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Premonitions: Prologue
Max (never Maxwell) Caulfield was looking at the ever so familiar ceiling of the bedroom above the garage of the Price household, in his ever reliable high tops, khaki shorts that ended above his knees and white brand tee-shirt under a blue and white flannel. He had been called up here to help look for… a piece of paper, by his best (and only) friend Chloe Price.
Though she didn’t give specifics about what that “something” was so Max gave up. Chloe, ever stubborn, didn't say what it was save for “it's old, probably yellowing paper.” Which helped but again, Chloe has papers all over her room and hidden away from sight are even more papers. Some from her old notes from school, others both she and I had drawn on since time immemorial. Also she didn’t specify what's written or drawn on said paper. So again if I found it I’d never know it’s what she was looking for.
So inevitably, Max gave up within 12 minutes, perhaps about 10 minutes longer than he should have given the effort, given Chloe’s broad descriptions. All the while Chloe tore up her room looking for the ever so important paper.
“She probably just wanted to have company while she looked. And to get away from the highs and lows of a baseball game,” Max thought to himself.
Downstairs the sounds of activity could be heard from the Caulfield and Price parents. Ryan, Vanessa and William, Joyce respectfully. We were all here for a baseball game, the Seattle Mariners vs Kansas City Royals to be specific. Dad and William aren't big fans per say, but they both have money down on the outcome.
Max stopped studying the ceiling and looked over at Chloe. Who, in her skater shoes, black stockings, short jean shorts, and a white V-neck, stood on her tiptoes to look at a shelf in her closet. If the paper was up there he’d have hell reaching it, given she was about 5 or 6 inches taller than himself.
He thought how long that would last though, it was only last month that it seemed that the bones in my legs felt a little sore in the mornings. Like they had grown in the night.
It sounded silly but being 13 and his dad standing at 5 '10 it was expected by both the Caulfields and the Prices’ that Max would be just as tall if not taller than his own father.
Max was glad to finally start getting taller, he’d been afraid that he’d stay this short forever.
Thinking about that future of finally towering over Chloe brought a small smile across his freckled face. Of holding something of hers far over her head, teasing her, just out of reach like she had always done.
“Like she still does” he thought.
But his smile slipped, his heart ached at the thought of that once assured future.
His parents had told him a few days ago that in September the Caulfields would pack up their home and move to Seattle, Washington. Salt Lake, Portland, San Fran, even Austin had been on the table in his dads job search but finally it was a Seattle based company that gave him an offer he couldn't refuse. Nearly triple what he would be making at any other place he’d heard back from, which would be far more than he was making in Arcadia Bay from what Max could snoop on. And when he asked for 2 months to get his family's affairs in order they had obliged.
Max was so proud of his dad, but this new future changed everything in his life. The prospect of heading to a brand new school, in a brand new city, in a state so far from his stomping grounds of Arcadia Bay, Oregon filled him with trepidation. The prospect of making new friends (any friends) filled him with terror, because he was a shy hipster-esque nerd with a Polaroid obsession. And sense forever he had only had Chloe.
“Chloe…” he thought.
The idea of not having her at his side, not being at her side, them not being together. Of them no longer being Captain Bluebeard and Long Max Silver, scourges of Arcadia Bay. No more Max and Chloe against the world. Filled him with a sadness and a heartache like nothing ever else could.
They had practically been in each other's pockets sense elementary, a future without her in it seemed… dim. Only with the news of his move did Max finally realize how much Chloe meant to him.
Their parents' sense forever had teased both Chloe and him about their care and affection for each other. But they had always denied up and down anything but friendship lay between them. The Caulfield and the Price parents had neither believed or disbelieved them.
But once we both hit 7 and 8 respectively though I was no longer allowed to sleep on Chloe's bedroom floor with the door open like I had always done. Instead I slept in the living room on the couch and later, a cot William had bought just for me.
Early on we both had gotten in trouble because one or the other had snuck into the den at the Caulfield or Price residence and made an impromptu pallet near the other.
