Max opened the door to the apartment complex and sighed. She briefly turned around, thanking David for taking her home. He simply nodded and drove off. She slowly walked up the stairs, her body aching as it did. She walked inside and saw Chloe and Rachel sitting at the table, along with Kate and Steph. They were all drinking tea.

"Hey, Max." Steph was the first to say.

Rachel got up and walked over to hug Max. "I'm so glad you're okay."

Max slowly returned the hug. "Thanks."

"Max, Rachel told me what you did." Chloe said, still sitting at the table. "You were awesome." Her tone was enthusiastic, but she kept a solemn look on her face.

Max smiled weakly, unable to accept the compliment. Kate noticed this, and got up and walked towards the kitchen. "I'll make you some tea." Kate said. Max only nodded. She took a seat next to Chloe.

"I haven't talked to Samantha much, but from what I know she is just a sweet and happy girl, even if she is pretty reserved." Steph said, taking a sip of her tea. She gave Max a funny look. "It's… it's nice to see you again, Max. I wish it could have been under better circumstances." She said. Max nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I really liked talking to her back when I was at Blackwell." Chloe added. "She could be a little judgy at times, but she was nice, you know?" She shook her head. "I still can't believe she tried to-" She grimaced.

"I can." Rachel frowned. "I'm just glad she didn't follow through." She smiled at Max. "And we have you to thank for that." Max looked down.

"Do we have any idea as to why she might have tried to do that?" Chloe asked.

"You sound like Wells." Max said without looking up. Everyone looked awkwardly at her, saying nothing.

Kate set down a mug of tea in front of Max and went and sat back in her chair. "I hope he didn't grill you too hard." She smiled sweetly. Max smiled back.

"Nah. It was alright."

"What did you tell them?" Rachel asked.

Max finally looked up, grabbing her mug with both hands. She was cold. "About as much as I knew. That she had relations with Nathan Prescott that ended poorly. I also said I suspected she got drugged at the party."

Chloe put her mug down forcefully on the table, causing it to thud. "Did she?"

Max shrugged. "I heard rumours of her being at the party. Not sure if they're true."

Rachel pursed her lips. "Yes, she was. I did see her. But only very briefly. She was with friends and she was clearly drunk. This was a few minutes before you guys came to get me." She looked at Max. "It could have been anyone, not necessarily Nathan, or-" She cut herself off. "Or it could have been nothing. That was dangerous, Max."

Max nodded. "I know. But then get this - I told them Jefferson approached her minutes before she went to the roof."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "And did he?"

"Yes. He seemed very desperate to talk to her, I made sure to point that out." Max said. "And David and Wells looked at each other weirdly."

"Really?" Chloe asked. "You think David's onto Jefferson?"

"How?" Kate asked. "Why would Mr. Madsen investigate Mr. Jefferson? He doesn't know anything about what he's done."

"My stepfather is a paranoid little shit, excuse my language." Chloe replied. "He'll be onto anybody he deems even remotely weird."

"Chloe- he's not like that anymore." Max said.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I know, I know…"

"Well, more importantly, why was Wells so concerned at hearing that name?" Steph asked. "You said he looked at David weirdly too, right?"

Max nodded.

"Why would he do that if he didn't suspect anything?"

Silence.

"What could they possibly know, though?" Rachel finally asked. "Let's be realistic here. None of the staff know of Max's powers."

Max looked at Steph. It only made sense that she knew. Chloe and Rachel must have explained it to her at some point. Steph gave Max a nervous glance in return.

"We'll have to find that out, won't we?" Chloe said. "I popped around to Joyce's place earlier to see if I could dig up any files. I had no idea where he put them and even I can't decrypt his laptop."

"You should have asked me." Max said.

"What? After today?" Chloe tutted, shaking her head. "Nuh uh, you need a break, sistah. Which reminds me…" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of keys. "I give you the spare keys to Blackwell! Thank you stepfather." She placed them on the table. Max stared at them. Kate flinched. Rachel immediately grabbed them, staring at them properly.

"What the hell, Chloe?" Rachel asked angrily, but her face slowly turned upwards, giving her true intentions away.

Steph grinned at Chloe. "That is so sexy."

