Chapter Text
Max ran through a sunlit meadow, Lucas besides her, his hand brushing hers as they laughed. The air smelled of flowers and warm grass, and she felt like she could run forever without getting tired. They reached a hill, and he spun her around, their laughter echoing like music. "I wish this could last forever," he whispered. She nodded, heart soaring, before a shadow flickered across the sky and the meadow melted into a blur of colours.
Her eyelids flickered, the meadow dissolving as the buzz of her alarm dragging her back. Sunlight stabbed through the blinds, and the soft hum of the morning made her cling to the memory of Lucas's laugh.
She sighed, wishing she could stay suspended in that perfect moment a little longer. She flicked her legs around and turned her alarm off, covering her face as she dragged her hands down, groaning in annoyance.
She took her time walking into her bathroom to brush her teeth, staring in the mirror as music blared from her speaker, not realising the time, her eyes widened, and she sped up her routine, chucking on some jeans and a white tank top from her wardrobe, quickly brushing her hair, and hurrying downstairs.
Max POV
I padded down the stairs, making sure to avoid Leo's toy cars on the steps. Breakfast chaos had already started, with pancakes burnt on one side, syrup everywhere, and my little brother Leo waving his pancake around like a sword.
"Max! Fight me!" Leo swung his pancake at Max.
I dodged, "Stop! You're going to break a plate!"
Ava, my older sister, smirked from the kitchen counter. "Don't encourage him, Max."
Mum shuffled in, her hair in a messy bun "Who's ready for school?"
I grabbed my granola bar and smiled at the controlled chaos of my perfect family.
I heard a car horn outside and ducked behind my mum, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek.
"Bye, Mum. Love you," I said with a smile.
"Bye, sweetie. Have a good day," she replied.
I grabbed my bag and dashed to the door, slipping on my shoes as I went. Glancing at the mirror to my right, I fixed my hair and dabbed on a bit of lip gloss. Locking the door, I turned to find Lucas sitting in his car right outside. I smiled, making my way to the passenger seat.
"Hey, Erica," I called over to his little sister in the back.
"Hey, Max!" she shouted.
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Woah, so no 'Hey, Lucas' first?" he teased.
I rolled my eyes but grinned. "Hi, Lucas."
"Hey," he said, his smile softening.
"Ew, you two are gross—just get together already," his sister snickered from the backseat.
"Erica!" Lucas yelled, and I could swear his cheeks turned a faint shade of pink.
No One's POV
When they made it to school after dropping off Erica at her middle school, Max jumped down from his jeep and thanked him, rushing over to El, who was waiting for her by the entrance.
"Max!" El smiled, hugging her best friend tightly.
"Hey! Are you going to tell me the news now? You know, the one you said was too good to tell over facetime?" Max raised her brow.
"Okay! So guess what? Mike asked me to be his Girlfriend!"
"Omg, El, that's amazing!" She hugged her again and pulled back slightly. "Wait, does this mean I have to three-wheel you guys now..."
"No, that just means we get to do double dates now," El smiled.
"Ew, El, I am not going on a date with Lucas."
"Who said anything about Lucas?" El smirked.
"Oh, I am going to kill you." Max chased after her as she ran away from her laughing.
-
Max POV
The bell rang, and I made it to my locker, opening it after two tries of getting my code wrong. "Finally," I whispered.
In a hurry I shuffled through my books, and a few dropped; I cursed under my breath.
"Need some help there, zoomer?" It was Lucas.
"I'm fine," I said as I bent down and picked up the books from the ground and pushed the books back into the locker, took out my business book and slammed my locker shut.
"Want to walk to business together?" Lucas asked, his head lowered to my ear. I don't know why, but it sent shivers down my spine even though it probably didn't matter anyway.
"Sure."
The hallways were already buzzing with students, lockers slamming and sneakers squeaking against the tile. We weaved through groups of friends, dodging a stray backpack that nearly knocked me over. Lucas caught my elbow just in time, grinning. "Watch it, Danger Zone," he teased.
I shoved him lightly. "I'm fine! Don't try to make this your heroic moment."
By the time we reached our classroom, Mr. Reynolds was scribbling something on the whiteboard. "Alright, class," he said, turning with a grin. "For your next project, you'll be working in pairs on a community campaign. Each team will plan an event, create promotional material, and present it at the end of the month."
I glanced at Lucas. Of course, fate had us sitting together.
"Looks like we're a team," he whispered, sliding a chair closer.
I groaned, but there was a spark of excitement too. "Great... just what I needed," I muttered, smirking back.
As we exchanged ideas quietly, a paper aeroplane suddenly smacked me in the forehead. I yelped, knocking my water bottle over. It spilt across the floor, and Lucas immediately bent down to help.
"Smooth," he said, hiding a grin as I groaned.
"Thanks a lot," I muttered, trying not to laugh.
By the time we finally settled into our brainstorming, I realised this project might actually be... fun. Especially if Lucas was involved.
