The Miss Cha lead quickly dried up. There was simply no one in Sunnycrest who knew anything about her: not even where she'd been staying, which they had hoped they could productively search. The only place they had to turn was Cha's office, and that would have to wait until Monday.

This meant Alicia would have to spend two days feeling very unproductive. Two days of doing nothing to help Chase. Two days of worrying herself sick. She stayed out of her room as much as possible those two days. Their room.

Maxine looked up from her dinner tray in surprise. Alicia sat by her bedside, hands folded in her lap. “Gone?”

Alicia nodded. It was Sunday afternoon. Maxine's hospital room television was playing an old episode of Night Gallery. On the tray in front of her was some ice cream and chicken fried steak. They were letting her have solid foods now. It wouldn't be long before she'd be discharged. Alicia hesitated and looked away when she said, “Yeah. We think she might have gone back home.” She wouldn't have brought up Chase at all, except Maxine asked why she hadn't come to visit in a while.

“Back home where?” asked Maxine.

“To...her home country.”

Maxine gave Alicia a look, then sighed in a 'not this shit again' kind of way. She scooped up a spoonful of ice cream and ate it. “Don't give me that. Come on, what's really going on with her?” When Alicia delayed answering, Maxine added, “Did she really leave?”

“Yeah. She left,” confirmed Alicia.

It would have been hard to miss the hints of worry on her face and in her voice. “She's wrapped up in something, isn't she?” asked Maxine.

“...Yes.”

“Something dangerous again?”

“It could be, yeah.” Alicia thought of a way to get her to drop this line of questioning. “I didn't think you'd be so worried about her.”

For a second, she thought it worked. Maxine looked back at her dinner tray. She played with her food a little before answering, cutting off a piece of her steak and thoughtfully mopping up some gravy with it. “I don't get Chase, but she means a lot to Torey. And you.” She turned her eyes to Alicia again. “You can tell me what's going on, you know.”

Alicia played dumb. “What do-”

“I've trusted you with a lot of things,” said Maxine. “I've told you things about me, I've let down my tough facade and been vulnerable with you. I've let you get close to me in ways I don't usually let people. You say we're “friends,” right? Okay, well, if we're friends...that has to go both ways.”

On TV, a paranoid woman was driving past an ominous hitchhiker. Alicia considered Maxine's words. It was true, Maxine had trusted Alicia. She'd put herself in a position where Alicia could hurt her, and Alicia knew how difficult it must have been. But could she really trust Maxine with the truth about Chase? It wasn't as though Alicia could just tell her one sliver of the story. She'd have to tell Maxine about the volleyball girls, about where Chase comes from, about everything. Forget the fact that Maxine saw Chase as sort of a rival at best. Could Alicia really trust anybody that much? She hadn't even told her own parents about Chase.

With a reassuring smile, Alicia reached out and patted Maxine on the hand. “It's a really long story,” she said. “I'll tell you when you get out. Promise.”

“Sounds like you're stalling.”

“No, no...It'll just be a lot to take in. You should focus on getting better right now,” said Alicia gently.

Maxine rolled her eyes. “Please.”

“And I'm stalling,” Alicia added. “Happy?”

“Yes.”

The hospital door opened. At the sound, Maxine looked up, and Alicia looked over her shoulder. Torey was standing there, holding a bouquet of black tulips. “Oh, hey, Alicia,” he said.

“Hi, Torey!” she said. She looked at his present and smirked. “Aw, are those for me? You shouldn't have.”

He laughed. “Guess again.” He walked over to Maxine, who pushed her tray out of the way and accepted them into her arms.

“Wow, they're so me,” she said, trying to be coy even as she felt her cheeks turning red. She glanced at Alicia to make sure she didn't see, but Alicia was looking at her phone.

“I'd better take off,” she said, rising from her chair. She gave Maxine a glance and a farewell wave. “Get well soon, okay? I'm getting sick of turning away babysitting jobs.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Maxine replied, with a wave and reluctant smile in return.

When Alicia was gone, Torey took over her chair. “You two seem to be getting along.”

“I guess. Thanks for the flowers.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, no problem,” said Torey. “How are you feeling?”

“Still kinda sore, but that's about it,” said Maxine. Gingerly, she touched her left side. “Especially my ribs...like right here, where they were broken and not just cracked, it's still sore there...”

“Damn,” said Torey. “Those guys are supposed to go to trial soon, so that's good.”

Maxine set the tulips aside, then pulled her tray back over. “I know. There have been a few lawyers and investigators and stuff in here getting me on board to testify,” she said, picking her spoon back up. “I'm following the case closely, whether I want to or not.”

“You don't sound excited.”

“Well, I mean, it's sad, right?” asked Maxine. “The guy's kid died. And now what, he's going to jail?”

Torey stared at her like she was from another planet. “Are you feeling okay? You know this guy almost killed you, right?”

“Of course I do,” said Maxine quickly. “He deserves whatever he gets. But it sucks too, you know?”

Torey continued to stare at her, then shrugged and laughed. “You're right. I mean, it is sad. But I'm not used to you being so...empathetic. I think Alicia's rubbing off on you.”

Maxine frowned, wrinkling her nose in disgust. She gestured at her food. “Dude, please. I'm trying to eat here.”