Chloe bowed her head proudly. "Thank you, thank you. Call it a nighttime adventure. Bring your swimsuits, ladies." She winked.

Rachel snapped her fingers. "Good opportunity to sneak into Wells' office and dig up any information we can find."

Max looked up at Rachel. "Looks like I have to ring Warren." She thought to herself.

"Oooh practical AND fun!" Chloe grinned. "I like it." She stood up. "Tonight, then?"

Kate shivered. "I'll pass, if that's okay. I don't particularly feel like breaking the law."

"Suit yourself." Chloe shrugged. Max sipped her tea. Chloe grabbed everyone else's mugs and put them on the bench next to the sink. Kate got up and put on her coat.

"I'll walk you out." Max said, getting up from the table.

Kate smiled at her. "Thank you. You were so brave today." Kate gently rubs Max's arm.

"It's not like I haven't done it before…" Max mumbled.

Kate looked down. "You were exactly the person I needed that day, and today was no different for Samantha. Whatever happens now…" She turned and looked at the other girls, who were still chatting. Kate opened the door and Max followed her down the stairs and outside the apartment complex. "Whether it be the same as it was the first time…" Kate squinted at the eclipse, which had now almost completely passed. "Or something entirely different, I want you to be strong. I know you can get through this." Kate took Max's hands and held them in her own. "Sometime this week we'll go visit Sam in hospital, yeah? All of us."

Max nodded. "I'm sure she'll like that."

Kate smiled. "I don't know what your crazy girlfriend has planned, but I hope you guys have fun either way." She winked. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

Max giggled. "May the Lord forgive you."

Kate laughed. "After this week, I'll need more than just His forgiveness." She let go of Max's hands. She turned and walked down the path. "See you tomorrow, Max."

"Bye, Kate." Max called. When Kate was out of sight, Max turned and walked back upstairs to her apartment. When she walked back in, everyone was moving. Chloe was rinsing off the mugs and Rachel was hugging Steph.

"I'll meet you there tonight." Steph said. She pointed her finger like a gun at Chloe and winked. Chloe nodded back. Steph walked past Max, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She smiled sweetly.

"Thanks, Steph." Max said.

Steph nodded to Max, then left.

Max looked at Rachel and Chloe, who tried and failed to not look sadly back at her.

"I'm going to bed. Wake me up for our little night escapade." Max smiled, unsure whether it would reassure her two companions.

Rachel looked at Chloe, unsure and nervous.

Chloe nodded. "Okay. I'll make sure to wake you up."

Max walked into the bedroom, shut the door and slipped off her shoes. Not bothering to take her clothes off, she closed the curtains and crawled onto her bed.

Max slowly stirred as Chloe slowly opened the bedroom door.

"Hey. Wake up, sleepyhead." Chloe whispered.

Max moaned and sat up. "Oof. I'm getting a headache."

"Did you sleep in your clothes? Just on top of the sheets?" Chloe asked, a puzzled look on her face.

Max didn't want to grace that with a response.

Chloe shook her head. "Come on, we should get going."

Max groggily got off the bed and checked her phone. A few minutes to 11. She shook her head. She pocketed her phone and slipped on her shoes, following Chloe out of the door. Rachel put a lid on a large thermos. She turned around, holding the thermos loosely in her hand.

"You ready?" Rachel asked.

Max looked around. "Wait, shit. Where are my swim clothes?"

"In the truck." Chloe said. "Don't worry. I got everything sorted."

"This time, anyway." Max mumbled to herself. She shook her head and looked back to Rachel. "In that case, I guess I am ready."

Rachel beamed. "Sweet! Let's go ladies!"

"Last one to the truck is a rotten eeeeeggggggg!" Chloe shouted, throwing open the door and running down the stairs.

"Hey no fair!" Max cried, still trying to rouse herself from her half-asleep state. Rachel was already behind Chloe, not running as fast to make sure she didn't drop the thermos.

A few seconds later, Max joined Chloe and Rachel outside in the parking lot by the truck.

"Gross!" Max giggled, pointing at the truck. "Did you drive through some fucking mud?"

Chloe shrugged. "I may or may have not done some burnouts at the Junkyard in the rain, yes."

