Stick Together (A Max Goof Love Story)

Chapter 5

Once they entered backstage, they wasted no time and immediately got to work. PJ started getting the camera ready, Bobby was setting up the equipment and connecting some of the cables, and Nicole was busy getting Max's hair in order, using some of the hair products she carried in her gym bag. That part was easier said than done.

"OW! Holy crap, Nicky, could you pull any harder?" Max exclaims while Nicole was struggling to get a comb through his head. She rolled her eyes.

"I can't help it! Your hair is tangled in so many places, Max!"

He scoffed. "You're one to talk, bird's nest- OW!" She tugged on his hair once again. "Okay, that time was purpose!"

"My hair may look all over the place," She put the comb down, and dug through her bag. "But at least I somewhat take care of it." She stood back up, a curling iron in hand, and looked at Max, eyebrows furrowed. "And if you don't wanna get burned, I suggest you sit as still as you possibly can." Max looked at the iron wide-eyed.

"You've used that thing before, right? Because if you burn me-" Nicole cut him off with a short laugh.

"Relax, Max. I'm not gonna burn you." She looked over at him with a smile and plugged the curling iron into the wall.

"How am I supposed to believe you?"

"You don't have to believe me, just trust me." He still didn't look convinced. "Come on Maxie! Best buds trust each other, right?" She held out a balled up fist.

"Hm," With narrowed eyes, he continued to stare at the curling iron- he could already feel the heat coming from it- then he looked at her hand, then at her face. With a smirk, he bumped her fist with his own. "You got me, you're right." She playfully shoves him.

"Aren't I always? Now, with that out of the way," She picked the curling iron up, and looked at Max's head with a determined look in her eyes.

"Let's get to work."

20 minutes later...

"Alright," Nicole let out big sigh, and started to dig through the bag for her mirror. Once she got it out, she stepped back in front of Max and held the mirror up, enough for him to see his head. "I'm finished."

Max stared at his hair in amazement, and lightly touched it just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Nicole lightly chuckled when his eyes kept flicking back and forth between herself and the mirror. "Woah, you really knew what you were doing."

"Eh, I may or may not have practiced a few times." She shoved the mirror into Max's hand and headed over to the garment bag, quickening her pace when she heard the students starting to pile into the auditorium from the other side of the stage curtains. Max continued to admire his hair.

"No seriously, you did an amazing job-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can thank me later." She shoved the costume into his hands and urged him to put it on. "Hurry up and put on the suit." She poked her head out the curtains. "Stacey already started her introduction speech." Stacey was the Student Body President, and also one of Roxanne's good friends.

"Oh, okay, um" He looked at her, a look of confusion coming to his face. "Aren't you going to, you know, give me some privacy for me to change?" Nicole removed her head from the curtains to look back at Max, giving him a deadpanned look.

"Max, you forget, I do have a brother. And I've seen you without a shirt on. It's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Max let out an aggravated sigh. "Ugh, Nicky..." He dragged her name out.

Nicole held up her hands in surrender. "Fine, fine, just so we don't waste anymore time look, I'm turned around." She turned back around and peaked out the little slit in between the curtains. She could hear Max removing his regular clothes, and putting on the costumes behind, and she tried her best to keep her cheeks from becoming tomato red.

"Just tell me when you're-" She poked her head out from behind the curtains a bit more when the crowd went quiet. She heard no one but Principal Mazur talking- something about not wasting their summer by sleeping in, she wasn't paying attention enough to know- and looked out into the audience. "Uh, Max, you might want to come see this." He came up right beside her and she pulled the curtains back a bit more for him to take a look. She heard him let out a horrified gasp. He saw what she was seeing.

Some guy was coming onto Roxanne.

Before they could be spotted, they both pulled their heads back and looked at each other in worry. Nicole finished zipping up the rest of his suite for Max, since he was too busy hyperventilating over the situation, then she patted him on his shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Max do not freak out on me right now. Whatever you're gonna do, you need to do it now." She firmly said. Max let out a shaky breath but still nodded, and looked towards Bobby, who was hidden under a pile of cables.

"How you- how you doing down there Bobby?" He asked while rubbing his hands together.

Bobby popped up from under all the cables and lifted up the welder's mask, giving his friend an irritated look. "Don't give me that attitude you guys, I'm doing it all for you." He put the mask back in place and continued to connect the cables, using an acetylene torch to do so.

Nicole turned towards PJ to ask him if the camera was ready, but she saw he was already headed in their direction, with his natural panicked expression on his face.

"This is nuts! I don't know why I let you guys talk me into this." He said while looking through the viewfinder of the camcorder. "If my dad finds out, he's gonna nuke my entire existence! AH!" Since he wasn't watching where he was going, he tripped on a stray cord that was lying on the ground, and partially falls under the curtain. Before the principal could see him, Max and Nicole each picked up one of his arms and helped him back up.

"Peej, please watch your step next time." Nicole pleaded with a shake of her head. "Max, you ready?"

Max let out a stressed groan. "Oh, I hope this works!"

With that, they all got into their places. Nicole ran to the other side of the stage, making sure to stay unseen, to get to the controls of the auditorium. Just as Principal Mazur started talking about 'science slumber parties', she turned the lights off.

The show just started.