The first week of July, I walked into the break room at work to put my bag in my locker. It was my third week at Chopped, and I was still being trained, but the job was quite easy- I was literally just making salads.

I was in my "uniform"- my blue t-shirt that said "Chopped"- and black yoga pants, along with an apron. I had my blonde hair back in a ponytail, and minimal makeup.

I then noticed someone at the wooden table in the break room as I walked in.

She had on the same shirt as me, and a pair of black jeans. She also had on a black baseball hat, over her messy, slight wavy black hair that was a bit past her ears. I could see that she had on heavy eyeliner under her hat, but I couldn't see much else of her face. She was looking down at her phone that had a cracked screen.

Who is this?

She looked up, startled as I walked in.

"Sorry to scare you." I said, looking at her, "I'm Bella."

"Max. Nice to meet you."'

Ah, so this was Max. Thankfully they were okay.

I studied Max for a moment. She looked a bit disheveled- but was actually very pretty when I looked at her face. Underneath the eyeliner she had blue eyes, a small, narrow nose, and round cheeks.

There was something about her...I couldn't quite put my finger on it. But I felt myself not wanting to look away from her.

"I'm assuming you started here within the three weeks I was gone."

I was snapped out of my trance by Max's voice.

"Oh, yes. This is my third week." I nodded.

"Gotcha." Max simply nodded as well, and then stood up. She was very slim, and I could see she was around the same height as me, about 5'4. "See you out there." she mumbled, as she walked past me.

I stood there for a moment, holding my bag, not sure what to do.

As a couple of weeks went by, it realized that Max was a tough nut to crack. She didn't say much at work- even to the customers, she was pretty apathetic when talking to them. But she was a hard worker- always did what she was told, and was always moving. I was almost too shy to make conversation with her- because I didn't want her to think I was weird.

Why do I care so much about what she thinks?

I found myself wanting to work the same shifts as her- and feeling disappointed when she wasn't there.

One Saturday night in the middle of July, it was just Christy, me, and my co-workers Jason and Shantelle scheduled.

Shantelle wound up calling out- so, Christy went to the break room and started calling some of my other co workers frantically.

She came back 10 minutes later to the front and said, "Max is coming- she will be here in about 35 minutes or so, depending on if there is traffic from her house."

"Thank god for our lord and savior Maxine Redman." Jason said, jokingly.

"Maxine?" I looked at him.

"That's her real name." Jason said, "But don't call her that- she doesn't like it."

"Bella, you and Max will be closing together." Christy looked at me, "I think you're ready for it. Plus, Max can help you with anything you need."

"How long has Max been working here?" I asked.

"A year. She started last summer, she's also going into her senior year of high school, same as you, Bella." Christy explained to me.

"She doesn't go to Rock High School North?" I asked Christy.

She shook her head, "She goes to Truman High School."

That told me that Max lived a few towns over. I recognized where she was from- it was a town that I know my mother frowns upon. But she can be so snobby at times.

Max showed up, this time wearing a beanie over their shaggy black hair.

There's no way she's straight.

That's what I found myself thinking.

"Hey, I told you no beanies!" Christy said to her, not seeming very serious in her scolding.

"Hats are allowed, according to the handbook. A beanie is a form of a hat." Max said back.

"Wear it and I'll call you Maxine your whole shift." Christy said.

Max chuckled, "Fine. But my hair's a mess. Let me go fix it in the break room."

As she walked past, she said, "Hey, Bella." softly to me.

"Come on, Christy. Let Max put her beanie back on. She came to our rescue today." Jason said.

Christy rolled her brown eyes, "You're right. Let me go talk to her."

Christy walked off to the back, as a family of three came in.

The shift went on. We closed at 9, and by 8:00 Jason had left, and Christy was leaving at 8:45.

Before Christy left she instructed Max, "Show Bella the closing process slowly, so it is able to sink in."

"It's also written on a sheet of paper in the back." Max said to me.

"Still, go slow." Christy said, "I'll see you ladies later this week. Text me if you need anything."

"Bye, Christy." I said.

"Bye." Max waved.

When Christy left, Max and I were quiet for a moment. I wanted to talk to her, but I felt nervous to do so.

10 minutes before closing, a couple came in. Max served them quickly, and then by the time they left it was 2 minutes until closing.

"I would lock the doors now, but I could very possibly get fired for doing that." she said to me, leaning against the back counter. I stood next to her.

"Have you done it before and gotten in trouble?" I asked her.

Max nodded, her hair shaking under her beanie, "Yes. Christy doesn't care, but the owners do. If someone comes in a millisecond before 9, we have to serve them."

