Archive of Our Own

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THE NYWL PRESENTS: FRIDAY NIGHT MAYHEM

CAN ANYONE FINALLY TAKE DOWN “BONE SAW” McGRAW?

Arcadia Bay’s own underground ring is back this Friday night, and the reigning monster of the mat returns once again. Standing at six-foot-seven and weighing in his own words, “more than your mama’s pickup trick” Bone Saw McGraw enters the ring once more undefeated for the ninth consecutive event. Known for breaking two ribs, one jaw, and at least one folding chair in his last match alone, earning him a reputation of less of a wrestler and more as a public safety concern.

And yet, nobody’s managed to keep him down for longer than ten seconds. This ain’t boxing sweethearts, this is the Northwest Yard Wrestling League, the place where anything goes.

This month’s jackpot has climbed higher than ever before standing at a whopping:

$3,000 CASH

TO ANY FIGHTER WHO CAN LAST THREE MINUTES AGAINST BONE SAW.

Bets are already flooding in across Arcadia Bay, with current odds sitting at 12-to-1 in favor of Bone Saw after last month’s unforgettable “Parking Lot Massacre” match left his opponent leaving in an ambulance.

Still think you’ve got what it takes?

FRIDAY 9 PM

THE OLD SHIPYARD WAREHOUSE

ENTRY FEE: $10
BETTING TABLES OPEN AT 7 PM
MUST BE 18+ TO PARTICIPATE

The NYWL is not responsible for lost teeth, broken bones, concussions, missing personal items, emotional damage, brain damage…-

—————

The line outside the warehouse was longer than Max expected.

With the way the article described Bone Saw, she had figured the place would scare off everyone with a healthy sense of self-preservation. She didn’t know if it was due to desperation making people brave or money making people blind. Max liked to think she was the former.

What was it that Mr. Jefferson once said? “There’s a thin line between bravery and stupidity”. Well, Max might as well be using that line like a jump rope.

Looking at all the bright costumes from everyone around Max decided to glance down at her own choice in clothes. She immediately regreted the reminder.

Each time she swore it looked better… it just didn’t. At least no one would recognize her with the mask.

Currently, Max was wedged between two sweaty men who hadn’t worn deodorant all day. If ever. You could imagine her reaction.

Everyone around was shirtless, masked, and wearing shorts that were doing little to qualify as shorts and more as underwear. If this was what the article meant by “inventive costumes”, then Max was already in over her head.

Any other day she might have laughed at how ridiculous they all looked. Maybe even take a picture at the absurdity.

Tonight, she might as well be the headline of the joke.

The first thing was the mask, which was horrible by the way. The oversized goggles Warren had found and fitted onto the front made her look like some badly dribbled comic-book extra made by a toddler. The red fabric over her face was stitched rough and uneven. A few strands of hair in the inside had escaped her bun and brushed right next to her eyes and mouth. Max had to fight the urge to pull the whole thing off as it’d defeat the whole purpose of wearing it in the first place.

The first design had started with blue, but Max insisted on turning it red. It was both Chloe’s and William’s favorite color after all. If she was going to do something stupid in the name of helping the Prices, then she wanted to look the part.

So, they’d taken one of her old hoodies, painted it red, and paired it with blue pants. It was mismatched and clumsy, but it’d have to do.

~~

“-you sure there isn’t a less dangerous way to get cash?” Warren asked, lowering the newspaper from his face with a wince. “Just putting this out there, but I heard Mr. Jefferson’s looking for an assistant. Who knows, maybe he’d throw some cash. Guy’s rich after all, and I know you’ve been dying to work with him.”

“I do admire him,” Max said, “and maybe later on. But right now I need to get money as fast as possible.”

“And this is your plan?” Warren made a face. “Max, you can barely throw a punch. If you want to do something reckless then fine, go rob Victoria’s locker or something. I’d much prefer that over you getting folded in half by a man named Bone Saw of all things. I’ve been reading all about this dude, and he does not hesitate to…“ He made a gesture of slicing his throat with his thumb and clicked his tongue.

“I won’t be fighting him.”

Warren gestured to the sheet of paper aggressively. Making his point without speaking.

Max rolled her eyes and stepped closer to him. Tapping the headline. “All it says here is to last three minutes. I don’t have to win or anything. We’ve tested my reflexes all day, I can totally pull it off. I Won’t even break a sweat running from this guy.”

“Hopefully not break a bone either.”

“Warren. Superpowers, remember?”

He opened his mouth, then closed it. “I guess.” He said “I’m still not sure, but I guess your body your choices.”

“That’s not what the phrase… nevermind. You’re right, it’s my choice. No matter how possibly dumb it might be.”

“Possibly?”

Max bumped him again. He staggered back with force, barely catching himself on the edge of the table.

“Ow. Wow. Okay. Message received. I bow to your strength.”

In the end, Max tied her hair back into a messy bun, it was still too short to keep all the loose strands contained. Her fingers brushed the edge of the mask, checking whether they’d stick. When they didn’t - thank dog - she pulled it on and tucked the rest of the loose fabric into the hoodie.

Warren held up the goggles and helped settle them over her eyes. “There. I think that’s as good as it gets.”

Max squinted at her reflection. “How bad is it?

Warren folded into himself. “It’s… memorable.”

“It’s kind of goofy.”

“Yeah, that’s a nice way to put it.”

Max decides to ignore the comment. Not that she doesn’t agree.

“It is missing something.” He scratches the back of his head, eyeing her carefully. “Superheros always wear some sort of symbol on their chest. Comic book rules, remember? Maybe an “M” for Max?”

“Uh, that’s a no for me.”

“Think about it. Your superhero name could be “Maximus” or “Maximillion”, wouldn’t that be sick? Oh, oh! How about “Maxi-pede” like a bug but with Max slapped onto it.”

“I don’t think it makes sense for my fake name to contain my actual name. It defeats the purpose of it.”

Warren hums. “Then maybe a rad shape would do? I’ve seen people pull off thunder tattoos before, like the shape from Harry Potter but on your chest. That could be an option.”

“I dunno, doesn’t really scream “me”. Plus, I’m pretty sure it’s taken. Maybe a star?”

“Nah, I betcha they’ll be like four dudes with stars on their costumes there. We need to be creative here.”

Max glanced around the room, searching for inspiration as Warren rummaged through a drawer for paint. There were photos on the wall. Maybe a camera? Nah, too literal.

There was a candle in the corner of a table as well. Fire could be a cool ass design. Kind of generic though. Pass.

C’mon world, gimme something to work with here. Uhh, what stuff do I like? Photos, guitar, videogames, sunlight, tea, anime…

Max made the mistake of leaning toward a wall, her hand glueing automatically to it. At first she sighed in frustration thinking back on all the unfortunate times it did that, but when she really got to proper thinking something stuck. Something that wasn’t her hand.

She wasn’t wearing gloves currently, exposing the naked wrist a little. It was the spot where the bite took place in. The day everything started. The day a small, fast, mutated, agressive, colorful, little-

The answer in the end was so stupidly obvious she almost laughed.

“I think I got it.” Max said, somehow easily pulling her hand free. “How good are you with spray paint?”

“Like 1-10? I’d give myself a solid six. Contrary to popular belief I actually like drawing, but seating next to Daniel in class has really humbled me.” He gave the can a good shake. “We’re pretty limited in color right now and we’ve used up all the red, so black’s all I got right now. That a prob?”

“Not a prob bob. Black is all you need.”

~~

Max fidgeted with the front of her hoodie as she waited. Grabbing the corners of the sprayed-on spider Warren painted for her. It wasn’t centered quite right, a little larger to the left, but it’s fine.

