I just recently finished playing Life is Strange and really enjoyed the game. There were just so many memorable and unique characters, one of them whom I found to be Kate Marsh. I decided to write this fan fiction since I felt that Kate deserved to have her own story, similar to how Chloe is getting hers in Life is Strange: Before the Storm. Keep in mind that this all takes place in an alternate timeline where Max does not have her rewind ability and there is no tornado or any of the other meterological anomolies from LiS that occur. I hope you enjoy this story as well as the character of Ben. This is my first Fan Fic that I'm writing, so please leave any feedback if you can. It would be much appreciated.

DISCLAIMER: All Life is Strange Characters belong to DONTNOD Entertainment. I own my OC Ben Ferris

Prologue

There was a reason why the fresh new faces of the Blackwell Bigfoots, Blackwell Academy's star football team, had been out on the field practicing on such a hot summer afternoon in late August. To be physically and mentally prepared for the grueling next several weeks of their athletic careers at Blackwell. By now, each and every person on the team should have been playing football long enough to know how much commitment and determination was expected of them. They had all willingly moved in on campus two weeks early for the social experiment that their coach called "football camp."

This was just another annual start of the year for John Ferris Jr., head Coach of the Blackwell Bigfoots. Ferris had begun his career of coaching at Blackwell back in the days when Principal Ray Wells still had a full head of hair. It was a rocky start during his first few years as the Bigfoots had quite the pattern of "win some, lose some" seasons. In time the players of the Bigfoots knew that they had fans wanting to see them win, and so they made sure to get better on the field at practice every day so that their spectators wouldn't be disappointed.

Ferris was a large man who always stood tall with a barrel chest and towered over most of his players. He was dark skinned, had a goatee, and had lost most of his hair except for what remained on the sides of his head, though he could mostly be seen wearing a baseball cap whenever he was coaching. No one who was practicing on the field could see the exact look in his eyes as he was wearing a pair of performance sport sunglasses.

Coach Ferris had been setting some high expectations this year. Especially when he knew that there would be two games this season against the Bigfoots' rivals, the Sunnydale Razorbacks. The Bigfoots and Razorbacks had a long history that went all the way back to Ferris' days as a Bigfoot himself. They had been shut out by the Razorbacks at an away game last year, but Ferris knew that things would be different this year. Part of this feeling was due to the fact that it had been a tradition older than him that the Bigfoots never lost on their own field. The other part of it had to do with a new and bold player on the team this year. Someone whom he expected great things from the moment he discovered his acceptance into Blackwell. And as soon as he thought of that person, his eyes looked over to him on the field.

Ben Ferris, the "prodigal son of Blackwell", was what some people were beginning to call him when they found out about his acceptance into the academy. Ben couldn't believe what he had read when he first opened up his acceptance letter to Blackwell. He didn't know why he was so surprised that he got accepted into Blackwell in the first place. His dad was a respected and inspirational coach who led one of the most prestigious high school football teams in Oregon to victory on multiple occasions. He was basically getting free tuition as a perk of being the coaches' son anyway.

Ben bared some slight resemblance to his dad which many of the other teammates could see from the first day of camp. He was a bit lighter skinned though, with brown eyes and short jet black hair which resembled that of a buzz cut afro. The lower half of his face was distinguished by his square shaped chiseled jawline. Though whenever he smiled, he still had a baby face appearance about him. He was just a few inches below standing six feet tall and had a muscular athletic build that he had developed from spending his summer lifting weights, running, and working to the bone for his uncle's carpentry company. He worked hard to get his body in its new form just for this upcoming season.

"Alright Bigfoots," Coach Ferris shouted to get everyone's attention. "Let's line it up one last time if it's good."

He was of course referring to the passing drills his quarterbacks and wide receivers had been practicing for the past few days. Each pass was perfectly executed. The cooperation between the QBs and WRs made them look like they were part of an assembly line, how each player had so much coordination and trust with each other.

Ben was finally up and last in the line, ready to finish up the drill. He saw that his friend who he had made from the summer orientation, Zachary Riggins, would be his partnering QB. The two exchanged a quick head nod just before Ben was directed by his coach and father to start running down the field. Ben kept his eye on the ball the entire time as he watched Zach's arm go behind his head and shoot forward, flinging the ball as far away from him as he could. Eying it in the sky, Ben was tracing where it would end up descending to.

"Get there Ben, get there." He said to himself as he had sprinted to where he would catch it.

Just at the right moment, he launched himself a few feet into the air with both arms fully extended outward and his hands forming a triangle shape. The ball was now in his grasp and he made his way down to the other side of the field.

"Good work, Ben." Those were the words that Ben could hear his dad say to him from where he was on the field. The whole team was then welcomed by the screeching sound of Coach Ferris's whistle.

"Circle it up boys." Coach Ferris directed all of his athletes to do. "Congratulations everyone, you've all just survived football camp." An applause from every player soon followed.