“I’ve never thought about Chloe like that ever; she is like a sister to me” the old mantra echoed through Max’s skull. Like someone had said otherwise.
But… he couldn't deny that this past year or so Max felt different about Chloe. At times he found himself staring right at her, studying the lines of her face, how her golden hair cascaded down her shoulders and her eyes. His face heated at the thought of them.
They were always great to look at, but now they seemed like if Max looked too long into them he would fall into their blue blue depths, depths as deep as the Pacific they seemed to him. Or so he thought. Or maybe he was just being a “gross boy”, with even dirtier thoughts. He grimaced slightly at the possibility.
Chloe’s window above her bed was open, a not so warm but not so cool July breeze came floating in. The faint sound of the baseball game could be heard from the den and with it the occasional “Come on, ahhh , noooo and Yes” from William and my Dad. Mom and Joyce could be heard more clearly in the kitchen talking and preparing everything needed for burgers for the 6 of us.
Chloe found whatever she had been rummaging in her closet for. She turned around with an “Eureka! I found it!” She looked down and met my gaze which was right at hers.
Chloe’s cheeks went a little red and my face went redder.
“Crap, how long have I been looking at her while I ruminated?” he wondered.
But Chloe, ever the extrovert, cocked a sideways glance and a wry grin. “Whatcha lookin at Caulfield?”
“Nothin much, j-just… thinkin…” I trail off. I start studying the ceiling again.
The redness in his face dissipates and his face darkens as he thinks again of not having Chloe in his life anymore.
Chloe's face softens from her wry grin to a hit of worry. “What's up Max? You've been…” she wiggles her left hand a little “...these past few days. What’s on your mind?”
Should I tell her now? If so, what?
I think to myself, “Oh nothing much, just that I'm moving to Seattle in a few months and that I might never see you again. Or that I have… feelings for you like I never did before, more than a best friend kind of feelings.”
“Which do I tell her? One, the other, both? No, no. I… HAVE to tell her I'm moving, at least. I HAVE to make these last few months the best, for her, she deserved it”.
I sit up and look at her, our eyes meet again. I'm just about to speak, to open my heart, to spill all the preverbal beans. My gaze falters, darting back and forth from eye to eye and, and… I chicken out and ask “W-what were you looking for that was so important that it required you to tear up the room? You almost seemed worried that you’d never find it.”
Her face says nothing as she takes the question in stride saying “I thought you'd never ask Mad Max.” She waves the piece of paper and walks over to sit on her bed patting the spot next to her. “This is the foundation upon which our relationship was born.”
I look at her and raise an eyebrow as I stand to sit with her on the bed. “Getting mushy on me Price?”
Her voice falters a little and her eyes don’t meet mine as she says “w-well… a bit.”
“Oh… ok.” Wow Max, real smooth of you. You couldn’t spill your own beans and now she’s about to spill hers and what do you do instead? You tease her.
Max mentally kicks himself as he takes a seat next to Chloe on her bed. “See, check it out Max” she says. Her voice was cock sure but her face read something else. Apprehension, embarrassment, fear?
Max takes the old, crumpled, yellowing but still legible paper in his hands and reads.
“Dear Mr and Mrs Prise, my nam is Max and I relly like being Chloys freend. Cold I com over and spend tim wif her at her house or she could com to my house. Senserly Max Caolfield.”
A grin spread across Maxs face reading his 1st grade handwritten letter, in multi colored crayon at that.
“There's no way you kept this after all these years?” He asked.
“Of course I did.” Chloe says matter of factly, she goes on. “I needed evidence that you had a backbone.”
Another cock sure smile stretches across her face, those piercing blue eyes stare at Max. His face heated but he didn’t cower at the gaze. But that’s not the reason she had kept it, she had already said as much.
Max guffawed “uhh I’m pretty sure that you hounded me at recess for days to write this letter.”
She rolled her eyes, “perhaps, but you still wrote it without me, even if I asked you to write it. Besides you were quite convincing, here you are years later. Still loving me and the time you spend with me.”
