Chapter 11

He leans in even closer and kisses me. At first I'm just bewildered, confused for a moment. Then I submit and begin to enjoy the feeling of his mouth on mine. "This is beautiful." I finish when he pulls away.
He says, "I know," and I lean my head on his shoulder to watch the pretty sunset. It's almost dark by the time we pick all our stuff up and decide to leave.
"Max," I say, kind of awkwardly when we get back in the car. "This was fun. Thanks."
"You're welcome." He says after he starts the car. I think about the kiss and how good it felt. And then I think about Sidney. He seemed genuine enough when he was telling us what happened, but it still made me mad. Not so much at him, but at Brittny, I decide. After a couple minutes of thoughts like this rushing through my head I just stop. Max has a New Hit Music radio station turned on so I concentrate on every word of the song that's playing, not giving myself any room to think.
"Caitlin?" Max looks at me from the corner of his eyes.
"Yeah?" I say, turning to look at him.
"What are you thinking about?" He asks.
I pause for a moment, thinking about what to tell him I'm thinking about. "That kiss," I decide, instead of getting back into the Sidney shit.
"oh." He says quietly. I reach over and run my thumb down his rough cheek not knowing why I wanted to. I can't start anything with Max, I remind myself. Especially if things start happening with Sidney. But I can't stand Brittny, and if he doesn't have the guts to tell her to get lost... I just... I can't do that to them. Or myself.
I sit quietly, wishing Max would say something. He doesn't though, he just keeps on driving.
"Max?" I say, turning towards him again, "what should I do?" I ask him for advice since this is a subject I don't feel like taking to Ruthanne.
"well, I guess you know now that I like you." He says, "and I know that you like Sidney. And that you hate Brittny." He says slowly. I tap my foot impatiently, the torturing thoughts coming back into my head. "Why did you come to me for help, anyways?" Max looks at me.
"Because you know Sidney well and I, I just get the feeling that I can trust you." I say.
"oh." He says. "I don't know if I can give you very good advice, Caitlin."
"Huh?" I look at him again.
He grabs my hand from the armrest between us and rubs my knuckles. "Because I really do like you."
"Oh." I say. He pulls up to the curb outside my house and puts the parking brake on. We just sit in the car. "Well, I better get going." I glance at the clock. My mom doesn't get worried until around 10:30, but I can see myself doing something I'll regret if I stay with Max. He leans over and kisses me on the cheek. "Thanks so much Max." I say as he sits back up in his seat.
"Bye," he says as I open the door. I walk into the house a very confused girl. My mom is sitting on the couch in the living room and gives me a funny look as I walk through. I ignore her and go straight to my room to lay down, suddenly feeling exhausted. I check my phone and see a few messages from Sidney.
From: Sidney
I'm sorry. It's not what it looks like!
From: Sidney
PLEAAAAAAAASE Call me..
From: Sidney
Caitlin! I miss you, call me.
I sigh, not really wanting to call him back, but feeling like I have to. His cell phone rings 3 or 4 times before he picks up. "Caitlin?" He says, "I'm really sorry."
"Yeah?" I say, trying really hard to sound annoyed.
"Do you still want to go tomorrow?" He asks, sounding really sad. I feel guilty for being annoyed with him.
"yes." I say quietly, feeling super exhausted now.
"when should I pick you up?" He asks.
"around 4:30?" I say, unsure of whether or not I seriously want to go or if I just feel bad. I sigh.
"What?" Sidney says on the other end.
"You should know," I say, getting a worse attitude by the moment.
"I apologized." He says, "I hate her just about as much as you do."
"Oh really?" I say, not convinced. "That's why you didn't just tell her to get lost."
"Natalie was standing right there!" He says loudly.
"I'm sorry Sidney." I say, not wanting to fight anymore.
"it's fine. It's my fault. Let's just forget this," he says.
I sigh but say "Ok" so that we can end the conversation. "I gotta go Sidney." I say, "bye."
"Bye."
"Well that went well." I say, and fall back into my heap of pillows.