CHAPTER TWELVE.
THE APOLOGY MIXTAPE

☆ミ ☆彡

AFTER HER FATHER HAD SHOWN HER HOW TO USE THE WALKMAN, Challan locked herself away in her room and stared at it. She wasn't sure she what she wanted to do. She could listen to the mixtape or she could throw it in with the rest of her cassettes and never look at it or think about it again.

She really did want to listen to it but there was something that was holding her back. A little voice in her brain telling her not to do it. That she would regret it.

But a louder voice was telling her that if she didn't listen to it, she'd regret it more. Challan looked between the cassette and Walkman again before finally opening the case and pulling the cassette out of it. She opened the Walkman and carefully placed the cassette into it. After closing it, she took a deep breath, put the headphones over her ears, and then pressed play.

The first song to play was Dancing Queen. A small smile made it's way onto her face. Max was clever for including that song and putting it first. It instantly put Challan in a good mood. Her eyes closed as she listened to the song play.

When it ended, an unfamiliar song filtered into her ears. Challan looked down and read the case. Heart Of Glass by Blondie. Challan scanned through the list of songs that were written on the cassette case. She spotted Tiny Dancer and rolled her eyes, her smile widening.

The other songs on the mixtape were: I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor, Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel by Tavares, Lean On Me by Bill Withers, You've Got A Friend by Carole King, Little Girl Blue by Janis Joplin, The Battle Of Evermore by Led Zeppelin, and Everybody's Happy Nowadays by Buzzcocks.

She had heard a few of the other songs but was excited to hear the one's she was unfamiliar with. An overwhelming feeling of felicity overcame her whilst listening to the mixtape. But by the time she was finished listening to Lean On Me, she couldn't help the tears that escaped from her eyes. Her grandmother used to play this song all of the time. It had been one of the woman's favorite songs. Challan really liked the message of the song and had hoped she would find someone that she could lean on and vice versa. Could that person be Max? Songs that tell you things that I wasn't sure how to say. Is this one of those songs?

Her crying fit seemed to intensify whilst listening to You've Got A Friend. And by the time she got to Little Girl Blue, Challan was a mess of tears. She didn't understand how something as small as a mixtape could evoke so many emotions in her. Maybe it was the songs; maybe it was Max's gesture and the effort she put into making this mixtape; or maybe it was the Mayfield girl herself. Challan didn't know. What she did know was by the time Everybody's Happy Nowadays was complete, she would have to make a decision.

But she didn't know what to do.

She could forgive Max. Put everything behind them and start fresh. They could be friends again. Challan felt like she wanted that. She really wanted that.

Or she could forget Max. Move on from the girl and their brief friendship and go back to her life before the two had met. Challan felt like that's what she should do. She didn't know if she could trust the girl.

The mixtape should've been enough. In a way, it was. It helped Challan see things a little more clearly but also confused her ten times more. Max seemed genuine in her apology. She seemed to be telling the truth when she said that she had wanted to be her friend. And she went above and beyond to make things right with Challan. So why was Challan so hesitant? Why was she struggling to decide what to do?

She hadn't realized that Everybody's Happy Nowadays had even started until it ended. A resounding click sounded in her ears and she stared down at the Walkman.

What the hell do I do now?

••••

It was 2:55 and Challan was nowhere to be found. Max tried not to feel a certain way. It wasn't 3:00 yet. Why would she be early when you said 3:00?

The redhead looked down at her watch again. 2:55. She groaned in annoyance and walked over to the Dig Dug machine but quickly saw that it was out of order. Another groan escaped her lips and she looked at her watch again. 2:56.

Time seemed to be going painfully slow. She walked aimlessly around the arcade for another game to play and picked a random one. She tried to immerse herself into the game but she couldn't focus. All she could think about was the shorter girl who she wasn't even sure was coming. Did she listen to the mixtape? Did she like it? Will she forgive me? What if she hated it? She probably hates me.