Her breath hitched, eyes widened and face heated, like she had something wrong or said too much.
Her words and reaction almost went right over his head, almost. The words started to sink in, then her face.
“Chloe…” he asked as gently as he could, searching her eyes for something, “...is there something you want to tell me?”
He thought “no way, there’s no way. Chloe sees me as her brother, nothing more nothing less. Everything I feel for her is one sided and inappropriate. I’m just being a pervy boy, ogling at her eyes like I do. Right?”
That he rarely ever ogled any other part of her anatomy. Save those of her head, her eye’s specifically and most especially, never once crossed his mind.
Chloe stood up and took a deep breath. She waved her hands like you do when there’s no paper towels in a public bathroom.
“No way, Chloe Price nervous? I thought I’d never see the day.” The words died in his throat, learning from his mistake a few minutes ago.
She took a few more deep breaths before looking into Max’s eyes. She said “Max? Could you stand in front of me please?”
He stood, head feeling light, palms sweaty? “Beep boop beep, Houston to Max you glitching out? Over.” A small part of him chided. He stood about 2 feet from the tall blonde.
They didn’t hear the sound of the tv in the den turnoff and a artificial silence drifting from downstairs.
He almost jumped when she took his hands into hers, rotating her arms so that they were palm to palm while still facing each other.
“Max…” her voice faltering, her cheeks red.
“Y-yes Chloe?” Max almost blurted, his face warm and lower back started to sweat.
“I-I… I really… really… like you.” She squeezed her eyes shut, as if bracing for impact. And her hands clenched for dear life to Max’s, like he’d run if she didn’t.
Max thought his face was imperturbable. But his face felt on fire. “She feels the same way, she feels the same way.” He wanted to shout from the rooftops that Chloe Price felt the same he did about her!!!!
“And that I’m not gross for feeling that way!!” That small part of his brain said. That flashed across Max’s mind as Chloe started again.
“I.. I LIKE, LIKE you Max.” She said, almost crying. “And I’m sorry if that's weird and I know that we had both always said we are nothing more than best friends. To each other, to our teachers, our classmates, our parents.” She blurted all that out and went on. “But I wanted you to know that, because… you’re moving… far away, too far. And… I fear that I’ll never see you again.”
That pierced all the whirling thoughts in Max’s mind “She knew?!??!” A moment later “of course she knew, my parents probably told William and Joyce, they were all friends too. She probably overheard and waited for me to say something. God I’m an ass. She spilled the beans all over the floor and she’s not even the one moving.”
Another revelation struck Max “she's losing me as much as I’m losing her.” That both ached his heart and made it flutter.
I’m glad she said something. If not I’d probably wait till the last minute. And would have made a total ass of myself.
Max returned to the now and found Chloe staring at him, waiting for the end of the world, her face seemed to scream.
And Max… just… stared, frozen.
“Damn it man gets a grip!! She poured her heart out, she hates any and all kinds of mush like this so she has to mean it. She feels the same way you do. All you gotta do is say… something, anything.” That part of Max’s brain screamed. Later he wondered why that part of him wasn’t at the helm.
A minute or so passed and Chloe must have taken that as a sign. Because tears filled her eyes.
“Max, I’m sorry, I’m s-sorry. I know you… you don’t feel the same way and I’m sorry for p-pushing you, but I’ve been meaning to tell you that for the longest time. I-I was content, happy just being your friend so I said nothing. But now you’re leaving me and…” She said, total defeat in her voice, face falling and the grip of her hands slackened.
Max’s brain screamed at his body for all it was worth “No no no no no!!!!!! We’re already losing her this September, we’re not gonna lose her now!!!”
A memory of a catchy song came to mind. “Kiss da gurl”, a Jamaican accented crustacean said.
Gears stated wiring in Max’s head “I’m gonna do it, I’m really gonna do it. Oh God Chloe don’t slap me, please.”
Looking back on this moment Max should have put that chapstick on like his mom asked me to this morning, his lips felt dry. But you know how hindsight is.
