The phone rung in the early morning sun. Chloe Price was awake, but she definitely wasn't functioning yet. She picked the phone up, expecting it to be Kate, the only person she could think of who would be willingly awake at this ungodly hour. It wasn't.

"Fuck," Chloe breathed as she looked at the name. Rachel Amber. All her wariness drained from her as a nauseating mixture of giddiness and pure dread flooded her system. Her finger raised to her phone screen, hovering there a moment as she tried to get some measure of control over herself. Finally she answered.

"H-hey Rach, what's up?" Chloe said, trying her best to sound like a normal human being and not whatever it was she felt like right now. It took Chloe a second to process what Rachel was saying, all she could concentrate on was how much she missed her voice.

"Oh! Good, good, still doing the chemistry thing. You?" Chloe said as she sat up and tried to pay attention to what Rachel was saying.

"Yeah? That's awesome! Good for…Tonight? No I'm not, oh wait I got this thing for Warren…Fuck no, gross. No it's just...Yeah, yeah I could cancel. I didn't want to go anyway so you'd be saving me. What were you? Oh. Oh, okay. No, it's not a problem. Yeah, I could do that. Yeah, it'd be cool. Yeah okay, have fun. Yeah. I'll see you later." Chloe said as she hung up the phone and let it drop to the mattress.

"Fuck, why don't you say yeah one more time?" Chloe muttered darkly before collapsing back onto her bed, completely drained. What a fan-fucking-tastic way to start a day. Why did I give up smoking weed again? Chloe thought. Then she groaned. Because it reminds me of Rachel. Fuck!

Max looked closely at herself in the mirror. It wasn't something she did often. It wasn't because she was confident in her looks, quite the opposite in fact. No matter how much effort she put into herself she was always disappointed. If the outcome was always the same, she didn't see the point in wasting the time. She always made herself look presentable, but she didn't go any farther than that.

Staring hard at her reflection, Max decided she looked as unexciting as always. Her eyes weren't the shade of blue people wrote songs about, they were too washed out for that. Her nose was slightly too large. Her chin was too pointed, making her face look small. Her mess of hair didn't help that impression. Max sighed. Well, the good thing was she didn't think she could make it much worse.

She opened up her toiletries bag and dug through it. Some of the stuff was easy to find, she did use some makeup occasionally, but others hadn't seen the light of day since she'd put them in her bag. She laid them all out on the counter before her, an arcane array of brushes, vials, and flasks. There were things here she only understood the concept of, aware of their intended outcome but clueless how to get there.

"Okay," she told the woman in the mirror. "You got this." She picked up the first brush, said a silent prayer to whoever might be listening, and got to work.

An hour later, with a face she wasn't at all confident in, Max walked into the university book store just fifteen minutes after it opened. Despite being at college for a year now, she'd never actually stepped foot into the physical college bookstore. She always just ordered her textbooks from Amazon or Ebay, but she couldn't do that when she didn't know what textbook she needed to get.

There was no one managing the front desk that Max could see when she reached the counter. Max leaned forward and peered over the desk but didn't spy anyone hiding behind it. She glanced up and saw some posters tacked up on the wall. A flashy one with a pretty painting of an armored woman holding a sword caught her eye. She stood in front of a huge, horned monster and the caption "DnD Club! Come slay your demons." was sprawled beside her. Max was so lost in staring at the poster she didn't even hear the girl walk up behind her.

"Hello! What can I do you for?" The girl said loudly, causing Max to instinctively jump and curl in on herself.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," the girl said with a laugh. Max pressed her hand to her heart as she looked the girl over. She had straight brown hair down to her neck and strong features that made her look far more confident than Max had ever felt.

"N-no problem," Max managed to get out. The girl smiled at her and then walked around the counter to stand behind the desk.

"So what were you here for?" She asked.

"Oh! Uh...I need a chem book."

"Know which one?" The girl asked with another smile. It wasn't a mocking smile, it was more of the amused variety, as if Max's very existence was funny for some reason.

"An...intro chem book?"

"Okay, getting closer. Intro for cross discipline or intro for a chem major?"

"Chem major?"

"Okay, so you're in Dr. Weinstein's class? Sound right?" The girl said, sounding pleased with herself.

"Oh, I'm not...in a chem class. It's for, uh, personal study," Max said lamely. Who studied chemistry for fun?