"Make sure that you see me to grab your jerseys for the season before you take off." He mentioned. "And now, for the moment you've all been waiting these two weeks for. Your captains for this year."

Ben's heart started to drop when he heard those words come from his father. For some reason, it was just the only thing that he had looked forward to all throughout football camp and everyone knew that no one would find out who the captains would be until the very last day of camp.

"Since the first day that you all came here and walked onto this field, I've observed each and every one of you, in terms of commitment, leadership, and morale." Stated Ferris as he began preaching to his team. "Each year, I select two captains who I feel have the potential to not just represent the Bigfoots, but Blackwell as a whole. Which is why I have selected…"

The entire team was met with suspense, as each player hoped to have their five seconds of fame and be the newest football hero they felt the Bigfoots deserved.

"Our newest quarterback, Zach Riggins." Coach Ferris announced. The entire team had roared to the announcement of Zach's appointment as captain. Zach proudly walked up to his coach, taking the red jersey with its white embroidered numbers and a letter "C" to signify his status as a captain. The only question remaining now was who would fulfill the other half of leadership over the team.

"As for your second captain, who I'm certain will help do his fellow teammates well, please help me by welcoming up…"

Ben was beginning to freeze. What exactly would his dad think of him for the rest of the season after selecting someone other than him? He didn't think it could be that bad if he wasn't selected as a captain. He would still be loved and appreciated by his own father no matter what. Right?

"Ben Ferris." His father proudly announced. Ben still couldn't believe it as the moment of truth had hit him. He was brought back into reality as he heard the loud cheers from his teammates. Still trying to get out of his trance, one of his teammates gave him a light push to go up and accept the jersey from his father.

Ben was astonished at the sight of the jersey. He remembered his days as a little kid standing on the sidelines with his dad, watching the Bigfoots in action. Now, he was officially one himself as he had his own jersey. It had the same red and white color scheme as the one Zach had received, along with the embroidered "C" to show his captainship. He then saw his number that he would represent throughout the season. 17, one of the very few numbers that only a wide receiver could wear.

"Remember to ice anything that's sore this weekend and take care of your selves." Coach Ferris mentioned to everyone on the team. "And for God's sake, drink plenty of water before you get on the field. I don't want to have to send someone else to ER again." He was referring to one of the players who had been dehydrated today at practice and began vomiting right after warming up.

"We start practice on this field every day at six pm sharp, starting on Monday." He told everyone. "Don't ever be late and get you stuff taken care of before or after practice. Is that clear?"

"Yes Coach." The entire team answered.

"Alright then, enjoy your weekend off and stay out of trouble." Ferris addressed as his last words before he dismissed the entire team.

Ben began to walk back to the boys locker room to put away all of his football gear and head back to his dorm room, which had all the AC he needed to rejuvenate from the heatwave. He put the brand new jersey in his red drawstring backpack along with his water bottle and began to make the trek back to his dorm.

While walking back, he could see that more students had been slowly trickling in onto campus. Most of them with cars out in the student parking lot carrying their personal belongings from home to their new rooms with the help of their parents. The heat was beginning to produce more sweat on Ben's face, so he had lifted up the bottom of his t-shirt he was wearing to wipe his face.

After he had finished wiping his face, he saw two girls just a few feet ahead of him, who looked like they were all moved in and decided to explore the campus that would be their new home as well. As he made eye contact with the two, Ben decided to greet them with a warm smile on his face instead of just staring awkwardly. The two girls simply smiled back just before they passed him. In actuality, the smile on Ben's face was more out of embarrassment than friendliness, as he realized that lifting up his shirt to wipe his face made him reveal his newly developed six pack to two strangers.

One of the girls he had just encountered had short brunette hair that ended right at her neck, with blue eyes and freckles on her face. She wore a pink t-shirt that had the name "Jane" written on it with a drawing of a white silhouetted doe next to it (clever wasn't it), along with a pair of jean cut off shorts and a pair of black low top Converse sneakers. She also had several rubber bracelets worn on her right wrist. The second girl was a bit paler skinned, with hazel eyes and long blonde hair, which was all piled up on top of her head and worn into a bun. She was wearing a pair of light blue jeans, with white sneakers, along with a white tank top that had a drawing of a dove on it. Ben also saw her wearing a necklace with a gold cross hanging down at her chest, so he figured that she must have been religious, not that it mattered to him though.

In just minutes, Ben was finally back at his dorm room, where he had everything he brought with him unpacked and set up after being on campus for two weeks. He took off his sweat drenched shirt and kicked off his sneakers, grabbed the towel hanging on the hook of his closet and walked down the hall to take a quick shower. Moments later, he walked back to his room feeling like a brand new person, changed into a new set of clothes and decided to get a good nap in before hanging out with some of his teammates or any of the other new arrivals.