Chapter 1

"Young God" by Halsey

Max hadn't expected to come back to Blackwell Academy after everything that'd happened last October - the school had locked everyone's grades in, a move that had caused some controversy, and the re-opening of the dorms felt like picking at an old wound. I wonder who will even come back, Max thought as she pulled into the school's parking lot. A part of the settlement money had gone to Max's own transportation, an old Jeep Wrangler. The heat only half-worked but Max's parka more than finished the job of keeping her warm. Hair stuffed into a beanie, only her face visible from all the clothes, Max released the safety belt and slid out to stand in the empty parking lot.

Stretching, Max felt her joints pop and made a pleased humming noise at how good it felt after a four-hour drive to be standing on her feet; walking around to the back, Max grabbed her duffel bag and guitar case. Slinging the soft case across her shoulder, in tandem with her camera bag, Max pulled out the carrying handle for her duffel and wheeled it along behind her once she had locked her car up. Is this… Do I evenwant to fucking be here? Wowser, I've hardly kept in touch with anyone. Not that they wouldn't understand.

A once-friendly face turned cold. Gun shots, the sound of a camera clicking, her own manic laughter as Mark Jefferson was locked away in the bunker with Sean Prescott's family barn set aflame by her hand. The crashing of thunder and waves as she willed the storm to stop, reversing time around it until it ceased to be. Days in a hospital, recovering from the blood loss and migraines that had rendered her unconscious…

"The fight with Chloe," Max mumbled to herself, remembering how happy the bluenette had been when Max had woken up only to fall to pieces when Max bitterly recounted every traumatic event she had endured to save the girl who had been her childhood best friend.

"Max, I s-swear if I had only known that-"

"Just stop, Chloe. Please stop," Max said, looking away from the watery blue eyes that had won her over so many times that week, "Honestly, I don't think you wanted to know. I think you were happy in your ignorance, your 'SuperMax' just saving your ass over and over."

The coldness in Max's voice gave both girls chills.

"Max, that is hella unfair!" Chloe snapped back, getting up from her chair at Max's bedside so suddenly that the chair fell over. "You could have told me all of this at any time! I don't need your fucking protect-"

"Of course you do," Max said with an indignant snort, "You think my powers started because of you? Fine. That means they started because your ass needed saving and I was there to do it."

"…Fuck you, Max…," Chloe managed to choke out, trying to get the angry, bedridden girl to look at her. When Max just continued to look toward the window, Chloe flipped her off and made for the door.

"S'right. Just fucking run. Avoiding shit is what you're best at, right? Never mind me, the girl who… the girl who…," Max shook her head and sighed, pulling a pillow to her face to muffle a scream. Hearing the hospital room's door slam shut, Max screamed again and cried. "Just fucking go away. Everybody… I just want to be left alone…"

Now, months later, Max Caulfield returned to Blackwell Academy a changed person in mind andbody. Thinner from a lack of appetite, the dark circles under her eyes were covered up with black eyeliner and mascara to coincide with her darker mood. Where blue jeans and hoodies had been her previous daily armor, black jeans and a leather jacket seemed more suited for the Max Caulfield entering 2014. Topping off her new look with steel-toe boots that went up to her calf and a black beanie with a white skull emblazoned on the front, Max stuck her tongue out a bit to play with her new lip ring. A septum piercing, lip ring, and an eyebrow piercing were the immediately visible displays of Max's new interest in body art. Under the layers of clothing resided the most blatant display; her double sleeves.

One arm inked up to resemble a tornado, symbols of what felt to Max like her life caught up in its spinning vortex, the other arm had been designed to be a sequence of Polaroids which slowly developed to end with a blue morpho on the back of her hand. Black razor wire and vines interwoven between the sequential photos tattooed onto her left arm, Max remembered how much it had hurt to get so much done in so relatively short an amount of time. Another splurge of the settlement money to buy my silence. You can take my words, have my parents surrender them to you, Prescotts, but you can't have my body. Not again, and notever...

"Max?" a familiar voice asked from close behind her and Max jumped, spinning around with fist raised only to drop it just as quickly when she spotted a flinching Kate Marsh. "I'm sorry. I didn't…I didn't think of how startling you might be a bad thing now."

"S'okay, Kate," Max said, smiling apologetically as she scratched at her beanie, "C'mere."

Max pulled Kate into a tight hug and kissed her friend on the cheek as she wiped the few tears Kate's eyes had sprung. Dog, I missed you. I'll always miss you when you're not around, Kate. No more rooftops, no more misery for this precious girl. Stepping back, Max appraised her friend and nodded.

"You let your hair down,' Max said, running a gloved hand through Kate's long blonde hair, "It's pretty."

"Th-Thanks," Kate said, her face reddening, "Are we the only ones here so far?"

