Daisies || Max Mayfield

7: Halloween

"Yeah, I think it's a good four inches." I smiled. "And, I'm already like, 5' 9, so that gets me to 6' 3." I moved her hand up even higher.

"Jesus Christ." She rolled her eyes. "You're taller than Mike!"

"Yeah, only a bit," I replied. "He'll probably be taller later though."

She shrugged. "Maybe."

"Please be respectful during the presentation." The teacher warned, directly in our direction.

Max rolled her eyes, resting her head on our shared table.

I put mine down as well, leaning it on one arm so I could look at her.

Even with her face all squished up, she looked beautiful. Her freckles were prominent and her eyes were light blue gray. She was looking at the table, eyes flickering across the words written and carved into the wood.

I smiled.

She looked up over my head, squinting at the clock behind me. "We've got thirty minutes."

"Twenty minutes."

"Ten minutes."

"Okay, you got five minutes to put your skates on."She grinned. "Then we run."

"You run." I clarified, untieing them from my bag. We were in the back of the room. The teacher wouldn't see me.

"Yep. You can just go right out the doors, right?"

"Yeah, as long as there's no steps."

"There are two." She muttered.

"Oh, only two?" I shrugged. "That's fine."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, just let me go once we get to the front doors." I tied one lace tight, the boot fitting perfectly around my foot.

"Almost ready?" She asked. Her knee was jumping up and down. The class had already begun packing up, giving us more of a distraction.

"Yeah." I slid my foot into the right boot, the wheels clicking on the floor.

"And three." She was watching the clock, just as I tied the laces. "Two." I swung my bag over both shoulders. "One." 

Right on time, the bell rang through the building. I immediately stood up and followed the sea of students to the door, kicking slightly each time I stepped to move. I wasn't going fast, so I could keep my legs fairly straight for now. 

I stepped over the metal bar in the doorway, feeling Max beside me. She held my hand as we left, suddenly pulling me forwards through the crowd.

"Stacey!" The teacher shouted. "Max! You have detention!"

"Nope!" Max shouted back, pushing her way through the people. 

I had to crouch down to keep my balance. She was a foot shorter than me in roller skates. Ha.

We continued through the halls. I kept my feet staggered, weaving around people. Some were already on skateboards, zipping down the hall. It was emptying out as we made it to the front, so Max let go of my hand.

I continued to skate down the hall alone, gaining speed as I approached the entrance. Instead of jumping over the metal bit like I usually would when going this fast, I stepped over it, because I would hit my head if I didn't.

Max ran out after me, dropping her board on the ground and running onto it, jumping over the short staircase in front of us. 

I'd only jumped stairs a few times, but they were bigger than this, so I sped up and jumped, landing with both feet on the ground at the same time.

I fumbled a bit, lowering my stance to catch my balance. My bag was setting off my balance a bit, but I ignored it and continued on the sidewalk.

Max was a little bit behind me, so I waited for her to pass me, then skated up next to her.

She was smiling. "Hey." Her hair was flowing in the wind.

"Hey." I grinned back, watching the sidewalk closely. It dropped off after a bit, the busses lined up in the bus loop after. "Should I just go around the busses?"

"No, go through them!" Max shouted, jumping down the curb and weaving through the busses. 

I stepped off, crossing over to catch up with her. We entered the staff parking lot, climbing the small hill to the middle school lot, and leaving through one of the entrances there.

We hopped on the sidewalk, joining a few other skaters as I followed Max.

"Nice job!" She shouted.

"Thanks!" I replied.