She found herself flinching every time the crowd roared from the ring. That time was no different. It seemed Bone Saw won yet another match, at least that contestant lasted longer than the others. Kudos to you.

The place was chaos itself. Men shoved past each other without a single following sorry. The horror.

People shouted over one another like it was a fight itself. The whole room reeked of sweat, metal, and beer. It made Max dizzy.

Somewhere in the middle of it all, Max could see the ring. Glimpses of it at least. It was hard to see when a man half your built is standing in front of you.

“Bone Saw!” “Bone Saw!” “Bone Saw!”

The crowd cheered.

The so called Bone Saw was on a spree. He had one guy half off the mat by the arm before dropping him like a sack of laundry straight at a table, it broke on impact and probably broke something else as well. The people around seemed to love the violence for their voice doubled in size.

Max gulped at the scene.

Had this been a mistake?

Before she could talk herself out of it, the line shoved forward again. The man behind nudged her hard enough to make her stumble, Max had to catch herself before she went face-first into a stranger’s back.

A sign hung above the registration table. It read “3000 for 3 minutes”.

Around six minutes ago, it was far away enough so that she struggled to read it. Now it seemed to loom right over her head. Teasing her.

Only one person remained ahead of her. And in the next moment, there was no one but the table itself and the woman behind it.

The host called out another name. Max didn’t catch it. It was muffled beyond recognition thanks to her louder, rapidly increasing heart rate. For a moment Max worried she might just die from a heart attack.

Still, her body moved to the front.

“Hi.”

The woman at the table looked her up and down and barked, “Next!”

“Hey,” Max said, trying and failing to keep the nerves out of her voice. “You could at least let me speak.”

The woman snorted. “Get outta here, small fry, this ain’t a playground.”

“I’m here for the three-thousand-dollar challenge.”

That made the woman pause just long enough to stare at her. “You serious?”

“Hella serious.”

She looked Max over again, this time with obvious disbelief. “You understand this place is not responsible for any injuries you may and probably will sustain, and that you’re participating under your own free will?”

“Yes,” Max said, forcing her voice steady.

The woman scribbled on the form and jerked her thumb toward a hallway. “Ramp’s down there. Don’t get cute. And kid?”

Max looked up.

“May god be with you.”

She didn’t know what to make of that comment.

Instead, Max walked past the table hearing another “Next!” behind her as though she were already being swallowed by the place.

At the end of the hall, she caught the tail end of the previous fight and watched in horror as 300 pounds of muscle come crashing towards the last opponent’s chest. A hit like that could stop someone’s heart.

Oh boy.

You know, Max has had her own share of terrible ideas in the past. But this? This really takes the cake.

The announcer boomed through the speakers. “And we have a winner!” He tried to raise the fighter’s arm. The fighter lifted him instead with a single arm.

It didn’t take long for the host to spot Max as well. “And now,” he said, pointing at her. “We’ve got our next contender. Don’t judge this one by appearances, folks. She might surprise you!”

The crowd just laughed.

Oh boy. Oh fuck.

When he leaned in to say something private, his whole demeanor changed. “Name, kid?”

“The Human Spider.”

“The Human Spider?” The host repeated. Even going as so far to remove his sunglasses just to give her a proper look. “Really, that’s it? That’s the best you got?”

“It’s a work in progress.”

“Yeah? Well it sucks.” He placed his sunglasses back on and turned to the microphone. Switching personas once more. “Give it up for the agile, the fearless, the spectacular… Spider-Girl!”

“I thought we agreed on The Human Spider?” She whispered to the guy.

“I didn’t agree. I can at least save you from this embarrassment before having to move you to the hospital- And there she goes! The eleventh round of today’s ring!”

“Hold on, my name’s not even right-“

“Move it, crowd’s waiting!” He waved her off.

The lights hit her as she stepped closer to the ring, and the audience immediately let her have it. There were laughs, whistles, insults, someone even threw their popcorn at her. Max hunched instinctively, heat flooding her face under the mask.

It all reminded her of school, is that dumb? I mean, she could leave with a broken jaw and a missing finger, yet the thing that worried her the most was making a fool out of herself in front of all these people. She didn’t recognize a single face in the crowd, but still, she wanted them to recognize hers as a good thing.

It made her feel exposed. The kind of exposed Victoria and Nathan make her feel. The kind she felt when she was sitting in the mud getting picked on nine years ago. The kind that make her feel so uncomfortable she wanted to pull her skin off, yet so vulnerable she wanted to hide under even more layers.

Her heart pounded blood into her ears, louder at each step.

“Go home, kid!”

“Aw, is she gonna cry?”

“Bone Saw’s gonna rip each tooth out!”

“Someone give her a helmet!”

Max climbed the steps in a daze, the noise pounding at her from all sides. The guy on the mat beside her already getting carried out of the place groaning something about his legs.

That could be Max in a moment.

Maybe she should really reconsider this-

“BONE SAW!” “BONE SAW!” “BONE SAW!”

Geez, with the way the crowd began chanting you would think they were sacrificing her.

Bone Saw looked exactly like the newspaper promised. Like a frickin tank. Twice her size and thrice her built, already grinning like he knew how it was going to end.

The bell rang.

“Ladies and gentleman,” The announcer shouted. “Let the cage fight begin!”

Max blinked out of her daze. “Cage. What do you mean cage?”

On cue, metal bars started lowering around the ring.

“This can’t be real. I didn’t sign up for a cage match!” She snapped, turning toward the side as the structure locked into place.

One of the workers ignored her completely and finished securing the gate.

“Hey, unlock the thing! “ Max grabbed the bars. “Why didn’t the other guys get bars? Wait, wait, wait, take the chain off! Don’t leave! I’m too young for this, I lied-!”

But the man already left.

“Hey, little man.” Bone Saw’s voice called from the other side, his knuckles cracking.

“Uh, girl actually-“

“You’ve got three minutes to impress me.” Max could tell the man forced his voice to be raspier and lower than it actually was, it was a miracle how it hadn’t dried out yet. “You hear that, little man? Three minutes of me time.”

“Hey, Bone Saw sir, I made a mistake. I’m no adult nor a fighter, I’d rather walk the walk of shame and get off right now-“

He either didn’t care or didn’t hear her. Instead, he lunged himself like a bull. Headed toward Max.

Max let out a squeak. She shot upward and stuck herself to tha bars to climb them like a monkey. For once thankful of her sticky fingers. She hauled herself as high as possible, getting just enough distance to avoid the attack thank god. Yes, god, not dog.

Bone Saw slammed into the cage hard enough to rattle the whole thing.

He looked up at. “What are you doing up there.”

“Staying away from you obviously. What’s wrong, can’t climb?”

Bone Saw groaned like a dog in response. She took it as a yes.

The crowd booed. Someone yelled for her to get down and “act like a real fighter”. Good thing she isn’t. Max instead clung harder to the bars and tried very hard not to notice how unsteady her breathing had become.

Okay. It’s fine. It’s working. She toats got this.

“And the twenty second line has been crossed!” The host called. “But can Spider-Girl keep this up?”

Max glanced down at Bone Saw.

“You’re gonna stay up there the whole time?”

“That is the plan, yes.”

More boos erupted from outside. One guy near the front looked ready to throw his drink.

Bone saw jabbed a finger at her. “Coward! Get down here and face me like a real man!”

“I’m still pretty sure I’m not one of those.”

He snarled and shook the bars. The whole cage rattled. Max adjusted her grip, surprisingly, she kept her balance steady enough not to fall. Her happiness was cut short when the bars shifted with purpose beneath her, causing her grip to slip. Her body dropped just enough for her to kick off the side and land inside the cage.

