AUTHOR NOTES:

You can also find the story in more creative detail over on Wattpad under the name RealHajiime (two i's) I might change that user name at some point. You'll know when. Wattpad allows me to add pictures for references and add videos so I'll often add different music that sets the mood similarly to the game. So I highly recommend reading this story there as well for a more creative experience.

Each chapter will be 1,000 words or greater depending on the amount of content and there will be 10-13 chapters each episode. Each episode is named after a specific song. In Life is Strange, the ending montage usually plays a different song every time. This is that same format. This episode takes it's name from the song "Back to the Beginning" by Aaron Espe.

Episode One: Back to the Beginning

Chapter One

I couldn't be in there. I couldn't be in that place at the moment - not in his condition. This wasn't anything new though. I'd often find myself drifting outside every other day or so because I just couldn't stand the thought of being at most people, Oregon always gets pretty cold at night around this time of year, but I'd never feel like that. Not much anyway.

It was a bit chilly, I could admit that, but I always had a high cold tolerance. My mom and dad would always try to get me to wear a scarf in this time of year. I always told them I never needed it and I always ended up proving myself right. They were too old and weren't from Oregon.

In fact, they weren't even from the United States. Both of my parents were from the Caribbean, so naturally, their tolerance of the cold was nonexistent. They could never understand how I could handle the cold so well. The easiest answer to that was that I was born in this time of year over in the Bronx, but moved here - Arcadia Bay, Oregon when I turned ten.

My dad however is Jamaican and my mom was Dominican. Now a lot of you probably looked at "Dominican" and thought of "Dominican Republic"-and that's fine. Ya'll wouldn't be the first. No, my mom is strictly "Dominican". Commonwealth of Dominica. So no, I don't speak any fuckin' Spanish. Let's just clear up those misunderstandings right here and now.

I've gotten too many people in my school years come up to me and automatically started speaking Spanish because of how I looked. I take after my dad in term of skin color, but thankfully I take my mom's appearance. Despite being Jamaican, my dad has very light skin, and people often mistake him for being of Spanish speaking culture. It goes without saying that this always pisses him off.

Just like it pisses me off when people ask where my parents are from and I tell them "Jamaica and Dominica" and they look at me and ask "You speak Spanish?" No bitch, I speak English. I said Dominica. "Do-mi-nee-ka". But I'm side tracking hard as hell right now.

Fact of the matter is, I didn't want to be home. The reason is my dad is drunk and when he's drunk he's stupid as fuck and it's so off-putting that it's kinda depressing. I hate it when he drinks. I've hated it for years but he never stops, and with Mom not around anymore to scold him, it's like he's intent on killing himself in hard liquor.

I never had the kind of energy to argue for very long, so I'd usually ignore him. Only this time, when I was back home a few hours ago, he'd come into my room constantly to check up on me. He always does this, but when he's drunk he's fuckin stupid like I said so he doesn't stop and I don't have any privacy in there. Not to mention my nose would burn from the liquor on his breath and he wasn't even close to me. That's how fucked up he was tonight.

Blasting reggae music and cussing to himself like a dumbass, I just really needed to be away from that bullshit. So here I am - walking Arcadia Bay's streets in the middle of a school night. I walked out but I didn't really set out a plan. I didn't know where to go or what to do with myself and most stores are closed at this time of night. But Arcadia Bay's streets at night were so much more peaceful than the streets in the Bronx at the same time. At least where I lived at the time.

I used to live in the projects right in front of a basketball court and every night, going into the very early morning you could hear kids my age play basketball, screaming and carrying on with all the energy in the world. Only issue is, these kids don't know how to act. I looked out the window in curiosity one time and saw this dark skin, long and lanky dude fire off three shots into the air. It was the first time I had ever seen a gun fire.

I suppose I should've been panicked or surprised, but when I reached a certain age, I just lost all the energy I once had - the kind of energy that most kids. I'm talking about legitimate kids, not adolescent lazy teenagers.

Anyways, I felt like I could walk these streets without the need to turn my head every two minutes. I still did that anyway because that's how I've been programmed to behave on the street by my dad. Keep aware at all times. Not bad advice at all. It's not like Arcadia Bay is some utopia. You still have students going missing like that one Blackwell Academy girl a few years ago.

It just so happens to be the school I go to as well. I didn't keep up with the news about her disappearance. In fact, I don't even remember there being any news about her. I just remember seeing missing posters all over Arcadia. It sucks, but I have a hard time feeling bad for people or circumstances that don't involve me. That's how I've been for a few years now.

It's nothing personal or malicious. It's just I have enough on my plate without the thoughts and prayers for others who are suffering too. I guess you could call it selfish or self-centered & shit. I wouldn't blame you. Like I said, it sucks, but how many of you can watch the news when a national tragedy occurs and stand there in shock? How many of you actually stop what you're doing to say a prayer for them? Is it unfortunate? Yeah, obviously, but bet any amount of money you want that you're there cookin up breakfast or doing something that's taking your attention away from the news.

If you criticize me for not really caring about the life of a stranger as opposed to my own issues while you're occupied by the chores in your own house over a national tragedy, that makes you a hypocrite my friend. But I'm not trying to get into all of that moralistic nonsense. I'm a seventeen year old girl - what the fuck do I know about morals and politics? Probably less than I should, I'll admit. It's whatever though.

I came to a complete stop on the outside of a corner store. Looking at magazines or something could help pass the time so I decided to step in. I just hoped that the store clerk didn't have some kind of disdain for teenagers lounging in his store. I'd understand the issue, but that'd also fuck up my already bad night.

END NOTES:

I'm gonna end it here. Just a small introductory chapter to help view our MC's mindset and how she views the things around her. Every chapter will end kind of like how the game has it's loading screens into a new setting. So in this chapter, our MC is walking on the street. The loading screen is when she leaves the street and enters the store, creating a new setting.

Think of the "collectors mode" in Before the Storm in this case. Every episode there's 12-13 different scenes and that's how this story is set up.

Everything I wrote here from the MC, Alexis's mindset, is quite literally all of my thoughts on paper. Alexis is the female version of me. Born from Caribbean parents in the Bronx, alcoholic father, a twisted mindset to say the least, etc. You'll also notice how often she side tracks and gets way too caught up in her issues and/or ideals. That's me to a T. Life is Strange is a grounded story in midst of a supernatural environment.

This story is something I've wanted to do for a while and is basically my attempt at connecting the lore of Arcadia Bay through the countless theories by fans and myself. I want to double down on the supernatural aspect without turning it into a fairy tale, but let's just see where this story takes us.

My profile as I'm typing this is currently blank, both on Wattpad and Fanfic, so I will be updating those to tell you guys my future plans regarding Life is Strange as well as other stories.