In Too Deep

Iron Man was playing on the TV in Max’s dorm, but neither he nor Jackie were paying attention. At all. Despite it being one of their favorite movies, they were engaged in an activity that they both found to be far more enjoyable.

“Are you sure this isn’t hurting your nose?” Jackie gasped, breaking her lips away from Max’s and staring up at him. Jackie was laying on her back in Max’s small bed, and he was holding himself up above her.

Max rolled his eyes. “I told you, it barely hurts anymore. Shut up.” He lowered his head and continued to kiss her.

“So… if I… wanted… to get… more… aggressive,” Jackie panted out whenever his mouth left hers for a second, “you think… you… could take… it?”

Max paused, hovering just above her lips. “I think I could handle it.”

“Good,” Jackie murmured.

About ten minutes later, as they took a short break to catch their breath, Max looked around in surprise. “How did we get on the floor?” he asked.

Jackie glanced up. “We’re on the floor? Oh. That’s weird.”

Max chuckled. “More space to move around…”

Jackie smiled but stood up, rolling her eyes at Max’s upset face. “I’m going to my dorm for five minutes to brush my teeth and wash my face. I feel like I haven’t been in there for two days.”

“Because you haven’t,” Max said, sitting up. “Neither of us have left this room since the night we got back.”

“Exactly. And I feel utterly repulsive.”

“You’ve been using my shower stuff… just use my toothbrush,” Max suggested.

Jackie scrunched her nose up in disgust. “Ew. Gross.”

Max gave her a look. “My tongue has been down your throat for forty of the past forty-eight hours, and you think using my toothbrush is gross?”

Jackie hesitated. “Point taken,” she muttered. “But still, I like my face wash. It smells like pears. I smell too much like you at the moment.”

“That’s a bad thing?”

“Well, people might notice,” Jackie said promptly, moving toward the door.

Max snorted. “What people? Dr. Barrie?”

“It’s Saturday, Max. Students are coming back today and tomorrow. Give it another hour and we won’t be the only two students at JA anymore.”

Max stood up and walked over to where Jackie was standing by the door. “But no one else will be here for another hour, right?”

“Probably.”

“So, when you’re finished doing whatever you need to do, you’re coming back up here, right?”

“Maaaaaaaybe.”

“And when you say ‘maybe,’ you mean ‘yes,’ right?”

Jackie just smiled in response, and Max took his chance to press her against the wall and kiss her. It was meant to be brief, but it got a little deeper. And deeper. And deeper. So deep, they didn’t hear the voices in the hall. So deep, they didn’t hear the key entering the lock.

But Jackie noticed the door opening, and she quickly pushed Max away with all her strength. He hit the wall opposite, banging his head in the process, and muttered a few expletives under his breath.

“Well, hello to you too!” Jeffrey said, coming into the room. Scooter and Dina were right behind him. All three of them smiled at Max before seeing Jackie and frowning in confusion.

It was a rather odd scene. Max, with a bandaged nose, wearing nothing but pajama pants, was standing opposite Jackie, who wore pajama shorts and a camisole. They both looked exceedingly ruffled... and a little guilty.

Not to mention the fact that neither of them were supposed to be back at JA until the next day…

Scooter was the first to speak up. “Uh… what the hell?”

“You’re back early,” Max muttered, massaging the back of his head where it had hit the wall.

Jeffrey narrowed his eyes. “We could say the same thing. You guys aren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow. What happened to your nose?”

Jackie and Max moved so that the three of them could fully enter the room. Dina’s eyes were locked on Jackie, staring her down accusingly. Jackie kept her gaze on the floor.

“My nose? It’s broken,” Max answered nonchalantly.

Jeffrey looked at him expectantly. When Max didn’t say anything else, Jeffrey sighed. “And how did this happen?”

Before Max could answer, Dina spoke up. “Why are you guys in your pajamas? It’s three in the afternoon.”

