Everybody loves little Max Caulfield

The bus dropped her down the street. Max looked up and saw the house of her childhood, more vivid in her memory than her own old house. She smiled, thinking about the times she and Chloe used to run all around the neighbourhood. She still remembered every detail, their secret passages, their camps, where they hid their 'treasures'... It used to be their island, but now the steet looked like it was slowly decaying; less parked cars than before, most windows closed, almost nobody outside. Maybe seeing the place through her childish gaze made it seem more cheerful, more innocent, but Max doubted that it was the only reason. Everything in Arcadia Bay seemed less joyful than before, and she wasn't the only one noticing that.

She started walking. Her phone had stayed silent the whole day, making her even more worried. Something was off and she needed to know what.

During her classes that day (even Photography, which was incredible in itself since that was the most interesting lessons she was ever given the chance to follow), time felt slower and slower, as if Max was stuck in some kind of goo, moving very slowly towards the evening, towards Chloe. And now, she was finally there, right in front of her old friend's house.

The 44, Cedar Avenue looked the exact same as it did five years ago, apart from the fact that its colors seemed to have faded a bit, like an old photograph. It was still half painted, as William left it.

Seeing that pained Max a bit. William still held an important place in her heart, and being once again reminded of his death, even after five years, still hurt.

Looking up, she froze. Right there was the window to Chloe's room, and even though it was around 5. 30 pm, the shutters were closed.

Max stepped to the porch, trying not to breathe too hard, and knocked three times.

She heard footsteps, then the door opened.

"Max Caulfield!"

In front of her stood Joyce, Chloe's mother. She was beaming, as if she was happy for the first time in months.

"Hi Joyce" Max smiled back at her before being pulled into a tigtht embrace.

"Coming back home after taking over the big city I guess? I thought I'd never see you again. I'm glad."

Joyce pulled away to take a better look at the young woman she now had in front of her.

"Look at you... A lovely young woman. How are you doing Max?"

"It's nice to see you again. You look the same"

"Even after all this time? You're flattering me"

"No, I assure you. You still look pretty"

"And you're still as sweet as you were back then" said Joyce with a smile. "Oh, what a fool am I? Please, come in."

She stepped out of the way, closing the door behind Max before leading her to the living room. She sat at the table, inviting Max to do the same.

The interior let out the same impression as the facade: faded, but still looking more or less the same.

A man was sitting in the couch, looking at them with suspicion

"Hi", said Max, still standing, not knowing who she had in front of her. She felt like she saw him somewhere before.

"Hey there missy. Who are you?"

"David, this is Max, Chloe's old friend. The one she used to talk about all the time" explained Joyce on a calm tone.

Max frowned at the use of the past tense. David kept staring at her for a few seconds, before relaxing a bit.

"Nice to meet you, young lady"

"I know where I saw you!" exclaimed Max, before realizing how she just acted. David seemed once again skeptical. "Sorry", she blushed, before continuing on a lower tone. "I know where I saw you. You're working as a security officer at Blackwell, right? I... think I saw you yesterday"

His expression softened, seeming proud all of a sudden.

"Yes indeed I am. I am head of security at Blackwell. You were the one taking pictures all around campus with your instant camera, right?"

"Yes indeed I am. I am Max Caulfield, nice to meet you", repeated Max, imitating David's tone with a faint smug smile. He seemed surprised at first, before smiling in return, reaching out his hand toward Max.

"David Madsen, Joyce's husband"

Max shook his hand, surprised at first: Joyce had found someone. Max felt relief flowing through her, along with a bit of guilt. Not only had she never kept in touch with Chloe and Joyce, but she never even thought that her friend's mother would probably need to try to move on and get married again. She truly felt happy for her.

She looked back at Joyce, frowning once again. Chloe was nowhere to be seen, even though her voice could easily be heard from upstairs.

"Where is Chloe? I texted her two days ago, but she never answered" she said while sitting at the table in front of Joyce.

The waitress' face darkened. Behind her, David cleared his throat.

"Chloe..." she seemed uneasy. "Chloe isn't here... with us anymore"

Max's hear sunk. She froze. Time seemed to have slowed down, she had a hard time breathing. Chloe wasn't here anymore. The words echoed in her head. Chloe wasn't here anymore and she never kept in touch. Chloe wasn't here anymore and she never knew. Chloe wasn't here anymore and Max had lost her best friend.

