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All three of them are sitting in Rachel's dorm one evening shortly after the day's classes had ended, attempting to kill some time while Rachel finishes her English assignment. Max takes the bed, idly tapping on her phone; Chloe sinks into the beanbag, having thrown herself into it before anyone else could even think about taking it.
They've been relaxing in the dorm for just over 20 minutes, and Chloe's bursting with her unique brand of restless energy and tapping her fingers on the book in her lap to a beat that Max cannot even hope to follow. There's a plain frustration in her eyes as she stares at the cover looking like she's hoping to bore a hole in it through a combination of her fierce glare and sheer force of will. Max can tell that she's going to let that energy out soon, probably by throwing a punk CD on Rachel's stereo or maybe even throwing the book out the window - Max can't really decide which is more likely to happen considering who she's talking about.
Rachel's blonde hair hangs over her own book as she sits at the desk in the corner of the room poring over her notes, pausing occasionally to write some more in that distinctive small and neat handwriting her notebook is filled with. Max is always astounded at how effortlessly Rachel is organised when it comes to academics, a far cry from how chaotic and rash the girl herself can be. Rachel's energy isn't as frantic as Chloe's: Chloe's is like lightning in a bottle desperate to escape from its glass prison, but Rachel's is a steady fire that burns brightest when there's something else fuelling it - they really do compliment each other well.
Max feels her face flush as Rachel glances up and notices her spacing out, responding to the sight with a small smile. She points at Chloe and raises an eyebrow before Max responds in a stage whisper, "I think she might be bored."
There's a loud thump as Chloe drops the book she had been holding on the floor and stands up suddenly, pacing around the room.
"Damn right I'm bored, Max! We've been sitting here for an hour!"
Rachel puts on a patient smile and tilts her head, "Chlo, you know I need to do this English work."
"Oh, come on. You can shit out anything for Ms. Hoida and she'll mark it well - I got away with an A in her class three times, do you realise how low that means her standards are?"
Max feels like pointing out Chloe's English work isn't that bad, but Rachel responds before she can articulate a response to Chloe's self-deprecation.
"I still need to submit something for her to mark. Also, it hasn't been an hour."
"Yeah, well, it feels like it's been an hour and that's good enough for me." Chloe finishes her statement by flinging herself back into the soft cushion of the beanbag hard enough that Max feels she may get whiplash in sympathy.
Rachel places her pen by the margin and closes her book before turning her chair round to face the other two girls in the room. "Fine, I'll just try and cram it tomorrow between classes. What do you two want to do instead?"
Chloe looks suddenly lost, taken aback by Rachel's abrupt shift in attitude. "Uh, I didn't think I'd get this far?"
Max quickly swallows and blurts out her first thought before Chloe can continue, "I want to learn how to drive."
Chloe's voice immediately rings out in response with a confused tone as her head jerks to look at Max, "What?"
Rachel perks up as she eyes Max curiously with a raised eyebrow, "Max, can't you drive?"
"When have you ever seen me drive a car before, Rachel?"
Chloe snorts, earning an annoyed glance from Rachel.
"What? She's got a point! She hasn't stopped mooching off me for free rides since she got back here," A beat passes as Chloe seems to contemplate it. "Come to think of it, you've been doing it since I got the truck!"
"Priceless, if you consider giving one of your girlfriends a free ride to be a favour then I've got news for you."
"Look, I know I'm a total catch, but just admit it: you two are just dating me because I got a hella good ride."
Max laughs short and sharply at that, earning her a look of annoyance from Chloe that mirrors the one Rachel had given the girl only moments earlier. "I'm sorry Chloe, but the last time you gave me a ride in the truck the rear-view mirror fell off."
Rachel silently observes the verbal back and forth with an amused grin on her face, briefly mouthing "Are you serious?" to Max.
"Look, that doesn't matter, I fixed it."
"With duct tape."
"Is the mirror back where it's supposed to be, Max?"
"Yes. Because it's got duct tape holding it in place, Chloe."