“Are you cereal? So not fair.”

“You will be the cereal!” Bone Saw charged.

“That’s not what it- means oh shit!” Max avoided the attack.

Really, that was the only way of describing it. She didn’t think so much as go, her body already slipping to the side before the attack even started. Every motion her opponent made seemed to arrive in her mind a split second before it happened.

“And the first minute of the cage fight has passed! Can Spider-Girl really break the legendary streak of Bone Saw’s wrestling carrier? We’ll soon see, folks!” The host said.

“Dude, that’s not my name!” Max said before ducking another swing.

“Stop screwing around and fight me!”

“I’d rather not. I do like the shape of my body.”

“Die!” He lunged again, this time Max barely had to move. The world seemed to split into lines and angles. His weight, his footing, the shift in his shoulders, all of it pointed to where he would be. Max only had to turn with it, not against it.

Max didn’t even realize she was smiling until hearing the crowd gasp.

“When you say “die” do you mean it in a performative way or do you mean mean it? ‘Cause I’m starting to worry you might actually mean it.”

Stupidly, Max stayed still long enough for him to actually catch up to her. The ring was small, and the man was big, and with how she backed up far enough so that her heel hit the corner, she was indeed cornered.

Bone Saw grinned and threw his full weight forward with full confidence.

Max glanced down at her wrists. Under the red fabric and stitches, there was something else there. Something she didn’t actually expect to use.

Here goes nothing.

~~

“Not my best work, but I did what I could.” Warren said, setting the spray can aside. “I’m more of a pencil kind-of-guy.”

Max stared into the mirror feeling ridiculous.

Suddenly, her original suggestion of dressing like Hawt Dawg Man didn’t seem nearly as embarrassing.

“It gets the point across.” Was the best Max could manage.

“So, The Human Spider? That’s what we’re going with?” He clicked his tongue. “You sound like a rejected school mascot. No offence.”

“Adding “no offence” to an offensive sentence doesn’t make it less offensive.” Max replied. “It’s whatever anyways, the costume and name don’t matter, all that matters is getting that money. Ridiculous as it may be.”

While Max tried her best to make the costume more comfortable, Warren went to some of the drawers of the place. Eyeing each cabinet quickly before moving to the next. For this little mission they’ve decided to crash at his house as his mom wouldn’t be home until curfew. And by then, Max would already be gone sparinv enough time to clean up.

His mom loved Max anyways, she’d always tease them about being a couple which… Warren didn’t hate. Max felt mostly indifferent about it.

But nevermind that. Point is, his home meant his stuff. And his little thing he was searching for should be somewhere around…

“Here! Aha!” Warren exclaimed, he held up a pair of homemade wrist devices Max recognized immediately. “You remember my nylon polymer shear-thinning liquid expeller?”

Max squinted. “The web shooters.”

“Sure. The web shooters.”

“I remember the science tour version, yeah.”

“Exactly. Before I wasn’t exactly using them for anything useful,” Warren said, scratching the back of his neck. “But now that my best friend is apparently a spider-themed superhuman, I figured maybe they finally have a purpose.”

He set them into her hands.

Max frowned. “Warren, I could break these.”

“I can always make another pair.”

“But you’ve worked so hard on them.”

“And I’d rather risk my silly little gadgets than you.” He gave her a lopsided smile, though his ears turned as red as her suit. “I do have to warn you: they’re a little sensitive, so don’t yank them too hard.”

Max didn’t put them on right away.

Warren noticed. He stepped closer and adjusted the strap himself instead. “Seriously Max, wear them. They’re job is to be an escape rope in case anything goes wrong, okay?”

Max looked at the web shooters, then at him. As gently as one can with big ass goggles covering their eyes. “Thanks, Warren.“

“Always.” Finally, he finished setting them up. Thanks to the red, the web shooters actually match well with the outfit. Anyone without crazy good eye sight wouldn’t even tell they were there.

“I mean, what’s a spider without it’s web, right?”

~~

Max kept her breathing steady as she angled one of the shooters toward the top of the cage.

Bone Saw was already moving toward her again. The man was huge, fast enough to be a problem, and strong enough to make one bad mistake hurt. A lot. She swallowed and tried to line up the shot through the goggle’s blurry lens.

How do I use it anyways?

Easy. Warren’s voise echoed in her head from earlier. Just press the button here and it’ll shoot. You have to make sure the target’s close enough for it to stick though. Otherwise you’ll lose sweet momentum.

From her right wrist a white strand shoots up and succesfully connected to the corner of the roof. An excited hum happened around the crowd as they watched. She did her best to keep her hand from shaking.

And then what?

You just take a swing.

The web line yanked her up and across the ring in one fast arc. Her legs skimmed over Bone Saw’s shoulder by inches. She landed cleanly on the opposite side, one hand catching the bar while the other was still attached to the shooter.

Simple, right?

Wowsers.

I guess.

Max landed it so well the crowd seemed hesitant as to who to cheer for. Even the host took a long pause before speaking.

“It seems Spider-Girl isn’t called Spider-Girl for nothing!”

The moment must’ve lifted her ego for instead of Bone Saw coming at her, Max was the one coming toward him.

“How did you-“

Max’s fist didn’t allow him to finish the sentence. Seems in the end she lied to Warren, Max was going to fight him as well as win.

She snapped forward, caught him with a punch, and felt something in his face give way with a sharp crack.

The sound of something dropping caught her attention, at first she thought it might’ve been another pop corn thrown at her, but the sound wasn’t quite right. Then she considered it being a coin, but nope. Standing before her on the floor was Bone Saw’s tooth.

The crowd gasped alongside her.

Whoops.

“Oh crap.” She said, horrified. “I’m so sorry.”

Bone Saw wiped his mouth and spat, now actually furious. “You’re gonna pay for that, little insect.”

At least he wasn’t calling her a man now…

“I didn’t mean to hit that hard. I was holding back. Swear.” Max blurted. “I mean, you did try to hit me first, so you must admit it was fair-ish. But still, so not cool of me.”

He charged once more. The bell in her skull rang louder than it ever did before. Instead of a saving grace however, it distracted her, unsure as to where the danger actually was. It became awfully clear when something strong hit her square in the head though.

“Aw, fuck!” Max exclaimed as a chair. A foldding, metal, fucking chair came slamming to her face. Man, people weren’t exaggerating when they said they saw stars behind their eyes.

Her nose stung immediately, and something warm trickled beneath the mask. It mixed with the fabric and dropped down to her mouth with no way of wiping it off.

Max swayed, dizzy, but didn’t go down. Bone Saw was already raising the chair again, and somehow, that made her angry more than scared.

Her foot shot out.

Max pointed to where it’d hurt the most.

Bone Saw jerked backward with a yelp and dropped the chair.

“Hah,” Max said, breathless. “Bullseye.” It felt like something Chloe would say.

He doubled over, cursing, which was a perfectly reasonable response. Max could have laughed if she wasn’t fighting to not collapse instead.

The smart thing to do would have been to stay away for the remaining ninety seconds.

Instead of that, Max looked up at him and thought, stupidly, maybe she could actually win.

So she moved in.

~~

Max and Warren stared at the hole in the punching bag.

It had gone clean through to the other side. Neither of them spoke for a second.

It took a while, but Warren spoke. “I’m starting to get less worried about you and more worried about the other dude.”

Max looked at the damage. “Do you think if-… if that were his head I might’ve-“

“Nope.” Warren said immediately. “Let’s not go there. Please, don’t go there.”

“Right. Sorry. Too dark?”

“Dark enough you’d fall right into the darkside.” He replied, “You don’t think you can tone it down a notch? Or ten?”