"I think so. C'mon, let's get inside. I'm freezing my ass off out here," Max said with a smirk, grabbing her duffel's handle as Kate moved to walk alongside her.

—

Max's dorm room was almost exactly as she had left it in October, the police tape torn away from her door save the small bits of yellow on the frame. Looking over her shoulder to see Kate already heading inside, Max thought it was morbidly funny that the two people hurt in Blackwell were the first to return. I'm always a slut for teh drama, amirite? Oh fuck, I think I actually might be more of a magnet. Shit. Max unlocked her door and was about to enter when she heard a soft-spoken voice call out to her from down the hallway. Looking in the voice's direction, Max's eyes narrowed at the sight of Chloe Price standing in the hallway by herself, hands in her pockets as she awkwardly fidgeted where she stood. Seeing Chloe look up at her with her head down, Max felt the tension between them like they were inches apart and not feet. Not one call, not one email. You didn't even text me. I was in a dark place, Chloe, and I was mad. I still am, but not at you. Not anymore, anyway.

"You gonna stand there like a spaz or are you going to get your lanky ass over here and hug me, Price?" Max asked, snickering when she saw Chloe's eyes widen in surprise. "Chloe, just…just come here."

Chloe ran down the hall and lifted Max up in a hug, holding onto the brunette so tightly that Max found it difficult to breathe. Holy shit, Max thought as she tapped at Chloe's shoulders, You totally missed me like fucking crazy.

"C-Chloe… Chloe, I c-can't breathe…," Max said between gasps, her voice raspy until she took in a deep breath when Chloe finally let her go.

"I came here in the hope of seeing you. Joyce… Mom had called your dad up to find out whether or not you were coming back," Chloe admitted, hands back in her pockets with a sheepish look on her face. The look only lasted a moment, however, when Chloe spotted the piercings on Max's face, "Holy fuck, Max! You did all that without me! Amazeballs…"

"Oh, these?" Max gestured at her piercings and winked. "These are nothing. Come inside and you'll see what I was really up to in Seattle."

"Wow, they left everything exactly as it was," Max said aloud, more to herself than Chloe as the bluenette closed the door behind them, "Even Nathan's shitty paint job on my photo wall is untouched. You'd think they might want to remove that…"

Max unslung her camera bag and guitar case before plopping down on the dorm room bed. The winter light from outside filtering through the partly-closed blinds was the only illumination in the room. Seeing Chloe make for the light switch, Max tugged at the other girl's jacket sleeve and pulled Chloe onto the bed next to her.

"Help me out of this?" Max gestured at herself, the parka in particular, "I bundled myself up so much I'm one step away from 'I can't keep my arms down!'"

"Nice A Christmas Story reference," Chloe mused with a smirk as she popped the wrist snaps open and unfastened the snapped-up collar, "Goddamn, Max. Is this a coat or an eco-dome?"

Snickering, Max watched with a mixture of amusement and mild impatience as Chloe slowly unsnapped and unzipped the multi-layered coat. No, by all means, take your sweet-ass time, Max thought as Chloe glanced up and winked.

"I think you like messing with me way more than you should," Max teased, jabbing Chloe in the side with an index finger. Watching Chloe recoil from the touch, a Cheshire grin came across the brunette's face. "Oh my fucking Dog…"

"Max…," Chloe's warning tone did nothing to dissuade Max from poking Chloe in the side again, "Max, fucking quit it!"

"Holy… You're still ticklish!" Max cried out gleefully, laughing until Chloe began to zip her back up, "No! No, Chloe, I won't poke you again! C'mon, be a 'gal pal' and help me outta this damn thing!"

"Did you seriously just say 'gal pal'?"

"…Only as a joke…"

"I should hella straight-jacket you into this damn thing," Chloe said, her face now stretched into a wide, mischievous grin, "You're lucky I'm so damn nice."

"No comment," Max said with a huff as Chloe paused before resuming her freeing Max from the heavy coat.

"There, all done… Max? Max, what the…?" Chloe stammered out, Max looking down to see the black tank-top revealing her impressive series of tattoos, "Jesus Hella Christ, Caulfield! What the fuck have you been up to?"

Max's shrug did nothing to alleviate Chloe's demanding look and the brunette let out a sigh before shrugging herself free of the parka, her childhood best friend's eyes widening as tattooed shoulders gave way to entirely-tattooed arms. And to think I didn't have my Polaroid on me to capture your moment of utter fucking shock, Chloe. Bad Max, bad! Sliding out of the bed, Max walked over to her camera bag and plucked out a pack of cigarettes, lighter, and her camera. Moving over to the window, Max pushed it open and sat on the window sill, bracing herself with a booted foot on one end with herself firmly planted on the other. Lighting up, Max extended the pack in Chloe's direction, the bluenette getting up from Max's bed to join her.