"Don't worry. Tomorrow I'll get into my sexy sexy bikini and wash it for you." Rachel whispered in a sultry tone.

"Ooh la la." Chloe replied. She was trying to play it cool, but Max could tell Chloe was genuinely swooned. Chloe wrenched open the door and climbed in the driver's seat. Max took her spot in the middle, once again feeling squished as Rachel sat next to her. Chloe started the ignition and sped off.

Chloe found a safe place to park near the trees and stopped the truck. "This is gonna be so much fun!" Chloe laughed. She jumped into the back and grabbed a duffel bag. Rachel held onto Max's hand as they got out of the truck, their arms swinging as they walked onto campus. Chloe jogged to catch up with them, taking Max's other arm.

"Can't believe you're excited to be back at Blackwell, of all places." Max said dryly.

"Be Gay, Do Crimes." Chloe smirked. "Anything to get back at that shitass principal."

"Oh come on, he's not that bad."

Chloe gave Max a look that could only be described as: 'Seriously?'

"Ok touché." Max said.

"That's weird. I thought Steph would have been here by now." Rachel said, looking around.

"Chk-chk. Right behind you." Came a voice from behind them."

"Steph!" Rachel cried eagerly, letting go of Max and throwing herself at Steph.

"Oh God!" Steph cried, laughing as she hugged Rachel. "That's quite the greeting." Her voice was soft, but it managed to fill the space around the empty campus.

"You're lucky I, uh, rolled poorly on that perception check." Chloe said. "Otherwise I totally would have known you were there."

"+3 stealth, baby." Steph smirked.

Max slapped her face. "And you say I'm the nerd, Chloe."

"Who do you think I get it from?" Chloe smirked, ruffling Max's hair.

Max pouted.

"Anyway, let's do this thing!" Chloe said, running up the stairs to the main door and unlocking it.

"How the hell are there no alarms for this place?" Steph whispered.

Max blinked. Back in the other timeline, that thought hadn't even crossed her mind. They really were just able to walk into the school building freely in the middle of the night.

"That's… a very good question." Rachel whispered back.

"You guys don't have to whisper you know." Chloe said loudly. "There's no-one here."

Max covered her ears. "And you don't have to yell!" She cried, keeping her voice low.

"Sorry." Chloe muttered. She looked at Max apologetically before opening the door to the receptionist's office. Max immediately began to walk around, hoping she didn't have to resort to chemical warfare yet again. As Max predicted, Chloe couldn't find the key on her massive ring of keys. Chloe cursed out loud and punched the door.

"Jesus Christ, Chloe. Try not to leave too much of a mark." Rachel whispered harshly.

"You found anything, wondergirl?" Steph asked.

"Hmm? Nah. Nothing." Max replied dreamily.

"You got a plan?" Chloe asked.

Max winked. "My plan has a name." She pulled out her cellphone and scrolled through her contacts to Warren's name. She hesitated briefly, before shaking herself off and calling him. "Hey Warren. Yes yes I'm fine. Don't stress."

Chloe gave Max a funny look, before going back to lock-picking.

"I need your ph- uh, chemistry expert stat: If you were to, say, construct a device that could hypothetically open a locked, maybe you'd kinda know how? Purely experimental. Okay good. Don't ask. Just send me the text instructions now. I'll see you tomorrow." She hung up.

"What did you want with Boy Wonder?" Chloe smirked.

"Oh, you know, just a way to construct a pipe bomb."

"A what?" Steph laughed.

"Max, that's so hot." Chloe smiled.

Rachel looked oddly concerned. "Will this work? Will you be okay?"

"Rachel, I'll be fine. Besides, it's not like I haven't done this before or anything." Max said. They all shuddered. "Lockpick on your own recognisance. I'll be right back." Max disappeared out into the corridor. Looking at her phone, she scanned the classrooms for the various items she needed, trying not to think about the duct tape as she lightly jogged back to the Principal's Office. She taped a can filled with the chemicals to the door handle, and stood back as Chloe lit the fuse.

The door smacked open with a loud BANG! , which immediately set off a loud alarm that rang throughout the school.

"Shit shit!" Chloe cried.

"Way to go, supergirl." Steph said sarcastically, gritting her teeth.

