𝐆𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 [elmax story]

Chapter 16: A bottle of wine after the finals

At the end of February, it was finals season. All students were found on the cafeteria, in the school's yard or on different cafés, out of the school, studying for the finals. It was a hard and stressful period. Some of the fields had many exams than the others. Jane and Max didn't have much time to spend with each other since they had to study a lot and work for the school's projects, too. They were able only to text each other, mostly late at night.

Two weeks later, when the finals season was over and the students were relieved, Victoria decided to go with Max and wander around the shopping centers, to find something cute for the spring season as its break was close. The redhead couldn't wait to meet Jane again, the brunette was still busy with the last exam and it would take long.

For a few hours Max and Vic hopped from one shopping mall to another, buying a few things and helping each other how to combine their outfits. It was already afternoon so the two friends decided to grab a snack on one of the fast foods' nearby.

When the night started falling, the two roommates decided to go back on their dorm and take a rest. Max was putting her new clothes on the closet when her phone buzzed twice. A message from Jane was shown on the iPhone's screen:

Jane:
hey ginger
what u up to?

Nothing much
U?

Jane:
i just bought a wine bottle
im in a mood for a glass since i
finished the whole finals

Someone is gonna celebrate
tonight huh
Good point

Jane:
are u up for a glass tonight?
will be just the two of us
in my room

U asking me on a date?

Jane:
we're celebrating the end of the
finals season
so we can consider it a date
as well ;)

Then I'm up for a glass
Or more :P
What time should i be there?

Jane:
around 9 pm

I think we got a problem
What if the supervisor
catches me
She checks the corridors
around 9 pm and 12 am

Jane:
i'll watch out for u
but u be careful too

Max couldn't hold her smile which now was wide enough to get noticed by Vic. The latina girl snapped her fingers in front of her roommate and smirkily looked at her.
"What made you smile like this?"
"Like what?"
"Like a happy kid who just got her favorite toy." - Vic humorously said, followed by a laugh.
"I'm seeing Jane tonight."
"I figured it out! I see you two missed each other a lot this period."
"What else were you expecting?! It's been two weeks."
"You better be dressing up with the new clothes tonight!"
  "I know! Help me, then."
Vic pushed Max gently to check on her closet, trying different clothes to make an outfit.

The clock ticked 9. Max was already out of her dorm, walking in the direction of the other cabin. She carefully walked in, looking around and making sure if the supervisor was there or not. On the second floor, one of the dorm's door was open. Max recognized it was Jane and fastened her steps. Looking from her back if someone was behind, the redhead hit her foot on the bin next to the wall which made her stumble and fall. Max started laughing nervously while Jane rushed to help her get up. Footsteps were heard coming closer and closer pretty fast and the brunette understood the supervisor was close and if she would catch Max in another cabin, there would be a problem. Jane quickly pushed Max inside her dorm and luckily the supervisor caught Jane.
"Hey!" - she called. - "What's all this noise for?"
"I'm sorry, Miss. I tripped on the bin."
"Careful next time! It disturbs the others."
"Who the fuck gets disturbed at this time?" - Max whispered at the back of the door.
  "Um, sure. Good night." - Jane got inside and quickly locked the door before giving Max a serious death look while the redhead bursted into a big laugh.
  "Oh, come on! That was funny. Anyway, where's my drink?"
Jane walked towards the desk and grabbed one of the glasses with wine, giving it to Max.
  "How did you get this, by the way?" - Max pointed at the wine bottle. - "You've started to do illegal things, huh?"
  "One of Lucas' friend helped me, he had a fake ID. So yeah."
  "Good idea." - the redhead took a sip from her glass and sat on the bed, joined by Jane. - "How did the exam go?"
  "Good, I think. It was pretty tiring, I had to do a project after that, designing and drawing some abstract shit and my hands fucking hurt right now."
  "You need some rest," - Max put her glass away and put two pillows on the headboard. - "Lay your back here."
The brunette did as she was told and exhaled softly while Max sat next to her legs, pressing ber back on the wall.
  "Can I ask you something?"
  "Sure."
  "Why did you keep a distance from me? You know, before the competition day, when you decided to apologize."
  "Well... basically, I was jealous you started going out with that guy. I wanted to be in his place. But when I confessed to Will he told me that it wasn't your fault and I shouldn't have shout you out like that. Some things are not meant to be like we want them to be, that's what he said to me. I knew I messed it up, so I made that painting as an apologizing way."
  "You were jealous the whole time. I always thought you had something you didn't like about me and I didn't know what had I done wrong to make you get distant from me."
  "It wasn't your fault. I was just acting childish, that's all."
  "I think I've been attracted to you since we got to be close friends, but never understood it, for real. I was new to it just like you, too. And to be honest, dating Eric was more a distraction than having something serious with him."
  "Distraction?" - the brunette frowned.
  "It would make me forget about you and focus on him, which I was wrong. It didn't work and Eric figured it out himself."
Jane took a big sip of wine, surprised by this confession. She never thought Max would be attracted to her since the first. Maybe they were attracted at each other at the same time?!
  "Damn, were you so thirsty for alcohol?" - Max chuckled as she took a sip, too.
  "For this kind of conversation, yes."
  "Let's see if drunken Jane is still gonna be shy or not."
  "I promise you, I won't be." - Jane winked and poured wine again on her glass and Max's one.

