Maxine George #2: Take Three.

Prologue.

MONTANA, USA, Friday, 8:00am.

The clouds parted as I hurtled through them and watched as the earth swept upwards to meet me. I knew I had to do something about it, but the idea of crashing onto the rocky ground seemed much too hard to resist. "Will I even feel the pain, or will I die instantly?" I wondered.

A few inches before I hit the ground, a pair of strong hands grabbed me, and I was swept upwards and safely brought to the same cliff that I had jumped off of just a few seconds ago.

The winged creature that saved me snarled, "Do you honestly expect me to save you each time?"

"Relax, Jade!" I smirked. "I'll get it right next time. How about another round of free-falling?"

"What I need right now is a round of double Jacks," Jade Moreno replied. "We'll do this again tomorrow, you idiot."

"Okay," I grinned, and without any warning, I jumped off the cliff again.

"Maxine!" Jade's voice followed me as I plummeted towards the ground. "C'mon, Max! Max! Wake up, we'll be late!"

"Huhn?" I slowly opened my eyes and realized that I had been dreaming.

George, my black-and-tan dachshund, jumped off my bed as my friend entered the room.

"Hello, George," Jade greeted the dog with fondness. "Your human had another late night, eh?"

She strode over to my bed as I cocooned myself with the blanket. I definitely had no plans of getting up. Not today. Not ever.

Jade shook my shoulders gently. "We're running late, Max. We have a meeting with Indigo Girl this morning, remember?"

"We do?" I said in my scratchy voice. Note to self: drink a glass of water before surrendering to whiskey-induced blackness.

"Yes, your Royal Lard-ass. You have a few minutes to get dressed, and I already made a pot of coffee for you in the kitchen."

"Mmmkay."

"Is that all you're going to say? 'Okay?' Get up now, girl! The earlier we get to Indigo's place in Whitefish, the earlier we can all make the most of our weekend."

I peeked from under the blanket and groggily looked at my friend. It took awhile before the words in my head came out of my mouth.

"Right. Whitefish," I groaned. "I'm going to call in sick today, Jade. Sorry. I'll be useless to you guys."

"I don't know what you've been up to, Max, but it's getting harder and harder to wake you up lately. And what's the use of having a mobile phone if you're not even going to pick it up? Jesus, Max, c'mon... what's wrong?" Jade asked with a worried look on her handsome face.

"It's called 'work', Jade. And... I had the same dream again."

"Well, I can't analyze it for you, okay? You probably need a shrink."

"I already have one. His name is Dr. Jack Daniels," I mumbled as I stood up and staggered towards the bathroom.