"Anyone who does that is just beyond rude." I said.

"Agreed." Max nodded, "Now, let me show you the closing process. I won't show you as slowly as Christy probably wants me to, but I'll go slower than I usually would."

"You don't have to do that." I said.

"I want you to get a hang of it." Max shrugged.

She was about halfway into the closing process, when all of a sudden we heard banging on the door.

Max immediately grabbed my arm, her eyes wide. "What the fuck."

I felt my heart pounding fast. "Ignore them." I said, "Our hours are clearly on the door."

Max nodded, and seemed like she was about to show me another step, when the person started pounding at the door even louder.

"Should I call the police?" Max looked terrified.

"Not yet." I said, I then started walking toward the door. I wasn't going to open it, but I was going to tell the person we were closed.

"What are you doing?" Max grabbed my arm again, "Don't go to the door."

"I wasn't going to open it." I said. I walked toward the door, which was thankfully not glass, so whoever was out there couldn't see and I called out, "We're closed!"

Max crept up behind me.

"Is Kelly here? I need to talk to her." a man's voice said back.

"No. There is no Kelly here." I said back.

Max put her hand on my arm, lightly.

"But she works at Chopped." the man said back, his voice slightly slurred, "I'm at Chopped, aren't I?"

"There are multiple locations." Max said back, her voice slightly shaky, "I promise you there is no Kelly here."

We didn't hear anything for a moment, but then we heard a voice say back, "Okay. Thanks."

A few moments later, we heard a car door slam shut, and loud music playing as the person drove away.

"I'm calling Christy." Max said, taking her cell phone out of her apron pocket.

I stood next to Max as she frantically called Christy and explained what happened. Christy sounded concerned when she told us there was a Kelly that worked at a location about an hour away. She said she would handle it.

"I'm going to come back." Christy said, "I don't want you and Bella leaving alone. I'll be there in twenty minutes, if the man comes back, you call the cops."

"Okay." Max said, "Thanks."

"Don't worry about closing up. I'll do it quickly when I come back." Christy said.

Max hung up with Christy, and we stood there for a moment.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"That was just kind of terrifying." Max said, "I keep thinking about whoever Kelly is and hope she is safe."

"Christy said she is going to call Kelly's store and speak to them, and they will call the police in that area." I said, "It's going to be okay."

"But what if Kelly is being stalked by that guy? I- I know from experience she may not be okay." Max looked down.

"You know from experience?" I asked, gently.

Max looked at me, "To make a long story short- my biological father, who was abusive to my mother, stalked her and I. I didn't really realize that's what it was at the time, I was so young."

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry." I said, "But it stopped?"

"My mother killed him in self defense." Max said, "So this kind of stuff just makes me really scared."

"Understandably so." I said, "I'm so sorry you had to go through so much."

"It's okay." Max said, looking down.

I am not big on hugs. I tend to feel slightly claustrophobic when someone hugs me. But at that moment, I knew Max needed a hug.

"I know I don't really know you. But you need a hug."

I said.

I wrapped my arms around her lightly, and at first she was tense- but then she relaxed- and hugged me back.

When we pulled away, our eyes met.

And she held my gaze.

I felt my heart start to pound even faster as I realized-

I'm starting to feel something for Max- and that felt like we were just having a moment.

Max then looked away and said, "Sorry to dump my trauma on you. If you have trauma, tell me yours sometime."

"Maybe one day I will." I said- though I knew I had absolutely nothing that could compare to Max's story.

I felt a shift in how Max acted toward me after that closing shift together. I felt closer to her in a way- and I swore I would catch her looking at me sometimes during work. I constantly wanted to be working with her. I'm sure she caught me sneaking glances at her as well.

The second Saturday in August, my co worker, Rashad, had invited everyone over for a bonfire. He was turning 19, and was throwing a party for it.

I told my mom about it- and she told me that I could go, I just had to be home by 11:30.

I ended work at 8 that night, so I figured I would go right after work and change out of my work clothes in the break room.

I wasn't working with Max that night, and couldn't help but wonder if she would be at the party.

After my shift, I put on a pair of jean shorts and a gray t-shirt, and drove over to Rashad's house. My mom texted me on my way to make sure I was home by 11:30, and not a moment later.

I thought about how nice it would be when I did not live with my parents anymore. I was slowly but surely starting to crave freedom. Being 17 years old, I figure that was normal.

When I got to Rashad's, I immediately went to his backyard. There were at least 20 people there, and my eyes immediately looked for someone that I knew.