Max winked, not wasting another second to rush into the office and rewind time. The door closed, and the alarms blared no more. She smirked as she listened to the angry mutterings coming from outside the door.

"If I can get this door open she can't cheat with her rewind." Chloe muttered as she fiddled with the lock.

"What the hell is taking her so long?" Rachel whispered. "I'm starting to worry. And I'm freezing my butt off."

Max smiled, allowing herself a couple seconds to enjoy her schadenfreude before opening the door, relishing in her companions' shocked expressions. "Welcome… to my domain."

"Girl you are magic!" Rachel cried eagerly. "I had no idea how you did that, but you did it sistah!" She ran forward, Max and Chloe stepping out of the way as she came into the office. Chloe smiled and walked in, as if the situation was completely normal. Steph was speechless. She stood in the frame of the doorway, struggling to comprehend what just happened. Her mouth was agape. Max giggled.

Chloe was already making herself comfortable. She sat in Principal Wells' big red chair and rested her feet on top of the large desk.

"Get your filthy boots off of Wells' desk." Rachel jokingly scolded.

"What's he gonna do? Expel me?" Chloe smirked. She put them down anyway, setting to work examining the files on Wells' computer. "Idiot left the password on a note in his desk." She mumbled. "You guys have a look around. I'm gonna see if I can dig up anything."

"I'll join you." Steph said, standing next to Chloe and leaning her hand on the desk.

Rachel and Max wandered around, picking up a few files on various students. A few minutes later, Rachel dumped them on the desk and walked around to join Chloe and Steph. Max picked up a small bronze hawk sitting on the desk and examined it.

"Ew Max, why are you even touching that thing? I can't believe that bourgeois cunt has a bronze bird in his office. I'm glad I don't go here anymore." Chloe said.

"I think he's cute." Max considered for a moment. She placed the bird in the centre of the desk and bent down, taking out her camera. "Smile for the camera."

Chloe lifted her feet back onto the desk. Rachel leant down and smiled cheerfully. Steph walked around behind the chair, leering her face over the back of the chair so it sat above Chloe's head.

Click!

Max took the photo out and shook it a couple times before pocketing it.

Chloe set back to work on the computer. "So what did you guys find?"

"Oh, you know, mostly stuff on us." Max shrugged.

"But…" Rachel reached over and pulled out a file from the stack. "I did find these." She opened up Nathan and Samantha's files. "Small police reports in Samantha's, which makes sense, but look at Nathan's." She pushed it so Steph and Chloe could see.

"The fucker has a spotless record." Steph shook her head. "I shoulda known."

"Daddy's always out to protect his little boy." Chloe snarled.

Max frowned. "I don't think it's his son Sean Prescott was protecting."

"More like his business." Rachel spat. "Why is Blackwell still covering for Nathan? His dad has been dead for years."

"And I highly doubt his sister would care all that much." Steph added. "She's like a travel writer now."

"I don't know? Routine? Or maybe she is involved." Rachel suggested.

Max shook her head. "I doubt that."

"Max, just because you snatched her body briefly doesn't mean you know who she is." Chloe said. "Sorry, I didn't mean that to be harsh."

"Wait, what?" Steph asked, looking at Max.

"It's a long story." Max said to Steph. She turned back to Chloe. "You're right. At the end of the day, she's still a Prescott."

"Anyway, come look at this. Nathan's actual file - it's worse than mine: Bad grades, little attention in class, rude to teachers, disruptive, picked fights?" Chloe shook her head. "And to think Wells was so ready to expel me ." She looked at Rachel. "Good thing your dad was there to save my ass."

Rachel glared at Chloe.

"Sorry, sensitive subject."

"Let's just focus on the task at hand." Rachel said.

"Check out that file." Steph pointed.

"It's just some creepy drawing." Chloe shrugged.

Rachel gasped. "It's not a drawing. Look!"

Max walked over to peer at the strange drawing. "Sammie wants to play, Sammie wants to play… over and over."

"Jesus, that's… so fucked up." Steph said.

"Sammie? Ugh that makes me feel sick." Rachel said, turning away.

"Letters from Nathan's psychiatrist back and forth between him and Principal Wells…" Max said.