"Tattoos and smokes? Who are you and what have you done with Max Caulfield? Are you a pod person? Is this the 5th Wave?" Chloe asked, taking a cigarette and lighting up with her own lighter.

"5th Wave? Pod person?" Max asked with a snort, "And you call me a nerd, never mind poor Warren."

"You bring up Waldo now? Why?" Chloe asked, Max catching the irritation in the taller girl's voice.

"Chill, Che. I only brought him up because he's waving at me from the quad," Max gestured with her cigarette-wielding hand to the dorm courtyard and Chloe peeked out from the open window to see Warren smiling up at Max. When Max saw Warren's cheerful disposition lessen at Chloe's appearance, Max slid off the window sill and into her room. Playfully, Max pushed Chloe back in with a hand to the bluenette's face, "Wowser, you just can't stand anyone but you hanging out with me, huh?"

"…I just don't think he's good enough for you," Chloe countered, her face suddenly very serious, "Max… Shit, can we talk? Like, hella serious talk?"

"I figured that's why you were here so damn fast," Max nodded, snuffing her cigarette out into an ashtray she'd brought along from home, "Fine. Talk."

"Look, I'm just gonna say it and I'm only going to say it once," Chloe took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm sorry. You were right, okay? Part of me didn't want to know about everything you'd been through, and I feel like absolute shit for having acted that way. So… I'm sorry."

Max leaned against her desk and watched Chloe pace in the small room, waiting for what Max assumed was a reply. Fuck, she's been a wreck all this time, I bet. I…I shouldn't have said what I said that day in the hospital. It's true, though. Chloe, you run from so much.

"I'm sorry, too," Max said with a sigh of exasperation, "I was shitty to you in the hospital when all you were was concerned and terrified for me. But Chloe, you do run-"

"Gee, Max. Great pep-talk-"

"Let me fucking finish," Max cut the bluenette off with a resolve in her voice that took Chloe back, her body language and face giving away her surprise, "You run from anything that hurts you, anyone that hurts you, and that is normal. Chloe, you also run from anything or anyone that tries to get close. You painted your relationship with Rachel as some kind of standard for all relationships to aspire to, but we both know things were only that way to you. I mean, wowser, you had this week with me and despite all the crazy you made me feel so happy and-"

"I felt that way too, Max. It's just that I get so scared that as soon as something hella cool happens in my life I just know it will go to shit."

"…That's a shitty outlook on life, Price."

Max walked the small distance between herself and held Chloe, the bluenette leaning her head down onto Max's shoulder. You don't have to pull away from me, Chloe. Never from me. Max opened her mouth to speak up when an alarm on her phone went off. Knowing what it was, Max let go of a crestfallen Chloe and switched the alarm off before rummaging through her camera bag once more. Pulling out a couple pill bottles, Max shook out two blue tablets and a smaller blue tablet. Snapping the smaller tablet in half, Max slid the remaining piece back into its container and dry-swallowed the medication. Seeing the look on Chloe's face, brows furrowed with her lips stretched into a grimace, Max felt the dorm room get very quiet before she spoke again.

"They're Wellbutrin and Abilify," Max explained, her voice giving away the reluctance she felt in sharing this information, "They're… They're for my depression…and PTSD…"

"What?" Max asked, seeing the pained look on Chloe's face as she finished putting the flannel that had once belonged to Rachel Amber on over her black tank-top. "Um, is it the shirt? I can get another-"

"You…You have PTSD…?" Chloe asked, sitting back down on the bed, "This is my fault."

"What?"Max blurted out at Chloe's statement, walking over to jab a finger into the taller girl's chest, "Chloe Price, don't you dare. With everything I saw that week, it was inevitable that something would, well, break inside me. If it came down to being as I am now or you not being here, don't you fucking think that I would rather be healthy than have my partner-in-crime sitting on my bed right now."

Max sat next to Chloe on the bed and pulled her friend close, letting Chloe's head fall softly onto her lap. Running her fingers through the azure hair, Max smirked at the lack of visible blonde roots or violet. Aww, you dyed it recently. For me? Using both her hands, Max massaged Chloe's scalp while trying to ignore the choking sounds Chloe made as Max assumed her friend was trying to hold back the seemingly inevitable crying. Wowser, this isnot how I thought our reunion would go down. I totally thought I'd be the one in tears. Chloe… What the hell happened while I was gone?

"Hey," Max said, leaning down to kiss Chloe's mess of blue hair, "Sit up and tell me what I missed. I share, you share. Quid pro quo, Clarice."

"…Whatever you say, Dr. Lecter," Chloe replied as she sat up, a smirk on her face. There she is, Max thought with a small grin as she ran a hand through Chloe's hair one more time to mess it up, "Ugh. Caulfield, this 'do takes some skill to put together."

