"Max! Hey, watch this!"
Oh no, she's at it again. "Chloe, are you seriously going to try that trick again? You know what happened last time."
"No, okay, just look, it's different this time! I'm pretty sure I got it down, just freakin' watch, okay?"
"Different this time," she says. If only she really knew what that kind of statement meant to me right now.
Chloe was standing on top of a concrete wall. I mean, the wall is like, what, maybe three feet high at the most? But she was standing on it like it was the tallest building in the world. Which wasn't.. A bad thing, it was actually pretty adorable. The way she could still find enjoyment out of something so small like that. It's kinda what I always liked about her.
Buuuut right now, she was just being really stupid.
"I swear I can do it this time, okay? Maxine Caulfield, be prepared to be swept off your feet by my incredible kickflip!"
Oh god, here we go. "Just don't hurt yourself again, okay? It's sad when I have to watch you crying in pain over a little scraped knee."
"Hey! I wasn't crying. I just, uh, got dust in my eye. You didn't see nothin'."
I waved her off. "Yeah yeah, just impress me already, Price!"
She steadied herself on her beat up board—Do I wanna get her a new one? I feel like she's the type to be all, 'Oh, Max, my board is sooo messed up and punk rock I can't use a new one because I'll need to mess this one up too'… Okay, maybe not quite like that, but maybe I'll ask her about it later—And balanced herself accordingly. I'm not even sure what kind of kickflip she thinks she's doing, but I usually just let her do what she wants. Anyway, she's balancing on the underside of the deck, her arms splayed in the air. Bending her knees slightly, she hops and simultaneously kicks at the truck to try and get it to flip in the air—
"Wa—whoaaa!" She miscalculates and lands on the ground with a heavy thud. Pfft. Amazing, alright.
I approach her, trying to withhold a laugh. "Great going, Elissa Steamer." I sit on the ground next to her, our bodies opposite to each other. I start pulling out my camera to take a quick shot.
"Oh ha ha, very funny. Hey, but you gotta admit, it's coming along, right?" She's beaming. How can she be so cheery after all those failed attempts? It's super cute, though. After looking into those blue eyes, I steady my camera and point it at her ripped up pant legs. She's got one leg stretched out, with the other bent at the knee, her skateboard flipped onto its side in the background. Hmm.. A pretty nice shot. A soft click comes from the device as it spits out the instant film.
I humor her as I shake the photograph, "Uhh. Yeah, 'course it is!" The film is finally developing, and I can see instances of the image already. I lay it on the ground before scooting closer to Chloe. "Just.. Be more careful, okay? Since I'm back in your life, you're pretty much obligated to stay alive and stuff." I end up sounding a lot more worried than I meant to.
She turns away slightly. Is that a blush…? "Ahaha, you know, you took pretty fuckin' long to get back in my life, so am I really obligated, Max?"
I can feel a tinge of hurt in that question. It stings, but I completely understand why. I move my hand closer to her thigh. "I know, and.. I'm sorry. You know I'm sorry. But I'm here now, right? I know I can't go back and redo the time I wasted without you, but that's why I wanna spend time with you now, you know?"
She stares at her skateboard and bites her lip. Her eyes are flickering back and forth between something, but I don't really know—
She slides her fingers between mine on the ground. U-Uh.. What. I look down at our hands and back to her face, and she can't look at my eyes. I feel like pulling away, not out of disgust or anything, just.. I. I'm… Nervous, too?
We.. We just sat like that for a while. Neither of us said anything, but I'm sure we really, really wanted to.
a/n: Been wanting to start on a Life is Strange fic. I like the patterning of snippets so it's just going to be a little collection of stuff once again, ranging from fluff to humor to, idk, maybe some heavy makeout sessions. We'll find out I guess!
As always, let me know how it is.