title: growth
summary: Chloe never thought she was ready to see Max Caulfield back in town, but when she does, it's one hell of a ride. Rachel is awaiting her final year at Blackwell, with her new perks and friends along the way. Max returns to Arcadia Bay with motives in mind. (part two to the forgiveness series — multiple pairings)
notes: here it is, the sequel! it's not as good as the original, I'll admit but it is dramatic and shit. keep in mind this is a sequel to self recovery and it might be confusing at times if you read this as a stand-alone. take the time to read self recovery and please review if you can!
Ever since Blackwell reopened its doors with an extended senior program, students from different parts of the Pacific Northwest apply to Blackwell, hoping to take the new photography course with famous photographer Mark Jefferson. The new professor is admired by many, idolized by all. There aren't much people out there who disliked Jefferson, and everyone knows it.
Especially Rachel Amber.
She may have completed her interesting course with the charming photographer, but she still attends the one school she hates for another year. It's probably for the best though, because she started slacking around her first senior year and now is looking to improve on that. However, her status does come with perks; Rachel is guaranteed to be the new room advisor for the girls division and starting in a few hours, she's going to be a tour guide for all the new students attending school for the next two years until they graduate. There is nothing more agonizing than to lead a bunch of seniors (who are really transfers) around a school she doesn't even like, but no one else volunteered and Mr. Keaton vouched for her.
Rachel finally gets out of bed and goes to the bathroom with a towel and a shower caddy, hoping to get ready for this unnecessary tour where she has to pretend to care about Arcadia Bay and Blackwell for a few hours until the end of the day, when said seniors will either go home or stay inside their designated dorms for when classes start on Monday. She walks past both Taylor Christensen and Victoria Chase (who always manage to sneer at her whenever she walks past) and enters an empty shower to wake herself up and put on a false social mask.
The thought of this being her last year and hopefully going far away from Arcadia Bay with her girlfriend Chloe brings a smile to her face. They've been through so much together from the minute they met each other at the mill concert. Rachel honestly thought her bond with Chloe wouldn't go that far, because she never ever thought about dating women (and even if she did, it was probably a passing thought and a bad idea, due to Rose's casual homophobia and James always dictating her dating life) but the minute she saw Chloe at that concert and proceeded to keep a relationship with her, she quickly fell in love.
Luckily, Chloe feels the same way.
Rachel shuts off the water and wraps the towel around her. She exits the shower and brushes her teeth before leaving the bathroom. She goes to her dorm and picks out a Blackwell t-shirt with a pair of mid-thigh shorts. She still has a few hours so she picks up her phone to see that Chloe already messaged her while she was in the shower.
Chloe: good morning babe
Chloe: i'll b the campus shortly after ur tour bc of this huge project i gotta watch
Rachel smiles a little and messages a short reply.
Rachel: ok. It's probably gonna be all day because some people might ask me dumb questions. pray 5 me.
Chloe: lmao u will b fine. I luv u.
Rachel: *heart emote*
Rachel sets her phone to the side and sits by her makeshift vanity, plugging the blow dryer on the outlet to start getting ready for this dreadful day.
"Welcome to Blackwell!" Rachel announces in a false cheery voice. The group of new seniors are relatively small, and Rachel can definitely work with that. The last thing she wanted is to be dealing with a large group of seniors. "My name is Rachel Amber and I'll be your tour guide for this particular school tour and orientation. First, I'll tell you all about the history of this school, then we'll tour around the school showing you the scenic views of Arcadia Bay, and also the inside of our main building and the Prescott Dormitory. Now, would you just follow me…"
Rachel turns around and guides the small group towards the entrance to the main building. She details on the history of the school, occasionally reading from her trusty set of index cards. Mid-sentence, a student raises their hand. "Yes?"
"What are these pictures supposed to represent?" the student asks, gesturing to the artwork that was to be displayed thanks to Mark Jefferson being a famous photographer, just so the students can get a feel about his renowned artwork.
Rachel stares at the student a little — she looks like an average introverted hipster with the obscure t-shirt, jeans, sneakers, and hoodie to boot, as well as a Polaroid case and a bob cut. Rachel gets a sense of familiarity from her, but she doesn't say a thing. "Those are Mr. Jefferson's photography. We display them around the school so that the students get to understand how talented he is."
