Waking the Witch

Nobody used the bathroom closest to the side exit of the school since Rachel Amber had killed herself six months ago. Jumped out a classroom window; the spot where she’d landed was still marked off as a memorial with a few laminated pictures and dead bouquets still there. Some new paint hadn't quite covered the “DO A FLIP, BITCH” spray painted on the wall above it, especially since an image of the fresh paint job was preserved on Instagram accounts throughout the student body.

In the passing weeks, everyone reported little things -- seeing shadows in the corner of their eye; feeling colder when they walked in; lights spontaneously going out -- and so the norm was to avoid that bathroom. It was haunted.

That was why Max was in there by herself. Even though the real story behind the stories was morbid, she needed to be alone right now.

The photo in her hand was so...basic. How could she think this would work, or that she'd make anything worth submitting to the contest? She took a deep breath, washed her face. Maybe Kate or Warren were free…

And then she noticed the blue butterfly. She followed it, around the stalls, and right when she was about to snap a photo, the door slammed open and it flew away.

‘Oooooof course,’ Max thought, ‘today is not your day, Max.’

She was distracted by rambling around the corner -- a boy. She peeked around and saw one of the -- no, the personification of the Vortex Club, Nathan Prescott.

“Nobody can tell you what to do. You rule this school and everyone in it. You snap your fingers and people jump! You'll show this bitch.” His ranting at his own reflection made Max duck back again.

She heard someone else enter, checking the stalls, before addressing Nathan: “Let's do this. Tell me what you know about Rachel.”

“Delete that video first and stop ordering me around.”

“Why, reminding you of being interrogated by the cops?”

“You'd know how that feels, punkass. Ask them what I told you yourself unless --”

"Tell me!"

She shrieked when Nathan pushed her against the wall and pushed something black into her stomach -- a gun.

"Nobody tells me what to do! Shut your fucking mouth!"

Max froze in shock; the girl didn't speak, her lips sealed and jaw tight.

"W-What are you doing?!" she called.

"What the --" Nathan turned around, pulling the gun away from the girl. He took a step toward Max and waved the gun at her, then she really froze --

Then the other girl thrust her hand out and shouted, and the gun flew from his hand and smashed into the wall behind Max, narrowly missing her shoulder. She dove for it same time as Nathan, grabbing it despite his hand squeezing her neck and squeezed with all her strength…

And then her hands tingled and she felt the individual parts of the gun, saw every piece in her head, and then let it fall apart in her hands. They fell to the ground like a broken toy -- cartridge, trigger, barrel, bullets -- until it was unusable like she'd dismantled it with the precision of an expert.

Nathan kicked her in her back, and when she doubled over he tried to grab the unusable weapon. "What the --" Then he yelled and fell to the floor and the girl said "Run!" before bolting.

Max ran, jumping over Nathan to do so, back and knees aching.

The girl was nowhere to be found, and when she reported it to the principal nobody found anything. She was given a lecture about telling stories about other students and dismissed for the rest of the night.

Still shaking, Max jogged across the courtyard toward the parking lot, hoping she’d find that girl. Was she okay? What had happened in there? She felt drawn to her or...like her kin.

The truck almost ran her over when she cross the lot without thinking, head to the left searching for unfamiliar cars. She braced herself on the hood, warm and solid beneath her palms, growing more solid by the second actually, until the driver called: “Max?”

She looked up. “Chloe?”

Chloe leaned over and threw the passenger-side door open. “Get in.” Max ran around and hopped into the cab, slamming the door behind her and looking over her shoulder, half-expecting Nathan to run into the lot and grab Chloe’s bumper.

Chloe. Max looked at her as she sped onto the road and turned them away from Blackwell. The punk look suited her, down to the blue nails she drummed on the steering wheel as she appeared deep in thought. It was like her confidence from childhood made external, that “Don’t fuck with me” attitude she’d had even as a kid.

“What did you see in there?” Chloe said.

“Only that Nathan is a psycho. Are you okay?”

She noticed Chloe’s shoulders relax. “Yeah, it’s pretty lame he brought a gun to a knife fight. I’m not scared of him.” Max looked at her, wondering if she actually was hiding a knife somewhere on her person or if Chloe was being metaphorical. “Nice to finally see you. Were you waiting to really make an entrance before you called?”