"Oh, hardcore," the girl said with more adoration than Max thought she deserved. "I know just the thing," she said happily and dashed down one of the aisles, leaving Max to once again stand awkwardly by the empty desk. In moments, however, she was back with a fairly large tome. She slammed it down on the desk.

"This look right?" Max glanced at the book. Introduction to Basic Chemistry.

"That should work," Max said.

"Okay, that'll be two hundred and thirty dollars," the girl said cheerfully. Max froze. Over two hundred dollars? She knew science textbooks were expensive but that was…

No matter, she'd just use it to take some notes and then she'd return it. Or sell it on Ebay. Max handed her card over and the girl swiped it and threw her book in a bag before handing it to her.

"Well, have fun with your personal study," she said.

"Thank you," Max said and quickly took her bag and started towards the exit.

"Oh wait!" The girl called out suddenly, causing Max to jump yet again. She ran over to Max and pointed towards the poster Max had been admiring earlier. "I got this DnD club if you're interested."

"I'm not, uh, I've never played and I don't have a lot of time, plus groups aren't really my…"

"It's not a big group, I'm pretty selective. And we love teaching newbies," the girl interrupted. Max gave her a confused look.

"Selective?" She asked. How was she selective if she asked random strangers?

"I don't invite just anyone who waltzes in here. You're hardcore and you seemed interested in the poster earlier. Plus you're cute, so, that always gets a pass," the girl said with a smile that bordered on suggestive. Instinctively Max's face began to burn.

"Ill...keep that in mind," Max said as she took a step back from her.

"Okay! I'll catch you later Max," she said.

"How did…"

"It's on your card," she said with a wink. "My name's Steph by the way. If you change your mind you know where to find me, I'm here most mornings. Good luck!"

Max stood there a moment as Steph raced back towards her desk. She'd been hit on before, but never by a woman, and certainly not by someone so...confident. From behind the desk Steph arched an eyebrow at her and Max realized she still hadn't moved. With a jolt she turned and raced towards the door.

"Hey Warren, I'm probably not going to make call-out," Chloe said as she walked up to Warren after class.

"What, why?" Warren asked, pausing from gathering his things off his desk. Warren had more notebooks for this one class than Chloe owned. She'd always had a good memory, though, so she'd never been a great note taker.

"Hey, you said I didn't have any responsibilities. Pretty sure you said I didn't have to go to a single meeting," Chloe said.

"Well yeah, but…"

"So I'm not showing up to this one. Be happy I bothered to tell you."

"That's true…"

"So what's the problem?"

"I was really hoping you could make callouts," Warren said in a rush. "If people see you there they'd be more likely to join the club."

"Too bad, can't make it. Guess you'll have to get another glamor model to whore out. Ask Brooke."

"I did and she's coming too, but I wanted to maximize my chances," Warren said without a hint of shame.

"You're a pig you know that?"

"It's a compliment, it shows how charismatic I think you both are," Warren said as he shoved the rest of his things in his bag. The two turned to walk out of the classroom.

"You're the embodiment of the internet Warren," Chloe said finally.

"Thank you."

"That's not a compliment."

"Come," Warren pleaded.

"No."

"Why not?"

"None of your business," Chloe said with a touch more heat than she meant to. Warren paused as they reached the classroom door and gave her a searching look.

"Fuck Chloe, are you meeting Rachel again?" Fuck, why does everyone keep reading me like a fucking book!

"No, I'm not…"

"You know that's a terrible idea. Every time you hang out with Rachel you're a mopey, emotional bitch the next day."

"Hey, first off, that's not true."

"It is."

"Second off, I'm not seeing Rachel."

"Sure, and I don't…"

"I'm not, okay!" Chloe yelled just as she realized they'd gathered a small crowd by blocking the only exit to the classroom. Chloe grunted in frustration and marched out, ignoring the looks she was getting.

"Then what is it?" Warren asked as he caught up to her.

"I'm...house sitting," Chloe said, not looking at Warren or slowing down.

"House sitting?"

"Like, letting out the dog and shit, I don't know," Chloe muttered, annoyed that he was keeping pace with her so easily.

"Whose house? Who's dog?" Chloe continued walking, ignoring the question. Warren stopped in his tracks. "Oh, you are shitting me. You're blowing me off to hang out with Rachel's dog?!" Chloe stopped and turned to face him

"I'm doing a favor for a friend!" She said.

"I asked you to do a favor first!" Warren countered.