“I can try.” There was no other safe thing to punch in the room, so Max settled on the side of the punching bag that didn’t have a hole.

The youtube tutorial said it was important to make sure you lined up the shoulder all the way to the elbow when the punch connects with the target. So that’s what Max does. She adjusted her stance and balled her hand into a fist once more, careful as to not clench too hard.

Once she got her shoulders lined up, Max made sure to hold back a little as she swung-

~~

-straight at the head. Not hard enough to go through his skull thankfully, but hard enough to make him stagger.

She didn’t wait, and took the moment to deliver a both second and final strike at his head again. Think of it as payback for the chair.

When Bone Saw didn’t stand up, the bars lifted.

The crowd exploded into cheers, but this time they were for her and not for him. A good kind of cheer too.

Max stood there, breathing hard, blood still warm and fresh under the edge of her mask.

The host rushed in and checked on Bone Saw. When confirming he wasn’t standing back up he grabbed Max’s arm and lifted it high. It felt silly with her height, but nobody seemed to care.

“Ladies and gentleman, give it up for the new champion: Spider-Girl!”

Max didn’t care he got the name wrong this time.

It cost her a lot of looking around for it to strike at her. The people who were cheering were cheering at her. The host was pointing and congratulating her. Screaming her name. Hardcore music - the kind Chloe would enjoy - started up because of her. The bars lifted up because it was Max who was standing. She won. She won.

She won!

She let out a breathless, disbelieving laugh that didn’t sound like her at all.

I won.

Max finally understood why people enjoyed loud parties. She still wouldn’t get one herself, but this felt addicting. So addicting she could get drunk on it. Looking around to see people smiling at you, celebrating you, admiring you.

For a single, fleeting moment she felt how it was to be Rachel Amber everyday.

She couldn’t help but raise her other arm as wellm wanting to extend this moment as far as possible.

If only she brought her camera with her, she’d take a picture and hang it in her mirror to remember this moment forever.

~~

Max stared at the single one hundread dollar bill shoved at her.

Her mood dropped straight through the floor.

“Now get outta here, kid.”

Smoke left his mouth alongside the bitter words. Max could literally see him with his feet lazily above the desk counting about thirty more of those bills. Max stood there for a second, testing the silence, hoping maybe he’d toss her something else.

“But the ad said three thousand.”

The man snorted. “Well check it again web head, it said three grand for three minutes. You pinned him in two. Can you put two and two together or do I need to spell it out for you?” His face came close to hers, close enough she could smell his horrid breath. “You didn’t earn shit. You got the fast-finish bonus, and that’s the hundred. That’s it. Be happy I’m paying you at all. And for the record, it said right there in fucking bold ass letters to be above eighteen.”

“I am eighteen.”

“Sure, and I’m rich. Now fuck off kid, I won’t repeat myself a third time.”

Max clenched the bill so hard it crumpled in her fist. She smoothed it against his desk, trying her best not to freak. “You don’t understand, I need the money. My friend’s in this horrible debt and I-“

“Are you deaf? I said get out!” He pointed to the door. “There, exit sign in vivid green. Leave, I’m not giving you anything else.”

“My friend could die-“

“Boohoo, cry me a river. If you don’t get out in the next five seconds I’ll make sure you leave without a single green in your red ass pockets. Get me?”

Max tapped her foot impatiently, looking back and forth between the door and him. Still, she didn’t leave. No matter how she sliced it, walking away meant nothing changed.

All that effort and bravery and fighting would amount to nothing. She won for dog’s sake. She did it. She deserved it.

The man rolled his eyes. “Three.”

Chloe would still have Damon and Frank breathing down her neck.

“Two.”

Joyce and William could lose their house. Heck, maybe Frank would get to them as well. All Max knew about drug dealers is from movies, she didn’t know how crazy they could get.

“One.”

Max lifted her chin. “Make me.”

Max wasn’t sure what possesed her to say those words, but she did. She did. Not her spider powers, not her instincts, but her and her alone through choice. Holding the money tightly on one hand while her mask in the other. She was aware her face wasn’t particularly intimidating, but hopefully her performance from before was convincing enough.

“Excuse me?”

“Make me. Grab it, I dare you.” She extends her hand with the bill.

He raises a hairy eyebrow. “Look missy, if you walk out the door right now I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“I’m serious.” She offered it even closer. “I double dog dare you.”

The man was weirded out by the wording but said nothing. He did what he was told and attempted to reach it. Max moved her hand up at the last second, just out of reach.

His face twisted. “Cute.”

He tried once more. Max lifted it farther in response.

Now he was irritated.

“You think this is some game, little girl?” She shoved his chair back and reached into his desk drawer. “Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.”

Max’s eyes flicked down just in time to catch the shape of the gun before he even pulled it out fully.

Her hand shot out.

The weapon flew sideways and slammed into the wall hard enough to rattle the frame.

“What the fuck?” He said, looking at the gun freshly covered in a web.

“Okay, how about a new offer?”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve.”

C’mon Max think, say something cool so he knows you mean business for real. What would Chloe say?

“A lot of muscle too since you’re short one champion now.”

Yes, nailed it!

Max pressed on before he could shut her down. “Bone Saw was the draw, wasn’t he? People came to see him and now he’s gone. Which means you’re standing with no headliner, and the crowd’s gonna want a new headliner. They’re gonna want a face who can sell a fight, who can be someone they actually want to bet on.” She tapped on the bill against her palm. “I can be that.”

He gave her a long, hard look. “You think beating one guy makes you some kind of star?”

“Doesn’t it?” Max risked it a little. She knew she was pushing it. “Look, you don’t have to make me the champion today. Call it a trial. Book me for the next few nights. Let me fight your regulars, put on a cool show, and if I win then you’ve got a new sell. People will come back because they’ll want to know if the girl who dropped Bone Saw can keep doing it.”

Truthfully, she had no evidence to support this claim. So it was all a game of luck really.

“You said it yourself. I pinned him in two minutes. I can totally do it again. Maybe I could add more sick moves the next time, like backflips, I learned I could do them today.”

His jaw worked for a second. “And what makes you think I’d trust some desperate teenage girl with my ring?”

“Because… if I’m desperate then it’s all the more reason to show up every night? Plus, lose or not, I’ll make you money.”

“You really believe all this?”

Max thought of Chloe. Of Frank. Of Joyce. Of William.

“Yeah,” she replied. “I do.”

For a long moment, he said nothing. Then he exhaled through his nose and rubbed a hand over his face.

“You’re not letting this go, are you?”

“Nope.”

He hides the rest of the money somewhere behind, probably worried Max might steal it. “You’re resilient, I’ll give you that much?”

“Am I convincing?”

“Not really.” Max frowned, about to speak again before he cut her off. “But you caught me on a good day. So, here’s the plan.”

Max brightened up immediately. “Thank you so so much-“

“Enough of that.” He holds a hand motioning her to stop. She does. “Six c’clock sharp. You fight, you win, you keep the crowd interested, and I’ll pay you a hundred a night.”

“Make it 150 and we’ll shake on it.”

He pays her no mind. “100 bucks.”

“120?”

“This ain’t a movie, kid. Keep playing around and I’ll cut it to fifty.”

“…a hundred it is then.” She offers a hand, confused when he doesn’t shake it. “Do I need to spit on it or something?”

“I don’t touch hippies... or dykes.” He grabbed a folder and placed it infront of her. “Just sign the waiver and get the fuck out of here.”

“Oh, okay.” Max took it, scanning the small print with a quickk frown. No medical coverage bla bla bla no responsability for injuries bla bla bla no liability if getting flattened, tossed, wrecked… yeah sounds legit.

