Stale Air

"You... what?"

All of a sudden it was as if their once lively encampment could hear a pin drop. The entire group's mind short-circuited for a minute as everyone was trying to process the meaning of Maxie's words. There was absolutely no way their little Maxie wanted to... rave.

Right?

The one who was having the most trouble making sense of this revelation was his brother James. 

"There is no way you want to go to Aaron's rave. You do realize how much fucked up shit goes on at places like that right? Hell, even I'm scared most of the time with how often those things get rolled!"

His voice was one filled with agitation and sincere disbelief. He really couldn't understand, it was almost as if one of the most immutable forces of the universe was suddenly no more, and his Maxie, who was the epitome of stale air and good behavior, all of a sudden was no more, replaced with a no good, swashbuckling miscreant! 

'I've become a bad influence..'

Taking a deep breath, James steeled himself and contemplated his words for a moment, before saying with utmost poise, 

"Who are you and what have you done with my Maxie you freaking imposter!"

Maxie was truly stunned. He really didn't think his proclamation would garner such an intense reaction from everyone. Did he really say something that crazy? It was Aaron who suggested it in the first place!

"I just thought it might be fun, I mean I like techno occasionally, and it's not like I need you to hold my hand either, you do this stuff all the time! I'm not that clueless!" 

The brothers' banter reached the rest of the group, to varying levels of agreement. 

"I think we should support this development! Our little Maxie is coming out of his shell!"

Jasmine had decided to help her friend out. Whether her compassion was sincere was debatable but her point still stood, they shouldn't try to stop him from something they've all done before lest they become a bunch of hypocrites.

It seemed her argument resonated with the rest as subtle nods were seen cresting the heads of the group. 

Left stupefied by his perceived betrayal, James shot a glance at Jasmine, fire glistening in his eyes. A bunch of heathens they were, trying to taint his brother's innocence with their delinquency, he couldn't believe it.

With a strangled sigh he said begrudgingly,

"Well, I guess it's settled then. When should we head out y'all?"

***

Loading up their gear the crew left in the direction of their town uni. But not before strategically stopping at Aarons's buddies' house to grab another passenger or two and drop off Bailey at her apartment complex.

The car was really squished now. Although some room was alleviated by the space Bailey left, along with the pillows and blankets she took with her, it was quickly taken over by not one, but two more passengers added to the bandwagon.

Brock and Kat were the second token couple of the group. Brock was of a darker complexion and extremely lean. Although his muscles didn't carry much mass he was undoubtedly as strong as a horse. He had dyed his hair silver, but for some reason a greenish tinge could be seen along the ends of his wavy locks, making for a disheveled, carefree appearance. While Maxie couldn't say for certain, he was pretty sure the green came from how often the guy surfed.

Sitting on his lap, a stunning girl of short stature rested her head on Brock's shoulder. She looked to be either Chinese or Korean, but it was hard to tell because of the large wings of eyeliner stretched across her face. Her name was Kat, and she was a new addition to the crew, so Maxie didn't know her very well. However, what he could say was that whatever she lacked in substance, she made up tenfold by her looks alone. She was wearing a short pleated denim skirt with a large belt wrapped several times around her waist, bullet casings running along its length, meeting a cropped black corset laced with ruby red ribbon up its front and back, its drawstrings pulled tight to the point where it was questionable if the girl had a ribcage. Her mid-length hair cut into cascading layers of blue, made for an oddly hypnotic sight.

Nudging him from his squished side, Brock looked at him with a hint of mischief glinting in his dark eyes as he handed him what looked to be a... chocolate bar? Looking at him quizzically Brock simply shrugged in response,

"A treat for you to enjoy tonight."

Carefully taking his... gift, Maxie inspected the packaging closely, aside from the Buddha printed on its cover, he only found what appeared to be a regular chocolate bar. Free from his previous worries Maxie decided to indulge. 

'Ptoo! This shit tastes like dirt, what the hell man!'

Holding himself back from nearly spitting out the vile chocolate, he debated whether or not he should play into this guy's joke. Obviously, he gave him the gross ass chocolate to have a laugh at his expense. He decided in then that he wouldn't give the bastard the pleasure!

Steeling himself, Maxie took slow, arduous bite, after slow, arduous bite of the horrid candy, looking beside him with silent fury and a twisted sense of satisfaction glinting in his eyes.

His gaze however was met with a sort of smugness that only served to intensify his will. While the chocolate did taste offensive, it strangely added a sense of levity to his weary mind. He had been anxious on the way up, but now his mood lightened, so he was at least a bit thankful for the cruel joke. 

"Haha! Taking it like a champ! That's what I like to see!"

Giving him a rough pat on the back despite the little mobility either had, Maxie quietly laughed and looked around at the faces of his friends.

♪ I smoked away my brain, I think I'm going dumb ♪

They were all singing along to the song playing in the car but everyone seemed happy to be around each other. He silently thought to himself that it was times like these, surrounded by cool people, each enjoying the presence of the other, that filled him with a profound sense of euphoria. He judged that this might have been his replacement for what friends of his own might feel like. 

Jasmine who was driving suddenly turned into an empty parking garage and turned down the obnoxiously loud music. 

"Okay guys get ready, we're pulling up!"