"This... can't be" she choked, feeling tears filling her eyes, making everything blurry. "What... How... Chloe..."

"What is it, Max?" asked Joyce, both concerned and surprised. "What are you..."

"Wording, Joyce" said David's voice behind her. "Wording"

She turned to stare at him, then looked back at Max, who was still busy fighting back her tears. Suddenly, her expression shifted from worried to shocked.

"Oh no no no, that's not what I meant at all!" she almost screamed. Max stopped gasping, lifting her head to the waitress who had stood up

"W... What..?"

"Chloe's fine, she isn't living here anymore and that's it, she's not hurt or..." she srugged, before quickly glancing at the phone in the entrance. She left the sentence hang in the air for a bit, before quickly adding "She's totally fine".

Max stared at Joyce for a few seconds, then sunk her head in her hands, breathing loudly and wiping off her tears. After a few moments, she raised her head again.

Joyce sat back and sighed.

"I'm sorry Max. I guess I'm a bit stressed out lately"

"No... No biggie" Max stuttered, almost whispering.

Silence fell upon the room, until David groaned:

"She left three years ago without telling us anything. For weeks. Then one day she called out of the blue and informed us – or should I say, informed Joyce – that she was with that Amber girl, on some kind of road trip. Since then, she never came back and calls from time to time to keep u... to keep her mother updated"

Max noticed a sad expression in his eyes, which was gone as quicly as it had appeared.

Joyce nodded with another sigh, then added:

"Last time she called was one week ago. She and that girl, Rachel Amber were in... What was the name again?" she asked while turning around to look at David.

"Neah Bay", he grumbled in a slow, chopped voice. "The most northwestern town in the US – If you don't count Alaska. Don't ask me what they're doing there"

"So, everything's okay? Is she... happy?"

Joyce's face lit up a bit.

"Yes, yes I think she is. Even if it's not with us, as long as Chloe is happy, I'm happy"

Max thought that she didn't seem very 'happy', but kept that for herself. Joyce missed Chloe a lot, that was obvious.

"She didn't answer my texts, do you know why?" asked Max, trying to move the conversation away from Chloe's whereabouts. "Is she... that mad at me?"

Joyce chucled, smiling once again.

"No Max, she just broke her phone two years ago and had to change it"

Max repressed her need to facepalm. Ugh. Now that she knew it seemed evident. The idea that Chloe's number changed during those five years hadn't even crossed her mind – like a lot of things lately, she thought. Joyce added:

"Wait here, I'm gonna write that down for you"

She got up and went to the kitchen, to come back with a post-it note and a pen. She wrote Chloe's new number on it, and gave it to Max.

"There you go, young woman" she said with a smile. Max took the piece of paper with great care as if it was the Holy Grail, then looked back at Joyce.

"Thank you"

"No need to thank me Max. Chloe's been dying to hear from you for five years, you shouldn't make her wait any more than that."

Max cringed and scratched the back of her head.

"Yeah... Sorry again about that. She was my best friend and I never even called... I've been awful to her"

"Life often gets in the way, Max. Better late than never. Now don't wait any longer, go and make her day! We'll have all the time in the world to talk about the last five years later" Joyce was smiling as she said that. A genuine, happy smile.

Max got up and looked at her and David.

"I'll drop by the Two Whales soon. I can't wait to eat your waffles again, it's been so long..."

"That'll be on me then" and, as Max was about to protest, "No, you can't change my mind"

"Fine, if you say so", Max grinned. "See you later, Joyce. Bye Mr... Madson, was it..?"

"It's Madsen. See you at Blackwell, missy"

Max was back in her room. She took the note out of her pocket and entered the new contact in her phone.

"Hi Chloe, it's Max. Your mother gave me your num-"

"Shit!" cursed Max as her shaking hands once again sent the message before it was fully written. She resumed writing her text but within five seconds her phone started buzzing. Chloe was calling her.

Slowly, Max picked up and put her phone next to her ear. Then bruskly pulled it away as Chloe's screaming voice, still recognizable after five years, pierced the speakers

"YOU FUCKIN' SHITTIN' ME!!!"