She signed it.

“You won’t regret this sir.”

“Kid, I already do.”

He likes me. Max liked to think.

~~

After the fight - and after scrubbing most of the blood off her face in a gas station bathroom - Max biked toward the Price house with a crumbled hundred dollar bill stuffed inside her backpack.

She could feel a nasty bruise on her cheek where the chair hit her, and her nose kept threatening to start bleeding again.

The streets of Arcadia Bay were quiet this late at night. The kind of quiet that made every sound louder than it was. Her bike tires crackled over damp pavement while porch lights guided her though the light fog that seemed to appear this particular night. By the time she reached the Price household the adrenaline from the fight had finally started wearing off. Which only meant anxiety got it’s turn at the wheel of the Max-mobile.

The house sat dark and sleepy at the end of the street. The only thing that got her attention was the light peaking through the curtains of the bottom floor.

Home.

The thought came automatically now. It was a selfish thought really.

She adjusted the straps of her backpack and headed toward the porch before stopping short. The mailbox was hung open.

“Oh, c’mon.” Max muttered. “That’s how raccoons happen.”

At first, she only meant to close it. Really. She’s a decent person. But then when she reached for the little, metal, half-opened door and noticed all the envelopes inside. It practically called out to her first.

Final notice. Past due. The bright red letters screamed at her.

One tiny peak wouldn’t hurt.

She grabbed one of the envelopes pulled halfway out already - making sure to grab it with her sleeve as to not stick, or worse, rip it - and scanned over the numbers. It was an electrical bill. Unpaid.

She skimmed over the rest without opening them. There was another envelope underneath with a bank’s logo stamped across the corner. A third had bold lettering threatening late fees.

Max slowly looked up at the house again.

It wasn’t just the six hundread dollars now. She needed to make more.

“Shit,” she whispered. Stuffing back the envelopes and closing the metal door. Her emotions getting the best out of her and the small door ripped from mail. “C’mon, let go already.”

Max guiltily puts it in a way that (hopefully) wouldn’t fall and stepped back from the porch. The wrestling match didn’t seem that reckless anymore. A little crazy, she’ll admit, but necessary.

Thanks to her Caulfield luck there was a window upstairs cracked open just enough for air.

Using her powers for crime probably wasn’t heroic behavior. But was it really a crime to smuggle money in instead of out? It was… charity burglary. Totes different.

Max approached the side of the house and pressed her palm experimentally against the wooden siding, she gripped it like she did with the bars back at the fight and it instantly stuck.

It was still weird.

The climbing motion that followed was really awkward now that she wasn’t dodging for her life. A car passed somewhere down the street and Max froze on her tracks against the wall like the world’s biggest gecko. Of course, nobody saw her.

Eventually she reached the open window and hauled herself inside, collapsing onto the carpet with all the elegance of a dropped grocery bag. She stayed there for a second just breathing, checking the paremeter to see id anyone’s awake. Since her mask was covering her face she could only guess Joyce’s or William’s reaction to her breaking into their house.

When there was no one, she stood. The floorboards creaked beneath her sneakers.

Her soul nearly left her body when looking to the left. It was Joyce. Sleeping peacefully beneath the blankets with William’s side of the bed empty. Joyce didn’t seem to mind Max’s presence at least.

Max grabbed the bill and looked around.

Where the hell was she even supposed to put it?

Under the pillow? No, weirdo.

Nightstand drawer? No it- actually, it’s a decent idea. So Max quietly slid open the top drawer beside the bed and-

Nope. Not there. Ew, ew, ew. She’s never making eye contact will William again. Christ.

Max scanned the room for an alternative. It proved to be difficult since her powers didn’t come with night vision, but eventually, she found Joyce’s purse next to the door.

Bingo.

The scariest part was reaching for the zipper, her eyes darting between it and Joyce. The poor woman looked exhausted even asleep. There were faint shadows beneath her eyes Max had never really noticed before. Had she worn makeup to hide them? There were heavy stress lines too.

That was when Max finally slid the money into the purse. More determined than ever.

When the deed was done, Max stood once more reaching for the window before something pirckled at the back of her neck.

Not danger exactly, but awarness.

There were footsteps creeping closer.

Fuck. William!

When the doorknob started turning pure instinct took over as Max frickin jumped to the roof, her hand hit the ceiling first and stuck to it.

For one horrifying second she dangled there akwardly, backpack hanging downward while both feet scrambled for balance against air. Then her other hand planted firmly against the ceiling as well, followed by one sneaker, then the other, until she flattened herself against the plaster entirely upside down.

The bedroom door opened. William stepped inside rubbing sleep from his eyes.

From Max’s angle, the room looked upside down. She clung silently to the ceiling completely frozen in place. Fingers spread against the roof, muscles trembling not from effort but from fear.

Thankfully, William just yawned and walked to meet his wife on bed. Taking a few steps before-

-Max’s nose burned. The warmth from before tickling from inside her nose. It was blood. Why now? Oh, who am I kidding, of course now! All of her luck must’ve been wasted on the stupid window being open.

Max squeezed her eyes shut desperately willing it to stop through sheer want alone. It didn’t of course.

A red droplet splattered against the hardwood floor beneath her.

William stopped. Slowly, he looked down. He frowned at the small spot of red on the floorboards. At first he looked confused, then his gaze drifted upward toward the ceiling to check.

But by the time William fully looked up, the ceiling was empty.

He flinched at the sudden rattle of curtians, finding the window a lot more open than he let it.

Outside, Max clung flat against the side of the house just beneath the window, not even daring to breathe.

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shiiiit-

William looked through the window. For a moment, Max worried he’d check below. He didn’t. He only settled on slamming the window fully shot.

The relief blinded Max just enough to not notice her hoodie tugging sharply.

She failed to see a loose piece of red fabric snagged on the corner of the window latch as she left.

~~

Max struggled to sleep.

That part wasn’t new. Her eyebags were practically tattooed beneath her eyes at this point, dark enough to ruin every photograph with her in the front. It was one of her biggest insecurities. But usually, it came from overthinking. Tonight though, if she’d have to guess, it probably came from her superpowers.

Every time Max drifted to sleep, somethinf snapped her back away, deleting all previous progress of catching some z’s.

The radiator clicked, a toilet flushed, her phone buzzed, foosteps creaked through the dorm hallway. Anything. And every single time, Max’s entire body would jerk like she’d been electrocuted. No joke.

By the time sunlight started bleeding through the curtains, she genuinely couldn’t tell if she’d slept at all. The whole night had melted together into one long, twitchy blur.

At least it was Saturday. If this had happened before class, Max was pretty sure she’d collapse half-way through the day. And that’s being generous.

Still, contrary to popular belief, Max likes mornings. Quiet ones, anyways. So with the enthusiasm of a dying Victorian child she peeled herself out of bed and shuffled toward the bathroom. Not like she’d be getting anymore sleep anytime soon.

Max opened the door as gently as possible with two fingers. One more accidental doorknob casualty and Principal Wells would ship her to the military.

Empty. Yes! Another win for Max.

Max immediately claimed a sink and started brushing her teeth. She would at least, if it weren’t for the fact the toothpaste exploded right out of the tube and into the mirror infront. So much for being careful.

Max stared at the white splatter. “Cool.”

Was it bad she was getting used to this?

“Geez Max, don’t take it out on the toothpaste.”

Rachel Amber’s voice floated in from behind her.

Max didn’t flinch at it. Her body had warned her someone was coming in a few seconds earlier.

“Sorry.” Max mutteredm attempting to wipe the toothpaste off with a paper towel. It just smeared it even more. “You could say I’ve had a weird couple days.”