-
Max's Room – No One's POV
Max shut her room door and sat at her desk, opening her bottom drawer and pulling out her plain white journal.
Things I'll Never Say — Volume 21
Lucas smiled at me today. Why does that feel like the world tilted just a little?
El appeared on facetime sprawled on her bed. "Still writing, Max?" El asked, eyebrow raised with a smirk.
"Maybe," Max replied.
"You write more than you talk," El teased.
"I am talking!" Max argued.
"Yeah, barely," El said with a roll of her eyes. "Anyway—dinner tomorrow. Study hangout. You, me, Lucas, Mike."
Max's chest tightened. "I—yeah, sure."
El grinned. "Uh-huh. That's what someone who likes Lucas would say."
Max flipped to a blank page. He's my best friend. That's all.
An hour later Max was lying on her stomach on the end of her bed, legs dangling in the air, her hair down her back and tucked behind her ears. Her freshly washed cream pyjamas with little red hearts smell of warm vanilla as well as a candle she lit on her desk.
She was reading through her old entries in her journal, as she does once every eight months. Remembering each of the memories that they came with.
"I miss when things were simple."
She remembers the summer before high school, when Lucas and her were riding bikes on the road, laughing about spilt milkshakes that Lucas begged her to come to because his dad had given him some extra allowance for the week and insisted he buy her a strawberry milkshake because she had helped him with his english homeowork.
She had laughed and told him he didn't need to spend money on her just to hang out with him. She never told him that just him existing was all she needed. But all she felt in that moment was how free she felt. she remebered what he said.
"You're my favourite person, Max."
Those words fell so effortlessly off his tongue, like he had not been thinking about it; it just felt right in that moment. She felt warm and wanted, like she had always felt with her family, but it felt different.
Maybe because it was with Lucas. The boy she could also call her family. Ever since they met in the third grade. When he had walked through that door, Lucas was the new kid — quiet, awkward, and nervous. Everyone ignored him or laughed at how shy he was and because he was different from them. But Max sat next to him, lent him her crayons, and said, "You can sit next to me until people stop being weird.
She remembered his bright gummy smile, the smile she is used to still seeing every day. It made her smile too, in a way all her friends' smiles do anyway. She reminded herself.
That memory also reminded her about that one day in fourth grade when it had been raining and all the kids quickly ran for shelter except for Lucas, who had been crying at the end of a slide because someone had broken his model rocket. Max, instead of staying inside with the others, walked out with her umbrella and sat besides him until the bell rang.
That was the first time he expressed his gratitude by hugging her when it was home time. She had packed up her desk, the rain still pouring down, and she got up when the school bell went, she felt someone tap her shoulder, and the second she turned around, she was slipped into a hug by lucas it was short and awkward but still comforting, and she heard him whisper a little 'thank you'.
Max thought back to when in the fifth grade both she and Lucas used to go to their neighbourhood park alone; for Max it was to draw and write stories, and for Lucas to read. One day, they both found the same hidden treehouse and decided it was "theirs". They made it their secret place — leaving notes, drawings, and snacks there.
"Oreos?" Lucas handed over the pack of oreos to her.
Max grinned, putting her old journal down and taking a few oreos. "Whatcha reading?" Max asks, leaning forward to see the book in his other hand.
"Percy Jackson and the Olympians," Lucas replied.
"Dork," Max smirked.
Lucas huffed a laugh "Yeah, okay, zoomer." The nickname made him think of something max could practically see the gears shifting in his head. "Remember when you said you would teach me how to skate?"
Max smiled, looking down at her journal again. "Mhm."
"Well, can you?" Lucas asked softly, looking towards her.
"Yeah, why not?" Max looked up at him, smiling. "Be ready tomorrow after school; come by to my house, and i'll be waiting in my garage."
"Okay MadMax."
Max saluted back at him.
"Hang on, I just realised you're the one with the good nicknames. What about me?"
"What about you? You're irrelevant."
"Hey!"
"I'm joking," Max laughed. "What about stalker?"
"Excuse me?" Lucas's jaw dropped.
"Hey, I'm not wrong. You're the one who always found me at the park after school, and then I found you standing behind a tree watching me. That screams stalker."
"I just wanted to hang out with you..." Lucas chuckled innocently.
"Awe, how sweet, been plotting me from the start, stalker?" Max also laughed. "I'm still calling you stalker by the way."
"Of course you are." Lucas shook his head with a smile.
-
She always saw Lucas as her bestfriend, as well as El but they'd only met in high school. With Lucas it feels like her whole life.
Had she ever thought about something more with him?
Of course she had.
Especially when he spoke softly to her, or when he'd throw out little compliments — you're actually really good at that — that stayed in her head for days.
Even the times he'd let her win at something, just to make her smile.
But she'd never risk their friendship for it.
So she'd buried those feelings deep down, convincing herself they didn't matter.
Besides, why would Lucas ever want someone like her?