One in a Maximillion

Your Life

We were in a new town. A new start. She wanted to change our names, just for the hell of it. She started calling herself Rachel in memory of her. I was called Kate in memory of Kate Marsh. The names didn't last long because they both brought back bad memories. They were both dead on different terms. They meant a lot to us, and we regretted ever choosing those names. We ended up driving to another town so we could escape those names.

The thing that we thought about the most was our age. I was a teenage stoner/alcoholic, and Max was just a teenage girl. We couldn't do anything we wanted. We needed to find jobs, and a place to live. We needed to get everything in order. All we had were the clothes on our backs, my truck, and each other. We were barely old enough to get jobs, and we wouldn't be able to find a good house. Max should've just let me die. I know it would have been hard for her to see me in the hands of that bastard Nathan, but she let an entire town die, and we had nowhere to go. No one to support us. No one to help us. Both of our families are dead. That gave me an idea. We may not our mothers or fathers, or even my step father, but my grandparents didn't live in Arcadia. 'Max, how would you feel about moving in with my grandparents?'

'Well, we don't have anywhere else to go. We might as well give it a shot.'

'Florida. Here we come!' I shouted out the window.

'Woah. Your grandparents live in Florida?'

'Max. You've visited them with me before. Remember? I begged our moms to take you with us.'

'Then William walked in, and convinced them both so easily.'

'Yeah, those were the days.' I could feel a tear go down my face, and I knew I wouldn't be able to control the rest of them either.

'Chloe, are you crying?' I wiped my eyes.

'What? No. I'm-I'm fine.' I let the words stutter from my mouth. Max knew me enough to not let it go.

'Chloe, I miss them too. We have each other though.' She grabbed my hand, and spoke looking at me. 'I know we'll never be able to fully get over them, but life doesn't stop... for anyone... and there's nothing we can do about that.'

'I know, Max. I just... first it was my dad. Then I lost Rachel, and now I've lost everyone besides you.'

'I'm all you need. You're all I need.' She was staring in my eyes, and kept talking me down. 'Chloe... I love you... I love you enough to sacrifice everything else I loved.'

'Then why couldn't you love me enough to not let me suffer.' There were still tears rolling down my cheeks with ease.

'Chloe, don't say that!' She let go of my hand.

'You'd enjoy the happy lie more than the sad truth.'

'Please stop. I already feel terrible for letting my family die.' She started crying and I knew I fucked up.

'Max, I'm sorry.' I put my hand on top of her's. 'Babe. This is just a weird situation. I mean, I have to go to Florida with my girlfriend, and ask my grandparents to live with them because everyone we know has died.'

'I'm your girlfriend?' She sniffled and wiped her eyes.

'We say we love each other whenever, and not to mention, we kiss on the regular. Did you... not pick that up?'

'No. No, I did. You've just... never called me your girlfriend before.' She was generally shocked.

'Well, I guess I did. So... you are... and you're stuck with me.'

'It's not being stuck with you, if I want to be.' We kissed. It was short because we were on the road but it was all we needed to pick things up. I drove smiling down the road, holding onto the steering wheel.