She lost that round of the game and sighed. Glancing down at her watch again caused her to frown. 3:07. Max looked around the arcade, searching for a head of curly hair. She stood on her tiptoes as she peered around the arcade. She wasn't there.

She tried not to feel disappointed. Maybe there was traffic. Maybe she got lost. Yeah, that's probably it. Challan didn't go to the arcade. She probably didn't know where it was. Max nodded to herself. Yeah, that had to be it.

She looked around the arcade again before moving to play another game. She played for about ten more minutes. 3:17. Okay, Max. Don't freak out. Don't get upset. It's okay.

Her frown deepened as the arcade became more and more crowded. She watched the door attentively, sighing every time the door opened and it wasn't who she was hoping for. The next time she looked down at her watch it was 3:30. Max had told herself that she would wait until 4:00 before leaving the arcade. But the longer she stood there, the more she wanted to leave. She wasn't coming.

Max had never felt so defeated in her life. She hated that this girl that she barely knew had this affect on her. She hated that Challan Logan could make her feel things that no one else could. Why did she want to be friends with her so badly? What was it about Challan that made her try so hard?

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the girl she had been waiting for rush through the arcade doors. Challan looked around frantically for the redhead, her eyes wide as she scanned the area.

It was 3:37. She was 37 minutes late. She hadn't meant to be. After listening to the mixtape, crying, and then composing herself, she asked her parents to take her to the arcade. Neither they nor Challan had ever gone to the arcade before and had no idea where it was. They left the house early enough but still ended up getting lost, which is why Challan was so late. She hoped she didn't miss Max, that the redhead was still there. She probably left already.

Challan walked further into the arcade, eyes moving quickly as she looked for the girl. Her heart was pounding in her chest with nerves and adrenaline. Please still be here.

There were so many people in the arcade. Challan's view was obstructed by the taller kids even while standing on her tiptoes. The two girls managed to walk right past each other, being blocked by the bodies of other kids. Where could she be?

Challan thought for a moment before remembering that Max played a game called Dig Dug. And so she was in search of the Dig Dug machine. There were too many machines and too many people. She was surprised that no one had taken notice of her. Her being out and in the arcade would surely grab attention. She was grateful that it didn't though.

She managed to make her way to the front where a desk was. An older teenager was stood behind it, eating a bag of chips. "Excuse me," she said, though he hadn't heard her over the rowdy kids. "Excuse me!" She said louder. He looked down at her.

"Where's the Dig Dug machine?" She asked. He pushed himself off of the counter and stood straight, pointing a finger in a direction. Challan looked around a few bodies and nodded. "Thank you!" She began making her way there before stopping and turning back to the counter. "Do happen to know Max Mayfield?" It was a long shot but she had to ask.

"MADMAX? Yeah, I know her," the boy replied. His name tag read Keith.

"Have you seen her? Is she here?" Challan asked hopefully. He looked around the arcade.

"She's over by the Pac-Man machine," he replied. Challan's heart leapt in her chest and she turned her head.

"Where—"

He pointed in the direction of the machine and she thanked him again before pushing past people and walking to the machine. Her heart was pounding in her chest as the machine came into view. Max came into view too and a smile came onto Challan's face.

"Max!"

It was too loud, she couldn't hear her.

"Max!"

Why were there so many people in this arcade? Certainly playing video games couldn't be that fun.

Challan was shoved forward, then to the side. A groan left her lips as she tried to continue pushing past hoards of kids. She felt frustrated as she was pushed again. She continued forward as best as she could. The next time she was pushed she nearly fell over slamming into an unsuspecting person's body. She was caught by the arms of said person wrapping around her body and as she looked up to apologize, her brown eyes met familiar blue ones.

Max's eyes widened in surprise as she looked down at Challan. She came.

"You're here," Max breathed. Challan stood upright and Max released her hold on the girl.

"Yeah. Sorry I'm late. We got lost," Challan said sheepishly.

Max let out of breathy chuckle at that, feeling like she could finally breathe properly again.

"I listened to the mixtape. I really liked it," Challan spoke and Max smiled.

"I'm glad."

