Chapter Text
Max glanced down at her cell phone, hoping to catch a glance of a text of call. It was getting harder to concentrate on her lessons as she expected a call from Chloe. It wasn't like she hadn't attempted to contact her since getting her number. She made sure to call everyday when given the chance, but Chloe never answered. It wasn't until now was when she sort of knew how Chloe felt about her. There was only one thing to do. She had to go visit her herself. Despite being gone for so long, she knew the way there by heart. The neighborhood hadn't changed much since she had left and neither had the Price household. The difference was a old raggedy tan truck had now occupied the parking space outside of the garage. She guessed that the truck belonged to Joyce's husband, David. She couldn't picture Chloe driving a truck. Then again she couldn't even picture her friend as an adult.
Placing the baby on her hip, she made her way up the driveway. Just as she arrived at the doorstep, a man in a security guard uniform met her at the door. She recognized him as David Madsen, Joyce's second husband. She only knew that because Joyce had written her parents about the union and sent a picture of the two of them. Max was happy for her but wondered how Chloe felt about it. Joyce had remarried a lot sooner than anybody thought she would've. That must've taken a toll on Chloe combined with her father being gone.
"Who're you?" he asked in a gruff southern voice.
"I'm Max," she introduced herself. "I'm a friend of Chloe's."
"Chloe huh?" He didn't seem to like that judging by the frown on his face. He rubbed his chin as he squinted his eyes at her. "Say haven't I seen you before?"
"I sent you, Joyce, and Chloe a wedding invitation about a year ago."
"Oh right. You're married to that Jefferson fella." His face softened a bit. Was that sympathy in those brown eyes? Max shook it off. It couldn't be. After all, what was there to be sympathic about? "Chloe is upstairs."
"Thanks," As Max stepped into the house, she was eager to check out the inside. When David went into the garage, Max went out of her way to take a look around first.
Similar to the exterior of the home, she noticed the interior was nearly the same too. They still had the same blue couch and wooden coffee table sitting in front of it. The tv had been switched out for a flat screen television. Next to the staircase was the table that held their home phone and answering machine. The kitchen table was also the same. Even the same magazines Joyce loved to read were still laying there. It was amazing to her that nothing had changed. Even her own parents switched out furniture whenever they could. Max stepped near the fireplace to see if the carpet had been switched out for a new one in the past 7 years. Sure enough it was the same too. Max could tell this by the fading wine stain that resulted from her and Chloe's wine tasting incident when they were 12. The two of them had been grounded for a month after that. She wondered if Chloe ever thought about that.
Once she got upstairs, she walked up to Chloe's bedroom door and knocked. "Go away," came a feminine voice.
"I-it's Max," she said nervously.
"Max?" Chloe repeated. She could hear her friend's bare feet hitting the floor as she approached the door. Max was shocked when she saw her friend.
Chloe's long blonde hair had been dyed blue and cut short with medium sized bangs. Her right arm was now covered with tattoos. Her clothes had also drastically changed. She now sported a blue beanie, ripped blue jeans with suspenders, a pair of boots, and a tank top with skull on the front. Chloe had completely gone punk on her. It wasn't a bad thing per se. It looked cool on her.
"Wow it really is you," She stared at her friend with wide eyes and raised eyebrows.
"Are you going to invite us in or make me stand out in the hallway?"
"Uh yeah. Come in!" Chloe moved to the side, holding the door open for her childhood best friend.
Unlike the rest of the house, Chloe's room had changed. Chloe's bedroom was messier than the last time she saw it. There were piles of clothes here and there, empty beer bottles were littered across the floor, there were a few empty pizza boxes in a corner, and there was papers and magazine left carelessly on the floor. The old television that had been in the living room once upon a time was now on a table in Chloe's bedroom. Her bed was just a couple of mattresses with a black and red cover and a few blankets to lay on top of. Posters of different bands and random posters were all over her bedroom instead of the more feminine and cartoonish posters she used to have in her bedroom. On the wall to the left of the door was a drawing of Chloe saying "Trust no one."
"Nice room you've got here," Max said trying to be polite.
"Bullcrap, but thanks for the lie," Chloe closed the door and sat on the edge of her bed. "I'm surprised to see you here. I would've thought you were in Seattle living the dream."
"My husband got a new job here."
"So your husband gets a new job and that's the only reason you finally visited," she huffed scowling. "Sorry I wasn't worth coming back here sooner."
She couldn't blame Chloe for being angry. She had no excuse not to come back for a visit. "There was so much going on. Plus I was going through changes just like you."
"I guess those changes included dumping me from your life. You've had 7 years to see or even call me and you didn't until you had to come here."
"That's not true and you know it." Max sat down at a chair at Chloe's desk. "I sent you an invitation to my wedding didn't I? We could've connected if you'd bothered to show up. And what about my phone calls? I called you when I came back!"
"Then you know what it feels like to be ignored," Chloe's eyes narrowed at her. "Sucks doesn't it?"
"You didn't come on purpose?" Max was hurt that her best friend had avoided her wedding out of anger. It was one thing to not return her calls.