"It looks like he wanted to take Nathan out of school for an extended period of time." Steph said. "I doubt Principal Reputation wouldn't have been happy about that."

"And yet, it was his inaction that got Sam and Victoria hurt." Max growled.

"Well, I'd wager this as mostly unsuccessful." Chloe stood up. "Absolutely nothing on Jefferson, and what we do have can't help us as Nathan and Sam are already in the fucking hospital. So, we're done here."

"Wait!" Rachel cried, grabbing Chloe's hand before she could turn off the computer. She pointed at Wells' email. "Check out that email."

"It's from David." Chloe said. "The whole exchange has been deleted?" She looked at Rachel. "We'll continue this in person and you can show me what you've found. For now I'm deleting this exchange. Can't leave any evidence."

"What the fuck?" Max asked.

"I think my stepfather knows more than he is letting on."

"So what do we do? Interrogate him?" Max asked.

"The fuck are you on, Max?" Chloe asked. "The second he's onto us, that's it! He'll make sure we don't go anywhere NEAR Jefferson or whatever he is searching for. No, we gotta be sneaky. Steal his files or some shit."

"Luckily, I know someone who's pretty good at that." Rachel smiled and looked at Max.

"Alright. I'll take a peek through his files tomorrow." Max rolled her eyes. "We can spend the evening with him and Joyce. That'll give us an excuse."

"Sweet!" Chloe clapped her hands. "It's pool time!" She turned off the computer and ran out of the office.

"That impish look she has scares me sometimes." Rachel muttered, but her face quickly rose and she chased after Chloe.

"I think I'll just walk the 100 yards to the pool." Steph said, slowly pushing herself off the back of the chair and stretching. "Wanna join me?"

"It's not like I have any other company." Max said slyly, falling in step beside Steph. She shut the door behind her as they left the office. They walked together, making excited conversation about their after-dark pool-escapade until they joined up with Rachel and Chloe.

Chloe gestured to the two changing rooms either side of her. "Boys or girls?"

Steph quickly ran to the girl's changing room door, and Rachel ran to the boy's door just as quickly.

"Ugh, you would." Chloe jeered at Rachel. Rachel stuck her tongue out back at Chloe. Chloe rolled her eyes and turned back to Max. "Deciding vote."

Max considered for a moment. Truth be told, she was impartial. She already knew what was behind both doors, but she thought of how fun it would be to mess with the others again. "Girls, of course."

"Girls? Ooh la la." Chloe said, walking over to unlock the girl's changing room door. "Let me go check if the pool's heated." Steph breathed a sigh of relief. Rachel glared at Max.

"Are you kidding? This is a perfect opportunity to sneak through the boy's stuff!" Rachel whined.

"What? Like their dirty underwear? Please. That place probably reeks." Steph shuddered.

Max said nothing, instead winking at Rachel and placing a finger to her lips. Rachel grinned evilly.

"You motherfucker." She whispered. She followed Max and the others into the changing rooms. Steph immediately held her nose.

"Woof. This place isn't all roses either." Steph said nasally. Max scanned the area, looking for things that might stand out. "Heh, check this out." She called out to Rachel and Steph. Chloe had already walked through the changing rooms and past the showers to the pool area. "Victoria's secret is… selfies." Max grinned.

"Didn't she make fun of you earlier in the year for being 'the selfie hoe?'" Rachel giggled.

"Wow. Projecting, much." Steph said. She took off her beanie and scratched her head. She wandered around while Max and Rachel were busy giggling at Victoria's duck face. She came to a locker that she recognised as Samantha's and opened it. "Jesus Christ…" She whispered to herself. "Guys, you better come look at this." She said loudly. Max and Rachel obeyed.

"Letters and photos from Nathan?" Rachel asked. "That's so weird."

"And in her gym locker too…" Max added.

"Seems she was hiding a lot of things." Steph said, pulling more stuff out of the locker.

"A bus ticket?" Max asked. "Was she planning on running away?"

"Strange. She really liked Blackwell and Arcadia Bay. I can't imagine her running so quickly, especially from her family." Rachel said.

"I met her parents once. They seemed nice." Steph said.

"Hmm." Max said.