He let her hands go but as they fell he closed that gap between them. He cupped Chloe’s jaw line into his hands and leaned her down as he rose on his tip toes.
Their lips met, it was a short chaste kiss, a peck on the lips really, but a kiss nonetheless.
When Max pulled away and flattened his feet to the ground his head swooned despite how small of a kiss it was. “Wowser” he whispered and looked up at her, he still held her jawline in his hands.
She stared wide eyed down at him. “Wha-t? Y-you shouldn’t have done…” she started to pull back, doubting Max’s sincerity.
“Dang it!!!! Kiss her again!!!!” The Jamaican crustacean screamed.
This time he ignored it and pulled Chloe into a tight embrace. His left ear rested against the crook of her neck, his face looking to her left. He could have sworn he heard her heart pounding away the day, rithmic, consistent and thunderous.
“Dog she smells so nice…” Max thought.
She tried to pull away again, sounding almost angry, her voice filled with half hearted conviction but still total defeat lay in her voice. “Let go of me, right now Max.”
“No, never. Not until you hear what I have to say.”
She stopped pulling away but her arms lay limp at her sides, not returning the embrace.
Max opened his heart “Chloe, I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell you I was moving sooner. I realized… how much you mean to me and I was… no, I am scared. Scared for a future without you in it. Even before I found out that I'm moving, I realized that you mean more to me than a best friend.”
There was a pause, he could feel Chloe shaking from a cry, he looked up and saw she was.
Max pulled from the embrace and grabbed her upper arms to steady her, they were still limp.
They both stood there for a few moments.
They didn’t hear the sound of someone coming up the stairs towards Chloe’s room.
For a moment she didn’t meet his gaze.
“You're just saying that, right Max? Y-you don’t really mean it?” She said, looking away.
“That's not true and you know it Chloe. Long Max Silver would never lie to his Captain.” Using his right hand he turned her chin to face him so he could look her in the eyes.
She wanted to keep looking away, but she couldn’t and looked down at Max.
“I… I love you Chloe.”
Her eyes went wide, looking at Max with her deep blue eyes, perhaps searching for the lie, the misdirection, half truth and falsehood she feared. She didn’t find it, only sincerity, honesty and… love.
At least that’s what Max hoped his eyes said.
“You… love me Max? You really love me?” Her voice sounded hopeful.
“I do, or at least I really really like you too” Max said as a stupid grin spread across his freckled face.
The doubt she had felt seemed to melt away as her smile and the flash in her eyes was so bright that they could ignite a dying star.
“I… I love you too Max!”
Now she pulled him into a tight embrace, Max reciprocated. They held each other like the world would come to an end if they faltered.
Reluctantly they pulled apart, just enough to look at eachother. They got lost in each other’s eyes.
Max wished he had his camera set up to capture the moment forever… beyond memory that is.
Their gaze faltered as each looked down at the others lips then back to the eyes.
Both went red, but neither pulled back. In fact they both leaned closer, eyes slowly closing, lips pursed. Then…
“Well as sweet as that is, I'm gonna have to ask you both to pause and come down for lunch.” A familiar paternal voice said behind them, causing them both to jump.
Chloe pushed Max away from her with such force that he fell, as if to cover up what just happened, what was just about to happen.
Like that would work.
“Dad!” “M-mr Price!?” Chloe and Max said in unison.
There stood William Price, a big grin on his face eying his daughter and Max.
Max wanted to sink into the floor to escape from the embarrassment of this moment. But he didn’t regret kissing Chloe or trying to kiss her again either.
“While you two were busy…” he winked, “the game ended, we finished making the burgers and the only things missing are you two. So come on, I’m sure you both must be hungry.”
“Y-yeah dad” Chloe said, her face as red as a tomato.
Max just nodded. His face is as red as a beet.
“Well come on then.” He stepped back out of the doorway and extended his hand towards the ground floor. It was clear, he wasn’t gonna lead them, he was gonna follow behind them. Chloe left the room first, Max got up and followed.
