YOU 1 [Charli D'Amelio]

Chapter 48.

I don't see or hear Max in the showers at all so I hope she didn't go off somewhere with those girls. She didn't even bring any clothes with her so if she does shower, she would just be putting on dirty clothes. Max could wear clothes matted with mud and still look better than any guy I have ever seen. Except Chase, I remind myself. I dry off and pull my clothes on and make my way back to my room. I am relieve to find Max sitting on my bed. She is shirtless and her hair is still wet. I close my mouth to make sure my tongue isn't hanging out, panting. My loose purple shirt and jeans seem silly compared to her snug black jeans and bare skin. At least I am wearing my tight jeans.

"Took you long enough" She says and lays back. Her muscles constrict as she lifts her arms back behind hthead.

"You're supposed to be nice to me remember" I say and walk over to Addison's closet and open the door to reveal the mirror. Grabbing Addison's makeup bag, I sit myself down and cross my legs in front of it.

"I am being nice"

I stay quiet as I try to apply a little makeup. After three attempts of making a straight line on my top eyelid, I chuck the eyeliner at the mirror and Max laughs.

"You don't need it anyway" Max tells me.

"I like it" I defend and she rolls her eyes. "Fine, we can just sit here all day while you try to color on your face" she says. So much for nice Max.

She catches on and apologizes to me while I wipe my eyes off, giving up the makeup routine.

"I'm ready" I tell her and she stands up.

"Are you going to put a shirt on?" I ask her and she shakes her head.

"Yea, I have one in my trunk" I remember at the stream how she pulled a t-shirt out of her trunk then too. I was right, she must have an endless supply in there. I don't want to think about the reason behind it.

True to her word, she pulls a plain black t-shirt out of the trunk and pulls it over her head.

"Stop staring and get in the car" she teases me. I stutter a denial and oblige.

"I like when you wear white shirts" The words are out before I can process them. She cocks her head sideways and gives me a smug grin.

"Is that so?" She raises her eyebrow. "Well I like you in those jeans, they show off your ass wonderfully" she says and my mouth drops. Max and her dirty words. She takes in my reaction and laughs.

I swat at her playfully but I mentally pat myself on the back for wearing these jeans, I want Max to look at me even though I would never admit it and I am flattered by her strange way of complimenting me.

"So where to?" She asks and I pull out my phone. I read her the list of car lots within a five mile radius and tell her about a few of the reviews on each.

"You plan things way too much, so we aren't going to any of those places" she says.

"Yes, we are. I already have this planned, there is a Prius that I want to see at Bob's Super Cars" I tell her and cringe at the cheesy name.

"A Prius?" Her spits.

"Yea? They have the best gas mileage and they are safe and.."

"Boring, I knew somehow you would want a Prius, you just scream 'Lady with a planner in her Prius!'" She says in an old woman's voice and I laugh with her.

"Charli me all you want but I will save hundreds on gas every year" I remind her and she leans over and pokes my cheek.

I look over at her, shocked by her doing such a small but adorable thing and she looks as surprised as I do that she did that.

"You're cute sometimes" she tells me and I look out the window.

"Gee, thanks."

"I mean that in a nice way, like sometimes you do cute things" she mutters. The words seem uncomfortable on her tongue and I know she isn't used to saying things like this.

"Okay.." I say and look out the window again. Every second I spend with Max increases my feelings for her , its dangerous for me to allow these small seemingly meaningless moments to occur, but I don't have control of the situation when Max is involved. I am merely a passer by to this storm.

Max ends up driving to Bob's and I thank her, I don't like when things don't go as planned, which is happening much more lately. Bob is a sweaty and over-gelled man who smells like nicotine and leather. His smile is equipped with a gold tooth and Max stands.. well hovers over him, making faces when he isn't looking. The little man seems to be intimidated by Max's harsh appearance, but I don't blame him. I take one look at the Prius and decide against it. I have a feeling the moment I drove off the lot, it would have broken down and Bob has a strict no return policy.

We visit a few more lots and they are all equally as trashy. After hours of countless balding men, I decide to halt the search for a car, I will have to go further away from campus for a decent car and I just don't feel like it today. We decide to get some lunch through the drive thru and we eat in the car and Max surprisingly tells me a story about when Zayn got arrested for puking all over the floor inside Wendy's last year. The day is going better than I could have imagined and for once I feel like we could both make it through this semester without killing one another.

On our way back to campus we pass a cute little frozen yogurt bar and I beg Max to stop. She groans and acts like she doesn't want to but I see the hint of a smile hiding behind her sour features. Max tells me to sit and she gets our yogurt for us, piling on every candy and cookie imaginable, it looks disgusting but she convinces me it is the only way to get your moneys worth. As gross as it looks, it is delicious. I can't even finish half of mine but Max happily clears her bowl and the remainder of mine.

"Maxxy?" A man's voice says. Max's head snaps up and her eyes narrow. Was that an accent I heard? He is holding a bag and a drink carrier full of yogurt.

"Uhm.. hey" he says and the man smiles. I know immediately that the man is Max father. He is tall and lean, like Max and has the same shaped eyes, only his are a deep brown instead of hazel. Other than that, they are polar opposites. His father is dressed in gray dress pants, and a sweater vest. His brown hair has some gray scattered through the sides and he looks very professional. Until he smiles that is, his smile is warm, like Max's when she isn't putting so much effort into being a jerk.

"Hi, I am Charli" I politely say and reach my hand out. Max glares at me but I ignore her. It's not like she was going to introduce me.

"Hello Charli, I am Ken, Max's father" He says and shakes my hand.

"Max, you never told me you had a girlfriend, you two should come over for dinner tonight. Karen will make a nice meal for everyone, she's an excellent cook" I want to tell him I am not Max's girlfriend but Max speaks.

"We can't tonight, I have a party to go to and she doesn't want to come" she snaps. A gasp escapes my lips at the way Max speaks to her father. Her fathers face drops and I feel terrible for him.

"Actually I would love to. I am friends with Liam too" I tell the sad man and his friendly smile reappears.

"You are? Well that is great. Liam is a nice kid. I would be happy to have you over tonight" Ken says and I smile.

"What time should we be there?" I ask and feel Max's eyes blazing at me.

"We?" His father asks and I nod. "Okay.. let's do seven, I need to give Karen a few hours warning or she will have my head" he laughs and I join him. Max stares angrily out the glass wall.

"Sounds great! We will see you tonight" I tell him. He says goodbye to Max, who ignores him rudely despite me kicking her foot under the table. After her dad exits the building Max stands up abruptly and slams the chair back into the table, it topples over and she kicks it before pushing open the door and leaving me alone to deal with everyone's stares. I clumsily pick up the chair she knocked over and run after her.

I call out her name but she ignores me until she gets halfway to the car. She turns around so quickly that I almost crash into her.

"What the hell charli! What the fuck was that?" She screams at me. People walking by start to stare but she continues.