In Too Deep

They watched as the red 11:59 flickered and became 12:00. Midnight.

Max grabbed the bright green noisemaker from Jackie’s hand before she had the chance to raise it to her lips. “You’ll wake everyone up,” he said quietly, smiling at her upset face.

“But it’s your 18th birthday!” Jackie whispered excitedly.

“And this is the only time on my 18th birthday that I get to spend with my girlfriend, so it’d be better if she didn’t wake up the whole hall and alert people of my presence in her room.”

“Point taken.” Jackie threw the noisemaker to the floor and sat up in her bed, disentangling Max’s arm from around her back. He frowned at her as she scooted off the edge of the bed and began to rummage in the drawer of her desk.

“What are you doing?” he asked, sitting up and leaning against the headboard.

Jackie grinned as she climbed back into her bed, now holding a clear plastic folder and two rectangular wrapped gifts bound together with a ribbon. She handed the two packages to Max. “Happy birthday.”

Max opened both presents quickly and glanced at the items in front of him. He gave Jackie a look. “You got me books?”

Jackie, who was propped up on one elbow watching him, rolled her eyes. “Look closer. I know they probably weren’t what you wanted, but….”

“But what?” Max asked as he examined the books. One was a fancy French-English dictionary, including verb conjugations and common phrases. The other was Harry Potter à l’école des sorciers.

“It’s the first Harry Potter book in French, and that’s a dictionary. They’re for practice… so if you visit me in a few years, you’ll know more than ‘je veux Jackie.’”

Max, who was smiling at the two books, looked at Jackie sharply, a frown now on his face. She was looking determinedly down at the sheets. “What?” he asked. “Visit you?”

Jackie sighed and met his eyes. “I got accepted to the American University of Paris,” she said softly. “And… I said yes. I’m going there for college.”

Max stared at her a moment, before smiling brightly. “Jackie, that’s great! That’s awesome! What are you going to study?”

Jackie smiled at his enthusiasm, but shrugged at his question. “I don’t know. But French is the only thing I’m good at besides journalism. And I love Paris. Do you think that’s a good enough reason to go there?”

“Of course.” Max pointed to the books. “And I know that I will use these. But how do you know I won’t follow you there?” he asked, smirking.

Jackie didn’t smile back. Sighing, she held up the clear plastic folder. “I know you won’t… because of this.” She handed the folder to him, which he took with a frown.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Open it.”

Max did as he was told, and discovered that there was a huge number of papers. A majority of them were clasped together with a large paper clip, so Max pulled out the very first single sheet and read.

Walter Windham’s Tour Across America
On July 21, 2009, renowned New York Times writer Walter Windham will be departing with twenty-five talented young journalists on a yearlong trip across the US.
The WWTAA program is for young adults interested in pursuing journalism as a career who want a year of firsthand experience before either entering the business or studying at a college.
Participants will be traveling by bus to all of the major US cities, and a few minor ones, studying all forms of media and writing articles daily, all the while receiving criticism and suggestions from Walter Windham. Major newspapers and magazines in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles are prepared to consider publishing articles by participants when they spend time in those cities. As is expected, payment comes with being published.
Participants will also be consistently working on writing and editing each other’s work for a newspaper that they will stop and have published once a month. As this is in essence a job, each participant is given a monthly check. More information on program costs and salaries on back.
Luckily, as this is the first year of WWTAA, five participants will be chosen based on their application to take part free of charge! Applications are due by April 30th.

Max stared at the paper. The program sounded perfect. Absolutely incredible. But he could never get in… he wasn’t that good.

“Jackie, this is amazing, but I could never be good enough to get in,” Max said.

Jackie smiled slightly. “Pull out the next page.”

Max did as he was told.

Dear Maxwell Leopold,
Congratulations! You have been accepted to partake in Walter Windham’s Tour Across America. As one of the five scholarship winners, you will get to experience the adventure free of charge. You will receive a monthly salary and get paid for articles you get published in major newspapers along the way….