An hour later, drinking the half of the bottle, the two girls had started being funny and laughing with each other even without a content.
  "Tell me a funny story." - Max begged in a childish tone and laid her legs on top of Jane's thighs, her back on the wall.
  "Umm... Oh, yes! Wanna know what happened to that homophobic bitch on prom's night?"
"Yes!"
"She ripped her dress while trying to twerk and dance in front of the boys. She ripped it at the part of her arm and down and, oh hell, it was embarrassing."
"What?" - Max yelled and started loudly laughing.
"But wait! Before this, she decided to pick up one of her friends who was shorter than her and when she put her down the poor girl had her dressed ripped from down and she was feeling embarrassed as fuck. She was trying to cover her legs."
"Why would she do that?"
"She wanted to look cool while taking her friends on her arms, but she literally looked like a grandmother with her niece." - Jane laughed along with Max who was already red and tearing up.
"Oh my God! I'd probably be dead by laughing if I'd see the whole scene."
"It was the most funny night ever!"
"What did you wear that day, I'm curious."
"I had these black pants with a black T-shirt on and a white jacket on top with white sneakers. I'll show you." - the brunette unlocked her phone and tapped the photo's icon, scrolling down and finding the right picture. - "Here."
Max grabbed the phone and looked closely at the photo since her eyes were kinda heavy because of the alcohol.
  "Damn, that's hot."
  "Yeah, so hot." - Jane slightly rolled her eyes. - "You must tell me yours."
  "No, I look like an idiot!"
  "Hey! Show me, we're not even"
  "I'm warning you, it's ugly as fuck." - Max scrolled on her phone and turned it in the direction of Jane, showing a picture where she was dressing with a black classic dress and dark red heels.
  "I want this on my phone."
  "No, you can't."
  "I didn't ask." - Jane send the picture to herself before Max would get on top of her to grab the phone. - "Too late, it's done."
  "Ugh! That pic is ugly, I was ugly."
  "I don't see any ugliness in here." - Jane zoomed the photo in, amazingly looking on it.
  "You're drunk."
  "So are you!"
Max gave up and sat back on her previous place, arm crossed. Jane took her phone away and frowned at Max.
  "You need another glass, I think." - she grabbed the bottle and poured wine on the glasses, giving one to Max who didn't hesitate to take big sips. - "You're gonna choke on that."
  "I can handle choking." - the redhead shrugged with a devilish smirk.
  "Oh, really? Who's kinky now?"
  "You, duh."
  "What did I do? I'm a good kid."
  "Good kids doesn't lick lips like you do."
  "It's the wine." - Jane covered her mouth and shyly looked away.
  "I believed that."
  "You're not better than me."
  "Sorry, but I'm a really really good kid."
  "Yeah, that's why you keep teasing me with that kind of look."
  "What look?"
  "You keep smirking to me and bite your lips. You're such a bad kiddo!"
  "Jesus, leave me alone!" - Max hid her face on her knees while her face started blushing and making her heated.
  "Okay, I'm leaving you alone." - Jane stood up slowly, grabbing the cigarettes' pack next to the bed's drawer, and walked in the direction of the balcony.
  "No, don't!" - Max got on her feet and wrapped her arms around Jane's belly from behind.
  "Your Gemini moon keeps talking." - the brunette joked as she pulled Max with herself out in the balcony.
  "Haha."

The night wasn't that quiet. It was Friday and people were all out celebrating, hosting parties, hanging around the bars or even at the parks, getting high or drunk. It was still cold, but the two girls were wrapped with a woolly blanket and staying close to each other, sharing the warmth.

After two cigarettes, Max decided to go back inside as she started shivering. She collapsed in bed and made some place for Jane to lay down, too. By not understanding the two of them were facing each other for a few minutes, adoring each other's presence. Max placed her hand on Jane's cheek and raised a bit to put her lips on the brunette's one, kissing her softly. Jane gave it the same way and gently caressed Max's hip and back. But being in a drunken state didn't let them stay up longer, falling in a deep sleep.