Max hardly had to wait ten minutes before Mindy pulled into his driveway at no less than twenty miles an hour. More than once Max had thought they’d crash into his garage door, but they, incredibly and surprisingly, had a clean crash record. 

Mindy threw open Max’s front door, never one for a quiet entrance. Max had barely started walking down the stairs to the foyer before Mindy was bounding up them, already yelling, “Holy shit, what are you going to where?! Please tell me it isn’t that,” They scoffed, inclining towards Max’s current outfit, a sweater that was too big, and worn out skinny jeans that still managed to be baggy on him. 

“I wasn’t!” Max protested, following Mindy as they immediately darted into Max’s room, going straight to rummage in his closet. 

Mindy made a humming noise in acknowledgment, before yanking their head out of Max’s closet, disappointment written across it. “Why do you have literally no variation?” They asked incredulously. 

“I don’t need variation,” Max mumbled, raising his voice to mock Mindy on the last word. Mindy didn’t notice, busy as they were mumbling to themselves. 

“Well, nothing I have will fit you, so we’ll have to go buy something,” They proclaimed, entirely satisfied with this conclusion. 

Max blanched. “I… do not want to.” 

“Let me take you shopping, pleeeease,” Mindy begged, already tugging Max towards the stairs. “If you wanna get dressed up, then dammit let’s go get you dressed up! It’ll be fun, I promise!” 

Max couldn’t help the smile on his face, and even though his instincts were telling him to cancel going to the party altogether, he urged himself to live a little. Plus, Mindy was already opening his front door and flying through, and Max got a mouthful of their bleached blond curls, which wasn’t surprising since their hair reached their waist, causing natural tight curls to be always waving a foot behind them. 

“Fine! Not that you would take another answer anyways,” Max added, mumbling. “But where are we going to even go?” He asked, pulling himself up into Mindy’s truck. 

“Don’t you worry, I already have a place in mind.” Mindy cast a sly glance at Max as they roared out of the driveway. “I know exactly what you should wear.” 

Max couldn’t get anything more out of Mindy, so he finally settled back into his seat, stealing the aux cord and propping his knees on the dashboard. He tried to shove his worries to the back of his mind, listening intently to the stories Mindy told as they drove. 

In fact, he was so preoccupied in trying not to think that he didn’t even realize where they were going until Mindy put the truck in park, jumping out of the driver’s seat. 

“Wait, what are we doing here?” Max asked, a hint of panic in his voice. 