“No… I mean, I know it’s been a month. I’m sorry. I was getting adjusted at school, and --”

“So you’ll make time for the artistes at Blackwell, but not for me. Awesome, thanks.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Forget it, it’s fine.” Chloe seemed to be biting the inside of her cheek before she spoke again: “Actually, now that you’re here, let’s take a walk. Did Nathan hurt you when he tried to feel you up?” Despite the casual crudeness, she did sound concerned.

“No, and thanks for kicking him for me. I wish I’d gotten one in. We could’ve double-teamed him.”

Chloe snorted. “So Seattle didn’t turn you into a total hippie.” She squinted into the sun and played with the broken sunshade in front of her. “Thanks for bum rushing him.”

“No problem. What was his problem anyway?”

“In a minute, let your captain pilot us to the destination first.”

Max noticed more trees pop up around them, until they pulled into a familiar gravel parking lot at the foot of the hiking trail. It led to the lighthouse and as they walked, Max relived memories of spending whole Saturdays here with Chloe, when their only problems were boredom and fighting over who got to be the captain first.

Chloe’s steps got lighter as they proceeded up the trail, occasionally she’d stop and look back at Max, rocking in place as she waited for her to catch up. “It’s still great, right?”

Max hurried to reach her. “Totally awesomesauce,” she assured Chloe.

They came out of the woods to the golden hour, painting the familiar crest and lighthouse with warm light. It was unseasonably warm for late October, and Max almost wanted to take her hoodie off, lest she sweat all over it. Chloe was already speeding ahead of her, toward the bench by the lighthouse and easily jumping over it to sit on the back.

Max stopped to take a shot of the lighthouse, feeling inspired by the perfect composition the tower, the boulder, and the bay created and all the natural light. She liked taking photos of Seattle, but Arcadia Bay lent itself to some real natural shots.

“This place hasn’t changed a bit,” she said as she came up behind Chloe.

“Surprised you still remember it.”

Max decided not to push the passive-aggressive jabs. She knew from experience making Chloe defensive wasn’t going to end well for anyone. “Of course I do, this was our pirate lair, right?”

Chloe smiled at her, apparently satisfied. “So, you wanna know what was up Nathan’s ass?” She raised her phone and waggled it at Max. “Watch this.” She hit the play button on the screen and Nathan appeared on the screen, stumbling in a parking lot and only visible in the nighttime because of his red jacket.

He was shouting abuse at a big guy outside of what looked like a bar or club, and the camera shook like the cameraman was ducking back to get the whole scene in frame. Nice amateur directing, Max thought. She watched Nathan get up in the bouncer’s face, still yelling but looking like he was about to fall over drunk, but then he took a swing --

“Bam!” Chloe shouted, punching a fist in the air when the bouncer grabbed Nathan and pushed him backwards so he fell on his ass. She paused the video with a swipe of her thumb. “I’ve watched this a thousand times, it never gets old.”

Max chuckled; it felt great to watch somebody put Nathan in his place. “Did you take this?”

“Yeah, happened to be in the right place at the right time. I thought I’d use it as leverage when I went to grill him about Rachel, but I guess he’s still butthurt.” She paused, watching Max expectantly. “Get it?”

“Wait, Rachel? As in Rachel Amber?” Even if there were other Rachels, nobody would remember them in the wake of Rachel’s jump, she’d been that prominent at Blackwell. All Max had heard was that she was nice, smart, beautiful, a total superstar. It wasn’t a surprise Chloe knew her.

Chloe sobered, letting her hand drop in her lap and frowning at her phone for a moment. “Yeah. She was best friend 2.0.”

“I’m really sorry for your loss. I wish I could’ve known her, she sounds like she was great.”

Chloe glared at her. “She was -- she still is awesome. The best person I knew.” She bounced her heels off the edge of the bench. “She had everything going on -- which is why I think she didn’t off herself. Something stinks, especially since Nathan is the last person who saw her alive.”

Max nodded. That was all over Blackwell, and usually brought up to either make Nathan sound like a cartoon villain, or a victim of a terrible tragedy, having to live with that guilt. “I’d be suspicious, too. It’s badass you tried to get to the bottom of things, like Detective Angel from our comics.”

Chloe made a finger-pistol, cocked it, and shot the sunset with an exaggerated popping sound. Her white shell bracelet gleamed in the light. “That’s me, still the baddest bitch in Arcadia Bay.”

