10-8-2013
I've still not been having much luck with the console unit. It's getting me frustrated, I built the thing yet I can't figure out how it's not working. The only thing I can think of that I've yet to check over is the chronometric calculator board, and that could take days to get around. To think… I thought I'd be happy coming back to Arcadia. I am happy to be back, back in my childhood, in a class with a world-famous photographer, yet… the machine worries me. I worked so hard on it for almost two years, ever since I started seeing time differently.
I still need to get back to Chloe. I should have messaged her sooner, it was five years too long to speak to her again, we've only messaged a bit, back and forth. I have a feeling I'm gonna see her soon though. Tonight, actually.
I tend to avoid large crowds but tonight, I'm making an exception. Tonight, the school is throwing a party.
Loud music thumped through the floor, the beat resonating throughout the school. A Quickly repeating pulse, Max almost felt it was as if the school had a heartbeat. She had tried to get in with the crowd, mix with people, maybe even dance a little, anything to step out of her comfort zone.
Thus far, it hadn't worked.
"Max, what's up?" Max looked up from her folded arms, leant back against the wall to the side of the hall. Speaking loud over the music had been Dana, who stood a little to her left side with beer in hand. "Couldn't help but notice you a little bit down. You okay?"
"Y-yeah, thanks… I just don't get on well with large crowds." Max answered, Dana looking around for a moment before extending out her hand, offering Max the disposable cup. "I usually keep to juices or tea."
"Try everything once, Max." Dana responded. Max thought on it for a moment before she took the cup. "Now hey, don't go cra…" She tried to warn Max, who having never tasted alcohol before was unprepared for the fact that when she took a larger gulp as though it were juice, her mouth was flooded with a taste that was comparable to metal and left a tingling sensation once it passed like the weakest of burns.
"Shit!" Max's hand covered her mouth, stopping herself from spitting the beer out long enough for her to manage swallowing it. "I'll pass on any more." She handed the cup back to Dana, who patted her back a few times as Max let out several quick coughs.
"Still got baby tongue?"
Max looked up once the coughing passed, recognising that voice as though she'd only heard it yesterday.
"Not quite my kind of dive, but… hell, you're here."
Max turned to her right with the greatest of smiles. "Chloe!" Chloe staggered back a bit, taken by surprise when Max practically jumped at her and held her arms around her.
"Jeez, chill out girl, you're acting like I died or something." Chloe responded with her arms halfway to returning the hug. Max let go a moment afterwards, only now even looking at Chloe properly enough to see her blue hair and right arm tattoo, changes done since the last time they'd met.
"Sorry, but… damn, I missed you." Max looked up at her, as had always been the case she was about a half foot shorter than Chloe was. Dana decided to leave them to it as they got into conversation. "How have you been?"
"Up and down, here and there and everywhere in between. Not having you around was… tough." Chloe answered, Max returning to being leant against the wall beside her.
"I tried to keep in touch as best as I could."
"I doubt that."
"What do you mean by that?" Max looked up at her again, Chloe's gaze still across the dancing and moving crowds.
"You texted me for about a year, then there was a whole three year gap and then out of the blue six months ago, 'hey I'm coming back to Arcadia!'." Max looked down towards the ground, when hearing it put that way even she had to admit she'd done a pisspoor effort. "But… you do know timing. Your text that day came right when I needed you most… I had a friend who disappeared."
"Disappeared six months ago… Rachel Amber?" Max asked, having seen the missing posters around.
"She was a very good friend, one of the best… Then she vanished. It had been two weeks, I was already well towards a complete freak out when suddenly… there your name was on my phone one morning." Chloe looked around, quick to brush off the emotions getting to her. "Shall we go for a stroll? Somewhere I can actually even hear myself think."
"Yeah… good idea." Max nodded, the two heading for the door. That was until a few meters ahead of it, their path was blocked off by none other than Victoria Chase.
"Oh look, now there's a surprise. Max bought new clothes, how much did the dress cost sweetie? Ten dollars?" Victoria said in her usual 'I'm superior' tone, followed by the laughter of her groupies a few steps behind. Max looked down at her dress, a short sleeved dark green one that ended at knee length with a pleated skirt, whole Chloe simply stood with her arms folded, eyes locked into a stare at Victoria. "While I thank you for admiring my appearance so much, I'm not into girls… or junkies."
"I'm waiting for the right moment, for you to say the right words so that it'll be hilarious when I cut you off midway through by busting your jaw open." Chloe responded in a stern tone. Victoria acted unphased, but Max still saw her take a step back.
"You wouldn't have the guts to, bitch."
"Sorry what? Call me that again."
"I can do better than that… I can smell that stinking weed coming off you, fuckin' druggie. Or is it Max I can smell?"
"Insult me or her one more time!" Chloe stepped forward, barely a foot left between her and Victoria. "Nothing?... thought so." She stepped down and turned back to Max…
"Get her to take a selfie of the two of you on that old polaroid, it's a lot more physical than only imagining you're fucking each other."
