so down! You don't even know!"
"The return of Barbara!" Steph cried. "Now, what about you Rachel?"
Rachel lifted her eyebrows. "Well, I've never played but I'll give it a shot for you two."
"That does it!" Steph exclaimed. "Friday at 7, the ultimate campaign!"
"I have an idea though," Rachel interrupted. The three girls looked at her, wondering exactly what the blonde had in mind.
"Why don't we enjoy the carnival while we still have time?"
The four girls laughed before deciding that Rachel had a point. They each got up from their perches and within minutes, Warren had the wind running through Max's hair as he rode the most dangerous looking rolar coaster with Steph in the seat beside him.
The next couple of hours passed by in a blur. He rode numerous rides, ate tons of deliciously greasy food, only vomited once, and managed to win three games. He kept one of his prizes and gave two of them away to Steph, in which she gratefully took.
Come to think of it, he spent nearly the entire time with Steph, who he slowly came to believe was his favorite of all the people he met in Seattle as Max. She was smart, extremely nerdy and funny, and very open. Most of the rides they rode together, or he rode with Chloe.
Night had fallen soon after, and Steph parted ways. She said goodbye to the other girls and squeezed Warren's hand for about half a second. "I'll see you Friday!" She called as she made her way across the parking lot alone. "Be there or be square!"
Warren and the other girls laughed. They each shot him a look, that he sort of shrugged off. None of the trio talked as they made their way back to the Caulfield's. As they got close, the two girls started to tease Warren, which he sort of expected. Warren disappeared into the house, leaving Chloe alone with Rachel.
Warren silently gazed out the window to his two companions, where he spotted them starting to kiss. He sighed with relief, feeling accomplished that he managed to achieve Max's goal.
He went to the notes section of her phone and decided that he would leave Max some information about what he did in her body. After all, it was her life he was living. She'd do the same for him
Hopefully.
Max did her best to retrace her steps back to the Graham household. Her mind was buzzing with serotonin, as she believed she had done a great job setting Warren up with Brooke. She knew that they would be absolutely cute together.
But now she had to focus on the task at hand. She had to figure out where Warren's Grandma was and head over there.
Unfortunately, Warren hadn't left her any clues to his Grandma's whereabouts. His phone was bare of any personal information, so that was a dead end. She had already arrived at the Graham's household and entered the door. It weirded her out that the door was already unlocked, but she had heard that small town communities rarely locked their house doors. Some sort of theory of trust. She could never imagine that, even living in the quaint suburbs of Seattle.
Max made her way to Warren's bedroom to find some sort of sign declaring his Grandmother's location. She snooped once more, but came up empty.
She returned to his phone one more time, and that's when she heard the front door open. She felt the white hot feeling of panic, before a male's voice bellowed, "Warren? Are you here?"
Max immediately relaxed. She assumed that the voice belonged to none other than Warren's father.
"Uh, yeah, I'm in my room!" she yelled back.
Warren's Dad called back to stay put. Max parked herself on his bed and fiddled with his phone. The dude had next to no social media, which she couldn't blame him, but it definitely would have helped to figure out who this boy actually was.
Through her peripheral vision, she could see his dad peer around the threshold of his bedroom. He was a gaunt man, but otherwise he and his son looked alike. He had fair brunette hair, brown eyes and fair skin. He also wore a black rectangular pair of glasses. The only real difference she could see between Warren and his father's appearance was their noses and their lips.
"How was your time with your Grandmother yesterday?"
Yesterday?
"Um, it was… good. We had fun," she smiled.
His dad didn't share a smile, only nodded businesslike. "Good. Glad to hear. Did you have plans today?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm supposed to go over there today… I was just getting ready to go."
"Do you need a ride, Warren? I'm about to head out again myself."
Internally, Max sighed in relief. "Sure."
A few minutes later, the duo approached Warren's father's car. He commanded her to grab a blue bike out of the garage, and the two managed to wiggle it into the black seat. The car was a sleek black vehicle, with beige colored leather seats. Max slunk into the car, and his father lightly slunk into his spot.
Dad started up the engine, and the two silently made her way down the street.
"Your birthday is coming up, Warren."
"Oh," Max replied. When was his birthday? Her birthday had already passed quite a while ago. "Yeah, I guess it is."
His dad sighed. "We haven't celebrated your birthdays much lately. How would you feel if we got you a car?"
Max hesitated. She had no idea how Warren would answer this question. She also had no clue what his relationship was with his father. She did know that he and his mother were close, and that unfortunately she had passed. Maybe his dad was extending some sort of olive branch? Was Warren old enough to drive? She never considered how old he was. Max always assumed he was the same age as her.
"Uh, sure. That sounds good."
"Good. You're going to have to accept more responsibility, and I think having your own car is a good start. We should have gotten you one when you got your license."
Max smiled inwardly. So he did have a driver's license. Last thing she wanted was to be stuck inside a 15 year old boy's body.