“Still, he tried to kill you. Blackwell has security, we could’ve gone to them.” Security that was constantly about to lose his shit on people for littering or taking imaginary drugs, but security all the same. Even David Madsen wouldn’t ignore a real gun threat on campus.

“No thanks. Blackwell’s a joke and I see enough of their tiny commander at home. He’s as good of a step-ass as he is a guard. That’s why the real cops wouldn’t take him.”

“Whoa, my condolences.” Before she could go on, Chloe interrupted her:

“Wait, wait, let me show you exactly how badass I got since you left Arcadia Bay.” Chloe hopped off the bench and bounced on the balls of her feet, looking twelve instead of nineteen for a second. Max smiled to see it. Chloe removed her hat and tossed it onto the bench, then said: “Watch this.”

She lifted one hand, letting the rest of her body go still, and took a deep breath. When she exhaled, she stuck her arm out like she was reaching for the hat. Her face was set and she seemed to be really concentrating, when --

The hat lifted off the bench, slowly at first, but then rising in a straight line before coming closer to Chloe. She moved her hand closer to herself, and the hat followed her hand, until it froze in the air, floating in front of her face. Then, with a look at Max, she moved her hand in a circle with a twist of her wrist and it circled her head before she thrust her hand forward again and it flew back to the bench, hitting the back and falling to the seat. Chloe looked back at her, trembling slightly like she was tired, but smiling. “See? Feel free to gush over me as much as you want.”

“Wow,” Max said, unsure what to think. Had she really seen that? “Chloe, that’s...holy shit.” She felt tingly all of a sudden, like someone had dumped ice water down her back. When she looked at Chloe she felt another tug deep inside, like something was drawing her towards her. “Did you really do that? Show me something else.”

Chloe lifted her hand again, looking hard at Max, and then snapped her wrist back, and Max felt herself yanked forward by an invisible grip. She gasped and stumbled over her feet, nearly falling on her face until that same hand grabbed her shoulder and held her up, set her back upright. “Shit, I was trying to grab your bag! You okay?”

“Y-Yeah, just...don’t go full-Carrie on me again, okay?” Chloe looked a little worried, pulling her hat down hard over her hair, and didn’t look at Max. Max crossed around the bench to grab her shoulders. “Really. This is amazing. How long have you been able to do this?” She should have been freaking out more, but how could she? She’d always known Chloe was kind of magic, in the way she was fearless and creative and gutsy. And...and she’d seen this before: When she’d thrust her hand out, yelling, she was the one who sent the gun flying out of Nathan’s hand.

Chloe’s shoulders relaxed under her hands. “Six months and change. It used to only be when I was hella pissed -- the first time I sent plates flying in the kitchen when I was arguing with my Mom -- but since I figured it out, I started messing around, and well...you saw.” She got somber for a moment. “The only other person who knows is Rachel. It started happening right before…” She didn’t finish the sentence. “She believed me from the moment I said it. That was just her, though. You could talk to her about anything.” She looked away, hands in her pockets. “She listened to so much bawling about my dad when we first met, and then she’d give me a joint or a CD and we’d just...chill. She treated me like I was still normal, and after awhile, I believed her.”

The subtext was clear: ‘You missed out on me when I needed you.’ Max took her hands off her shoulders. “I’m glad she was there for you.” She wanted to add ‘I never stopped thinking about you,’ or at least ‘I’m sorry,’ but she doubted Chloe wanted to hear it.

“These past six months have sucked ass. The only thing I’ve cared about for awhile is these powers. Before she died, Rachel...she started acting a little weird. One time we were hanging out and she broke a bottle in her fist without trying. I tried to get her to talk to me, but she started pulling away.” She frowned. “It was pissing me off, actually, and one night we had a fight over the phone and she hung up on me. And two days later, she was gone.” Chloe sat back down on the bench, pulling her legs up so one was underneath her and the other was bent upright.

Max sat down beside her, leaning on her hands. “Well, now you’re not hiding this from everyone. You’ve got me.”

“Finally.”

“Chloe, if you want me to stick around, will you stop being such an ass?”

“What do you want me to do? Get on my knees and blow you for being so gracious to spend time with me? You were my best friend, where the fuck were you for the past five years?”

“And I’m sorry, okay? I was an asshole. But if you want me to trust you, will you please just...give me a chance to make it up to you? We could be a team again, if you want. With this.”

Chloe nodded after a moment. “Okay, fine. I showed you this because I wanted you to know, I guess. Pass the Price Trials and you can enter the inner circle.” She smiled at her to show she wasn’t totally serious.

