Fragile Bones
Max recommended they go towards Los Angeles so Chloe could see it before they decided where they would settle. They ended up camping out in the Mojave Desert somewhere near Lancaster. They had been sleeping in the truck for the last 2 nights down a back road into the desert and made a trip into the city during the day if they were feeling up to it to get supplies. Chloe was happy with it because Lancaster was only about 70 miles down the highway from down town LA. She couldn’t wait to go back into the city again after driving through it. Max had since been running out a steam as news spilled out about what happened in their little town on the bay and the many people lost during the storm. As they laid in the bed of the truck staring out at the stars above them Max spoke up.
“Are you sure you want to do this Che?” She said quietly as if she might disturb the silence of the desert around them.
Chloe rolled onto her side to face Max and studied her for a moment before opening her mouth to speak. “What do mean?” she asked.
Max shook her head and spoke up “I mean just the two of us? Do you think we can make it out here after everything that’s happened?”
Chloe laid silently for a moment as if she was mulling over the question, what she could say that would drive away Max’s doubts. “Maximus we just used time travel to solve a missing persons case and found her killer. If we can handle that we can handle anything.”
Max shrugged as if she wasn’t convinced, but knew deep down that there was very little that could really make her feel better at the time.
Chloe spoke up again “Are you sure you want to do this? You could always go home and finish school you know.” She said half-heartedly, willing herself to believe that she was okay with this option.
Max scoffed “Yeah right! Who knows what kind of trouble you would get in without me!” She said as she looked over at her best friend with a wide smile.
Chloe chuckled “Oh, you know just the usual. Blackmailing murderous rich kids and waving a gun at drug dealers probably.”
The two of them fell back into silence, Max looking at the stars above them and Chloe looking at Max as if she was better than any star ever could be. Max fell asleep first, tossing and turning with every dream and nightmare alike. Despite her best efforts to fight off sleep Chloe followed soon after.
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The next morning Max woke up first, as she normally did, to the bright hot sun raising on them. She sat up and let out a yawn before glancing at her sleeping companion. Max couldn’t help but admire her as the sun reflected off of her porcelain skin. Her blue hair against the yellow truck and the faded yellow blending into the sprawling desert around them. Max carefully fetched her camera from the duffle bag that rested above them and climbed onto the roof of the old truck. She laid down with the camera and shuffled back and forth until she got the perfect angle. Chloe fast asleep in the bed of the truck amongst the vast desert and sun raising in the horizon, Max decided that this was her new ‘golden hour’. As the camera whirred and clicked Chloe broke the silence.
“Caulfield I swear if you just took a picture of me” she threatened as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “What are you even doing awake so early?” she asked.
Max slid off of the roof and back into the bed of the truck before settling in next to Chloe. She leaned against her and held out the photo in front of them “Taking advantage of the view” she stated.
Chloe shook her head “If you’re trying to take advantage of me shouldn’t you at least buy me a couple of drinks first?” She said jokingly with a raised eyebrow. Chloe kept her eyes glue to the Polaroid in front of her. She wanted to compliment it, tell Max how absolutely breathtaking it was, how beautiful her mind was. The talent Max had never stopped amazing Chloe and seeing her work was one of the few things that could truly take her breath away.
Max rolled her eyes “You’re horrible Che.” Max nudged her and made her way out of the truck bed “Now can we go get a bite to eat somewhere? I’m starving.”
Chloe stretched her arms up over her head and let out a short groan before getting to her feet and out of the bed of the truck, pulling open the old rusty car door. Soon they were driving down the now familiar dusty road back out of the desert. Max had her feet propped up on the dashboard of the truck and her head leaning against the window as she watched the scenery pass by. Chloe found herself glancing over at her often, a smile creeping across her face. Seeing Max look so content gave Chloe some peace of mind, regardless of the fact that she was sure it would be short lived. In three days they would either have to head to Portland and follow her parent’s demands or Max was going to have to deal with whatever consequences came from refusing to do so. She tried not to think about it much, but it scared her not knowing what Max’s parents had in mind. She couldn’t imagine being away from Max after everything that had happened in the last few weeks.
They pulled up at a gas station and Chloe parked at one of the old gas pumps “I’ll go pay the guy for gas and I’ll grab us something to eat if you’re down to pump the gas.” She said as she took the keys out of the ignition and swung open her door.
“Yeah that’s fine, but you better get me something good this time Price!” She said with a smile as she jumped out of the truck.
Could she really be any more perfect?
Chloe smirked “Oh I’ll make sure you get something good” she blurted out before giving a wink and jogging into the gas station.
Max rolled her eyes and leaned against the truck as she waited for the gas pump to kick on. She and Chloe had been doing this sort of thing since the day Chloe gave her that dare. They flirt back and forth, mostly Chloe making suggestive comments. Max wanted to flirt back, but Chloe had a way of turning Max into a flustered ball of nervousness. She had no idea where it left them. Was is just a fun little game that they were playing or did the relationship between them really change that day? Max couldn’t get it out of her head. The gas pump in front of her started to illuminate the gas options urging her to fill up the truck. Soon after she started Chloe came bounding out of the gas station with an armful of junk food and a bag of chips hanging out of her mouth. She pulled the truck door open and dropped everything onto the seat.
“I got us breakfast sandwiches and a shit ton of snack food.” She said as she shut the truck door “It’s going to rain tonight though so we might want to find a cheap hotel for the night. Oh and dude I talked to the cashier and I think I found a pretty rad way to meet people in the area” She added with a shit eating grin that said she was definitely plotting something.
The two of them got back into the truck and began to eat the now hardly warm breakfast sandwiches while Chloe told Max about a sort of party she had heard about between bites. Max found herself zoned out and staring at Chloe. He pale white porcelain skin made Max want to reach out and touch her, to be touching her whenever she possibly could be. Her fading blue hair covered by a backwards snapback they got along the way was just as mesmerizing as always, but her eyes were by far the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. No sunrise or sunset could hold a candle to the way Chloe’s blue eyes sparkled with excitement or how stormy they became when she was feeling down.
I guess the eyes really are the window to the soul
“Hello! Earth to Maxi pad are we going or not?” Chloe said much louder than necessary snapping Max out of her trance.
“Uhh…yeah totally I’m so ready!” Max forced out, quickly realizing that she had no idea what she just agreed to. She didn’t really need to though, she knew that she would follow Chloe to wherever she wanted to go that night as long as she got to see her smile. Chloe was probably hurting a lot more than she was letting on, Max found herself worrying more about her sometimes than she did herself.
Wowser when did this get so cheesy
Chloe had left out a little detail though, it was less so a party, and more so a rave in some warehouse. What Max was going to soon realize was that Chloe had full intention of taking part in what the rave had to offer, drugs and alcohol included.