Life is Strange AU College

College AU; loosely following canon

A scholarship and opportunity to learn from one of my favorite photographers brought me from Seattle to Arcadia Bay. This weird small town has a habit of sucking in and trapping people…nothing to do with a certain blue haired girl whose determined to become my favorite subject.

Chapter One: The Chloe Special

I doubt Dana hears me but I tell her I'm exiting the mosh pit to get a drink. I feel the need to nudge another random drunk girl in her direction to take my place as her buffer as guys swarm around her. Not like she would care otherwise, she's in heaven. I've long since lost my other roommate Juliet, but it's a pretty safe bet she's off in some dark corner with her meathead quarterback boyfriend whom she just 'happened' to run into after spending the whole day pissed at him.

I manage to elbow and weave my way through the crowded dance floor, avoiding falling drinks like a dive-bar themed Frogger and find somewhat of a safe haven at the bar just in time for the Cupid Shuffle to play for the fourth or fifth time. I slide into one of two freshly vacated barstools and manage to order my customary whiskey and Diet Coke without too much of a wait.

"The usual, Paul. For Princess here, too," another voice hollers to the bartender as the seat beside me becomes occupied. I catch a glimpse of bright blue hair before my phone lights up on top of the bar. Juliet. I don't have to read through the whole text to know she's already left with Zachary.

"You're either the first or last person I'd guess would be buying me a drink tonight," I tell my new companion. I turn to face Chloe Price. Her icy blue eyes are boring into mine with a mirthful glint, a far more welcome sight than the murderous venom she'd charged at me the first time we'd met.

"I know I can be an asshole. And Buffy was right, me being pissed had nothing to do with you," she drawled, and I figure this is as close to an actual apology I'm going to get, "I'm impressed though, I thought you'd be all cranberry vodkas."

The bartender slides our drinks in front of us, plus two shot glasses full of some mystery liquid. Chloe's still smirking at me, already holding her tiny glass. I tentatively follow her lead. "It's the Chloe special," she announces as we clink glasses, "Cheers, hippie."

And with that, I'm slamming the first of many shots to come with Chloe Price, the girl who just a few hours ago basically wanted me dead.

Juliet is sitting on my bed, "helping" me unpack by flipping through her phone and ranting about her boyfriend not telling her she looked cute today which obviously means he's off sexting some other girl. Obviously. Dana is more helpful organizing clothes in my closet, seeing what little I have and rushing back to her room to gather some things of her own that she doesn't wear. I hear Juliet mutter something about a low battery and point out the charger on my nightstand.

"This is like, record unpacking time, you know," she points out, finally distracted from her phone. I have to agree, "Not like I had to move in my own furniture. Rachel is seriously a saint." Juliet snorts, but says no more about her former roommate, "So Dana and I were thinking about taking you to our favorite bar. Well, really the only bar around here that doesn't card and hasn't been taken over by meth heads or critter infestations."

"And by infestation," Dana continues, walking in with an armful of garments she deposits on my bed, "She means she saw a spider once in the bathroom and wrote a letter to the health department."

"It was a cockroach, and actually plural." Dana waves her off and slinks over to me to grab my hands, "I know you just pulled an all-nighter getting here, but that's exactly why you need to have some fun tonight. It'll be good roomie bonding. And like Jules said, they never card. They'd lose like all their business if they did."

Dana already seems like the kind of girl nobody says 'no' to. She's inarguably drop dead gorgeous – tall, thin athletic build, pretty face, and…well endowed – which makes you want to hate her right off the bat. But she doesn't use her good looks and charm for evil. She's so sweet and thoughtful you somehow feel privileged to be her friend. I relent to her request on the condition that I be fed first and she squeezes me into a hug. Thankfully I'm just barely tall enough not to get a face full of boob.

Before Dana can jump the shark and start trying to dress me already we hear an obnoxious pounding at the door. Dana jumps in alarm, but Juliet just looks annoyed. Her eyes are shut and her head lolls backward, "Please tell me Rachel told her."

"Anyone home?" a muffled voice shouts, "Olsen twins? Bueller?"

"I fucking hate when she calls us that," Juliet grumbles before stomping out of my room. Dana shakes her head and hollers after her, "Dibs on Ashley!" She then turns back to me, a bit paler than before, "Um…just, stay in here, ok, Max?"

I can hear Juliet unlocking the front door as Dana closes my door behind her. Thick clunky footsteps announce our visitor. I hear Juliet's throaty but feminine voice, "I know you were not trying to pick that damn lock again. My God, have you been drinking already? It's like Monday and not even noon."

"Thanks for the time and date, Barbara Walters," the new voice is deep like Juliet's, but smokier, and I hear her coming closer to my room, "But if I can't pick the lock, how else am I supposed to sneak in and have my way with you and Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"

"Rachel's not here, Chloe," Dana says a little too quickly, seeming to follow this mystery girl. "Didn't think she would be," the girl retorts and my door is unceremoniously swung open, "I just need to grab…"

'Chloe' stops dead in her tracks when she sees me, staring with an eerily vacant expression. Dana shoulders her way past to take a protective stance in front of me, for which I find myself grateful. Dana's got an inch or two height-wise on this girl, but this blue eyed, blue haired girl is far more intimidating. She's dressed in ripped jeans, a worn leather jacket, and even from a distance faintly smells of weed. But it's her scowl hooded stare boring into my skull that's making me the most uneasy.