"All I heard was 'yes' - the mirror is back on so it's fixed. Anyway, if you're gonna be learning to drive you'll have to drive that truck so I'd suggest you don't badmouth it, Mad Max."
Max lets out a long-suffering sigh and looks at Rachel, "This isn't going to go well, is it?"
Rachel grins broadly in lieu of a reply and grabs the leather jacket lying on the nearby bed. "Hope you're ready to learn, Max!"
"Max, it's really not that hard! Look, uh, how about we just start aga-"
Max slumps forward and lets her forehead hit the steering wheel, allowing the sound of the truck's horn to mask Chloe's voice.
A few blissful seconds of the grating horn drowning out the broken record that sounds like Chloe saying that they should start again pass until Max finally leans back into the seat and finally looks at Chloe, who is sitting next to her with blatant frustration etched across her features that mirrors Max's own. "Chloe, I feel like I'm stuck in a time loop or something. You've said that four times now!"
Chloe scoffs, "Yeah, I've said that four times because - somehow - you just nearly hit that trash can again even though this parking lot is empty!"
Sure enough, as Max looks up to briefly observe the vacant parking lot she sees that she was only a few inches off hitting the trash can as she pulled to a stop. She's not sure what's worse - the fact she nearly hit the trash can or the fact she forgot how to stop until Chloe practically screamed the words 'brake pedal' in her ear.
Rachel slowly leans in her seat forward to look at Max, "She has got a point, Max."
A weak smile ghosts across Rachel's face, but even Max can tell she's also getting annoyed by the slightest furrow in her brow and her tired eyes.
Max thinks this is likely her version of hell: both her girlfriends steadily getting more pissed off at her while she's trying to pilot Chloe's deathtrap of a truck. All she wants to do is get out of this parking lot and away from that stupid trash can and this junker of a truck Chloe insists on driving around, but she was the one who suggested these impromptu driving lessons in the first place.
She sighs and drags a hand across her face, wishing that the earth would crack open and swallow this truck along with her. "Okay, how about I just don't learn how to drive then? That would solve all our problems."
Chloe leans to her left side and puts a hand on Max's knee, "Max, no, we've been here so long that it'd be stupid to just quit now."
Max groans and places both her hands back on the steering wheel in front of her, gripping it as hard as she can. One of the first things they went over was making sure she wasn't gripping the wheel too hard but at this point, Max feels like either crying or killing someone.
"Relax your han-"
"Chloe, the only thing stopping me from strangling you right now," Max pulls her hands away from the steering wheel for a brief moment to demonstrate the motion "is pretending that this is your throat. Do you want me to choke you?"
Both of her girlfriends look taken aback by her sudden outburst and Chloe goes silent before she begins to slowly lean in with a serious look on her face.
Her softly spoken reply sounds loud in the silence of the truck, "Only if that's what you're into, Maxi-pad."
A beat passes before Rachel bursts out laughing, which in turn makes Chloe crack the biggest shit-eating grin Max has seen yet. The tension in the air of the truck vanishes for a moment, and Max lets herself relax slightly in the rough leather seat.
Max wishes she could laugh along with Rachel, but all she feels is frustration and embarrassment in equal amounts despite the temporary relief from the tension that previously filled the cab. How can she suck at driving this badly?
As Rachel stops laughing, she stands up and quickly slides onto Chloe's lap. "Chloe, move. Let me try and teach her."
Chloe's face is briefly a mask of confusion before she begrudgingly shifts out from underneath Rachel, "You can drive? Since when?"
"A while ago my mom basically just did what you're doing with Max by practicing in a parking lot. I know the basics."
"Fine. But if she drives us into a wall, I'm blaming you."
Rachel settles next to Max and presses a kiss to her cheek, taking the opportunity presented by the proximity to softly whisper in her ear. "Let's prove her wrong."
Max feels warm blood rush to her face and adjusts her grip on the wheel. Hands to ten and two, foot poised on the gas pedal.
As long as she's with the two people she loves, maybe this isn't so bad.
Plus, at least with Rachel around it won't be a repeat of when Chloe taught her to ride a bike back when they were kids.
She still has the scar on her knee from that...