“A moment Max” William asked.
Max quickly obliged, his heart pounding harder now at the prospect of what William will say, waiting with him at the top of the stairs. Chloe stopped halfway down the stairs and looked up at them.
“It’s alright sweetheart, just want a few words with your Beau.” Max and Chloe face heated further.
“Daaad…” she said sheepishly.
“It's okay Chloe, go on.” Chloe looked at Max and he gave a small nod. She small nodded back and went downstairs out of earshot.
“Max Caulfield…” the older man said as he turned towards him.
Oh God here it comes, he’s gonna kill me isn't he?
Max accepted his fate.
“If the price of kissing Chloe was death. Then I humbly accept” Max thought defiantly.
A big hand came down onto his right shoulder. William met his eyes “...for the past, oh I don't know year or so I’ve, we’ve all seen you both stare at the other while the other wasn't aware, like no one else would notice. We’re old and out of tune with the youngins but we aren't blind either. We saw that and we also saw how both of you, for different reasons, denied what you were both feeling”. And for as long as I can remember you’ve been Chloe's greatest treasure. Whether she’d actually ever say something that mushy to you or about you is irrelevant.”
Max was speechless.
“Dang it!!!! Were we that obvious, oblivious? Could everyone but us see? Also dang… William, you're awesome” thought Max.
Somehow that one word description wasn't enough to describe William Price in this moment for Max.
He continued “Max, Chloe is my world and if you were any other boy doing what you did, I’d run out of this house so fast.” He gave Max a hearty chuckle. “But I trust YOU. I know you Max. You're a b- young man of integrity and you keep your word. You make her… so happy and there is no one else in the world I’d trust with Chloe than you, Max”.
“M-mr Price I…” Max stammered. He’d expected… Max didn't know what to expect from William, certainly not this.
Given Max was calling William, a man he’d known and trusted since 1st grade Mr. Price. Showed the apprehension of what their relationship was now after getting caught like he did.
“Please Max, you don’t have to say anything. I just want you to understand that I approve, but I’m not going to apologize for ruining the moment. And that you're not in trouble. You don’t need to call me Mr. Price, I’m still William to you. And you're still…” he stammered. “...you're still the son Joyce and I never had.” He gave a soft smile to Max.
“M… William, I don't know what to say.” Max’s voice cracked. Tears started to sting the corners of his eyes.
“What a wuss” that toxic part of his brain called out. The rest of his brain ignored that and Max went in for a hug instead.
“It’s okay kiddo” William returned the hug. “Just… continue making my little girl happy, while you're still here with her. And when you leave well… we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Now let’s go eat.”
“Yeah…” Max sniffed and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand “... lets.”
“Oh and this means you can’t spend the night anymore, I approve of you two but I don't want to be a grandpa just yet.” William said flatly.
Max breathed in a swallow and choked on spit like he had never done before. He thought he might actually die, he started to see stars. When he finally recovered, his face red as blood he said “I hear you, loud and clear William”. As Max followed William downstairs he heard soft jazz coming from the kitchen.
When he rounded the corner of the wall that separated the kitchen from the hallway nearest the dinner table all eyes went directly to Max. He met Chloe’s gaze first, her face still red, sheepish. With her eyes she gestured around to her mom and Max’s parents. Max looked to Chloe's mom then to his parents. They all gave the same knowing expression, but didn’t say a word.
What Joyce Price did say was “Max I already prepared your burger how you like, it's the one next to Chloe”.
“Thank you M- Joyce” Max said as he walked around to the table and sat in the empty chair to Chloe’s right, a small window to their back. Vanessa Caulfield to her left at the end of the table.
He gave a sidelong questioning glance to Chloe, she silently mouthed “they know”.
His face went red and mouthed “how?”
Vanessa answered “because you two weren’t exactly being quiet when you said what you said. And… we were being nosey.” she said with a sweet smile.
She reached over and gently held Chloe’s left hand and looked Chloe in the eyes. “And Ryan and I approve of you sweetheart.” giving an even sweeter smile.
