Disclaimer: I don't own Life Is Strange or its characters, and I don't make any money from them either.
The sun had gone down hours ago, but Max still had a couple more to go before getting home. She was irritated that the wedding and reception had gone much longer than planned. At least they had paid well and even put her up in a hotel the night before so she wouldn't have to drive the entire eight hour round trip in one day.
Her thoughts about the events from earlier that day were interrupted when she heard and felt a thump and a vibration, followed by a loud flapping noise coming from the rear of her car.
She knew immediately what had happened. "No, no, no, NO!" she said aloud (talking to herself was not unusual on road trips such as these). "Are you shitting me? I just got this thing out of the shop!"
As the flapping noise continued, she looked ahead desperately, seeing where she might be able to pull over. She saw one building up ahead with its parking lot lights still on, just off the next exit ramp. She took the exit, intending to park there just long enough to look up a towing service on her phone, or at least to get an Uber ride somewhere to stay for the night.
As she pulled into the lot, she noticed that the building appeared to be a bar or tavern of some sort. As there were only two other vehicles in the lot, she guessed that it was in the process of closing for the night. Stepping out of her car, she went around to the other side. Sure enough, her rear passenger side tire had been punctured and was now as flat as a pancake.
Max sighed and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She was startled to see it wasn't on; she pressed and held the power button, but nothing happened. Thinking back, she realized she hadn't charged it since morning the day before, the day she had left Seattle. Meaning that, so far, it had been unplugged for over a day and a half, during which time she had used it heavily for texting and work-related purposes.
How did I forget to charge it so long? Max chided herself. Guess I'll have to plug it into the car charger and wait a bit. Getting back into the car, she opened the console and felt around.
The charger wasn't there.
She proceeded to check under the seats, in the trunk, and in her luggage, but the charger wasn't there either. She slowly realized what had happened. Her car had been in the shop for repairs for a couple days prior to the trip, during which time she had driven her mom's car. She had remembered to take the charger out of her own car before leaving it with the mechanic...but had forgotten to replace it once she had gotten the car back. In desperation, she went back into the trunk of her car and checked the spare tire, but of course it hadn't been aired since...ever.
How could I be so STUPID! Nice going, Max. You're now stuck in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. As she saw it, her options were limited to the following: 1) Sleep in the car and wait until morning to try to get help, 2) walk back out to the freeway and hitch a ride to the closest gas station or motel, or 3) knock on the door of the presumably closed bar and see if she could get help there. None of the three options were the least bit desirable.
A moment later, she stepped out of her car again and walked across the parking lot to the bar. Swallowing nervously, she rapped her knuckles three times on the front door. She could tell the light was on inside, but she couldn't see anything through the door's frosted glass. After fifteen seconds with no response, she knocked again.
The light inside was blocked by a shadow that now filled the frosted glass window. She stepped back from the door.
"I told you pendejos we're closed for the night!" The door flew open, and the parking lot lights revealed an angry-looking barrel-chested man dressed in a tight black t-shirt and black jeans—probably a bouncer. He had a shaved head and dark goatee and stood at least a foot taller than Max, who was deciding at this very moment that she might have just made the worst mistake of her life.
The man looked around for a moment before looking at Max with more surprise than anger; clearly he had been prepared to confront a larger adversary than one woman who was—at most—half his size.
"What the hell do you want, señorita?" he asked.
"P-please," Max stammered. "My car got a...got a flat. I need to make a c-call."
"So? Do you not have a phone or something?"
"It ran out of charge...I forgot my charger. And I really have to use the restroom." The last part was not a lie; she had realized this as she was walking up to the door.
The man shook his head. "No can do, señorita, the bar is closed for the night."
"Please!" begged Max. "I can't go anywhere right now, I can't call anyone, I just need to...!"
"Oh my god, Pablo!" said another voice, this one female, from inside the bar. "Don't be an asshole! Just let her in!"
The man—Max surmised that this was Pablo—glanced over his shoulder in irritation, then back at Max. "Fine. But don't think I haven't got my eye on you, señorita. Restroom is to your left at the bar."
In her rush to the restroom, Max barely caught a glimpse of the one other person—the one who had told Pablo to let her in—in the bar. She was behind the bar with her back—which had long blonde hair falling down it—to Max, restocking some of the inventory for the night. She wore blue jeans and a red and black plaid flannel shirt.
A moment later, Max stepped out of the women's room feeling very relieved. The chairs had all been placed upside down on the tables, as had the stools at the bar. Pablo was standing in front of the bar staring intently at her with crossed arms. The blonde woman was now wiping down the counter but was turned at such an angle as to prevent Max from seeing her face.
"Thank you, thank you so much!" said Max finally. "I've been having a really bad night, and I need to call a tow truck, or at least an Uber to get to a motel. Can I use your phone, or a charger for mine if you have one?"
The blonde now turned around, and she and Max looked at each other.
"Max? Max Caulfield? Is that you?"
"Holy shit...Taylor?"
Pablo looked at Taylor and gestured toward Max. "¿Conoces a ésta chica?"
Taylor nodded slowly. "Yeah. We were in the same class together in high school. How have you been?"
"I've been fine," said Max, who was simultaneously stunned and relieved at finding a familiar face in the middle of nowhere. "What about you?"
"Things could be better, but they could also be worse," replied the blonde in a flat tone of voice. "What type of phone do you use?"
Max held out her phone, and Taylor nodded. Reaching into a drawer behind the bar, she pulled out a charger. "You can use this one."
"Oh, thank you, thank you so much!" replied Max, taking the charger and plugging into a nearby outlet. "Do either of you know a good towing service that operates at this time of night?"
"Honestly?" replied Pablo. "You'd be better off leaving your car overnight and waiting until morning. The only 24/7 tow truck I know of is an hour's drive from here, and no one who can fix your car is going to be open right now."
Max sighed. "Is there a cheap motel nearby I can stay at?"
"There's a Super 8 a few miles from here," replied Pablo. "Tay, do you think you could give her a ride? It might be a little faster than waiting for the Uber."
Taylor hesitated for a moment. "Sure."
"Great," said Pablo, putting on his leather jacket. "Are you good here?"
"Yeah, I'll lock up. Say hi to Steve for me," said Taylor.
"Sure thing. Buenas noches." Pablo looked at Max. "It was, um, nice to meet you. Sorry about all the shit earlier."
A few minutes later, Taylor had locked up the bar and Max had put her luggage into the trunk of Taylor's car—she had no intention of leaving it unattended even for one night. Thankfully Taylor had not objected.
Max buckled her seatbelt. Taylor started to insert the key into the ignition, then paused and removed it.
"Max...you...you could stay at my place for tonight if you want. It's only a few minutes from here."
Max was taken aback by this offer. "Are...are you sure? I don't want to impose..."
"Yeah, it's fine. I'll admit my place is a bit cramped, but we'll deal."
Max smiled. "Well...okay then. Sure."
Author's Note: I've had this story rattling around in my head for a while now...the idea of two acquaintances from LIS meeting years later. I plan to go into more detail in later chapters about how they have changed since Blackwell and what all has transpired. Taylor is a rather minor character in the game, but I think you may understand my reasons for choosing her as the other character of this story once you read further.