"Bullshit," Max said, an incredulous look on her face, "It takes a comb and, what, five seconds…?"

"Fuck off."

"Is that a dare…?" Max teased, falling back onto her bed in laughter when Chloe jaw worked up and down but no words came out.

"When the hella did Max Caulfield grow a fucking spine?" Chloe asked, lying down to join Max.

"…When I struck the match, Chlo," Max said, her eyes looking somewhere distant, beyond the ceiling where they were staring up at, "W-When… When I heard him scream."

Max and Chloe had talked about it only the one time at the hospital, what Max had done to Mark Jefferson. In a moment where she was the weakest, Max had broken through her meek shell and emerged as something stronger and colder; seeing Victoria, Nathan, and Chloe bound and gagged in a corner, both semi-conscious, Max had been able to swat away the syringe Jefferson had tried to plunge into her neck and tripped him up in her own drugged stupor.

Fumbling around in a foggy state, Max had crawled over to Chloe as quickly as she was able to and grabbed the gun they'd taken from Nathan back at school; the handgun felt oddly light as she swung it around and pulled the trigger. Aiming in no particular direction, Max cringed at the sharp cry of pain when Max's discharged round impacted and shattered Jefferson's right knee, blood and cartilage issuing forth from the gaping wound. Taking care with her aim, Max managed to blow out Jefferson's remaining knee with after the third attempt, the first two shots impacting into the wall behind her former photography idol.

"M-Max…," Jefferson stammered out, "You really do have a gift, don't you?"

"…W-What…?" Max asked, her face a mask of pain and rage as she managed to pull herself to her feet, the gun inches from Jefferson's smiling face, "What the fuck did you say?"

"I… I bring you here and y-you…unh, you catch me in a moment of desperation. In my own studio, nonetheless!"

It made Max's skin crawl how Jefferson sounded proud of her, proud of being able to stop him. What the hell is wrong with you?! Why would you do this, be like this and do these…things…to so many girls? You killed Rachel, violated Kate, and you tried to do it to me with Victoria soon after.

"Fuck you," Max said with a hateful, disgusted sneer as she pistol-whipped Jefferson in the face.

"Come on, Max," Jefferson said, spitting blood onto the floor, "You're better than some poor reply like that.

Max kicked at one of Jefferson's knees and he fell to the floor, cringing in pain. Untying his other victims, Max told Chloe to lead them up the stairs and away from the barn.

"Max, we need to-" Chloe had interjected only to freeze in-place at the icy look on Max's face.

"Get. Out."

The four of them - Max, Chloe, Victoria, and Nathan - had torched the barn, Mark Jefferson locked away in the bunker as his legacy burned all around him in flame, ash, and gasoline.

"You…You never said what you did to him, Max…," Chloe said, shivering at the memory of how cold and empty Max had looked when she emerged from the barn.

"Do I really need to?"

"…I guess not."

Max looked over to see Chloe's pensively stare up at the ceiling.

"Chloe…?" Max asked.

"Max… Max, are youstill there?" Chloe asked, a tear falling from her right eye. Max sat up and gave her friend a concerned frown.

"What do you mean?"

"…Is…fuck, this is probably just gonna make you hella pissed-"

"Price, just say what's on your mind," Max said, rubbing her thumb against the back of Chloe's reaching hand.

"…Is the nerdy girl I grew up with still there, still in you somewhere? I miss her."

"I am right here, Chlo," Max sniffled as she leaned down to kiss Chloe on the cheek, "I can't say I'm all that girl, but people change through the shit they endure. Wowser, I'm turning into you."

At that tease, Chloe snorted and pulled her beanie down to cover her face, the headgear only covering as far as her nose. Max licked her lips before biting the lower one. She'd thought about it, that kiss from what really was a lifetime ago, every day she'd been in Seattle. The quick brush with Chloe's lips before her "hella punk" friend had pulled away in surprise had stirred up something in Max. I…I want more, more than this.

Leaning down, Max placed a hand on one of Chloe's shoulders. Seeing the lips enticing her stretch into a crooked grin, Max took a deep breath and leaned down. The muffled cry of surprise Chloe gave her quickly gave way to a wanting moan and Max realized that Chloe had been waiting for this moment. Sliding herself over to straddle Chloe, Max cupped her face and began to give Chloe a series of small kisses on her lips. Chloe's heavy gasps with the end of each kiss had Max wanting more and she pulled the taller girl up by her tank-top and smashed their lips together. Sliding her tongue against Chloe's teeth, Max felt her heart race further when said teeth parted and a hot tongue slid against her own. Feeling Chloe sit up under her own power, Max wrapped her tattooed arms around Chloe's midsection and locked her legs onto the bluenette.