"I did your favor! I signed the damn paper, you didn't say anything about going to a call-out."

"Okay, fine, don't go to the call-out. But don't do a favor for Rachel Amber," Warren said, saying her name like it was a particularly dirty curse word.

"She's my friend Warren," Chloe said through clinched teeth. She was two seconds away from clocking him in his stupid nerd face. Why couldn't he just leave her alone?

"Yeah? What's the last favor she's done for you?"

"She's busy right now," Chloe said.

"So are you." Chloe shook her head.

"She was there for me Warren, when no one else was. She's the first person who gave a shit about me. I owe her everything."

"She was your first friend, but not your last. And as your friend, I don't like to see you get used," Warren said.

"Then what the fuck do you call your call-out then?"

"Friendly guilt," Warren said confidently. "The difference is, I still like you with even when you aren't doing things for me. You do what you want Chloe. I'll see you tomorrow," he said and turned away from her.

"You have got to be kidding me," Victoria said as she walked up to Max's lunch table for the second day in a row. Max really needed to find a different place to eat if this was going to keep being a thing. Max's first instinct was to close the book and try to hide it, but she resisted the reflex. There was no shame in being excited about a new club.

"I'm just doing some research for tonight," Max said primly as she flipped the page over in her new chem textbook.

"You bought a textbook for a club?" Victoria asked as she sat down. At least this time she'd brought her own food Max noticed with relief. She actually wanted to eat her lunch this time.

"Just refreshing myself, I haven't taken chemistry in four years."

"I say again, you bought a textbook? Do you not know what the internet is?"

"I wanted the same textbook the chem majors are using. I want to make sure I'm on the same footing."

"What about the library?" Victoria asked with an arc of her eyebrow. Fuck. Max hadn't thought of that.

"I might want to highlight stuff," Max said lamely. Victoria gave her a disappointed look.

"Since when do you highlight stuff? I've never seen you take notes on anything," she said as she opened up the wrapping around her sandwich.

"I always bring notebooks to class!"

"Which you fill with doodles and photo ideas, and maybe the occasional quote," Victoria said with a bored voice as she started taking small bites off her sandwich. Max just shook her head, choosing not answer because she didn't need to defend herself to Victoria, and not because she didn't have a comeback.

"Holy fuck, you're wearing eyeliner," Victoria said suddenly. Max's heart sank. She'd been so focused on her chem book she'd entirely forgotten the morning's failed adventure.

"I put on eyeliner all the time," Max said without meeting Victoria's gaze.

"And eye shadow. Is that blush?" Victoria continued, ignoring Max.

"I wear makeup!" Max said, exasperated.

"No you don't and it shows. You look terrible," Victoria said simply.

"Like you're an expert," Max said darkly. It was days like this that Max regretted ever talking to Victoria freshmen year. Life had been so much easier when they hated each other in middle school.

Victoria's facial expression didn't change, she just looked at Max. Max looked back, but beneath Victoria's perfectly eyeshadowed gaze Max's pride wilted away. She collapsed, her face falling into her arms.

"Please Victoria," Max said, her voice muffled by her arms.

"Please what?" Victoria said as she took a nibble from her sandwich.

"Please fix my makeup," came Max's muffled reply. Victoria looked down at Max and sighed.

"Let me finish my sandwich. Then we'll go to the bathroom and I'll see what I can do."

She'd shown up late. That had definitely not been her plan. She showed up to things on time. Because the sooner you showed up to things, the sooner you could leave them. That'd always been her thinking at least.

Victoria had vetoed that idea.

"When are you going?"

"Flyer says five, so 4:55?"

"No, 5:20 at the earliest. I swear, you're like talking to a two year old."

"But it's a callout, I don't want to miss the presentation."

"This is college. No one starts their presentation on time. No one would be there."

"Maybe if everyone started showing up on time…"

"Good luck starting that trend."

"But maybe if I showed up early I could talk with Chloe before it starts."

"...Did you look at your future girlfriend? Does she look the type to show up early?"

"She's not my girlfriend...and that's stereotyping."

"It's not stereotyping if it's true."

"I'm not sure that…"

"So if you show up early it'll just be you and a room of lonely men for forty minutes."

"Uh…"

"Do you want to spend forty minutes fighting off desperately lonely nerds?"

