Life is Stranger

Tears Before Bedtime

Sitting at the fountain back at Blackwell, Max was cradling her most treasured possession – the last photograph William ever took. She was struggling to reconcile the young girl with the tender, sweet smile and long, flowing hair in the photo with the blue-haired, rage-filled woman she had just met. What could possibly have turned the one into the other? 'A stupid question, Max. It was you. You did that to her. Bravo, SuperMax. Step up and collect your trophy.' The last three words Chloe had said to her were playing on a loop in her head - 'I hate you.' Max knew it was true – she could see the raw, undiluted vitriol in Chloe's flaming azure eyes - those eyes directed right at Max. She genuinely thought that Chloe was going to beat her, right there and then. 'Why didn't she? I've never had a proper fight in my life. I am definitely no match for her. Besides, it's not like I could actually complain, is it? I totally asked for it. Never mind Chloe hating me - I hate myself. What in the hell have I done? My best friend. My only friend. I destroyed her. By simply doing nothing. For five whole years. Max, you left her to rot.' She could feel the tears starting to rise.

"Er. Hi. You okay?"

Max looked up. 'Oh fantastic. A boy. Can this day possibly get any worse?'

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking about stuff, is all. Sorry, but I'd really like to be alone right now. Thanks for the concern though." 'Take the hint, Testosterone Terence.'

"Well it's just that you look really, really sad and, um, your bag has fallen in the water."

"What? Shit! Are you cereal?"

Max grabbed the bag out of the pool so quickly that a trail of water streamed through the air and caught the side of the boy's pants, soaking the leg on one side.

"Sorry."

"It's cool. It's just H20." said the boy, smiling.

Max ignored him. She was more concerned about her camera. Opening the bag only confirmed what she already knew - her polaroid had officially taken a shit. The only consolation was that she had taken the photo out before the bag went for its unscheduled dip.

"Well that's just fucking awesome. Another cherry to top off this shitty fucking bastard of a day!" said Max, and threw the camera as far as she could, smashing it into pieces. It nearly hit some skater types sitting on the wall nearby. They looked over in her direction. Max's glare was enough. They went back to their conversation.

"I'm sorry about your camera. It's been nice meeting you, but I have to get going now. I hope your day gets better. See you around."

"Er, yeah...thanks..."

"Warren."

"Thanks Warren. My name's Max."

"Okay Max, take care. Laters."

The boy wandered off in the direction of the dorms. Max decided to wait a while. He seemed harmless and friendly enough, but the last thing she wanted right now was to get involved with a boy. As a friend or whatever. She had enough to deal with currently. She didn't need any complications like that. She put the photo carefully in her pocket and sat back down, leaving her sodden bag in the sun, slowly oozing liquid over the tarmac like fresh road kill. The lighthouse again drew her gaze. It sat on top of the bluff like some sort of sentinel guarding the bay. For some reason this unsettled her. It was the same lighthouse as ever, but today it was ominous somehow. A sudden chill came over her. 'Time to go Maxine. Now you're spooking yourself. What the hell is wrong with you?' As she reached her dorm she saw three girls blocking the steps. She knew the type straightaway – jock meat. 'Yeah, they're gonna be a problem for sure. Brilliant. Well these three are about to realise they picked the wrong person to mess with today. I've had enough of this shit.'

"Sorry, can't you see the sign?" said the one in the centre. 'Of course. The Prime Princess.' thought Max.

"What?"

"No dorks allowed."

Max was past caring. "Like whatever bitch. Move."

The three girls shot up in unison, as if they were marionettes responding to the hands of the puppet master. "What did you just say, hipster whore?"

"You fucking heard me the first time." Max shoved the ringleader roughly to one side and barged through the gap. Max could sense the girl was about to retaliate, so she zipped around and grabbed her by the throat. "Don't...even...think...about...it." The girl was petrified. Typical. All mouth. No substance. Max let her go and went through the door. She could hear them shouting behind her, but Max wasn't even listening. They were nothing. Max entered her room, put the photo under her pillow and collapsed onto her bed. Whatever force had propelled her back here now vaporised. Max crumbled. She hugged her teddy close to her chest. She wept. For the rest of the day. Darkness fell. She eventually cried herself to sleep. As she drifted off, she murmured a single word.

"Chloe."