The letter went on, but Max couldn’t read anymore. His eyes were wide in shock.

Jackie looked at him nervously. “The rest of the papers in there are copies of all your articles I sent in. The application was unusual, so I was able to fill it out for you. Max… say something. I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about it, but I knew you’d doubt yourself, so I just sent it in myself. Please say something.”

He didn’t. Instead he dropped the letter, grabbed Jackie’s face, and brought her lips to meet his. Five minutes later, they resurfaced. Jackie grinned breathlessly. “I take it you’re excited?”

“How can I not be? I’ll be independent from my parents, getting paid, and doing one of the few things I love doing.” He stared at Jackie a moment. “Thank you.”

“You deserve it.”

“But… you’ll be in Paris. I’ll be traveling from city to city over here. Aren’t you worried?” Max asked, frowning.

“Why would I be worried?”

“Because last time you were in Paris, you pushed me away and said it wouldn’t work.”

“And I regretted it. Besides, a lot has happened since then. A lot has changed,” Jackie said sleepily, resting her head against the pillow. “The future is inevitable. We’ll handle it.”

“We graduate soon,” Max stated, moving his two new books and the folder to Jackie’s bedside table. “You think my parents will show up?”

“If they do, I’m going to say hello to them,” Jackie said with a laugh. “Besides, you’re a legal adult now, and once we’ve graduated, Dr. Barrie won’t have control over us either.”

“So I’ll be free to do this?” Max leaned over and connected his lips to Jackie’s neck. Slowly, he moved up her neck and across her jawbone.

“Until we’re on different continents,” Jackie mumbled, smiling sadly.

Max smirked against her skin. “Then we better get as much in as we can right now.”

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

“I hate you, and you hate me. But I didn’t mean what I said last night, and I want you to accept my apology.”

They reached the stairs to the roof. Jackie paused and turned to Max, her eyes narrowed. “Stop acting weird,” she ordered. “If you’re bizarrely polite to me, I’ll feel obligated to be nice to you, and that’s not easy for me.”

Max grinned. “It seems like you’re the immature one, Jackie,” he said, leaning against the door to the roof. “You can’t get over this feud for even five seconds to accept the fact that I’m apologizing to you.”

Jackie pushed the door open so that Max stumbled backwards. “I hate you,” she said firmly. “Nothing, no matter what, will ever change that. Get the hell out of my way.”

***

“May I ask you an important question?” Ms. Magaña requested.

“You probably know the answer, since you know everything,” Max said with a shrug.

“Think hard. Are you in love with her?”

Max stared at the grass for several moments before answering. “I don’t know. I might have been. I might have been able to fall in love with her.”

“Good, you’re not supposed to know for sure,” Ms. Magaña said. “Not yet, anyway.”

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

“Mr. Leopold!”

Max’s head jerked up from the desk he had been sleeping on, and he rubbed his eyes tiredly. Mr. McCauley’s angry face materialized in front of him.

“That’s the third time I’ve had to wake you up this period!” Mr. McCauley screamed. Only seconds after returning to the lesson, he glanced back at the class and screeched, “Miss Bodello! You two?”

Jackie gasped as she opened her eyes and lifted her head. “S-sorry,” she mumbled, stifling a yawn.

Mr. McCauley glared. “If either of you fall asleep again, it’ll be Dr. Barrie’s problem. Understand?”

They nodded, and Jackie grew worried. Mr. McCauley might have been unable to put two and two together, but Dr. Barrie certainly would not be, and if she found out that both Max and Jackie were falling asleep in class…

Max was preoccupied with thoughts about the memories he had just relived in his dreams. Had so much truly changed? Were he and Jackie… in love? And now, with teachers growing suspicious by their constant tiredness…

Max glanced behind him at Jackie, and he was sad (but not surprised) to see her slowly shake her head. He understood what she was trying to say.

We can’t do this anymore.