Chloe turned around slowly, her eyes locking on to Victoria again… then she looked behind her. "Mr Jefferson, hey there!" The moment Victoria turned around, she only had a split second to see that there was no Mark Jefferson there before she felt a hand grip the back of her neck. "I lied." Chloe growled before she threw her arm forward, smashing Victoria's face against the doorframe.
"Chloe, stop!" Max grabbed Chloe's other arm and pulled her back, Chloe letting go of Victoria who collapsed to the ground cradling her hands over her bleeding mouth and nose, letting out a screech so high pitched Max thought for a moment it would shatter the windows.
"Let's go." Chloe said before she and Max quickly left the party, leaving Victoria to be helped by her groupies.
"You really busted her up… that was a bit cool." Max spoke once she'd jogged a little to catch up with Chloe as the two walked through the school hallways.
"Yeah, guess it was. One thing though, seriously what is with the dress?" The two stopped as Chloe looked at Max's clothing.
"I guess I wanted to make a good effort to socialise rather than being the lonely freak in the corner." Max answered, Chloe huffing a small laugh under her breath.
"Didn't do much different though." Max's eyes moved to the floor behind Chloe, until she stepped closer to her. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be social, Max. But don't change yourself for them. If people are worth having, they'll take you as you really are."
"You being philosophical confuses me, Chloe."
Chloe shrugged her shoulders. "Not like you were gonna do it. Come on now, my truck is in the parking lot. We can hop down to the beach."
Time passed, they drove in Chloe's rusty old truck for a couple minutes and pulled up on the beachfront. For a moment while getting out of the truck, Max felt something. Was she nervous? Afraid? She wasn't sure, it was somewhere in the middle. But she'd only felt this once before.
The day Chloe's father died.
"You spacing out there? Return to earth, spacecraft Maxine." Chloe said as she stepped around the truck, stood in front of it for a moment before climbing up and sitting on the hood.
"I just… forgot how beautiful Arcadia bay could be." Max answered as she stepped up with her shoe on top of the front wheel, straightening out the skirt of the dress as she shifted over next to Chloe, legs hanging in front of the grille.
"It does have its moments and places. I know I've gone hardcore punk slash rockstar but don't think I forgot how to see beauty." Chloe replied, Max's gaze moving away from the sunset glowing orange over the ocean and to Chloe for a moment.
"I never did for one moment."
"You're still Max Caulfield, that's for sure." Chloe smiled, as for the briefest of moments she could swear she felt like the two were kids again. "Why did you take three years without talking to me, Max?"
"I… I could say it was because of school but… honestly-"
"Please, honestly. I need to know."
"...Something else started soaking up all my time. A… project. You weren't the only thing I lost touch with, I was...a bit too obsessed with it."
Chloe restrained her responding feelings for a moment and looked over at her. "What was the project?"
"You wouldn't believe me." Max stayed looking at the sun for a few seconds, looking at Chloe after those seconds were silent. "A… a time travel engine."
"Seriously?"
"Completely cereal."
"Max…" Chloe quickly slid off the hood, walking a few paces ahead. Her arms crossed and Max knew she didn't believe it, even more so it pissed her off. She turned around. "You cut contact with me to work on a childish fucking dream you at fourteen should have known wasn't real!"
"Chloe, I'm sorry-"
"That won't cut it Max, that won't ever cut it!" Chloe shouted, Max stepping back a bit in fright. "You of all people should know that time travel is the shit of sci-fi and fantasy, there's no captain Kirk slingshotting around a star, there's no Doctor Who flying through a time vortex-"
"It worked, Chloe!" Max shouted in response. Chloe went silent, staring at her. "No, it's not like a Tardis or a space ship, it doesn't hop back to the eighteen-o-four or ahead to the twenty-fifth century but it works, I've backtracked several hours and I've skipped an entire day before."
"No, now you're definitely bullshitting me."
"I'll prove it, Chloe. I wouldn't lie to you. Let's get in the truck and head back to Blackwell, the machine is in my dorm room."
Chloe turned around and looked at Max for a moment, thinking it over. Every part of her logical mind was yelling at her that it wasn't possible… but she wanted to believe her friend. Because if there was one thing she remembered about Max, it was that her words were true and she wouldn't lie to her. "Fine… let's see this 'time machine' then."
The two got in the truck and Chloe turned them around on the sand… then, when the school was ahead of them, they heard a deep, loud bang, sending a shockwave beating through their chests. Then the smoke began to rise from the school, the entire main building.
Then…
Loud music thumped through the floor, the beat resonating throughout the school. A Quickly repeating pulse, Max almost felt it was as if the school had a heartbeat. She had tried to get in with the crowd, mix with people, maybe even dance a little, anything to step out of her comfort zone.
