Life is Stranger

A Tick in a Tornado

Max watched helplessly as the doe leapt from the cliff edge. The birds in the trees above began to chatter furiously. The sun's rays turned into ethereal golden ribbons which meandered towards the falling deer, soaking into it as if through osmosis. As they did so, the deer began to metamorphose into a vaguely humanoid figure. The sound of her phone broke the dream. 'Man! Again! What does this mean? Who or what is that doe? Was I hallucinating the other day? Or is it real? Am I going nuts?'

She waited until the blurriness had gone from her vision then picked up her phone. There was a message from Joyce - "u there hippie? njoy ur first day at school, nerd. Ring me after ur done at blackhell. I'll come round & doss at ur room. we can fool around with some of my makeup & shit. We havin a sleepover, maxipad?" 'Of course, Chloe's phone is still kaput.' thought Max before replying.

"Morning trouble. Thanks. Make-up? Eek! Sleepover? Yay! (^_^). It'll be just like when we were tweens. I'll ring you later :)" Max crawled out of bed and checked the mirror. "Hello, zombie face." The phone went off again. "cool. & chill, u will look great with some of my stuff on u. no peeking at me when i strip for bed! laters, sexy."

"You wish. And get a new phone today, lazy ass. Or have I got to get one for you? See you this afternoon. xoxoxo. :D"

"NO EMOJI!"

":("

As Max headed for the showers she could hear the sound of a violin coming from Kate's room. 'If that's Kate playing, then she's extremely good at it. Would make a good photo shoot too.' As she neared the bathroom door Victoria and two of her minions came through.

"Well, look who we have here. You have a great first day, Caulfield." said Victoria with an insincere grin. The underlying menace in her tone was unmistakeable.

"I will. Thank you so much, Victoria." Max replied, injecting as much sarcasm into the comment as she possibly could. The trio skirted around Max in an exaggerated fashion and left the dorm whispering furtively together. 'They're definitely planning some sort of petty revenge. I thought that being eighteen meant I wouldn't have to deal with this sort of teenage drama any more. I'll have to be on my guard.'

Max loved the showers here. Red hot needles of intense pleasure blasting away the detritus of slumber. 'I wish they'd scour my freckles away. I totally hate them.' She examined her body as she washed herself. 'Look at this shit! I am just straight up and down like a fucking stick insect! I don't have curves or anything. Pfft! Good luck doing anything with this, Chloe Price! It's gonna take a lot more than make-up and clothes. Plastic surgery and implants, more like. Who is ever going to look at me when I'm with Chloe? She's so much more prettier than I ever will be. If I did meet someone they'd just fall for her the minute they saw her. I stand about as much chance as a tick in a tornado.'

Once back in her room, she checked her phone again before donning her clothes. There were no more messages from Chloe, but there was one from a private number – "I'm coming for your ass, bitch! I know where you sleep." Max hit the delete button, laughing softly to herself. 'Is that the best you can do, Victoria? Am I supposed to be frightened? Grow up!'

The violin had fallen silent, so Max gave Kate's door a tentative tap. "Hello Max! How are you? Please, come on in. Alice has been dying to meet you."

"Awww, she's beautiful. Can I feed her a carrot?"

"Of course. It's breakfast time, Alice."

"Are you a hungry bunny? Here, nosh on this."

"It's really good to see you Max. How are things with you and Chloe?"

"Fantastic! It's been a hel...shitsto...crazy week, but Chloe and I are BFF's again. I don't have time to tell you everything right now, but I'm so happy and relieved. Thanks for your help, Kate. You really made me feel better when I was down. I won't forget it. Chloe's coming to stay the night. I'm meeting her later today. You simply must meet her. She's awesome."

"There's no need to thank me. I am here to help. It's great that you and Chloe are back together. I'm so happy for you both. And please, you don't have to watch your language around me. I've been around a fair bit and am no prude, which is just as well really, seeming as I am soon to meet the infamous Chloe Price. I can't wait to finally talk with her. It's not before time." Bathing in Kate's smile was better than the shower.

"You're an angel. Was that you I heard playing the violin earlier?"

"It was indeed. I practice each and every morning. I do hope I didn't disturb you."

"Not all it. It was simply wonderful. You play really well. I was hoping that I could listen to you play sometime, and maybe take some photos of you."

"Of course Max. It would be my pleasure."

"Well, I have to shoot. But thanks for everything Kate. I don't know what I would have done without you this week. Bye Alice. Enjoy your munchy. Bye Kate."

"Take care Max. See you in a while."

As she walked toward her first big day, Max checked her timetable. 'Damn, photography is the final lesson. Never mind Maxine. You've waited weeks to meet Mark Jefferson. A few more hours are nothing.'

Max didn't really pay too much attention during her morning classes. She struggled somewhat with all the new names and faces but she managed to pick up two - Brooke and Alyssa. They seemed okay. Mrs Terry seemed nice, if a little domineering. 'It's a good job I'm used to it. I have my bossy best friend to thank for that.' She was just so hyped for two-thirty to come around.

Finally the lunch bell sounded, so she thought she would relax on the lawn near the fountain. It would be good to soak up some of the autumn sunshine.

"Max Caulfield, right? You're one of the new arrivals?"