The boy laughed. “I call it like I see it.” He looked up at the TV. “Oh. This is a good one.” He turned his chair to face it.

Maxine looked from him to the TV, then back down at her tray. She ate a spoonful of ice cream and thought. “Have you heard anything new about Chase?” she asked on the next commercial break.

A shadow fell over Torey's face, and he shook his head. “No, nothing,” he replied. “I think the cheerleaders know something, though.”

“I guess there's a first time for everything,” said Maxine, sounding impressed.

He looked at her. “I'm serious. How could Chase just up and 'go home'? Things have to be lined up for somebody to fly out of this country. She'd have to buy a plane ticket. The nearest airport is forty-five minutes away.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Chase barely speaks any English. How could she do all that herself, without Alicia finding out? Why would she want to keep it a secret from Alicia in the first place? Why would she just take off without saying goodbye? It just doesn't make sense. And Alicia and the rest are smart enough that if she really did do that, they'd ask the same questions. They have to know something.”

“Yeah, definitely,” said Maxine. She almost told him what Alicia had told her, but felt a sting of guilt which said that this would be betraying her in some way. So she added, “But I'm sure if they don't want you to know what's going on, it's for a good reason.”

With a sigh, Torey said, “I can't accept that. She's my girlfriend.”

“Don't remind me.”

Torey wasn't amused. He looked at her, annoyed, and said, “I'm sure it's really easy for you to say 'Well, so what? Just don't worry about Chase,' since you disapprove of her so much.”

“What?” Maxine was caught off guard by this. “It has nothing to do with Chase!”

“What do you mean it has nothing to do with her? She's the person we're talking about.”

What Maxine meant was that it was about trusting Alicia, not any personal dislike she may have had for Chase and Torey's relationship, but she didn't have the words or self-awareness to be able to express that as the conversation heated up. “Whatever. Never mind,” she said, “Just because I hate that blonde bimbo doesn't mean I want something bad to happen to her! I'm just saying if she wants some space, that's her business! She was the one who told YOU she can fight her own battles, if I remember right!”

Torey didn't want to hear that. He scoffed and ignored it, choosing instead to focus on the beginning of her sentence. “Blonde bimbo. There you go again. When are you going to just get over her and stop being so...”

He stopped. “So WHAT?” Maxine pressed.

“So...jealous.”

He thought she would explode, immediately deny it. But instead, Maxine took her time choosing how she wanted to answer, and when she did, it wasn't in the way he expected. “Okay, fine, you know what? I am jealous of her. Is that what you wanted to hear?” asked Maxine. “I'm jealous, but not because of her looks or because she's a cheerleader or anything like that. I'm jealous because she gets to monopolize all your time.”

Torey looked shocked. “What?”

“All you do anymore is hang out with her. You and I never get to hang out and watch movies together like we used to. We never get together after work and go get snacks. You'd probably be out fucking her right now if she was around, but since she isn't you figured you might as well come visit because you've got nothing better to-”

As Maxine raised her voice, she was seized by a coughing fit. She winced and grabbed her side. “Oww, ow, oww...”

Torey immediately rose and put a hand on her upper back. “Are you okay?” He could see tears in her eyes, and he wasn't sure they were entirely from the pain, so he sat on the edge of her bed and put an arm around her shoulders to calm her.

“She...” said Maxine, when she collected herself, “Chase...you say she's your girlfriend, but she doesn't know anything about love. She's clueless about this world. How much could you really mean to somebody like that?”

She looked down at the outline of her lap, beneath her thin blanket. “I might not be...special like her. There might not be a whole lot you can get out of hanging out with me compared to what you get from making out with her. But I...need you more than she does. I need a friend like you. I don't...it's hard for me to get close to people. Not a lot of people have shown me the friendship you've shown me. You can't mean more to her than you do to me, Torey. You can't. I think that's why she bothers me so much...”

Torey had no clue what to say. He was utterly dumbstruck. He squeezed her shoulder supportively. “Maxine, you're my best friend. Just because I'm spending a lot of time with-”

Maxine tilted her head up and pressed her lips against his.

She kept Torey transfixed for a couple shocked seconds, before he pulled away. His eyes locked intensely with hers, and she thought he was about to scold her.

Instead, he closed them, and moved back in for another.

Maxine poured years of frustration and sexual tension into that kiss. Torey returned something she couldn't quite place, but which she loved all the same. She reached up and put her hands on the sides of his head, letting her fingers bury themselves in his hair, while he leaned into her. Her heart raced as her back touched down on the bed, and his body moved over her...

But then, a moment of sanity struck him, and he pulled away.

“Shit,” he said, standing up. “That didn't happen.”

“Wait...” said Maxine, sitting back up. “If she's gone...”

He shot such a quick glare at her that she almost recoiled from it. “She's not gone, dammit.”

“I'm sorry,” she said immediately, automatically.

He stared at her for a moment, and she could see the conflicted blend of guilt and frustration on his face. At the time, it didn't make sense to her, but it'd be a couple days before Maxine was discharged from the hospital. She'd have plenty of time, confined to her bed with few distractions, to beat herself up and replay that moment in her head. Eventually, she'd understand. It was guilt for hurting one of his oldest friends, and frustration at her for making him do it.

“Me too,” he said. And he turned and left.