They tasted each other, explored each other's mouths, lips, and necks with hungry kisses and wet tongues until both were red in the face. Pulling back, Max panted as she leaned her forehead against Chloe's and looked to see her childhood best friend giving her the most genuine smile she'd seen in over five years. That's not a smart-ass punk smile. That's a BFF Pirate smile, Max thought sweetly as she began to cry.

"I-I missed you s-so much," Max stuttered out between sobs as she moved her head to rest it in the crook of Chloe's neck.

"I missed you, too," Chloe said softly into Max's ear, running a hand through Max's chestnut locks, "But we're together again, and apparently trying new things."

"Yeah," Max said with a snort, "And you didn't even have to dare me this time, you chickenshit."

"Hey!"

"What? You had to use a dare to get me to kiss you last time!" Max pulled back and laughed as Chloe joined her in their shared moment of happiness.

Clad in a flannel Dickies jacket and blue jeans, Max wandered the halls of Blackwell Academy in the time between her science class with Ms Grant and the art class that had remained focused on photography. Earbuds in place, Max listened to The Fight Song by Marilyn Manson as she took in the half-empty hallway. Nice choice, Chloe, Max thought to herself as she nodded along with the heavy guitar beat, Though I don't think I'll be going goth or spilling blood on anyone anytime soon. This guy mos def alleviates my rage, though, amirite? Smirking to herself, Max walked to her locker and was about to open it when a hand slammed onto the door before Max could open it. Jerking her head in the direction of said hand, Max's narrowed eyes and bared teeth vanished at the sight of her newest friend.

Victoria Chase, voted "least likely to buddy up to Max Caulfield" by, well, Max Caulfield.

"Tell me we don't have to actually go in that damn room," Victoria said, pulling her hand back so that Max could drop off her science textbook, "Hey, let's go smoke 'em up in the bathroom or something!"

"Uh, I got my blaze on before I even left my room this morning, Tori," Max said, chuckling a little, "And yes, we actually do have to go in that damn room."

"Killin' my buzz, Maxine."

"What the fuck did you call me?"

"Um, sorry. Max, I meant Max."

The dynamic between them was still relatively the same, save that they looked out for each other after that October. God, she wasn't drugged through the whole thing. Chloe and Prescott were halfway to Blitzed City but she saw everything. Max remembered how tightly Victoria had clung to her in the following days; split away from Chloe after their fight, Max had taken Victoria up on her reluctant offer of friendship. Both girls living in Seattle when not attending Blackwell, Max had seen Victoria nearly every day of the three months it took for school to start back up.

"I like your natural hair color more," Max said, eyeing the blonde pixie cut Victoria was sporting, "It's like you, um, traveled in time and copied off yourself. Your long black hair was really nice, Tori."

"Appearances must be kept, Caulfield. Well, some appearances," Victoria said as she joined Max in scanning the hall, "How was Ms Grant's class?"

"A joke," Max replied, heading toward the vending machine with Victoria alongside her, "No one knew what to say or do. Ms Grant tried to start class, but it was like class-wide shellshock."

"I'm assuming you sat in the back, quiet as can be," Victoria mused, smirking when Max looked away from her gaze, "Of course you did. God, Max, how is it you're tough as fuck when you're around friends but default back to that shy, twee hipster bullshit around everybody else? Do you have a switch somewhere that gets pressed?"

"Fuck you, too," Max spat back, the edge in her voice making her cringe as she caught a glance at Victoria's pained expression. Taking the energy drink she'd bought, Max purchased another and handed it to Victoria, "I'm sorry. I... I'm not the best at tact anymore, or impulse control. The slightest thing sets me off and, wowser, do notget me started on strangers or crowds."

"It's still that bad?" Victoria asked, sipping at her beverage as they hung around the main hallway.

"The pills and therapy only do so much, and it's like a damn merry-go-round of pill regimens; I'm on something different every month or two. I'm sick of it, all of it."

Max chugged half the energy drink she'd bought for herself down in only a couple gulps, in need of caffeine from the inability to get very much sleep. Three months of nightmares and cold sweats, three months of seeing that asshole's face just as I wake up. Pulling out a sports bottle, Max poured the remaining energy drink into the empty container and capped the bottle shut before discarding the can. Need you for later, Max must. Precious, my caffeine is.

"Max!" a voice called from the entrance to the school's main building and both Max and Victoria looked over to see Kate Marsh come running. The sunlight emanating from behind her made it look as though she were haloed. How did she bounce back so well? Is it because her shit got resolved by someone else, byme, while I did all the fucking dirty work? Why? Why do I sometimes loathe the people I also love? Max thought, a slight bitterness masked behind her welcoming smile. She wouldn't change the outcome, her friends surviving the nightmare that had been October, but bearing the weight of it all on her shoulders was sometimes too much for Max. That's what the pills…and the cigarettes…and the occasional pot are for. Still won't touch beer, though. Yuck.