“I know the feeling.”

Rachel slipped into the sink beside hers with effortless grace. The sight of her without makeup, messy blonde hair, and an oversized blackwell shirt hanging off one shoulder was annoyingly humanizing.

Max hated that. It was easier to dislike Rachel Amber when she looked untouchable.

Was that a mean thing to think?

Rachel uncapped her toothpaste neatly, squeezing the right amount onto her toothbrush like she’d rehearsed it beforehand. Indirectly mocking Max for her own failure at it.

“I saw what you did in dodgeball.” Rachel said casually.

Max physically cringed.

“Kind of impossible not to.”

“Eh, I’d say Victoria had that one coming for a long time.” Rachel started brushing her teeth, the next words coming out muffled as a result. “Honestly? I thought it was impressive.”

Max made the mistake of glancing sideways. Rachel winked.

Oh, come on.

“You did?” Max asked around her own toothbrush.

“You kidding? You nailed her straight in the face across the gym. Not to mention all those crazy reflexes, I’ve never seen that side of you before.” Rachel leaned slightly closer. Knowing her, it was on purpose.

“It was an accident.”

“One hell of an accident.” Rachel hummed knowingly and kept brushing.

Dog, she was impossible to read. Rachel had this thing where she’d talk with people as if she were reading from a script. A script only she practiced beforehand.

Max hated how obvious she probably was by comparison to other more interesting people than her.

“You should stop underestimating yourself so much,” Rachel continued after spitting into the sink. “Being humble only goes so far. Some confidence would look good on you.”

“Sure.” Max focused aggressively on brushing her teeth.

When she finally turned toward the showers, Rachel’s expression shifted slightly. Her eyes narrowing toward Max’s face.

“What happened to your nose?”

The swelling had gone down a little overnight, but apparently not enough.

Max touched it instinctively. “I fell down the stairs.”

“You fell down the stairs.” Rachel repeated, testing the words.

“Yup.”

“And your nose just happened to get bruised perfectly across the bridge with no sign of injury anywhere else?”

“Gravity’s quirky like that.”

Rachel laughed softly under her breath. A sharp comparison to Max’s ugly snort.

“Did you at least go to the infirmary?”

“Yeah. Totally. It’ll heal okay so no need to worry.”

Rachel stared at her amused. “Did you get into a fight, Caulfield?”

“Of course not.” Max answered way too quickly. “I just happen to be a very clumsy individual.”

“Mm.” Rachel leaned against the sink. “Very clumsy indeed.”

She didn’t push further, which honestly made Max more nervous than if she had. Rachel clearly knew she was lying, but instead of being bothered by it, she just seemed entertained.

“But that’s not actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“You wanted to talk to me?”

Rachel smiled brightly. “No need to sound so terrified. Chloe’s obsessed with you, so I figured I should probably get to know the mysterious Max Caulfield eventually.”

“And,” Rachel added easily. “you’re cute.”

Max hated how that made her blush. “Uh,” She eloquently replied.

Rachel’s smile widened just a notch.

Dog, she knew exactly what she was doing.

“Anyway,” Rachel’s continued. “Kate, Daniel, and I are decorating the gym today for a middle school graduation thing. We need more people who can actually paint, I thought maybe you’d be interested?”

“Me? You picked me?”

“I’ve seen your sketchbook, mystery girl.”

Max narrowed her eyes. “You went through my stuff?”

“You left it open in photography class, remember? The other Wednesday?”

“Oh. Right.”

“And before you pretend otherwise, you’re good.”

“I mostly just doodle. Nothing serious.” It wasn’t until it left Max’s mouth that she began to worry if it sounded like compliment fishing.

“Max.” Rachel tilted her head. “You drew hands for fun. That either means your an art kid or a psycho. Don’t tell me your a psycho, Max.”

“I’d hope not.”

“Then you can help.” Rachel crossed her arms lightly, leaning toward the sink. “You in?”

Honestly, Max already knew she’d say yes.

After everything lately, the idea of spending a few hours just painting banners and pretending her like wasn’t actively spiraling into a comic book story sounded perfect.

Still, she tried not to sound too eager.

“Why art students specifically?” Max asked instead. “Couldn’t just grab random people? I’m sure even the stoners could help make balloons at least.”

“I could. But then I’d have to watch Trevor paint a graduation banner in neon green sharpie while high out of his mind.“

“Fair.”

“Also, Mr. Travis is supervising.”

Max simced sympathetically. Blackwell’s theater teacher treated stage decorations like military operations.

“Exactly. So unless you want him dramatically monologuing about “the death of artistic integrity” or some other bullshit for three straight hours, we need competent people.”

“Wow. You’re really selling this.”

“I know, right?”

Max tried not to smile. Failed a little.

“Okay,” she sighed. “I’m in.”

“Perfect. Meet us at the gym around say… eleven?”

“Sure.”

“It’s set then. I’ll see you there, mystery girl.” Rachel grabbed her shower stuff and disappeared behind the shower curtains.

It felt a little awkward to move to the stall next to hers soon after.

As always, instead of a relaxing wash, everything went wrong. While applying shampoo both her hands got stuck to her hair, and when they finally came off, her foot got stuck to one of the tiles in the floor instead. When Max yanked it free, the tile simply moved with it and disconnected from the rest.

“Aw man, not again. You were behaving just fine yesterday.”

Max said… to her foot.

“Everything okay in there?” Rachel called from nearby.

“Yep!” Max answered as she fought against her foot. “Everything’s super normal.”

A particular tug made her head hit a wall.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

In the end, she placed the tile back in it’s place and prayed no one would notice.

Then came Rachel’s muffled voice. Amused.

“You’re weird, Caulfield.”

~~

The gym was packed that day. Like somebody had shoved three entirely different student populations into one overheated room and hope they’d naturally coexist.

The basketball team had completely contaminated the air with sweat and cheap body spray, the smell thick enough that it reminded Max of the warehouse. Hayden, Logan, Zachary, Drew, two other guys Max only knew by face, and - worst of all - Nathan Prescott himself occupied most of the court. Sneakers squeaked violently against polished wood while basketballs slammed against the floor hard enough to make Max twitch every few seconds.

When she arrived Kate was immediately worried by the state of her nose. She brushed it off in her usual manner of course, but sweet as Kate is, she still worried for her.

The place looked… unprepared. Half the bleachers were extended for the middle school graduation, while ladders, folded chairs, paint buckets, and rolled-up banners cluttered the edge of the room. Principal Wells had apparently decided patrionism was essential to child development because a massive American flag hung across one wall, directly in the spot Rachel wanted the graduation banner.

“Why is it so huge?” She complained. “Are the sixth graders graduating into the military?”

Near the wall, old graffity peeked through layers of gray paint Blackwell never fully covered. It read “FREEDOM IS A JOKE”, and suddenly the random flag being there to cover it made sense.

Dana and the cheerleaders practiced nearby them as well, which only added to the sounds. Every few minutes one of the basketball players overshot a pass and nearly decapitated a girl holding pom-poms.

Meanwhile, the art students (them) were spread across the floor with big paper banners laid out beneath them trying to work around flying basketballs and the occasional screaming athlete.

Currently, Rachel, Kate and the surprising last-minute addition of Alyssa were occupied one side of the gym floor painting colorful paper stars and graduation cutouts.

On the other side sat Max, Daniel, and Brooke.

Truthfully, Max was being completely useless at the moment.

Daniel handled the actual sketching with impressive cursive skills while Brooke helped with wording, spacing, and measurements.

Max mostly sat there holding paint cups when asked. It didnt help she barely spoke with either of them.

