Chapter 7 - Solace

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"What the hell was that?"

Breathing in the chill morning air, Max placed the palm of her right hand on her forehead while sliding her hand upwards, temporarily removing her bangs.

"That was a failed attempt at beating the shit out of a douche," Chloe replied, seemingly feeling content with the outcome despite her words.

The buildings around them were casting a pattern of shadows in front of them, making the temperature change quite drastically with every 8th step or so.

"No, yeah. I got that part, but you were like," Max paused for a bit, trying to get a feel of her vocal cord.
"Thanks for the food. The bacon was hella crunchy" she made gestures as she did an over-exaggerated impersonation of Chloe.
"After you got up and paid for our food," she stated to end her awe.

"Pretty badass, right?" Chloe pulled off the smirk of a warrior as she put her right hand in her front pocket.

Max shook her head while looking down on the cracks on the sidewalk they were walking on.
"I once spilled ice water down by bra, but that shit was cold dude"

Chloe let out a short chuckle as she pulled out her phone and pressed a button on the side.
"It's 10:25" she simply stated while keeping her attention on the screen.

A gap appeared in-between lines, making Max curls her fingers and shove her predictions away.
"I'm sorry I didn't do much to help" she let out, trying to keep the sobbing in her voice to a minimum, as she knew what Chloe wouldn't want her to apologize.

"You'll have more luck apologizing to a wall. I just lost my cool and you even tried to stop me, so as usual you did the right thing. It's just... the waitress kinda brought memories back of my mom" Chloe refrained from looking up from the screen on her phone. Her loose hair was hiding the giveaways she usually presented and the emotion in her voice was a clear line.

Not being able to get a feel of the atmosphere, Max decided the let the silence do the talking as she observed the surroundings of the small city of Idaho. She had only been here once before for 3 days and had yet to get a feel of the state as a whole and her friend provided very little information on the subject, usually answering with "It's fine" or "People are people" so it sounded like a standard place to be. The good with the bad sort of deal. However, the state seemed to make an effort to get a better image as a young girl appeared in front of them, standing still with her feet and nervously holding her shoulders close to her head. Chloe had nearly walked into her, but she managed to take her attention away from her phone just in time and now looked down at the girl.

"I lost my parents" she let out with a nervous voice while looking down at the ground. Her blonde hair was placed in a pony-tail down her back, that gently swayed from right to left as she began gently turning her body around.

"Oh," Max let out, quickly recalling the process of what to do with a lost child. First off, she tried to catch her attention to make her feel safe. Still looking down at the ground, she seemed uncomfortable having to ask strangers for help.

"Man, that sucks. I know that feel," Chloe let out without hesitation as she bend down in her knees, trying to get in head height with the little girl.
"How old are you?" She asked with a calm voice and with eyes that glittered with interest, instantly catching the attention of the girl.

"Four!" She answered proudly, finally looking up- revealing her light blue eyes, puffy nose, and flustered cheeks. She refrained from smiling, but it was clear to see her nervousness had been washed away in an instant by the simple question.

"Four?!" Chloe let out with a surprised voice while opening her eyes wide.
"Nah, you're at least six," she continued with a teasing voice and bright facial expressions.

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