"Max, what's up?" Max looked up from her folded arms, leant back against the wall to the side of the hall. Speaking loud over the music had been Dana, who stood a little to her left side with beer in hand. "Couldn't help but notice you a little bit down. You okay?"
"Y-yeah, thanks… I just don't get on well with large crowds." Max answered, Dana looking around for a moment before extending out her hand, offering Max the disposable cup. "I usually keep to juices or tea." She answered, while looking up and noticing Victoria across the hall along with a student Max didn't recognise.
"Try everything once, Max." Dana responded. Max thought on it for a moment before she took the cup. "Now hey, don't go cra…" She tried to warn Max, who having never tasted alcohol before was unprepared for the fact that when she took a larger gulp as though it were juice, her mouth was flooded with a taste that was comparable to metal and left a tingling sensation once it passed like the weakest of burns.
"Shit!" Max's hand covered her mouth, stopping herself from spitting the beer out long enough for her to manage swallowing it. "I'll pass on any more." She handed the cup back to Dana, who patted her back a few times as Max let out several quick coughs.
"Still got baby tongue?"
Max looked up once the coughing passed, recognising that voice as though she'd only heard it yesterday.
"Not quite my kind of dive, but… hell, you're here."
Max turned to her right with the greatest of smiles. "Chloe!" Chloe staggered back a bit, taken by surprise when Max practically jumped at her and held her arms around her.
Chloe looked around, quick to brush off the emotions getting to her. "Shall we go for a stroll? Somewhere I can actually even hear myself think."
"Yeah… good idea." Max nodded, the two heading for the door and out to the hallways.
"I don't seem to remember you being a very dressy kind of girl… it's nice though." Chloe spoke after a few seconds of walking down the hallway, locker banks on either side and years of old chewing gum so pressed into the floor it was almost as though it were part of the concrete tiling itself.
"I guess I wanted to make an effort to socialise."
Chloe stopped, Max quickly after. "Don't change yourself for other people, Max. Let them like you as you are."
"You being philosophical confuses me, Chloe."
Chloe shrugged her shoulders. "Not like you were gonna do it. Come on now, my truck is in the parking lot. We can hop down to the beach."
The two continued out of the front doors and past the swimming pool, down to the parking lot.
"Very… um…"
"It's not pretty, just say it and get in." Chloe finished for her, before turning the ignition. Nothing. "Come on, engine, I just fixed you!" She got back out and headed around to the front, raising open the hood to look inside. "Some fuckwit took my battery?!"
"Wait, what?" Max questioned as she headed around, looking at where the battery should have been mounted, only seeing the two connectors hanging by their cables.
"Fuck!" Chloe slammed the hood down, Max backing up quickly. "Oh go on, take a picture."
"I'm not taking a picture, Chloe." Max responded, Max being a bit surprised to see that Max had taken out a smartphone, though it was an older Samsung Galaxy S2. Max looked at the notification that she'd felt buzz through, seeing it was a social media post from Victoria. If they'd gotten into the truck, the school wi-fi would have lost signal to her phone by now. "'The hall is getting hot wtf'."
"Someone's messing with the heating?" Chloe questioned, Max putting her phone back in the small pocket of the dress.
"Let's take a look. Adventuring like old times, hey?" Chloe smiled and nodded before the two headed back inside the building and to the elevator, which despite being recently refitted still had graffiti on the metal walls of it and this particular time, was filled with the distinct smell of urine.
"Someone obviously drank too much in that party." Chloe said as they stepped in and Max pressed the basement level button.
"With some of the people around here, it wouldn't surprise me."
The doors opened a few moments later, the main elevator in the building always having been quick. They stepped out, turned left and were instantly confronted with no other than Nathan Prescott, frantically messing with the old analogue computer controls which were wired up with the electrical and heating systems across the school.
"Hey, you're gonna blow up the building, idiot!" Chloe called across the room to him. Nathan quickly turned around to look at the two, eyes narrowing.
"You stay there, I'm looking for something." He warned them, looking back to the old controls.
"If it's a self destruct button for the school, just keep on as you were because that boiler looks fit to burst with that pressure." Max responded, Nathan looking up.
"Yes I know, thought I'd try blowing it up differently this time. Got a bit bored of cutting the gas pipes and flicking my lighter, too basic."
"The hell do you mean?"
"Chloe Price, do you know how many times I've had the delight of blowing up this school? Thirteen times now." Nathan spoke, all with a smile that was little short of creepy. "Now then, I'm looking for a massive power source around here, since I was kindly given some time powers I figured I could use it. It's to do with time travel, it's like I can feel it."
"You've gone mad." Chloe responded, folding her arms. "Now calm that boiler down-" She and Max both quickly jumped back as a bang echoed out, a 9mm bullet smashing straight through Nathan's head. Max had looked away the instant it happened, as the explosion of blood on the other side was almost instant.
"So as far as days go…"
Chloe looked across the room… it was Max. Max was stood beside the boiler, pistol in hand… but she was also stood beside her.
"This one's a little weird."