Chloe looked wide eyed over from Vanessa to Ryan Caulfield, then to Max. Her face was still red, but a stupid grin was plastered on her face from ear to ear.
Max returned the grin, equally as large and equally stupid.
“Young love…” Joyce said reminiscently. “Remember the first time you and I met William?”
“Oh do I ever” William said as he put a hearty amount of mustard on his burger.
The late lunch descended into an avalanche of stories about how William and Joyce met and first started dating. Then followed by Vanessa and Ryans first meeting and first dates. And how all their parents reacted to their loves.
As Max ate his burger and listened to the stories, Chloe’s hand reached for his under the table. He reached for hers in return and their fingers interlocked.
Max’s eyes met Chloe’s, he lost himself in the depths of her eyes and it seemed she was just as lost in his. They held on for dear life and continued eating with only their left and right hands respectively.
Both the Price’s and Caulfields’ politely ignore the effort and its cause. From time to time only giving them warm smiles.
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A slight chill could be felt emanating from her left from the window as winter lay heavy on Arcadia Bay, the ground thick with snow, promising a white Christmas.
Chloe Elizabeth Price was writing away a letter to Max at her desk, it was the third one she had written to him this week alone. Although she texted him everyday about anything and everything new in her life, mostly Blackwell drama, writing was fun too.
The novelty of the whole thing had been Max’s idea, after finding a typewriter in Seattle not long after his move, all of his letters were typed out on it. As soon as she read his first letter she had sent a picture and texted “Wow, that city must ooze hipster for you to buy a typewriter and send me letters like it’s 1920.”
But despite her teasing, she loved it. Especially the (as he made sure to mention) “Self Portrait” Max had sent with the letter. She stopped writing and went over to her bedside table, well it was really a bookshelf tucked between her bed and the wall, leaned over and picked it up, before planting herself on the bed.
Smiling down at the little thing, she traced the outline of his face. His light blue eyes, his freckles, the cute curls of his auburn brown hair, the collar of his flannel button down like his dads, apparently now with suspenders.
“I hope he doesn't wear suspenders AND a belt. Or worse, both with his khaki shorts.” She thought aloud, before laughing at the image she conjured.
She missed him so much, their 3 and a half months of being officially boyfriend and girlfriend did not last anywhere near long enough. The little dates they had up and down Arcadia Bay with parents near and far away. Bowling, school clothes shopping, packing Max’s room away into boxes, skateboarding at the park and the most common “dates”, spending all day with each other right up til Max or Chloe’s 8 pm curfew on school nights and 10 pm curfew on weekends.
The pecks and little kisses they stole from each other while one parent or teacher was looking away or distracted.
She remembers vividly when they went to see The Dark Knight in August, both because it was a great movie, easily now in her top 10. And because they both were free of parents for about 3 hours.
Chloe’s face goes warm at the memory.
Of her being “scared” by the Joker, she wasn’t really. Her fear was just used as an excuse to lift the armrest and have Max lay an arm around her for the whole movie. And Max never protested. They continued watching, both stealing glances at the other.
Eventually they both met the others' gaze. After what seemed like forever lost in each other's eyes, Max and her missed about 7 minutes of the movie. Because they picked up right where they had last left off after their confessions but before dad had interrupted.
“Heheheheheheh” Chloe lets out her throat at the memory. Chest and belly full of butterflies.
“He’s gone now, he’s never…” the ever consuming doubt at the back of her mind whispered. As it began gnawing again at her warm memories.
"No!” She flatly screamed at the doubt, “He loves me and we’re still together,” she reminded herself.
They had both talked about the inevitable, Max’s move to Seattle and what it meant for their relationship, both as boyfriend/girlfriend and as Max and Chloe. They both swore to text, email, call and now write to each other.
And an oath that, come what may they would reunite and go off on world spanning adventures together. That one way or another they would be and are Max and Chloe, forever. Even exchanging little steel rings as a symbol of their oath.