“Yeah, and why are you even in here, Jackie?” Scooter added.

“Uh…” Jackie tried to think of an answer, but when nothing came to mind, she decided to change the subject. “Are Stella and Lexi back?”

“Yeah, we just met them in the atrium,” Scooter responded. “But you didn’t answer—”

“See ya!” Jackie exclaimed, and she practically ran from the room.

There was an awkward silence.

“So, guys! How was California?” Max asked, a little over the top. He jumped forward and proceeded to give Jeffrey a big man-hug. “I missed you!”

Jeffrey was startled. “Um… it was nice…. I missed you, too?”

Dina shook her head in disbelief, taking in the messy sheets on Max’s bed and the way his hair was completely screwed up. She had a hunch, and she was pretty sure she was right.

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“Stella! Lexi!” Jackie shouted from the end of the hallway, just as her two friends were entering their dorm.

“JACKIE!” they yelled simultaneously, grinning. Jackie ran up to them and gave them each a hug.

As they walked into the dorm, Stella was speaking rapidly. “I met this guy. His name is Antonio. Isn’t that an amazing name? Anyway, he’s in college, but I figured, we’ll be there in a few months, so it’s okay. He goes to Florida State and he loves to dance. He was teaching ballroom at the hotel as a part-time job, and I was his partner. It was so romantic. He’s really tan. And really fit. And his hair is really wavy and brown and perfect. And… Jackie, aren’t you supposed to get back tomorrow?”

Jackie shrugged. “Surprise?”

“Why are you here? And why are you wearing that?” Lexi asked.

Jackie sighed and began the story, leaving out a few… minor… details along the way.

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Jeffrey stared at Max, disbelief spread across his face. “You and Jackie ran away from your house two days before you were supposed to leave?”

Max nodded proudly. “Yep!”

“And then you were stupid enough to get tickets on the wrong train?”

Max nodded not-so-proudly. “Um… yeah…”

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Both Stella and Lexi’s mouths were open in shock.

“You were mugged?!” Lexi screeched.

Jackie gave a half-smile and nodded. “But we didn’t have any money, so all they took were our cell phones.”

“How did one of you not see them coming?” Stella asked, frowning.

We were too busy making out.

“Uh… we were distracted by… an argument,” Jackie said, shrugging. It wasn’t a complete lie.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Wait—what did he do to you?” Scooter questioned.

“It’s all a little fuzzy…” Max answered, scratching his head. “But I know he punched me… and then the other guy kicked me… and somewhere in there the back of my head got pretty beat up….”

“How did you fight them off?”

“Since I was half-conscious, and I seriously doubt Jackie could have handled them on her own, I think they ran off,” Max said, chuckling a little.

“Then what happened?”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“I took Max to this kind of creepy walk-in clinic, where they called Dr. Barrie and fixed him up. Then we came back to JA,” Jackie said. She paused. “The end!”

Stella and Lexi stared at her.

“You and Max have been here for two days… alone? No other students… just you, Dr. Barrie, and the maintenance people?” Lexi asked.

Jackie nodded.

“What have you been doing?”

“Uh, well, Max has been recovering, so I just… I’ve just been relaxing. Watching TV. Doing some homework. Taking a few bubble baths. Drinking cranberry juice.” Making out incessantly. “You know… normal stuff.”

Lexi scrunched up her nose. “Does something smell like boy?”

I told Max! Jackie thought angrily as she slowly inched into the bathroom, ready to throw as many feminine-smelling products on her body as possible.

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“I’ve just been sleeping and taking medicine and stuff…” Max trailed off, shrugging. And occasionally kissing Jackie senseless. “Boring stuff.”

Dina’s eyes were narrowed. “So why was Jackie in here?”

“We were watching Iron Man,” Max lied.

“Right. Of course you were.” Dina gave Max a sarcastic smile before heading for the door. “I’m going to go unpack. See you guys later.”