Evil Maybe

Chapter 11- Max

Crud. Crud. Crud crud crud crudcrudcrud...” I mutter as I pace across the room.

Her ring! In my room! I’m holding it! Her ring!

“She’s gonna kill me...” I murmur to myself. It had finally sunken into my thick skull that the metallic clink I heard on Ree’s way out was not, in fact, her sweatshirt, but the ring. I decide to compose myself and think rationally. Taking a few deep breaths, I sink gingerly down onto the bed. I rub my back tenderly and observe the ring once more.

The object in my hand is a thin gold band. Instead of a perfectly straight loop, there is a small squiggle breaking it up- a lightning bolt. It was in fairly good shape, for a ring that’s never been taken off. Or at least, never in the time I’ve known her for. She most certainly would come back for it. Or my neck. Either would satisfy her.

I resume my pacing and “oh-my-god-what-if-oh-my-god-what-if” cycle once again. I feel as if I might pass out. My nervous tics begin to set in- running my fingers through my hair, shaking my leg, rubbing my neck... they’re odd, but they exist.

I’m going to EXPLODE.

“Ungh.” I slink down slowly against the wall until finally, I’m sitting on the ground. I take a few deep calming breaths- I seem to be doing that a lot lately- and get up to walk slowly towards the bed again. I feel like I have repeated the motion many times in the past two days. To calm my shaking hands and pounding heart, I pick up The Compete Works and begin to read from the very beginning. Of course, I already have it memorized, but going through the motions is soothing in a way.

After a few minutes of reading, I realize how stupid I am.

I’m extremely overreacting. It’s not like I stole the ring from her. If she came back for it, I’d just explain it got caught on the window on the way out. It would be truthful and simple- nothing for me to fumble my words on. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.

The probability of her wringing my neck was low but I decided to have a peace offering ready anyhow. I check my watch- 4:46 pm. My father is still at work, and Norman is napping. I didn’t really care if he saw me, but I took it as a precaution.

Carefully, I tiptoed down the stairs into the kitchen. I look left and right, then cross the room to the fridge. I yank open the stubborn door and survey the items we have.

Microwave chicken tenders, microwave soup, microwave french toast sticks, microwave macaroni and cheese... seeing a pattern yet? It seemed as if we didn’t eat anything that didn’t have to be heated in an electric box.

Sighing, I move to the cupboards and open each of them. Near-depleted condiments, untouched baking ingredients, cereal, bread, and the like, and...

“ Bingo,“ I murmur. An apple strudel Norman bought last week. I sniff it- still good. I shrug. “Good enough for me.” I slap the pastry on a paper plate and take it back up to my bedroom.

When I enter, I simply put the plate on my dresser and pick up my book once more. I lay on my stomach on my bed with my legs in the air and all of Shakespeare’s genius spread out in front of me.

I’ve once again lost myself in the book when I hear a loud noise. I jump, making spears of pain shoot up my back. I let out a cry, which is echoed by a similar one. A female one.

She’s here.

I take my time walking to the window to let her in. The ring is next to the pastry on my dresser and I’m prepared. I approach the window, ready to face her fierce expression and blazing golden eyes, but she’s not there.

Puzzled, I walk all the way to the sill and look out. No Ree, but the loud noise recurs, followed by a volley of colorful words. The suspense finally gets to be too much and I open the window. I gasp at what I see.

A pair of hands- no, just fingers white with strain gripping desperately at the holes in my fire escape.

“Ree?!” I say, panic edging into my voice.

“Max!” she shrieks, “Max!?”

“I’m here, I’m here!” I slide out the window and approach the edge of the balcony. Sure enough, there’s Ree. Her eyes are alight with panic, and her face is covered in sweat despite the cold.

“I’m slipping!” she cries. “Please!”

No, I think. I rush over to the dangling girl and grab at her hands. If I try to pry her hands off, she’ll fall. Her legs aren’t long enough to climb up, either...

“Hurry!” she groans.

“Ack! I’m thinking!” I scream. I finally regain my senses and return to Ree. “Grab my hand!”

“Are you crazy?! I’ll fall!” she said accusingly.

“Just trust me.”

With a look that screams that she definitely did not trust me, she nodded and let me take control. She takes a deep breath and I see her muscles flex with effort. In one sudden motion, she swings her left arm up towards me and I catch it with my right. Pulling it up, I swing it over my less than broad shoulders and tell her to give me her right hand.

“No,” she breathes, “I can swing myself up now.” Determination shines in her golden eyes and she hoists herself up and scrambles onto the balcony, safe at last.

Both of us are panting heavily. Ree has sweat pouring down her face, but I don’t mind very much. She is trembling madly, and she seems as if she’s in a state of shock. I pull her in awkwardly and hold her tightly to me. I feel her relaxing into me, breathing still labored. We sit on the balcony for a while, just her and me and our near death experience lingering in the air. Eventually she stops shaking and breathes deeply in my arms. We sit there, wrapped in each other’s warmth, peaceful at last.