Max wondered why he didn't already have a car, if he had his license. Maybe she was like him, and he didn't like driving. Maybe he thought that everything around him was within walking and biking distance. Even she could see that this town was quite small.
She had to leave some sort of note for him to tell her more about him. She couldn't possibly continue to pretend to be him if she didn't know anything about him.
Dad nodded, and the silence between them felt awkward, somehow more so than before. Max had a feeling that the relationship between the two wasn't as close as they would like, or at least what his dad wanted it to be.
"I'll be gone most of the day. I'm still prepping for my campaign, and I have several bills to sign. People around here still aren't happy with my highway plan."
Highway plan? Max thought to herself. She wanted to ask. The curiosity was nearly overwhelming, but she managed to restrain herself. She had a hunch she would give too much away if she asked.
The two had passed by the school that Max vaguely remembered attending last time. Now that she had the time, she gazed in awe at the beautiful architecture and the picturesque landscape. Her hands were itching to grab her Polaroid camera and snap a picture, but unfortunately it was miles away in the hands of Warren.
Hopefully he didn't break it. That was her job.
Once he passed the school, Warren's father sped up. Within two minutes, his father then slowed to turn onto a country road and make their way to a house surrounded by a wooded area.
"Expect to be home alone when you come back, Warren. I'll be home late."
Max nodded. She had almost forgotten he was there with her. Hopefully she remembered the way back to the Graham's.
Max managed to pry the bike out of the car. His father nodded once more at her, and he slowly peeled himself away from the house and to his next stop.
Max wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting. She thought maybe that the house would be spotless and ordinary, sort of like Warren's father. He was trim and neat, and she thought that maybe his Grandmother would be the same.
Instead, she found the exact opposite. Max was stumbling into pure, unadulterated chaos. The house was surrounded by various knickknacks and accessories. There was nature all around the establishment, from flowers blooming in trenches by the patio, to trees that tickled the roof of the building.
Max climbed up the stairs, all the while marveling at the brilliance of everything around her.
The door squeaked open in front of her, and Grandma approached.
"Hello, Grandson, welcome back to your second home!"
Unlike his father, Warren's Grandmother greeted her extremely warmly. She immediately pulled her into a surprisingly tight hug, in which she accepted.
Grandma pulled herself away from the embrace and looked into her eyes. It was more intense than she thought, and she felt herself want to pull away.
Grandma mumbled something to herself before pulling away completely. "C'mon, Warren! We have a busy day today. You remember what we did yesterday?"
So he did hang out with his Grandma yesterday. "Uh, not really, Grandma."
"Well, follow me, boy. Repetition is the best way to begin a new routine."
"Routine?" she thought aloud. Grandma didn't seem to hear her, or at least pretended that she didn't. The two made their way through the house, which was just as bizarre and fantastical as the exterior.
Max wished that she had the opportunity to explore the house some more. Warren's room seemed tame in comparison to his Grandma's property. It was a nosy person's wet dream.
Grandma led her out of the back door, and the elderly woman followed her after. Once outside, Grandma inhaled a deep, soothing breath before exhaling slowly.
"I feel much better today, Warren."
"That's great to hear," Max replied softly. She couldn't remember any of her grandparents. Both of her grandmother's sadly passed before she was born, and one of her grandfather's passed when she was young. Her last remaining grandparent has Alzheimer's, and doesn't remember her.
Max felt tears misting her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. At that moment, Grandma turned to her grandson and gestured for him to follow her.
"Follow me, Warren."
Max nodded and followed her down the stone steps and through a bungle of trees. Once they passed the through, she noticed they stumbled into a clearing, which revealed a small shrine.
Max hadn't seen anything like it. She gazed in awe as Grandma slowly climbed the steps to a small trio of statues.
"Well? We don't have all afternoon!"
"Uh, sorry!" she cried. She accidentally raised Warren's voice higher than was probably normal, but she hoped Grandma would mistake it as a voice crack.
Max ascended the steps and approached Grandma, who reached into a slat underneath the statues and retrieved a blue flower. Grandma already had a pink flower in her hand, which she held gently in her palm.
Once Max cradled the flower in her palm, Grandma nodded. She descended the stairs, and Max assumed she was supposed to follow.
"Yesterday, I made a mistake."
Max wasn't sure she heard her right. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You have water in your ears?" Grandma laughed. "I said that I made a mistake yesterday."
Max fell into step with her. The duo had walked through a small entrance to a trail. Grandma was walking slowly, but not in a weakened sense. She seemed that she was taking a leisurely stroll, and Max was certainly happy to join her on. "What kind of mistake?"
"Well," Grandma pointed at a thick stick that served as an obstacle in their way. Using Warren's strength (at least he was stronger than her), Max was able to move the stick out of their way. Grandma nodded her appreciation, all the while instructing her grandson to be careful of the flower in his palm.
