Chapter Text
It's March and the wind blew unbidden through the parking lot. A few students stand there, chatting among themselves and waiting for the first bell to ring. Leaning against the wall, right next to the steps, Max's green eyes followed the old rusty truck that just arrived. The sound it gave off bordered on the sound of a dying animal and the redhead grimaced.
There she is, Bella fucking Swan steps out of that scrap of a car. Max inconspicuously watched the brunette fiddle with a piece of paper. Probably trying to read off the classes for today.
Oh no, here it comes. Eric's rambled greeting. "You're Isabella Swan, the new girl. Hi, I'm Eric the eyes and ears of this place. Anything you need?"
Max rolls her eyes and zooned out. How boring the first movie was. Everyone fawning over the new girl, who had zero to no personality. Something Stephanie Meyer did on purpose to let everyone project on her probably.
The redhead waited three whole months for this day to happen. Three fucking months of a rollercoaster of emotions and no clue how to get out of this fucked up situation.
She just wanted to do something nice. Buy Sheryl a present for her birthday and then this shit happend. What a fucking way to end her day that fateful night.
xxXxx
Max exited her car and walked to the front porch of a shabby trailer that tried to come off as a home. She held her phone in hand, double checking the address. Or whatever location this dude gave her.
A dog barking and the rattling of a chain while the animal ran at her, made her jump back. The chain strained against the dogs pull, as it snarled and growled at the redhead. Jesus, talk about a heart attack, now she definitely was wide awake.
"Brutus! Bad dog! Sit!" A middle-aged man in a sullied muscle shirt stepped out of the trailer. The dog surprisingly did as he commanded and the offending barking stopped.
"Ah, you must be that girl who asked for the twilight movie box set." The man's gruff voice said and Max slowly nodded her head, heart still racing.
Was this a bad idea? She wanted to make her roommate happy, by getting her a special set edition of her favorite movies. Yesterday she googled and mindlessly clicked on an advertisement on eBay, claiming to have a limited edition of the twilight movies.
So, here Max was at the other side of the city on her way to either get murdered by that dude or come home with the best birthday present ever for a die hard twilight fan. She just had to find out which one it was.
"Yeah, that's me." Max said with a small voice, eyeing the rabid dog sitting well-behaved on its haunches.
"Good good, come on in!" He turned around and stepped into his poor excuse of a home. Max still stood where she was, looking conflicted. The chain was short enough so the dog couldn't reach her where she stood. If she took a step forward however, that dog could maul her.
"Don't worry, Brutus is a good boy." Still Max stood rooted and a thousand images of what could possibly happen if that dog got a hold of her, popped up in her mind. "So I take it you don't want it after all?"
"No, I do!" The redhead cleared her throat after her outburst and then repeated a lot calmer. "I do."
She made a hesitant step forward all while keeping a close watch on Brutus. The dog just sat there with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. It was as if he was smiling at her, he looked friendly enough in this moment so Max took another step then another until she reached the door of the trailer.
If the exterior of the trailer looked shabby, the interior looked like a car crash. There was no way to tell up from down as everything was stuffed full with objects and trinkets.
"Twilight...twilight...ah!" The man rummaged through his stuff and pulled out a black box. There was only the word 'TWILIGHT' written on it with a weird yellow fond.
"Wait, these aren't DVDs?" Max frowned as she watched this odd looking box. It was way too thick to hold any DVDs in them and the package was weird. She had seen other box sets and every single one had at least the main characters posing on them.
"Hm? Oh no, these are VHS tapes." Saying without missing a beat, this dude didn't even register the weirded out expression the girl gave him.
"I don't even have anything to play them on."
"You Gen-Z kids are a whiny little bunch." The man sighed and Max was slightly offended. "Here, I'll give you a recorder on top for 20 bucks extra."
"Are you kidding me?" The nineteen year old asked incredulously and the man just shrugged. What a fucking asshole, but Max was desperate as Sheryl's birthday was tomorrow and she really needed this.
