Daisies || Max Mayfield

11: Shoes

I skated the entire way, practically dying in the heat. It was much hotter than the previous day. I had my flannel fully unbuttoned, and my hair braided back.

I bombed a hill also. Max and I. Apparently, there was quite a large hill Mike forgot to mention in his shortcut, and Max almost wiped out.

"Fuck you wheeler!" She shouted. 

I didn't focus much on her, just what was in front of me, though she was always near me in the corner of my eye. 

The boys zipped past on bikes, though they had the control to brake. I did too, but it was more fun without it.

When we got there, the guys were mortified. They were the only ones to dress up. They were complaining the entire time. Max told them to suck it up and deal with it. I ignored most of it, listening to my walkman instead.

I followed Will through the halls because we had the same homeroom. There were a lot of people, and I was just rolling backward in the crowd, so I just went with it, then sprinted down the halls once the first bell rang. There were only a few people left, so I just rolled by.

The door to the classroom was open, so I rolled right in, stopping in front of everyone.

"Miss Harrington." Mr. Clarke groaned. "There is no skateboarding, rollerblading, or rollerskating within the school buildings."

"I didn't have time to take them off. I will now." I muttered, rolling to my seat.

Will waved me over next to him instead, so I sat at the desk next to him.

"Hey, I just wanted to apologize if I was being rude yesterday-"

"You were fine." I interrupted him. "I don't know why you care so much."

"I know. I know it gets loud in there sometimes, but I talked to Mike a little and he said he'd stop shouting as much." He said back.

"Oh. Okay, thanks."

"Yeah, I completely know how you feel." He muttered.

"Cool." I nodded.

"So we're on good terms now?" He asked.

"We never weren't." I reached for my shoes in my bag. I stuck my hand in the pocket again, making sure I wasn't hallucinating. They weren't there. "Well shit."

I had a class with Max next. I tried my best to not be noticed in the hall, even though I was at the height of all the jock guys.

"What do I do?" I whispered to her in the door, before we entered the classroom.

"You forgot shoes?" She raised her eyebrows, looking up at me. "They're gonna make you get a pair from the nurse."

I frowned.

"Wanna skip instead?"

"What?" I muttered. "It's my second day!"

"And it's Halloween, and you're noticeably taller." She said. "You brought your costume, like I told you to, right?"

"Yeah." 

"Great, just wear that." She suggested. She pulled me around a corner, into an empty hall. Her sheet appeared from her bag, so I grabbed mine and pulled it over my head.

"There, secret identities." She gave a thumbs-up, then dropped her board on the floor.

"Okay," I muttered.

"Don't overthink it, ignore all teachers, and go." She said.

"Wha-" She had already kicked off. "Oh."