"Maybe 5:20 then…"

Max hated to admit it, and she never would out loud, but Victoria had probably been right. Max didn't think that all science majors were nerds and desperately lonely. That didn't change the fact that, as she walked into the classroom, Max only spotted guys. Guys who all turned to look at her. And some of them kept looking at her for a time that could only be described as 'uncomfortable.'

Max stood at the door, wondering if it was too late to bolt and undo one of her bigger mistakes, when one of the guys jumped off of the desk he was sitting at and moved towards her.

"Hey! Are you here for the Chem club call-out?" He asked her as he approached. He gave her a smile that was actually more friendly than anything so she relaxed somewhat.

"Uh, yeah, is this the right place?" She asked even though she was 100% certain it was. She'd checked it out earlier in the day so she didn't make any mistakes.

"Most certainly, come on in, we're going to get started in just a few. My name's Warren by the way," Warren said as he turned and beckoned her in. Max took a deep breath. Too late to turn back now. She stepped in. It wasn't as big as a lecture hall, but it was bigger than most of the classrooms Max used. It was lined with rows of desks, many of which had been pushed to the back to make more room at the front where a large projector was set up on a whiteboard. Students gathered around the room in small clumps. To Max, they all seemed like they were whispering about her, the lone outcast in a room of people who all seemed to know one another.

Looking around, she realized she wasn't the only girl. There were a couple spread around the room, but all of them looked like they had friends in the club. At least they looked far more comfortable than she did. And none of them were Chloe Price. Another thing Victoria had been right about.

Warren gestured towards her, inviting her to his group. It was the last thing she wanted to do. Sure, standing alone in a crowded room made her feel stupid and unwanted, but at least she only felt like that. Whenever she actually joined a group she usually ended up being stupid and unwanted and Warren's group was the largest in the classroom. He must be the popular nerd or something.

Max cringed, that thought had been harsher than had she meant it. She'd been hanging out with Victoria too much lately.

Max politely waved at Warren and then started wandering across the classroom, beelining for the wall. She could practically feel Victoria roll her eyes at her and mutter 'stereotypical' but she didn't care. She'd came, which was a big step for her.

As she made her way to the wall she stopped. Someone who was already leaning on it. A girl, standing by herself and fiddling with her phone. She had dark black hair with a purple streak through it and a dark hoodie with the words "Han shot first" emblazoned on it. Max paused. On one hand she really didn't look like she wanted to talk. At all. On the other hand, she was by herself and that presented an opportunity. She'd come here to learn more about Chloe. She could handle a one-on-one. Probably.

"Hi," Max said to the girl as she walked up.

"I'm just here for the call-out, I'm not a member so if you have questions you're barking up the wrong tree," the girl said with a bored voice. She didn't look up from her phone. Max frowned, but was actually strangely comforted by the girl's straight-forward manner. Empty, happy words and small talk filled with air were completely foreign to her, but snark and blunt truth? That she was used to.

"Oh, I was just saying hi?" Max said. The girl blinked and looked up at her.

"Hi, Brooke sorry," she managed before turning back to her phone.

"Max," Max replied before walking over to lean on the wall beside Brooke. If she had an opinion about Max's intrusion, she didn't give any indication. "So...why did you come for just the call out?"

"A favor for Warren. He's the president over there," Brooke said with a wave at Warren. So that explains the big crowd.

"Oh," Max said. If she's friends with Warren, what is she doing over here by herself?

"So, you a chemistry major? Don't recognize you," Brooke said, interrupting Max's thoughts.

"No, photography."

"Why are you here? Free pizza?" Brooke asked neutrally.

"No, uh, one of my…friends was coming here I thought. Chloe?" Brooke's fingers froze on her screen and she turned to look at Max. Max took an involuntary step back as Brooke's full attention bared down on her, her eyes driving straight into her soul.

"You're friends with Chloe?" Brooke asked. Max knew she'd fucked up. She'd just meant to get some information, she'd never guessed that Brooke would know Chloe personally, and it sure seemed like she did. Great Max, and now she's going to tell Chloe about the crazy girl who was claiming to be her friend. Great first impression. Or second impression if she recognizes you from the lawn. You're going to be thrown into the stalker category before you even say a word to her!

"Kind of?" Max said, desperately trying to backpedal before it was too late.

"Well, she must not have told you, go figure, but she isn't coming," Brooke said darkly. Okay, okay, so she knows Chloe but doesn't like her. Max thought with relief. If she didn't like Chloe she wasn't likely to talk to her. Maybe this wasn't a complete disaster.