Max gently slugged her shoulder. “That’s more like it.” They looked at the sunset for a long moment, and Max debated taking a shot of the water, or maybe one of Chloe, reclining in the chair and bathing in the light for a moment. Chloe lit a cigarette and exhaled the smoke through her nose. ‘That’s a perfect photo op,’ Max thought, and lifted her camera. The camera snapped, and the resulting photo was perfect.

As Max reviewed the photo before showing it to Chloe, she felt that tingly sensation again in her hands and had a sense memory: The gun in her hands, and then falling to individual parts on the floor. She’d had a sense for every piece, and felt like she was taking it apart with some invisible force. She set the camera down quickly, intuitively knowing it would meet the same fate if she didn’t. “Chloe… What does using your powers feel like?”

When she looked up, Chloe was looking at her, eyes wide a little bit. “Uh… Kind of...warm, or like blood rushing through my veins. I thought I had a leftover buzz at first, the first time. Max, you alright?”

“I…” She was afraid to touch her camera again lest it break, like the gun had. Like she’d done it. “I’m not so sure.” She dug through her bag, retrieving a binder for a class she never used anyway, and decided to test her hunch. She squeezed it tightly, feeling that tingling sensation return, and then ran a finger down the spine, watching in shock as the spine peeled back from the sides, and the plastic covering frayed beneath her hands. Max ran her fingertips over the surface of the cover, and watched her stickers follow, tearing off the cover even though she had the lightest touch. She was doing all this, and that warmth filled her as blood raced through her head.

She jolted out of her trance when Chloe touched her neck, fingers pressed to her pulse point. “Max… I knew something was up with you. You feel hella staticky.”

Max nodded mutely. “I feel you, too,” was all she could say as the binder fell apart completely and the freed papers spilled onto the ground. It was like an invisible energy field had surrounded them both, creating a Max-and-Chloe world on that tiny bench.

With a sweep of her arm, Chloe pushed the disassembled binder off her lap, and turned Max to face her. “Did you do that earlier, in the bathroom?”

“The gun…” Max’s voice sounded far away. “It fell apart. I thought it was because you threw it, but...I think I did that. I felt the same way just now.”

“Promise not to go Carrie on me?” Chloe joked, but Max didn’t laugh. She felt like her whole body was covered in static, and her hands trembled of their own accord. Chloe put her hands on her shoulders and shook her gently, and caught her when she slumped forward. They sat facing each other, hands clasped between their laps and Chloe smiled at her like she was the first hint of sun after a long winter. “Welcome to the club.”

They spitballed ideas for a while: psychic powers, mutation, hallucinations. Nothing felt quite right, and eventually the conversation petered out after they exchanged promises to help each other figure this out. Eventually, as it got darker, they headed back to the truck and wound up at the old convenience store they’d spent so much time at after school, going in one at a time because the shopkeeper thought all the kids were shoplifters.

Chloe dangled a lit cigarette out the window with one hand and ate a massive honeybun with the other. “Feeling better?”

On the way back, Max had felt so lightheaded she’d stumbled over her own feet and Chloe’d had to pick her back up. She still wasn’t feeling on top of things, but after two of those sticky, cloying buns she was feeling a bit better. “Kind of. I’d still like to know what’s going on, but it’s nice you’re here so I don’t feel so crazy.”

“Nope.” Chloe set her snack on the dash, and offered her fist for a bump. “We’re a team now, might as well call ourselves the X-Men.” Whatever tension had been earlier that day, it was melting now, and Max returned the fistbump.

“Arcadia Bay better watch out.”

“Wanna meet up tomorrow? We can mess around with this stuff and see how much you can fuck shit up with me.”

“Maybe, school…”

“After then! I’ll set my alarm and everything, we can eat, my mom’s still a kickass cook!” Chloe was nearly giving her puppy dog eyes.

“Okay, better be your treat.”

Chloe dropped her off around 8, and she crept through the gate and around the edge of campus toward her dorm, as she was supposed to be on-campus by 7:30 and in her room by 8. Max had just gotten inside her dorm when her phone buzzed in her pocket. ‘Chloe probably wants to make sure I’m actually coming,’ she thought, but froze when she saw the message.

Private Sender: Check your room.

She darted to it, unlocked, and threw the door open.