She rubbed the ring in question on her pointer finger with her thumb. The only thing mom and dad said about it was that she wasnt to have it on her ring finger. Both because it was a promise ring and not a wedding ring and because they didn't want to have to answer awkward questions as to why their underaged daughter had a wedding ring on.
“God, Max is that what our future holds” she wondered aloud. Her eyes watering at the idea. She shook her head, “one way or another Max and I will be together again, so for now just get back to this letter before you go out to dinner”.
Chloe gets up and takes a seat at her desk and continues at her unfinished letter.
Writing and texting were nice but she’d rather call Max, to hear his breathy voice, the occasional crack in it and his breath as it entered the lungs. Her face heated again.
Chloe called just as much as she was allowed. But given the last two months phone bills and Chloe falling asleep while on a call with Max 8 too many times she was reduced to 2 hours every week and apparently Max’s parents told him something similar. Eventually they agreed to have that 2 hour call at 3pm on Saturday’s.
Chloe, lost in writing, didn't hear her dad the first time he called her.
“Sweetheart!” She jumped in her seat, he went on “we’ve been calling for you for awhile, writing Max again?”
“Yeah dad, I wanted to finish this before we left for dinner. Guess I lost track of time” she said sheepishly, looking to her alarm clock. 6:45, reservation at 7:20.
“Well I'm glad you're writing to him, I’m sure he loves your letters as much as you do his” dad said.
“I hope so, I-I miss him so much” she said flatly.
“I know sweetheart, so do your mom and me. This house feels less warm without him running around.” He walked over for a hug, she saw it coming and met him halfway. Burying her face into his chest.
“You’ll see him again, sooner than you think” he said before leaning his head to kiss the top of her head. “Now you ready for some of the whitest Chinese food this side of the Pacific?”
“Heck yeah” Chloe said, pulling away and getting her jacket. “Where’s Mom?”
“Warming up the car” dad said as they went down the stairs and out the door.
The cold smote her like a slap to the face, though it only lasted less than 15 seconds before she threw herself into the backseat of the warm car, behind the driver's seat.
“There y'all are, I thought i'd have to send out a search party for the two of ya” her southern (southwestern?) drawl coming thick as molasses with that sentence.
A click of buckets to seatbelts followed, “we ready” dad asked. “Ready” the Price woman said. And with a pull of the shifter they reversed into the street and made their way down it.
Chloe’s gaze was out the window, thinking of what she’d get for dinner. Debating whether she’d get the orange chicken or general tso’s this time.
Mom asked “Chloe what took you so long upstairs, were you listening to the mixtape Max had made you again?”
Dad answered before Chloe had the chance to “no, she was writing away another letter to Max”.
“Wow, sweetheart. At the rate you're writing you're gonna burn through your college fund before graduation on stamps alone” she and dad chuckled.
Before Chloe could get annoyed at that she quickly said “I’m glad to see you keeping up with Max honey, I know how much you miss him.”
The car made a stop at a red light.
“Y-yeah, everyday.” Every waking moment really but best not have them worry, besides we swore an oath.
Chloe smiled and said “We’re still Max and Chloe, even when we’re apart. This is just a bump in the road.”
“Without a doubt sweetheart” mom and dad said in near unison.
With a green light the car pulled forward. And as the car made it across the middle of the intersection a screech from car tires on ice sounded deafening. In a flash Chloe looked out her window into the left headlight of a car going far too fast and far too close.
Images of her life flashed across her mind. Of her, her parents, grandparents, classmates, teachers, her late cat Bongo… and Max.
The first time they met at recess, saving Max from some mean girls, their first sleepover, late nights playing video games or drawing, scraped knees and elbows from learning to skateboard together.
Her falling in love with him, their confession, their first kiss, their dates, their kiss at the movies, their oath, their heartfelt goodbye, their letters, their calls and Max’s self portrait.
“His light blue eyes, his freckles, the cute curls of his auburn brown hair, the collar of his flannel button down like his dads, apparently now with suspenders.”
“Max…” she whispered as the oncoming car slammed into her door.