Her friend was a die hard twilight fan, but only streamed the movies and always wanted some physical copies for herself. There was no way out now, Max reached into her jeans and produced her wallet, pulling out 50 dollars.
The man grabbed the money and handed her the box and the VHS recorder. "It should still work."
"It better. If not, I want my money back." Max said holding the box set under one arm, while examining the old dusty device critically.
"This, my young friend, is the good old technology from the good old days. Netflix and chill cannot keep up with this baby, trust me."
Max huffed at that and quickly made her way out and to her car, dumping the two clunky things on the passenger seat and drove home.
Once inside the apartment, she placed the recorder in front of the TV and opened the box, pulling the first tape out. On the black rectangle was written 'Twilight' with an edding. And not even well, as if that person sneezed while scribbling mid writing.
Suddenly Max remembered that their TV was not even compatible with this shitty recorder from the stone-ages. She needed to buy an adapter to make it compatible, but it was late in the evening and she didn't had time to do that right now. She would buy one tomorrow morning.
"Fuck." The girl sighed and packed everything up again, grabbing her keys and driving with her car to her grandmother's house. There has to be still an old tube television, hell her whole house was stuck in the 80s. Armed with the recorder and the box set, Max rang the bell.
"Maddox dear, how nice of you to visit me." The old woman greeted her with a genuine smile. Her skin crinkled around her eyes and mouth.
"Hey Nana, sorry for bothering you this late."
"Nonsense, dear. Come in, come in." Her Nana ushered her inside and closed the door behind her. "You look so skinny, I'll make you something to eat."
"No, Nana I already-" but the old woman was already on her way to the kitchen and Max sighed in defeat.
After the quick meal, the redhead excused herself and went up the stairs and to her mother's old room. The silver tube television was just opposite of the bed and Max went to work. She plugged the recorder in, which took her several attempts, because she had never done this before. After everything was set, she fished the first movie out and pushed it inside the recorder's slot.
A black screen greeted her and Max frowned, then gently hit the recorder. Suddenly the openings greeted her and Max smiled. Violence was a solution it seemed. "Sheryl, you'll fucking love this."
Up until the summit logo everything was normal, but when Bella's voice started and the screen suddenly went blurry. A weird maelstrom pulled the redhead forward and Max hold onto the TVs frame for dear life. She could do nothing however as the pull got stronger and stronger and fully took her.
xxXxx
That was three months ago and ever since Max tried to find a way back home. She tried everything. Standing in front of a TV in an electrical shop, trying to get pulled into it. The customers and staff looked at her as if she was a lunatic, broken free from an asylum. Then she tried to scream her anger into the world, but that didn't help either.
Her last attempt was a rather unorthodox way of thinking. She took a deep breath of the crisp night air and looked at the country road, waiting for a truck to hit her. When one finally arrived, she didn't waist any more time. Running with her eyes screwed shut, she felt immense pain shooting through her as the red truck hit her with full force. The collision made her fly several feet and off the street, beyond the treeline.
Max vision became black and she woke up again on the same spot, she wanted to get hit. Cursing under her breath and looking down to see she was fine. No wounds, no broken bones, no nothing. A red truck passed by her and she blinked in bewilderment. Did she just jump back to the time before getting hit? There was no way out of this, huh?
"FUCK!" The redhead screamed at the bypassing truck and went to her knees crying.
So now she's stuck here in her most hated movie franchise of all time with no way out. Max tried to think of anything that would get her home. Maybe she had to participate in the plot? See it through and try to damage it as little as possible. Then maybe she can go home again. Or this was just a bad dream and she will wake up again inside her mom's old room.
She'd read about these phenoma on reddit. People would describe to have shifted into another universe, new or media related. There they would live whole ass lives, marrying and having children before one day waking up again and having difficulties navigating their old lives again.
Was this something similar? Did she really experienced this shifting thing? Max couldn't think of any other explanation, so she just ran with it. Or this dude just sold her a cursed jumanji recorder to fuck with her and she had to win this fucked up game to get out of here.
Whatever it was, she didn't had any other choice but to roll with it. So now finally Bella arrived and the events of the whole fucking series officially kicked off.