Brooke still clearly disliked her existance personally, and Daniel - being close with Brooke - never really warmed up to her either by default. Every suggestion Max offered got met with either Brooke’s mildly judgmental stare or Daniel politely talking over her.

Which sucked, because Max genuinely thought both of them as cool.

“Yo, Max.” Surprisingly, it was Brooke who called her. “Is it centered?”

Max couldn’t help but freeze at the sudden question, waiting for her brain to catch up to it. What’s centered? Was Brooke talking about the banner, her glasses, the posters, the paper stars?

“Uh, you mean the banner?”

Brooke squinted at her like she was dumb. “Yes the banner. The thing we’ve been working on for the past twenty minutes?”

“Oh, duh.” Max corrected quickly. “I think it’s coming off nice.”

Brooke seemed unsatisfied.

Coincidentally, Dana walked over from cheer practice looking for her water bottle.

“Yo, nice landing earlier.” Brooke called.

Dana brightened instantly. “Oh my gosh, thank you! Taylor’s been trying to steal my spot all week, so I’ve been trying a little extra during practice now. Who knew rivalry was such a good motivator?”

“Don’t I know it.” Max couldn’t help but feel a little targeted. “By the way, does this look crooked to you? There’s something off about it but I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Hm.” Dana tilted her head at the paper, taking a long sip before responding. “It is a little to the right.”

“I knew it.”

Max shrunk on herself.

“Hm, perhaps I could try making the L shorter? It does stick out weird.”

“Yeah, good thinking Daniel.”

They continued working on just fine.

Ugh, duh she meant the banner! So stupid.

Max glanced to see how the other three faired.

Rachel was kneeling beside Kate helping paint gold letters while Alyssa worked on cutting paper nearby. Rachel said something Max couldn’t hear, but it made Kate laugh in a way she’d never heard before. She seemed a lot happier in comparison to when she was with Max sipping tea. Was Max that boring?

Max had hoped they’d be friends due to being the quiet ones in class. Guess not.

A basketball suddenly rammed against the floor nearby hard enough to yank Max away from her thoughts.

Then another came flying toward Rachel’s group. It knocked into a paint bucket beside Alyssa, splattering bright blue paint across her jeans and straight over the paper decorations.

“Asshole, you did it on purpose!” Rachel snapped toward the court.

If it wasn’t Rachel who said it, Nathan would’ve probably just thrown them the middle finger. Since it was, he just scoffed and retrieved the ball to keep playing.

Kate panicked. “Oh gosh, the stars they’re-“

“It’s fine.” Rachel said instantly. “-We can repaint this part, it’s only a few of them.-“

Alyssa stood awkwardly, staring down her pants and covering the stain with her hands in shame.

Max sighed and stood to help before another ball flew straight toward Alyssa’s head.

This time, Max was ready for it. Catching it in a swift motion with a loud bang she didn’t even flinched to, it smacked directly to her palm before she even had to grip it.

“Woah,” Alyssa said, “nice reflexes Max.“

“Oh, thanks.”

Only then did she notice the others looking at her. Rachel, Daniel, Brooke, Kate… all staring in some alternative or combination of the word: shock.

“Hey, pass the ball, dyke! “Nathan shouted at her. Gesturing for her to toss it.

Max let go of her grip, but the ball stuck to her. She tried tugging it a little before abruptly stopping. An idea coming to mind.

“I’ll be right back.“ Max whispered to Rachel and the others. The blonde raising an eyebrow at the action but letting her go.

Max walked toward Nathan. He looked annoyed already by the time she stopped a few feet in front of him.

“Well?” He snapped. “If you’re too weak to throw it then just hand it over.”

A voice echoed in Max’s head. One that reeked of smoke.

What if she didn’t want to?

“Boohoo, cry me a river. If you don’t get out in the next five seconds I’ll make sure you leave without a single green in your red ass pockets. Get me?”

It was the man from the other night, the one that gave her the money, the one who refused to give her more until she finally stood her ground.

If you don’t leave in the next three seconds…

Could she do that? Stand up to Nathan?

“Three.”

Considering his family was old money, it was dangerous to mess with him. He could ruin her in a lot more ways than just some spray paint. No one would blame her for turning the other way.

“Two.”

But her eyes didn’t stop darting between the ball and him. Max wasn’t even sure what she was considering, what her plan or end goal was.

“One.”

It would be reckless. Stupid. unnecessary. And yet Max couldn’t help herself.

“Make me.”

“What the fuck did you just say to me?”

Max’s heart hammered into her throat. She couldn’t recall saying it out loud. But the deed was done. The words were out.

“Go ahead, make me. Take the ball.”

For some reason, Nathan hesitated.

“Move Nathan!” Logan shouted from behind. “You gonna let Caulfield of all people son you like that?”

His ears turned red. Unsure if it was from embarrassment or from anger. “Shut it asshole!” He screamed back.

“Fine, you wanna play this game huh? Fucking fine. You don’t fucking scare me.”

“You know swearing doesn’t actually make you sound cooler, right?”

Nathan lunged for the ball but Max was too fast. She switched it to her other hand from behind before he even got there.

Somewhere around people laughed. Actually laughed. Not at her, but with her. Wowsers.

It made Nathan all the more eager to get the ball quickly, but if anything, it cost him to be a lot more sloppy with his attempts. Max would duck under his arm and bounce the ball once before catching it again. Testing his patience. Every movement fell natural to her. She’d bend and twist and slip out of his way, risked some ball throws just to mess with him.

At one point she fake-hit the ball toward his face to which he flinched strongly.

“Oh shit.” Someone wheezed.

“Just take it.” Max would say sweetly.

Nathan stopped moving entirely for a second, humiliation written all over his fave. That probably should’ve been where Max stopped, but it only got her to switch methods.

“How about this?” Max offered the ball even more and covered her eyes dramatically with one hand, even going as far as looking the opposite way. “Take it. For real this time. I won’t even look, see?”

He eyed at the ball suspiciously. Max didn’t need to see to know.

“C’mon Nathan, just take it. It’s okay.”

He indeed grabbed the ball, but nothing happened. He tugged to get it free but the ball wouldn’t budge from Max’s grasp. He practically strained his whole body to get it off, using both hands to pull, but it simply didn’t listen. The ball remained firmly glued to her hand.

Snickers spread across the gym.

“Stop laughing, this isn’t funny!” He barked at everyone else.

“I’m not laughing Nathan, take it.”

“You shut it, virgin! I don’t know what type of shit you put in this ball, but cut it out.”

Max removed her hands to look at him. “I’m not doing anything, maybe the ball just likes me more. Plus, how would I even do that? You were using it first.”

“Bull-fucking-shit, I bet your greasy ass hands smeared all over the fucker and sticked to it. You seem like the dirty type.”

“Bold coming from you.“

“You don’t get to tell me shit, whore.”

“I thought I was a virgin?”

On Nathan’s next desperate grab attempt, Max slipped around him entirely and noticed the basketball hoop behind him.

Could I?

Max bounced the ball once as she backed up slowly. The rest of the basketball team watched curiously now, but nobody moved to stop her.

Nathan crouched defensively in front of the hoop.

Seeing him nervous about something - about her of all things - was amazingly satisfying.

Watching him prepare himself to block her felt ridiculous know. He didn’t know about Max’s powers. But she did. She knew there was no chance she’d lose this shot, and an even lower one of him stopping her.

So Max sprinted forward without hesitation. She feinted right and slipped past him effortlessly, even wasting some momentum just to tap his ankle enough during the turn for him to tumble over himself and embarrass himself even further. Hah, gotcha!

Then she jumped. A lot higher than expected.