"Who the fuck is this?" she demands, levelly at first, "Where the fuck is-"

"Chloe," Dana cuts her off, "You've been gone for almost two weeks. A lot has happened-"

"Why is your shit on her bed?" the girl is yelling now, "This is Rachel's bed, this is Rachel's…what the fuck? None of this shit is Rachel's! Where the hell-"

"Chloe!" Juliet takes her turn cutting her off, significantly less calm than Dana, "Rachel left, and you need to go too."

"What the fuck do you mean she left?"

Dana casts an apologetic glance over her shoulder to me before taking a cautious step toward Chloe, "She moved out this morning, Chloe. I'm sorry, but she didn't want us to tell you."

"How long have you known she was leaving?" the blue haired girl's voice is back to a dangerous quiet. I'm happy to have the heat off me but scared for Dana. "How long?" she repeats, enunciating each word. Dana shifts subtly, "About a month."

Chloe explodes, "And you idiots never even thought to tell me?"

"She told us not to tell you!" Juliet marches up to Chloe and matches her tone of voice, "She didn't want you to know because you'd go apeshit like you always do!"

"You haven't seen apeshit yet," she mumbles, turning on her heel and shoving past Dana to storm up to me. Dana jogs around her to get between us again but Chloe stops beside the bed and points at me while yanking the duvet to the ground, "You get your shit out of her fucking room!" She stomps over to the dresser and manages to pull a drawer out and throw it to the ground as well before my roommates swoop in and attempt to restrain her. Dana has abandoned her mediator role and shoved Chloe toward the door.

"You're pissed at Rachel, not her!" she's in Chloe's face by now, "This wouldn't be the first time I've had to call the cops on you, Chloe. Do not make me do it again." A tense silence falls over the four of us. Chloe's glare lingers on Dana and Juliet before flickering to me. I barely register the tears brimming in her bloodshot eyes before she abruptly pivots and storms out, letting the front door slam shut on her way out. After another couple seconds of silence Juliet sighs loudly, "Well, I need some goddam wine now."

Dana cradles her head in her hands, "Max, I'm so sorry…um, that was Chloe-"

"Rachel's friend," Juliet finishes as she saunters out toward the kitchen, "Girlfriend, fuckbuddy, prison wife, we never really figured it out. Anybody else want wine?"

Dana shakes her head and grabs my hand, tugging me along to join Juliet. "Let's go," she stage whispers, "Before she starts chugging it out of the bottle."

"It's Max, by the way."

The only response I get is a quirked eyebrow as we both toss back our shots. I barely repress a shudder as the liquor burns all the way down, making me just about swallow an ice cube whole to chase it. This doesn't go unnoticed by the ever smirking blue haired punk. She apparently realizes the redundancy in telling me her name at this point.

We're quiet for a minute and I try to find Dana in the mosh pit. She towers over enough people that I barely spot her ponytailed head bobbing perfectly to the techno-mixed pop song. "I gotta ask," Chloe finally breaks our silence after taking a swig of beer, "How'd you get to be roomies with Lucy and Ethel?"

I hear her real question between the lines, how'd you get to live in my ex-girlfriend or whatever's apartment, but why someone like me is living with girls like Dana and Juliet is also a valid question.

"I was scrambling to find housing for when I moved here," I have to lean in a bit so she can hear me over the music, "Rachel got a hold of me through a Blackwell advisor. She said she wanted to be out before she was stuck in the lease again. It just worked out, I guess."

Chloe's mood instantly sours at the mention of Rachel. She's slumped over in her seat with her head cradled by her hand, elbow on the bar. She's glaring right through me again. "Did you ever actually meet her?" she asks with another swig of beer. I'm only taking small, cautious sips of my drink at this point. "In person," I answer, "Just this morning when she gave me her key. Her car was all packed up already."

Chloe's fidgeting now, hands fumbling around in her jacket and pant pockets. "She say where she's going? Was she with anyone?"

I wait until she finds what she needs; a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. She poises herself at the edge of her seat as if readying herself to make a break for it but seems to be waiting for my answer.

"No…neither, no."

She nods once, mumbles something about taking a smoke break, and with that she's off. Like a total creep I watch her leave. She still walks with this impressive swagger even as she's angrily storming out. I slump with my back leaning against the bar, suddenly wishing I had never brought up the elusive Rachel Amber.

I've spoken to Rachel Amber only through e-mail the past few weeks, the only picture being the small icon of her student ID photo stockpiled in the school's database. The tiny rendering of her photo already made her look like a model. I note with a pinch of envy that she's even prettier in person as I drive into the parking lot of my new home-to-be. She slams the trunk of her car shut before turning around and waving at me. She motions for me to roll down my window as I start to drive past her.

"Hi Max," her voice is as annoyingly pretty as she is, "If you want to wait for just a sec you can have my spot."

"Sure, thanks."

She smiles sweetly and rests her elbows on the car door, leaning in partially through the open window, "You don't look half bad for getting up at the crack of dawn."

I nod toward the empty coffee cup in the holder, "A few extra pit stops but it got me through. Do you have a long trip ahead of you?"

She unfolds to full height and shakes her long blonde hair out of her face, looking like she's come straight out of a shampoo ad. "I guess we'll see," she says with a wink, "Welcome to Arcadia Bay, Max Caulfield."