Chapter Text
Jayden Fischer and Maxine Kingston aren't friends.
that's one of the clearest things at Brookville high, other than the fact that the vending machine in the left side of building A, eats your fucking money, and doesn't give you the snack you're promised.
there has never been any hope of Maxine and Jayden ever getting along. that much was clear from the moment Jayden transferred, and Maxine's way of greeting her was to make her trip in the hallway, by sticking her foot out when Jayden walked by.
the point is, Jayden Fischer and Maxine Kingston will never happen.
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it was Monday of spring break, and Maxine was home alone. it was a normal night, it was snowing outside, she was on her big couch with snacks and a show on. her parents were relatively rich, so she had a pretty big home. her dad, Mark, was on a business trip, and her mom, Jane, was working late at the hospital. Maxine was just relaxing on the couch with her cat, Fia, on her lap with a show droning off in the background
she was just about to respond to her best friend, who was rambling about some guy, Felix, when a noise from outside caught her attention.
it sounded like scratching, or a knock.. maybe both, but she paused her show, and sat up. Fia stirred and mewled in annoyance of being disturbed, but Maxine paid him no mind, and instead got up, her eyes wide and her body tense.
Maxine sent off a quick message to her mom with shaking hands
00:37
Max: mom?
Max: did you order me food?
when she wasn't met with a response, she looked back up at the front door, swallowing hard. she slowly approached the door, her eyes narrowed as she looked through the peephole...
she did not expect to see her enemy, Jayden Fischer, at her doorstop at 00:41 in the night on a random Monday but here they were
Maxine cursed under her breath, letting out a sigh of relief as she unlocked and opened the door
Maxine furrowed her eyebrows as she was met with...Jayden? she didn't look like Jayden though...
Jayden's glasses were cracked, her clothes were torn, and barely covered her body, which was bloody and bruised, she was abseloutely soaked from melted snow, and she looked like she was five seconds away from passing out
Maxine's eyes widened in shook at the state Jayden was in, her mouth opening and closing several times before finally "Jayden...?" she managed to say
Jayden tried to step forward, but stumbled, and Maxine's cheerleading reflexes kicked in as she caught her
Jayden went limp against Maxine "woah—ew, oh my god, you're so gross right now.." she muttered, glancing back into her house before looking at Jayden with a grimace. "shit, I can't just, like, leave you out here like a drowned rat.. fuck, uhm..." she winced, weighing her options
"okay, let's get you inside.." Maxine grunted as she shifted her hold on Jayden, easily picked her up with a surprising amount of strength for someone who cares so much about manicures
Maxine looked down at the rather pathetic girl, noticing a forming bruise on her temple, but most of all, the animalistic ears on her head "what the hell..." she gasped, almost dropping Jayden in her shock
Maxine adjusted her hold on Jayden "okay, keep your feet off the rug, my mom would kill me if it got dirty" she said to nobody in particular, trying her best not to freak out
Fia looked up momentarily from the couch at the sound of the front door closing, Maxine walked over and gently used her foot to nudge the cat to the side, before putting Jayden onto the couch.
Jayden leaned back, her eyes fluttering open, and managing to stay open just long enough see Maxine walk way, eventually coming back with a hoodie, a towel, and sweatpants.
Maxine crouched Infront of the couch, causing Jayden to finally look at her. Maxine looked different from how she usually looks at school, more soft, more... worried. Jayden was snapped out of her thoughts by Maxine's voice "-what happened..?"
Jayden blinked "..huh..?" she muttered, eyebrows knitting together
Maxine's expression softened, her head tilting to the side slightly as she gently cupped Jayden's face in her hands "I said..what happened?" she sounded concerned
Jayden shook her head weakly, her eyes were glassy "wolf..." she managed to get out, before she jolted "fuck—" she gasped in pain
Maxine's eyes widened and she gently pushed Jayden back into the cushion behind her, "okay, sit still, for a second, yeah?" she murmured as she peeled the soaked pieces of rags off of Jayden, biting her lip to keep herself from gasping as she sees the extent of Jayden's injuries "okay, fuck.."