Suddenly, she whirls around and smacks me in the arm.

“OW!” I yelp.

“THOU ART AN i***t!” she screams at me.

“YOU WERE DANGLING FROM THE FIRE ESCAPE AND I’M THE i***t?!”

She pokes me in the chest accusingly. “YOU put the idea of Shakespeare in my head. YOU make me think it might be a good idea to read Shakespeare. And YOU made me LATE TO SCHOOL TODAY!” She blazes with anger. “Not to mention you STOLE MY RING!”

Oh no. “Err... actually... about that...” I squeak.

“What could you possibly have to say for yourself this time?” she asks.

“It fell off on your way out the do- window, rather. I heard a clink as you shut it. Later, I found it on the floor. That’s all, I swear. I have it in my room. Now please don’t assault me.” I rubbed the arm Ree had swung at. I hope the silent victory that I felt at not fumbling my words didn’t show in my eyes.

She seemed relieved. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

Ree is sitting on the edge of my bed, wringing her hands. We’ve been quiet for a while now. Did what happened on the balcony make things awkward? Is she still mad at me because of the ring? Will she ever speak?

Suddenly, she breaks the silence. “When you told me your mother used to read Shakespeare to you... what did you mean?” She claps her hands over her mouth as if she felt like she had offended me.

I let out a small, sad chuckle. “She’s dead.”

Ree gasps. Her eyes brim with tears. “Oh... no. Max, I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to reopen an old wound or anything-“

I cut her off. “It’s fine.”

She takes a shaky breath. “It’s just that... my mom is dead too.”

A cold feeling goes through my legs and arms and a warm, queasy one goes through my stomach. “Oh. Ree, I-“

She holds her hand out to stop me. Sniffling, she said, “Don’t worry about it.” She gives me a small smile and puts her extended hand on my arm, scooting a little closer. “Why don’t you tell me about your mom?”

I take a deep breath. “Well... her name was Annika. She was 32 years old when she died. My mom was the sweetest villain you’d ever meet. She had a famous sense of humor, and she was a great cook. She never failed to make me smile. I loved her- still love her- so, so much. She died on a mission with my sister. She showed me Shakespeare and so much more. She used to sing to me...”

“What did she sing?” Ree asks softly.

“It’s just a short little song that she made up. It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me. What is it called?”

I sigh. “Dream, darling, dream.”

“How did it go?”

“Oh-um-no. I-I don’t sing. At all.”

“You do now!” she gives me a playful shove.

I look at her pleadingly, begging her to drop it with my eyes. She nods encouragingly.

I realize I have no choice. Taking a deep breath, I begin shakily.

“The sun is falling from the sky. Close your eyes and clear your mind. Dream, darling, dream. Dream, darling, dream. Dream of laughter, dream of love, dream of flying high above, dream of soaring past the stars, where there’s no more battle scars. Dream, darling, dream. Dream, darling, dream. Soon the moon will fade, take the dark away. Soon the light will rise, shine for all to see. Let the morning come, then you’ll be free.”

Ree stared at me, speechless. “That was -ah- “ -she clears her throat- “that was beautiful.”

“Yeah sure, if a dying cow is beautiful to you.”

She bursts into laughter and shoves me over so we’re both laying on opposite sides of the bed, laughing until we cry.

Minutes later, we finally stop choking with laughter. I sit up and look over at Ree. She’s still laying on her back, a goofy grin plastered on her face. I noticed how her prominent eyes looked almost orange in the light. Her silky black hair was spread out on my bed, in slight waves from the braid she was wearing earlier.

Stunningly beautiful.

I didn’t even care that we were supposed to be enemies, she made me happy.

God, I thought, If my father knew I felt like that about Ree, he’d kill me.

“What are you thinking about?”

I hadn’t realized I’d been staring at her. I lay down next to her, our heads touching, staring.

“We’re really screwed up, aren’t we?” I murmur.

“Yeah,” she replies, “But I don’t think I’d have it any other way.”

We lay there in the comfortable silence until I am reminded of something. I sit bolt upright, but pain from the lashes shoots so fiercely up my back that I let out a cry of pain, sounding like a strangled animal. No, to say I cried out is an understatement- more like a scream.

Ree shoots up and crawls over to me. “Max?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” I lie, closing my eyes and waiting for the pain to cease. I take deep breaths and rub my back as well- as if any of it would help.

“You bloody liar.” She grabs the hem of my shirt and rips it up to reveal my bandages. Ree did a double take.

“Max,” she asks slowly, “What in the name of all that’s good are these? ”

I sigh. No backing out now. “When you left, my father interrogated me because he heard you laughing. He thought I wasn’t alone in my room. To explain the laughter, I said I was listening to a tape of my mother and sister’s voices. He... made some snide remark about my mother and I was so, so angry that I talked back... and he took a belt to me.” I finish.