I spotted out two of my co-workers, Jason and Madeline, and walked over to them.

"Hey!" Jason greeted me, "It's so weird seeing you out of your work uniform."

"Jason, you have such a way with words." Madeline rolled her eyes, "I think he's trying to say you look nice, Bella."

"Thanks." I laughed, "Is anyone else from work here?"

Code for: is Max here?

"A couple other people, Christy said she was going to come later with her boyfriend as well. Max was just here a moment ago, she is grabbing us drinks in the kitchen." Madeline said.

So, Max is here.

I chatted with Madeline and Jason until Max came walking over.

I realized this was the first time I was seeing her out of uniform- yes, I had tried to find her on Facebook and Instagram, but had no luck.

She wore a pair of jean shorts mostly covered by an oversized black t-shirt. She wore a gray beanie, and her eyeliner was heavy.

I couldn't help but to feel attracted to her.

There's just something about her.

She walked over with two Dr. Pepper's and am orange Fanta.

She paused when she saw me. "Hey, Bella." she gave me a small smile, "Sorry, I didn't grab you a drink."

She handed Madeline and Jason their Dr. Pepper's.

"That's okay, I got here when you were in the kitchen." I said back.

"Well, do you want to get a drink? I can show you where they are." Max said, pointing toward the kitchen.

"Sure." I nodded, "I wouldn't mind a Diet Coke."

"I think I saw that. Come with me." Max said, "We'll be back." she said to Jason and Madeline.

I followed Max from the backyard into Rashad's house. He had a pretty big single home, and his parents were in the living room watching TV  that was off of the backyard. They greeted Max and I and when we walked in, I said hello back to them.

There was a large cooler set out in the kitchen.

Max glanced at it for a moment, and then pulled out a bottle of Diet Coke.

"Here you go." She handed it to me.

I took it and grinned at her. "Thanks. My mom doesn't allow soda at my house, so I'm going to savor this."

"Oh god, I can't imagine that." Max said, "Is your mom a health nut?"

"Pretty much, yes." I nodded.

"My mom is the opposite." Max said, as we started walking back outside. "She loves fast food and soda and smokes like a pack of cigarettes a day."

Max and I fell into step next to each other. Before I could answer about her mom, she said, "Want to come sit next to me by the fire pit?"

"Sure. I see a log over there that we can both fit on." I said, pointing at a large log that was intentionally there for people to sit on, there were four others placed around the fire pit as well.

Max and I sat next to each other, each sipping our sodas.

"You've told me about your mom a bit." I said, "Do you have siblings?"

Max nodded, "I have a younger sister. She is two years younger than me, she's going into her sophomore year. Her name is Charlotte."

"Do you get along?" I asked her.

"She kind of ignores me. I think she thinks I'm a loser or something." Max said, "I'm not into social media or taking pictures or fashion like her and her friends."

"That doesn't make you a loser at all." I said to Max.

She looked at me gratefully, "Thank you. That's nice to hear. Do you have siblings?"

"Yes. I have an older brother, Drew. He's going into his last year of college, he is 21. Then I have my sister, Peyton, she's 18. She actually just had a baby."

"Did she really?" Max's eyes slightly widened.

"Yep. My niece, Savannah. She's four months old." I nodded.

"Do you like being an Aunt?" Max asked me.

I noticed we were sitting awfully close to each other on the log- not that I minded.

"I think I'll like it more when she gets older." I chuckled, "Right now she just cries a ton. It keeps me up at night."

"I'm sorry. That's very annoying." Max said, "Babies crying can be very irritating, no matter how cute they are."

"That is very true. Savannah is pretty cute though."

"I've always preferred animals over children." Max said, "I have two cats- Maisie and Daisy."

"I've always wanted a cat!" I said, "But my dad claims he is allergic. Do you have pictures of Maisie and Daisy?"

"Of course." Max took her phone out of her pocket, and showed me her background. It was a black cat, and an orange cat, laying next to each other. "Maisie is the black cat and Daisy is the orange cat."

"Oh my god. They are so cute." I said to Max.

She then looked at me and smiled, and I smiled back.

I cannot be the only one who feels...something right now.

As we talked, it felt like we were the only two people at the party. I really enjoyed getting to know Max. We talked about school for a bit. She told me she hated high school- and was doing a lot of her classes for senior year at the community college instead.

"What do you hate about high school?" I asked, "I don't like it either very much, so I understand."

"It just feels like there is so much more to life than sitting in classrooms for 8 hours a day learning about things I don't care about." Max said, "The people are mean too. If you don't fit in with how they are, they bully you into oblivion."