Maxine swallowed hard, and gently picked Jayden up again "hold out for a second, yeah? it'll be okay..." she tried to keep her tears at bay as she feels the girl shake in her arms
Maxine kicks the door to the bathroom open, slowly lowering Jayden to sit on the counter, whom surprisingly stays upright as she momentarily leaves to get the towel, hoodie, and sweatpants that she left in the living room. she puts them on the other side of the counter, and starts rummaging through the cabinets.
luckily for Maxine, the perks of having a nurse as a mom, is that they always have medical supplies. she takes bandages, rubbing alcohol, band-aids—she grabs anything she thinks could help and throws it on the counter.
when she looks to Jayden, she sees the girl had taken her glasses off, and was looking down at the cracks in the glass "you can't see without them, huh?" Maxine hums
Jayden looks up momentarily "not really, I can see, but not too well and it hurts if I have them off for too long..." she whispered weakly, as she looked down at them again with a huff
Macine nodded, and gently took them from Jayden, noting down in her mind to get the lenses fixed tomorrow morning—or maybe she could find some of her dad's contact lenses? she shakes her head, focusing back to the task on hand
Maxine picks up the rubbing alcohol, and pours some on a cloth—"this'll hurt badly"—before putting it to a particularly big cut on Jayden's side, which immediately wakes her up with a hiss, her eyes screwing shut in pain and her ears pinning back
Maxine gently coos throughout the process of putting rubbing alcohol on the different cuts and wounds on Jayden's body, "you're doing so good, baby..." she surprises herself with the pet name and praise, but immediately focuses back on helping Jayden
when the rubbing alcohol part is done, Jayden lets out a sigh of relief and leans back. she loses herself in the feeling of Maxine's soft hands wrapping bandages around her cuts, loses herself in the comfort and warmth she never thought she'd get when she came to the cheerleader's doorstep.
Jayden liked this Maxine, the soft and gentle one, the one that didn't care about status or popularity—the feeling abruptly stops, and her eyes flutter open
Maxine is already looking at her, now standing "better?" she lets herself say, humming in approval at the weak nod she gets in turn, as she grabs the towel on the other side of the sink beside them
Maxine gently dries Jayden's hair "what happened?" she eventually says, eyes flicking down to meet Jayden's, before looking at the ears she was currently drying off "and...how do you have wolf ears?" Maxine whispered
Jayden looked down, "I...a day or so ago, I was on a hike because my therapist said I had to get out more, but on it I got attacked by a wolf...luckily the guide i was with helped me, and the hospital said it was just a simple bite and nothing special—" she smiles slightly but it doesn't reach her eyes. Jayden looks broken as she goes on "so today I was gonna go to the grocery store to pick up some food, when suddenly everything hurt, i—i turned into a monster, I heard the crack of my bones, Maxine, i heard my bones shifting and—" she choked up "—everything went black..." Jayden sniffled slightly "I- I remember waking up in the forest, confused and in pain, and I remembered your house was near so I...yeah..." she trails off near the end
Maxine's expression softens "so now you're a...werewolf?" she tilts her head, but doesn't expect a answer "okay, uh, fuck that's... hard to believe, I thought that only happened in fucking twilight, but..." Maxine goes silent as her eyes flick to the ears on Jayden's head "okay, put the hoodie and sweatpants on, and I'll go get some pain killers" she muttered, Jayden nodded, and Maxine left
in the kitchen, Maxine put her hands on the counter and took a breath—everything feels surreal, and her head hurts from just thinking about everything that has happened, but she steels herself when Jayden's face when she told Maxine what happened flashes in her mind
Maxine has to fucking get it together and be there for Jayden.
she stops Infront of the bathroom door and knocks lightly "Jay? you done?" Maxine calls out softly, after hearing a soft yes(!) in response she opens the door, Jayden is in a hoodie (Maxine's hoodie) that's slightly too big on her and sweatpants, anyone else would say Jayden looks stupid but in her eyes?
she's beautiful—ears and all, Maxine tries, but she can't see a single trace of the monster she heard Jayden talk about, if there even was one at all
Maxine holds the pain killers and a glass of water out to Jayden, watching as she took them with a soft expression. she then walked past Jayden and grabbed her broken glasses, gently swiping the dirt off
Maxine turned back and took the glass of water from Jayden, placing it on the bathroom counter—noting to herself to put it in the kitchen later—and gently put the glasses on Jayden, before she gently cupped her face, and looked into her tired eyes with a soft smile "let's get you some sleep, yeah? you look like death itself..." she whispered to which she got a nod
Maxine gently led Jayden to the living room, and pushed her onto the couch gently, draping one of the thickest blankets she had over the still shivering girl, before she turned around to leave
Maxine could feel Jayden's eyes burning into the back of her head, no matter how weakly, but ignored it as she eventually got to her room and closed the door.
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still, Jayden Fischer and Maxine Kingston would never get along—right..?