"I think we're pretty aware on how talented he is," another student comments. "Do they have to display his artwork everywhere?"
He makes a valid point, Rachel says to herself. "This is an art school after all...anyway, enough dawdling. Let's move on to the inside of the school and continue our tour."
With a simple stroll, Chloe stops at a very clean table, occupying a nice elderly couple she loves to take orders from. "Annie, Walter, fancy seeing you two love birds here."
The old woman grins as Chloe pours them a fresh cup of coffee. "Chloe, how are you?"
"Living," Chloe replies. "You want the usual or are you feeling a little adventurous today?"
"The usual," both of them say in unison.
Chloe collects the unused menus, winks at them, and clicks her tongue. "Good. I'll have your food out as soon as possible. Stay beautiful."
She hears a giggle from Annie as she walks away, writing up an order before stapling it. She sighs a little, noticing how calm the restaurant is right now. After a year of working dishwasher, she became a waitress. It doesn't pay as much, but it does require a lot of socialization, and Chloe sure knows how to socialize now that she feels a lot more open than she was. She has taken her aspiration to become a tattoo artist to heart and after turning eighteen, she immediately signed up to get her tattoo license. To get her license however, aside from the many classes she took all year, she has to complete an apprenticeship at a certified shop. So she's an apprentice at a tattoo shop down the road that Steph's aunt owns, and while most of what she has to do is clean the shop, she also enjoys watching other tattoo artists do their things and also teach her the techniques. Plus, Steph is a receptionist so she has at least one friend over there.
The door opens again, and Chloe heads to the other booth to see who walked in. Seeing a head of short blond hair makes her sigh a little; her favorite person just showed up. "Sticky Vicky. Christensen. How are you two bitches doing?"
"Is that how you treat your customers?" Taylor inquires, sneering.
"That's how she treats us, Taylor," Victoria says, rolling her eyes. She turns to Chloe and smirks. "Kari Price. How are you?"
Chloe groans. She stretches her apron and gestures to her name tag with her lip. "Do you not see my name tag saying something else?"
"Claw-ee?" Victoria pronounces jokingly.
"Cute," Chloe grimaces, with a sardonic stare. "Anyway – before I lose my job, what do you two want?"
Within hours, Chloe clocks out for the day and goes to the tattoo shop. Not even minutes, she takes out the trash and dusts the place off a little bit without anyone asking of such. It isn't a busy day, but Chloe manages to find something to do regardless.
"Hey Chloe!" Stephanie Gingrich waves at her once she comes in with plates of food. "How long you've been here?"
"Thirty minutes," Chloe replies without missing a beat. "No matter how slow it is, I still have shit to do. But at least no one tells me what to do anymore...or feels compelled to tell me what to do even after I get used to the pattern."
"You have until next June to become a real artist," Steph assures her. "At least until then, you'll be out of Arcadia Hell."
"Yeah, exactly," Chloe agrees, grinning a little.
Steph sits down at her receptionist desk, and starts eating. "So, we had a customer who wanted the semicolon tattoo…"
"Ugh." Chloe hated the semicolon tattoos the most. She thought it was so plaid out, now that a bunch of current and former Blackwell students seemed to get the tattoo, and after a while, it lost its effect. "Lemme guess, another Blackwell student?"
"No, they were from the Magnet," Steph confirms. "But, I was watching the whole thing and they couldn't stop flinching. Eli got so fed up he almost kicked the kid out...but then remembered the bountiful tip he was getting just for doing that minimalist tattoo."
Chloe almost laughs. "He always kicks his clients out. It's a wonder why he's still here."
"The money," Steph suggests.
Chloe could agree, if she was getting paid. Despite her paychecks from the Two Whales, she managed to move out of her mom's home and live in an apartment. She has that, along with other costs from being an apprentice, to pay for. If Rachel didn't offer to cover most of the costs, Chloe would've been evicted months back. "I would agree if I wasn't an apprentice."
"I still don't get why you moved out your mom's place," Steph sighs.
"I told you this already. Ever since my mom married my little brother's dad, they pulled him out of staying at Blackhell, opting to let him drive there to save money and he needs a room. I also need to learn how to be more independent and to build up some credit. Plus, Rachel got tired of going home during the summer months, what with her dad disapproving of her relationship with me, even after three years. There's so many reasons why I moved out, Steph. I know it was a huge thing, because these waitress checks can only do so much, but…"
Steph raises both her hands in defeat. "Alright, Che. I get it. I just thought you would wait a while, y'know?"