"Do you remember that girl, I think her name was Kelly?" Steph asked. "Max you wouldn't, this was a few years ago." She put the letters and photos back and turned to Rachel. "She was like, a couple years above us?"

"Vaguely?" Rachel answered. "I know she was a cheerleader. Dana probably knew her."

"Well you probably talk to Dana more than me." Steph replied. "Anyway, do you remember when she just disappeared?"

Rachel scratched her head. "I think so?"

"Yeah, a lot of people were saying she just skipped town. For no reason. Just up and left." Steph replied.

"Weird." Rachel said. Her jaw suddenly dropped. "Wait, are you saying-"

"Could have." Steph nodded. "I mean it makes sense, right?" Max frowned. "Drew was saying she was acting real weird a few days before she disappeared."

"And it never got reported?" Max asked.

"People vanish from Arcadia Bay all the time." Rachel said. "This is a town full of runaways."

Max felt uneasy. She forced herself away from the locker and walked through the showers towards the pool. Rachel and Steph followed. Max whispered to Rachel, "I was gonna do this cool thing where I rewind and open the changing room door, but I don't wanna erase what we've seen. We can just go into the boy's locker room from here to snoop."

Rachel nodded.

"Oh my God, there you are! Took you long enough!" Chloe cried. "Oh, and there you go again." She said as Max and Rachel quickly walked past her towards the boy's locker room. Steph walked over and sat next to Chloe, taking her shoes and socks off and resting her feet in the water.

"We found some weird shit in Sam's locker. I imagine they're eager to find shit in Nathan's locker." Steph explained.

"Oh. Shit. I see." Chloe said.

Max followed Rachel through the showers and into the locker room. As Steph predicted, the place reeked.

"Oooo gossip!" Rachel cried. "Check it out Zachary cheating on Juliet with Victoria!"

"What?" Max cried angrily. She snatched up Zachary's phone from Rachel's hands, reading the texts between him and Victoria. "Oh for fuck's sake." Max moaned, placing the phone back in the locker and slamming the door. "I thought she changed."

Rachel shrugged. "Personally, I think it's hilarious. Ugly dumb jock Zachary going for pretty girl Bitchoria? I have to laugh." Rachel saw Max's look. "Okay yeah, I feel bad for Julie. That poor girl…" Rachel shook her head. "I can't believe that dumbass is throwing away that giant fucking rack for Victoria."

"Ew, Rachel!" Max cried.

"What? It's true! Juliet has nice tits!"

"Ugh." Max shook her head. "Anyway, I found Nathan's locker." She pried it open. "What? I don't get it! It's completely empty!"

"Well, he was just suspended…" Rachel said. "Wait, hold on-" She reached into the back of the locker, sticking her finger through a hole in the back of the locker. "Aha!" She pulled a small bag of white powder. "I knew it! Classic drug hole. Chloe used to stash doobies at the back of her locker."

Max took the bag and studied it. "Holy shit. Is that cocaine?"

Rachel snatched the bag back and looked at it again. "Holy shit. I think you're right. If it is, this whole bag is about $500 worth."

"Oh my God." Max breathed. "Don't tell Chloe."

"Ha!" Rachel laughed. "I think we know why Nathan is still so fucked in the head." She reached back, placing the bag carefully back in the hole behind the locker. "Come on, I'm dying for that swim." She grabbed Max's hands and they ran back to the pool. Chloe had taken her clothes off and was in the process of putting her bikini top on.

"Let's go hot stuff!" Rachel cheered. Rachel let go of Max's hand and proceeded to quickly tear off all of her clothes. She cannonballed into the pool without even putting her bikini on.

"WOOHOO!" Chloe screamed, her voice echoing around the pool. "Damn, girl!" She jumped into the pool next to her.

"Great. Well now I'm soaked." Steph moaned.

"Come on, chickens!" Chloe goaded.

"Oh, you're asking for it!" Max cried, running over to the duffel bag and quickly putting her swim clothes on underneath her actual clothes. She felt uncomfortable fully undressing in front of Steph, unlike Chloe and Rachel. By contrast, Steph didn't seem to care either, as she too stood up and decided to skinny-dip. She somersaulted into the pool, her back smacking against the water.

"Ooo, ow!" Rachel winced.