"Whoa, nice to see you too, Kate!" Max said cheerily with a gasp as Kate hugged her tightly. "O-Okay, Kate. Kate, you can let go now. Kate? Kate."

"Sorry," Kate said, picking up on the darkening tone in Max's voice. Max no longer let people touch her unless she initiated it, the alarm in her head bringing out the impulse to punch whoever so much as laid a fingertip on her, "Hey, Victoria."

"Um, hi," Victoria said awkwardly, biting at the inside of her cheek, "…How was, well, the three-month pseudo-vacation?"

"Good, I guess," Kate said, oblivious to Victoria's discomfort, "Volunteer work, continued plotting out my children's book. You?"

"I, uh, I just fucking chilled," Victoria blurted out, though Max knew that wasn't entirely accurate.

Max opened her mouth to speak when they all heard the bell go off; as if they were of one mind, all three girls looked down the hallway towards what had once been their favorite class. Seeing a group of students gathered outside the open door, Max looked at her friends and realized they were waiting for her to do something. What the butt?

"Uh, ladies first?" Max asked, motioning for Victoria or Kate to go ahead of her. When neither girl budged, Max's brows furrowed. "You can'tbe cereal. You expect me, off the three of us, to be down for entering th-that room first?"

"I think they're all waiting for you, too," Kate said, motioning to the crowd of students, "I see Stella, Dana, Taylor, and Hayden. I knew Alyssa wasn't coming back."

"Aww, Daniel isn't there either," Max said with a frown. He drew the coolest portrait of me ever. Well, the only one. But it was totally cool! "Fine. Fine, I'll go."

Max took off her jacket and tied the sleeves around her waist to secure it. One set of armor for one class, another set of armor for another. Sporting her Jane Doe tank-top, Max's tattooed arms were obvious as she walked down the hall, her steel-toe boots sounding like tiny thunderclaps as Chloe's bullet necklace dangled from around her neck. Chloe had given it to her before she'd left that morning, Hella good luck for a hella badass SuperMax!,Chloe had told her. Fingering one of the bullets, Max stopped a few feet away from the crowd and coughed to get their attention.

"What the absolute fuck?" Max asked, arching an eyebrow as she put a hand on one hip, "It's a classroom, not a torture dungeon. I've seen that, remember?"

"God, Max!" Dana said, Taylor putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't say shit like that!"

"Why the fuck not? I'm not over it, I'll never be, but you all being scared to enter while expecting me to go in first is bullshit. He's not here anymore! Newsflash, amirite?"

Pushing herself through the small-knit group of people, Max took Kate's hand and led her and Victoria into the classroom only to stop mid-step across the threshold. H-Holy fuck… No one… No one's changed a damn thing! The tables situated exactly as they had been, the only difference in the classroom was the lack of anything associated with Jefferson's time at Blackwell Academy. Different posters and equipment are cool, b-but… I thought this would be easier, not be like… like...

"Hey," Max heard Victoria say as she and Kate helped Max to the back table where they all three sat, "C'mon, Max. Come back to us, yeah?"

"Wha…?" Max asked, as though coming out of a trance. Seeing where she was, seeing the other students look at her, Max scrambled to get out of her seat only to be held in-place by both Kate and Victoria. "Let me the fuck go! Let mego!"

"Max!" Dana yelled as she walked over from her seat next to Taylor, Taylor swiftly moving from behind Dana to help the other girls keep Max's panic attack under control. "Oh, Maxie, you're okay! We're all here, here for you! Please, please calm down!"

"Fucking goddamn motherfuckers and your bullshit smiles!" Max hissed through gritted teeth as she squirmed under the hands of her friends. "Don't…Don't touchme! Don't you fucking touch me! Y-You d-don't know what I saw, w-what I-"

"What is going on here?" a voice boomed out from the doorway, everyone's attention on Principal Wells, the school's administrator looking even more worse for wear than he had immediately following that week in October.

What the fuck?! Max thought as she glared at Wells, her body eerily still as the other girls pulled back.

Principal Wells stood in the doorway of the art room; for Max, he might as well have been standing right in front of her face. There wasn't any smugness or satisfaction to his demeanor, Principal Wells looking more fatigued and sober than anything else. Max didn't notice any of that, however, as she was focused on what felt to her like utter ludicrousness.

How the fuck do you still work here?! kept running through Max's head over and over. The world seemed to blur in her mind until all Max could see was Wells staring at her like she knew she was staring at him. How in the blue fuck are you still working here? Whose money did you take this time, whose secrets are you keeping locked away? All those questions didn't matter, because what came out summed it all up for Max, in the room and situation she found herself in.