Mindy rolled their eyes, already having been expecting this reaction. “Trust me,” A gleam entered their eyes. “I have a plan.” 

~~~

“No way.” Max stuck his head out of the dressing room, his eyes wide. “No way I’m wearing this, Mindy.”

Mindy jumped out of their chair, clapping their hands excitedly. “Lemme see, lemme see!” 

Max edged out of the dressing room, his face bright red and his arms wrapped around his middle. 

“Maaaax!” Mindy’s voice got at least two pitches higher as they squealed Max’s name, then rushed to him, spinning him around to see their work. 

Their “work” was rather well done- Max had never worn a crop top before, and he never wore tight, high-waisted jean shorts either, but that didn’t change the fact that they looked good on him. 

“You look hot,” Mindy said, entirely satisfied with the product. And they weren’t wrong, either. Max was certainly embarrassed with the amount of skin showing- the strip between the crop top and the hem of his shorts, both of his arms, and the absolute miles of leg that was exposed- but he definitely pulled it off. 

Max rubbed his arms, feeling starkly naked in the store. “Are you sure? I feel like I look ridiculous.”

“Darling, you look hot enough to want to make me rethink the whole ‘only being attracted to girls’ thing,” Mindy laughed, then gently pushed Max back towards the dressing room. 

“Go change so we can buy it!” They yelled, eyeing the discarded clothes around them. The outfit was almost perfect, but something was missing… 

It was only when Max left the dressing room, holding the clothes in his sweater-clad arms did Mindy realize what that something was. 

“Wear one of Ash’s flannels with this, completely unbuttoned,” Mindy told Max excitedly, and Max’s face went even redder, if that was possible. 

“Isn’t that a little too bold?” Max nervously asked as Mindy thrust out their credit card to the cashier before Max could grab his. 

“Of course it isn’t, trust me.” Mindy grabbed the bag and thanked the cashier as they tugged Max out of the store (a store Max would have never entered on his own). 

By the time Mindy dropped Max back off at his house, it was nearing 6:30. He immediately got dressed, then wasted a good ten minutes debating which flannel to wear, getting increasingly nervous by the second. After that, he wasted another ten minutes pacing in front of the mirror, chewing his lip as he debated actually wearing the outfit. Everyone would stare at him, and he really didn’t want that. Would someone laugh at him for trying to look cool- or, no, not even cool. For trying to look hot. This was totally overkill, he told himself, at the very least he should put on some different pants… 

Max glanced at his bedside clock as he walked to the closet, then panicked once he saw it was almost fifteen minutes past seven. How the hell had that happened?!

Max shoved on a pair of vans then grabbed his phone, shoving it into the back pocket of the way-too-tight shorts as he rushed downstairs, too caught up in the fear of being late to think about changing. He booked it to Ash’s place, even though he really wasn’t even all that late. He drew the sides of the flannel around him almost automatically, slowing as he got close to the house, which had muffled music thumping from it, as well as tons of people spilling from the front door out onto the lawn. 

No one noticed Max as he ducked his head, speedwalking across the sidewalk. After all, no one was expecting to see Max there, much less in the clothes he was wearing, so he actually managed to make it to the kitchen before someone noticed him. 

Max was looking for Ash but found Mindy instead, who was downing a cup of… something. They grabbed him excitedly as soon as they saw him, throwing an arm around Max’s neck as they pushed a cup into his hands. 

“Have some liquid courage!” They yelled over the music, and Max was eager for anything that might dull his nerves, so he took the cup, grimacing as he drank it way too fast. “Don’t have any more than that, though!” Mindy yelled, pointing Max towards the living room. “I’m pretty sure Ash is in there!” 

Max thanked them, but their yelling had grabbed some people’s attention and everyone was suddenly trying to talk to him at once, all of them struck dumb by Max’s appearance, not only to the party itself, but outwardly as well. 

Someone pushed another cup into his hand, people surrounding him, and he lost sight of Mindy in the blink of an eye. While there were mostly good intentions, that didn’t change the fact that there was a barrage of voices charging at Max, mixed in with music that was mostly just a beat thumping through his skull. Max swung his head ahead, the panic of being overwhelmed flooding his system. He acted without thinking, automatically shoving himself straight through the crowd as he stepped on people’s feet, as kids bumped into him, as he avoided a spilled drink. He made it through the living room, then jetted straight out of the back door, one goal stark clear in his mind- to get away. This wasn’t exactly something he was used to, and it didn’t help that Ash’s parties were infamous, and there were tons of people at his house. 

Max slowed slightly when he realized there weren't nearly as many people outside, but only stopped once he reached the far side of the house, completely void of the crowd that was spilling from the doors, lingering in the light that came from the house. He gulped down the night air, his frantic heartbeat slowing down gradually. 

Max flopped down onto the grass, leaning against the outside of the house and sighing. He noticed offhandedly that he was still holding a cup, and out of reflexes more than anything, he lifted it to his lips and took a gulp of something that burned on its way down. Max coughed, wrinkling his nose, listening to his thoughts, which were growing louder and louder. 

He had lasted five minutes at the party before he ran away. And now look at him. Hiding outside, in his stupid shorts and his stupid shirt. He felt the distinct welling of tears in his eyes, and he drew his knees up to his chest, taking another sip of the drink, just to have something to do with his hands. He hadn’t even seen Ash, and he was too afraid to go back in and try to find him. Max sighed, hanging his head down after another swallow of whatever trashy alcohol was in his cup, hopelessness weighing down his bones. 

This was a stupid idea anyways. He would have just made a fool of himself. He should get up and leave right now because there was no way Ash would like him back and no stupid outfit was going to change that- 

“Hey, kid, you alright?”