For two glorious seconds everything slowed from her perspective, it allowed her to see everyone and everything around. Maybe this would make it so that Brooke gave her a chance. Maybe Kate would find her cooler to hang out with. Maybe Rachel would be amazed once more. Maybe Nathan would stop bothering her.

Maybe-

CRASH

The backboard shattered.

The hoop tore loose violently as Max dunked hard enough for the entire support post to shake.

Glass rained onto the court and Max landed right beneath it. Every single person staring at her.

For the first time since Max’s come here. The gym went quiet.

Max blinked up at the broken hoop hanging sideways above her. Then, in the most high-pitched, nasal voice she could muster she said, “Heh, did I do that?” (Iykyk)

Since when do I say stuff like that out loud?

~~

Naturally, she got sent straight to Principal Wells. He was a lot less understanding this time around.

Max wasn’t too bothered by the lecture itself. She’d survive enough disappointed-teacher speeches to mentally tune most of them out by now. What bothered her was seeing William called into the office.

Apparently, because her parents lived all the way in Seattle, the school needed a “trusted adult” to replace them to discuss disciplinary action. With Joyce busy at work, William was the one to come.

Max had never seen him pissed before. He wasn’t screaming or anything, but she could tell he was not happy with the news.

The meeting itself dragged on forever. Principal Wells went on and on about “violent behavior”, “destruction of school property”, and “concerning aggression toward fellow students”. Nathan Prescott conveniently got referred to as the victim despite the fact he’d been tormenting half the school since freshman year.

In the end, Max got assigned three weeks of community service helping maintenance replace damaged sports equipment an assist with upcoming school events. She’d also be suspended from extracurricular activities until further notice, which didn’t affect her much considering she barely participated in anything anyway. Still. It sucked.

When the office doors finally opened, Max fled into the hallway. William followed behind at a slower pace.

The school had mostly emptied by now, but there were sounds outside of people hanging with each other. Max envied them.

William caught up beside her at one point.

“You do know they won’t make you pay for the backboard.” Max said. Regretting the words shortly after.

William sighed. “It’s not about the backboard, Max. I just want to talk.” They stopped near the row of lockers outside the science wing. “So far, all I’ve heard is Principal Well’s version of events. Now I wanna hear yours. Was what he said true?”

Max weakly nodded.

“I need actual words, kiddo.”

“I… did mess around with Nathan and broke the backboard. I dunked it too hard I guess.” It was actually kind of cool, she wanted to add. But didn’t for obvious reasons.

“Forget about the backboard for now. Did you humiliate that boy on purpose?”

“…Yeah.” Max hesitated briefly. “But this guy? He’s a total jerk, he deserved it. Even more so than Victoria. You should’ve seen what he did to my room.”

William’s expression shifted at the last sentence, but decided to focus on the previous one. “So you do believe Victoria deserved to get hurt.”

“Maybe not to that extent, but honestly? Yes. They do deserve to get something bad. They treat everyone else like total garbage but the second someone else does the same, they can’t take it.“

William hummed. “So all this is about getting even. If so you must feel pretty good about yourself.” His reasoning came with a little sarcasm, as if daring her to admit he’s right. “Am I right or wrong?”

Max looked at the floor for she didn’t know the answer. At first it did feel good, but now it’s all dulles out. It wasn’t regret pre se, but it wasn’t entirely satisfaction either.

“Am I?”

Max didn’t respond.

William took this opportunity to look at her face more properly. His demeanor changing to a more worried one.

“What happened to your face?”

“I fell.”

“You fell.” His eyebrow lifted.

“It’s nothing.”

William’s face softened. His facial features melting back to where they are usually. “C’mere you, let me see.”

Before Max could protest, he gently tilted her chin up and toward the light coming from the windows. His hands were rough from years of fixing cars and hauling tools around, but careful. Always gentle and always careful.

Max felt six again.

“Did somebody do this to you?”

“No.”

“Was it this boy we’re talking about? Nathan?”

“No.”

He didn’t look convinced. “You sure?”

“Yeah.”

He sighed. Max could tell with the way his eyes went all over the place he was looking for another way to get her to open up.

“You know,” William started. “when Chloe was twelve, she tried telling me a skateboard did this exact same thing to her face.”

“I’m guessing it didn’t.”

“Nope. Turns out she’d gotten punched by a girl named Brittany behind the arcade.”

“Oh, yeah. I remember Brittany.”

“Mhm. She lied because she thought I’d be disappointed in her.” William let go of her gently. Max stopped looking at the floor now, instead, she looked at him. “And guess what? I wasn’t disappointed she got hurt. I was disappointed she thought she had to hide it from me.”

William searched Max for answers, and when she didn’t deliver them, he stopped pushing. “Listen, I’m not trying to imply Nathan’s completely innocent in the situation. Kid’s got big issues, I get that. But I need you to get that what you did today wasn’t standing up for yourself. There are ways to do things and ways to not.”

“But you always say you should treat people like they treat you.”

William frowned. “What I meant is that you shouldn’t let people mistreat you. You can stand up for yourself without stepping down to their level. Without being cruel.”

“But they always laugh at me. It’s not fair.”

“Oh, Max.”

She hated how gentle he sounded saying it. Like she was frail. Like he saw her like everyone else did.

“I know what you’re going through. And I don’t mean it in a “problems seem bigger than they are” kind of way - I’d never pull that card on you - what I mean is that I was a weird kid too. Still am, according to Joyce.” He laughed. “But hey, being weird is cool now. Who cares. All the people you admire? That one guy, I forgot his name, the photographer you have a poster on in your locker?”

“Andy Warhol?”

“Andy Warhol. He was a weirdo too. All the artists you admire were too, it’s what made them stand out from being boring. Ask Mr. Jefferson if you’d like. I can guarantee he’ll tell you the same.“

“Maybe.”

There was a quick silence between Max standing awkwardly and William glancing at his watch.

“Well,” he said gently. “Thanks to this little escapade I missed my job appointment.”

Max’s stomach dropped. “What?”

“Yup. It cost me a long while to get it too.”

That must’ve been the reason why he was up so late the other night.

“Oh.” Was all Max said, because really, what do you say to that?

William’s voice stayed calm, but exhaustion crept into it now. “I’m not trying to guilt trip you, I just need you to understand something. Actions like these? They have concequences. Not just to you, but to everybody around as well. If somebody’s messing with you at school, you come to me. Or Joyce. Or Chloe. Not do this.”

Max nodded.

“You aren’t alone in this. You have tools. Use them, okay?”

Max gripped her phone tighter in her pocket. “Okay.” It kept buzzing with messages and calls.

William studied her face again.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, sorry, just my mom. She’s been dying to scold me ever since she heard about… you know.” Her phone started ringing loudly in her hoodie pocket. The words “mom” right at the center of the screen. “Aw sucks.”

“Haven’t heard that one in a while.” William chuckled. “But don’t worry, your mom loves you too much to stay mad long. Trust me.”

Max smiled at him, then took a step backward. Pointing to her phone.

“I should probably take this.”

Before she could fully turn away, William gently caught her shoulder. No alarm in her body indicated he’d do this, as if her powers somehow recognized William wasn’t a threat. Weird.

“We’ll talk more later, okay?” William said quietly. “It’s important we do.”

Max looked down at his hand.

Then up at him.

“Thanks but… you aren’t my dad, William. Worry about Chloe.” Max said. “I’ll be fine.”

The words came out meaner than she’d like.

His hand dropped after.

“Right. Take care, Max.”

For some reason, Max couldn’t stand being in the same room as him much longer. So instead of apologizing or adding anything, she stepped away and answered her phone without looking back.

“Hi mom,” she muttered while walking toward the exit. “Yeah, I know. I know.”