"What the goddamn hell?" Max's words were slow, metaphorically dripping with venom as her narrowed eyes glared at the administrator of Blackwell Academy, Wells responding with a grimace as he appeared visibly uncomfortable being under Max's scrutiny.

"Now I know that last year was a trying time-", Wells started to say.

"How do you still work here?" Max cut him off, rage giving way to disbelief and a slightly manic grin on her face.

"…What we need to focus on is coming together as a school-"

"I mean, sure you can do the job…but should you…?" Max cut Wells off again, shrugging Victoria's hand off her shoulder as she stood up and leaned against the table, "How can you stand there and talk about togetherness and friendship and blah-fucking-blah when one girl died under your watch, and three other girls were violated or near violated? I mean, we're sitting right here and you spout this bullshit like it's candy for us to eat up? Wowser," Max finished, shaking from trying to suppress a bout of hysterical laughter with her jaw clenched and lips thinned.

"Ms Caulfield," Wells said, his voice stern as he moved from the doorway and into the classroom proper, "I can understand why my still serving this school might be a…misjudgment in your eyes-"

"Understatement of the Ever," Max said with a snort as she flopped back into her seat at Kate's whispered pleas, "I'm sitting, Kate, I'm sitting. Honest to Dog…"

Arms crossed with a foot on the table, Max quirked an eyebrow at Wells and made a face that told him to say his peace.

"Max, I can't say how sorry I am about everything that happened," Wells uttered, the fatigue settling back in as his shoulders slumped over, "I… I failed as a caretaker of you all. Being given a second chance, no matter how ludicrous it seems, means a lot to me and I hope you'll give me… Max, sit down!"

Max was up, bag slung over her shoulder as she slid her chair back in quietly. Fuck this and fuck you, Mr. Principal, Max's inner thoughts rife with sarcasm, You can spout whatever you want but it all sounds fake so I'm out.

"Let me know what our homework is?" Max asked first Kate, then Victoria. Victoria nodded solemnly and scooted into the table a bit more to let Max pass by.

Wells was hesitant in his body language as to whether he should stop the once-meek girl or let her through. Max noticed this and sneered at the man with her hands balled into fists as she stopped in mid-step and stared down the school's administrator. Truth is, I'm not even really mad at you. I'm mad at whoever left you still in charge, tool bag.

"Can I go?" Max asked, her voice cool to a point of making Dana shiver, "If it were any other day, I swear…"

"…We'll need to have a private conversation in the very near future, Ms Caulfield," Wells said, stepping aside, "I know what you went through, but that doesn't excuse this behavior. It's… It's been three months, Max…"

"Yeah, because an early 'vacation' makes all the wounds heal," Max said as she rolled her eyes, muttering "Dumbass" as she went through the doorway and into the hall.

Photography having been the last class scheduled for the day, Max whipped her phone out of the camera bag slung alongside her and began to furiously type.

Max: Chlo?

Chloe: Maxaroni! Dude, s'up?

Max: WTGDMF, Wells just strolled into Photo class like everything is 'A-Ok'. Ass.

Chloe: Oh, did you punch him? Did I miss those tiny fists of fury?

Max: No, there was no Crouching Hipster, Hidden Ninja for you to see. I just bailed. Stare-down, though - You missed the eyeballing equivalent of a showdown.

Chloe: Oooh, such eye. Very ball. Much angst. Wow.

Max; Fuck off, Chlo-Doge :P

Chloe: NO EMOJI!

Max: :P XD ;P :( :( (-_-)

Chloe: …I've killed people for less than this…

Max: Bullshenanigans. I've nearly destroyed the world to save your lanky ass. Rock Paper Max, and Max ALWAYS wins.

Max: You still in my room?

Chloe: Nah, just cruisin. Dude, I'm hella on my way if you want to hang, which you totally better

Max: Waiting out front. Let's do something fun ;)

Max sat next to the bus stop and smoked a cigarette, waiting for Chloe to come by in her beater truck. She'd thought about just using her Jeep and meeting Chloe wherever her friend was, but Max missed sitting shotgun as she and Chloe shot through Arcadia Bay. It was the best of times, it was the hella worst of times, Max thought to herself as she looked at the smoldering stick of tobacco, the end glowing amber with tendrils of smoke wafting in the crisp January breeze. Shivering, Max realized the flannel jacket was still tied around her waist; hurriedly, Max fumbled with the knot and slid the warm material on, snapping it up until the goose-flesh sensation on her arms seemed to go away. Looking over her shoulder, Max pulled out her Polaroid and walked up the steps to stand in front of the fountain. At some point during the three-month closure, the statue had been vandalized; the head had been removed and haphazardly welded back on.

