Some Explaining To Do
The first thing Victoria tried was calling Max’s phone.
There was no answer.
That was when the panic began to set in.
“You’ve reached the phone of Max Caulfield - and I’m sorry that I’m not available right now. Please, leave a message.”
She hung up instead.
Her hand buried itself into her hair, and crawled against her scalp like a bug. She began to pace.
If someone had been there to slap some sense into her, she would’ve realized that this was unbecoming behavior. That pacing her room frantically like this wasn’t something that Victoria would do - certainly not over a bug like Maxine. That what was brewing in her chest should’ve been vague annoyance, mabe irritation - not rage and panic.
She slammed a fist against the wall - and took great satisfaction in the dull thud of heat that spread across her hand, thorny and painful.
Fucking Maxine.
Slipping through her fingers, staring at her with vulnerable eyes - trusting, doe-like, impossible Maxine.
Her Maxine.
“Who didn’t answer my call.” She muttered - her hand buried itself deeper into her hair. Her skin felt like it was stuck to her flesh, a layer of wet kelp. “Who’s fucking ignoring me.”
No.
No, of course not. Not her Maxine. Maxine would never ignore her. Maxine would never slip through her fingers like this.
Someone else - it had to be someone else. Or something else. It was the only way.
Her phone. It wasn’t on her.
Her room.
Victoria ripped the plug from the outlet with a snarl, staring at the phone that Maxine had left behind when she went… somewhere.
She’d left it charging.
She took the phone and tapped in the code. No guilty voice whispered in the back of her head this time.
Call history:
Chloe Price ;) I 4:32 PM
Chloe Price.
The name rung a very vague, very distant bell in the back of her mind.
...Chloe Price.
I’m Rachel Amber’s plus one.
Right. She’d borrowed a smoke from her.
...Why the fuck was Rachel’s plus one calling her Maxine?
She considered.
She could call up Rachel, and ask what the fuck was going on - but there was a chance Dawn had no idea what was happening. Even if she did know, there was a chance she didn’t know where Price was right now - and that was what was important.
How long had Price been around? How long had she gone, with her claws in her Maxine? How long had she been working at pulling her away - away from her best friend? How long had she been working to get her to go away, run off - without Maxine even telling Victoria.
How long had this been happening?
How had she missed it?
(Now is not the time to get angry, Victoria. You’ve got a friend to take back.)
Yes. Right. Not the time to be mad.
Plan. She needed a plan. And calling Dawn wouldn’t work.
...She looked back down at Maxine’s phone.
Price was on speed dial.
She pressed call.
Brrrring.
Brrrring.
Brrrring.
Brrrring.
Brr-
“...Hello? Who is this?”
In a moment, she composed herself.
“Yeah, hi - are you Chloe Price, by any chance?”
“Yeah, that’s me. Why do you have Max’s phone?”
The truth wasn’t an option. Price was already working to tear Maxine away from her - she wouldn’t let Victoria talk to her, that was for sure.
“Hi!” She said, in her best Dana impression. “My name is Taylor Belle - Max might’ve mentioned me? Yeah, I found her phone just… laying in the hallway? I think she dropped it! Is she with you, maybe - I noticed she called you pretty recently?”
Her knuckles turned white as her nails dug into her palms. She kept her tone polite.
“Oh! You’re Max’s friend, then? Yeah, I’ll hand the phone over to her - we’ll have to hang out sometime, though. Talk shop.”
“Sure! Can I talk to Max now, please?”
She felt a drop of blood drip down to her knuckles, and onto the floor. She ignored it.
“Yeah - alright. One mo’.
...Hello? Who is this?”
“What the fuck are you doing, Maxine?” She hissed - she heard Maxine make a tiny noise into the receiver.
“Wha - Vict-”
“Where are you?” She hissed, before Maxine could really even start processing.
“T-the junkyard? But I’m not - what’s wr-”
Click.
She shoved Maxine's phone into her pocket, and walked to the door - just barely managing to keep her speed down to a brisk walk.
You’ll regret this, Chloe Price.
And you’ll have some explaining to do, Maxine.