"Oh, I didn't tell her or anything, I just thought I'd run into her here," Max said, a little amused about how true that statement was.

"I doubt she'll ever come," Brooke said. Max blinked rapidly as she processed that. She wasn't coming? If she didn't come then the whole plan was ruined!

"Why wouldn't she come?" Max asked. She must have asked it more desperately than she thought judging by the confused look Brooke gave her.

"Because Chloe Price doesn't do shit for anyone unless your name is Rachel Amber," Brooke said darkly.

"Rachel Amber?" I ask. Oh shit, does she already have a girlfriend? Am I obsessing over someone else's girl? And why am I so relieved that at least she might be gay?

"You know Chloe and you don't know Rachel?"

"I barely know her, just seen her around campus."

"Oh, that explains it. They haven't been talking as much since Chloe started college."

"That sounds hopeful," Max said.

"What?" Brooke asked. Max froze. Did she say that out loud?

"I should probably talk to Warren now!" Max said too loudly. "I talked to him earlier, but didn't realize he was the president."

"...Right," Brooke said before turning back to her phone as Max quickly walked back across the room towards Warren.

The good news was now she had a lot more information to work with. The bad news was Brooke thought she was crazy and she didn't know anyone else in this club. It could be worse she supposed. That was a given, it could always be worse.

Before she could get back to talk to Warren, he suddenly started walking towards the front of the room. He reached the white board and picked up a remote and touched it, turning on the projector.

Instantly a large picture of a white cat wearing glasses lit up the white board. Across the cat was written the words 'I blew up my chemistry reaction. Oxidants happen.' A couple of chuckles filtered through the room, but most people groaned as everyone turned towards Warren.

"Want to hear a Nitric Oxide joke?" Warren asked.

"No!" Someone shouted from the crowd, which earned a few more chuckles. Everyone was moving closer to Warren, but Max held back, staying near the door.

"As most of you know, my name is Warren," Warren continued.

"Don't be too humble," Max heard Brooke call out. There were a lot of laughs at that one and Max started to realize how much of an outside she really was. She didn't even understand most of those jokes.

"As the humble President of Chemistry Club, I'd like to thank all of you for coming. As most of you know, Chloe Price will be acting Vice President, but she couldn't make it tonight," Warren said as he hit his remote and moved to the next slide. Max took a step towards the door, realizing this was a mistake. Chloe wasn't coming, she'd made an idiot of herself with Brooke, and everyone here seemed to buddy buddy. Glancing around and content that no one was looking her way, she turned and walked out the door.

And then collided with something as she left the classroom. Something soft, yet solid. Something that smelled like cigarettes and a slight floral deodorant. It wasn't exactly a pleasant smell, but it was memorable.

"I'm sorry…" Max began as she realized she'd ran into a person.

"It's fine, not a big deal," the girl replied. Max opened her mouth to respond, but then words failed her. It was Chloe Price. She'd just ran into Chloe Price.

Logically, Max knew this was exactly what she wanted. She was face to face with Chloe, and better yet, they were even alone. All she had to do now was say hello and 'My name is Max' and it would be mission accomplished.

But she couldn't. Her throat had gone completely dry and her tongue felt like it was glued to the top of her mouth. Her heart was doing a salsa in her chest, the lights felt too bright, there was a soft buzzing in her ear, her face felt oily-nothing was working. She felt like she was in her freshmen year of high school all over again, giving her first speech in com class, only this time she was having a heart attack at the same time.

At least she thought it was a heart attack. It felt like one. When was the last time she'd taken a breath? Too long ago she was pretty sure. And wasn't Chloe awfully close? Way too close, it made Max's whole body tingle.

Max didn't know how long she just stood there, staring at Chloe, but it was long enough that Chloe started looking concerned.

"Hey, are you al…" Chloe paused as recognition dawned on her face. "Wait! You're Polaroid girl! You took my picture on the lawn yesterday. What was that?" Max's higher brain functions simply stopped working. Base instinct kicked in as adrenaline flooded her body. She was a rabbit and Chloe was a lean, blue-haired wolf backing her into a corner.

"I'm sorry!" Max yelped. She flung her hands out, forcing Chloe back. Then she took off running down the hallway.

A/N: Thanks for everyone who showed interest in the last chapter! You're all amazing and I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.