#NoFilter

-Chapter 13-

Maxine! It's time to get up, breakfast is ready!"

I jump a little at my mom's voice booming through the house. I lift my head groggily and look at the clock on my nightstand that flashes: 8:32.

This is relatively early for me on a weekend.

Pfft, Chloe gets annoyed when I'm up this early, saying that any normal teen sleeps in till 11 given the opportunity. *sigh* Chloe. I smile, remembering the occurrences of last night... the good parts that is.

I have a girlfriend.

"Girlfriend" I mumble dreamily, kicking off my covers.

"Hey, Chloe, come on. Let's get up so we can go out and do shit. I don't wanna stay here any longer than I have to,".

No response, I can't even hear her soft, peaceful breathing. I lift my head more and see Chloe's not even there. All her things are folded and neatly tucked away.

"Chloe?" I say, slipping out of bed, slightly panicked.

I shuffle downstairs and see an odd sight. My parents are sitting at the breakfast nook eating with Chloe and they're... Are they laughing?

Holy shit, they've already replaced you!

No, no they haven't replaced me, Mom and Dad are just getting to know her better.

Pfft, from the looks of it, they already like her more than you!

I groan and try to catch the tail end of their conversation.

"So... did something like... Happen to the kid to make her all jittery?" I hear Chloe ask.

"Kid?" Dad questions

. "Oh... yeah, that's my nickname for Max," she explains.

"Max?" Mom says.

"Uh... yeah... that's like... her name... nickname actually,".

Dad nods a bit, "Well, yes... something post-traumatic did happen in Maxine's childhood to make her the way she is,".

"Post traumatic? Shit, she never mentioned anything... so, like... what happened?".

"*Ahem* nothing that concerns you," he says quickly, shooting mom a look.

"Maxine!" Mom calls again, her voice growing more annoyed with each call, "Ugh, that girl is too free-willed for her own good".

"Well, that's kinda the perks of being an adult... and a human," Chloe counters, seeming off-put by the amount of harsh authority my parents have over me.

"Well, as long as Maxine's sleeping under my roof, she'll follow my rules,".

Chloe nods awkwardly as she sips her steaming cup of coffee, "So, uh, Max is definitely still out cold. Ya want me to go wake her up?".

"Max?" Dad asks, acting confused as to who she's talking about. "Oh, you mean Maxine. *sigh* you might as well, but I don't want you two thinking we're here to wait on you hand and foot".

Chloe nods and grabs a spare plate from the table and sets it on the spot beside her.

"Why don't you two call Max, 'Max'? It is her real name,".

Dad signs sharply and sets down his newspaper, "We do use her real name. I don't understand why she insists on calling herself 'Max', a boys name mind you. *sigh* Maybe she's going through some sort of identity crisis,".