You see, Max knows what'll happen in every fucking movie. Her roommate Sheryl made sure of it with her neverending talks about the franchise and how romantic Edward was. Urgh, even the memory made her gag. There was nothing romantic about a creepy stalker, who pursuited a relationship with Bella then dropped her like a hot potato the moment he deemed it necessary to save her poor soul. What a fucking hypocrite.
However the movies were not all that bad, Max wouldn't let anyone catch her dead admitting that. No, the plot was dumb as hell, but the women? Damn Max was weak as fuck for them. She would do anything they asked of her. Rosalie the bitchy ice queen and her cold princess personality made her weak in the knees. Even Alice, who sided with Dickward all the time could get it. But Max would answer, without thinking even for a second, that the Denali sisters were her favorite.
These three blondes were by far the most beautiful women in the twilight series. Striking golden eyes that complimented their hair and everyone was so unique in their own way. Tanya, the coven leader who took charge. Kate, the warrior who was loyal to the bone and Irina, the naive romantic who deserved better.
Max couldn't wait to meet them at the wedding. Just to drool over them like all the other humans. Breathing the same air as them - although they didn't need to breathe - would be enough to make her miserable situation less miserable.
And then there was of course Leah. The only female shifter in the Quileute's history. She was gorgeous and her physique was to die for. Max wouldn't mind getting to know her and befriend the she-wolf. Her personality had layers and the redhead couldn't wait to dismantle them.
Half the day was already over and Max didn't share any classes with Bella. She made preparations however, to befriend her future friend group. Mike, Eric, Angela and Jessica. Sitting with them at the table and mindlessly poking around this poor excuse of a meal with her fork.
The cafeteria was buzzing with hormonal driven teenagers and Max wanted to cry. Living the events of twilight was one thing, but reliving her high-school years? Fuck this shit. She was nineteen years old and just finished, taking a year for herself to work and safe money for when she goes to college next year.
High-school was a fucking nightmare and Max couldn't think of a sane explanation why the Cullens always participated in it time and time again. And willingly too, mind you. Wasn't it better for them to move into a big city, rent an apartment there and just live their immortal lives in peace? Nobody in the big city gave a single fuck for their neighbor next door.
No, instead they had to live in little towns like Forks and go to high-school like the lunatics they are. And to let Jasper roam free in a building full of kids, who could potentially cut themselves and kick off his hunger? This was fucking insane and irresponsible of them. Totally dumb, but whatever Stephanie Meyer deemed necessary for her big romance plot to kick in, Max guessed.
Mike hold the seat for Bella like a gentleman - he definitely wasn't - and helped her sit down.
"Hey Mikey, you've met my homegirl Bella?" Eric's over excited voice gave Max a headache. Oh no, here comes the fawning over Bella like she was the crown of creation.
"Oh, your homegirl?" Mike said in disbelieve and Jessica already gave off a jealous vibe.
"My homegirl." Another student came over and gave Bella a quick peck on the cheek, then ran away again, but not before pulling Mike's chair from under him. Then the blonde boy chased him around the cafeteria.
"Oh my God. It's like first grade all over again. You're like the shiny new toy." Jessica said with a fake smile, jealousy pouring out of every single pore.
A sudden flash made even Max blind for a second as Angela shot a picture of Bella. The girl was seemingly uncomfortable and Max took pity on her.
"Hey Angela, why don't you aks first before jumping Bella like that?" She said softly but firmly and Bella looked at her with astonishment.
"Sorry, I needed a shot for the new feature." The glasses wearing girl said sheepishly.
"Feature is dead Angela, don't bring it up again." Eric stood up and patted Bella's shoulder. "Don't worry baby, I've got your back." Then he left too, leaving only the three girls at the table.
Oh god kill Max now, she fucking wanted to be taken out by a sniper. The 2000s were so cringy and nobody heard of personal space or permission before touching. Gross.
Bella's focus suddenly shifted to the people entering the cafeteria. "Who are they?"
