Regular People [Elmax]

Chapter 17 - The Skatepark

California - January 1984:

Max wandered through the walls of lockers and crowds of people. She entered the cafeteria and scanned the room for a place to sit. She was a bit of a loner, she didn't really have many friends except...

"Max! Over here!", Jess yelled across the room as she gestured for her to come over.

Max smiled to herself and felt her heart speed up, she liked Jess more and more every day. After the conversation she'd had with her mom almost a year prior, she'd done a lot of thinking. She wasn't sure what liking girls meant. Her mom had called her a 'homo' so maybe that's what she was, though she still wasn't too sure as she knew she liked boys too. All she knew is that right now she liked Jess, no matter what her mom said.

She sat down with Jess and the rest of the group, she sometimes felt left out since they were in the grade above her and would share stories from their class but she didn't really mind. Being the only two girls in the group, she and Jess got on really well and shared things they wouldn't with the boys. Jess always made an effort to include Max when the others forgot, that just made her like her even more.

"You alright Max? You seem really quiet", Jess asked, gently tapping her on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just thinking"

"Thinking about what? How you can't even do an Ollie yet?", Tommy teased.

"Don't be a dick Tommy", Jess said in Max's defence.

"It's fine Jess. At least I can actually skate", Max smirked.

"She's got you there mate", Christopher laughed, "I haven't even seen you drop in without falling off yet"

"You don't even skate!", Tommy exclaimed.

"Yeah and I could still probably do better than you"

"I'm working on it", Max muttered.

"Yeah, she is, and she's gonna get it soon! In fact, we're going to the Skatepark to work on it tonight, right Max?", Jess smiled at her.

They'd been to the Skatepark before but never alone, they'd only ever gone with the boys. She, Jess, Tommy, Peter and Mathew all skated. James and Christopher often went to the park with them but watched from the side. James was really quiet and didn't talk much, Max wasn't sure she'd ever spoken to him in the almost year they'd been friends. The fact that Jess was inviting her for some time alone was almost enough to make her blush.

"Yeah, sure", Max smiled back.

"No! It's arcade night! You're our best players, you have to come", Mathew protested.

"Well, Tommy should have thought about that before he insulted Max's Ollie. I bet she'll even be on a kickflip soon with my help", Jess wrapped an arm around Max's shoulders and flashed a triumphant look at Tommy.

Max tensed up at the unexpected contact, her heart sped up and she could feel her cheeks turning a pinkish color. She cursed herself for acting like this but she couldn't stop herself. Jess kept her arm loosely around her shoulders until the bell went. Tommy, James, Peter, Mathew and Christopher all left for class. Just as Jess was leaving to catch up with them, she turned back to Max.

"Skatepark, four o'clock, yeah?"

Max nodded and Jess smiled as she turned back to run after her friends. Max took a second to process what had just happened before smiling to herself and heading to class, excited to spend time with Jess after school.

Max arrived at the skatepark at four on the dot to find Jess already there, dropping down the ramps and practising her grinds on the bars. Max stood and watched her for a while, she made skating look so easy and graceful. Max had gotten better since she first met her but she still wasn't perfect. Jess slowly came to a stop and Max gave her a slow clap as she walked over.