"Me too, Steph. Me too." Chloe takes off her beanie and runs a hand through her vibrant blue shoulder length hair, that needs a serious touch up. She looks at Steph, lamenting how much she has changed since they first met. Steph used to wear nothing but beanies, ringer tees, and canvas sneakers, but now she looks like a Hot Topic's stock room with band tees, flannel, and leggings. She still occasionally wears beanies, but now her hair is a silver purple and god, those eyeliner wings could cut a man. "Also I wonder how long it's gonna take for the Dickscotts to raise the rent this time. Last time they raise the rent, it was a riot. A bunch of local college students can protest for days and not give two shits."
"Yeah, no kidding!" Steph snorts. "My aunt was amongst them though. She hates those Prickscotts as much as everyone else at the Bay. And to think...Samantha dated their son."
"God, I know...after their huge break up, she disappeared…" Chloe replies. "I thought she moved away but her parents are still hanging posters at Blackhell so she's missing."
"I'm telling you, that girl is dead," Steph says adamantly. "No one disappears for that long and is alive, unless they're being trafficked or enslaved. That girl is fucking dead somewhere...and for some reason, I think Nathan has something to do with it."
Chloe instantly gets chills upon hearing that. Everything about Nathan Prescott is creepy and unsettling, and she thought David Madsen was terrible. Luckily though, she doesn't have to deal with Nathan because she was expelled from that school and continued her studies at Arcadia Bay Magnet, and she got her diploma. She may not be done with school, but she's done with dealing with petty high school drama. "I swear to god, Stephanie. I'm starting to think you might have a lead here."
Chloe decides to leave it at that and decides to clean the bathrooms that always manage to stay gross, even when the customers don't use it much. At times, she finds herself buying cleaning products because she hated using the ammonia and that was the only other cleaning product the place owns. Once she's done, one of the tattoo artists Leah calls her up so Chloe can watch her complete a sleeve project from months ago. She's been waiting for that for a while. After getting her sleeve tattoo a year ago, she wanted to see the effort that goes into doing a sleeve. It's never done in one day, and it takes months to even complete it, and sometimes that's just from doing a quarter sleeve. Chloe pulls out her trusty notebook and takes notes for each time she gets a tip, up until it was ready to go. Chloe cleans up the room, clocks out, and goes straight to the Blackwell Campus where her girlfriend is waiting after her tour. The campus still looks the same but now they have some artwork displayed, done by some hipster ass photographer that Chloe is sure that some hipster student would cream their pants over. Who cares? Photography was never really Chloe's thing anyway.
She parks right in front of the school entrance, and steps out of the driver's side. She spots Rachel on top of the stairs with a Blackwell t-shirt on and a pair of shorts. "Rachel!"
"Hey Chloe," Rachel greets, hugging and kissing Chloe. Chloe didn't even care about her surroundings, not even when she sees a bright light flashing at them.
Maxine Caulfield finally finishes putting the last touches on her wall with photos of Seattle and Arcadia Bay, some that she took during the tour guide with Rachel Amber. She lays back on her bed and exhales in relief. She just got to Blackwell and she's already feeling tired from her busy ass day. After meeting with her tour guide and walking around the campus for hours, while students ask so many questions, Max immediately goes back to her dorm and decorates it. It's completely done - all of her clothes are fixed, her bed has sheets on it, her fern plant Lisa is by the window and a huge water bottle sits right next to it, and her computer is wired to the desk area. Max is more than thankful that she doesn't have to share a room with no one else, because that would suck. She wouldn't have any privacy.
She laments on the new students she's met today. She hasn't had the time to talk to Rachel, but she does talk to another girl - her name is Kate Marsh and despite being overly religious, she's really sweet-sounding and innocent in a good way. Max feels drawn to Kate almost immediately, like when she first met Chloe Price when they were young (right after the jukebox discourse) and they already can tell that they are going to be the best friends forever...only for it to go to shit.
