Trust -|- An Elmax Story

VI

Eleven

When we got home, we dropped the bike next to the house. Max takes half of the bags out of my hands. We walk up to the door, and I open it. 

"Hey, Will! We're home!" I yell. There was no response.

"I guess he's not home," Max says, closing the door behind her.

"Probably at Mike's house," I shrug. I look back at Max. She looked hurt when I mentioned Mike. I don't think much about it. We make our way to my room and set the bags down on the floor next to my woven chest. I crawled up on my bed and sat crisscrossed on it.

"I'm glad we went shopping because I don't have any clothes for tomorrow," Max says, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. I had a lot of fun!" I tell her.

"See? I'm not that bad," she responds, smiling at me. 

"I guess not," I smile back at her. She crawls up onto the bed but stays on the opposite side of the bed.

"You want to say goodnight to Lucas over the walkie?" I ask her.

"No? I never do," she answers.

"You never say goodnight to your boyfriend?" I ask, shocked.

"No."

"You and Lucas are weird," I say, getting up to get my walkie.

"I think you mean you and Mike are weird," Max says, watching me get my walkie.

"No, Mike's amazing; not weird," I state. I look over at Max and she nods at me.

I turn on my walkie and get on to Mike's channel. I listened to the annoying static for a while. 

"Are you going to say goodnight or just sit there?" Max interrupts me. I look over at her. She looks genuinely curious.

"I won't," I say, lying my walkie on the cold floor. Max smiles and pats the bed, asking me to sit down. I walk over and sit next to her. I gently place my head on her shoulder. She wraps her arm around me and lays her head on the wall behind my bed.

I always saw Max as a threat ever since that first day. Now, I've realized she's so much fun. I shouldn't have been so quick to assume. I started dozing off thinking about this until I finally fell asleep on Max's shoulder, smiling.

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I wake up, noticing I'm still lying on Max's shoulder. This time, though, I had a weight on my head. It took me a second to realize it was Max's head on mine.

I look down at my lap. My hand was resting on Max's knee. I smile, thinking about how much I hated her before. Her gentle breathing was hot on my face.

Suddenly, a thought hits me. It's Friday. We have school today. I turn Max's wrist so that her watch is pointing at me. It reads 5:36. Phew, we still have 30 minutes left to rest. I keep my head resting on Max.

The next thing I heard was Steve shouting, "Get up, kiddos! Time for school! Can't be late, dipshits!"

"I'm awake," Max groans. Steve leaves the room after telling us to get ready.

Max lifts her head off mine, so I take mine off her shoulder. I look over at her and give her a smile.

"You ready for another day of school?" I ask her.

"As ready as I can be," she jokes.

"Get changed. I'll go to the bathroom—you can stay here," I tell her. She nods, getting up and searching the bags for her clothes. I get up and walk across the room to my dresser. I take out a new pair of clothes: a galaxy shirt, blue pants, and blue suspenders. I start to go to the bathroom, but then I feel a hand grab my arm. I look behind me and see Max's face.

"Can we skip school?" She asks.

"I want to see Mike. Don't you want to see Lucas?" I question her.

"Yeah," she sighs. I walk into the bathroom and get changed. I leave the bathroom and head to my bedroom. When I make my way there, I knock on the door.

"Come in!" Max shouts. I open the door to see Max in a rainbow-striped shirt and khaki shorts. I put my clothes in a pile on the floor and Max copies.

"Are you okay with Eggos for breakfast?" I ask her.

"Yeah," she responds. I take her hand in mine and drag her to the kitchen. I open the freezer with my free hand and grab the box of Eggos out. I take out four waffles and pop them in the toaster. When they're done, Max and I quickly eat them. We go outside and see Steve and Robin in the car already in their Family Video uniforms.

"We have to be quick or Robin and I will be late for work," Steve tells us, driving off before we buckle. I look out the window as we're driving to school. Suddenly, I felt something on my knee. I look down and see Max's hand. I look over at Max, but she's looking the other way. I flip her hand around and link mine with hers.

When we get to school, Steve drops us off at the front, where we see the Party waiting for us. I let go of Max and run to Mike. I put my hands around his neck and hug him.

"Hey, El! I've missed you!" Mike says, hugging me back.

"Hi! Missed you more," I say, my voice sounding muffled from his shirt. I look over at Max and Lucas. Lucas awkwardly says hi to her, but she just ignores him.

"Why didn't you call last night?" Mike asks me.

"I was really tired. Sorry," I respond.

"It's fine," Mike says, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and walking me inside. I look behind me and see sad faces painted on Will and Max.