Neither Here, Nor There

4

"Quentin, may I see you?" Dr. Benson asks me. I stop before I reach the door.

"Yes?" Max stops as well. She is staring intently at Dr. Benson.

"I understand that this question may be... Personal... But were you involved with the death of Maximum Leavitt?" Dr. Benson's eyes bore into mine.

I shift on one leg. "No sir."

"Maximum, are you there?" Dr. Benson addresses the space on my right where Max was standing.

"How can you see me?" She growls. Her eyebrows furrow as she glares at him. "You didn't even care about me."

Dr. Benson sighs heavily and mutters, "I cared about you more than you could ever know, Max."

Max's outline seems to sharpen and become more vibrant. I can tell she is angry.

Instead of saying anything, she storms out of the room as best as a ghost could. I shrug apologetically and then race after her.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I place my money on the counter and wait for the cashier to give me my change. On my tray I had a slice of pizza, some fries and an apple.

"Healthy much?" Max says cynically.

I glare at her and then quickly stop because the cashier has turned to face my way. She hands me three dollar bills and with a flirtatious wink wishes me a good day.

Max growls from beside me and I laugh lightly. I nudge her gently even though my elbow went through hers.

"Didn't know you were the jealous type, Max," I chortle.

"She was totally checking you out," Max grumbled.

"Girls always do that," I say pompously.

"Girls always do what?" A voice asks me curiously.

I turn around to see Daniel cocking his head at me. Shit.

"Um... Look at me," I reply nervously. I can hear Max laughing beside me and I am thankful that no one else can here her.

"Were you talking to yourself?" Daniel queries. He brushes his blue shirt with his free hand while he balances his tray precariously on his other hand.

I shrug and then do a 360 to look for a free table. I spot one and start to head over.

"You coming?" I ask Daniel. I am half hoping he will say yes but half hoping he will say no.

Daniel shakes his head, "no, I am going to meet up with the tech crew."

Daniel does not strike me as a tech person but what do I know? I nod and pretend to look disappointed. The corners of my mouth twitch up into a smile when I see Max doing a victory dance.

We shake hands and go our opposite directions.

"So... Dr. Benson eh?" I ask Max as we sit down.

"Yeah," she replies softly. She looks down into her lap. "I'm sorry I never told you."

"But what about your other dad?" I query. "Does he know?"

Max's shoulders shrug. "Yes."

I look into Max's eyes.

"I've missed you," I tell her earnestly. She smiles and leans in. I lean in too.

"What're you doing loser?" The voice of Thad is somewhere behind me.

I blush and realise how stupid I must look. There is no one sitting across from me. At least, that is how it looks to everyone else. I see Dr. Benson at the salad bar and he is staring at me with a knowing look.

"I was leaning over to see if there was something on the other seat," I lie easily. I look Thaddeus in the eyes and raise my eyebrows in defiance.

"Loser," Thad repeats. He punches my shoulder and then walks away.

"What a dickhead," Max mutters sourly. She clenches her fists and then says, "if I could punch him, I totally would."

I laugh and we fall into silence and then scarf my food down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I lean lazily against the circulation counter in the library. My ID badge swings around my neck as I turn in circles.

"Bored?" Max jokes. She is sitting on the counter and I take the time to appreciate how pretty she looks.

"Excuse me?" A cute girl walks up to me. Her hair was pin straight and a gorgeous mahogany colour. She was wearing a denim button down over a One Republic t-shirt with jeans.

"Yes?" I say, trying desperately to not look like I was just checking her out.

"What poet would you consider to be good?" She asks, twirling her hair around one finger absentmindedly.

"Well, what area are you looking at?" I cringe when I realise that what I said was slightly innuendo-ish.

The girls smiles, not missing it but then says, "romantic prose."

"Oh, e e Cummings would be good," I tell her. "Let me show you where his works would be."

My hips naturally cant to one side as I maneuver my way around the of the counter.

"Right this way," I say. I stride confidently over to the poetry section and then to a sub section.

"My name is Saige, by the way," the girl says.

"That's a pretty name," I comment. "I'm Quentin... But uh... You can call me Q."

I see Max glower at Saige and sigh quietly.