Life has Changed
Episode 3
Chapter 1
The girl's day was going badly. First there had been trouble with Principle Wells when she bumped into him in the shop on the beer run. That had caused her to drop the entire case of beer she was carrying which they'd then made her pay for on top of the case she got to replace it, and to top it all off her mother was on the phone lecturing her about how late she was. Apparently everyone at the house was angry with her. Just then, she spotted someone she knew sitting in his car across the road and decided to have some fun.
"Can you tell them I'll be there sharply at 'go screw yourself' o'clock?" she asked. "Thanks Mum. Bye. I love you." She cut the phone off before her mum even had chance to reply. She pulled her truck up to the edge of the curb and got out. As she walked over, she took in the scene. The man had his passenger window wound down as a woman with probably the most out-of-proportion boobs she'd ever seen leaned into it.
'Is it me, or are her boobs bigger than her body?" she thought to herself. 'It's the wonder she doesn't break her ribs! Those have to be HH at least! Not letting that deter her, she neared the car and tapped on the driver's side window. The man in the car wound the window down as she leaned through.
"I think you need to clear off, honey!" the other woman said sharply to her as she grabbed a penknife from her belt loop.
"Actually, I think you're the one that needs to clear off." The girl reached into her back pocket and pulled a Smith and Wesson Airweight out. She held it up for everyone to see, causing the woman to realise she was hopelessly outgunned. She pulled her head out from the passenger window and strutted off.
"What do you want?" the man asked, barely suppressing a groan.
"I just felt that we didn't get to know each other properly last time we met." The girl looked down to see his wallet sticking out of his pocket. "That's a really nice piece there. Can I have a look?" The man went to block her but she was having none of it. "You don't have to pass it to me, I can get it myself." She reached down and grabbed it from his pocket before opening it. "Wow, this is real leather." She nodded in admiration. "If it weren't for your cocaine sales, you'd never manage to afford this."
"Please don't..." The man's begging fell on deaf ears as she opened his wallet.
"Oh Ted, for a second I was worried you actually didn't have a wife and kids. That would have been no fun, would it?" the girl asked rhetorically. "What's your wife's name?"
"You don't need to..."
"What's her name, Ted?" the girl asked; a harder edge to her voice.
"Her name's Anna." Ted looked ready to burst into tears.
"Do you have a phone I can check the time on?" the girl asked. "Mine ran out of battery as I was driving." Ted pulled his phone out and went to read the time out for her.
"It's..."
"Oh, come on; I want to see this." The girl snatched his phone from his hand and started scrolling through his speed dial. Ted went to snatch the phone back, only for her to grab his wrist and wrench it around viciously. "You really don't want to do that!" she advised as the phone started ringing. "Hi, is that Anna?" she asked. "Yeah, this is Chloe Price... ... No, I'm not a cop. I just thought you should know that I've just caught your husband with a known prostitute who also has a reputation for cocaine dealing. ... ... Yes, they were at least HH. Oh, so this isn't the first time then?" Ted cried out in pain as Chloe wrenched his wrist further.
"Anna, she's lying!" he screamed.
"Yeah, that's him now." Chloe continued, ignoring Ted's screams completely. "He's crying because I'm breaking his hand. ... What was that, babe? I didn't catch that." Chloe took the phone away from her ear with an evil look in her eyes. "She says to do it harder." With that, she slammed Ted's wrist into the car window frame before jumping up and landing on it in a sitting position. The sudden pressure was too much for Ted's wrist, which spontaneously shattered. "You need to trust your instincts, Anna." Chloe told her. "He's no good for you."
"Stop poisoning my wife with lies, you flat-chested-" Chloe reached in and slapped him before he got chance to finish.
"No, that's not a problem, Anna." Chloe continued. "I'll make sure he can't call you eighty times to get you back. Okay, I'll catch you later then." With that, Chloe hung up and ripped the battery out of Ted's phone before dropping it down the drain at the end of the curb.
"Do you know what a mistake you just made?" Ted was red in the face from pain and fury.
"She's burning all your stuff tonight." Chloe said, brushing off the threat as if it were nothing. She was about to return to her pickup truck when she noticed a damaged white Peugeot pull in. Through the windscreen, she could see the driver. She couldn't believe it at first. Only one thought registered in her mind.
'Who the hell is that?'
Chloe ran across the road to where the car was parked up. As she watched, a figure stepped out from the car and brushed golden sand from her clothes. Chloe had never seen clothes like those before. They were bright red and seemed heavily built. The girl who'd been driving the car also pulled off a pair of goggles and threw them onto the back seat. It was only as she turned around slightly that Chloe recognised her.
"Max, is that you?" Max jolted at the sound of her own name. In a flash, she recognised the voice who'd said it? She turned around to see the blue haired girl that she loved so much. Chloe ran over and wrapped her in a bone crushing hug.
"It's so good to be back." Max muttered before suddenly bursting into tears.
"You've been gone for ages!" Chloe said. "You just vanished without a trace. Rachel said you were off to screw around with time without us."
"Okay, there's so much we need to catch up on." Max rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter though. There'll be time later." Just then, Chloe sharply let go of her.
"Okay, why the hell do you stink of wet horses?" she asked.