Ree stares at me in shock.

“Sorry?” I manage.

She smiles at me. “I’m not angry at you. I’m impressed!”

“What?”

“That wasn’t talking smack, that was standing up for yourself! I didn’t think you had it in you.” She looked at me like a mother whose kid just learned to ride a bike.

She looks like she’s deliberating something for a second. Slowly, she reaches over and embraces me. I’m shocked at first... but I think I like it. Using the same slowness, I wrap my arms around her shoulders so she’s leaning into me with her muscled arms around my waist. She tenses up at first, but soon, she relaxes into me and I can feel her rhythmic breathing in my chest. Peace.

All of a sudden, she shoots up and smacks me in the arm. AGAIN!

“WELL, THIS IS DEJA VU, ISN’T IT?!” I scream.

“ WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME EARLIER?” she retorts.

“I... I DON’T KNOW!”

Ree softens and laughs quietly. “It is deja vu. Sorry for attacking you.” she bites her lower lip. “Here. Heat will help.” I’m puzzled, but I follow her lead. She gestures towards my bandages. I nod.

Slowly, as to not open the gashes, she unwraps the bandages. When she gets to the end of the cloth, she winces at the sight of the bruises and blood.

“Can I have my ring?” she asks excitedly.

“Dresser,” I reply. “Help yourself to the strudel.”

Ree crosses the room, takes the ring, and splits the strudel in half. She returns and hands one half of the apple pastry to me. I wolf it down gratefully. She takes a few small bites, then eagerly slips the ring on her finger.

“Got any water handy?” she says. I hand her the glass on my bedside table. She takes a shirt from the floor, already knowing I’ll be okay with it. She twists it up and dips it in the water. Carefully, she cleans around the cuts so the dried blood is gone.

“Bandages?”

“Bathroom.”

“Bathroom?”

“First door. Right side.”

She leaves to get the wraps. I realize that she must like me enough to care for me like this.

The question is, did she love me like I did her?

Oh.

I love her.

Before I can give it any more thought, Ree returns with the wraps. She mummifies me, telling me how stupid I was the whole time. When she finishes, she tells me to lay face down on the bed. I mash my face in the pillow, and for dramatic effect, I bounce my legs up and down on the bed. Ree giggles and I feel her weight sinking down into the bed next to my waist. I feel my shirt get lifted up. A crack of static electricity pierces the air.

“Uh, Ree?” I said nervously.

“Trust me. I do this all the time.”

There are a few seconds of silence; then Ree asked if I was ready. I gave the thumbs up.

Two warm hands hit my back. I let out a breath, feeling my muscles relax. It really was helping.

“I’m guessing you’re enjoying that?” she laughs. I can only sigh. She laughs some more.

She holds her warm hand to my back for a few minutes more, then gently removes them. “How do you feel now?” she asks gently. “Better than ever,” I say.

“I told you,” she said triumphantly, “Heat helps. Sit up.”

I obeyed. My back felt much less tense, and it stung less. “Woah,” I breathed.

“See?”

“Woah.”

“I know!”

“Woah.”

We both laugh.

“Okay, okay,” Ree says between giggles, “What were you going to say before you almost killed yourself?”

Right. I was saying something. A very important something. “You read Shakespeare!” I exclaim.

“Oh my God, yes! I was so wrapped up in the thing that I was almost late for school! You made me like reading!” she didn’t seem to mind this, even though she was yelling at me.

“How much did you read?” I asked.

“I didn’t get to read the whole thing, but I checked it out of the library, much to the pleasure of the librarian.” I heard her mumble something under her breath about rainbow-shooting eyeballs, but I dismiss it.

“Which sonnet are you on?”

“Ah, I only got to read for an hour or so, but I got to Sonnet 36.”

“I love Sonnet 36!”

“I really liked 17...”

We talked for hours and hours and hours on end... only stopping when I heard the clock chime. I reluctantly break eye contact with her. 10:30! It was only then that I realized how close we were leaning into each other.

“Oh, my god, I have to get home! Like, now!” Ree cried anxiously.

No, please, I thought, stay with me. She strode briskly to the window. Unlatching it slowly, she turns back to look at me. A half second’s glance at the floor and we were running at each other. She flung her arms around me and I did the same.

Ree sighed. “You know, my father would kill me for this.”

I laugh. “My father would roast me until my insides were on the outside.”

I feel Ree smile into my chest. “You’re not half bad, Gearbrain.”

“Nor you, Shockhead.”

She pulls away slowly and drags her feet to the window. She manages to open it and was halfway out into the cold night when she stopped. Ree turned around with a devilish smile on her face. I didn’t know whether to be scared or intrigued.

She spoke: “ Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow-“

I interrupt gleefully. “ That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”

Ree gives a small wave, and with that she was gone into the cold night with a crackle of light.