Her books were on the floor, a shelf tipped over, poor Lisa on the ground in a pile of pottery and dirt, and her photos torn off the wall haphazardly. She saw her clothes on the ground, and when she picked up a sweater it was wet and reeked like someone had poured beer over the pile.

Her phone went off again and she was almost too afraid to check it. When she did: Keep your mouth shut, freak. I could do so much worse.

**

Max locked herself in her room for the rest of the night, leaving only to do her laundry, and slept restlessly, waking every time the window settled or someone walked by her door. Would Nathan come back? There was only one person this could’ve been.

She had texted Chloe: Nathan is INSANE. He was in my room and trashed everything.

shit need me to come back

No I think I’ll be ok. Just freaked out right now.

lmk if he fucks with you again. i’ll kick his ass with my mutant powers.

I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks Chloe see you tomorrow.

She silenced her phone and tried to sleep again. When she woke in the middle of the night, she noticed her message light blinking.

max

yo yo wake up jean grey

ok gurl please let me know ur ok when u see this

anyway thanks for tonight hope you show tomorrow. two whales 4:30pm soldier.

ugh i just sounded like david shoot me

not literally

Half-asleep, she swiped a quick reply: Would be better if I could sleep. Buy me a huge burger tomorrow. :p

u really gotta stop using emoji if you’re gonna be a student at chloe price’s school for gifted nerds

If you say so :)

UGH

Max chuckled and went back to sleep, phone on her chest.

*

The next morning, Max woke up exhausted but eager for the sense of normalcy class would provide. She showered and was relieved when the knob didn’t come off in her hands and she didn’t accidentally shred her clothes. She couldn’t help but hurry between the showers and her room, and she was relieved it was untouched when she returned. It was so late in the morning, she’d missed out on Kate’s daily violin practice, something she measured time by every week, and it added to the frenetic energy she had.

To calm her nerves, she went through yesterday’s photos. The lighthouse and Chloe were good ones; she didn’t think either were the best options for the contest, but maybe Mr. Jefferson would have a different opinion. She’d have to ask him after class today, if she could stop stuttering long enough to talk to him. She pinned the lighthouse one to her corkboard in the meantime, and tucked the Chloe one into her bag. It was silly, but looking at Chloe’s picture made her feel a bit safer. Her promise that she’d mess up Nathan wasn’t just bravado.

Max put on her favorite dreamcatcher necklace for luck, and then hurried to her first class, headed for a quiet back exit nobody would see her coming out of, just in case she was being watched. She’d made it just a few steps when someone grabbed her arm and yanked her backwards.

“Morning, hipster. Like your new room?” Nathan squeezed her arm so hard it was painful, and she couldn’t break his grip even when she shoved his shoulder.

“Let me go!” she said loudly, hoping someone would hear her, even though they were facing another building and most people were likely in class. “Nathan, stop it!”

He shook her, making her bag bounce against her hip. “Promise you’ll keep your mouth shut.”

“I’m not promising anything!” she said, realizing it was a bad idea too late as he grabbed her other arm, pinning her against the wall of the dorm.

“You and your junkie friend, you don’t even wanna know what I can do to you two!” he hissed, eyes hard but frantic all at once.

“I think if you could, you would’ve already,” Max said, fear turning to anger and helping her find her voice. “Are you scared I’ll tell everyone Nathan Prescott got his ass kicked in the girl’s bathroom --” She was cut off when his hands wrapped around her throat, and with her body pressed against the wall she couldn’t bring her knee up to get him off or scratch his face.

“Hey! What’s going on over here?”

Nathan froze and stepped away from her, and Max used the moment to push him away from her and dart around him.

Mr. Jefferson strode toward them and she ran to the protection he offered. “Nathan --” He didn’t get an answer, as Nathan fled around the corner of the dorm and disappeared. Max’s chest was heaving with nerves, and instead of chasing Nathan, Mr. Jefferson turned to her and leaned in. “Max, are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah.” She put a hand over her racing heart. “We got into an argument.”

“So he attacked you? That didn’t look normal to me.” He put a hand on her shoulder, and she felt herself truly start to calm down. “Let me walk you to Principal Wells’ office, he needs to know what happened.”

“No, I…” She wasn’t sure how to explain what had just happened, anyway. She couldn’t prove yesterday’s incident had happened; she hadn’t gone to anyone when her dorm was trashed; and he was still Nathan Prescott the Untouchable. He could waltz into class with a loaded gun and nobody would look twice. And if Mr. Jefferson went to bat for her, it’d make him look bad too. “I don’t want to tell anyone what we were fighting about,” she said weakly. “We’ll both get in trouble.” She tried to sound vague. “Uh...pot. It was an argument about pot.”