The two continued on their journey. Grandma cleared her throat and continued with her lesson. "Yesterday, I told you that Graham River holds a tremendous importance in our family, and that out family has protected and lived in this area of Arcadia Bay for generations."
"Okay." Max had never been more grateful that someone else had made a mistake. Even if this knowledge would never be useful for her, at least she had it, and if was something she could share with Warren.
"Everything that I told you is true. However, I was so sick yesterday, that I forgot one key detail."
"And what's that?"
"I'll explain when we get there."
Max raised an eyebrow, and before she could rethink it, she asked, "Why tell me now if you're just going to explain later?"
"Now you're sounding like yourself," Grandma laughed. Heat rushed to Max's cheeks, but she said nothing. Grandma stepped around a branch that a gnarled tree had produced, and Max gingerly followed suit.
"I wanted to make sure you were paying attention. I never know when I'm going to see you again."
Max was taken aback by the comment. Did she really know that she was not who she was pretending to be?
"I'm sorry, Grandma," Max apologized softly.
"Don't be sorry, Warren. I know you have a busy life. I'm just growing older every day, and I've learned to appreciate every moment I still have."
Max felt mist steaming at her eyes. Maybe Grandma didn't know, but her comments made her miss her grandparents. Maybe she didn't know two of them, but she missed the few moments she was able to spend with her two grandfather's before misfortune plagued them. She also thought about what her dad said to her the other day about spending time with her, and guilt began to naw at her belly.
Grandma seemed as if she sensed Max's feelings. She gave a gentle pat on Warren's arm with her free hand. The act of affection felt soothing, even if Max knew that it was misplaced for someone else.
The duo walked their way to their destination, which Max assumed would be this river Grandma had spoken about. Neither of them spoke as they made their way passed the sounds of nature all around them.
Max felt relaxed. This was something she hadn't done in a while, and the thought made her almost melancholic. Taking a long walk through nature used to be one of her favorite things her and her dad used to do before Chloe came around. It wasn't that she disliked Chloe being around, far from it. It was that Chloe always demanded so much attention that she never felt she had time for anything else, including herself.
After what seemed like eternity, the two had arrived at their destination. The river wasn't anything special, it more resembled a creek. Although, Max noticed that the river ran for forever in both directions, and she wondered just how far it flowed.
"Now yesterday, I told you that this rivers empties into the ocean. Again, that is true. But, I also rushed the purpose of our adventure. Notice how our walk took longer this time?"
"Yeah," Max replied easily. "It felt like it took forever."
Grandma chuckled. "Maybe, but the patience was necessary. Both for what we're doing, and for my old body."
"Anyway," she pointed, "this is what we were waiting on."
Max followed her finger. "The sunset?"
"Yes. It's also known as the Golden Hour, or, more importantly, the Magic Hour. I know you are a man of science, so you probably will not believe me, but this river has ancient roots."
"How could it have roots if it's a river, Grandma?"
Grandma chuckled good naturedly. "That's the Warren I know!"
Max smiled. At least Warren had a sense of humor, like her.
"Anyway, let me begin first."
Max paid close attention as Grandma released the flower gently into the river. Max followed suit closely. The duo watched as the flowers drifted pleasantly towards the sunset. A memory surfaced of Mr. Jefferson lecturing her photography class about the sunset. He too had proclaimed the sunset as the Golden Hour. Heck, he was doing an entire section about it.
Max wished more than anything that she had her camera. The sun was setting just perfectly in the horizon. It cast wonderful pink light on the clouds, and the water of the river brilliantly reflected the light of the sun.
It was simply picturesque. Even Mr. Jefferson would be impressed by the scene before her.
"Alright, Warren, let's go home. I might feel better, but my bones are still tired. Besides, might be best to go home while we still have light."
Max nodded and the two began their walk back to the house. Grandma moved with remarkable speed, considering her comments about her "old bones". Max was grateful for Warren's long legs, which helped her keep up with Grandma at a brisk pace.
In just over half the time that it took them to arrive, the pairing had arrived back at their destination. Grandma had given her some water and some spaghetti that she had simmering in a crock pot. Max ate it ravenously.
Grandma laughed as Max made her way up for more. Max ate the pasta slower this time, savoring each bite. As she ate, she began to log her adventures in the boy's body. Once she finished, she excused herself from her seat.
Grandma called to her, saying that she hoped to see her grandson again soon. Max said a warm goodbye, and then she was off on Warren's bike.
She worried that she wouldn't be able to find her way home. Fortunately, once she made her way back to town, she was easily able to weave her way up to the suburban area and made her way to the house.
Max opened the unlocked door and found it empty, just as Warren's father said it would be. She made her way to his bedroom and collapsed on his bed. She fought off sleep and grabbed a black marker from his drawer. She scribbled a note on his arm that commanded him to check his phone.
Finally, she laid her head down on his pillow. She had one last fleeting thought of being grateful for her momentary escape from Seattle before falling deep into sleep.