"Franken-Blackhell," Max said to herself with a chuckle as she snapped a picture, "Makes sense, I guess. This place is half-dead, and we're all bonkers for coming back here."

"Yeah, but if you didn't you would totally miss my not-lanky ass," Chloe chimed in, pulling back when Max instinctively took a swing from being startled, "Whoa, Max! Chill!"

"…Goddamnit, Chloe," Max said with an irritated sigh, shaking her head before wrapping her friend up in a hug, "You totally suck. I could have broken your damn nose, you goofy-ass tree."

"Pfft, yeah okay," Chloe replied with a snort, "So? How was the first day of school? Did you make any new friends, or perhaps you were hit on by a certain Waldo…?"

"No, Mom, I learned nothing and was 'hit on' by no one," Max gave Chloe a chagrined look and punched her friend in the shoulder, "I might be, though. I haven't seen Brooke around so I might be in line to 'go ape' or whatever…"

"Dear Lord, no," Chloe put a hand to her chest and made as though to faint before folding over in laughter, "Oh, I can see it now in the school newspaper: Guinness Record made when boy gets shot down for billionth and one time!"

"Stop, Chloe," Max chastised her friend, tilting her head with arms crossed, "Warren is nice and a friend. Besides, we've got…stuff…to talk about…"

Max linked arms with Chloe and they walked together down to the parking lot as the final bell sounded, school being out for the day. The truck had been replaced, Max's jaw dropping at the sight of an old Vespa scooter as Chloe tossed her a helmet. Is it bad that this kinda turns me on? Chloe, you know I'm a Fooly Cooly supernerd…

"Fooly Cooly!" Chloe cried out in her best impression of Haruko Haruhara, Max's eyes widening as her lips stretched into a face-splitting grin. "Nice wheels, yeah?"

"Badassness aside, how do you not freeze your ass off? And what if it rains? What if-" Max started to say when Chloe put her hands on Max's shoulders.

"Dude, for real? We are amazeballs and reunited once more. Just… Just enjoy it, Max, and hold the fuck on. I don't mess when it comes to Jezebel."

"You named the scooter Jezebel?" Max asked in an amused tone as she slid into the seat behind Chloe, arms wrapped around the other girl's waist.

"…Super-anything was taken," Chloe said, pausing before looking over her shoulder with a smile, "Nothing beats Max."

Max bit her lip and pressed her face into Chloe's back, desperate to hide the redness forming in her cheeks at Chloe's statement. Oh my Dog, Oh my DOG, Max thought as she waited for the scooter to start. When nothing happened, Max pulled away and saw Chloe looking at her from the corner of her eye.

"What?" Max asked, head tilted in confusion as Chloe put the kickstand back down and moved to sit in the seat backwards so that she was facing Max. "Chloe?"

"I…I'd…," Chloe stammered, brows knit together tightly as it looked to Max like her friend was mentally fighting with herself. When Chloe's shoulders slumped, Max feared for the worst…until her friend tapped at her lips with a gloved finger. "This. I want another."

"…Y-You…You want another kiss?" Max asked, a slight grin on her face as Chloe looked away and nodded while biting her lower lip. Holy butts, you are so freaking precious right now, Chloe. "…Do it again."

"W-What?"

"Do what you just did again. It was super-sweet," Max asked, her tone conveying the genuine affection she felt at that moment.

"I…Um, I'd like another one of these," Chloe blushed as she tapped at her lips again, "…Please?"

Max leaned in and brought her lips softly against Chloe's, their breath mingling together in a slight vapor as Max's arms wrapped around Chloe's waist. Chloe's mouth was searingly hot to Max, the tongue sliding against her own like a firebrand as their lips broke away only to reconnect again and again. Forgetting where she was, Max let herself get lost in the kiss and felt a moment of happy peace as Chloe seemed unwilling to let her lips leave Max's for too long. Only when Max pulled back to gasp for air did Chloe halt her advance, a pleased grin on her face getting a crooked smirk from Max.

"More?" Chloe asked, eyes alight with a brightness Max only remembered from old memories. You're hella cute when you're happy, Chloe, if this…ifI make you happy…

"Later, gal pal. For now…we ride!"

Author's Notes -

I swear I haven't disappeared! Eheheh, I've been posting this story installment-by-installment on Tumblr as a nice thing for those who follow me on there and friends who don't check out my account here on FanFiction. What you all are getting is parts 1-5 brought together into a single chapter of this story. For every 10 installments I put up on Tumblr I'll put 5 up here, so that it is still for Tumblr friends/followers.

If you want the more in-depth Author's Notes where I go into not only PTSD but my PTSD, however, you will have to go look up my Tumblr installments.

Read, Review, and I'll see you all later!

Polarized is coming, and I'm so not ready! XP

Stay Hella, Cinnamon Rolls!