" TILL YOU NOTICE ME "

max would never admit it to most of his friends now, but he was really into minecraft. he loved the soft music, and the way he could just create things from nothing. on the internet it seemed to be the only place he could comfortably make friends. it was actually the only place he had ever had a successful interaction with a pretty girl. that being his short lived internet girlfriend, mabel pines. it was long distance and they never got to meet in person, but max was smitten to bits with her. whenever they would talk on facetime, max could never wipe the smile off his face, even hours after they would hang up. however, like all things, it had to end. it was too innocent and naive to ever last long. his one and only girlfriend was his minecraft girlfriend. he could never tell that to his homies. it was these memories that had been floating through his brain when he heard a sound he was likely to never forget. “mabel?” he froze where he was, brows furrowing as he looked around for the source of one of the most playful things he had ever heard. following the sound of her laughter he turned a corner, to be met with her bright smile, “holy shit, is that you mabel?” he asked, old smile taking over his face. // @mvbells​

“i would not survive a vibe check bro-”

honestly, max was used to being in the passenger's seat. he liked it that way. out of the way, not in control. just along for the ride. as a kid, on the long road trips he took with his father, he thought that one day he would be the driver. he would get to go cool places. that dream was never fully realized, he was too scared to ever take the wheel. he reasoned, he could get where he needed on his board, and at home he could just use his bike. however, he only had his board here, and that wasn’t the best way to travel in the small town. tiffany was a driver though. everything about her screamed it. she was in control, and she liked it that way. max thought this as he watched her drive down the nameless road. he didn’t mean to stare at her, but it was easy for him to get lost. “when did you learn?” he asked suddenly, worried that maybe he had been awkwardly silent for too long, “like driving i mean,” he bumbled out, “you just seem, like, really comfortable,” // @muttonsfudge​

under normal circumstances, he would hate such a shrill sound. but it was just so webby and he always made exceptions for her. she was his first friend as a child, and for the longest time, his only friend. and for that, max would do anything for her, and let her get away with anything. with a quick spin with her in his arms, he set her feet back on the ground so they could get a proper look at her. “this is so crazy,” he found himself laughing, the famous goof laugh not far away whenever he was with webby. “i’ve been getting stronger i guess,” he grinned, still holding her, part of him worried he was imagining it and that she would just disappear. “i’ve missed you too, webster, wait shit- do you even like being called webby still?”

already an incredibly lonely person, max felt even more isolated in the little town of emporia. without his few friends around, max was alone. not that he wasn’t used to it already of course, but it didn’t make him feel great. what he really wanted was to make friends. it just never seemed like something he would ever be able to do. it was this feeling hanging over his head as he walked through town, just having left work when he heard a voice that made him finally feel found. “there’s only one person in the world who has ever called me that,” he grinned brightly, the brightest he had since coming to town, “webbigail!” he bellowed, unable to stop himself from lifting her into a big hug.

max was a master at shooting his own foot. he let his nerves get the better of him every time he interacted with someone. and it was always worse when it involved a pretty girl. and if this girl was anything, it was his type. for whatever masochistic reasons, the more disinterested and mean a girl was to him, the more he found himself attracted to her. so this girl was hitting him where it hurt. “is it that obvious? yeah, never learned. my dad is just a shitty driver,” he laughed lightly, thinking back on the road trip chaos. he finally gathered the courage to look at her again as she laughed. he thought he could die right there, she was cute, even in the grime of the workshop. his heart just felt like it was racing, so he had to look away again. “you got me, i’m a stoner who can’t drive,” he laughed more, stealing glances her ways. “i’m max,” he turns, holding out his hand for her to shake, before even thinking it might be weird and formal.

max’s brows rose with amusement as marco chuckled, tossing his head as he laughed, a much less sinister one. “true enough, might as well get it over with,” he shrugged, running his hand through his hair. “oh not at all, still the biggest loser around,” he gave a weak smile.

"right, yeah,” he continued forward with his board. he hated how nervous he became, he could tell it was annoying her. he caught his lip between his teeth, gnawing at it. it was this flustered nature that prevented him from having any friends like he so desperately wanted. “you must if you’re the only person here, never was much of a car guy,” he offered, not able to look at her anymore, for fear he would see just how much she didn’t want him around. he simply resolved to just fix this and leave, get out of her hair for good. “if you say so, thanks,” he set his board on the bench she had indicated, already getting to work just as he had done thousands of times before. “chet?” he questioned, not able to stop the laugh that emminated from his chest, “sorry, that’s a new one,”

once max had laid his eyes on her, he couldn’t keep his mind in order. and as she had moved closer, he could feel his nervous nature begin to take over. from his spot in the ground, he had to stare up at her, eyes growing even wider than before. “oh- i could, like, oh-” he fumbled out, quickly shutting his mouth when he figured there was no way to properly get out that he could get a haircut if he wanted, he just didn’t think it would look very good. once she turned around, he figured it was probably best he didn’t say all of that. he stood again, wheel now in hand. he had almost forgotten to respond to her question, but she beat him to it, already showing up with the wrench. “its- oh,” he chuckled nervously again, “yeah, that’s the one.” his cheeks were red enough to match the hoodie he wore. “i could, like rent it?” he offered, brows furrowing together as he looked down at the intimidating girl. “like i could give you some cash for using the, thingy,” he offered, taking the tool from her.

it was the only thing max had ever felt confident in in his life. he knew that with all his practice, he was actually pretty talented when it came to his skateboard. his board would still take a beating though. enough so that the wheels had become loose. which max found out the hard way. the new tear in his jeans sent the cool hair throughout his body. the voice caught him by surprise, he hadn’t seen anyone in the garage when he first came in. enough of a surprise that the fallen wheel fell from his hand. he laughed nervously, “uh, no i know it’s not, sorry,” he apologized, feeling his cheeks begin to turn red, noting how pretty he found the girl. he had to quickly stir himself from that thought, jolting down to pickup the wheel. “i was just, can i borrow a wrench?” he asked, hand quickly tucking some of his hair behind his ear.

max’s eyes followed the other boy, nervous about what could be coming, but found himself laughing as the other guy clapped his back. “that makes sense, lungs be damned,” he joked as well, nerves creeping into his voice, “i started cuz i thought it would make people think i was cool,” he looked away, taking another drawl.

“i mean, etiquette aside,” max shrugged, brushing his hands against his legs. “friends help friends, all that shit.” he fumbled into his pockets to pull out his small smoking device. “besides, beating yourself up about not having a light, takes away from having an actual smoke, you know?” he took a hard pull, looking out across the street.

for a moment, max thought the boy was talking to him. jumping slightly at the words, max turned to face him, realizing he was talking to himself. they let out a sigh of relief, “lighters are what friends are for, dude,” he smiled lightly, holding out the red lighter, flame already lit.