Within Maximine

Chapter 5

After school was finished and the day was over, I walked out of the hallways with a mix of relief and anticipation. I couldn't wait to meet up with Max and talk about our training session that was supposed to happen in a matter of hours. Despite the conversation from this morning and the events that had occurred, I didn't feel at all disturbed like I thought I should have. In fact, I felt a sense of excitement building inside me, like a spring coiled tight, ready to snap. 

As I walked towards the agreed-upon meeting spot, I noticed Max already waiting for me, his eyes gleaming with a mischievous intensity. "You ready for today?" He asked me.

"Of course I'm ready! I'm so excited I could burst!" 

As if on cue, a little crackle of energy zapped out from me, and Max gave me this amused look. "Easy there, Anne," he teased. "Save some of that for the training room,"

"Oops," I chuckled, looking around nervously to make sure no one was watching. But Max just laughed and clapped me on the back.

"Come on, let's get going," he said, already starting to walk away.

"How are we going to get there?" I asked.

"By portal, of course!"

"Oh, okay. Just give me a warning before we go through. I don't want to get sick,"

"Don't worry, you'll know." That was that. 

As we walked a couple of miles, my bag on my back, I realized that I was forgetting what had occurred this morning and it made me feel down all of a sudden. I think Max might have felt it because he stopped walking.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just thinking about what happened this morning and how hopeless it seems to me. It all happened in an instant, I don't think I could change the outcome no matter how many choices I was introduced to." It was true. If I were to have a time machine, I don't think anything would have changed. Honestly, I think it could have gotten worse.

"It'll be alright," he told me. "Just be sure to keep them in your thoughts, but don't think too much on it. You don't want to become distracted during training." I nodded my agreement and started walking again, not paying attention to if he was walking behind me or not. 

After a few more miles of walking, he halted a few paces in front of me. "Here we are," he said.

I stared into the open space as confusion lit my face. "What do you mean, 'here we are'? There's literally nothing,"

"That is where the portal comes into play," he told me, a mischievous smile on his face. "Prepare yourself, Anne. This one is going to be one rough travel." 

As I braced myself, I could feel myself becoming more and more anxious, so much so that I could feel my stomach lurching. I was not going to throw up, I was not going to throw up. 

Max noticed my distress and moved closer to me. "Breathe deeply," he whispered in my ear. "It'll be over before you can blink."

I nodded, feeling a mix of excitement and fear. As he prepared himself, I felt the energy go wrong before a portal appeared in front of us. "Hold on," he told me roughly. 

I gripped my bag tighter and braced myself as we stepped closer to the portal. The sensation was indescribable- like being pulled into a whirlwind of light and sound. For a moment, as we stepped in, everything around me blurred into a kaleidoscope of colors and I felt weightless, as if I was floating in space.

Then, with a jolt that almost knocked the breath out of me, we passed through the threshold of the portal. The world around us seemed to twist and distort before settling into a new reality. It was disorienting at first, like trying to make sense of a dream that shifted with every thought.