"You're a fucking liar!"

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Chloe's heartbeat was way to loud in her ears.

"Rachel I'm sorry... I wish I was lying."

Chloe reached out a hand to Rachel but the other girl shrunk away.

Chloe's insides churned with icy fear.
Please give me some sign that you're ok. Please tell me I didn't make the wrong choice.

Rachel's face had shut down. Her eyes were cold and her body language was closed.

Oh god.
Please no.

Rachel narrowed her eyes and stood very still. "Chloe... that's not true... my dad isn't. A. Murderer."

"But he..."
Rachel cut her off with an arrogant flick of her wrist.
"I don't know what you're trying to get out of me by making this up but it won't work."

Chloe felt her blood boil as Rachel glared at her. She was just to exhausted and raw and hurting from everything that had happened.
And she really needed Rachel to believe her.

"Rachel what the fuck is your problem? I wouldn't make something like this up. I fucking swear. I know that your parents are shitheads but I'm not fucking like them. I'd never betray you like that."

Rachel was shaking her head.
Her voice was very small.
"You're wrong... you must be wrong. I don't believe you... I can't believe you."

"Rachel please."
Chloe tried to reach for Rachel's hand but she pulled away.

"Chloe... I think you need to leave now."
"What? Fuck that. Rachel why are you treating me like this? I didn't fucking do anything."
"Chloe... I can't... you need to go."
"Rachel... what the fuck is your problem? What about you fucking trusting me? What about when I saved your life?"

Rachel's voice was dead.
"I forgot. It's always all about you. I'm just supposed to sit still and be the person you need me to be. As soon as I'm even slightly independent from you, you can't handle it."
"Rachel please don't..."
Rachel talked over her.
"It's not my fault that you've ruined your entire fucking life Chloe. I'm not the loser dropout who can't keep a single friend."

She felt talons of shame sink their claws into her heart.

"Ok". She choked. "I guess..."
She couldn't think straight. Couldn't see straight.
"I guess I'll just go..."
She stumbled toward the door to Rachel's bedroom.
Blurry shapes and then she was at Rachel's door.
"Chloe honey, are you staying for dinner?"
Rose. Rachel's step mom.

She shook her head. She didn't trust herself to speak.

"Are you alright?"
Chloe shook her head. She couldn't look at Rose.
"I need to go." She choked.
"Ok... you're always welcome here Chloe."
Rose's voice was full of concern.
Chloe nodded. "Thanks." She whispered.

Hand on the doorknob. Open.
I'm outside.
Stumble on the front steps.

Trip. On my knees. The sting of gravel against my hands. Get up again.
Open the door. In the truck. Hands on the steering wheel.

Drive. Drive like I know where I'm going.
Anywhere but here.

A sign illuminated by the truck's headlights.
American rust. Solitude.
Open the door. Get out. Slam the door.

Scream. Pick up the baseball bat. Smash everything.
Fuck you Rachel.
Let's see how those clothes you gave me fucking burn. Flick of a lighter. Fuck yeah.

Scream more. Sob. Smash everything.

After everything we had. You fucking betrayed me. Just like everyone else.

I knew you would.
Collapse.
Sob.

...

An orange glow from the burning clothes illuminated the surrounding trash as the stars came out. Chloe had gathered some branches and cardboard and created a makeshift fire.

She was curled on her side staring into the flames watching the extra clothing that Rachel had given her blacken and burn.

She had thrown up once but she still felt sick. Her stomach burned like she had swallowed a ball of hot lead. It hurt to much to move.

She pulled out her phone and stared at it with dead eyes.

5/21/2010 10:57 PM
Messages: (3 unread)

Mom: 10:34 PM *
Chloe I can't keep doing this. Please come home.

Step-fuck: 10:24 PM *
You should come home Chloe. Please. Think of your mother.

Rachel Amber: 5:03 PM
You: omw

Steph Gingritch: 9:12 AM
I'm so jealous! :P oh well you're still the best Chloe. I wonder if she...

(New message) — (delete)

Rachel's probably out doing some popular girl bullshit.

Chloe shook her head weakly. Don't think about her.

The thoughts came anyway.

Did she ever even give a fuck about me or was I just a distraction from how shitty her dad is? As soon as I got inconveniently honest, she got rid of me.

No. Stop.
Fuck it. Nothing left to lose.

(New message)
To: Rachel Amber

Rach Please...
I so did not mean to hurt you. You mean the world to me. I trust you.

Chloe stared at the message for a long minute.
Blind desperation. Ache.
(send)

Her phone buzzed almost instantly and faint thrill flickered in her chest

Rachel Amber: 11:04 PM
Verizon Alert: This message failed to send. Please try again later.

I guess her phone is off.

Rach?
(Send)

This message failed to send.

Chloe snarled weakly and let her phone drop from numb hands.
She let her head drop and her eyes close.

Fuck everything.

...

She knew she was asleep because William sat next to her staring into the fire.

"Hey dad." She said weakly.
William didn't speak. He simply placed a warm blanket over her. It was old, ragged, and musty but it kept out the cold.
"Dad? What do I do now? I can't go home and face mom and David. I can't talk to Rachel."

William nodded saying nothing.
Chloe's insides ached.
They watched the fire together.

So this is the beginning of a little experiment for me... I wanted to try and write something much darker than my other Max / Chloe story. I found myself struggling for ideas for my first story and I think it's because I think of LIS in general as a fairly dark story with brief patches of warmth. Writing warm and fuzzy Max/Chloe plots is really fun... but I was feeling stuck. So... time to write about some tough shit instead which feels much more true to the original characters for me.

Also this time around, I want to take a lot more liberties with the canon in order to expand on these characters.

Hope you enjoy!

..and more to come soon :)

Edit: wow thanks so much for the support! I've come up with a plot arc for the entire story but be warned... it's pretty dark. It (hopefully) will be the kind of plot that feels true to the characters and the LIS universe.

I really love Chloe as a character. The feeling of being entirely alone really resonates with me and reminds me of the hardest parts of when I was 16. I had one friend who I really loved at that age... but he ended up going to a different school and totally forgot about me. Pretty much exactly like Chloe's story except he never really came back. I still miss him.

Rachel's reaction at the start of the story comes from personal experience for me. My parents are really good at denying anything that they find uncomfortable.. no matter how much that hurts anyone else.