My heart hurt at that moment for Max. "Have you been bullied?" I asked her.

"Of course I have. My whole life I've been bullied. For multiple reasons- growing up without much money, being quiet, being bullied for my looks, the way I dress, for not being straight." Max said.

Not being straight?

"I'm so sorry, Max." I looked at her, speaking sincerely, "You didn't deserve any of that. Do you still get bullied for any of it?"

"Not as much since people have grown up a bit- some of us are literal adults now. But I still get the homophobic comment every now and then." Max said.

Her saying that gave me chills.

That could have been me if I were out.

"Are you a lesbian?" I asked Max, looking at her.

"I prefer the term queer. But yes, I pretty much only like women." Max looked back at me. "Is that...are you weirded out?"

"Weirded out? Of course not...I-"

I then stopped in my tracks.

I almost just said, "I'm a lesbian."

But I couldn't come out, not here. Not in front of all these people.

"You what?" Max asked me.

"I can't talk about it here." I mumbled.

"Oh. Okay." Max said, sounding confused, "Do you want to go to my car and talk?"

"Sure." I nodded, and we both got up. No one seemed to notice us leaving. We walked out of the backyard, and Max led me over to her car, which was silver and had chipped paint. It looked like an older car.

She leaned against the passenger side door, and I leaned next to her, against her car. We were out of view of the party.

"This is Sid. My car." Max said, "He literally is about to break down any second, but he's what I can afford right now."

"I like that name." I chuckled.

"Thanks." Max said, "Now...what did you want to tell me? I think I can guess."

I looked at Max, "What are you thinking?"

"Correct me if I am wrong, but I think you like girls too. And you're not out yet." Max said, her eyes on me.

"You're right." I nodded, "I'm a lesbian. And you're the fourth person that knows."

Surprisingly, Max put her hand on mine, lightly.

"Thanks for trusting me with this, Bella. I won't tell anyone." Max said. Her eyes were still on me as she spoke.

Dammit, I want to kiss you. But I have no idea how to initiate this.

"I appreciate it." I said to Max.

Max nodded, and opened her mouth like she was going to say something. But then she stopped.

"You looked like you wanted to say something." I said to Max.

"I did. But I decided against it." Max said, looking down. Her hand was still on mine.

"Hey, I told you my secret. You can tell me what's on your mind."

Max looked up at me and sighed. "Okay. But please don't make me feel stupid if you don't feel the same. I've had this...dumb crush on you. And I thought you could never feel the same about me. One day I thought I saw you looking at me, like looking looking at me. Now I have this confirmation that you do like girls and...I don't know. I'm sorry, I'm just rambling. I guess I'm trying to tell you that I like you, Bella. And maybe if I'm lucky, you feel the same."

I felt my heart skip a beat as Max spoke to me.

This is what I've been waiting for.

"Well, I guess you're in luck." I said to Max, and her face broke out into a genuine smile.

The cutest smile I had ever seen.

"I've had a crush on you for a while." I said to Max, "I didn't know if you liked girls either. I thought maybe you did...I think I'm the lucky one."

Max laughed and said, "Have you seen yourself? I am."

"You're beautiful, Max." I said, and Max smiled at me again.

"What do we do from here?" Max asked me. "I'd really like to get to know you better."

"Then we get to know each other better. Hangout outside of work." I said.

"I like the sound of that." Max nodded, "I just realized...I don't even have your number. I'd love to text outside of work."

I reached for my phone out of my pocket, and then saw the time. It was 11 PM.

"Oh, fuck. I have to leave in a couple of minutes to beat curfew." I said to Max, and handed her phone. "Put your number in, I'll text you."

Max did so, quickly, and handed me back my phone.

"Can I walk you to your car?" she asked me.

"Sure." I said. My car was parked a little ways down.

And Max held on to my hand as we walked to my Ford.

When we reached my car, she said, "Text me when you get back to your house, let me know you got home safe."

Gabby never told me to text her when I got home safe.

"I will." I nodded, opening up my door, "I promise."

"Um, wait. Before you go."

Max pulled me in for a hug. I wrapped my arms around her as well, and we stood there for a moment, embracing.

When we pulled apart, I saw her looking at my lips. And I was thinking the same thing-

I want to kiss you, Max.

Max started to lean in- and I followed.

Our lips met- her lips were soft, and delicate. She put one hand on my hip and put me in slightly closer as she kissed me.

I couldn't help but think- how every moment of confusion, anger, frustration, and self loathing was worth it- so I could feel how I felt kissing Max.

It was all worth it, for this moment.