The two looked at each other for a moment before Challan pulled Max into a tight hug. Max hugged her back, squeezing her so tightly that it was a little hard to breathe. "I'm sorry," Challan whispered.

Max pulled away, eyebrows furrowed, "For what?"

"For not believing you," Challan muttered. "I shouldn't have just blindly believed Abigail. I guess I felt like it was too good to be true that you wanted to be my friend. I kept asking myself if you were being genuine and I couldn't stop the thoughts that told me you weren't. So when Abigail said those things, it was like all of my doubts came to the surface and I just believed it. I should've listened to you. I'm sorry."

Max shook her head firmly, "Don't apologize. I get it. I'm the one who's sorry. I should've been completely honest with you from the beginning. I just didn't want you to think that I was only talking to you because people told me not to or because you thought that I thought that you were a witch. You're like, the only person who was interested in talking to me besides the stalkers. I just didn't want to mess things up. I did that anyway."

It was Challan's turn to shake her head, "Yeah but, I'd say you did a pretty good job at fixing this." She motioned between the two of them.

Max smiled at that before shyly asking, "Did you like Heart Of Glass?"

Challan laughed, "Yeah. I see why it's your favorite. It's fun like you." Max's smile widened and Challan pulled the girl into another hug. Max hugged her back, a light red tint appearing on her pale cheeks.

"I'm glad," Max repeated in a whisper. The two pulled away and Max took a big breath.

"So, you wanna play a game? Dig Dug is out of order or something so we'll have to play something else. Do you have anything in mind?" Max said and Challan shook her head.

"I'm not really a video games person so I'm not sure what games there are," she replied.

"That's okay. Come on," Max smiled, picking up her skateboard before holding out a hand. Challan took her outstretched hand and intertwined their fingers and the two made their way through the arcade.

They were about to pass the Dig Dug machine, Max looking over at it solemnly when Keith appeared. "Sorry about Dig Dug Road Warrior," he spoke.

"What happened?" Max asked.

Keith placed a hand on the machine, "Short circuit in the mother board. Real bummer." He didn't seem too bummed.

"It's fine, we were going to play something else," Challan informed, the two getting ready to walk away.

"Wait!"

They turned back to him. "I've got another machine up and running in the back."

Max turned to look at Challan, "Do you want to?"

Challan shrugged, "I don't know. Kinda feels like he's about to lead us to our deaths."

"Keith? No way. He might be weird but he's not a murderer," Max shot down.

"I'm standing right here," Keith spoke and the too looked at him. Challan sent him an apologetic smile. She turned to Max who's eyes were pleading before she nodded her head, giving in. Max smiled.

"If I'm gonna die, at least it's with you," Challan whispered jokingly and Max chuckled. Challan smiled at the redhead's laugh. She liked hearing her laugh. Even though it had only been about four days, Challan missed the redhead. It was nice to have someone her own age to talk to.

Keith led the two girls to the back room. As they got closer to the door, Max started to feel suspicious. What if he really was leading them to their deaths?

Keith turned to them, holding out his chip bag to Max. "Hold these." Max let go of Challan's hand and took the bag. Keith pulled out his keys and used one of them to unlock the door. When he pushed the door open, the two girls could see Lucas standing in the room.

He looked at Challan in confusion, wondering why she was there before turning to Max who was less than pleased to see him. He sent her a sheepish smile and Challan looked between the two, also confused. What the heck was this?

The older teenager took his chips back and Max grabbed Challan's arm, pulling her into the room with her. "You better get me that date now, Sinclair," he told Lucas.

"I told you I would—" Keith made a noise that interrupted Lucas.

"And keep things PG in here, alright?" Keith said. He nodded his head as Lucas looked at him, confused.

The three stood there for a moment after Keith closed the door. They looked between one another, no one saying anything. Challan felt herself growing very anxious at the possible unknown.

What was about to happen, what was about to be discussed in that very room, would change Challan's life forever.

••••

While I love angst and drama, I couldn't let them be in a bad place for too long so... they made up yay! Now the real fun begins.