startled!

your ridiculous-er

they arrive at brooklyns house. "here, you can just- uh, wait here. i'll be right back. with bandages," brooklyn instructs.

when brooklyn returns, (now with a roll bandages and a towel) max is sitting on the curb- slightly rolling her skateboard under her feet, and trying to look at her bleeding elbow, but miserably failing. brooklyn cant help but laugh at the sight, and max must've heard her because she turns her head. 

she rolls her eyes, her face reddening. brooklyn go to sit beside her. "here, let me see your arm," she says, and max does so- sticking out her arm. brooklyns hands grasp her arm, and she gently dabs (not the dance) at the bleeding scrape.

"you really dont have to do this, im fine," max says, watching brooklyns serious face, her eyes squinting. (squinted??) brooklyn doesn't look back, very focused on max's elbow. "yes, your fine, now that im helping you," she mumbles, turning her head and reaching for the bandages.

max cracks a smile. "your ridiculous," she teases. "your.. ridiculous-er," brooklyn says, carefully wrapping the bandage around max's elbow.

 "thats not a word."

"it is now. there, finished. better?" brooklyn finally looks back at her.

max smiles. "sure." 

brooklyn smiles, but not for long. "hey, uh- sorry for, like.." she pauses, slightly grimacing. "startling you, i guess," she finishes, rubbing the back of her neck anxiously.

"its fine. im glad you did,"

"glad?" brooklyn repeats, looking confused.

"you know. i got to meet you..?" max shrugs her shoulders.

"oh. yeah. i.. guess so," 

"yeah," max repeats, and then it falls quiet.

"you know, um. earlier, said you dont know anyone?" max finally says.

"i mean- i.. only you, i guess," brooklyn isnt sure how to respond, breaking their eye contact. "me and my friends are going to the arcade tommorow, if you wanna come. you can meet them, too. i mean, if your free," max offers, tucking hair behind her ear.

"oh, i dont know, i might be busy, i'll have to check my calendar," she mumbles. max just looks at her. "im joking," brooklyn adds quickly, smiling. "oh. yeah, right, i knew that," max's face reddens, but shes still smirking. "so, uhm, you can go?" she asks hopefully.

"yeah. i can go. i dont know, where the arcade is, though," 

 "we can bike there together, its not that far away," 

"okay. but i dont have a bike."

"oh. i was thinking you could just, like, ride.. on mine.. y'know, if you want," her voice trails off. 

"okay. we could, uh, do that, too," the two girls look at eachother in silence, smiling somewhat.

"i should probably go home now. my brother will be mad." max suddenly blurts, breaking eye contact. "okay, yeah, um, sure," brooklyn says, honestly a bit sad shes leaving.

she gets up, and kicks up her board- the same thing she'd done earlier, tucking it under her arm. she starts to walk away, but backwards, grinning."bye! see you tomorrow! six!" she waves with her free arm. "bye!" brooklyn gives her a small wave back, still sitting.

maxs grin only widens. she turns around- drops her board, and starts to skate away. brooklyn lets out a little sigh, leaning her head on her hand, watching her skate away until shes out of eyesight.

 "six. ok. six," she reminds herself, multiplie times, getting up and walking back into her house. 

unedited bc sis im lazy