He nodded knowingly, then sighed. “Max… You have so much potential, don’t blow it on stupid shit like this.” She liked it when he’d swear casually, in class or tutorials, like he was treating them like friends hanging out. He was so cool. “I should report this, but if you don’t cooperate it won’t do any good. I’ll talk to Nathan.”

“But --”

“I won’t tell him what you told me. I’m just gonna let him know someone’s keeping an eye on him. Let me know if he ever bothers you again.” He squeezed her shoulder and smiled at her before letting go. She returned it weakly. “And see if someone can walk you to and from your classes from now on, okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah, no problem.” Last class of the day was with Kate, so that was covered, and she and Dana had most labs together, and Warren would probably jump at the chance to be her knight in shining armor… Max felt exhausted just thinking about it.

“Let me walk you to your first. You’re late, young lady,” he said, winking at her. “I’ll tell your teacher you were helping me set up something in the photo lab.”

“Thanks, Mr. Jefferson.” As they walked, she clutched her bag to her chest, feeling she needed the extra layer between herself and the world. “Um, I took some more photos since we last talked about the contest. I was wondering if you could look at them later.”

“I’d love to. I’m glad you’re not trying to get out of the contest.”

Max smiled to herself. She felt so dorky in his class, surrounded by people who were just as good if not better than her at photography, or smarter, or could afford the most expensive gear in Victoria’s case. To have Mr. Jefferson’s full attention and interest for a moment felt so good.

“See you in class!”

“Thanks again.” With a last wave, she was off.

**

Classes were uneventful. She didn’t see Nathan, but stuck close to people she knew anyway. The few times she tried to text Chloe under her desk, she didn’t respond. Mr. Jefferson was interested in the photo she took of Chloe, saying she’d found a great model and she had great composition in the frame. It was a bright spot to a lame day.

“I don’t mean to impose, but are you sure you can’t go out for tea?” Kate asked her as they left photography class. “You look like you could use it.” Max appreciated her discretion -- she’d blurted out earlier this morning that Nathan was on her case, but hadn’t told her how exactly. Kate had asked why she looked so tired in the bathroom that morning.

“I’m fine, but thanks. I have a date anyway.”

Kate looked surprised. “Oh, really? Did you change your mind about the movies with Warren?” She looked like she hoped that was the case. Kate had mentioned in the past how nice Warren was and how much he liked her, but so far Max hadn’t said anything about it. It was harmless and Kate meant well.

“No, just an old friend.” She bumped her shoulder into Kate’s. “But I owe you tea, Kate. And cakes!”

“Thursday?”

“Awesome. See you there.”

Kate walked her back to her dorm room, where she was gonna quickly throw herself together before Chloe picked her up. Max bid her goodbye at the door, and shut the door behind her, leaning against it and sighing. She threw her bag on the floor, careful to loop her camera around her neck so she didn’t break it, and began texting Chloe yet again: Hope your wallet’s fat, I’m starving :9

She was about to send a second message, but got as far as You -- before she heard something in her head:

Her body locked up, her thumb hovering over the screen, her knees rigid. She couldn’t move even when she tried to turn her head.

Against her will, Max felt her muscles move on their own, as she did just that: Left her room, shutting the door behind her so as to not raise suspicion, and marched to the door to the roof with confident strides. Inside her head she yelled, and when she tried to call someone’s name or for help, her lips wouldn’t move. It felt like her jaw was locked up.

Her heart raced and rose in her throat as she turned the knob and began climbing the stairs. She heard footsteps behind her, but she couldn’t even turn her head.

She walked out into late afternoon sunlight, that golden hour she’d enjoyed so much last night was now too bright, burning her eyes as it reflected off the roof.

She did, and winced internally when the screen cracked.

With her left arm, she threw her beloved camera with all her strength and wanted to cry when it smacked into the low wall that surrounded the roof and fell, broken.

On autopilot, she lifted herself up and onto the wall, standing up and feeling the breeze as she couldn’t help but stare at the ground. Beneath her, people were walking, chatting, skating, living out a normal afternoon. And Max couldn’t move, frozen literally on the edge between life and death.