"Oh yeah, I probably need a shower." Max realised. "While I was 'away', a nice family took me in and let me rest up at their place. While I was there, a sandstorm hit the house. It ended up exploding and two of the family members didn't make it. We spent the next two nights sleeping in the stables with the horses since it was the only roof we had."
"It sounds like you've been through hell." Chloe muttered. "Come on back to my place. We're just about to have dinner. You can get some food in you and get a shower. Probably not in that order though."
"I take it I really stink." Max guessed.
"You don't out-and-out reek, but I wouldn't walk through a shop like that." Chloe replied. "Come on, I'll take you back."
"Okay, I'll follow you." Max replied, going to get back into her car.
"You think that relic can last the distance?" Chloe teased.
"Dom fixed it up." Max told her. "It got me this far."
"Who the hell is Dom?" Chloe asked.
"I'll tell you later." Max said. "For now, lead the way."
"Okay, let's go then." Chloe ran back to her truck and climbed in. She pulled away from where she was parked and Max followed her. They moved onto the main stretch of road and headed in the direction of Chloe's house. Max could swear she could already smell Joyce's cooking.
As they neared the house, Max noticed a load of balloons and banners all over the place. Chloe pulled up in the driveway before jumping out and finding a free spot for Max to park. Max got out and took in the scene in front of her.
"What's with all the banners?" she asked.
"Oh, I meant to tell you." Chloe slapped her hand against her forehead and did a dramatic eye-roll. "Rachel and I are celebrating our one year anniversary together. Mum got everyone over for dinner to celebrate." Max was about to reply when Chloe's phone went off.
"Chloe Price, where are you?" Joyce demanded. Max tried her best not to burst out laughing.
"It's taken care of, Mum." Chloe assured her. "I got the beer plus one. We're outside now."
"Wait, what's the 'plus one' bit?" Joyce asked. "You were only getting beer."
"Just trust me." Chloe said before hanging up. "Come on, Max. Let's drop the beer off then go and get you cleaned up." Chloe led Max round the side of the house into the back garden. She dropped the case of beer on the table as Joyce stormed over.
"Well, it's about damn time, Chloe. We were worried sick!" she scolded before noticing who was with her. "Max, is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me." Max nodded.
"What the hell have you been doing all this time?" Joyce asked.
"It's a very long story." Max said. "Um, do you mind if I use your shower? I've been driving for the last eight hours and before that there was a hilarious issue with some horses."
"You can, by all means." Joyce replied. You know where it is, and Chloe and Rachel can lend you some clothes if you need me to wash those ones."
"Thanks, that's really kind of you."
"Let's not have any of that, Max." Joyce said, brushing off the gratitude. "We're happy to have you back in one piece. We were so worried about you while you were gone."
"That's funny; I was worried about everyone here." Max replied.
"Well then, I guess we're all left happy." Joyce leaned over and called out to a girl who was helping David secure a gigantic sun umbrella at the bottom of the garden. "Rachel, come on over and say hello! Max is back!"
"What?" Rachel turned around to see Max standing there. Instantly, she let go of the parasol and ran over. They heard David cry out in alarm as the mild breeze picked up the gigantic umbrella and threatened to take it over the back fence and him with it. Rachel debated going back to help, but then decided that she couldn't be bothered and Max was more important.
"How are you doing, Max?" she asked as she walked over. Max couldn't help but laugh as David was dragged over the fence while trying to keep hold of the umbrella and Rachel ignored it as though nothing was happening.
"I'm good, thanks." Max replied once she'd composed herself.
"Rachel, Max is about to go and clean up a bit, so do you mind lending her some of your clothes?" Chloe asked. "You're more her size."
"I'll grab some and leave them by the bathroom door for you." Rachel nodded.
"Okay then, I'll just head up." Max said.
"I'll grab you a spare towel from the airing cupboard." Chloe added as she started to walk inside. Max followed her upstairs and waited outside the bathroom for Chloe to get back with the towel. After a split second, she reappeared from the back room and threw a bright pink towel to Max.
"Thanks, Chloe." Max grinned as her thoughts turned to the hot shower she was about to dive into.
"Don't even think of coming out of there until all that horse stink is gone!" Chloe nudged Max playfully. "The guests are going to start arriving soon. Actually, we're only really having Rachel's family over. Don't worry about being fashionably late. Those saps will forgive anything. I swear to god, we got so high at Rachel's once and it was right in front of them. They just don't give a damn."
"I take it they're quite placid then?" Max opened the door and went to step into the bathroom. "By the way, is there any shampoo for the guests or does it not matter?"
"You can use mine." Chloe shrugged. "You can't miss it. It's the neon blue bottle. I swear to god, it makes your hair smell so nice..."
"How did I know you'd have the blue one?" Max rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Just go and get the horse crap off you." Chloe practically shoved Max into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Once Max was alone, she took a moment to breathe in the familiar scents that she remembered as a kid. It was good to be back.
Author's Note: I'm so sorry this took so long. A collage accident and illness caused everything to be delayed and I am nowhere near as far into writing this up as I hoped to be. This will be either the last or second-to-last episode of this series, but if it does turn out to be the last I will aim to make it an especially long one to make it memorable. If anyone is confused by the transition between episodes 2 and 3, Chapter Four fills in the blanks. Everything will be explained, so don't worry. If you have any questions after that, you can PM me or review.