However, Max is determined to fix any issues she has and have a wonderful time at Blackwell. She isn't very sure on how she's going to repair her friendship with Chloe (if that ever happens) but if she believes in herself enough, she might just mend things with Chloe. Max has kept all of Chloe's texts and letters close to her, rereading them over and over to remember a friendship that she ruined. She knows Chloe must still live at the house on Cedar Avenue. She knows the Two Whales should still be up and running. Those are two places that she can find Chloe at...but is she going to actively find Chloe Price in this small town? Only time will tell.
Max leaves her dorm and heads outside, noting that the four o'clock sun makes the campus look really good. She has an extra set of Polaroids just in case. As soon as she heads outside, she watches as a older woman staple missing posters around the school. Max hasn't heard much about the missing person case, but it seems like only a few people care.
She continues her trek until she bumps into another student. Max is already opening her mouth to apologize, but the other person stops her. "Watch where you're going, hipster trash!"
Max groans a little. Of course just when she escaped from a vicious bully back in Seattle, she gets another one in the form of Victoria Maribeth Chase. They briefly attended middle school together but Max was too shy and Victoria wasn't as entitled but surely didn't give a shit about Max enough to pay attention to her. When they met each other (again in Max's case), Victoria already disliked her, and the feeling is mutual. Max can never understand how someone so pretty could be such a bitch at the same time. "Maybe you should watch where you're going."
"Excuse me?"
Max reiterates that in seconds, hoping not to get a punch in the face. "I don't want any trouble, Victoria. Seriously."
"I don't give a fuck, Shitfield—"
"Victoria!" The girl turns around and finds another student named Taylor Christensen calling out to her. "Come on, we can't be late."
Victoria sighs in relief and narrows her eyes at Max. "This isn't over." Then as quickly as she appears, she walks away. Max breathes a sigh of relief and heads to an empty picnic table. She finds a nice angle for the sun and takes a couple photos. She finds a couple (one with vibrant blue hair) hugging and kissing and Max takes a nice picture of them, despite it going against everything she stood for with photography. Every subject that is being captured needs consent, but the couple kissing by the four o'clock sun is so romantic that Max couldn't resist.
She stares at each of her photos, wanting to rip some of them up because they were amateur, but the picture of the blue haired girl and the other person that Max couldn't identify is one of her best. She might have to keep it and maybe one day, if she meets the blue haired girl, she can show it to her. Hopefully the bluenette won't be creeped out.
Max is minutes away from going somewhere else when Kate shows up. "Hey, Maxine!"
"Max, never Maxine," Max corrects.
"My apologies, Max," Kate affirms. "I just really like your name is all."
"It's ok," Max smiles. "Have you noticed how really nice this campus looks? Like...the tour didn't really do much justice."
"I think the tour guide was rushing us so that she can go meet up with her...uh…" Kate scratches the back of her neck and fiddles. "Her girlfriend."
"No way," Max scoffs. "Rachel's dating a girl?"
"Yeah, some blue haired girl who literally carried her off campus and drove away. I thought it was weird though."
Max raises an eyebrow. She watches Kate's mannerisms talking about Rachel Amber and her mysterious bluenette girlfriend, and wonders if Kate's been too sheltered inside her home to meet a person who isn't straight...or maybe she isn't as open minded as Max thought. "Uh, Kate? You ok? You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"No, of course not," Kate replies. "I just...I...I don't…."
"You've never met a lesbian before," Max hypothesizes.
"Yeah...that," Kate confirms, and hangs her head in shame. "This is my first non-religious school, Max. They never talk about that in Christian school...well, in a positive light anyway. It's all about sinning and sodomizing...and my fellow classmates either never made it public about their sexuality or they were all straight."
"As long as you don't have a problem with it…"
Kate shakes her head. "I can't imagine hating someone because they lie in bed with someone of the same sex...or hating them because they don't feel like their assigned sex at birth aligns with their gender. I can't. God always believes in loving everyone, whether they're sinners or not, and I see everyone as God's children."
Max raises both her eyebrows. "You know what Kate? I like your philosophy."
"Too bad no one else in my family is that open minded. My little sisters...they're impressionable and time will tell, but everyone else just hates them. I just believe in love and happiness."
Max continues to talk to Kate, and they both agree that at least once a week, they have to have a nice chat together about anything, involving a kettle of tea. Max loves tea, and so does Kate. She promises Max a tasting of butterfly pea flower tea, and Max swears up and down about honey sticks before going to her dorm.