"S'nothing." Steph said as she surfaced. "My ass has been smacked harder."

"Bottom." Chloe said under her breath.

"Excuse you!" Steph cried, splashing Chloe with water. "I can't believe Chloe Elizabeth Price is telling lies and slander."

"Libel, I say!" Rachel mocked.

Max was finally ready and she dived straight towards Chloe.

"Ah!" Chloe cried. "This isn't fair! You guys are ganging up on me!" She laughed.

"That's what you get for that awful joke." Steph said.

"What? Just cause I'm the only top in the group." Chloe shrugged.

"Just you fucking wait, missy." Rachel splashed water right into Chloe's face. She spluttered.

"Ugh, fine! I admit defeat." Chloe said. She lay on her back, keeping herself buoyant as she looked up at the ceiling. She sighed. "I'm so glad we did this. I'm so glad we're all here together."

"God, me too." Rachel sighed. She joined Steph and Max in lying on her back alongside Chloe. Because they were skinny, Max and Rachel had trouble staying fully afloat. "I love being in here at night. It is the best feeling."

"It's like one last fuck you to Blackwell." Steph said.

Chloe laughed. "Yep. Even when I'm not a student, I'm still breaking the rules." She tilted her head towards Max. "Max?"

"Yeah?" Max responded.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything." Chloe said. "You sacrificed so much. I can predict there was a time where you and I broke in here, just the two of us. And only you remember it."

Max said nothing.

"You saved Samantha's life. And so many others. Yeah what you're going through now sucks but take some to reflect on all the good things you have done, that you've brought into existence."

"Take me, for instance." Rachel said. "Without you, I wouldn't be here." She swam over to Max and rested her head on Max's shoulder. "And what you're doing now takes immense guts, and Chloe and I want you to know that we're so so proud of you."

Max smiled. "Thanks. Both of you."

"I'm just gonna pretend I understand what's going on." Steph chuckled. "Seriously, though. From what I understand, you were given a special power, and you're using it to help people. You're putting yourself through so much pain and torment just to save the lives of people you barely know." Steph swam to the edge and rested against the wall. "That takes an incredible amount of guts. You have real integrity Max."

Max could feel herself starting to cry. She sniffed. "Thank you."

Chloe splashed Max with some water. "Anyway, enough of that mushy shit. We should be splashing each other. Otter vs. Shark style."

Max giggled, splashing Chloe back with a wave of water. Rachel laughed, using both of her hands to splash Chloe and Max at the same time.

Steph shook her head at the sight. She pushed herself out of the pool and grabbed her towel. She saw a flash of light in the distance. "Shit. Someone's coming!" She cried out.

Immediately, all three girls stopped splashing and jumped out of the pool, quickly drying themselves off and getting back into their clothes. They raced through the locker room towards the main doors.

"Make sure you check the whole perimeter!" David shouted from outside.

"Shit!" Chloe cried, grabbing Max's hand and running back into the locker room. "Hide!" She whispered to the other girls as she hid in a small space between the lockers and the locker room door. Steph crawled underneath a bench and dared not move. Rachel held onto Max for dear life.

"Max, do something!" Rachel hissed.

"Like what?" Max whispered.

"Rewind! Get us out of this!"

"Okay okay, just stay behind me and hold on tight." She heard the locker room door swing open as a security guard walked in, waving his torch around.

"Better not try any Halloween pranks after today. I'm serious." The guard threatened.

Max walked slowly around the lockers, keeping behind the guard. The guard shone his torch over the bench where Steph was, but did not see her. The guard slowly walked through the showers and into the main pool area. Max quickly checked the main doors and signalled to the others it was clear. Steph rolled out from underneath the bench and rejoined the others as they ran out of the building towards the parking.

"Come crash at ours!" Chloe cried to Steph. "Hop in the back." She wrenched open the driver's door and got in, throwing the duffel bag into the back.

Steph grinned. She ran up to the truck and used the towbar to vault over into the back of the truck, holding onto her and Chloe's duffel bags.

Chloe quickly put the truck in gear and it roared as she spun the truck around. "HAHAHA SEE YA FUCKERS! WE ARE SO FUCKING AWESOME!" She screamed. She drifted around the corner and sped off down the road into the night.