DELUGE! MAX MILLS

NINE !

CHAPTER NINE:
BONDING.

THURSDAYS. A DAY nancy once despised but had recently grown to love. it went without saying that she longed the tutor sessions to arrive again immediately after the previous one had ended.

"okay, now ionic bonds!" nancy chirped, doing small jazz hands to the boy who looked at her with such boredom and disgust.

"you're killing me," max groaned. whilst speaking literally and referring to the topic of chemistry boring him to death, he also couldn't fight his overbearing temptation to reach out to the girl and bring her lips to his — that thought also killing him.

nancy giggled, tucking a strand of her ginger locks behind her chilled ears. "come on, max. the sooner this is done, the sooner we can leave."

"there's only like ten minutes left, plus i want to show you something." nancy furrowed her eyebrows.
"come on," max continued, placing his textbook and pad into his bag and slinging it across his shoulder. he raised from his position on the bench and took nancy's hand in his, prompting her to stand.

nancy rolled her eyes, "i don't agree with this."

"i don't care," max replied, smiling at the girl and leading her to his black convertible.

after a short ride around berkshire, max's car turned down a rocky path. nancy glanced out the window and immediately recognised the destination she would visit frequently in her youth, "why are we at the quarry?"

max simply smirked in response and exited his car. reluctantly, nancy unbuckled and followed in suit.
her eyes shifted to the horizon and the fiery red orb of light slowly sinking beneath it, leaving single threads of light lingering in the sky.

max walked round to the boot of his car and retrieved and striped blanket, proceeding to walk past nancy and place it at the edge of the quarry.
nancy thought for a moment before mirroring his footsteps as he placed the blanket onto the cobbled ground. "sit," max insisted, leading her to believe he came here often — or often enough to have a blanket hidden in the boot of his car.

nancy sat next to the boy, leaving all but a few feet between them, "do you come here often?"

she already knew the answer and so didn't mind too much when he bypassed the question. "we don't know that much about each other do we?" his eyes focused on the black water residing around 400 feet below them.

nancy pursed her lips, humming before coming up with an answer. "i suppose not, why?"

"i just thought, if we're going to be fuck buddies we should be friends at the very least."

nancy cringed at the label he placed on the pair. "i thought we were friends?" she voiced, unsure if she should be offended or not.

max chuckled, "i mean - we are, but still. i don't know much about you, so like, tell me something!"

she inhaled deeply, nothing all too interesting coming to mind, "like what?"

max shrugged, "anything i don't already know."

nancy shifted her gaze from the boy to the horizon. this would have been a really good time to have a secret talent, something crazy she could do with her body, or an instrument she could play extremely well. but there was nothing.

"uh, my brother died last year," she spoke without thinking, mentally facepalming herself as the words left her mouth. his eyes widened at her bluntness and she scolded herself, "sorry, i should've phrased that differently."

max smiled, "yeah, you should probably ease into something like that."

nancy giggled, averting her gaze back onto the brunette beside her. "i didn't mean for that to sound so — harsh. in fact, i don't even know why i said that. the only people that know are jake and cassidy because they were around when it happened, but other than that i don't like telling people so, i don't know why i've just admitted that..sorry," she rambled.

"hey, slow down," max chuckled, smiling at the red head, "with risk of overstepping, how did he die?"

nancy inhaled deeply and stared at the ocean of blackness below them, "cancer," she answered simply.

"i'm sorry," max replied, noticing the tear that was threatening to fall down her freckled cheeks.

"it's okay. i just feel like, he didn't get enough time, y'know? he was only twelve at the time and i just know he could've done great things if he'd survived."

max moved his chilled hand and reached for hers in an at of comfort, causing her to meet his stare. the pair smiled at each other for a little while, appreciating the company.

"okay," max voiced, "tell me something else. something less - deathy."

nancy chucked, appreciating his attempt to make light of a deep situation. "max, there's really nothing to tell!"

"what's your favourite colour?"

"purple."

"see, now i know you're favourite colour is purple," max explained, making it sound so simple.

nancy pursed her lips before flipping the roles, "okay, your turn.....if you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

his eyes lower to the ground as he thinks about her request for a short moment. "i don't know."

"oh, come on!"

max shrugs, "there's nothing out there for me. i'm happy here," he replies plainly.

nancy sighs and leans back in defeat, max soon mirroring her actions. from where they lay, they had a perfect view of the sun dipping behind the crest of mountains, the sky awash and ablaze with colour.

"what about you?" he asks.

"anywhere, i just want to leave this place."

max turns his face to admire the red head beside him, her freckled face glowing in the sun set. it all seemed very cliché, like a scene from a romance movie. if only they were some lovesick couple, so madly in love with each other it drove them crazy. but that wasn't the case.

nancy shifted her gaze from the sky to him, meeting his eye line. she smiled at the boy as he smiled back.

and they stayed like that for quite some time.

NOTE! growth and development! we love
to see it.
i went for a college interview today and saw
a girl waiting with a marvey hoodie on so like
if u happen to be reading this, lets be friends :))))))
x, amelia