‘Please, please let me go. I don’t wanna die,’ she thought. She wondered if this invisible force could hear her, or cared, but she went on. ‘My parents haven’t seen me since August, I love them so much. I love all of my friends here, like Kate and Chloe and Dana. I haven’t even entered the contest. I really want to make it to San Francisco --’

She wobbled on the ledge, and felt like she’d fall at any moment, and a tiny whimper escaped her lips. ‘It’s not fair, my life hasn’t even started yet. Please let me go.’ Could anyone see her? She thought she saw someone look up, but why didn’t anyone shout? Oh God, please let someone see her.

“Max?”

The bubble encasing Max popped at that voice, and suddenly she felt consciously aware of her muscles, of being on the ledge, and she flailed her arms trying to find purchase on empty air. She was too afraid to move, too afraid of falling.

“Max, c’mon, get down.” Somebody grabbed her elbow, the contact almost painful as if she was being shocked, and gently tugged her backwards and Max turned enough to throw her arms around their neck and let them drag her off the ledge. The moment her feet touched the roof her knees gave out and she took her rescuer with her, falling on top of them. “Are you okay? Max, what happened, why did you do that?”

She looked up into Kate’s face and before she could speak a word, burst into tears. Kate wrapped her arms around her and let Max sob into her shirtfront for uncountable minutes. Max’s throat burned and she could hardly gulp air in between sobs, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever stop crying. Kate just held her close and waited for her to cry herself out.

When she finally quieted, she was still shaking, and Kate squeezed her one last time before pulling back. “Max, what did you do? Were you…”

She shook her head hard. “No, no, I… I don’t know why I was up there.” She couldn’t explain what had just happened, that presence that had hijacked her completely and nearly forced her to jump off the dorm roof.

Kate didn’t look convinced. “You need to tell me the truth. If you’re hurting, you have to talk to somebody, you can’t…” Her eyes were watering too. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“I wasn’t trying to! I was up on the ledge and I got too scared to get down!” She tried to build on the lie. “I-I dropped my camera, too. I was trying to take a shot, it was stupid.”

“You could’ve died!”

“I know! I’m so glad you’re here.” She clung to Kate again, and Kate, surprised, touched her back lightly before pulling away again.

“Max...are you telling me the truth?”

“Yes, I swear. It was just a dumb mistake, you don’t have to worry, I won’t do it again.”

While she seemed wary, Kate helped her gather her things, reaching for the camera, and when she picked up part of it, her mouth fell open and she froze. Her hands squeezed the camera part until they nearly went white, and with a full-body shudder and gasp, she dropped it.

“Kate?”

“Sorry! I-I’m sorry, I dropped it again, I...don’t feel so good.” She wouldn’t look at Max. “I’ll help replace it.”

“It’s fine, it was really an accident.” The lie seemed more transparent the more Max told it. She still shook, and she noticed Kate was, too, but guessed she was just frightened.

Kate took her arm and walked her downstairs to her room, followed her inside, and waited with her while she got ready to leave. Chloe still hadn’t replied to her texts. She wanted to cry at that, too.

“I… I was going to set up before the Interfaith Alliance meeting in the lounge when I saw Nathan round the corner and sneak into the girl’s dorm. I was worried he was going to bother you again, so I followed him, but when I got there you were gone and the door was open… So I followed.”

She sat next to Kate on the couch, drawing comfort from the strong presence beside her. “Kate, you are an amazing friend. Seriously, I’m so lucky to have you.”

“Should you really be alone right now?”

“I won’t be alone, I still have plans with my friend. She just...isn’t getting back to me.” Max looked at her phone again, her conversation with Chloe still one-sided:

Chloe something happened please call me.

Chloe seriously I can’t tell you over text PLEASE.

I’m really scared I need you.

“Shouldn’t you get back to your club?”

Kate’s brow furrowed. “The club can wait if you’re still scared.”

“I’m fine, really. Just shaken. I owe you like, twenty cakes now, though.”

She finally got Kate to compromise and walk her to the bus stop, and she didn’t leave until Max got on the bus, waving at her from the stop as it pulled away. She really regretted have to lie to her, but Kate was probably safer if she didn’t know.

One call to Chloe only reached her voicemail, and Max stammered out something so vague as to be nonsensical, tripping over her words and her voice hoarse. She followed it up with a last text: Are you pissed I’m late or something? I’ll be at Two Whales soon. Please come I have to talk to you.