Ah yes, the infamous scene of the Cullens walking like gods among peasants. Like models on the runway with their perfect hair and stylish clothes - for the 2000s mind you - looking absolutely stunning.
"The Cullens." Angela said with a smile.
"They're doctor Cullens and Mrs. Cullens foster kids. They moved down here from Alaska." Angela filled the brunette in and Max zooned out again. Remembering how she first met the Cullens and how much anxiety she had while doing so.
After she landed in the twilight universe, she was roaming the streets for a day and searching for a place to crash. Thinking the school was a good enough place, she went for it. Max knew how to pick locks, her older brother taught her how to, among other things - bless his bad influential heart. While she was at it, she slunk into the principal's office and hacked the school system. The 2000s seemingly didn't hear of cyber security and it was child's play planting a school file for herself under her real name 'Maddox Grayson' into the system.
The night was long and the redhead fucked around a little longer, roaming the deep web and taking stolen credit card numbers to buy herself necessary things the next day. She was on her own and needed to survive, it wasn't what she normally did but the situation demanded it. Call her a bad person all you want, Max was in the right, after landing in another universe without any help or clue how to navigate things. So, for the last three months she slept in the school and lived off of stolen money. What a great way of wasting her hacker skills.
That night she slept inside the gym on the sport mats. The redhead didn't even hear the bell nor the students pouring into the school. Then she woke up to a frowning Edward. Talk about a jump scare. He looked like he was so deep in concentration as if he was constipated. That was how Max found out that he couldn't read her mind. However that worked, the redhead didn't want to question the logic behind it.
Maybe her brain was on another frequency, because she was from another universe? Who knows? Max was just glad Edward the nosy intruder couldn't look into her head, but it got her into another rather uncomfortable position. Edward tried to pursuit her, thinking she was intriguing and mysterious. No matter how many times Max made it clear that she didn't want anything to do with him, he always stared at her from afar. Max wanted to hit her head against the table repeatedly to get rid off that disgusting image of longing in his eyes.
"The blonde girl, that's Rosalie and the big dark haired guy's Emmett, they're like a thing. I'm not even sure that's legal." Jessica said, thinking they couldn't hear her, but Max knew better.
She tried to keep herself busy by moving her food around with her fork and watched Rosalie from her peripheral. Oh yup, the blonde was fucking hot and Max hid a smile under a bitten lip. Her precarious situation did had its pleasures after all.
"Jess, they're not actually related." Angela piped up.
"Yeah but they live together it's weird." The girl shrugged in defence. When the seer and the rabid confederate walked in, Jessica continued. "Ok, the little dark haired is Alice. She's really weird."
Max's gaze locked with the pixie's for a split second, she could see the same curiosity in her eyes Edward had. The redhead must be a blindspot for her and that must be fucking agitating for someone who could see people's futures.
"She's with the dark blonde, Jasper, who looks like he's in pain." Max huffed a laugh out of her nose at Jessica's blunt comment. That girl was a bitch for talking about people behind their backs, but Max could give her this little win.
"Who's he?" Bella's frowning gaze watched as Edward Cullen came into the cafeteria and Max wanted to roll her eyes, but shoved a little bit of the school lunch gruel into her mouth.
"That's Edward Cullen. He's totally gorgeous, obviously." Jessica scoffed as if it was self-explanatory. "But apparently nobody is good enough for him, except Max." The girl finished and eyed the redhead with a hint of a sneer.
Bella's mood seemed to dim at that comment and Max shook her head while trying to swallow. The green eyed girl directly spoke to Bella. "No, that's not true, believe me."
That must have lifted her mood a little, because Bella turned her head over her shoulder to watch Edward joining his family at the table. And just like Max, the mind reader got nothing from her and that made him frown.
What where the odds? Two random girls in the same town, in the same school and in the same fucking time period, that were immune to his vampire gift. That must be the biggest fucking mystery for Edward's old crusty ass.
Hopefully he would stop pursuing her and go for Bella, like in the movies. Max only hoped that was the case, but oh boy how wrong she was.