[HIATUS] Malls and Arcades | Max Mayfield

Chapter One

「 "The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself" (Waterloo, ABBA).  」
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Talia's life was officially over, and it had barely begun—at least to her it hadn't. Sure, she went to school, was on a hockey team, and had friends—people who would remember her. Yet she hadn't done anything meaningful. She wasn't in high school, but her last year in school was life-changing and miserable, if that meant anything. She didn't even have many friends, just enough to count on one hand. The one chance she had to be friends with the person she reached out to had been squashed, too. That wasn't even really her fault. Not to mention, the hockey team she was on wasn't meaningful at all; no one knew about it, and no one would ever remember it.

But if Talia was being honest, she didn't care about any of that. She wanted that person, that girl, she once had. Everything between them had been perfect. They were so close. Talia liked her so much that she gained a crush on her. One she hadn't even realized she had until that night. The night when everything between them had been ruined. What's worse was that barely anyone knew what really happened; Talia herself didn't even know. She had cheered her, Max, up. They had watched a movie and were as physically close as possible during it. They danced and swayed to Abba. They had even kissed. It was marvelous, perfect, breathtaking even. They had done it, and Talia didn't understand what was wrong.

The dancing? The song? The kiss? Who knew what had caused Max to react so distastefully to her? It didn't matter. It really didn't matter what happened that day. All that mattered was that Max wouldn't pick up her calls after the fact. She was always stuck with Max's mom, voicemail, and once even Billy. When they returned from break, Max avoided her like the plague and instead spent most of her time with Lucas. She had even moved seats in their shared homeroom. The bridge created between them was broken, just like that. No matter what Talia did, she couldn't even make Max glance at her. At least not in the way Talia wanted. When they could stare into each other's eyes. When Talia could see into those beautiful blue eyes. Now Max wouldn't look at her when she knew she was looking back.

It was hell. It was worse than hell. Talia couldn't do anything to repair the mess, and that hurt. Max and her had become so close in those few months they knew each other. They were vulnerable with each other and shared secrets that not many people knew. Max held a very special part of her heart. That night, she gripped it harder, lovingly, and then snatched it away in a way that made Talia feel absolutely loathed. At first, she thought that could never be possible, but now she wasn't so sure. Maybe Max did hate her, which was such an unbearable thought. But if Max did, then Talia thought she deserved to know why. Yet Max unmistakably did not agree; as mentioned, she made it her mission to avoid Talia.

She had tried not to give up at first, to be as determined as Max seemed to be. But Max was more committed, and there were no positive results. Talia only succeeded in making herself feel worse. So, she did the reasonable thing and gave up. She ignored Haydn's pestering and went to the arcade to at least remember the memories she and Max had shared. The good stuff, the stuff she cared about.